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[MarkWarner]

Although I rather enjoyed last week's book, by and large it got a lukewarm reception, to say the least.

I think maybe the reading group is looking for something a bit more "brainey". And, as if by magic this weeks choice may well fit the bill. It is Four Color #1330 aka  Brain Boy 1. This is the choice of a mysterious reading group member who states that:

"there are just a ton of juicy bits to ponder"

So let's hope he (or is it a she??) is right! The book can be found here https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=33164 The book basically only has one story so that's the one we are concentrating on and gives us all something to do during the Easter break!

[SuperScrounge]

Interesting. Not great, but it had its moments.

The brevity with getting the story underway was nice, too many writers these days drag things out, but, at the same time, it felt clumsy. The writer wasn't as smooth as he could have been with it.

I winced at the scene of Brain Boy using shoe polish to blend in. When I was a kid I used to polish my dad's shoes and get some on my hands and it did not look like a natural skin tone. It might work in the dark when he doesn't get too close to people, but passing all those guards in the palace? The ruse should have been noticed.

Earlier in the story he flies up some stairs & yet just a day or two later he flies again and thinks, "It's been a long time since I did this." Huh?

For a world filled with telepaths why don't they use their powers to influence, or take control of, people's minds rather than just reading minds and sending messages?

[Lorendiac]

Here are some stray thoughts . . .

I almost felt like I was watching the pilot episode of a TV series. It seems as if someone wanted to do a cloak-and-dagger show in which the main character just happened to have superpowers -- as opposed to creating a new entry in the classic superhero genre, for instance. Kinda reminds me of some TV shows that came along much later -- the ones about the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman.

Here was one line that struck me as surprisingly funny:

"Well . . . you are the most famous refugee from behind the Sombrero Curtain."

I don't know how it hit anyone else, but "Sombrero Curtain" made me want to snicker.

On the other hand, here's a line which I found bizarre. Near the end of the story, as the good guys are about to flee the country, our hero says to his evil counterpart: "You're lucky, Ricorta. I can't kill in cold blood, as you can. Maybe it's a mistake to leave you alive after what you've done, but I'll have to risk it!"

Wait a minute, Brain Boy -- you're the guy who has just finished causing the crews of several tanks to blow each other up. Most of them were probably fairly decent guys who just happened to be following orders from their nation's chief executive (and his right-hand man, Ricorta). But to save your own skin, you started reaching into their heads and turning them against each other until nearly an entire armored company was violently dead. That wasn't in cold blood?

I remember that bit, earlier in the story, when he used his powers to make the assassin Anka kill himself, and felt sick as a result -- but why does he then draw the line at killing an evil telepathic mastermind when he didn't hesitate to kill the rank-and-file flunkies in the tanks? (Aside from the painfully obvious fact that the writer wanted to keep Ricorta around for future use, I mean, which should not have been a factor in Brain Boy's own thinking.) 

Incidentally, the quick "origin story" had given me the impression that Brain Boy might be unique in his psychic abilities. By the end of the story, I was wondering: "Whoa! Just how many telepaths are supposed to be running around in this world? Even a randomly encountered professor's daughter turns out to secretly be one?"

(It also occurred to me that if a "telepathy gene" was evenly distributed throughout the human gene pool in this version of the Earth of the 1960s, then the Communist China of the Cold War ought to have what, four times as many telepaths as the USA? And even the USSR ought to be slightly ahead of the USA? That could get messy.)

[SuperScrounge]

"Well . . . you are the most famous refugee from behind the Sombrero Curtain."

I don't know how it hit anyone else, but "Sombrero Curtain" made me want to snicker.

Yes, that was a funny/bizarre phrase.

On the other hand, here's a line which I found bizarre. Near the end of the story, as the good guys are about to flee the country, our hero says to his evil counterpart: "You're lucky, Ricorta. I can't kill in cold blood, as you can. Maybe it's a mistake to leave you alive after what you've done, but I'll have to risk it!"

Wait a minute, Brain Boy -- you're the guy who has just finished causing the crews of several tanks to blow each other up. Most of them were probably fairly decent guys who just happened to be following orders from their nation's chief executive (and his right-hand man, Ricorta). But to save your own skin, you started reaching into their heads and turning them against each other until nearly an entire armored company was violently dead. That wasn't in cold blood?

I remember that bit, earlier in the story, when he used his powers to make the assassin Anka kill himself, and felt sick as a result -- but why does he then draw the line at killing an evil telepathic mastermind when he didn't hesitate to kill the rank-and-file flunkies in the tanks?

Offhand maybe it's that the guys in tanks don't have faces (well they do, but he can't see them) whereas the assassin earlier and Ricorta at the end were right there where he could see them.

IIRC Brain Boy did order one of the tanks to fire at the staff car Ricorta was in, he just managed to avoid getting blown up and now Brain Boy has to decide whether to kill him and watch him die or let him go.

By the end of the story, I was wondering: "Whoa! Just how many telepaths are supposed to be running around in this world? Even a randomly encountered professor's daughter turns out to secretly be one?"

Yeah, even the recruitment scene indicated that telepaths were not that uncommon. I got the impression that Brain Boy's boss just picks random high schools to find new recruits.

[paw broon]

I enjoyed this but then I already had some later Brain boy comics in my collection.  I know there are discrepancies in the plot and in B.B.'s actions but he is just starting in the game.  My main problem with B.B,. as with some other heroes is the constant re-use of the same villain.  And I didn't take to Ricorta back then and still don't today.  Interesting remark that it seemed like a t.v. pilot, although I thought it had more in common with John Force Magic Agent.
I enjoyed the way the artist makes B.B. "fly", completely different from your usual superhero.  Or is that just the lack of a supersuit?
The art credits below seemed odd as I am sure that in the top panel page 4, the doctor's face is pure Mike Sekowsky.  And in some panels B.B. looks much older than in others.
No messing about with a convoluted origin.  Straight in and like the best '60's r&b, everybody in and don't stop till you get to the end.

[MarkWarner]

The book is open and I am reading ... and it's an immediate "Oh dear!"

"I've never been in England before, but I know this room. A painting is missing for the wall there."

"That's right it is being reconditioned. But how ..."

Rather than the clairvoyance claimed, how about there is a wacking big empty space on the wall, and by the looks of it in an art galley!

And now we start the main story. Well, momma is certainly very proud of Matt (aka Brain Boy). O Blimey!! Did you see that?? Matt didn't walk up the stairs he flew up them!!! That is a tad lazy, and it is also getting rather silly.

Now remember I am a Brit, so my U.S. history is a bit sketchy. I get the Cold war paranoia, but this is in South America. Was this area a cause for concern? I thought that came much later in 1980's with Reagan v Sandinistas.

"If you are discovered your mind won't be able to stop their bullets."

This is all very selective Matt can fly but can't stop a bullet!

"Say hello to the radio audience son." Hmmm ... so the Xochian's won't be suspicious with the excuse broadcast, that he is an anthropologist going to study ancient ruins.

Ouch! That was a bit bloody, with the guy shooting himself in the head! O NO!! Brain Boy is "blacking" himself up with boot polish! Oh dear! But ... a REALLY nice touch, him putting the guard to bed (I wonder if he read him a good night story).

The story itself is getting rather intriguing ... I too was wondering about the final last words "I have been a fool". Also, I must have a sneaky mind, as I figured holding a country's dictator as hostage may not do you much good, in fact it will more probably please whoever was plotting his overthrow. We finish with the excellent mind tank battle!

Ok, after a couple of one pager "brain facts" the book is now done.

So what did I think? Well ... it seemed very randomly selective what Brain Boy and others could and couldn't do. Now I really don't mind that sort of thing, after all it's just a spot of popular escapism. But it pushed the bounds!! A bit like when you were a kid and one of your friends (or was it you??) constantly kept changing the rules of your game to suit themselves.

As for the story. it got better and better as it went on. I think it might need some sleeping on it ... but I am sort of ashamed to admit, that out of the two I preferred last week's Eerie.

UPDATE: I slept on it and Brain Boy is growing on me! I can also see that if I were more knowledgeable about the era and how this sits creatively, I'd appreciate and understand more about the book! And here in a very quiet way begins another chapter for CB+

[bowers]

I was aware of the character Brain Boy, but had never before read an issue. Dell heroes were often a bit odd, and Brain Boy is no exception. I mean this in a good way as I quite enjoyed the story. The tale started off pretty quickly, giving us only about three pages of back story before jumping right into the heart of the matter. I wasn't aware Gil Kane had done any work for Dell, so this was a very pleasant surprise. If you're going to launch a new character, a fast-paced plot and the best artist you can find is usually a smart combination. Liked the way BB more levitated than flew - pretty original. Also liked the way he was drained by using his powers - every hero needs a weakness, if only to keep him human. There were some valid points made earlier about some of BB's moral choices. I would imagine that a kid who had hidden his abilities his entire life would not really be aware of how his powers would effect not only others but also himself. Feeling sick after his first kill was only the first step to this awareness. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into a comic book story! I think I might read a couple more of these just to see how the character develops. Cheers and a joyous Easter to all, Bowers

[misappear]

I remember a friend and I were reminiscing during the middle 1980's and I asked him what his favorite comics were when he was a boy.  He mentioned Brain Boy, with which I was unfamiliar.  He described the series, and explained that it appeared in the early 1960's.  For some reason, I remembered a documentary I had seen, maybe on PBS, that featured a report  on the work Russian scientists had been doing in the early 1960's concerning psi power, precognition, and telepathy.  Thanks to the internet, i just looked up the subject, and confirmed that there was indeed some noise generated about this at the time, but the publication of information in a French magazine in the early 1960's may have been part of a hoax story.  Regardless, my recollection is that the Russians were up to something regarding psi powers at the time Brain Boy was published.  Ya gotta wonder.....

The comic itself has the advantage of 32 dedicated story pages.  9 panels reveal Price's origin, and the next 7 pages give us the full back story, setting up the 23-page adventure.  I thought Kane's ability to move from panel to panel while developing events was among the better efforts considering the complexity of the story, and the continual addition of new characters. 

A couple folks have commented on the "in cold blood" statement.  I thought that the line was appropriate considering Price's reactions to the reality of Anka's death.  Price just didn't want to kill someone standing in front of him, but not currently involved in a hostile action.  It's one thing to use war tactics in defense, another to kill someone just because he's your idealogical enemy.  Price did something very un-comic booky which was not act as the vigilante avenger that most costumed heroes represent. 

I too thought the flying sequences were notable.  Kane chose the compact arms down look to replace the heroic arms outsretched flying posture, further indicating that this character was not of the same mold as the classic flying vigilantes.  Very unusual

My primary gripe about his story in in form.  The third person omniscient point of view gives the reader almost too much information.  You have panel captions, speech balloons, private thought balloons, and projected thought balloons all flying around in the story.  To the comic's credit, it wasn't dialogue heavy in spite of this. 

Lastly, Paw mentioned a Sekowsky face, and I have one more:  the flight attendant of page 11 panel 2 sure looks like Infantino to me. 

--Dave

[narfstar]

I had read Brain Boy before and probably have all of them. I remember that when I was younger I did not like the lack of a costume or the longer stories. The big 2 had the same number of pages but many were ad pages that Dell used for story. Now I tend to prefer the longer stories and I liked them. I noticed the same thing as others. I too loved the Sombrero Curtain remark. I liked the pragmatism of having the gunman kill himself. Using the tanks to fight and destroy each other was a good plan. Technically neither type of killing was cold bloodedly committed by Brain Boy. They all killed each other or themselves. He could not control Rocorta enough to make him kill himself and would have had to gun him down when the fight was over. I did not like how quickly he was called Brain Boy without having proven himself, or how he was sent on a mission without any training. But I understand the need to move the story along in the aloted pages. I need to read some more of the later issues again. I do think Kane inked at least some of his own pencils on this.

[Lorendiac]

Now remember I am a Brit, so my U.S. history is a bit sketchy. I get the Cold war paranoia, but this is in South America. Was this area a cause for concern? I thought that came much later in 1980's with Reagan v Sandinistas.

Two things about that -- As I said above, showing Americans expressing concern about a Latin American "Sombrero Curtain" struck me as funny -- possibly the writer just wanted to be "different" from all those Cold War spy thrillers that were set in Eastern Europe or the Far East, for instance. But it also occurred to me that he might very well have been reacting to concerns in the early 1960s about Fidel Castro's Communist regime in Cuba, just a few years old at that point. (I know Cuba is not part of South America, but hey, close enough!)

We finish with the excellent mind tank battle!

To clarify something about my own feelings on that one -- I kinda liked the tank battle myself. If I were in Brain Boy's position, I'd be frantically using any available weapon (such as telepathic mind control) to protect myself from an armored column that was ready to blow me away. My primary objection was that if "wartime rules" were applying, then the guy who was giving orders to the enemy tanks was just as much "fair game" as the tankers themselves -- and considerably more dangerous in the long run, because of his own telepathic abilities -- but Brain Boy appeared to feel otherwise and refused to make a strong effort to kill Ricorta even though Ricorta had been showing no such restraint where he (and previous American telepaths visiting that nation) were concerned. 

[MarkWarner]

Yes I thought of Cuba as well and South America being another part of the US doorstep

[crashryan]

I was a great fan of Brain Boy when it came out. Unlike others, I loved the idea of a non-costumed superhero. I was greatly disappointed when Gold Key's Dr. Solar, another plain-clothes hero, got a costume (though admittedly a neat one); and one of the few Superman stories I really liked was one in which he time-travelled to the 1920s and worked undercover against gangsters. By the way, I also preferred book-length stories.

I think Brain Boy's writer was consciously trying to create a more "mature" comic. The level of violence and scenes like BB forcing the assassin to kill himself were shockers in the context of early 60's comics. Looking at the story now I see the inconsistencies noted by other commenters. Especially how BB was willing to let the tanks wipe each other out but reluctant to kill Ricorta. Why didn't he just order the tank crew to blast Ricorta's jeep instead of the other tank?

Still, I liked the way the writer tried to be "realistic" about the telepaths' powers, showing that major mind control took great effort. It gives credence to the idea that telepaths would work behind the scenes, controlling people here and there to shape events, rather than just latching onto the president and making him a puppet. Admittedly the writer changed the rules several times, but I give him points for trying.

Though Gil Kane called in pencilling help on many stories around this time, I'm pretty confident that this is an all-Kane job. The entire book shows his characteristic layouts and posing. I think the un-Kane bits people see come from Fujitani's inking. His work at the time had something of a DC-house-style vibe.

A little historical context...in 1962 fear of Bad Guys taking over Latin America was already going strong. The US had founded the School of the Americas in 1946 to train counter-insurgency fighters. In 1954 the CIA had helped oust President Arbenz of Guatemala when his land reform program nationalized United Fruit Company property. And in 1960, two years before Brain Boy, Eisenhower had started authorizing covert actions against Fidel Castro. All this was driven by the twin fears that leftist regimes might endanger the Panama Canal, and that Cuba would spread Communism south of the border. But nobody ever mentioned a "Sombrero Curtain(!!)" and as far as I know, no agents on either side ever disguised themselves with shoe polish.

All this said, Ricorta doesn't come across as a Red...he seems simply to be a freelance would-be master of the world. In fact when he returns in issue 2 he plans to blow up the entire world so he and his chosen few can take over.

I've seen Herb Kastle (about whom I know nothing) credited as the author of the entire Brain Boy series, but I wonder if he was replaced later on, maybe by Don Segall. Later issues are written in a more florid style, with more outlandish concepts (telepathic tyrannosaurs, invading alien microbes) than we find here.

[narfstar]

Good insights and info Crash. It has been so many years since I have read BB that I do not remember much at all. The incongruous, not killing of Ricorta, was because he wanted to bring back a recurring villain. I do not know anything about the writer either, but the later stories may have been because the more mature stories were not selling.