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| Thank you for the upload, CB+. Awesome book with the added bonus of The Wizard story sort of predicting the Pearl Harbor attack two years before the actual event occurred! |
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| The Wizard serves as the lead feature in this anthology comic, a sister publication to Pep Comics where The Shield serves as lead feature. The villains in this episode are the Jatsonians plotting to destroy the submarine fleet at Pearl Harbor [Hmm, wonder what Jatsonian sounds like?] In later episodes, multiple heroes across Top Notch and Pep Comics will face the Mosconians (Gee, wonder who that would be?).
Scott Rand in the Worlds of Time: This is a time travel feature that doesn’t worry about making waves in the time continuum, which is surprising since it is written by Otto Binder (as Eando Binder), a science-fiction writer in his own right. Of course, this is an origin story, one of those getting the gang together, so I’m not quite sure where it’s going. It could be fun or it might end up being an extended temporal scavenger hunt. The first time I read an Otto Binder story had to have been one of the Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane comics that he wrote with Bill Finger in the late ‘50s and all through the ‘60s. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I’ve read any of his science-fiction novels, but I’ll keep an eye out for that nom de plume, Eando Binder.
Swift of the Secret Service in “Murder by Sock:” The admiral’s hat in this feature seemed pretty strange and anachronistic so I searched and found one image on the web that corresponded to this uniform as it was rendered. Apparently, this was only for full-dress uniforms and fairly rare in the U.S., but fairly common in international settings because of protocol. Even then, the full dress regalia like in this feature was suspended in late 1940. So, I learned something as a result of something that I thought didn’t look right. Meanwhile, the story could have been any detective or agent on vacation, but it was entertaining enough to keep me flipping pages.
Air Patrol in “Sky Raiders of the Western Front: Vendetta for Von Schiller” had that nice wartime adventures for boys feel to it. It reminded me so much of the Dave Dawson series from Grosset & Dunlap that I read as a boy (after finding them in thrift shops—not when they were first published—grin). The nostalgia effect was so strong that I downloaded a eBook of another Grosset & Dunlap series called The Moving Picture Boys and published under the same house name as the one used by Tom Swift authors, Victor Appleton. But back to this story! It’s the start of a revenge story, featuring a bit of a flashback and a bit of the present. The airplane graphics aren’t super-realistic (nor are some of the acrobatics) but they convey the ideas well enough to keep you wanting more.
“Murder Rap” is a four-page text adventure right out of the pulps. In fact, it could have been pulled right from the pages of the Columbia Publications’ Double-Action Detective published by Maurice Coyne and company before forming MLJ to publish comic books. I mention this because the hard-boiled detective in this story is named “Lucky” Coyne. The story has a rather vicious twist at the end after the damsel in distress comes to her senses. Ironically, it features more action scenes than some of the feature comic stories in this issue.
Lucky Coyne also appears in the comic feature of the same name. In “The Bat and the Bull,” gangster Bat Yardley invades a rival gang’s hideout which his disguised girlfriend has already infiltrated. So far, so good, but then we have some strange narration about Yardley tripping on the window sill and being pounced upon by Bull, yet the image is of Bat slugging Bull and knocking him down. And there are color consistency issues between panels on page 43 of our PDF. In one panel, Bull is wearing a green suit, but when he is knocked down by Bat, he’s wearing an orange suit like Bat. There’s even some mistaken identity switcheroos in this story. The weird thing is when “Lucky” is revealed, takes off his wig, and his female ally calls him “Red.” I understand this feature usually ran in another company’s titles.
The Mystic in “The Fortune Teller’s Revenge” is full of “rock-em, sock-em” fight scenes, but it also builds off stage magic and escape acts. This story of abduction and escape seems fairly straight-forward, but it offers plenty of potential for a good series.
The West Pointer in “Kornell Goes to West Point” may be the predecessor to The Midshipman in Pep Comics. This is an origin story with minimal conflict, but I’m certain there will be intrigue and espionage in future stories.
Of course, if “G-Men” can be a successful radio show based on true stories, “Manhunters” can be a successful comic series. In “Case 1: Master Forgers” by one of my favorites, Jack Cole, we go to Milwaukee for the action. The story relays some clever facts and has that Jack Cole specialty of the equipment diagram in one of the panels. This is a well-done story that could have gone wrong in the wrong hands. |
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| Additional Information |
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| Publication | December 1939 | Price: 0.10 USD | Pages: 1 | Frequency: monthly |
| Notes | Same artist as the Wizard story inside. |
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| Content | Genre: Superhero |
| Notes | Same artist as the Wizard story inside. |
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| Publisher advertisement | Meet Rang-A-Tang the Wonder Dog (1 page) |
| Notes | Inside front cover. Ad for Blue Ribbon Comics. |
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| Comic Story | The Pearl Harbor Peril (11 pages) |
| Synopsis | The Wizard uses his super powers to stop a Jatsonian attack on Pearl Harbor. |
| Content | Genre: Superhero | Characters: Steven Whitney (1776); Capt. Ambrose Whitney (1812); Maj. Thomas Whitney (1865); James Whitney (1870); Thomas Whitney, Jr.(1898); John Whitney (1918); Grover Whitney (Blane's brother); Jatsonians (villains, introduction); Jeeves; Jane; Woodrow Wilson; Zeke; Jake |
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| Content | Genre: Humor |
| Notes | Five one-panel gags. |
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| Synopsis | Scott, a traveler through time with Dr. Meade in the "time car" (which is more of a rocket ship), the rwo they pick up Thor the viking and the lovely Elda in the past. |
| Content | Genre: Science Fiction | Characters: Scott Rand (introduction); Dr. Joel Meade; Thor (a Viking); Princess Elda |
| Notes | Otto Binder said the Scott Rand stories were done for the Harry "A" Chesler shop. |
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| Comic Story | Joe Louis (1 page) |
| Content | Genre: Non-fiction | Characters: Joe Louis; Lou Nova; "Two ton" Tony Galento |
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| Comic Story | Murder by Sock (6 pages) |
| Synopsis | Rex solves the murder of Aubrey J. Snite. |
| Content | Genre: Spy | Characters: Mr. Swift (his father); Aubrey J. Snite (Dies); Jack Snite (villain, introduction) |
| Notes | The faces and the thin shading inklines, and hands, chins and noses look very much like Biro on Steel Sterling in Zip Comics #1. |
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| Comic Story | To-nite! Saved from the Flames! (2 pages) |
| Synopsis | Crooks try to steal some papers by starting a fire and melting a safe. |
| Featuring | Jungle Town Show Boat |
| Content | Genre: Anthropomorphic-funny Animals | Characters: Billy Hippo |
| Notes | Only appearance of the "Jungle Town Show Boat" feature. |
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| Comic Story | Vendetta with Von Schiller (5 pages) |
| Synopsis | Ben wants revenge on Von Schiller who killed his friend. |
| Content | Genre: Aviation; War | Characters: Ben "Wings" Johnson (introduction and origin); Mrs. Johnson (Wings's mother, introduction in flashback); Capt. Von Schiller (villain, introduction); Nazis |
| Notes | Originally credited to Ed Smalle, but artwork is identical to Novick's signed first story in this feature, issue #2. |
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| Text Story | Murder Rap (4 pages) |
| Synopsis | Lucky works to capture Cardona. |
| Credits | Letters: typeset |
| Content | Genre: Crime | Characters: Lucky Coyne; Harry Green; Arnold Cardona; Lou Cardona; Mat Ganz; Giza Vidu; Dotty Wright; Captain Sullivan |
| Notes | Mat Ganz is also spelled Mat Gans in the story. |
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| Content | Genre: Non-fiction | Characters: Charles "Zimmy" Zimmerman |
| Notes | Five factoids. |
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| Comic Story | The Bat and the Bull (5 pages) |
| Synopsis | Lucky Coyne posing as Bat Yardley, jewel thief in prison. |
| Content | Genre: Crime | Characters: Lucky Coyne; Bat Yardley (inmate); Jean Markham [Louella] (introduction); The Bull and his gang (villains, introduction for all) |
| Notes | "Lucky Coyne" is a feature that mostly appears in in Harry Chesler comics, where it is drawn by Frank Frollo. This is its only appearance in an Archie Comic. |
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| Synopsis | Lonesome Luke sends a poem to an editor. |
| Content | Genre: Humor; Western-frontier | Characters: Lonesome Luke |
| Notes | Art in Fred Schwab style.
"Lonesome Luke" usually appears in Harry Chesler comics where he was drawn by Fred Schwab. This is the only "Lonesome Luke" story in an Archie comic. |
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| Comic Story | The Fortune Teller's Revenge (5 pages) |
| Synopsis | A fortune teller is upset that a mystic is ruining her act. |
| Content | Genre: Superhero | Characters: The Mystic [later Kardak] (a magician, introduction); Kardak's fiancee; Chuck (villain); Chuck's gang (villains, introduction for all); Mazie |
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| Featuring | Puzzlettes |
| Content | Characters: Billy the Goat; Jocko |
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| Comic Story | Kornell Goes to West Point (5 pages) |
| Synopsis | Keith Kornell, a physical and mental marvel, a 19-year-old Kentucky mountaineer who is a collateral descendant of President Andrew Jackson and the son of a World War hero, is orphaned at the age of 5, when both of his parents succumbed to the ravages of pneumonia epidemic. Reared by a poor relative, Keith's life is one of dire poverty until a newspaper runs a story on him and he meets an old Army buddy of his father's who is now a U.S. Senator. Keith gets himself admitted to West Point where he further distinguishes himself and soon fights spies. |
| Content | Genre: Adventure | Characters: Keith Kornell [The West Pointer] (introduction and origin); Senator Crockett (introduction); Uncle Joe; John Kornell (Keith's father, cameo in flashback); Ned Norton |
| Notes | Originally credited to Ed Wexler, but compared with his signed story in #3, this is not him. Faces, layout and inking are all different. Looks more like the Wizard story, credited to Edd Ashe in this issue, but uncertain. |
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| Comic Story | The Ice Cream Cone (1 page) |
| Synopsis | Impy learns magic. |
| Content | Genre: Fantasy | Characters: Impy |
| Notes | features Impy from the LITTLE NEMO strip. Bob McCay was the son of Winsor McCay. Another feature that usually appears in Chesler comics. |
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| Featuring | Speaking of Sports |
| Content | Genre: Non-fiction | Characters: Max Schmeling; Joe Louis; Henry Armstrong |
| Notes | Only appearance of the "Speaking of Sports" feature. |
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| Comic Story | Case 1: Master Forgers (6 pages) |
| Synopsis | Roy and Connor solve a check forging ring. |
| Content | Genre: Crime | Characters: Roy; Connor; Torren; Arthur Wick; Joseph Sukup |
| Notes | True-crime story; Story packaged by the Harry Chesler shop. |
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| Synopsis | Pokey forgets what day it is. |
| Content | Genre: Anthropomorphic-funny Animals | Characters: Pokey |
| Notes | "Pokey Forgets to Remember" is a feature that usually appears in Harry Chesler comics. This is its only appearance in an Archie comic. |
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| Text Article | Spouting Wings (1 page) |
| Synopsis | Editorial about what a great comic, Top Notch Comics, is. |
| Featuring | Yours Truly |
| Credits | Pencils: various | Inks: various | Letters: typeset |
| Content | Characters: Impy; Thor; Lucky Coyne; The Mystic |
| Notes | Art may be spot art taken from panels in the stories in this issue. |
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| Credits | Letters:?; typeset |
| Content | Characters: Bob |
| Notes | Home Recordo from Home Recording Co. |
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| Credits | Letters: typeset |
| Notes | Back cover. |
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| The data in the additional content section is courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a
Creative Commons Attribution License.
More details about this comic may be available in their page here |
