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THE AVENGERS:  The LittleWonders
Gangsters’ Convention   (6 of 10)

A group of gang leaders from around the world, all using being members of the clergy as a cover, meet in London, apparently to work out certain problems between them, but also to pick a new leader, as the one in charge has been given only a few weeks to live by his doctor.  But unknown to them (or Steed), certain parties involved have plans to eliminate most of them and take over the entire organziation.

David Bauer (DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) is “The Bishop Of Winnipeg”, who, in the tradition of Charlie ‘Lucky’ Luciano, has organized various criminal gangs so that they operate under a strict code of behavior, and run things like a business.

Lois Maxwell (14 JAMES BOND movies!) is “Sister Johnson”, The Bishop’s right-hand and apparent nurse.  I didn’t recognize her at first, until I heard her VOICE.  This and the “Interlude In Venice” episode of THE SAINT are the only times I’ve seen her playing a genuine villain, and both episodes have a major surprise in the last act as to exactly what she’s up to.

Kenneth J. Warren (THE AVENGERS:  Epic!) is “Fingers”, one of the gang leaders, who turns out to be even more ambitious and ruthless than his fellow criminals.

Tony Steedman (GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT) is “Beardmore”, on the surface, The Bishop’s doctor, who has sadly given him maybe a week to live.  But aside from that, he’s also involved in smuggling highly-classified info on microfilm, and, is not on the up-and-up with some of his medical diagnoses.

Harry Landis (SHERLOCK HOLMES: The Mazarin Stone) is “Harry, Archdeacon of Bankok”, one of the more colorful of the gang leaders.

Steed goes undercover as the replacement for a gang boss who recently died, while Cathy is given charge of a valueable, 80-year-old doll, which allegedly needs repair.  But what IS really going on at the Doll Repair shop?  Things take a shocking turn when, two-thirds of the way in, most of the cast is wiped out by machine-gun fire, with Steed luckily only taking a bullet wound in the shin.  At the climax, Steed and his “girlfriend” Cathy (who he wound up kissing to convince others that’s who she was) save The Bishop’s life, making them look very good in his eyes… until he finds out they’re not who they pretend to be.

"Ghost Bandits" drawn by George Olesen.

Link to the comment: The Hawk 3D 1 (diff ver)

Jon Juan (Toby, 1950 series) #1 (Spring 1950)
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=1829

Since we are concentrating on covers. There is a whole art to covers which is its own genre.
These books and magazines were on racks and shelves with maybe up to 50 other comics and mags. In order to sell, they had to grab attention. More on that later.
This one looks like it's inspiration was in movie theatre posters. At first glance, It's not spectacularly memorable. However,
How can I say this politely? Thinking about it and examining it closely, it does get the theme across very effectively and quite subliminally.  I can see why Alex Schomburg was renowned for his covers.
An aside;-
John Juan has an origin in which he is frozen inside a glacial iceblock and ' John lived and lived and lived! Not merely for days... or years... but centuries.'
Now, it's clear than Both Jack Kirby and Stan Lee were well aware of what was in the books of other publishers. And being that this was a work by Jerry Siegal, please don't try to tell me that this was just co-incidence.
To quote the guy with the pointy ears, 'Fascinating!'             

edwardreece, G'day! G'day!

looking forward to reading the Fawcett and Quality collections

Well, that'll keep you busy for quite a while for a start.

Ditko?

Over in the compilations section,
  https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=1990

You'll find
The Steve Ditko Charlton Collection
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=3779

No less than seven Volumes of Ditko goodness!
Well, you asked for it!

cheers!

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE:  The Killer
Hitman Hotel   (6 of 10)

A professional hit man is scheduled to arrive to do a hit.  Jim’s mission is not only to prevent it, but to learn who his employer is.

Robert Conrad (THE WILD WILD WEST) is “Eddie Lorca”, a professional contract killer who likes to improvise by choosing where he stays and how he kills at random, at the last minute, which makes things challenging for Jim’s team.  Jim and a large numer of un-named assistants set up shop at a hotel with all its identification removed, so they can generate the name of whatever hotel Lorca picks out of the phone book at random on the building and all its paperwork, towels, and so on.  Then it’s a matter of making sure the job is finished by the time Lorca’s cab (driven by Paris) arrives.

Davis Roberts (WESTWORLD) is “William Barton”, Lorca’s target.  Barney takes his place and sets up a dummy in his hotel room, figuring on a head shot, but not expecting an entirely-different method of murder.

Byron Morrow (2 different Admirals on STAR TREK) is “Alfred E. Chambers”, who only has the briefest of cameos when it’s revealed he’s “Scorpio”, Lorca’s regular employer.

Leslie Ann Warren (VICTOR/VICTORIA) is “Dana Lambert”, the new regular IMF team member.  I’ve read some fans complaining that she’s too young for this show, but after only one episode, I have no problem with her.

I was not surprised that this was Arthur Weiss’s 1st (of episodes on the show, as several things in the writing strongly suggested somebody new was taking a whack at it here.  To start off, a short prologue is followed by the Mission recording, BEFORE the usual opening credits!  Later, the entire situation with the hotel was far simpler while also somehow more absurd than the usual thing from Jim Phelps, and, there were more unexpected glitches as the plan unfolded than usual, like Willy losing Lorca in traffic, or Barney almost getting blown up in the hotel room.  (Weiss had previously written the “Visitors From Beyond The Stars” episode of THE TIME TUNNEL, the first outragiously “sci-fi” story on that show’s run.)

I suspect a big part of this may be that series creator Bruce Geller was finally BANNED from the Paramount lot about this time.  Somebody wanted to make a point that it was a whole new era for the show, for good or bad.

Out of all the episodes I’ve watched so far, this one was the most familiar to me—simply because it was re-written & re-used as the pilot for the 1988 revival series, with John De Lanci taking Robert Conrad’s place as the killer, who, in that story, WAS “Scorpio”.

Welcome edwardreece.  Glad you found your way here.
You've picked some real quality material to dig into.  But have a good look round the site as there is so much stuff and you might find other characters and titles to enjoy.

It's a clever idea for a reading group.
The "Screaming Skull" was brilliantly cheesy. A spoof of Indiana Jones about 30 years before Indiana Jones was a thing. (Just kidding, I know the "treasure in the jungle" trope is ancient.).I loved the artwork here.  I also enjoyed the men's girdle, sorry I mean the "health supporter belt" advertisement. Did that ever catch on? Were men 30-50 the target age for these comics?

HI. I'm new to the site and am looking forward to reading the Fawcett and Quality collections. Also great to see the Charlton's from the 60's - a lot of great Steve Ditko stuff there.

I had a quick browse and found a detailed interview with Alan Moore and an article on Lord Dunsany. So there is obviously excellent material for research and information on the comic, literacy and Science Fiction worlds.
With 90+ issues of 60 plus pages each. (5400 pages), to be of maximum use, the Title really needs its own searchable index. Its a valuable resource.
The fact that CB+ hosts fanzines is a definite plus. The site is PD, which limits the books we can host, but most members and lurkers are also interested in comic lore and history post PD time. 'Silver age' and on.
And the connection of titles characters, genres and creators from the 'Golden Age' to the further saga of the comic book world.
Thanks to the Lonely Planet guys for making the zine available and well-done Paw for your hard work and zeal.
cheers!       

50 issues of journey Planet on site now:-
https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=3830
Includes a Dredd issue and Battle weekly.