[MarkWarner]

I hope all the members of the reading group survived last week's double helping of romance, which was served up courtesy of our St. Valentine's Comparison. It certainly generated some very interesting comments, and I think a tinge of regret from those of us who missed "the swinging fifties".

Thankfully my pleas for suggestions have been answered (BUT PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING). I plucked this one off the list, as it looked a bit different. A U.S. landscape comic with an intriguing title. So this week, the book is "Johnny Starboard and the Underseas Pirates". This can be found at https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=39892 . It's a cover to cover read, but there are only 24 pages and they are 1/3 size.

[SuperScrounge]

Ummmm, yeah. Felt like one of the lesser stories from an anthology rather than the lead. Okay story, but what kind of relationship do Johnny & his sister have? That seems an oddly close brother & sister. The head of the pirates was soooooo obvious he practically had a neon sign flashing "Villian! Villian! Villian!"

[narfstar]

This one of the most predictable of predictable.  All I could think of was why does the sub not submerge deeper. Oh yeah, because that would have meant the end of our hero. One of the things that struck me as different was the hit on the head. I was amazed at how many super, superheroes were knocked out by a hit on the head in GA stories. Not Johnny, he just shrugs it off. That difference was the best part of the story for me.

[crashryan]

Wel-l-l-l-l...

A comment on another Vital Publications book says these landscape format comics were produced to be given away by merchants, like Dell's March of Comics series. A compact forty-five-second read that doesn't leave much to comment upon.

Narf and Supes have already presented the main points. The surprise villain is surprisingly unsurprising. Johnny is tough enough to weather not one but two thwacks on the skull. This doesn't quite make up for the fact that E. C. Stoner draws him in such a way that Johnny seems to be wearing lipstick. It's nice to know that Johnny will never lack a date as long as his sister is around.

It's funny that the pirates dress in old-fashioned costumes. Their Phrygian caps make them look like refugees from the Reign of Terror.  E. C. Stoner's art is serviceable but he doesn't put much effort into the sub or Johnny's cruiser.

A resounding "meh" on this one.

[Morgus]

The ship docked at Clich

[MarkWarner]

Looking at the cover and inside cover page of Johnny Starboard and the Underseas Pirates, I can find no clue how this was distributed. I assumed I'd see a shoe company's advertisement or something similar, but I drew a blank.

We start off with some reassurance:

"Don't worry! They won't find us this time! We are taking a secret route that no one knows about!"

And to be honest, this does seem a lot better than the alternative: "taking a secret route that everyone knows about".

But ,as it happens a bunch of submariners are in on the secret as is their torpedo and subsequent machine-gun. The net result of which is that Johnny Starboard is going to single-handedly take on a submarine full of murderous pirates.

"Sooner or later that sub is going to have to come up for air --- and that's when I'll go into action."

I got news for your Johnny Starboard, you might be waiting quiet some time, they don't have to pop up every 15 minutes for a gulp of air! Also Johnny, although I am not a firearms expert but I am pretty sure that even if you had a gun a few hours in the sea would hardy enhance its performance. But wow (and a bit POW!!), he proves he doesn't need a gun anyway.

Verdict: A big hit. I really enjoyed this, despite the fact that the pirates in their hats bear more than a passing resemblance to Snow White

[John Kerry]

I know this one is year old but better late than never. It is possible that blank page at the back was meant for a store's stamp.