[The Australian Panther]

Green Hornet is unusual in that he was created originally as a Radio character.
in the 60's when he had the TV show with Bruce Lee as Kato, I must have been at boarding school or in one of the periods where I had no access to TV. And that that time there was no major comic book version. So the character made little impression on me.
When I see the character in a comic book, it doesn't work for me. One reason is the costume. On Radio it doesn't matter what he wears but in Live Action or a comic book it does. In this story we see him on a walkway in a factory over machinery. He jumps into the air and lands on the machinery all while fighting the clown,. He is able to save both of them from death in the machine. All while wearing a Suit, an overcoat and a scarf and all without losing his hat. Makes me realize why they invented Spandex. 
One thing that stands out for me, and in other stores in the Golden Age is the almost callous disregard for the death of an innocent. The Clown's actions result in the cruel death of the Warden, but none of the characters react to this emotionally at all. This kind of callousness never happened in the Silver age, and maybe the Comic Code is responsible for that.
Gotta say, tho, I'm probably unusual in that I quite liked the Seth Rogan Green Hornet movie. As long-time fans, I understand, did not. But I thought it was fun           

[Captain Audio]

Green Hornet
When I see the character in a comic book, it doesn't work for me. One reason is the costume. On Radio it doesn't matter what he wears but in Live Action or a comic book it does. In this story we see him on a walkway in a factory over machinery. He jumps into the air and lands on the machinery all while fighting the clown,. He is able to save both of them from death in the machine. All while wearing a Suit, an overcoat and a scarf and all without losing his hat. Makes me realize why they invented Spandex. 
         

Then again how often in real life would the average cape wearing super hero end up hanging himself or getting wound up in machinery due to the totally useless ream of fabric hanging off his neck ?

I've seen an image of the result of a mechanic having an unbuttoned shirt sleeve caught up by a rapidly spinning ship's drive shaft, it was horrific to say the least.

[paw broon]

Very true.  Superhero/masked mystery men comics are fiction.  Fantastic fiction.  That's why I love them.  Who on here - well a couple of you perhaps - hasn't wanted to shout kimota or shazam; bang an old cane on the ground; buckle on thor's belt; place an old viking helmet on your napper; rub a sun disc, and change into a superhero?
I may be old but the thought still persists. 
Then there's swinging down from a high building on your bat rope or whip; masked and caped and ready to fight bad guys.  I can't do that, but I can read the comics where heroes can.

[The Australian Panther]

Then again how often in real life would the average cape wearing super hero end up hanging himself or getting wound up in machinery due to the totally useless ream of fabric hanging off his neck ? 

Absolutely. Agreed.
Capes are mostly for the artist. There are so many things you can do with them visually. Actually not a lot of post golden age heroes have capes.

  I've seen an image of the result of a mechanic having an unbuttoned shirt sleeve caught up by a rapidly spinning ship's drive shaft, it was horrific to say the least.

Yes, not nice, so have I.

Who on here - well a couple of you perhaps - hasn't wanted to shout kimota or shazam; bang an old cane on the ground; buckle on Thor's belt; place an old Viking helmet on your napper; rub a sun disc, and change into a superhero?

For me, why comics, why fiction? Well, escape into an imaginary place with an imaginary storyline, so I get lost for a short time, also why superheroes? from which I graduated to Chandler and Hammett and others? A desire to see injustice uncovered, Villains routed, innocents protected, nice girls saved. The World made a better place.
And the more I read, the more I watch [ and this I hope is true] the harder I am to please, because the better my standards get. The Holy grail is still out there. I'm still looking. And still enjoying.
Cheers!             

[gregjh]

Today I'm reading another story of my favourite Golden Age comic: Ghost Rider. GR initially appeared in Tim Holt comics and is based on Rex Fury, who becomes Ghost Rider after being left for dead at the bottom of a waterfall (or something similar, I forget). The evolution of the character is well-detailed by FizzFop.

I plucked out issue 30 of Tim Holt to read this morning.


The story is called "The Claws of Horror" and features a new villain known as The Harpy. It's a fast-moving story featuring a lot of characters for a tale so short, probably because Ghost Rider aka Rex Fury is so well-established within his surroundings and his allies that the plot can simply start rolling from the first panel.
As always with Ghost Rider, the script is well-balanced, detailed enough to serve its purpose without verbosity or impeding the art. Exposition is a little heavy and cheesy but this is normal for comics of this age, I have learnt. Artwork is of a high standard. One thing I appreciated about Claws of Horror is that it's the first time I have not been able to correctly predict who the mystery villain was within the first two pages.

Overall I give Ghost Rider of Tim Holt Comics #30 9/10 but I openly admit I am biased here, GR is close to my heart.

[gregjh]

Today in my reading corner I'm looking at Captain Midnight, a character introduced on the radio, according to Fizzfop, who made it into comic books. As we can see, he is introduced by his friend, the original Captain Marvel. Clearly, CM is a fighter pilot and created during WW2, so it shouldn't need Sherlock Holmes to guess the direction this very first comic story of his will take, but let's see how much fun the story is.


So, Captain Midnight's regular, daytime persona of Captain Albright and some fellow military scientists have designed a "radio controlled bomber" , something that we know today in the real world as a drone. In their excitement, they rush to meet their military chief. One of Albright's crew says "At least we are out here in the middle of nowhere, where we can't be spied on". And with that line, I think you can all guess exactly how the next few pages play out.

Albright's team call their chief but their call is intercepted by the German villains spying on them and they direct the good guys to meet them in a warehouse where they ambush Albright and steal his technology. The next few pages are not so focused on Albright's escape, but his transformation to Captain Midnight and his attempts to stop the Germans   realising CM and Albright are the same person. At this point we are introduced to CM's main weapon, which is a laser that burns a symbol into any surface. The story continues as Albright's team rescue him, retrieve the technology and turn it in to their commander. Albright reveals he knew the original phone call to their commander had been hijacked from the beginning.

So how did I rate Captain Midnight's comic debut? Well, the opening of the plot was above average. The use of a drone, though not original, was interesting and well done. The writer also resisted the lazy tactic of making ze Germans talk in ze very stereotype vay der writers of die comics often use, keeping the German quips to a minimum.

What I didn't like so much is that - ironically after I complained of this week's reading group stories being too short - is that this story was a little too long. The introduction of extra members of CM's team was unnecessary and the issue of trying to keep his dual identity a secret was too protracted, in my view. It also made no sense that CM would know the Germans had set up an ambush and deliberately get himself captured and rescued. 

As for the artwork, I guess it was of a reasonable standard, I never noticed it was especially good or bad.

Overall, I give Captain Midnight 6/10. An enjoyable and professional work of comic art but not to my own tastes. I might listen to a radio broadcast of this character's story, though.

[gregjh]

For the first time in this corner, it's time to return to a character already reviewed. This is because every character on the list has either been reviewed or is not yet available on CBP.

So let's return to a title I reviewed in just one paragraph last time: The Black Terror. This time we are looking at issue 2. The cover is a good indication of the wild, over the top action contained within.




In this comic, BT and his sidekick Tim travel to Asia to help the Chinese prepare for a convey delivery of supplies while the Japanese forces prepare to attack their supply route. The action begins with a minor ambush and a breakdown, in which the BT demonstrates his impressive superpowers by allowing a delivery truck to use him as a ramp!

Things get more ridiculous as BT and his sidekick Tim activate a volcano with an anti-tank gun (you gotta read it), hijack planes in flight and use them to take down the enemy, and rescue a fair maiden. How did they rescue her? Well, her plane exploded in midair but somehow she and her handbag containing a delicate handkerchief survived. But then the Japs capture BT and his lady friend at the exact same time the Chinese prepare a counter-strike. I'll let you read alone to see how it ends but I want to leave you with two quotes from the last two panels that made me smile:

"Helping you Chinese is...helping all lovers of freedom!"  (Black Terror, to a Chinese General). Not sure this comment aged well. (I know, I know, the reds got in after the war)

"All I know is, it would save a lot of trouble if the folks at home bought more war bonds and stamps." (BT?s sidekick, Tim, who looks about 11 years old)

Overall, I give issue 2 of Black Terror 7/10. Even by comic book standards, the action and events are utterly ridiculous and OTT, but unapologetically so. Besides, it's great fun and that's what comics were made for, especially in the Golden Age.