From the misleading outer space cover and the fact this is the last issue, I gather that in 1946 airplanes no longer appealed to kids the way they had during the war. Judging by the ads the publishers hoped Contact Comics would steer readers toward their newsstand magazine.
As others have pointed out, the stories are okay as long as you don't expect too much logic. The first story, Johnny Mace and Co., is the least coherent. Plenty of action, but one head-scratcher follows another. If Barrum is "the most unphotographed man in the world," how does Clix recognize him? Why did Clix have ultraviolet-sensitive film in his candid camera? Above all, what is the number-in-aspirin on Barrum's head all about? Do fifth columnists recognize their comrades by shining ultraviolet lamps on them?
The moon exploration story is interesting. They haven't yet figured out that liquid propellant is good enough for a moon flight. Comics wanted the first moon voyage to be manned. Here the writer presents the more sensible plan--the one that was eventually followed--of sending an unmanned survey craft. The line about searching for stowaways sure comes out of left field! Interesting how the rocket in page 14 panel 6 resembles the one in Frau im Mond, while the moon probe looks like the ship from Weltrauschiff No. 1.
"Ace Diamond" certainly has a high body count. Even in the rough and tumble of the 1946 middle east, I think someone would wonder why planes are being blown out of the sky. Though the art is pretty good, there's zero attempt at a sense of place. The opening caption tells us the story's set in the middle east but the artwork is set in the good old USA. Our "flying detective" (who flies wearing a suit and tie) shows no interest in bringing 'em back alive. Admittedly any Big Boss stupid enough to seek refuge on a burning oil derrick gets what he deserves.
The instructional pages bring back memories of my brief stab at learning to fly. It was my senior year in high school. Our Air Scout group met at a small local airfield. We were all air crazy, and we all signed up for lessons. I put in a number of hours with an instructor but dropped out before soloing. Lessons were expensive and I was saving for college. I never went back. I'm okay with that for the most part, especially when I look at the chaotic skies over Los Angeles. Still, sometimes...a good friend of mine was really bitten by the flying bug. He not only learned to fly, he became an aeronautical engineer, had a long career with Boeing, and restored vintage aircraft on the side.
"The Air Kids" are a dud in my book. The art is the main culprit. The story isn't written all that broadly, and super-exaggerated drawings like page 38, panel 2, are bizarre in context (nice Eisneresque shadow play in panels 3 and 4, though). More logic problems...why the heck do the kids hide in the wind tunnel when it's turned on?? I puzzled over this scene. I think the money box is supposed somehow to be suspended in the moving air. The kids emerge from the tunnel safely--unfortunately not chopped to pieces by the blades--yet the crook is afraid to go in and grab the box. It's all so confusing.
The Sky Rangers story is the most appealing because I'm a sucker for skeleton-filled caves guarded by snakes. I wish the art were better. All the other artists do a respectable job drawing planes, but our heroes' ship is phony mess. I think this would matter in a comic aimed at airplane-happy kids. The writer really has to strain to make the story title pay off. Would a guard die with the safe's combination on his lips? Maybe he'd been repeating it to himself to commit it to memory. And how did the non-surprise bad guy decide "SZGY3" was a combination in the first place? And what is the source of the map which conveniently leads them to the cave? Too many questions...
A final word about Rudy Palais. Recently I've grudgingly admitted he did a few interesting art jobs. For most of my life I've hated him. I encountered his work for the first time at the tail end of his career. He drew one or two Charlton weird stories for Sal Gentile. I didn't know what to make of his ugly, wildly exaggerated figures and his outlandish posing. In an Alter Ego interview Palais seemed like a decent fellow, if a bit self-congratulatory. He said editors loved his stuff back in the day. He may be right. Personally, I have to struggle very hard to give him a break.
Overall the comic is a worthwhile read, with the fact stories more interesting than the fiction.
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Topic: Week 180 - Contact Comics #12 (Read 2962 times)
