For an anthology comic, Pep Comics seems like it was a tremendous value in its day. It's very entertaining to read as long as one recognizes certain descriptions and epithets (and stereotypes) to be part and parcel of the era in which the stories were published.
First, I'd like to suggest some corrections to the notes at the bottom of the page. I'm not sure why the Press Guardian story, clearly credited to Mort Meskin in the first panel is attributed to Bob Hughes on the questionable basis of passive voice. Similarly, why ignore Lin Streeter's byline on the Fu-Chang story? And again, since Sam Cooper was well-known for Bentley of Scotland Yard, why credit that story to Bob Hughes?
Next, I'd like to share some comments story-by-story.
Peril in Puerto Rico features The Shield and foreshadows at least one scene in the narrative introduction text. So, that scene wasn't unexpected. However, there was nothing to prepare me for the paralyzing ray and the counter to the paralyzing ray. Still, for all my triggers versus my suspended disbelief, this was a solid early superhero story.
The Comet is a hero I liked in his Impact Comics rebirth and I still like in these original stories. I really like that glass is counter to his disintegrator ray. And where I questioned the green and yellow paletter that looked like a polluted river in Pep Comics #1, I feel like the green and yellow paletter conveyed the Everglades nicely in this story.
The Knock-Out is a funny animal story told in rhyme. As such, I thought it was tremendous fun.
The Rocket and Queen of Diamonds -- The script seems like a doppelganger for a John Carer of Mars story. The character, The Rocket, seems modeled on Buster Crabbe, but neither the pencils or he ink actually pull it off.
When Redmen Rode --This text artcile is blatant (but interesting) propaganda with no hint of the Native American side of the story. Warning to readers: The article uses terms for Native Americans considered offensive today.
Kayo Ward -- This story and its predecessor are like telegraphed versions of the John R. Tunis and Jackson Scholz sports adventures I read as a kid. I'm delighted to read this storys in this anthology.
Sergeant Boyle doesn't really grab me, but I loved the visuals in the last panel of page 37 or our 68. Because Boyle was wearing a brown uniform and the telegraph pole would have likely been brown, it was hard to see the perspective as our "hero" at the top of the telegraph pole. It looked like he was just cradling the cross-piece.
The Great Spies in History feature was a nice one-pager on Benedict Arnold's British counterpart, Major Andre.
Press Guardian makes me wonder if I'm the only one who thinks of this as a Green Hornet in miniature. I loved the cinematic window-smashing scene in the last and enlarged panel of 44/68 in our PDF.
Fu-Chang is the kind of entertaining comic I'd love to see as an old movie serial. I would have preferred the story if Fu Chang had used his wits to choose the chess pieces to be activated, but it was still entertaining, even with the literal deus ex machina.
The Midshipman was primarily a story designed to set up the moral lesson at the end.
Bentley of Scotland Yard didn't really offer enough clues or red herrings to be interesting as a detective yarn, but it had an interesting resolution that made it worthwhile. After reading two of these stories, it appears the formula is going to be the monster of the issue for this feature. (smile)
All in all, I enjoy this combination of characters and genres. I've always heard of Pep Comics and figured it was mostly humor. I was wrong.
Link to the book:
Pep Comics 02
