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[MarkWarner]

For some reason most of the reading group did not turn up last week! So the Cicso Kid has been barely touched. I hope everyone has a good excuse and a note explaining their absence! Plus, they are expected to catch up!

This week is something that was suggested nearly a year ago, which I have just found. Apologies!

If the reading group reappears this week I thought that our next read would be a comparison. But I think we need a few people to make that work well so fingers crossed that the wanderers (or is that wonderers?) return.

So this week's book is https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=3408. The main story we are concentrating on is the first one "The Missing Ration Books" featuring "The Key"!
   

[SuperScrounge]

The Missing Ration Books - Odd story. The implication is that the key gives him great power which seems to be limited to "throwing it at someone like a bolo or lasso", not quite the "great power" I was expecting.

Dick Dash - "The Nazis can't hurt me! My country's not at war!" Wow, that's naive.

Naval Guns - Interesting.

Key Korn - Eh.

A Soldier - Okay.

The Will O' The Wisp - Eh.

The Curse Of The Fortune Teller - Could have used a better editor as they goofed up on the fortune.

Mascot Monkeyshines - Cute, not great, but okay.

[betaraybdw]

The Key -  hmmmm...   Ummmm.... yeah, no.  One of the worst hero ideas EVER  he is well and properly placed in the The League Of Regrettable Superheroes (LRS) http://comicsalliance.com/jon-morris-league-of-regrettable-superheroes-interview/


Dick Dash - so annoying that I was rooting for the Nazis, hoping they'd shoot him and be done with it.

Naval Guns Through the Ages - This I liked

Gale Leary, the Will O' the Wisp  ---  still not sure what to think about this one, though I like her apparent ruthlessness towards the end of the story ( I believe she is an LRS member too. )

The Curse of the Fortune Teller  _   "O.K. Nazis-- stop or be stopped!"  Sigh... come on, would the Gerries REALLY land three guys with such thick accents (and itchy trigger fingers) to do a clandestine mission in NYC?

Mascot Monkey Shines  -  could not get through this part  or the other humor sections

Overall a painful experience.  NFL Superpro would be an improvement over this.

[crashryan]

Even during the try-anything days of the Golden Age, someone had to have realized there's no future for a hero whose only "power" is the ability to throw a giant key with a string attached. It's ludicrous to see a crook with a cord around his wrist howling like he's been grabbed by an octopus. Well, they found out quickly enough...this concept lasts exactly one more issue. Then Dr Quick is reduced to hosting unrelated stories featuring keys. His Faithful Indian Companion is never seen again. The artwork is okay but the story is a grade-F dud.

"Dick Dash" enjoys nice artwork. I don't know who Harold DeLay is, but he has a kind of H. C. Kiefer vibe that works well with the story. The story is a minor wish-fulfillment tale. A bit sad, though, in its naivete. I can't believe the last page, when the writer suddenly remembers he's lost track of Philippe! I would have expected this to be fixed in the script stage.

"Naval Guns": nice drawings of cannon."Key Korn": This page of gags looks as if it's supposed to be a narrative because it's done in panels. I don't understand the one with the horse. It took a while to figure out that the tailor joke refers to supporting the war effort by cutting consumption of materials. "A Soldier": no big deal.

"Will o' the Wisp": the origin is something of a stretch ("...to keep the kid quiet I'll give her this willow branch to play with."). In future episodes Gale's branch gains vague supernatural powers. At least it isn't tied to a string. Gale herself is a bit cold, but I'll accept that considering she's avenging her murdered mother. Chu Hing's artwork is very good.

"Curse of the Fortune Teller": I agree with an earlier comment that the Nazis should have sent spies with American accents. However in wartime comics Nazis always spoke with German accents, even home-grown ones. I'm reminded of an old B-western set in modern times (the 1940s) in which a gang of spies holds the hero at gunpoint. He escapes by yelling "Heil Hitler!" causing all the spies to drop their guns and make the Nazi salute.  Anyway, two things irk me about this story. First, the one spy is ridiculously trigger-happy. None of the gang's troubles would have happened if he'd only kept it in his pants. Second and worse, the gypsy never says a spy will "die by breaking." She only describes one death before Itchy pulls his trigger. Fire this editor, please. So-so artwork.

"Mascot Monkeyshines": I know, I know, a relic of its time and all that. Still, the running joke about Hooch wanting to demonstrate that monkeys are superior to "Jap monkey men" pushes the limits of my tolerance. The cartooning isn't that bad. It looks worse than it is because of the huge, sloppy lettering.

Funny that The Key never appeared on the cover of his own comic. What can I say? Babes sell.

[narfstar]

The first time I read the story of The Key I loved it. Why because I love oddball superheroes. He immediately took his place at the top of the world's dumbest superpower list, and remains. Even Matter Eater Lad was more useful than this guy. I do not care for the plethora of powerless superheroes of the golden age. I never really considered just putting on a suit as a qualification to be a superhero. I accept it as golden age cannon but it was never my first choice. I do consider Batman a superhero because he has surpassed just a suit. Even most of the powerless superheroes could beat The Key. The main power of the key is that it glows when there is trouble. The throwing it on a string is not even effective. It can be cut or easily slipped out of. Oh well they also had Indian Sand. I loved it because it was just so dumb.

[Morgus]

ah, another cover that has NOTHING to do with the story at hand...might have made The Key even better if a blonde with great legs was smacking guys out...BUT...we have what we have, and that was CURIOUS...perspective was pretty wonky in this one...backgrounds would go straight up with alarming tilts at the damndest times....the drawing was average most of the times, but seemed to vary...two artists, or just a short deadline? Meanwhile, how many stock characters can you get into one story? Irish cop? Stoic native, Sneering crook..Inflation has REALLY hit America since then...TEN WHOLE BUCKS for ration cards, huh??? We'll be rich, rich, I tells ya, rich!!! .I wish the workings of the key itself was as interesting as the rest of the gear...stone vials?? Authentic Indian sand?? Boy howdy...

[paw broon]

Well, this is an odd one.  The first story is not well drawn but the idea of a "hero" who has no need for superpowers, mask or costume while having an almost useless gimmick is silly enough to make me read more.  But that was a mistake as the story is not well done either. It's all a bit jerky with that sudden change of scene halfway through our page 3.
I read with amazement the gimmick of the key and wonderd if it was supposed to be mystical or magical.  but no, it's just a key on a bit of string.  And he's surprised when the bad guy cuts the string. Eh?
I didn't understand why the petrol coupons were being sold in a school, especially a school with no sign of students.
Dick Dash is a bit better done but the "Boche" seem particularly useless riflemen as they always seem to miss.
But narfstar hit the nail on the head about oddball superheroes and I agree that The Key shopuld have pride of place at the top of the world's dumbest superpower list.
For that alone, the comic was worth a read.
I followed  Kracalactaka's link to the regrettable superheroes interview and it was entertaining.  But,imo, some of the heroes mentioned are not regrettable in the slightest.  Although Dr. Hormone sounds as if he should be regretted, Fatman regrettable?  I think not.

[MarkWarner]

I have absolutely no idea what this book is going to be like, but judging a book by its cover I think it'll be really cool!

Well, after finishing the first story I am not so sure about this book's coolness. All the Indian key business is very silly. I had a vision of Red Indians moving across the plains carrying keys and matching doors with them. As it was my fears about too much "redskin" language were borderline. There was a fair bit!   

I was hoping Dick Dash would  prove better, but I am afraid it didn't. Stories about brave American boys during the U.S.'s neutrality, even after all these years touches a raw European nerve. The one page article abourt ship's guns was inoffensive and hopefully marks the upturn in this book! What?? Um ... what is Key Korn about? It totally baffled me.

Got half-way throught "A Soldier" text-story and (yawn) gave up.

Now this looks rather intriguiing the debut of Gale Leary  "The Will O' the Wisp" by Chu Hing. Nope, that was the worse story so far. This book is really not doing it for me! Hopes now hang on "The Curse of the Fortune Teller".

"Vy der Reading Group read this? Vhat fools ve vere! Dat mast haff been worse story dat ve ever read!"

This was wartime so we'll draw a discreet veil over "Mascot Monkey Shines".

Verdict: A MASSIVE FAIL! Of course we have to place everything in its historical context and give some slack. But apart from a great cover this book offered nothing!

[paw broon]

Mark mentions the page on naval guns and some of you might be interested in the history of the carronade and produced from the 1770's just down the road from me in the Carron area of Falkirk:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carronade

[narfstar]

My recommended reads are not always good reads. I guess my judgement is clouded by my love for the obscure and oddball.