[gregjh]

In this corner I

[gregjh]

Well, not the great start I was hoping for.

Miss Fury 7  (4/10)

I made the mistake of starting at issue 7 as it was shorter. In all honesty I found it dull as dishwater.
The speech bubbles and texts frequently took up over half the panel and threw me into a long, verbose description of a love ....rectangle....and a  long, drawn-out
follow-on to a previous incident. I managed to make it to the end of the issue without seeing Miss Fury do anything but juggle with jealous men and hit someone with her handbag.

Miss Fury 2 (5/10)

Better than 7, a clear storyline to start off with and explanation for Miss Fury's powers. However the issue again descends into tedious, unnecessarily-long exposition
and dialogue including a whole page where Marla (Miss Fury ) finds an excuse to leave a dull conversation at a bar (something I could relate to by that point)


I'm not sure what the author was aiming for and I wonder if she was, either. Miss Fury seems to be a mashup of superhero tale, romance stories and some kind of reflection or
commentary on the life of an upper-class female in the US at the time. Unfortunately to try and balance all these things the writer resorted to painfully long and tedious dialogue bubbles,
exposition and commentary. I won't be reading any further.

[crashryan]

Miss Fury took a definite turn away from superhero adventure, and the change was sudden enough that I wonder if her syndicate told Mills to cut it out and do a standard-issue "female" strip. It appears Mills scripted as well as drew. If so she wasn't the greatest writer. To my mind the earlier action strips were much better than the later ones, but the strip managed to last 10 years (1941-1952) so somebody was reading it.

[The Australian Panther]

It seems clear that Miss Fury, for most of its run, was more of a Soap Opera daily strip than a Superhero strip. Also, the exposition wouldn't have grated so much if you were reading an instalment a day. If you read it in that context, it deserves its reputation. Which is why the revivals of the character, which depict her entirely as a Superhero, disappoint me. What was the audience presumed [ or found ] to be? I would think the same audience that read Mary Worth, Brenda Starr and 'the Heart of Juliet Jones'.
Before mass TV, that was a big audience.   

commentary on the life of an upper-class female in the US at the time

This is 'Glamour'. Which is why many movies and most US TV shows till recently feature good looking people, dressed in expensive clean clothes, drive sports cars, and live in immaculate houses and flats. Completely unrealistic of course. Like um, Flash Gordon? 
It was an element of escapism that the network required.             

[narfstar]

I have the hardback reprinting the start of Miss Fury. Read it years ago but enjoyed it. https://www.comics.org/issue/228927/

[Electricmastro]

Characters published by Holyoke, including ones published by the distinct, yet often connected Temerson:



Source: http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/h/holyoke.htm

[The Australian Panther]

Well they could get images if they used CB+ or GCD. Makes me think this is the work of one individual with limited time. And kudos to her or him.

Also know how many have been appropriated during the Silver Age and more recently.
Catman, Black Widow, Boomerang, Gargoyle, Mr Miracle, Ragman, Solar. Miss Victory.

Cheers!

[paw broon]

Yes, International Hero was started years ago .  One bloke but with help from the online community.  I know him and collaborated early on with the site.  You''ll find my entries, mainly in the British sections.  I wasn't online back then and we did it by sending photocopies in the post.
Bear in mind that GCD is not nearly  complete.  There's a lot of stuff still missing.

[Electricmastro]

Yes, International Hero was started years ago .  One bloke but with help from the online community.  I know him and collaborated early on with the site.  You''ll find my entries, mainly in the British sections.  I wasn't online back then and we did it by sending photocopies in the post.
Bear in mind that GCD is not nearly  complete.  There's a lot of stuff still missing.

And quite in-depth too. I give my thanks to that.

[gregjh]

Spy Smasher 1

A return to form this week in the Fizzfop reading corner. Spy Smasher 1 - stored on the website as a fiche copy which makes it slightly blurry but still readable - is more of a typical comic book: hero quips, villains graciously proving exposition by talking to themselves, a short, tightly-knit story and a hero saving his country.

The brown costume is an interesting choice, I can't decide if I like it or not. The artwork in issue one is hard to assess since the copy is a fiche but it looks consistent and skillful, I like the full page panel towards the end of the first story.

I notice a comment on the issue says "excessive use of passive voice and sentences joined by ellipses". The latter is true, the former I saw no evidence of.

Overall 7.5/10 , will continue reading from issue 2

[Electricmastro]

Well they could get images if they used CB+ or GCD. Makes me think this is the work of one individual with limited time. And kudos to her or him.

Also know how many have been appropriated during the Silver Age and more recently.
Catman, Black Widow, Boomerang, Gargoyle, Mr Miracle, Ragman, Solar. Miss Victory.

Cheers!

And done interestingly art-wise by Jack Alderman:

[gregjh]

The Black Terror #1

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=32167

Wow! This one was fun! Very clear overlaps with Batman and Superman and a precursor for Spider-Man type humor here.

The Black Terror fights evil Nazis (and encourages the purchase of war bonds) in this WW2 era dose of fun as he and his suspiciously muscular child sidekick run out every quip, every ridiculously OTT stunt and gag as they outwit the Nazi villains at every turn to stop them bombing, poisoning or kidnapping. It's tremendous fun and I'll probably read more.

It will be interesting to see the evolution of the character as this kind of one-dimensional action can only hold readers for so long before plots and characters need to get deeper.

[gregjh]

Thanks to everyone who's offered thoughts and feedback so far.

Next on my list is Holyoke's Cat Man. https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=16497

[The Australian Panther]

Little known fact - at least by me until recently- Bob Benton [personal aside- yes Paw I got it!] is a druggist or what we in Australia call a Chemist. The Skull and Crossbones, appropriately, is  the universal symbol for poison. With which a Chemist would be very familiar.
https://www.mysafetysign.com/poison-symbol-history

Whether the writers and artists of 'The Black Terror' ever tied that in with any story, I don't know, having not read many of them.
The most interesting take on 'Black Terror' is what Alan Moore did with him in his 'Terra Obscura' mini-series - which features his takes on most of the Nedor Characers. 
https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Terra_Obscura_(Earth-ABC)

Cheers!

[gregjh]

Cat Man - 6 - na

Cat Man - 7 - 7/10

So Holyoke's issue 6 featured Cat Man on the cover...and then contained a very short story
covering just a few pages with no clear ending. It was just long enough for me to meet Cat Man and Kitten (!) in their costumes,cliches and action style.

Issue 7 was much better, Cat Man and his sidekick niece are transported to an Aztec city and prepared for sacrifice. It contains a whole range of stereotypes, but is also great fun. The color of this issue is deep and rich and the artwork is of good quality. Cat Man  was probably "more of the same"
even in its tritium but I enjoyed it and would happily read more.

The next read in the Fizzfop Corner is based on the channel's latest video and is one I'm looking forward to as my own children are part-Chinese, it's the Green Turtle, an intriguing read for sure.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=38290
 

[gregjh]

Blue Bolt 001 - 7/10
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=73450

How much you enjoy Blue Bolt will depend on the motivation of your comic reading. If, like me, you enjoy the nostalgia of simplistic stories with mostly clear good or bad guys seeing superheroes do cool stuff, you'll enjoy it. If you look for idiosyncratic artwork, unusual takes on storytelling or a niche type of comic, you'll pass on it very quickly.

I fall in to the former category and Blue Bolt for me was short, fun and interesting. The origin story matches Captain Atom for ridiculousness and the artwork ranges from passable to amateurish - the dragons and lightning gun are particularly disappointing - but the relationship between hero and presumed main villain is good and made me want to read at least one more story.

[gregjh]

Belated happy new year to all. Today I read a random issue of DAREDEVIL
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=32984

This Daredevil is unrelated to the modern version owned by Marvel and the only similarity is the gymnastic prowess common to both (and of course, a majority of superheroes). In this issue, Daredevil engages in a murder-mystery plot, low on action until the finale but, unlike many mystery plots involving heroes usually associated with action, this one was genuinely compelling to me, as I was truly confused about what was happening to Tonia as she believed she was becoming an insane split-personality murderer.

The ink work on this comic is rich, colors contrast or blend well, even with age, and the drawings are to my amateur opinion, of top quality even for a professional. The fonts captured the mood well, too.

Overall, Daredevil is an excellent comic (the other stories in the comic are also of high quality) and one that I will read again. Definitely one of the best GA heroes I've read so far.

[Ben]

  Good stuff.

[gregjh]

In today's reading corner I'm looking at the Phantom Lady
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=23766


This comic is a fairly simple plot that works nicely: PL splits up a boxing racket after she and her partner catch them attacking a boxer who refused to take a dive for them. There's not much to say about the plot that anyone who has read more than a couple of GA comics couldn't already predict: but it's scripted well. PL's main weapon is some kind of beam that blinds her enemies, she doesn't appear to posses any other superpowers or weapons.

PL is probably drawn in a way that would have been considered sexy for her time: a costume revealing legs and arms but not overly revealing. In many ways she reminds me of Spider-Woman. She's likeable, possessing the traits of most likeable heroes : charming, smart, flawed, aware of her limitations but also brave. If she were rebooted today, I fear authors of the modern political climate would remove all the positive aspects of her character and make her more like Miss Marvel of the movies: bland, charmless and utterly invulnerable. 

The second story in the comic (not a Phantom Lady story) I could not read as the font switched to something hideous.

Overall, I give Phantom Lady 6.5/10. A good story and character, but one that seems designed to follow very predictable, short plots.

[gregjh]

So my school has finally allowed teachers to take some weird, distantly-remembered thing called a "vacation", and vacation means time for comics...

I randomly picked out a fizzfop video that focuses on a character called "The Hangman". This character is still around, and yet it seems that despite his eightysomething years of existence, he's never had a particularly detailed or enticing backstory beyond vowing to avenge the killers of his brother. I chose a comic at random which happened to be volume 4:
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=22226


I had read a couple of online comments suggesting Hangman was a bit violent for its time and the cover of this volume was certainly eye-catching to say the least!  It's notable how ugly the Nazi characters were drawn.


In this volume the first story is "Mr Howard and The Hunter". Hangman catches a Nazi agent who inadvertently passed his secret briefcase detailing bizarrely specific and incriminating transactions to a fired employee. Hangman engages in a race against a villain called the 'The Hunter' who made me smile because he is dressed as a caveman and wields a spear yet also works as a Nazi agent. Naturally, all the Nazis speak with broken English and insert extra 'v' and long 'e'  sounds in their speech. Hangman eventually outwits The Hunter to capture the briefcase and, presumably, prosecute the agent. A decent story.

The second story "The Cruise of the Skeletons", the tale begins with two sailors who apparently had survived some kind of tropical disease. Hangman is suspicious however and it soon turns out that one of the sailors was up to no good. To prove this Hangman needed to recover....a set of documents....in a file suspiciously similar to the one in the previous story. Hmmm, lazy writing, anyone? To be fair the setting and events are different enough to make the second story readable and enjoyable, too. Throughout both stories, all characters were drawn with a distinct level of talent, their facial expressions in particular are captivating.

I give Hangman 5.5/10. If I'm being honest, there's nothing about this hero that I particularly liked. His costume, his speech, his behavior and his backstory were all lifted from other characters and comics and absolutely nothing here makes it better than those it was taken from. I believe that as with so many comics and characters, Hangman was a product of the age he was created in, his raison d'?tre was to remind everyone that Nazis were bad and in that sense, he succeeded.

[The Australian Panther]

the Hangman on that cover looks just as ugly as the NAZI. They have tried to revive the character a couple of times, Even tho we have these books here, I don't think the characters are PD, MLJ or whoever owns MLJ - Archie?- still own the copyright.
I always felt that that the name limits the character. Unless you have him hang someone every episode, where can you go with the story. And that would be too violent anyway.       

[gregjh]

the Hangman on that cover looks just as ugly as the NAZI. They have tried to revive the character a couple of times, Even tho we have these books here, I don't think the characters are PD, MLJ or whoever owns MLJ - Archie?- still own the copyright.
I always felt that that the name limits the character. Unless you have him hang someone every episode, where can you go with the story. And that would be too violent anyway.     

According to wikipedia it's now "Black Circle Comics", but I think they are related to, or an incarnation of, Archie.

[Captain Audio]

The Hangman reminds me of the guy that beat the crap out of the Comedian in the Watchman movie.

[paw broon]

Oh yes, I like The Hangman.  This issue is a good read, imo. Take a look at the splash page for The Cruise of The Skeletons.  I seem to remember that Marvel had a character, a villain? called The Hangman in Werewolf By Night.
Dark Circle is an Archie imprint.  Used to be Red Circle - there was a good looking "horror" title with a lot of Gray Morrow stories.  Very nice. But Dark Circle just seemed to make things darker and violent and, in my opinion, unedifying. I haven't read Dark Circle's version of The Web, but I shudder at the thought of what they did with him.

[gregjh]

Today I'm reading The Green Hornet. The earliest comic I could find is this one, so that's where I'll start.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=31005

A particularly cool page in this comic introduces the main characters of The Green Hornet's world to newcomers such as myself. This also shows me that the writers didn't want TGH to be a brief flash in the pan.

In the first story The Green Hornet comes up against a homicidal, psychopathic clown (no, not that homicidal, psychopathic clown from comic books) after the clown fools the world's dumbest prison warden into coming into his cell and dismissing his staff. What could possibly go wrong, right? Well the clown knocked out the warden, applied his clown make up to the warden's face and swapped over their clothes. No, seriously, that's how he escaped death row.

In an action packed chase, the Green Hornet pursues the clown and outwits him.

The second story was utterly predictable. It's a tale I've seen repeated in Spider-man and Spider-woman cartoons, comics, episodes of Scooby Doo! and more. It's the tale of Tutankhamen's tomb being opened, an exhibit moved to a museum and a mummy from the tomb committing crimes. Do you even need me to tell you how it turns out? The good thing is the story was very brief, the writers didn't drag it out. And of course, perhaps that tale wasn't so overused in its own time.

I give Green Hornet 7/10. I like the characters and the effort to provide a little more depth to the characters in the story, not only the central character. I'm not sure if I will read more, I think I will return to Ghost Rider soon.