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On page 17 in the Dynamo story, one of the hoodlums refers to him as Electro. Harold Weber must have been up late the night that he wrote this script.

Link to the comment: Science Comics 3

SuperScrounge said:

Quote

Ellery Queen Compilation

[Then SuperScrounge reviewed all the stories]

The stories started off okay, but kinda got worse as it went along.

Wow, SuperScrounge, you get a gold star for going above and beyond the call of duty in reviewing all of the stories. Re the stamp one, I too wondered why they didn't come up with a better way to steal the stamp. I was a stamp collector back in my teenage years when I had a lot of penpals, and I would have thought they'd risk damaging both stamps by sticking them together.

I'll make comments about some of the other stories when I wrap up. Have been a bit behind this week.

Re the declining quality, I haven't checked if they had different writers. It's hard to come up with really good mysteries on a consistent basis, especially with a deadline looming. I wonder if they got sourced out to whoever was available, and not all of them were so good at distinguishing between straight crime stories and mysteries?
Cheers
QQ

Weren't all the stories used in Crackajack Comics just comic book adaptions of original stories written by Dannay and Lee?  I imagine Western's adaptation scriptors were given Pulp versions of those stories as guides to adapt.

SuperScrounge said:

Ellery Queen Compilation

[Then SuperScrounge reviewed all the stories]

The stories started off okay, but kinda got worse as it went along.

Wow, SuperScrounge, you get a gold star for going above and beyond the call of duty in reviewing all of the stories. Re the stamp one, I too wondered why they didn't come up with a better way to steal the stamp. I was a stamp collector back in my teenage years when I had a lot of penpals, and I would have thought they'd risk damaging both stamps by sticking them together.

I'll make comments about some of the other stories when I wrap up. Have been a bit behind this week.

Re the declining quality, I haven't checked if they had different writers. It's hard to come up with really good mysteries on a consistent basis, especially with a deadline looming. I wonder if they got sourced out to whoever was available, and not all of them were so good at distinguishing between straight crime stories and mysteries?

Cheers

QQ

I wonder how long it will be until some of those 'publishers' try selling print collections of the scanilations? 

Although I believe that Robb's translations, at least, have copyright protection.

The 3rd Dutch Beeldroman Scanlation has been approved and uploaded.  That CB+ section now has 12 books translated to English uploaded.

GUNS   (1990)
Big Guns and Big ‘Uns!   (5 of 10)

A mobster wants to ship high-tech Chinese weapons to South America-- thru Hawaii-- and so decides to kill several DEA agents there to lure them to Las Vegas, knowing one will come after him, because ten years earlier, he killed her father. What follows involves action, violence, nudity, and occasional comedy (but not really enough of the latter two).

Andy Sidaris is at it again! Dona Spier, Roberta Vasquez, Cynthia Brimhall, Kim Malin, Donna Spangler, Lisa London, Liv Lindeland, Devin DeVasquez... how many Playboy Playmates (and the like) can you squeeze into one film? There's also Erik Estrada as the main baddie, Danny Trejo as his sidekick, George Cheung as his weapons supplier, Bruce Penhall, Michael J. Shane, Chuck McCann, John Brown & William Bumiller as DEA agents (more than usual this time, though some of them get killed off before it's over). The lesson I got from this movie is, if you're a criminal, operate in quiet. If you go out of your way to target cops-- especially Feds-- you might as well just be painting a target on your chest. (Actually, I think that was Lucky Luciano's MO as well.)

"Taryn" (Hope Marie Carlton) left after 3 pictures (perhaps her character made off with so much money she decided it was better to separate herself from all these dangerous DEA missions?) and was replaced with "Nicole" (Roberta Vasquez, who's beautiful, but far more serious, maybe too much so, throwing off the balance the previous films had). "Shane Abilene" (Michael J. Shane) STILL can't hit a moving target, not even with a massive .44 Magnum, prompting Dona to yell at him, "Don't just DO something, STAND there!", before she blows up a mini-plane with a rocket launcher. DEA agent and stage magician "Abe" (Chuck McCann), interrogates 2 thugs and asks, "Do you know what's the difference between a magician and a terrorist? You can negotiate with a terrorist!" When confronted with a pair of sword-weilding ninjas, Donna just SHOOTS them-- the 3rd time such a thing happened in a Sidaris film!

"Edy Stark" (Cynthia Brimhall), who in earlier films ran a restaurant as her cover, moved over to singing in nightclubs, so "Rocky" (Lisa London) took over the restaurant-- an interesting bit of continuity in these things. Edy's role REALLY expanded in this one (and it looks like her breast size did as well, but that may just be her push-up bras). The film opens (and closes) with Edy singing onstage, in what I can only think it a tribute to the Dean Martin-Matt Helm film THE SILENCERS (1966). And it suddenly hits me, lead character "Donna Hamilton" almost has to be a tribute to author Donald Hamilton, creator of Matt Helm!

Looking back over posters for this film, I find the original was quite misleading. It said, "James never had this kind of help!", and pictures a smiling Erik Estrada with Dona Spier & Cynthia Brimhall, as if he were the hero of the picture-- but he's the MAIN BAD GUY!

I wonder why Andy Sidaris didn't have a cameo in this one? (Or did I miss him somehow?)

Robb said:

Ellery Queen #2 (1952) – (Ziff-Davis)
Front Cover
This cover painting, with Ellery bursting into the room, while the villain has raised a red-hot fireplace poker, about to sear the neck of his beautiful victim is bright with colour and full of action and movement.  As was fairly common in the detective/crime genre of comic books at the beginning of the 1950s, the scene didn't actually occur as depicted in the story it represented inside the book.  It's interesting to me that Ziff-Davis, a major US magazine publisher at that time, used their magazine painters to paint illustrations for their comic books, while other prolific magazine and pulp novel publishers, who also started comic book divisions later(like Dell, Ace, Avon, Fawcett, Farrell, Sangor, Pines, Hillman, Arnold, Sangor, did NOT, and Street and Smith, and United Features, only used them on a few books.

Thanks for the extra info, Robb. I really like the cover art. It puts me in mind of the sort of lifestyle magazine illustrations that were popular in the 1950s and 1960s, only they'd be advertising some product or illustrating a 'nice' fictional story rather than having a girl about to be maimed with a red-hot poker.

The Death Parade
The title of this story makes the readers think they will witness a lot of murders and their attendant blood and gore.  But, in this comic book version, we see only the results of 2 murders, and mention of 3 more occurring, but not only don't see them being committed, but don't even see their dead bodies.  So, the "advertising" sensationalist description of "The Parade of Death" on the cover, and "Never has a succession of
corpses come more fast and furious" in the story's introduction narrative, are misleading and disappointing to the blood and gore fetishist and action-based art fan.

I guess this is the comic book equivalent of click-bait. You buy the comic for the promise of the 'Wholesale Homicide' and action depicted on the cover, but the actual stories are more pedestrian.

I didn't understand the exact relationship of Ellery's father (Inspector Queen) to the city police force in this story.  I assume that he is a detective (perhaps the head of the detective department of that city's police force).  But Ellery, a private detective, calls his father to join him in unofficial activities that should be handled by the police, WITHOUT him!  Such situations wouldn't occur in real life.

Yes, it's not really made clear in the comic. My recollection is that Richard Queen is just an inspector with the police and that he brings in Ellery to help solve the case. Doesn't happen in real life so much, though I'm sure the police would bring in consultants at times. However, without the amateur detective (or private eye) butting in, the police wouldn't solve half the fictional cases they're given 

Smythe of Scotlandyard - 1-Page Gag
A weird "comedic" gag that is a Vaudeville 2-man stand-up early 1900s routine.  I suppose this was thrown in as light relief from the "heaviness" of the general subject matter of this book.  But I think it is very much out of place.

Yes, probably just meant to be some light entertainment, but it's pretty corny and seems out of place given the readership they seem to be aiming at with the cover.

Overall Assessment
Not a very interesting read, as there's a lot less fun in just reading a bland account of what happens in crime cases, without being able to test one's skills of finding clues to mysteries, screening what is known or implied about characters who are potential perpetrators of the crime, putting them together, and predicting who committed the crime, how it was committed, and how it will be solved.

Yes, I think we're all agreed that there is not much in the way of clue-finding. The Crackajack collection is better at that. Thanks for your comments.

Cheers

QQ

Panther said:

Re the TV show, I didn't know it existed, would have been in the period when regular TV watching was not a part of my life. I am tho, a fan of Tim Hutton's Nero Wolfe series. I have most of them on DVD - probably some I haven't watched there. Have to dig those out again!
Here is the Pilot of Jim Huttons Ellery Queen.
Ellery Queen - Pilot - "Too Many Suspects"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgpz2tW-REU
As was the custom, it's a 1 hour 38 minute movie with lots of 'Guest Stars'
[Ray Milland, John Hillerman, John Larch, Monte Markham]
This is worth watching for the opening sequence demonstrating the recording of a radio drama in 1947. A an absolute gem of a sequence.

Thanks for digging up that link, Panther. I remember the Ellery Queen TV show and could never understand why it was cancelled. There was a real interaction between Ellery and the audience in working out the clues. I loved it.

The Death Parade What does the title have to do with the story?

It's a bit obscure, but maybe it's just meant to refer to the fact that there were a series of murders. I agree it's not the best title.

Reading it now and as I do, I'm wondering why the candidate was in the back seat. A dead giveaway.
The four panel page layouts are interesting. Concentrates the narrative without many details.
So there is not really any mystery, no suspense and too many coincidences are needed  to Jam the mystery into 12 pages. Yes, the art is technically very good but the whole thing is very disappointing.

I think most of us agree it wasn't much of a mystery. Twelve pages aren't a lot of space, but I've seen stories that have fewer pages than that do a better job of placing the clues. It reads more like a crime story rather than a mystery.

A Killer's revenge
The Splash panel has one of the things that I keep threatening myself to start a thread about.
That is, the apparent inability of so many artists to draw a hand holding a gun and firing it, that would actually hit something.
In this image, the gun is falling out of his hand and he's aiming into the ground. And no, he doesn't appear to be injured while he is firing. The 'Posse' coming over the hill don't even appear to have started firing yet.   

I hadn't noticed that until you pointed it out. At first, I thought he was falling down, but Ellery's tied to a tree, so he hasn't done anything to the crook.

Re the 'CrackerJack Funnies' material, all the Ellery Queen stories have on the splash Page,
COPR. 1940 by R.S. Callender
This is what GCD has to say about this gentleman.
Quote
When Western Printing produced comic book content that was not a licensed property, it was copyrighted in the name of Robert S. Callender (or, sometimes, Oskar Lebeck, e.g. Animal Comics, a Lebeck project). Callender was not the writer. He was Western Printing's copyright holder.

Robert S. (Bob) Callender, b. 1913, youngest child of Gene Callender of Racine, Wisconsin society, was an executive at Western Printing. On Oct. 9, 1937 Mr. Callender married Wynnefred Wadewitz, b. 1916, daughter of Edward H. Wadewitz.

Robert S. Callender's father-in-law, Edward H. Wadewitz, had risen by initiative to be the secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Western Printing & Lithographing Company: he was a moving spirit in the development, enlargement and control of that undertaking.

Robert S. Callender (Mr. Wadewitz's son-in-law) was the Managing Editor and Business Manager for Whitman Publishing Co., Poughkeepsie, N.Y., owned by Western Printing and Lithographing Company of Poughkeepsie, N.Y.   

Now surely, Ellery Queen stories were copyright?
Put that together with the apparent fact that,
Quote
"I [JVJ]  was told by Herb Rogoff that the Ellery Queen content was provided intact to Ziff-Davis by the Queen estate"

Sounds like you've uncovered a better mystery there, Panther. Thanks for your comments and extra bits of info.

Cheers

QQ

Hi everyone

Australian Panther and Morgus both mentioned 'Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine', which started in 1941 and is still going. It's one of the most highly-regarded mystery/crime magazines. Here's a link to their site:

https://www.elleryqueenmysterymagazine.com/

Morgus also mentioned 'Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine', which started in 1956 and is also still going. Here's the link to that:

https://www.alfredhitchcockmysterymagazine.com/

Interestingly, both magazines were bought by Dell Publishing. Apparently, Dell published three Ellery Queen comics in 1962, but we don't seem to have them on CB+. It would be interesting to compare.

Cheers

QQ

Yeah, that was a great show. Shame it didn't last longer.

Almost completely unrelated... the late Jim Hutton's son Tim Hutton was on the show Leverage and in one episode the team was at a costume party where everyone was dressed as different detectives, and Tim's character was dressed to look like the Jim Hutton version of Ellery Queen. A nice tribute to his dad. 

Yes, I really liked that show. I wonder why they only did one season? I haven't seen Leverage. I don't think it was shown here, but thanks for the info. I always love a bit of movie or TV trivia. My best category in Trivial Pursuit is Entertainment