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[The Australian Panther]

Well for this selection I'm going to go with NarfStar's suggestion and nominate the Australian Character Silver Starr.
There is one story here.
King Size Comic 24
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=73290

There is another here
Silver Starr Super Comic 06
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=76840

and for comparison I'm going to include another Aussie comic,
Silver Flash 035
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=28497

So Stanly Pitt and Gavan Reilly. Quite different artists and creators.
I'm not going to open by saying much, there is already information from me in the comments sections under all three books.
As per usual, feel free to comment on anything or everything in the books as the spirit moves you.

Cheers!     

[gregjh]

Is this #237 or #238? Either way, I'm onboard and will be reading this weekend!

[The Australian Panther]

Either I'm coming down with premature Alzheimer's or I am just writing too fast.
Put the wrong number in the header and wrote Sliver Starr. Actually Sliver Starr could have been an interesting character - sort of cross between Flash Gordon and Conan? Oh, wait! Isn't that John Carter of Mars?

Cheers! 

[SuperScrounge]

The Gnome Forest - Not bad, good art, entertaining story.

Silver Starr Super Comic - Pretty much the same as above, although I think the story here was a little weaker. Dyson seems to be quite the ladies man. Why would a villain's back-up fortress be more opulent than his normal fortress? You'd think it would be the other way around.

Silver Flash - Okay. Art's rougher than the Silver Starr stories, but it did the job. The story seems rushed at points and the character names seem beyond lazy, but otherwise readable.

[Robb_K]

Well for this selection I'm going to go with NarfStar's suggestion and nominate the Australian Character Silver Starr.

King Size Comic 24
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=73290

Silver Starr Super Comic 06
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=76840

and for comparison I'm going to include another Aussie comic,
Silver Flash 035
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=28497 

King Size Comic 24
The artwork in the Silver Starr story in this book is excellent.  However, I'm not very happy with the uneven level of line reproduction and lack of shading on many pages.  I also have problems with a lot of extra reading that doesn't help the story move forward, because much of the narrative text describes exactly what we are seeing in the panels' drawings, and so, lots of space is wasted, that could, instead, be used to provide the reader with additional information in the form of narrative text, or be used to add more drawn "visual information" inside existing panels, or to add additional panels.

As to the story, itself, it has the usual problems I have with adventure fantasy that poses as "science fiction", with only a slight connection to the laws of science as understood during my youth.  I already knew, by age 6 or 7, that it wasn't likely that a random planet (even a random life-bearing planet), which, a priori, would have had a different geological and climatological history, would have the same, exact atmosphere as we have on Earth, allowing Earthlings travelling there to breathe its air for extended periods without using a spacesuit and helmet providing a proper level of oxygen, and the suit fitted with a pressure adjustment. By the age of 9, I knew about how life forms develop to adjust to a planet's existing conditions. 

Silver Starr Super Comic 06
Again, the artwork is great.  And, unlike the former, the line reproduction in this book is very good, and consistent. And there is a good amount of blacks and shading, to make the contrast much better, and make it easier to see what is happening in the panels.  The story has a similar, standard 1940s adventure-fantasy style, which I don't enjoy all that much, when my knowledge of science must be suspended.  The back stories in these two books were hardly touched upon.  It's really difficult for me to escape from my own existence, and "live inside these stories", as should be done when watching a good film, reading a good novel or short story, or reading an epic comic book adventure story.  I don't feel the emotions of any of the characters, because I don't know much about what happened before, or where I am, or why things are happening.

Silver Flash 035
This story was well drawn, as well, despite being drawn in a more sketchy, less finished style.  But that gives its action scenes a feeling of more movement.  This story had a lot better shading, use of dark and light, and gradations of darkness, which makes the action easier to see, and separates the animated figures from their backgrounds much better.  The story is a good one, and is a LOT more believable than the two Silver Starr stories.  And that isn't so necessary.  The authors of Silver Starr COULD have brought in more science, and made their story more plausible, by setting up the rules of that outer space "Universe" despite scientists of the day knowing less than we know now.  But they didn't provide much background at all.  Maybe one reason for that is that these stories are reformatting of a newspaper comic strip with ongoing adventure stories?

In any case, "Silver Flash" was much, much more enjoyable to me than the "Silver Starr" stories. 

[gregjh]

I read King Size Comic #24. I have to concur with Robb's more-qualified opinion both on the artwork and the story.  I always understood the purpose of a comic to be telling a story with pictures supported by words. This one, however, relies on words equally, if not more, than pictures. I'm guessing that's because the writer doesn't have full confidence in his own story.

I'm not sure if even my 11 YO self would enjoy the comic but perhaps I would have: although everything is a bit of a mess, there's everything a good kid's story could hope for: giants, spaceships, lazers, mysterious worlds, dinosaurs, superheroes with special weapons, etc. The final storyline is actually quite good but the sequence of events and character interactions seems a little rushed and random. It's like taking lots of quality ingredients from various recipes, throwing them all together and hoping something delicious turns out: the results is just going to be a little bit weird and confusing.

[Robb_K]

I read King Size Comic #24. I have to concur with Robb's more-qualified opinion both on the artwork and the story.  I always understood the purpose of a comic to be telling a story with pictures supported by words. This one, however, relies on words equally, if not more, than pictures. I'm guessing that's because the writer doesn't have full confidence in his own story.

I'm not sure if even my 11 YO self would enjoy the comic but perhaps it would: although everything is a bit of a mess, there's everything a good kid's story could hope for: giants, spaceships, lazers, mysterious worlds, dinosaurs, superheroes with special weapons, etc. The final storyline is actually quite good but the sequence of events and character interactions seems a little rushed and random. It's like taking lots of quality ingredients from various recipes, throwing them all together and hoping something delicious turns out: the results is just going to be a little bit weird and confusing.

THAT'S the problem in a nutshell.  BOTH Silver Starr stories suffer from the same problems: lack of introduction of the characters and their motivations, and lack of providing a good description of the setting, as well as developing the plot slowly while all that information is weaved in seamlessly, and then changing the story pacing by adding some suspense, and then speeding up the pace towards the climax (showdown).  This all seems to have been caused by the editors doing an inadequate (extremely poor) job of adapting the original daily or Sunday comic strip "episodes" worth of panels grouped together into an agglomerated, intact "story".  So, unfortunately, the editor left out the setting, backstory, and character development that probably occurred in the early (first few?) episodes of the strip, perhaps several, or even many, episodes before the start of this "story" segment of the on-going strip.  Some strips don't even have designated, separate "stories", but, rather flow from one long scenario into the next. 

You noticed the same weaknesses that I did.  It's hard to identify emotionally with the hero, when we don't know him at all - neither his character nor his history and motivations.  It's hard to really understand where the characters are, when the place hasn't really been introduced.  It's hard to be afraid of the villains, when we don't know their history or motivations.  It's tough to get deeply involved when we see a lot of characters running around, but we don't know much about who they are and why they're doing what they are doing.  And it's even tougher when it's in black and white, rather than in colour.  Those 2 stories would NEVER have gotten past ANY editor I've ever had in over 38 years.  And turning in 2 in a row in that condition would have gotten me fired.  I guess it was a lot easier to get creative work in the comic book industry, back when the field was burgeoning, and feeling its way in the publishing industry.

[narfstar]

Well I guess it is about time I weighed in on the story I suggested. I really disagree with Robb about the art. I think the story in King Size looks fantastic. It is what attracted me to it. I was disappointed when I saw the Silver Star issue. The science was no problem if you can believe in life on other planets in any form. Just look at all the humanoids on from many planets on any scifi show. I agree the dialog was terrible. Just following the action the story could have been a good Flash Gordon story. I did not enjoy the art on Silver Flash although I agree on it showing action well.

[crashryan]

An interesting selection of Australian classics. The series are as unlike as can be, but I liked each for different reasons.

King Size Comic 24 is splendid example of the Good and the Bad about Silver Starr. Stan Pitt's artwork is awe inspiring. Figures and backgrounds are solidly drawn and painstakingly inked. It's true that Pitt owes his style to Alex Raymond but he's the best of the Raymondites I've seen. His only flaw is a certain stiffness in his figures that he never lost. The stiffness is accentuated by the super-precise inking. But what inking! Pitt has uncanny brush control, right up there with The Master. I wish I could handle a brush with one-hundredth of his skill.

All this said, the art is put to work decorating a godawful script. I guess it wasn't enough that Silver Starr's art looked like Flash Gordon. They had to find a writer who was as bad as Don Moore. First off let me say that I don't view either Flash or Silver as science-fiction. They're costume fantasy through and through, with ray guns taking the place of magic. I won't criticize Frank Ashley's science. Instead I'll criticize his wretched dialogue. The plot, such as it is, isn't that different from a dozen other strips. The dialogue and captions however mae finishing the story painful. Silver and his pal--especially his pal--speak a bizarre jumble of phony highfalutinness and 1940s casual. Dyson even  says "Zounds!" for Pete's sake. Add to this the overheated captions, dripping with malapropisms and enough adjectives to feed two Paddy Payne stories. I did learn a couple of new words, though. I could rant on about this, but instead I'll leave you with this nocuous quote:

"Despite its size, your head is void of wisdom, Prokriad...for while you are unarmed, your flambeau illumines a most enticing target for the bone-searing lash of my beam gun!"

Judging by Silver Starr Super Comic 06 I'm guessing that the previous story must have been one of the new ones Pitt & Co. produced directly for the comic books. All the panels fit the pages and there is no sign of hacking and hewing. The present comic is obviously cobbled together from newspaper strips. The art is also from an earlier time. Instead of Raymond influence there are Raymond swipes, and Stan's finishes aren't as crisp. The lousy repro doesn't help. The story is just as bad as in the previous magazine.

Silver Flash couldn't be more different. Virgil Gavan Reilly's art is loose and impressionistic. Like I said in an old comment, he reminds me of Alfred Sindall in his Tug Transom days. The panels burst with energy. The downside is that you never get a clear idea of what the characters look like. The story is a simple, straightforward comic book story. Nothing memorable but readable, thank heaven. For some reason it strikes me as funny that the comic was published by "Truth" and "Sportsman" Ltd. A good description of both Silvers, Starr and Fladh.

[The Australian Panther]

I don't have a lot to add about these books.

THAT'S the problem in a nutshell.  BOTH Silver Starr stories suffer from the same problems: lack of introduction of the characters and their motivations, and lack of providing a good description of the setting, as well as developing the plot slowly while all that information is weaved in seamlessly, and then changing the story pacing by adding some suspense, and then speeding up the pace towards the climax

Well, I don't know if that is valid as a criticism of the work. It's definitely a criticism of the process of adapting a daily strip to a comic book. Silver Starr in the flame world was originally a much longer story.
The same thing happens when you read most strips collected in comic books or even start reading a strip you've never read before. I can assure you,  for example, that if you start reading the Phantom dailys now and you haven't kept up with the strip for say, the last 3 years, even if you grew up on the phantom, you won't fully understand what is going on without going back and reading the previous narrative.
This is a fault I find in most early Golden age books that are partial collections of the narratives of daily strips. I've not read the original published Silver Starr strips [they were before my time] so I can't comment on how much editing has gone into shoehorning this strips into a comic book format, but Pitt was quite capable of supplying the visuals to advance the narrative seamlessly, so I'm sure these edited versions don't necessarily reflect his vision accurately.
So we see what an excellent draftsman he was and his talent for creating imaginary dreamscapes.
Remember creators in Australia or NZ were working very much in isolation in comparison to creators in the USA or the UK.
Silver Flash is something different again.   
I particularly like this cover which I consider well composed and even coloured.It would definitely get my attention on a comic rack. 
In this case, the work was created for a comic book format, so the balance of words and pictures works well. We don't get a full back-story but we get enough to make sense of what is going on.
Its a clear straight-forward story, well-told. The basic idea, extracting precious minerals from sea-water economically, makes sense. Using coal to supply  the energy seems wrong to today's sensibilities. and in any case there isn't much coal on Pacific islands.
Thanks Narfstar for suggesting these. I'm glad to expose these creators to a wider audience.        .   
     

[lyons]

Pitt was the first Australian artist to have original material published in American comic books.  Great artwork and story.  A good read.  Thanks Panther.