[K1ngcat]

Hello again, 'tis I K1ngcat with another of my pet projects, this week week The Hangman through the art of Bob Fujitani.#

I'm rather fond of The Hangman. He has an unusual origin - Bob Dickering, brother of  Jack Cole's hero The Comet, swears revenge when his brother John is gunned down by mobsters while trying to protect him. John, as he dies, gifts his girlfriend Thelma to Bob, wishing them to stay together "as a memorial" to him. Bob designs an impressive, rather Batman-like costume, and a little projector which shines the sign of a gallows, to frighten his foes with the symbol of their ultimate destination.

Naturally, The Hangman doesn't actually hang anybody, though he's known to deliver a lurid description of a hanging in order to change the mind of a would-be murderer who he thinks can still be saved; and a few of his quarries perish in ironic situations which simulate a hanging.  But the overall mood is dark and highly melodramatic throughout, and for my mind no-one captures it better than Japanese-American artist Bob Fujitani who takes the credits on issues #7 & #8.

I love the dark colours, the leering faces, the clutching hands, and the spindly figure of the hero himself, cape always billowing out behind him.  Take a look and tell me what you think.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=22227 Hangman  #7 (Archie/MLJ)
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=36708 Hangman #8 (Archie/MLJ)

And, as a diversion from the darkness, take a look at the uplifting heroics of Captain Truth - a one-off originally from Gold Medal Comics but reprinted here in IW's Great Action Comics.  The art's been credited to John Giunta and Mac Raboy but my instincts tell me it's Fujitani at his finest. What do you think?

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21268 Great Action Comics #1 (IW)

Happy reading!
K1ngcat

   

[Robb_K]

Hello again, 'tis I K1ngcat with another of my pet projects, this week week The Hangman through the art of Bob Fujitani.#

The overall mood is dark and highly melodramatic throughout, and for my mind no-one captures it better than Japanese-American artist Bob Fujitani who takes the credits on issues #7 & #8.

I love the dark colours, the leering faces, the clutching hands, and the spindly figure of the hero himself, cape always billowing out behind him. Take a look and tell me what you think.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=22227 Hangman  #7 (Archie/MLJ)
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=36708 Hangman #8 (Archie/MLJ)

And, as a diversion from the darkness, take a look at the uplifting heroics of Captain Truth - a one-off originally from Gold Medal Comics but reprinted here in IW's Great Action Comics.  The art's been credited to John Giunta and Mac Raboy but my instincts tell me it's Fujitani at his finest. What do you think?
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21268 Great Action Comics #1 (IW)
K1ngcat 

On first look, I have to agree that Fujitani's artwork has a very dark, tense, scary tone to it, providing a mood of intense anxiety.  For me, the artwork is not my style, at all.  It's not detailed enough to my taste, and almost every pose has distorted figures and facial expressions, along with the wild, unusual camera angles, leading to the reader's agitated feeling.  All that is great for creating the mood, which I like.  But I don't like it when there is no contrast with some normality.  probably that is caused by a decision by the author to start in the middle of the tension, because the short number of pages allotted to the story or chapter in a serialised small number of consecutive chapters, precludes using any room at all to start off with normal conditions, and slowly build up the tension and anxiety while the suspense builds up, so there is that contrast which only accentuates the agitation and intensity of the later mood.  As a story writer, and sometimes artist, I've always enjoyed most being able to work on longer 20+ epic stories, and disliked having to skrunch my whole plots for stories of lead characters whose stories are limited (to 4 to 6 pages) into that small space.

I will now go on and read the Fujitani-drawn stories, and comment on them, afterwards.  Upon a first, cursory look, the artwork from The Gold Medal Comic, does NOT look like it's from the same hand as the two Fujitani-drawn stories from the MLJ books.  But, I'll take a closer look at them and comment further, after looking at other Fujitani stories, as well.  I'll want to hear from you, also with your comparing panels, to explain why you think Fujitani drew the Gold Medal story.

[K1ngcat]

I will now go on and read the Fujitani-drawn stories, and comment on them, afterwards.  Upon a first, cursory look, the artwork from The Gold Medal Comic, does NOT look like it's from the same hand as the two Fujitani-drawn stories from the MLJ books.But, I'll take a closer look at them and comment further, after looking at other Fujitani stories, as well.  I'll want to hear from you, also with your comparing panels, to explain why you think Fujitani drew the Gold Medal story.

Looking forward to your reactions, Robb_K. There are six Fujitani tales in those two issues, enjoy.

[SuperScrounge]

Hangman #7

The Tiger and the Ruby - Had Bob Fujitani actually seen a tiger before he drew this story? Even taking Fujitani's rubbery art style into account I don't think he had any photo references of a tiger at all. Thelma... as a reporter she kind of makes Lois Lane look restrained.

Murder in the Guest Room - Mr. Manning is certainly over the top. He may not have been the murderer, but with him as a father it's not hard to see why his daughter was crazy.

The Hangman's Ransom - Sooooo... Hangman just walks out of Bob Dickering's front door? Do all the neighbors know his identity?

The Man Who Murdered Himself - If Ole had just gone to bed early and woke up early he might have got away with it.

Trouble Hunters - This read so much like a beginning writer's script. Ugh! I kept thinking of Schnurman's comic writing article in Writer's Digest about having action on every page. Now that I think about it, I wonder if this was the same writer who wrote early Minimidget stories for Amazing Man Comics? They were about equally dull.

Not a Ghost of a Chance - Better than the previous story, but still not great. Did they put these Boy Buddies comics in to lighten the mood of the darker Hangman stories? If so, it was an odd choice since the readers who liked the darker stories probably would not like these bits of fluff.

[SuperScrounge]

Hangman #8

The Gallows and the Ghoul - Eh... it's readable, but it just didn't grab me.

The "Perfect" Crime - Not perfect, but okay for a two-page text story.

The Case of the Python's Curse - Not bad, although I think I've read similar types of curse stories.

Pirates Out of the Past - Editor: So how ya gonna explain how pirates traveled through time? Writer: A curse? Editor: Beautiful! Go with it! (Probably more thought than actually happened.)

The Boy Buddies 1 - The writer really isn't very good at telling superhero stories.

The Boy Buddies 2 - Better than the first story.

[K1ngcat]

The Tiger and the Ruby - Had Bob Fujitani actually seen a tiger before he drew this story? Even taking Fujitani's rubbery art style into account I don't think he had any photo references of a tiger at all. Thelma... as a reporter she kind of makes Lois Lane look restrained.

The Hangman's Ransom - Sooooo... Hangman just walks out of Bob Dickering's front door? Do all the neighbors know his identity?

Thanks for taking the trouble to review everything, SS.  I never intended anyone to read the Boy Buddies tales, I'm sorry you had to suffer like that!

I think the tiger is "artistic license", he does some nicer leopards in Cat Man #27:
comicbookplus.com/?dlid=30971

And in fairness to Mr Dickering, we can't all afford Bat Caves! 

Glad you enjoyed #8 a little more. Pity there are no credits for the writing on GCD.

[Robb_K]

I'll review the Hangman 7 stories one by one, and just add them to one post.

Hangman #7:
The Tiger and The Ruby
This was quite a nice idea for a story.  As usual, it's way too short for my taste.  But that was fairly normal for comic book stories in The 1940s.  The opening splash panel is certainly an eye-catcher.  But it is too unrealistic, and leads the reader to think it will be a horror or fantasy fiction story, rather than a Superhero/detective story.  I agree that Fujitani's drawing of the tiger was very far from realistic-looking.  It doesn't look like he ever studied the bone structure of that animal.  I also didn't like the fact that he didn't ink the stripes, and the colouring was way off, being a dark brown, instead of orangish.  The artwork was too distorted and dramatic.  The Indians didn't have the features of people from that part of The World.  The staging was good for the desired mood.  But, as I stated above, having virtually EVERY camera angle being drastic, keeps the eyes moving all over, and hardly being able to notice anything.  It took too much concentration, taking me out of "living in the story's action".  So, I have to say that reading it wasn't nearly as enjoyable as it could have been.  I like the story's premise, and basic plot.  Sewing the rubies into a pocket below the tiger's skin is a novel idea.  I don't understand the need for having a caped uniformed crusader for justice be the person to solve the case and capture the perpetrators.  I never have understood why people liked superhero stories.  I'd admire a courageous normal person, who rises above his normal expected capabilities when heroism is needed.  I'd much rather have had The Hangman be a private detective who has a grudge against heartless criminals, who enjoy hurting others.  I like the cheek and courage of the female reporter, and like the fact that she got her just desserts for having shanghaid The Hangman, by his leaving her a prisoner on the boat.

Murder In The Guest Room
Quite a dramatic splash panel opening to this story.  It's an interesting story that has a secret not revealed until the end, and a twist ending.  Lots of distorted faces strange and unsettling camera angles, and the suspense builds up nicely.  I guess a criminally insane murderer was one of the main type of things the child protective associations wanted completely out of comic books to avoid "ruining the psyches of the innocent children", whose eventual censorship and rigid rules almost ruined the comic book industry by 1954.  There are some things that don't seem to fit, unless the so-called curse (of madness) has already struck Mr. Manning, as well as his daughter.  He seems to smile when he should look angry, or, at least determined to keep a suitor away from his daughter.  I assume that giving him that expression was an attempt to keep the reader unsure about whether or not Manning had gone mad, and was the main villain, so the reader would still be far from discovering the answer too early in the story, and ruin the suspense that had been built up.  I'm not sure why The Hangman is even needed in this story.  It could easily have been an Edgar Alan Poe story, with only the girl's suitor as a lucky survivor of a scary visit there.  The Hangman seems to burst into the story out of nowhere.  I assume that this is again the problem of too few pages available to correctly pace such a story, and for it to contain all the elements needed to tell it properly.  Again, being able to soak in the atmosphere the setting provides, at a reasonable pace, for best effect, and the development of the characters is cut way short.  This story has 10 pages, which is not ideal, but is more than many 1940s stories in anthology comics with different lead characters, by different writers and artists.  Personally, I'd have liked at least 16 pages for it.

Hangman's Ransom
This is another inventive tale of a good man turned bad for vengeance against society for not appreciating all his hard work for the people of his city.  Interesting that The Hangman's criminal arch enemy takes sides with the unappreciated doctor to use his formerly useless anti-bacterial serum to blackmail the city's leaders into paying a gigantic ransom to buy it all to cure the people from the disease for which the doctor made it.  An ingenious plan.  But, it is foiled by The Hangman, who hasn't, in three stories demonstrated any super powers.  The plot idea is a good one.  But I would have liked more pages with which to work, to portray some bad effects of the disease, to make the problem seem more urgent, and build up suspense.

Roy and Dusty - Boy Buddies
Ye gods! What an outfit Roy wears when just hanging around.  He'd have only worn that once, and never again, after being beaten up to within an inch of losing his life.  I suppose he'd have gotten several offers too, if he were hanging around in the wrong or right place depending upon his sexual orientation.  What an empty, pointless, story, with nothing to offer.  It seems like it was written by a 6 or 7-year old.


I'll review The Hangman 8 stories in a second post.

[gregjh]

I'm looking forward to this. At first glance, it appears quite unique and captivating.

[paw broon]

I've been reading #7. What a lot of great old cobblers.  Lovely.  The weird anatomy, great costume, off register colours, make this a great read for me.  What a miss not showing the gallows projection. These old games comics don't have to be logical or even make a lot of sense, simplybwsllow in the nonsense.  Thanks K1ngcat.

[K1ngcat]

I've been reading #7. What a lot of great old cobblers.  Lovely.  The weird anatomy, great costume, off register colours, make this a great read for me.  What a miss not showing the gallows projection. These old games comics don't have to be logical or even make a lot of sense, simplybwsllow in the nonsense.  Thanks K1ngcat.

And thanks for getting it, paw. It's not Shakespeare, just some old-fashioned comic to read for fun, as originally intended. I still enjoy the darkness, the high melodrama, and Fujitani's action-packed illos (even the rubbery tiger!) BTW, the gallows projection is there, first panel of p.7 (CB+ numbering.) And on the splash page of the lead story in #8, if you're tempted!
Muchas gracias for commenting.

[The Australian Panther]

Well, I'm going to take a look at Captain Truth.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21268
Not totally able to identify Fujitani's art, so I'm not able to offer an authoritive opinion on whether it is actually him or Mac Raboy. Seriously doubt it's John Giunta tho.
Back in those days, without credits, its not easy to  be clear on artists, also, then, as now, the art was often not a solo effort, but there could be 2 or several artists involved in a job.
I was immediately put in mind of Mac Raboy as a contributor, but as I have said, I just don't know.
It seems to me that one change with the introduction of the comic code was the end of bare-chested super-heroes. [Except for the Hulk and the Thing, of course]
So, he's called Captain Truth because he can make wishes come true? lets read this!
He's a boy - not a man - and except for the bare chest - doesn't he get cold? he dresses like something out of about the 17th century. Hat and all.
But the visual story-telling is immediate and great.
Don't know how the wishing works.
He thinks, ' I wish I were in bed right now' and nothing happens.
Oh, I see, its not Captain Truth who can make wishes come true, its joey!
Without an origin story, its a bit confusing.
Well, visually this story is first class. Sorry to say tho, as a narrative it doesn't make a lick of sense.
Full of contradictions.
Page #4, 'everybody is evicted and thrown out into the street' Including Ken, who is fine with the landlord's excuse. Huh?  and he is only interested in his own problems of homelessness, completely ignores everybody else, some of whom presumably were his friends.
In any case the writer has just used this as a plot device to get Captain Truth to get together with Joey.
It seems not to occur to the creator of the story that Ken's behavior here is in complete contrast with the 'Educational Tour' on page 12.
Visually stunning, but the story? Huh?
Still don't know why he is called Captain Truth.
This is an I.W. Reprint, Here is the original.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=61606
I knew I'd seen it before.
The I.W. scan - of the Captain Truth pages, is definitely better. 
Thanks Kingcat, for getting me to look at this again.             

[SuperScrounge]

I don't understand the need for having a caped uniformed crusader for justice be the person to solve the case and capture the perpetrators.

Well, the need was probably external.

Superman was popular and almost every comic publisher decided to have 1, or 20, masked men. (Superhero being more of a later term.) Problem was those masked men needed stories to appear in, so the writer has a private eye story? Stick the hero in. Writer has a western story? Have the hero visit a dude ranch. Writer has a pirate story? Find a way to get the pirates to the present and have the hero fight them.

The Superhero Sausage Factory squeezes the sausage (story) into the superhero branded casing. Now you just gotta get the readers to swallow it. 

[paw broon]

Predictive text is a nightmare.  I tried to write GA, and it came out as games.
Anyway, the thing about masked mystery men is the exoticism, colourful or well designed costumes and the out of the ordinary that attracts so many.  Unless you have well written and drawn detectives/characters, like Rip Kirby, Lesley Shane, Buck Ryan,  Corto Maltese  etc in comics and strips, the costumed hero will attract more readers. A bit of a generalisation, but trueish up to now.

[K1ngcat]

Well, I'm going to take a look at Captain Truth.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21268

Well, visually this story is first class. Sorry to say tho, as a narrative it doesn't make a lick of sense.

Thanks Kingcat, for getting me to look at this again.             

You're welcome, Panther! I agree that without an origin story - or, to my knowledge, a follow -up either, it's hard to make sense of the young Captain.  He certainly has a very ...umm... theatrical dress sense, I do wonder what he does with the hat when he becomes Ken again.

And yes, I think his comfort at suddenly becoming homeless is just a plot device so he can meet Joey. Though maybe it's to show what a public-spirited young American he is to make way for a new housing development.

Maybe the reason he's called Captain Truth is because, like in the educational tour, he shows the truth to people and the truth sets them free? Just an idea, I guess we'll never know. He seems to have all the powers (and the build) you'd associate with Captain Marvel Jr. which may have prompted the Mac Raboy suggestions.

Funnily this was one of the first American comics I bought as a youngster, and I was grateful for a local shop that stocked IW because their mags introduced me to The Spirit, The Phantom Lady, Plastic Man and Rulah to name a few. But I never came across Captain Truth again until I joined CB+. I kind of hoped to find another tale of his, but at least we have this one to savour.

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for commenting, cheers!

[paw broon]

Captain Truth.  Interesting story, nice pictures.  As this is the first time I looked at this IW comic online, I realised that I have a copy, somewhere.  Long time since I've seen it. 
Great cavalier style hat and I noticed it blew off at one point.  In the old serials, despite the frantic fist fights, hats mostly stayed on.  As for what Ken does with it when he changes, no idea. It's a shame there weren't a few more stories as I'm curious if this is a body change character or  he always has powers or only when he he is in costume.  That's the sort of geeky stuff I enjoy.
As K1ngcat writes, IW introduced me as well to those characters and others.  There were a couple of second hand shops with comics and occasionally there were American comics to be found.  This one was published before American comics were distributed in the UK.

[SuperScrounge]

Great Action Comics

Well, since this is just a reprint of stories from Star Studded Stories, I think I'll just copy and paste my thoughts from that thread.

The Terror of the Temple - A scientist finds a way to shrink people down and put them in germs and he uses that to... enslave people. Bwha? Did they have the fantastical element first or invent it to get around a story problem?

The Man With the Mirror Eyes - Had potential, but comes up second-rate.

The Vanishing Boy - I wonder if this was a rejected Captain Marvel Jr. story?

Additional thought. I'm not sure if it was Fujitani or not on the Captain Truth story. It certainly wasn't his "rubbery" style from the earlier Archie stories.

Not sure who first credited Fujitani, as the change history at the GCD shows it was there before they migrated the indexes from the old site and there is no record of the art spotter.

[K1ngcat]

Additional thought. I'm not sure if it was Fujitani or not on the Captain Truth story. It certainly wasn't his "rubbery" style from the earlier Archie stories.

Not sure who first credited Fujitani, as the change history at the GCD shows it was there before they migrated the indexes from the old site and there is no record of the art spotter.

Interesting, SS, I wasn't aware of the Star Studded Stories reprint, I only knew the story from IW and what I take to be its original version in Gold Medal Comics, which I think the Panther referenced.

I originally thought only I, Frabig and crash ryan subscribed to the theory that the art on Captain Truth is Fujitani's. I had no idea that he'd been credited somewhere along the line.

Anyway, with a fanatic's fervour, I am 100% sure it's Fujitani's and, off the top of my head, I think the Gold Medal print predates the Hangman stories. Maybe the "rubbery" style is a later development, or just the result of rushed deadlines, I have no idea how long it would take to draw, ink, (and maybe even colour?) three stories like that.

Anyway, surely if it was CM Jr story there'd be a "Boom" of transformation somewhere? 

[crashryan]

Hang it all, I both like and hate these Hangman stories. I like 'em because of the over-the-top Fujitani artwork, which despite sometimes being too over-the-top is inventive and full of youthful enthusiasm. I hate 'em because most of the stories throw what little logic they have out the window for the sake of constant (over)action. SuperScrounge has already pointed out how well these stories fit the Writer's Digest article on how to write comics.

Hangman #7:

Storywise "The Tiger and the Ruby" is the best in this isue. It makes just enough sense and the gimmick is unique. Also the exchanges between Bob and Thelma are amusing.

"Murder in the Guest Room" has a good twist but the story is clouded by Manning acting even more deranged than his daughter. This is a case when pumped-up layouts and character designs work against the story. The script suggests that Manning doesn't have "the family curse" but is a basically good man who goes overboard to protect his daughter. However his nutsy behavior, accompanied by his maniacal expressions, robs him of any sympathy he might have aroused.

"The Hangman's Ransom" has a promising idea--a loser crook obsessed with finally besting The Hangman--but the plot is too disjointed to work well. The need for slam-bang action on every page of an 8-page story leaves little room for developing character.

Hangman #8:

"The Gallows and the Ghoul" gives us another homicidal maniac. This one's mental disease is so intense it even rearranges his dental work. Some editorial meddling has been done here. Studying the re-lettered dialogue it's clear that originally Jed Jennings was Mary's husband and Jimmy's dad. My guess is that the editor had second thoughts about a man killing his own family, even if he were crazy. Jed becomes Mary's half-brother and Mary is recast as a single mom.

"The Python's Curse" is a familiar story. When we learn the killer's identity the revelation only merits a shrug. However Fuje's expressionistic staging and noir shadows make the whole thing look better than it has any right to.

"Pirates out of the Past" is so terrible that it's my favorite story of this lot. Nothing is explained. Nothing! How did these pirates live 400 years? Who cares, when you have dialogue like, "If what you say is true, then you all should have died four centuries ago...the best thing you can do is give yourselves up to the proper authorities!" Who can not love an attack by a googly-eyed rubber octopus? I'd almost swear that panels 6 and 9 have been re-lettered, but why should they have been? It surely couldn't be to get the story to make sense.

The Boy Buddies

These stories make the Hangman yarns seem like Shakespeare. I only mention them because of the tale in issue #7, "Trouble Hunters." This reads like a kid's first fanzine story. Check out the pacing on our pages 38 and 39. After wasting most of the page giving info that could have been imparted in one panel, the boys spring into action saying "Let's go home and pack." This is followed by a silent panel in which the boys go home to pack. The caption on the next panel says "A half hour passes, and..." The boys stand looking at each other. One says, "Here we are" and the other says, "Let's go." The whole story is like that. Ed Robbins' art matches the script perfectly. I was never a fan of his, but I guarantee he got a whole lot better than this.

Captain Truth:

Whoever created this character put no thought into it whatever. The good Captain has a couple of generic super powers and he's "the terror of the underworld." That's all we know. His bizarre costume looks like Captain T threw it together from stuff he found while dumpster diving. In the end he's basically a boy running around in his underpants. Adult male and female superheroes can get away with this, but on a kid it looks creepy. My theory is that the hat has a temporal-spatial link to the Captain. Whenever he loses it, the hat tracks him down and reseats itself. Captain Truth needs one of those elastic chin straps that serial stunt men wore to keep their hats from flying off during a fight (and revealing that a double was doing the heroes' dirty work).

It took me two times through the story to understand its muddled premise, that a boy's wishes seem to come true. The fault is shared between the writer's bogus explanation and Fujitani's failure to illustrate it clearly. Am I the only one who missed the fact that Joey thinks he's flying because a sudden gale force wind has swept him up and carried him through the air? Gimme a break!

Bob Fujitani:

Bob Fujitani's manic superhero style seems to combine equal parts of Will Eisner and (believe it or not) Rudy Palais. What's  so strange is that twenty years later this stylistic wild man had become the embodiment of levelheaded, conservative comic art. Solid, expertly-drawn figures; clean, polished inks; restrained, conventional camera angles...you almost wonder if Fujitani had a brain transplant during the intervening decades. The only other American artist I can think of who followed a similar trajectory is Ruben Moreira. His energetic early superhero art burst with exaggerated (and, it must be said, often badly-drawn) figures and compositions. By the late 1950s he was Mr DC House Style. Moreira had perfected his anatomy and slicked up his inking but he'd abandoned the high-drama aspects of his early work. Few artists changed so much over the years as these two men.

[gregjh]

I read the first story in Hangman 7. I really like the dark, awkward tone of the artwork. As Robb pointed out, the stories jump in halfway through the plot so there isn't much time to build tension. I also gathered rather quickly that Hangman is less of an action hero and more of a Dick Tracy type of detective. There?s nothing wrong with that but it isn't to my personal taste. Also, I find the 'quiff' style of the Hangman's cap distracting. Again, I understand this is a stylistic choice, probably meant to distinguish his cape from all the others but it just wasn't for me. In summation of this latest choice, I really enjoyed the artwork, like the idea of the character but the comic was not for me.
As always though, I feel grateful and enriched for being exposed to new types of art and design.

(Off topic: any other Linux users having formatting issues when pasting text into this forum? My apostrophes keep transforming into other characters)

[SuperScrounge]

Interesting, SS, I wasn't aware of the Star Studded Stories reprint

Whoops! The title of the thread listed Star Studded Stories as the reading selection and the title is what I looked at writing my comment forgetting that it was Gold Medal instead. D'oh!

I originally thought only I, Frabig and crash ryan subscribed to the theory that the art on Captain Truth is Fujitani's. I had no idea that he'd been credited somewhere along the line.

And looked again at the GCD entry and realized I overlooked the Indexer's Note crediting Craig Delich for the credits. Double d'oh!!

Also the note references a 1999 Alter Ego article indicating that the idea Fujitani drew it was earlier than that.

off the top of my head, I think the Gold Medal print predates the Hangman stories.

Well, the Hangman stories came out in 1943 & Gold Medal came out in 1945 (although that doesn't mean that's when the stories were drawn.)

Anyway, surely if it was CM Jr story there'd be a "Boom" of transformation somewhere? 

Looking at the story there are two panels showing the costume change (page 4, panel 3 & page 9, panel 2) so if it was a CM Jr. story those two panels could have originally been Boom panels.

[K1ngcat]

off the top of my head, I think the Gold Medal print predates the Hangman stories.

Well, the Hangman stories came out in 1943 & Gold Medal came out in 1945 (although that doesn't mean that's when the stories were drawn.)

Ok, SS, it's a fair cop! My bad, at least that info suggests that Fujitani's art had tidied up a bit over the years, fitting in with crash's notes about his transformation into a "respectable illustrator."

Thanks for correcting me and for all your input on this thread.

[K1ngcat]

Hang it all, I both like and hate these Hangman stories. I like 'em because of the over-the-top Fujitani artwork, which despite sometimes being too over-the-top is inventive and full of youthful enthusiasm. I hate 'em because most of the stories throw what little logic they have out the window for the sake of constant (over)action. SuperScrounge has already pointed out how well these stories fit the Writer's Digest article on how to write comics.

Captain Truth:
His bizarre costume looks like Captain T threw it together from stuff he found while dumpster diving. In the end he's basically a boy running around in his underpants. Adult male and female superheroes can get away with this, but on a kid it looks creepy. My theory is that the hat has a temporal-spatial link to the Captain. Whenever he loses it, the hat tracks him down and reseats itself.

Crash, thanks for your insight. I can't be both bothered to hate the Hangman, I just love that enthusiastic, over-the-top Eisner-inspired artwork, and as you point out, there's worse things in comics, eg. Boy Buddies!

I agree with you about CT's costume, if you can call it that, but I adore the concept of a temporal/spatial link with the hat. If you ever get the chance to do an update of CT, that's definitely got to go in!

And thanks too for your reflections on Fujitani's career, it certainly shows and miraculous transformation, though I think I still prefer the manic work of a young Bob. 

[K1ngcat]

I read the first story in Hangman 7. I really like the dark, awkward tone of the artwork. As Robb pointed out, the stories jump in halfway through the plot so there isn't much time to build tension. I also gathered rather quickly that Hangman is less of an action hero and more of a Dick Tracy type of detective. There?s nothing wrong with that but it isn't to my personal taste. Also, I find the 'quiff' style of the Hangman's cap distracting. Again, I understand this is a stylistic choice, probably meant to distinguish his cape from all the others but it just wasn't for me. In summation of this latest choice, I really enjoyed the artwork, like the idea of the character but the comic was not for me.
As always though, I feel grateful and enriched for being exposed to new types of art and design

Well gregjh, you're a hard man to please! Sorry the mag didn't fulfill its promise for you, but thanks for giving it a try. Cheers!

[paw broon]

Here, bluesman, that is an outstanding idea.  An updated Captain with the super hat.  Temporal/spatial link? I love it.

[K1ngcat]

Here, bluesman, that is an outstanding idea.  An updated Captain with the super hat.  Temporal/spatial link? I love it.

Bear in mind, if we don't change  his costume, we probably ought to make him gay. That could actually increase his popularity in the modern market.
Are we onto a winner here?