Number 2544: The ghost who can be conked

Public Domain Super Heroes says this about the character, The Duke of Darkness: “The Duke of Darkness was Paddy Sullivan [emphasis by me, Pappy], a police officer from an unnamed American city. When he was killed in the line of duty, Danny [another emphasis of mine] discovered that he continued to exist as an 'Earth-bound spirit.' He decided to continue fighting crime as the Duke of Darkness.”

The bringing up the two civilian names of Duke of Darkness (from his former mortal existence, of course) is because at the bottom of the entry for Duke of Darkness the anonymous writer for PDSH says this: “Many sites state ‘Danny’ as the character's real name however, this [Danny name] never appeared in a public domain story.”

Tsk tsk. Looks like some editing is needed. I depend on that site, so I'm just giving those fine folks at the PDSH a friendly heads-up.

It wasn’t like the Duke of Darkness set any records for longevity. He made but a few appearances and then was gone. Each comic book he appeared in had a different name, and each lasted one issue. I am supposing my old theory that they were published by someone who sold (or used) their paper ration at the end of World War II to cash in on the comic book market. Finally, the Public Domain Super Heroes site gives us this final note: “Even though he's a ‘ghost,’ he is able to be knocked out by a bump on the head such as in his first adventure.” Maybe there is a learning curve, watch your head, for people finding out they have died and are now a spirit.

Created by Sam Cooper and John Giunta, and presumably written and drawn by them for this first Duke’s story from K.O. Komics #1 (1945):

 

Number 2441: The Triple Threat

Triple Threat Comics was a one-shot publication by a company called Special Action Comics, which came out in 1945. Paper was still being rationed and one-shot (either by design or company failure) publishers with paper rations popped up here and there.

The comic also includes a Beau Brummel and King O’Leary story, but I am showing only three stories (to go with the “triple” in Triple Threat): The Duke of Darkness, The Menace, and The Magnificent Epod. (Spell Epod backwards. The late Don Thompson used to say that comic book fans learned early to read backwards.)

“Duke of Darkness” is drawn by John Giunta under the name Jay Gee; “The Menace” is drawn by Louis Ferstadt, who had his own comic art studio (including at one time, Harvey Kurtzman); “Magnificent Epod” is credited to August Froelich (?) and Charles Voight (?), question marks meaning the art spotter isn’t sure.

Number 1882: A well staked-out tale

“Vampire Moon,” from Suspense Comics #2 (1944), has a familiar ring. You have probably heard the story on which it is based, that of the young girl who goes to the grave of a recently deceased girl. To prove she has been there she drives a stake into the grave. (You can read it on this page of urban legend synopses as “Graveyard Wager”.)

The story in its original version may be the first so-called urban legend I remember hearing. It is fun for me to identify the basis of any fiction, urban legend or not.

Artwork is by John Giunta, a comic book journeyman from the forties who worked into the sixties.