Showcase Corner - Legion Of Super-Heroes Four!

The fourth volume of Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes gathers together the Legion's final appearances in the pages of Adventure Comics where they'd debuted a decade earlier, created by Otto Binder. Thanks to the writing of Jerry Seigel, Edmond Hamilton, E. Nelson Bridwell and Jim Shooter with art by John Forte, Curt Swan, George Klein among others the team had found brilliant success in the fan community. But apparently sales were sluggish as the 60's wore on and the wacky Silver Age nonsense of the DCU was waning in appeal to readers wanting a richer experience such as supplied by Marvel. The team would find success in the coming decade, but in the interim they were consigned to back-up status first in Action Comics and later in Superboy, a title they'd overtake just as they'd done with is feature in Adventure Comics. But that's for next time. 

I try to be gentle in my reviews about artists, but there's just no way to say it other than Win Mortimer's arrival on the Legion scene indicated a severe downturn in the quality of the images. His first few issues are dreadful, but later the arrival of inker Jack Abel helps things enormously. The Legion features a lot of characters and making them recognizable is key to good storytelling and Mortimer fails that test in his first few issues. He's not helped by Shooter's increasingly wonky stories which seem more interested in finding new settings than developing characters. An exception to that would be Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel, two of the sillier heroes who eventually seem to find comfort in each other's company.  Shooter also focuses a lot on heroes he'd created, which is not unusual, but some of the classic heroes suffer. Karate Kid gets a lot of attention. Things in that area are not helped by the introduction of Chemical King and Timber Wolf. As good as these heroes might be, they become just more for the fire in the melee of these last Adventure Comic episodes. 

The Shooter-Mortimer-Abel team move over to Action Comics where the Legion becomes a back-up feature switching places with Supergirl who took over the cover feature in Adventure Comics. The Legion stories ranged from seven to twelve pages and given the limitation began to focus more on a few Legionnaires at a time. We learn about Matter-Eater Lad's unfortunate family life, we learn of Duo Damsel's lack of confidence and see her find comfort with Bouncing Boy for the first time, Shrinking Violet has boyfriend problems as her beau Duplicate Boy is always away, and we see Duplicate Boy seek love again, among other stories. Superboy takes on Reserve status when the ranks of the Legion grow too large to keep a tax-free status. One story uses the Legion Espionage Squad in a style reminiscent of Mission Impossible. 

E. Nelson Bridwell takes on the writing chores and is joined by Cary Bates. George Tuska becomes the artist when the strip moves to the back pages of Superboy. We begin to see new costumes for some of the heroes and heroines using designs sent in by fans. (See the bottom of the post for more on that.) Saturn Girl is the first to feature a fresh new look.  And then the most momentous event occurs when Cary Bates is joined by the art team of Murphy Anderson and Dave Cockrum. Soon the art is just by Cockrum and the Legion is on the verge of its next bright era. More on that next time as I take a gander at the fifth Showcase volume,

Here are the Adventure Comics covers in this volume and the Action Comics and Superboy covers which featured the debut of the back-up Legion tales. Most of these are by the late great Neal Adams. 

Adventure Comics interrupted the Supergirl feature to give us a Legion reprint volume. These are all classic Legion tales, but there were some fascinating pages featuring outfits designed by fans. Some of these would actually make their way into the comic. 

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Doc Savage - The Brand Of The Werewolf!

Today I conclude my review of Marvel's original Doc Savage comics run. Doc Savage #7 begins an adaptation of Kenneth (Lester Dent) Robeson's Brand of the Werewolf. The first part is titled "Brand of the Werewolf" and is written by Tony Isabella and drawn by Ross Andru with Frank Springer on inks. The cover is by Rich Buckler. 

The story begins in Canada as we watch a man seemingly transform into a werewolf, who then attacks a car containing Alex Savage, Doc's uncle and Pat Savage's father. Next, we cut to Doc's skyscraper headquarters, and he is getting a call from Pat telling him of the tragic murder of her father. Doc along with Monk, Ham, and Renny head off to Canada. They end up taking a train on which they meet Senor Corto Ovega, his daughter, and a man named El Rabannos. There is an attack on Doc's train compartment using gas. After rescuing his team, Doc then finds the same gas used in the compartment of the Ovjeas. Then the train comes to an abrubt halt because the tracks are blocked by timber, and the Ovejas and El Rabannos leave the train headed into the woods. Doc has his men follow them while he helps get the train tracks cleared. He quickly is under attack by thugs, but dispatches them quickly. Meanwhile Pat and her Indian servants Tiny and her husband Boatface hear howling. Pat goes to search but returns and finds her servants unconscious. She knows what the attackers wanted, a cube with a strange brand of a werewolf. Boatface sees where this is hidden and soon steals it and takes it into the woods for a clandestine meeting with the Werewolf rejects Boatface's attempts to raise the price and who attacks and kills him. Doc and his men get back together in time to see a mysterious plane leaving a remote hanger, one they'd seen from the train. They find Alex Savage's grave and the body of Boatface along with the peculiar clues of pine bark and a ptarmigan feather. Doc heads out across the trail of the killers but finds the trail stops at a ravine with a single rope across it. He takes a balancing pole and starts across when a sniper shoots him, causing him to fall. 

Doc Savage #8 concludes the story and the series run. The story is titled "Werewolf's Lair!" and is written by Tony Isabella and drawn by Rich Buckler. The inks are by both Tom Palmer and Jack Abel who alternate throughout the story. The cover is another Buckler effort inked by Klaus Janson. 

The story picks up with Doc grabbing the rope across the ravine to save his life but then a second shot sends him falling out of sight. The gunman is quite pleased and goes back to camp to encounter the Werewolf. Pat and Tiny have been captured by the thugs but Pat tries to escape with Tiny. They are recaptured when suddenly Doc appears and battles thier captors. The three head off into the woods while Doc explains to Pat what's been going on and explains how a nearly invisible wire had saved his life at the ravine. The trio encounter the Werewolf but Doc quickly dispatches the "monster" revealing him to be a man in an elaborate costume, but more men arrive and they flee. The trio meet up with Monk, Ham, and Renny at Pat's cabin and suddenly Senorita Cere Oveja shows up. She explains that she and her father are descended from Alfredo Leon, a 17th century pirate called "The Werewolf". He apparently had a treasure that he'd hidden in the region and the cube was the only means to discover it. Doc has him men go and find the cube hidden in a ptarmigan nest as he'd suspected by Boatface. Then quickly it's revealed that the cube unfolds to make a map showing the location of the treasure. Then the Werewolf and his gang return, use gas to capture Doc and the team and take to a mine that held the treasure. Doc wakes up tied and it's revealed that El Rabannos is behind the gang. But Doc and his men had been faking and a fight erupts in which the Werewolf and the gang are subdued including the Ovejos who turn out to be part of the scheme. Doc and his men are just able to save the Ovejos and the treasure before the mine collapse killing the remainder of the gang. The story ends with Pat vowing to join Doc's team and the treasure headed to do good works. The story closes with a quote from Doc's Code and that ends the initial run of Marvel's Doc Savage. 

 It's announced in the letters page of this issue (for the record the letters page is titled "What's Up Doc?") that the series is being cancelled due to poor sales. Apparently, the series was being retooled a bit with Tony Isabella scheduled to continue as the regular writer while apparently Rich Buckler was coming on as the new regular artist. Whatever the case, the last issue is a jumbled affair showing that it was produced with a great deal of speed. It's unfortunate that the series goes out on such a low note. Also, I never knew it, but the original pulp tale doesn't have any werewolf in it at all, but for the more visual comics medium a man in a costume looking much like Jack Russel's Werewolf by Night was thought necessary. I don't disagree, as the lack of any werewolf (real or fake) in the pulp was a disappointment for me. Both the original pulp and the Bantam novel covers even show one, but alas not to be. 

Walter Baumhoffer

James Bama

But Doc Savage wasn't quite done at Marvel. Next up are visits with the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and the Ever Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing!

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Sunday Of Stone - Turok Volume One!

Much to surprise of many at the time I'd suspect, Turok Son of Stone published first by Dell Comics and later by Gold Key when Dell and Western Printing went their separate ways, lasted from 1956 until 1981, when Gold Key itself gave way to the strains of meager newsstand sales. In those many years Turok and his able ally Andar struggled for survival in the "Lost Valley" a remote territory beneath the Earth's surface (sort of) which was teeming with creatures from bygone eras. But of those creatures which included man, it was the sundry and exceedingly dangerous dinosaurs which dominated the fight to live both in the valley and on the comics racks. Kids love dinosaurs and Turok delivered big old ferocious dinosaurs on a regular basis. 

The story begins when two Pre-Columbian Native Americans from the Mandan tribe are travelling far from their traditional territory and find themselves inside the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. They explore the caves ever more deeply until they are lost and then suddenly find themselves in a world not of darkness but of light, a lost valley of sorts in which thrive all sorts of creatures from prehistory. Turok is the older of the two with Andar responding to him as something of a big brother. At the time as depicted by Rex Maxon the two are not that seemingly different in age, though of course that will change. Apparently, this series began as a version of a character named "Young Hawk" intended for the back pages of the Lone Ranger comic. But creator Gaylord DuBois saw more in the concept and so we get this story in Four Color #596 from 1954. It turns out there is something innately fascinating about two primitive men facing off a world full of even-more monsters. Robert Susor is credited with the debut cover art.  

One of the key discoveries made by Turok and Andar are poisonous plants which when prepared and applied to their arrows make them sufficiently deadly to fend off the giant dinosaurs which roam the valley. The two take up with a primitive tribe of cavemen and become somewhat revered by the tribe for the improvements in life that they bring. In this second story published nearly a year after the debut in Four Color, Turok and Andar find a second valley, this one mostly occupied by mammals of great power such as a deadly panther that stalks them relentlessly. They become even more friendly with the cave tribe. Bob Correa takes up the interior art chores but the dramatic cover is uncredited. 

In the third installment, which becomes Turok Son of Stone #3 (the Four Color issues becoming defacto #1 and #2) our two lost heroes help the cave tribe to find a safer place to live apart from the dinosaurs (called "Hoppers") and other threats such as sabre-toothed cats. The find an island and make some small boats to reach it but find threats under the water are extremely dangerous as well. They do eventually get the tribe across the dangerous waters in canoes Later Turok and Andar check out yet another cavern in an attempt to escape the valley and find yet a third hidden land. They team up with a caveman named Lanok who followed them, and the trio try to survive. Bob Correa is still drawing the DuBois scripts with assist from Jack Abel on inks on one tale. 

In the fourth issue of Turok Son of Stone in this first volume the trio finds the trio of Turok, Andar, and Lanok still are living among the "Hoppers" when they discover a land bridge which may let them escape the valley. But they have to give up plans to save Lanok from a massive herd of rampaging bison, and the bridge is destroyed. Later as they make their way back to the tribe, they are hunted relentlessly by a Smilodon better known as a sabre-tooth tiger. They barely survive. The art is again by Bob Correa with some help on one story by Bob Celardo. 

The penultimate issue in this volume and the fifth installment of Turok's adventures is maybe the most hair-raising yet as the island haven turns into a deadly volcano and the boys and the cave tribe are barely able to escape the ferocity of the explosions and the lava and the panicked creatures. When they have resettled the cave folk, Turok and Andar go to look for escape and find that the local witch doctor jealous of their influence on the tribe follows them to find out the secret of their poison which allows them to stave off the attacks of the "Hoppers" and other deadly beasts. His scheme fails with fatal results and Turok and Andar find yet another small valley which might offer some respite from the beasts. The art this time is again by the team of Correa and Celardo. 

The sixth and final issue of Turok in this volume features another story by DuBois and more art by Bob Correa This time Turok and Andar protect the cave people from the threat of a deadly giant ape and later protect the secret of their possible escape from the valley from an untrustworthy fellow named Acomac while reuniting a small mammoth with its parent. These two Turok tales are followed by the debut of a new feature titled "Lotor" about a raccoon family trying to survive in this lost land of dinosaurs. As it turns out the wily racoons do quite well. The art for this story might be the work of Vince Alascia. There have been several text pieces in the comics, some dealing with Native Americans coming of age, but most detailing prehistoric critters like the Mastodon, the Smilodon and even early man himself. Once again sadly the cover art is uncredited. 

These early tales begin in 1954 and end in the early months of 1957, nearly three years of Turok adventures. The series seems to have found a footing and a dedicated audience. This audience will change over time of course, but there will be enough dedicated Turok readers to keep the series going for well over a score of years. More to come next week. 

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Mighty Samson Volume Four!

The fourth and final volume of Gold Key's Mighty Samson from Dark Horse captures the remaining issues in the run of this venerable comic book. The issues are from the '70's exclusively and none of the original creators on the book such as Otto Binder, Frank Thorne, nor Jack Sparling have anything to do with the book at this point. The guiding talent seems to be Jack Abel, but he is far from alone. 

The twenty-fifth issue kicks off things with a story about a giant mole cult which devoutly believes that the sacrifice of two of their own will ensure the resurrection of their deadly god. It's all Samson, Sharmaine, and Mindor can do to save two lives in this story drawn by Jose Delbo underneath an action-filled George Wilson cover. The writer of this yarn is unknown. 

The next issue, also drawn by Delbo and again with an unknown writer tells of a tribe of underwater people who have adapted to the polluted waters they thrive in. They are dangerous to outsiders until Samson and his friends assist them in fights against giant sea monsters and enormous pelicans.

The story of Noah's Ark is reprised in this weird story of normal animals suddenly appearing in New Y'ark. It turns out a madman named Noah Caine actually built an ark and salvaged many species before the nuclear war and they were preserved in cold storage until the moment was right. Sadly that moment had not arrived and the animals respond to the changed environment by undergoing extreme mutations almost immediately. The art this time is by Jack Abel with Jose Delbo inks, and sadly again the writer is unknown. 

The twenty-eighth issue of Mighty Samson is interesting to me especially because it is the very first issue of the run I actually bought off the comics rack myself. It features a story by Paul S. Newman with art by Jack Abel about a tribe of dwarves with enormous brains who are able to control the other tribesmen around them to such a degree that they supply the small men's needs. In addition to telepathy they are telekinetic and used this ability to animate statues and armor to protect themselves. It's all Samson and the gang can do to survive this one. 

The very next issue is a dandy and is again drawn by Jack Abel and written by John Warner. Sharmaine is the center of attention when she and Mindor and Samson find a small "barony" of sorts in which a medieval power structure has been established. The leader of this tribe wants Sharmaine to be his bride. The myth of the unicorn is evoked and Samson is missioned with capturing a beast that resembles one of the classic beasts, but it turns out this one is deadly with radiation. When the beast is finally defeated the Baron grabs hold of the horn to gain power but is killed instead. 

In one of the weirder stories again drawn by Abel but this time written by Arnold Drake, the post-apocalyptic trio find a tribe thriving inside Macy's Department story and worshipping a balloon of Bullwinkle (though he's never named). It's a wacky tale and before it's over many of the familiar balloons from the famous parade get airborne. The mutation of the story is the "Dawgeon" and impossible blend of pigeon and dog. Terra of Jerz shows up as well as she has a trade going with the folks of Macy's for batteries. 

The last regular issue of Mighty Samson features a story about giant moths who hatch in the distant Hollywood  and proceed to eat their way to New Y'ark finally showing up in "Har-Lem". This one features a black tribe and more than a few uncomfortable cliches. This tribe is led by "Satchmo" and they hold "Joe Louis" events which are fights to solve disagreements. Samson is forced to participate but the forces work together when the dealy moths appear and begin to savage the area. This is a story with no identifed writer but does feature Jack Abel artwork. George Wilson is again on the cover art as he has been through all of the comics so far. 

That changes with the thirty-second and final issue of Mighty Samson when Dan Spiegle is tapped to draw a cover which imitates the painted cover of issue four by Mo Gollub. The Dark Horse colleciton does not identify Spiegle but it's almost certainly his work. The story of metal searching "vikings" is reprinted as well. This issue dropped onto the stands in 1982 at least six years after the last one had arrived. 

But between the last two Mighty Samson comics was Gold Key Champion and in the second issue a new Mighty Samson story appeared in 1978. 

Again the writer is uncredited but Don Heck is the artist of this story of a tribe of glowing people who seek the help of Mindor and his friends to discover the nature of their malady. They trade with a savage tribe who live on what was once Coney Island and they trade for batteries which they then trade to Terra of Jerz for goods they need. It turns out an operational x-ray machine near the site of the battery cache causes the deadly glow. With the problem identified and with Samson having put down the resistance of of the weirdly dressed tribemen of Coney Island the series comes to a close at long last. 

I wish that Mighty Samson had featured less fanciful creatures as the nuttiness of the beasts while valid as curiosities undercut the sense of any real threat. Many of them are just too goofy. Much better were the tribes that Samson, Sharmaine and Mindor discover, especially in these later issues which explore in more detail the land of New Y'ark. Mighty Samson ain't great science fiction but it's sure fun science fiction. 

Note: There is one final Mighty Samson post coming out later today. 

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Mighty Samson Volume Three!

Mighty Samson had apparently proven to be a sturdy seller for Gold Key even after the loss of Frank Thorne as the artist. Jack Sparling was an artist from the Caniff school of drawing and that meant he made decent use of blacks to bring effect, but alas his creature design was wanting in many of the issues. It's easy to pick apart the science fiction aspects of the series, an atomic war which results in a ruined New York City which can still yield canned goods and working machinery wouldn't allow enough time to have passed for the profound mutations which run rampant on the land, in the sea, and in the air. Many of the mutated "monsters" are offbeat crossbreeds of types of animals which could never have mated in any capacity. But that is the whimsy of this world and paying too much heed to the requirements of science will only make the reader unhappy. The key is to revel in the splendid storytelling. 

The collection begins with the fifteenth issue in which Terra of Jerz returns yet again to make life difficult for Samson and company. But this time her scheme shows some savvy as she is attempting to introduced a coinage system which will make trade much easier just as currency does in this real world. Taking a page from the Roman Empire she makes sure her face is stamped on her new coins. Though this is arguably not an evil plan, Samson, Sharmaine and Mindor nonetheless uncover her cache of precious metals which turns out to be the United States Treasury in the center of New Y'ark, long abaondoned and forgotten by most. The weirdest creatures they battle is a some mole-like critter which can shoot out soapy suds. 

The next issue pits Samson and the gang against the "Gnarly Men" who live atop Radio City, isolated from the rest of New Y'ark by the self-contained tunnel system. These Gnarly Men made use of some powerful beasts to fend off Samson when goes there to protect his allies the Undermen who have been attacked by the Gnarly Men. There's a enormous gator and an actual fire-breathing dragon of sorts. 

Terra of Jerz returns again, this time bearing deadly seeds which create a range of plants meant to bring her enemies to their knees. Investigation proves that the seeds are from a vibrant agricultural society atop buildings in the lower east side of New Y'ark, and that the folks who produce a wide range of plant life are not threatening at all as long as those they deem "groundlings" stay away. Terra's schemes of course fall apart and it's up to Samson to save the day when she falls victim to her deadly plants. Perhaps the weirdest creature in this story is a thing called a "Bone Beast" which is a walking four-legged skeleton. 

Some of Sparling's most arresting work came in the story titled "The Winged Raiders" for the eighteenth issue. Winged men descend upon New Y'ark and one of them named "Hawkaar" cottons to Sharmaine in particular. So much so that he betrays his leader and tribe who live atop the distinctive  Chrysler Building. The blue skin of the flying people are vibrant and add some depth to Sparling's increasingly loose artwork. 

Otto Binder begins his last Mighty Samson story in issue nineteen and it begins right in the middle of the action as a tremendous flood has overtaken the broken down metropolis of N'Yark. Samson spends nearly all of this story apart from his friends Mindor and Sharmaine who are struggling to deal with the flood waters themselves. Rather Samson constructs a mighty raft capable of carrying hundreds of survivors. It's a fragile creation is subject to much pressure from creatures under the water and it takes all of Samson's might to keep it afloat. But his decision to look for Mindor and Sharmaine makes him unpopular and he is unceremoniously kick overboard. He does find his friends but the flood waters are still raging as the story ends. There is a terrific snafu in this one as an unmutated pelican is suggested to have batwings, but appears in Sparling's art to be normal. There's a ramshackle quality to both the art and the story frankly. 

Binder's final tale picks up where the last issue from 1969 left off and as the flood waters in New Y'ark still keep the populations in peril, a new threat shows up in the form of mermen led by a craven king named "Nephtoon". This underwater people have dammed the waters in such a way as to keep the flood high. The story is a little hard to follow frankly but there is much folderol above and below the waves before Samson is finally able to grab hold of King Nephtoon and hold him hostage against the rest of the underwater tribe giving up their designs on the city and the dams are undone. The city finally drains, but it is a muddy world indeed that Samson, Sharmaine and Mindor find themselves in as the saga concludes for many years to come. 

The twenty-first and twenty-second issues of the series reprint Mighty Samson seven and two respectively. It's a somber end to a series which had managed to cling to life for five years. But all was not done yet, though when the series would return alas Otto Binder would not be involved in any way. 

It would be five years until the next issue of Mighty Samson hit the comic racks and the most remarkable thing is the price hasn't changed. According to some source I read it was the success of the Star Trek comic which prompted Gold Key to revive some of their sci-fi properties and Mighty Samson got the nod. The twenty-third issue featured artwork by Jose Delbo, a seasoned veteran and writing by Jack Abel. I associate Abel more with his feathery inking style than writing, but his bring back of Samson is a reasonable success. Samson, Sharmaine and Mindor find a tribe of genetically blind people who are psychically able to find food who led by a wise old man about to die. Sharmaine seems to be elected to take his place but circumstances are such that his estranged brother who led another tribe takes up the mantle when differences are solved. The giant ant on the cover is invisible inside the comic but able to be seen by the infra-red sensitive people of the tribe. Samson and Sharmaine get a makeover due to her wishing it so and finding fabric to fashion new garments. Gone is Samson's lio-bear pelt and he now is sporting a more colorful vest and tunic. Sharmaine doffs her colorful costume but rewards the reader with hot pants. 

The writer of the last issue in this volume is unknown but Delbo is back on the art chores. George Wilson supplies the covers for all of the issues in this tome. The story this time showcases the future's look at Kung-Fu which was a fad in the 70's. Samson runs up against a potent fighter named "Chang" who is more skillful than Samson. The two are pitted against each other by the leader of this Asian tribe who turns out to be Terra of Jerz. But her dishonorable ways cause the tribe to reject her and Chang assumes the leadership. The flying shark is called an "Eagark" for heaven's sakes. 

These last two stories seems to have a less sweeping feel than the earlier 60's material which frankly was contradictory in the way it presented New Y'ark. The trio seem to be exploring the city and are not quite so prone to jump across country. It makes the stories more intimate and presumably a fuller and richer New Y'ark is being developed. But that remains to be seen in the fourth and final volume of Dark Horse's Mighty Samson which drops this same time next week. 

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