War Of The Gods!

I no doubt glimpsed his work before on small features here and there across the Marvel landscape, but the first time I remember the name George Perez registering in my consciousness was in The Avengers #141 in 1975 when the Assemblers bounded into action against the Squadron Supreme. Perez quickly established himself as the master of team comics and soon enough landed the Fab 4, off to DC and The NEW Teen Titans, and then with the regrettable passing of Dick Dillin the Justice League of America itself. I consider the Avengers issues he and Kurt Busiek put together at the end of the last century and into this one to be the last great comic book I've come across. So it was on the strength of his art that I dipped my toe into his DC crossover epic War of the Gods. 

That and the fact the mythic street brawl included and in fact featured The Son of Vulcan. When DC gifted Dick Giordano with the Charlton "Action Heroes" somehow or other Son of Vulcan was included though to my memory he was never a part of Giordano's regime. Digging up vintage SoV issues proved difficult in those pre-internet days and one of my most pleasurable comic finds was latching onto a beaten and well-foxed copy of Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #47 (the second SoV story) in a little shop in North Carolina. It completed my set of Son of Vulcan comics and for the most part all of the Charlton heroes I spend much of the 80's wrapping up. So it was nice to see Johnny Mann get some focus in a comic at long last, even it did prove to be his swan song. 

This event was intended to do two things apparently -- celebrate Wonder Woman's fiftieth anniversary and to wrap up Perez's well-regarded tenure on the comic. He'd worked hard to make Wonder Woman both distinctive and important and had some success in that regard. But it seems that he and DC disagreed about how much ballyhoo this event warranted and then there were editorial disagreements as well. So this "War of the Gods" proved to be a war indeed and as a result not nearly as good as it ought to have been. It starts out well enough, but as with most of the art in this saga Perez was doing the covers and only laying out the art inside, so it wasn't quite as potent as it should be. Also these events require a good bit of background information, but hopefully most writers can get you around these limits. The complexities of Amazonian existence along with several pantheons of Gods made this one a real puzzler sometimes about what was going on. 

Now this collection includes the Wonder Woman issues which were part of the saga. And they are invariably weaker than the main installments, though at the time veteran readers might have been well pleased. I was just mostly confused having to deal with yet more characters with similar names and frankly similar looks. When you've seen one lovely Amazon, it appears you've seen most of them. 

And as with many of these events, the attempts to wedge in heroes like Batman and Superman feel wooden and arbitrary. 

War of the Gods tells the story of the Greek pantheon of gods battling the Roman pantheon of gods along with other sundry gods from Egypt, Africa, Europe and elsewhere. All of the classics are on tap from Enkidu to Hermes and it gets crowded, very very crowded. The villain is Circe who is trying to destroy or control the Earth or something, but frankly her motivations never made much sense really. It was just a black hat and white hat situation and that's rarely good for a story this complex. 

Characters like Lobo were fun to see since I've read almost nothing with this character. He clearly is of his time and seems like fun, but I'm not sure he was ideal for this one. Though no doubt he helped sales a little. 

And there is more than a whisper of the classic Crisis on Infinite Earths in this one too. Not only because of Perez's involvement, but because characters like Harbinger showing up for a bit of action. But you can almost feel this one coming apart at the seams as you read it. The art gets more and more fractious and more and more diverse hands participate. Some of the storytelling is suspect and at least once someone seems to have cocked up the layout of the pages, or half-pages. I can only assume this was part of the original and never corrected. 

Now Wonder Woman appears to die during this event and that's okay since she gets better pretty quickly. But I did feel it was similar to the whole Superman shebang which was to be fair still several years away. It feels in retrospect like a trial run. 

The final issue feels like a mad dash to the finish and by this time I've gotten really confused about certain details. Certain characters seem to have died that I don't remember at all. For his part Son of Vulcan does contribute in a memorable way even it did cost him all. It was high-profile exit for a hero most would regard as third-rate, though I adore him. 

The collection ends with a dewy farewell issue in which plot threads are tied off and the stage is set for a new writer to take over. Perez fell out with DC after this and went about the world of comics doing this and that for a while. It's too bad this swan song didn't have a prettier tune. 

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The Golden Derby - July 1965!

Fifty years ago Charlton comics was casting about as they always did, looking for the next big thing. Superheroes seemed to be catching on here and there, but it was a slow build as Charlton never ever seemed to be convinced that the underwear crowd was ever the way to great success. They always seemed to prefer their litany of genre comics in the areas of romance, war, sci-fi and western, areas other companies had diminished over the years giving preference to superheroes. But that was to change with the coming of the "Action Heroes".

In addition to Blue Beetle, Charlton under Pat Masulli was producing Son of Vulcan, a comic which seemed a variation of Marvel's Thor, featuring as it did a disabled human being who could transform into a mythic god. Also there was the rich genre of espionage which was charging through the culture thanks to the wild success of the James Bond movies. TV gave us Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Charlton offered up both the  Fightin' 5 and Sarge Steel who straddled the war and adventure arenas. One character who likewise seemed to exist in both the superhero genre and the western was Gunmaster, a surprisingly durable hero who had been published here and there at Charlton for several years. And then there was Gorgo, a comic developed from the outlandish and exquisite movie some years before and which had become a reliable arrival on the comic stands alongside its companion Konga. 

The time was coming closer when the heroes would take the center stage. But still in these early days the sense was that the folks at Charlton were still rather timid.

More next month.

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The Son Of Vulcan Reports - DC Part 2

Let me be clear. I'm not against reboots at all. In fact I'm rather a fan of them, when they work.

So it doesn't bother me that DC decided to lift the name of "Son of Vulcan" and attach it to a new hero in 2005. It has been done before, specifically the birth of the Silver Age of comics with the birth of new heroes like Flash, Green Lantern, and Atom. All three of these heroes look different and have different costumes from their original Golden Age sources, and only later were connected to them in any real way other than similarity of powers, and in the case of Atom not even that.

DC has a long history of this sort of thing. So the question becomes, how good is the reboot. In the case of Miquel Devante, the new Son of Vulcan, not bad really.

Lots of spoilers follow so tread carefully.

The story begins with the Floronic Man committing a murder and then deciding that salad bars are slaughterhouses. At the resturant in the town of Charlton's Point he decides to attack is sitting Miguel Devante and his friend Sienna. The Floronic Man is stopped by the sudden appearance of a superhero named "Vulcan", with the help of Miguel who slices off Floronic Man's arm. This creates a bond between the hero and the boy. Their heroism becomes the subject of news media, in particular a reporter named Josey Masulli. Miguel returns to the Derby Youth Home where he it is revealed he is an orphan. Vulcan returns to his secret base in Still Space and in conversation with his companion Pandora speaks highly of Miguel. Miguel is being punished by the headmaster of the orphanage. He is sent to his room after a beating. Meanwhile a mysterious villain with a mad on for Vulcan attacks the captured Floronic Man. Vulcan returns to tell Miguel that he wants him to become his superhero sidekick and together they face the threat they believe to be Floronic Man but is not and as the story closes Vulcan suffers a fatal wound to his torso.


The fatally wounded Vulcan transfers his powers to Miguel by branding his face with the imprint of his hand and Miguel, the "Son of Vulcan" erupts with fire destroying a large building and sending the assailant away. Without training and with the corpse of Vulcan having vanished, Miguel is left to explain things to the authorities, who arrest him. Pandora appears and frees him from custody and transports him to the Forge where he is supposed to be trained for his new role. Meanwhile the villain's mate moans about her absence. Praetor reveals himself aboard the Forge as Miguel's mentor and asks for the "First Law" which Miguel does not know. Praetor gives Miguel a tour of the Forge and introduces him to the heritage of heroes he has become part of, while Pandora goes to collect the remains of Vulcan. After the tour, and having asked Miguel to name the Law two more times, Praetor following programming tries to eject Miguel from the Forge and into space.


Pandora grieves for Vulcan while Miguel holds onto the door of the Forge for dear life. While the JLA talks of having a funeral for the hero Vulcan, Pandora arrives back at the Forge in time to save Miguel from space by removing her arm and sending it to retrieve him. It is revealed she is an artificial being and she and Miguel then try to leave the Forge which is destroying itself per its programming having assumed the line of Vulcans is broken, since Miguel could not recite the Laws. They are just about to escape in Vulcan's "Justi-Flyer" with the Encyclopeiae Vulcanus when Praetor corrupts Pandora's programming and Miguel is just able to fly away with her as the Forge destroys itself. Meanwhile the villain who killed Vulcan returns to her mate and it is revealed that they are Pale Martians and the surviving male seeks renewed revenge on the Son of Vulcan.


Miguel tries to hock his Vulcan sword to get enough money to return home and goes to an establishment run by Funky Flashman. He has to stop a robbery and is able to get some money to boot. Meanwhile at the Twilight Assisted Living complex a man hears news reports of Vulcan and is reminded of a time when he was called into service as part of the Vulcan tradition. Funky Flashman is fascinated by the sword his employee took in and contacts the Pale Martian who arrives immediately with deadly results for the help. At the funeral for Vulcan trouble is brewing when assorted villains show up in particular a gang dubbed the "Coalition of Crime". Miguel who showed up at Vulcan's grave is attacked and battles the offbeat collection of baddies until the old man shows up and teleports them away to relative safety.


Barney Blaine, the man who rescued Miguel tells him some of his history. Meanwhile the Coalition of Crime made up of a sorceress named Witchhazel, a little and smart dinosaur named Dino-Mite, a cowboy-themed centaur dubbed Charliehorse, a man-monkey-robot combo named Monkey-In-The-Middle, who are joined later by Scramjet and Fishmonger wonder what happened to Son of Vulcan and his rescuer. They seek them out and attack until Miguel is able to activate his fire powers and and repels them until he and Barney once again teleport away leaving the Coalition to deal with some heat-seeking missles fired by Scramjet. Barney and Miguel try to get Miguel's sword back from Funky Flashman but fail. Then Barney tells Miguel at long last about his heritage. In a story titled "The Martian Chronicles" we learn that the Pale Martians had been invading Earth for millions of years. Eventually they activate mankind's Meta-gene capacity. Men discover fire and drive the Pale Martians away. To remind themselves of the threat they create messages and through history man then fights and repels this enemy who pretend at times to be gods. Until finally during the time of the Romans, a hero is uses the technology of the "gods" from Mars creates the weapons of Vulcan and begins the tradition which has at last come down to Miguel. This saga is related by Barney to a disguised Martian who then telepathically gives him a heart attack.


The Pale Martian has captured Miguel, the Son of Vulcan and using DNA gotten from Funky Flashman derived from the Secret Society of Super-Villains injects his unborn children. When Miguel revives and attempts to escape he is confronted by the shape-shfiter but fights back and is successful as the brutal battle rages. Miguel seeking escape is confronted by the Children who look like ersatz versions of the Secret Society, but Miguel able to repel them. Furious the Pale Martian attacks a final time before Miguel finally burns him down. As the Laws of Vulcan are recited, Miguel visits his friend Sienna in Charlton Point, his friend Barney at the hospital, retrieves the Justi-Flyer and Pandora, and approaches Titans Tower where he confronts his destiny as a hero.


Later it is shown that Son of Vulcan did indeed join the Titans, becoming a member of Titan's East.


This is a tasty update. I actually like the premise and the eventually blending of sci-fi and mythic elements. Scott Beatty, the writer name checks the original creators of Son of Vulcan (reporter Masulli and two cops named Fracchio and Tallarico) and the whole story begins in Charlton Point and at the Derby Home. That kind of nominal respect for what has come before buys a lot of tolerance from me as a reader. I rather liked the story.

But the artwork is a whole other deal. Keron Grant creates lovely artwork, but dang if his storytelling doesn't downright confuse me at times. And it's not so much his panel arrangement which is reasonably standard, but the lack of real shadows and depth in the images making many things incomprehensible to my eye. I literally just cannot make out what is going on even as I look at it. This is a classic instance of style overwhelming functionality.

There is one section in the fifth issue, the "Chronicles" section which is drawn by Al Milgrom and things get less stylized and much clearer. In this section too, the original Vulcan looks remarkably like the classic Johnny Mann character. So while it is common for most to say there is no connection between this series and the original, I'd imagine that over time a connection was going to be made.

As a reboot this is as solid as any I've seen and we have a good hero at the end able to take on the world, with a little more training. While I wish that DC had given the original a spin in a storyline all his own, I have to confess this 2005 limited ain't all that bad a substitute.

And I'm very surprised at myself for saying that.

That wraps up my look at Son of Vulcan. I've learned a lot about this misfit hero, especially his brief turns at DC. I hope you have too.

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The Son Of Vulcan Reports - Extra!

While the second part of the DC report is being prepared, here is a bit of unpublished original artwork. I found this wonderful piece of artwork by Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico (presumably)here, but there is no mention of its context. I assume this is part of an unpublished Son of Vulcan story. It's a rather exciting page.

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The Son Of Vulcan Reports - DC Part 1

After the collapse of Charlton Comics, their properties were divided up among lots of folks. Somehow Son of Vulcan was included in the "Action Heroes" purchased by DC Comics as a gift of sorts for then editor Dick Giordano. Son of Vulcan had more in common with the Fightin' 5 who were left behind in this deal than he did with any of the other Charlton heroes. Sarge Steel made sense because he was Giordano's baby, but Giordano only worked on one issue of Son of Vulcan, the debut issue for which he supplied a cover.


Whatever the case, Son of Vulcan became part of the DC Universe and apparently shows up in Crisis on Infinite Earths, though I have to confess I don't remember him and I can't find him among the multitudes drawn by George Perez. He does get a nice page in The History of the DC Universe by Wolfman and Perez.

Unlike Blue Beetle and Captain Atom, Son of Vulcan did not get his own series, and unlike Thunderbolt and Peacemaker he did not get his own limited series, and unlike Nightshade and Sarge Steel he did not get worked into a series as part of the cast.


He did get an appearance in the all-hands-on-deck comic DC Challenge where he was cover featured and got all of one page to show his mettle before disappearing back into the mists.


It's notable in this comic that he is again written by Roy Thomas, the scribe who wrote his last adventure at Charlton.


Son of Vulcan did rate his own entry in Who's Who in the DC Universe, specifically issue twenty-one.


Then he falls into obscurity once again. Alas Son of Vulcan doesn't even rate a doppleganger in Alan Moore's Watchmen series, but is left once again to sit on the sidelines waiting for his next big break if it is to come.

It does come(sort of)in a four-part limited event titled War of the Gods, a massively complicated storyline in which Son of Vulcan does indeed appear and even makes a few covers before actually coming to his end.

That's right, they kill him off.





And that's the end of Johnny Mann, the anti-war reporter and veteran who challenged the gods and found his own destiny.


Johnny deserved better.

It's clear that DC could've done more with Son of Vulcan than they did. They just didn't appear to want to do much. Maybe it was merciful that he was killed off. Maybe they save him from some future indignity.

Maybe.

"Son of Vulcan" is a great name and many years later that name was used again by DC Comics. That will the be the focus of the Part Two.

More to come.

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The Son Of Vulcan Reports #5

Son of Vulcan Volume 2, Number 50 is dated January, 1966. The editor in chief and creator of Son of Vulcan is Pat Masulli. The artwork is supplied once again by Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico. They also supplied the artwork on the cover. The big news this time is that Roy Thomas, a neophyte writer from the fan community offers up the script, Roy "Not-Yet-The-Boy" Thomas begins his comics career here with this story in the final issue of Son of Vulcan. Here's a link to see what else was on the stands when this issue arrived.

"The Second Trojan War" begins with Johnny Mann of World-Wide Correspondents interviewing movie director A.J. Colosso who is making a movie about the Trojan War. Colosso regales Johnny with some background info, essentially laying out some of the more famous details from Homer's epic saga. But then a scream from Lisa Collins, the starlet of the picture sends Colosso running. Johnny takes that chance to transform into Son of Vulcan.

He finds the actress threatened by runaway horses pulling a chariot, and using his strength from the gods, the "Mightiest of Mortals" pulls horses, chariot and all into the sky and out of harm's way. Lisa is ecstatic and gives her hero a big kiss but then is frustrated when Colosso fails to get this moment on camera denying her the publicity. Then the actor playing Achilles quits the movie. Son of Vulcan agrees to play the part and help Colosso out.

The scene shifts to the secret lair of Dr.Kong, the arch-nemesis of Son of Vulcan who is using his defective robot assistant "Adam Klink" to undermine the movie production for reasons that go unstated.

Son of Vulcan starts his movie career but has it interrupted when Lisa is again threatened by a falling wall, but she is saved when Son of Vulcan puts himself between her and the falling debris. But she is unhappy he didn't just sweep her up in his arms out of harm's way. The section closes with Lisa unhappy with Colosso and her hero Son of Vulcan and SoV convinced there's more to her than meets the eye. Dr.Kong threatens to do more mischief.

"Green Goo" is a one-page text story about the sudden and dangerous appearance of a murky green ooze which rises from the ocean's waters and begins to creep across the ground. After much hubbub and speculation about its origins, and some significant damage a military officer suggests that great ditches be cut to allow the goo to follow the path of least resistance back to its origins in the sea. It works for now.


Part 2 "Prisoners of Doctor Kong" begins with Son of Vulcan using a great gladiator's net to throw the stone debris into space. He and Colosso then discover the metal footprint of Adam Klink and suspect sabotage. That night Adam Klink appears and kidnaps Lisa and Son of Vulcan sees and follows. But when Klink drops down a narrow hole in the ground, SoV is forced to change back to Johnny Mann to follow him down. This allows him to be captured by Dr.Kong and he manacled to the wall and gagged.

Kong then introduces his weapon, the Anima-Ray which he plans to use to animate great statues like the Statue of Liberty and the Sphinx and thus conquer the world. Kong leaves to start more trouble for the movie company and leaves Johnny being guarded by the clumsy Klink. But Johnny is at last able to remove his gag and transforms into Son of Vulcan and with one blow demolishes Adam Klink. He then follows Kong and is stunned at what he sees.


Part 3 "The Trojan Horse Walks!" starts as Son of Vulcan is confronted by the enormous Trojan Horse, built for the movie, and the behemoth is walking and promptly attacks Son of Vulcan. The battle rages, as SoV calls down a mace.

Ultimately he uses bow and a flaming arrow to begin a fire in the mouth of the giant false horse but it makes the Horse even more wild and out of control. Son of Vulcan saves the director Colosso from being crushed under the hooves, but then he realizes that Lisa Collins is captive inside the Trojan Horse.

Rushing into the monster, he frees Lisa and the Horse at last burns to the ground. Dr.Kong then animates a local stream of water and sends it against Son of Vulcan but with the water pursuing him wherever he went, SoV is able to turn it against Kong by flying right past him. Overwhelmed by the water, Kong's Anima-Ray is destroyed and the threat is at last over.

The scene shifts several months later to the Hollywood premiere of the movie "Warrior Against Troy" starring Lisa Collins and Son of Vulcan and Lisa Collins is interviewed by Johnny Mann. She is upset and throws a camera at his head when he suggests the star of the movie is Son of Vulcan and not Lisa herself, somehow Johnny interprets to mean Lisa might be interested romantically in the Son of Vulcan.

Dr.Kong plots further trouble from his jail cell in final panel.

"The Strangers" follows several aliens as they arrive one by one across the globe and are confronted by various creatures in various climates. They are startled by a snake, upset by a skunk, bothered by a hornet's nest, assaulted by a snapping turtle, attacked by a bull, and swatted by a housewife before deciding to leave the planet and head home with the words "Go!Man...Go!!". The artwork is by Ernie Bache.


This is the final issue of Charlton's Son of Vulcan series. With a costume redesigned by fan Dave Cockrum last issue and a complete script by fan Roy Thomas this issue, it's clear that Charlton is attempting to tap that base of dedicated comic book readers who have been kindled by the success of DC and Marvel especially. This script by Roy is a bit of a Hail Mary, a last-ditch attempt to generate some interest in Son of Vulcan, a hero who clearly seems not to have found an audience.
The stage is set for a change of editorial regimes as Pat Masulli will give way to Dick Giordano and the era of "Action Heroes" looms.

This particular story is very different from previous issues in that the gods are not present at all. Only Vulcan is referenced at all but he is not seen. Of course there's much mythology present in the shape of the movie about the Trojan War, but the whole feel of this story is different. Ironically in this story about the most famous war in history, the anti-war theme which has been a part of most previous issues is ignored.

One thing though that does alas come through is a change in personality for Son of Vulcan. He sounds more like the perpetual adolescents that populate early comics, the kind who are awkward around girls for no particular reason. That's clearly an attempt to characterize Son of Vulcan, but it's a bit of a cliche and doesn't fit him I fear.

"Adam Klink" is a clear reference to "Adam Link" the creation of Eando (Earl and Otto) Binder who appeared in science fiction stories and in comics tales. It's a clever spin, and the idea of a malfunctioning henchman robot is a neat one.

All in all this is a sturdy enough comic, but it turns away from what made Son of Vulcan distinctive, perhaps with good reason. It's regrettable the series ends with this story, but I imagine Dr.Kong is still in prison to this day. What a wretched little man.


With the next issue, the numbering will continue, but the title will change to Thunderbolt, the action hero created by Pete Morisi. Looking at the house ad above, it seems this was a last minute decision as the ad suggests that Thunderbolt will continue and so will Son of Vulcan. But apparently Thunderbolt's series gets cancelled after a single issue and he takes over for Vulcan's favorite Son.

Charlton apparently was able to get quick results from the sales of its books and the company wasted no time in making moves to maximize sales and the precious shelf space they battled for each and every day.


There is some evidence that Roy Thomas and fan artists Biljo White and Sam Grainger proposed a revised Son of Vulcan to Charlton Comics, but nothing came of it. A single page of this proposal can be found in Bill Schelly's Fandom's Finest Comics. It showcases a sleeker Son of Vulcan, minus the large helmet and the full armor.

Later Son of Vulcan will get sold to DC Comics along with the other "Action Heroes" (how he got grouped with them is anyone's guess)and next time we take a look at his brief time at DC Comics.

More to come.

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The Son Of Vulcan Reports #4

Son of Vulcan Volume Two, Number 49 is dated November 1965. This comic continues the numbering of Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds. The editor in chief and creator of Son of Vulcan is Pat Masulli. The script is by Joe Gill. The interior artwork is by the reliable team of Bill Fraccio and Tony Tallarico. The cover art is by Bill Fraccio and the inks are by Rocke Mastroserio. (The Grand Comic Book Database attributes these inks to Tallarico, but I disagree.) Here's a link to see what else was on the newsstands when this Son of Vulcan comic first appeared.


"The Diamond Dancers" begins in the big city where Dr.Kong, arch-enemy of Son of Vulcan is inspecting some diamonds at the Diamond Exchange. He then heads over to the theater where under the name of "Changchin" he is appearing in a play titled "A Chinese Folly". There he removes his large ring which is actually a camera and orders a young lady to develop the film.

Meanwhile Johnny Mann is interviewing the head of the Exchange and asks him if he thinks the two billion dollars worth of jewels are in threat of robbery and is assured such a thing is impossible.

Dr.Kong gets into his costume and heads to the stage while Johnny decides to take in a show. He recognizes his old enemy despite the costume and make-up and changes into Son of Vulcan, this time sporting a somewhat more elaborate costume. (More on that later.)

The Story then shifts back in time to the end of last issue when Mars was under attack by sea creatures. He escapes that threat and then finds large stores of diamonds in the Arctic. He decides to use this wealth to assume the identity of Warren Masters, and heads to the city and the diamond exchange. He finds himself outside the performance of "A Chinese Folly" at the same time that Son of Vulcan is demanding to see Dr.Kong.


Son of Vulcan confronts Dr.Kong and the two battle, Kong using his enormous electric sword and SoV using an axe. Son of Vulcan is struck down by Kong as Mars/Masters appears. The two villains talks and decide to work together to defeat their common foe. To that end they find a great pile driver at a local building site and using a steel beam drive the invulnerable Son of Vulcan deep into the Earth, creating a prison for him.

"The Magic Wand" is a one-page text piece telling the story of a television show and its special effects guru Burt Carsons. Carsons was contracted to create effects for a new show called "The Magic Wand", particularly a way to seemingly explode boulders and he does so by creating a "magic wand" powered by electricity which is immensely powerful and which is then used by its creator to take over the world.

Part II "The Living Tomb" begins as Son of Vulcan calls out to his adopted father Vulcan for help but it turns out that Vulcan and Venus have been forbidden by Jupiter to help SoV since his activities had forced Jupiter to banish Mars. Nonetheless Vulcan sends a fireball to help and it ignites a seam of coal in the ground around SoV and this allows him to explosively escape the trap.


Son of Vulcan then seeks out Dr.Kong and changes to Johnny Mann to do so. Meanwhile the two villains are working together to break into the Diamond Exchange, which shares a wall with the theater and while Kong uses fireworks to create a distraction on stage, Mars/Masters uses a bazooka to break through. Johnny Mann confronts Kong but must change to Son of Vulcan to escape his sword which then breaks on SoV's mighty shield.

Mars/Masters then appears and uses gas to subdue Son of Vulcan. Then he and Dr.Kong gather the diamonds and repair the wall, being careful to put Son of Vulcan within so he will get the blame. But the villains fall out as Mars wants Kong to pay for his crimes, but Kong is too clever and captures the god in a booby-trapped chair.



In Olympus Vulcan sends the real King Midas to assist Son of Vulcan by changing the Diamond Exchange wall to softer gold which SoV can break through easily.


He confronts Mars/Masters and learns that Dr.Kong is seeking to escape by boat. Flying to the docks, he finds the ship and learns that Kong is not yet aboard. He then goes underwater, finds Kong's one-man submarine and disables it. As Kong sinks to the bottom, Son of Vulcan returns the stolen diamonds and when he returns to the theater finds Mars gone but threatening to return.

"Enemies of the Deep" is a three-page comic story featuring dangerous sea creatures such as the hammerhead shark, the sea leopard, the killer whale, and the moray eel. The story features art by Frank McLaughlin.


This is hugely fun, if hugely goofy issue. The way the two villains with their immense abilities work so mightily to steal some paltry diamonds is mildly hilarious. Son of Vulcan seems to completely stumble across the plot, and this story to a greater degree than earlier one seems utterly dependent upon coincidence to work.


The new look of Son of Vulcan is the handiwork of a young Dave Cockrum, who would be very famous later for revising the look of DC's Legion of Superheroes and later Marvel's X-Men. This new armor is more detailed, but I'm not sure myself if it's a stronger design. The added details seem I think to detract from the basic shape, and make the whole thing a bit muddy. But if because of the perceived dreary costume or whatever, clearly the series was lagging in sales, and this was an attempt to salvage it. Cockrum gets no mention inside the issue, but they did give him billing of his work on the cover itself, possibly since covers typically go to press last.

This penultimate issue of Son of Vulcan is a hoot, but with only a single Charlton episode remaining things look grim for our hero.


This story was reprinted by Alan Class in Uncanny Tales #87.

A little more to come.

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