Peacemaker Day!

Pat Boyette was born on this date in 1923. Boyette was a Renaissance Man of sorts. He had a successful career in radio and television but left all that to create comics. His style was quite distinctive in his time. He avoided many of the typical methods to present action. His greatest creation was Peacemaker. His perfect kind of story was gothic horror. He worked tirelessly for Charlton, some for Warren, and later for DC briefly. 

Pat Boyette's Peacemaker is a concept which is mocked by some, and frankly I've never understood why. Christopher Smith was a diplomat who traveled the globe attempting to come to terms with the dangerous folks he encountered. When that failed, he donned his uniform and strapped on his weapons and confront the villain. It was a bit of wish fulfillment about how to handle the myriad problems the world confronts. Looking at the way we deal with world problems today makes me think of the well-meaning Christopher Smith and his spectacular helmet.

Peacemaker debuted in the back of The Fightin' Five. I love the "Action Heroes" from Charlton and Peacemaker though for a very long time was largely forgotten save in the guise of Alan Moore's Comedian.

Boyette created five issues of Peacemaker in 1967. 

There was a sixth issue of the series which has been travelling around the fan community for years. Sadly it wasn't included in the recent reprint of the series. Don't know why. 

DC was befuddled by the character, making him into a Punisher-like madman. Still, he wasn't mostly ignored as was Judomaster. 

In recent years Peacemaker has become a hit as portrayed by John Cena. The madness remains but cloaked in satire it's a bit easier to swallow. I confess to enjoying these strange adventures. 

Though I haven't bought any new Peacemaker comics. I'll make do with Pat Boyette's classic. It will serve. 

Rip Off

Action-Heroes Day!

Dick Giordano was born on this date in 1932. Giordano began his career as an artist, working for Charlton Comics for many years. In the late 60's when superheroes were all the rage, he assumed the role of editor of the comics line. His goal was to create not "super-heroes" so much as what he called "Action-Heroes". These would be heroes, but people with skills and not so much power. Later Giordano was an editor at DC and was a partner with Neal Adams in the art firm Continuity Associates. 

Dick Giordano became editor of Charlton Comics after Pat Masulli. Giordano had made his mark with Sarge Steel, a hard-nosed detective turned super-spy. His artwork was always crisp and attractive. Shifting to the editor's desk, he surveyed the landscaped and decided that if Charlton were to make a move into the superhero market, they would need to find a way to make their heroes distinctive. Some heroes were already around and might need adjusting and new fresh heroes were needed. 

The line-up consisted of Frank McLaughlin's creation Rip Jagger, a WWII soldier who becomes a deadly master of martial arts Judomaster, who battles the Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater with his young partner Tiger. Peter Cannon - The Thunderbolt created by Pete Morisi, is a man trained by Tibetan monks and is possessed of fantastic skills and powers of the mind. Christopher Smith, the Peacemaker created by Pat Boyette and Joe Gill, is a diplomat who realizes that talk alone will fail to solve all problems and uses his technology to fight when necessary to preserve the peace. Giordano inherited Captain Atom, created by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko a decade before. Giordano had the good Captain's vast powers muchly diminished, and Steve Ditko was all too happy to do so. Added to the Captain Atom cast was Charlton's lone female super-heroine of the era, Nightshade. We learn more about her when Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo take over. 

The line-up was completed by the arrival of Steve Ditko's "All-New" Blue Beetle. Ted Kord becomes a Blue Beetle who is not reliant on a magical scarab but who turns to modern technology and fisticuffs to bring villains to heel. With the arrival of Blue Beetle the "Action-Hero" line was complete, just in time for it all to end. Sales were not what everyone hoped for and the super-hero craze which allowed for this flowering of talent and creations withered. The arrival of a new fresh look for Charlton, the big "C" which would in a few years be replaced by the famous Charlton Bullseye badge, marked both the height and the end of the "Action-Hero" line.

Dick Giordano went to DC and took many of his most talented artists with him. He found great success at DC, sticking with the company for decades. DC purchased the "Action-Heroes", mostly as a gift to Giordano, the editor who had made these fondly remembered heroes possible. As we all likely know, the "Action-Heroes" formed the basis for Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbon's The Watchmen, which originally began as a vehicle for the classic Charlton characters, before DC decided to save them for other things. Hence the "Action-Heroes" live on. 

Rip Off 

Charlton Meets The Multiverse!

I picked up Multiversity- Pax Americana for the very simple reason that I love the old Charlton Action-Heroes and this is as close as we're ever going to get to seeing new adventures featuring those awesome characters.

These characters, created largely under the aegis of editor Dick Giordano were a brief but brilliant attempt to mine the superhero market which blossomed briefly during the Silver Age. Captain Atom and Blue Beetle were dusted off and revamped with new heroes such as Peacemaker, Nightshade, The Question and Judomaster brought along to fill in the ranks.

These characters of course these days are mostly remembered as the inspirations for Alan Moore's iconic Watchmen series and many dismiss them beyond that point. Alas, in this story Grant Morrison, a storyteller with stones, tries to revisit these heroes but clearly through the goggles of the Watchmen variations.

We are invited into a complex story, told by Morrison and artist Frank Quitely, which travels back and forth through time and space with all sorts of visual hijinks, all serving to create some larger mystery and make some larger point. The heroes are not as developed as individuals but merely used as elements of the one-shot story which explores the nature of heroes and justice and how the society can best make use of them.

We get good looks at Captain Atom, a man removed from his fellows by the dint of awesome power and who seems lost inside himself and the universe he sees differently from everyone else. The lovely Nightshade is a very young government agent who seeks to find the right way, but seems out of her depth most of the time. Peacemaker is a man on a mission which makes little sense for most of the story. The Question as always seeks answers regardless, while the Blue Beetle is a loyal government man.

We get glimpses of Sarge Steel and while Rip Jagger the Judomaster doesn't make the cut, his sidekick Tiger is around for a few pages as a member of a superhero unit which has a lot of vintage fun picking out a sobriquet.

The story even has a reference to Charlton's first superhero, the Golden Age Yellowjacket.

(Frank Quitely)

This is a complicated yarn, a mystery which has an answer, but which demands mighty attention from the reader and frankly more than one pass through the material. 

At five bucks for a copy, I guess I should thank Morrison and Quitely for giving me a comic which demands to be read more than once, since the density makes the entertainment value rise.

This is a book any Charlton Action-Hero fan should read, if only to see some vintage imagery and old rather obscure Charlton references hanging around in various panels. It has been collected up a few times. 

Rip Off

The Fightin' 5 - The Peacemaker Files!

Fightin Five came to an end, at least as a self-titled comic. The back feature Peacemaker was awarded its own title and the Fightin' 5 became a back-up in that book for all of its five-issue run from 1967. All the issues list Pat Masulli as the Executive Editor and Dick Giordano as the Managing Editor.

The "5" were Frenchy the Fox, Irv "The Nerve" Haganah, Granite Gallero, Hank Hennessy, and Tom-Tom. Designated according to the first letter of their name, they formed "America's Super Squad" and the word "F.I.G.H.T.", hence Fightin' 5. But then Haganah is replaced by a woman named Sonya. The details are below. 

In The Peacemaker Volume 1 #1 dated March, 1967 The Fightin' 5 are back in a story titled "Ruler of Darkness" presumably written by Joe Gill and featuring artwork by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache. The action begins right in the middle as a Balkan dictator named Leontid Jrozva has his agent Sonya hold Hank Hennessey (FF4), the leader of the Fightin' 5 at bay while he describes his attempts to pressure the major powers to go to war as they ought. Sonya shoots Hennessey, but it proves to be a ruse as she radios Irv "The Nerve" Haganah (FF2) that he should meet her at a graveyard where they uncover Hennessey's casket to find him rather fit. Hank radios Frenchy the Fox (FF1) who is flying above and who lands to pick them up. An enemy jet appears and Hank fires a pistol but one loaded with special anti-aircraft ammunition that destroys the enemy. The team then heads back to base where they debrief Sonya who indicates that the dictator has missiles and that they should both inform their respective governments. The Fightin' 5 plus Sonya then parachute back into the region and Hank and Irv destroy the dictator's capability to fire missiles by destroying the master communications array. But the electricity involved is deadly and kills Irv and seriously injures Hank, destroying his arm and one eye. Sonya then uses a destruct switch to destroy the dictator's base. The Fightin' 5 carry their dead and wounded home as the story ends.

The death of Irv "The Nerve" and the injury to Hank allow the creators to revamp the series pretty significantly. There will be a new member added to the team to take Irv's place and Hank's role will change drastically.

In The Peacemaker Volume 1 #2 dated May, 1967, The Fightin' 5 are back in a story with no title but doubtless written by Joe Gill and drawn by the team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache, that picks up some time after the events of the previous adventure which resulted in the disabling of Hank Hennessey and the death of Irv "The Nerve". The remaining member (Tom Tom, French the Fox, and Granite) discuss events with leader Hennessey who now has one arm and wears an eye patch, and has become a desk jockey. They use a computer to select the replacement for Irv and surprisingly the choice is Sonya the Soviet agent who helped in the last adventure. They are suspicious, but can only follow orders as the team heads into the north to investigate a Communist installation which seems to pose a threat. They investigate using air packs but soon are captured. It appears that Sonya betrayed them and they feel vindicated if annoyed at that turn of events. But Sonya is merely pretending and helps the team to escape and destroy the base before flying back to home base. Nonetheless the others plan to watch her closely.

The addition of Sonya adds some real spice to the team. She's obviously not someone they cotton to immediately, adding some mild tension. And also, the hint of romance as Granite seems smitten, or at least very interested. Characterization seems more important even the stories are developed with much shorter page counts.

In The Peacemaker Volume 1 #3 dated July, 1967, The Fightin' 5 return in a story titled "Special Prisoner" written by Joe Gill and drawn by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache. The story begins with a U.S. official named Lowell Sims being abducted by U.S. forces for safekeeping. It turns out that Granite Gallero, a member of the FF is a double for Sims and the plan developed by the leader Hank Hennessey is for him to become Sims and get kidnapped by enemy agents who have already kidnapped an important nuclear scientist named Dr. Roy Farney. This is arranged and Granite is quickly taken prisoner and flown to Farney's location. Meanwhile Frenchy, Tom-Tom and Sonya follow and parachute into the location to rescue them both. After some exchanges the do indeed rescue the pair and escape the enemy base. A sidebar to this action has been Sonya and her attempts to win the respect and trust of her colleagues. Granite especially is tough on her though we find it's because he's romantically interested too.

In The Peacemaker Volume 1 #4 dated September, 1967, The Fightin' 5 return for one more story titled "Card Carrier" and is part one of a two-part tale by Joe Gill with Bill Montes and Ernie Bache on art. It begins in an alley with a grenade assault on a publishing company. A policeman shows up and pursues the vandals, shooting and wounding one of them, but not being able to capture them. The scene shifts to Hank Hennessey, leader of the FF who is briefing Granite Gallero about a membership card belonging to one Rober Heddon found at the scene of the crime and how it points to the problem of spies who might be using a liberal political group to do espionage work. Despite there persistent doubts about her it is agreed that Sonya is best suited to infiltrate the group. Meanwhile Tom Tom and Frenchy the Fox stake out the publisher's office thinking another attack might be imminent. Two men do show up to finish the job but are intercepted and followed by Tom-Tom, who hands the pursuit off to Frenchy. Thinking they have escaped, the two thugs goe their hideout in the sewer system and Frenchy follows. Granite reports in from the police station that the card carrier Roger Heddon has been found in the river dead from the gunshot wound received during the crime. Frenchy though is discovered following the thugs as the installment ends.

In The Peacemaker Volume 1 #5 dated November, 1967, The Fightin' 5 return for a final time in the conclusion of "The Card Carrier" by Joe Gill and drawn by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache. The action begins immediately as Tom-Tom reports Hank Hennessey that Frenchy the Fox has followed the vandals to their hideout. He doesn't know that Frenchy is at that moment captured by the thugs but he is able to escape and make contact momentarily before being knocked out. Alerted Hank and Tom-Tom get reports from Granite and Sonya. Granite Gallero reports that the man they thought was shot by the policeman was in fact dead before the attack and so the whole thing appears to be a frame with the card being a red herring. Sonya supports this report from inside the movement and the Fightin' 5 reassemble. Tom-Tom has gone to assist Frenchy and comes under gunfire, and the rest appear to assist. They take down the attackers, save Frenchy and realize the whole communist plot angle was a ruse by the publisher of the right-wing paper to kindle resentment against the Soviets. The story ends as the assembled FF fly over a safe Washington D.C.

The Fightin' 5 are among Charlton's transitional heroes. They precede the true "Action Hero" line which had mainstays like Blue Beetle (revamped) and Captain Atom joined by Thunderbolt, Peacemaker, and Thunderbolt, but also would run concurrently with many of them. But when the Action Heroes were purchased by DC long ago, these guys didn't go along for the ride and so remained hidden in the vast unplumbed depths of the Charlton sea.

They are as much a part of the spy surge prompted by the success of the James Bond movies as are The Man from UNCLE, Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD, Our Man Flint, and many many others. But they are alas a largely forgotten part of it save by true-blue Charlton fans. The stories by Joe Gill span the gamut from solid hard-nosed espionage to sprawling sci-fi and points between. The death of Irv "The Nerve" Hagannah was a pretty big deal when characters like that didn't die mostly. It added some depth to the series, gave it a punch in the gut which made the later stories a bit more edgy.

The artwork by the longtime team of Montes and Bache is I suspect something of an acquired taste. The produce some at times lovely artwork but I do find their storytelling suspect at other times. The work seems more about delicate finishes than clarity, but it's difficult to fault the final result which is memorable and sometimes downright lovely. Like most Charlton talents, the team on this book were reliable, and the writer Joe Gill defines the role.

These guys need a collection, a solid collection to get their adventures out in front of a larger audience. But sadly, I suspect it will never happen.

Until then we must as they did, Continue to Fight. 

Rip Off

The Fightin' 5 - America's Super Squad Fourteen!

Fightin' Five Volume 2 #41 is dated January,1967. The Executive editor is Pat Masulli and the Managing Editor is Dick Giordano. The script is by regular writer and creator Joe Gill along with Bill Montes and Ernie Bache on the artwork. The cover is Rocke Mastroserio. This is final original issue of the Fightin' Five to be published.

The "5" are Frenchy the Fox, Irv "The Nerve" Haganah, Granite Gallero, Hank Hennessy, and Tom-Tom. Designated according to the first letter of their name, they formed "America's Super Squad" and the word "F.I.G.H.T.", hence Fightin' 5.

"Monster from the Abyss" begins under the ocean when Dr. Aquilla and his scuba-wearing henchmen try to take control of the nuclear submarine and underwater laboratory the U.S.S. Plankton. Aquilla has established a base under the sea where he mines precious gems and minerals. He perceives the Plankton as a threat and orders his men to take control of it. In the course of that a missile is sent astray which ends up going deep into a trench. Meanwhile the Fightin' 5 approach the area concerned over Aquilla's activities. The missile goes to the bottom of the trench where it explodes just above the head of a gigantic sleeping reptile. The ancient creature is understandably upset and rises from the depths to see what has awakened him and encounters another missile which explodes on contact.

"Aquilla's Doom" begins as the creature attacks the U.S.S. Plankton and the Fightin' 5 arrive on the underwater tableau. They begin to try and distract the mammoth creature and do draw its attention away, but it then seeks to attack them. Aquilla sees this and is happy to see the creature handle his enemies for him. The Fightin' 5 try to draw the beast away and succeed, but when Plankton crew try to emerge to effect repairs, they are attacked by Aquilla's men who issues an order for them to surrender their ship. The Fighitn' 5 though manage to turn the sea monster and it starts to destroy parts of Aquilla's undersea base. Aquilla's attempts to attack Hank with a squidlike ink gun only attract the creature to him and he has to swim for his life hiding in the coral. To save the undersea despot the Fightin' 5 use a small bomb and get the creature to swallow it. It explodes but only gives the monster the hiccups. This does though distract him, and he swims away while the Fighitn' 5 go to rescue the crew of the Plankton and capture Aquilla.

"Expendable Except" is a one-page text story set during WWII in which a scientist uses his wits and a wine cellar to enable himself and his daughter to escape the Nazis with an O.S.S. agent and emigrate to America.

The Peacemaker has a second installment this issue. The writing is by Joe Gill and the art is by Pat Boyette.

"The War Peddler" picks up the action from the previous issue with Peacemaker having just been shot from the sky by Emil Bork an evil arms dealer. But Peacemaker recovers in the nick of time just missing the ground when his jets restart. Later aboard his own jet he seeks out Bork who is trying to instigate a war by initiating conflict with his own men and equipment and tricking two bordering nations. Christopher Smith learns of his plan, confronts Bork but it is to no avail who escapes in his own helicopter. Smith then becomes Peacemaker and takes to the skies reaching the site of the impending battle. Using his ability the electronically scramble communications and some paralyzing nerve gas he incapacitates both armies. Bork seeing this, shoots four missiles at Peacemaker. Peacemaker uses his helmet laser to destroy three of the missiles and sends the fourth into Bork's own plane killing the amoral war peddler. The blurb promises for Peacemaker adventures in the next issue of Fighin' 5 but there will be no more. Instead, Peacemaker will get his own book. More on that later.

It has long been noted that the sea monster awakened in this issue of Fightin' 5 bears a striking resemblance to longtime Charlton monster-character Gorgo. As can be seen above in this cover by the Montes and Bache team for an issue of Gorgo, the resemblance is amazing. In fact, inside the issue the beast looks even more like Gorgo with the nifty little ear fins added which are missing from the cover.

This is the last regular issue of the Fightin' Five. The title is cancelled, and its place is taken by the debut of a new Peacemaker comic a few months later in 1967. It will be over a decade before the title is revived picking up the original numbering but using only reprints. Those have been covered in previous reports. While Peacemaker takes the lead, the Fightin' 5 are given the back-up position with some few new adventures. 

The Fight Continues in the pages of Peacemaker. 

Rip Off

Fightin' 5 - America's Super Squad Thirteen!

Fighitn' Five Volume 2 #40 is dated November 1966. The Executive Editor is Pat Masulli and the Managing Editor is Dick Giordano. The story was written by Joe Gill with the regular team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache doing the art. Montes and Rocke Mastroserio did the rather striking cover this issue.

The "5" are Frenchy the Fox, Irv "The Nerve" Haganah, Granite Gallero, Hank Hennessy, and Tom-Tom. Designated according to the first letter of their name, they formed "America's Super Squad" and the word "F.I.G.H.T.", hence Fightin' 5.

"The Agents of D.E.A.T.H." (Dedicated Enemies of And Traitors to Humanity) are five rich international criminals who have banded together to take vengeance on the world for a multitude of reasons. The story opens with the Fightin' 5 taking a day off at Cape Cod with their girlfriends. But a relaxing day at the beach changes suddenly when a mysterious but beautiful woman appears and touches Hank who immediately follows her without explanation. She is Lady Dawn, a member of the Agents of D.E.A.T.H. The other members are Enrico Cuomo - an Italian treasure hunter, Anton Vidrian - appliance manufacturer, Thomas Lash - disgraced U.S. military man and financier, and Hans Muller - former boy genius for the Nazis. Aboard their high-tech and high-speed boat they plot the theft of secret submarines from the New London boatyards. Hank appears to be under Lady Dawn's control.

"Candidate for D.E.A.T.H..." begins with the raid which succeeds with the theft of one nuclear sub. While that one is leaving Lady Death and Hank stay to steal another. The other members of the Fightin' 5 though have figured out what must've happened and get their won submarine and use a steel-twine warhead to trap the escaping sub.

"Murder, My Friends" has the Fightin' 5 infiltrate the New London base and Hank appears to gun them down with gas when they emerge from the water. But it's a ruse as he is actually protecting them from the murderous gang. Hank, Lady Dawn and Enrico Cuomo head off in the other stolen sub to their villainous launch. Once there, they try to escape but Hank looking for an opportunity uses his knife to short-circuit the boat's electronics and quickly defeats Cuomo. As Lady Dawn prepares to shoot him he unleashes a smoke grenade and leaps off the boat. Enrico and Lady Dawn escape but the Five imagine they will return.

Debuting in this issue is The Peacemaker. Created by Joe Gill and Pat Boyette, this is a new hero in Dick Giordano's "Action Hero" regime.

In "Introducing: The Peacemaker" we meet Christopher Smith, international envoy to the Geneva Arms Conference and dedicated man of peace. On his way to the conference he is waylaid by arms dealer Emil Bork and his henchmen and his top secret papers are stolen. Later Smith attends a dinner party with Bork where Smith weighs his options. Seeing no way to stop Bork by negotiation he puts on his Peacemaker gear and using jet takes to the air. Peacemaker then stops Bork's me from kidnapping three of the conference attendees. A twin-jet bomber takes to the air and Peacemaker takes chase but seems to shot down as the first half of the story closes.

This comic has not been reprinted to my knowledge.

The Fight Continues. 

Rip Off