The Primus Reports #7

This is the last issue of Charlton's Ivan Tors' Primus adaptation. George Wildman is the editor and for one last time Joe Gill handles the scripts and Joe Staton is the artist. Joe also did the rather exciting cover, the only Primus cover to actually have some significant action on it. Also I should finally mention that Charlotte Jetter is the letterer on this issue and has been for all the Primus comics.

The first story is titled "Crisis at 40 Fathoms" and once again we start with a real splash page (no pun intended) under water with Pirmus under attack by scuba divers but this time it's an out-of-sequence scene and the story actually begins aboard the Orca with Toni and Primus talking about a difficult salvage dive. He offers to take her to dinner at a swanky place called "The Glades" and next we are at the nightclub. An entertainer, a many named Richard N. Mixon is the headliner and he's a comedian who mimics the famous ex-President (who was still in office at this time of course). Two gunsels though walk away with Mixon after his show and Primus gets suspicious, goes back stage and is gets a karate chop to the back of the neck. Toni finds him and they call the White House about the situation. Later Charlie Whitman gives Primus a call that the international phone cable has gone out and the government wants Primus to check it out. He agrees and soon the deceptively swift houseboat/lab the Orca is racing to the scene. But it seems already at the site of the break are some divers and a submarine. In the sub are the missing Mixon and another man Panyi who can mimic the Soviet Premier of that day. The villain is a man named Dr.Wylie Forbush (who resembles Sydney Greenstreet more than a little) and his plan is to spark World War III by having these imposters place bogus phone calls to the world leaders. Primus investigates but sees a guy planting a bomb on the Orca and and defuses it. He heads back down to the bottom and confronts the two divers at the sub, but he's shot with a dart and taken aboard. There he learns of Forbush's plan which has been stalled because Mixon refused to participate and has been knocked out under torture. He awakes and causes a disruption that allows Primus to attack the villains and defeat them, and soon enough the authorities arrive to take them into custody. The story ends with an exhausted Primus refusing calls from a thankful White House, preferring the evening with Toni.

The Human Fish story this time is titled "Starfish Trouble" and Professor John Wilmore, the man with both gills and lungs is called upon to solve an ecological disaster. It seems the Crown of Thorns starfish is multiplying in vast numbers and is destroying a coral bed which is lifeline for a group of Pacific islanders. Wilmore investigates and offers the novel solution of buttressing the coral bed with concrete and waiting to see if the burst of starfish population is a natural cycle. It seems it was and the story ends happily.

The second Primus story is titled "Saboteur" and begins with Primus investigating what might be cutting fishing nets off the Grand Banks. He finds mysterious scuba divers who get him caught in a net and escape. He goes topside and talks a fisherman named Dan and tells him of the sabotage. Then all of a sudden a large Russian trawler appears and almost swamps the fishing boat. Primus is convinced the Russians have a habitat hidden on the seabed and are causing the trouble, so down he goes again. He finds the habitat and sabotages the air supply. The divers have to call the trawler for help and Primus uses that chance to attach small explosives to the propeller and rudder of the boat, effectively disabling it. The story ends with the Russian captain looking through his binoculars at a waving Primus who wants to make sure they know who won this round. Dan says that Primus is "fantastic" and Primus says he won't argue the point.

And that completes the run. The last panel of Primus waving is a nice goodbye, so it's likely that Joe Gill and Joe Staton knew this was his last Primus story. If not, it's a neat coincidence. Joe Gill's scripts have been solid all through the run. This final issue features Staton in all his glory. There's lots of action and some interesting storytelling angles. It's clear that Primus was a learning experience for Joe Staton who would soon enough strike gold at Charlton alongside Nicola Cuti with E-Man.

It's been fun. No more to come.

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The Primus Reports #6

The sixth issue of Primus is the second with George Wildman as editor. And apparently a shift was made away from photo covers, and finally Joe Staton is allowed to do his own distinctive cover for the book. Joe is still the artist in charge and Joe Gill is still the scripter of record.

The first Primus story is titled "Death is Waiting" and it begins with Primus under attack by mysterious scuba men. He fends them off and keeps a mysterious canister he'd found attached to a buoy in the sea. On board the Orca he and Toni get the canister unlocked and find Heroin. The Orca comes under attack using a bazooka and Primus is forced to surrender. He gives the canister to a sinister looking oriental we come to find is named Yang and Primus is knocked out. He awakes to find himself tied up and the Orca rigged to explode. He escapes and gets rid of the bomb and after finding a location from Charlie by radio sets off to find Yang and the kidnapped Toni.

Part II is titled "Dealers in Quiet Death" and it begins with the leering Yang analyzing his heroin and taunting Toni. Primus swims ashore and is detected almost immediately. He is captured taken to Yang who surprisingly offers him his life and Toni's if he'll deliver the heroin and bring back the seven million dollars it will yield. Primus agrees and while Toni stays behind he goes to the rendevous but slips a bomb into the drugs which demolishes the plane and presumably the pilot. Primus takes the money back to Yang but gets the jump on him and he and Toni capture the gang. Toni rewards Primus with big wet kiss.

This issue's Human Fish story doesn't have a title, but it involves Professor John Wilmore in a daring rescue of some trapped workers trapped in a tunnel in the East River after an explosion. He works to save them and even has to make one last daring swim to save a man who has gotten seperated from the others. His girl impressed she offers him breakfast.

The second Primus story is titled "A Weapon Used to Kill Whom?" and it begins with Primus finding a .38 Magnum while seaching for stolen jewels in a dirty canal. Two thugs named Ralph Rinkler and Dixie Galt who threw it away see him retrieve it and seek to get it back. Ralph attacks Primus that night but Primus manages to throw him into the canal. The next day Primus and Toni give the gun to police and learn that Ralph works for Galt and both of them work for a gambling bigwig named Marvin Schwartz. Primus goes to the estate of Frenchy Smith a rival criminal and finds him dead by gunshot wound. Galt shows up with a gun, but Primus escapes ultimately by tricking the gang into driving their boat into shallow water. Meanwhile Toni has found the jewels. Later the pair smooch in a local resturant.

The style Joe Staton uses in this issue is really beginning to develop into the style we're accustomed to from him. He's becoming more confident as a storyteller and there's little or no evidence of another artist touching his work up. This is solid issue.

One more to come.

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The Primus Reports #5

The fifth issue of Primus from Charlton offers up a change in direction for the book. It features a blended cover image, made up of a photo of Robert Brown and for the first time artwork featuring both Primus and Charlie Whitman. I can't identify the artist, but it doesn't seem to be Joe Staton. This issue once again features scripts by the ubiquitous Joe Gill and artwork by Joe Staton who seems much more himself this time out. The new guy on the book is George Wildman who takes over as editor of this book and the Charlton line as a whole.

Whether by design or coincidence, the first story is a real departure for Primus. It's titled "The Fire People" and Part I begins with Carter Primus and Charlie flying over a volcano in a small nameless country. It seems there's a debate about putting a new hydro-electric plant at the site and there's a debate about the ecological impact. We meet Ambassador Bascombe and the guy who wants the plant named Mr.Wexford. Bascombe has sent for Primus and his team to do what we call an "ecological impact study" these days. His report will decide the issue. Primus heads out underwater and finds a warm lava tube that seems to lead elsewhere when someone slides a rock on him. Toni rescues him and then they hear that Bascombe is missing. On the second dive they go together but separate after find huge statues indicating a submerged culture. Almost immediately Primus is attacked and captured and taken inside the volcano where a city is hidden on the interior rim. He finds Bascombe and meets King Nikan and his daughter named Yula tells Primus about their culture and how they choose to live apart from the modern world.

In Part II titled "The Test" Primus is to be judged in classic trial-by-combat style and he is pitted against a giant of a another race that lives alongside Nikan's people who have become more attuned to living in the sea. After a long battle Primus defeats his opponent and later they make their pitch for the dam to the King and his daughter. Meanwhile Charlie and Toni look for Primus using a plane and Charlie finds the hidden city and parachutes into the volcano. The people of the city have been getting increasingly angry and the danger is real for Primus and Bascombe, but then Charlie appears and with Yula's help they find their scuba gear and escape. Over dinner Primus tells Yula that they can move the dam to another location and she gives him a kiss.

The Human Fish story this time is titled "Screams of Salvation" and it finds the man with both lungs and gills, Professor John Wilmore asked to find a solution to dolphins getting caught in tuna nets. He does some research with sharks, records their sounds and uses those recordings to keep the dolphins clear of the danger. In this story Wilmore seems to actually communicate with fish telepathically. In earlier stories he's seemed to understand them, but this might the first time he's communicated with them.

The second Primus story is titled "The Crown of Minos" and it finds Primus and Toni diving in the Agean Sea in the sunken palace of King Minos. They find other divers and trouble when they turn out to be pirates. They meet a man named Pierre LaPerche, the leader of the gang and he holds Toni hostage so that Primus will bring him the Crown of Minos. Charlie aboard the Orca tries to help but is driven away by gunfire. Primus agrees to the deal and dives finding many threats such as an octopus and more deadly still Moray eels. Primus finds the crown but uses to eels to trip up LaPerche's men and heads to the surface to save Toni. But she needs no saving as she's already knocked out LaPerche and has radioed the Coast Guard to come take the pirates away. They turn the crown over to the government but Toni is unimpressed by the still dingy and muck-encrusted treasure.

All in all a rich and engaging issue all the way through. The adventures seem more wide ranging and the fantasy elements are driven up a bit. I can only assume this is the editorial hand of Wildman expressing itself.

More next time.

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The Primus Reports #4

The fourth issue of Primus features a very colorful use of photos, specifically two different pictures of Robert Brown blended with artwork and lettering to make a rather offbeat image. This issue is again edited by Sal Gentile, with scripting by Joe Gill and Joe Staton is again on the art duties.

The first story is titled "The Curse of the Killer Reef" and it opens with a bang literally as Carter Primus and a woman named Carla are being attacked by two thugs, one of whom shoots at Primus. Police sirens drive them off and Primus and Carla get on with their dinner plans but he soon learns she's a woman needing help getting a treasure of stolen gold off the sea floor of the South American coast off the coast of Punta Del Este. She wants to retrieve it for the good of her people and keep it away from the dictator Adolfo Ruiz. Primus agrees to help. His aides Charlie Whitman and Toni aren't too sure about it, but Primus nonetheless heads off to find the gold. He dives into some dangerous waters filled with sharks and barracuda which he drives off with a spear gun. Locating the wreck he comes under attack by two divers hired by Ruiz to stop him and get the gold. He fights them off but then Ruiz shoots a machine gun into the water wounding his own men and driving the barracuda into a frenzy. Primus saves the men, and is stranded below, but Charlie and Toni show up in the nick of time and save the day.

The Human Fish text story is titled "Sea Lion Security" and it finds Professor John Wilmore, the man with both lungs and gills, called upon to solve a problem for the Navy. It seems they use sea lions to find and retrieve top secret deep sea devices designed to stop enemy subs. The sea lions cannot it seems retrieve them 100% of the time and the Navy can't find the problem. Wilmore descends and ultimately finds it's the the fault of the signal and not the sea lions, solving the Navy problem.

The second Primus story is titled "No Trouble at All" and it opens with Primus riding a motorbike across the beach dunes and coming across a beautiful blonde painting seascapes. She complains that she's being harrassed by three hoodlums (who look not unlike the gang from Easy Rider in some respects). Primus himself finds trouble with the trio who tell him to leave the area. He doesn't, instead uses his plane to locate their shack. That night inflitrates the gang's shack but is captured and it turns out his presence and that of the girl threaten a drug smuggling operation. The next day the gang shoots at Charlie Whitman and Toni and they leave the area, but then Primus escapes and Charlie and Toni return and the drug runners are captured.

It's amazing how different Joe Staton's work is from story to story. I'm assuming either he's playing with his style, still trying to find the right mix or more likely he's getting help from other Charlton artists. This issue is offers two really different styles, but both are reasonably effective. The storytelling is again suspect in the second story, but again it seems to be a function of the small page count. He really plays around effectively with some page designs in this issue.

More to come.

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The Primus Reports #3

The third issue of Charlton's Primus features a very dynamic photo cover of Robert Brown as Carter Primus. Again in this issue we have Sal Gentile as the editor, Joe Gill as the scripter, and Joe Staton as the artist. And this time the art does look more like pure unadulterated Staton, though I still detect the hand of some assistance, especially in the first story.

The first story is titled "The Deadly Pay-Off" and in it we encounter for the first time, the Orca -- the sophisticated floating laboratory of Carter Primus. The story begins as Primus and his assistant Toni are under attack by two masked men and one knocks Primus out. He and Toni take the Orca out at high speed in pursuit and encounter the giant yacht of Paul Kadopolis the richest Greek in the world. They immediately come under attack by a large gun and they leave. It's soon revealed that Kadopolis wants to take possession of a Primus invention, the Triple D Unit which will allow the oil magnate to find oil in the Lake Zeno and his time for finding that oil is dwindling so he's desperate. He's offered to buy it from Primus but was refused and now he wants no matter how. The next day a helicopter appears and while Primus is below the sea they kidnap Toni. Primus agrees to help Kadopolis and the Orca is airlifted to Lake Zeno and Primus is put in a cell while Toni pretends to make friends with Kadopolis. Primus takes his equipment down to find the oil but tricks Kadopolis and his henchmen with a radio trick and gets the drop on them, saving Toni and pitching Kadopolis overboard. The authorities agree to help Primus return the Orca to Florida. The text piece is another The Human Fish story.

This one is title "Mini-Sub Missing" and Professor John Wilmore, a man with both gills and lungs is called upon to find two missing men trapped beneath the sea in a mini-sub. He spends many hours looking but at last is able to locate them and they are saved with only hours of air remaining. His date is impressed.

The second and last Primus story is titled "In to the Darkness" and it finds Primus at the ballet enjoying the talent of defected Soviet ballerina Irina Lukhov. He stops an assassin from shooting her but is himself taken down by her tardy bodyguards. U.S agent Folson apologizes but then only minutes later in a car he and others reveal themselves as double agents and kidnap both Primus and Lukhov and take then across the Brandenburg Gate into Russian territory. He is put in a cell but escapes and after much gunplay he and Irina are able to escape by using a canal that takes them across the border again, as Primus cleverly uses his shirt as a decoy. Later Irina is very appreciative. And that's yet another issue of Primus. With this issue we get the Orca, another bit of Primus lore revealed. And there is a real trend developing with Primus standing up to both venile capitalists and communists.

More next time.

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The Primus Reports #2

The second issue of Primus from Charlton Comics features another photo cover of Robert Brown, the star of the TV show on which the comic is based. The editor is Sal Gentile with Joe Gill on scripts and Joe Staton again on the art chores, though this time it seems he had some significant help in the inking.

The first story is titled "Where Killers Meet" and it begins with Carter Primus in the Ross Sea testing new heated scuba gear or the U.S. Navy and subsequently being attacked by a sperm whale. He sends a message to his partners aboard his boat Inca, Charlie Whitman and Toni, who find themselves surrounded by whaling ships. A woman diver goes to assist Primus who is suffering from a crashing sonic wave emanating from the ships. She leads him up and he meets Adam Karkel, a man intent on hunting and killing the whales for the products they will yield. Charlie and Toni escape due to a fog while Primus is imprisoned aboard the ship. His female savior, named Magda explains the plan of Karkel and his partner Ludkin, an oceanographer, which is to harvest as many of the protected sperm whales as they can. Karkel appears and Primus lures him close to the cell and knocks him out and takes the keys. He and Magda escape in scuba gear and come under fire. Meanwhile Charlie and Toni have returned, pick up Magda and then following orders leave Primus to plant small bombs on the propellers of whale killer ships. He does this despite being attacked by a herd of whales driven mad by the sonic device of Ludkin. Primus survives, disables the fleet, and gets his kiss from the grateful Magda much to Toni's chagrin.

Next we have a text story titled "Red Tide" starring The Human Fish. This time John Willmore, a man born with both gills and lungs finds his way to the Gulf of Mexico where red organisms are choking out the normal chain of life. He finds the source, a strange coral and uses flame throwers supplied by the military to destroy the the source, thus cleansing the sea.

The second and final Primus story is titled "East of Aden" and it begins with Primus fighting a crocodile in the Gulf of Aden. He wires the beast's jaws shut and goes topside to find out from Toni that the local sheik demands his presence. Primus find Shiek Al Habim, an insufferable man, aboard his yacht when there is an explosion sending it and its wealth to the bottom. Primus is contracted to retrieve the riches but encounters many others, the poor robbed of their fair share of Habim's wealth already raiding the boat. Primus is moved by their fate and assists them which ultimately leads to Habim being deposed and replaced as leader by a much fairer government. Primus spends his last panel luxuriating in a harem of grateful ladies. These are really solid stories, especially the lead one. The villain is well defined as is the threat. The second story with Primus is a bit rushed and the storytelling is clumsy in a few places but that's doubtless because so much story was crammed into very few pages. Staton's artwork here is very good, but clearly he's being inked heavily. I can't really tell who it is, though I see hints of Tony Tallarico in a few places. It's not him I think, but that's the feel it has.

More next time.

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The Primus Reports #1

Charlton Comics produced a lot of licensed material over the decades. In late 1971 they put out the first issue of Primus, a comic adapted from the Ivan Tors TV series of the same name starring Robert Brown. The first issue is dated February 1972 and is edited by Sal Gentile, written by Joe Gill and features the artwork of newcomer Joe Staton.

The first story is titled "Double Dealers" and begins with Carter Primus (who we are told invented DASH (Deep Sea Habitat), PUP (Primus Underwater Propulsion Vehicle) and SSS (Sonar Signal System), a rich adventurer who travels the world battling evil and the natural world. We see him on the first page swimming between a beautiful girl and a great white shark which he kills. Then they get to her yacht and he finds out she's Lady Lydia Mabry the widow of Sir David Mabry. She is assissted by a suspicious fellow named Nikki Le Fleche. Carter is treated to a meal then sent packing as the yacht leaves Portuguese waters. But he discovers first that the dumping of garbage from the boat at Le Fleche's orders is what likely drew the shark to begin with. He then flys to Marseilles and there finds out that Sir David and Le Fleche were partners in cocaine smuggling but that Lady Mabry seems not to be aware of that. Primus again meets up with her and gets aboard the yacht but when he is taken to the secret hold by Le Fleche who wants to ambush him, he strikes first and quickly dispatches the villains saving Lady Mabry from murder and the world from the poisonous drug.

The second story is titled "A Ring to Remember" and introduces us to Eizabeth Ryan and Richard Howden a super-rich and notoriously tempestuous couple of actors. Elizabeth throws here million-dollar ring off the boat in a huff and Primus who is on the spot dives to retrieve it when Richard says he'll give $100,000 to charity for the effort. But a shark stops his attempt and Primus has the captain mark the spot. News of the ring's fate has reached shore and other fortune hunters show up. Primus battes them and a really big shark (which he blows up) and snags the ring. But it turns out that ring was a fake and Elizabeth had known all along. Richard throws her into the water but all is forgiven in the final panel.

Next up is a text story titled "Meet The Human Fish". It tells of Professor John Wilmore a man with both lungs and gills from birth. The story esentially relates how he was born and trained by his father to embrace his nature. He now keeps his identity hidden under a flesh collar and very long hair, but uses his underwater capabilities to do good in the world working as a government agent.

The final story is titled "The First Man of the Sea" and this time we find Primus already fighting underwater against a sabateour who is attempting to plant a bomb aboard a submarine. Meanwhile in outer space a capsule prepares for splashdown when it malfunctions forcing the American spaceman to ditch in the Soviet Union. Carter Primus is contacted and flies to the location to rescue the astronaut which he does after battling agents of the Soviets.

These are surprisingly good tight little adventures. Joe Gill's scripts are efficient and effective. Joe Staton's artwork is vivid though it is apparent he's had some help on the artwork. I assume it was touched up in the offices after it was turned in. It's possible that Staton was just evoking the feel of other artists, but I detect the style of Jim Aparo in places as well as a hint of Wayne Howard in spots. Primus comes across as a capable and likeable hero in these stories. There is a sense of the time with the Liz and Dick feud finding its way into a story. These stories don't have the two other regular characters from the TV show, so it's likely that Gill was working from incomplete materials to meet the lead time on the comic when he constructed the script. Neat comic. More to come.

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