Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "golden-age-comics"

The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 2 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the second story in the Superman Chronicles which detail Superman's comic book adventures in Chronological order across multiple book. This book collects stories Action Comics #14-20 and Superman #2 and #3.

Action Comics #14, #17, #19 and #20 feature Superman's first archvillain the Ultra-humanite, a wheelchair bound mad scientist. Action Comics #19 is probably the best of these as Superman has to help a scientist combat a purple plague that's decimating Metropolis' population. My only problem with Ultra is that his aims are vague. He mentions global domination, but how one thing will lead to another is always a question with him. However, Ultra does succeed in knocking Superman unconscious a few times and that's pretty good for 1939.

Action Comics #15 has Superman trying to raise a million dollars to help a knock off of Boys Town and he plans to do it by finding sunken treasure and rents a boat to do it as Clark Kent. Unfortunately, he finds treachery among the crew.

Action Comics #16 has Superman taking on organized gambling as a vice that must be stopped.

Superman #2 and #3 borrow heavily from the daily newspaper strip with a couple of my favorite stories. One being Superman helping a boxer down on his luck make a comeback against corrupt gamblers, and a story in Superman #3 shows Superman helping an orphanage fulfill of orphans being abused by their corrupt headmaster.

Clark Kent is a reporter,but in Action Comics #18, we're introduced to a less savory member of the fourth estate who just wreaks of sleaze and runs a blackmail racket to boot.

As mentioned earlier, Action Comics #19 features a chemical attack on Metropolis in the form of a purple plague that only Superman is safe from. He helps a research scientist find the cure even as public skepticism grows. It's probably the best-written story in the book.

If you love Golden Age Superman, this is a great book. It's true that Superman is still a bit rough. He uses threats of violence to get confessions quite a bit. And he even robbed a chemical factory so that our scientist could could continue his work.

Still, despite this bending and breaking of rules, Superman's caring and heart are on full display. He peps up the discouraged scientist in #19 and encourages him to keep going and trying. Superman was written at a time when the remembrance of corrupt cops was fresh in people's minds and the law too often worked on behalf of criminals and those who crushed the poor. Superman is called the "savior of the helpless and the oppressed" in the text story and that's apt.

Despite how rough his behavior is for twenty-first century readers, Superman's selfless caring for others makes this book a winner.



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The Robin Archives, Vol. 2 by Jim Mooney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This second archive of Robin solo stories includes adventures from Star Spangled Comics #86-#105.

These are not as good as those in Volume 1. Part of the problem is actually Batman who effectively took over the strip #88-#95 in hopes of saving it from low circulation numbers. In Issue #96, Robin ceased being the cover feature and these went back to being stories featuring just Robin.

Some of the highlights include:

-A story where criminals make a counterfeit of Batman's utility belt (#89)
-A powerful boy inventor who accidentally discovers a way find Robin's Secret Identity (#96)
-Another bout between Robin and the Clock King (Called the Clock in this story) (#97)
-Robin encounters a wanna be second Boy Wonder (#98)
-Robin takes a wild killer dog under his wings and helps his go straight #100)

The lowlights are quite a few. We have some just goofy stories such as Robin running for Batman as a birthday present (#91), the attempted introduction of a wheel based criminal (#99), and the Underworld's attempt to rig school popularity contests (#101).

The worst story was probably #103 where introduces Roberta, the Girl Wonder and Robin lets her fight crime and allows her to over the, "She's a girl!" against fighting crime but then comes up with something even more stupid, and executes a plan to end her career that's one of the most jerky things done in comics.

Still, if you're fan of the Golden Age Boy Wonder, this is a worthwhile read even if the stories have lost a step.



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Batman Chronicles: Volume Three by Bill Finger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the early Batman stories from Detective Comics #46-50 and Batman #4 and #5, as well as World's Best Comics #1 as it continues to collect Batman stories in order. This book covers the period from December 1940-June 1941

These stories are not as good as those in the previous two Batman volumes. Outside of two battles with the Joker, one with Hugo Strange, and one with the Golden Age Clayface, the book mostly features Batman battling thugs in unoriginal stories, though many had a good crime doesn't pay moral. These stories weren't bad but truth be told, they weren't that good considering you could many stories of equal or better value at other companies such as Marvel predecessor Timely Comcics.

Some of the highlights include:

Detective Comics #46: The Hugo Strange story introduces the use of fear as a supervillain weapon. This story represents the first attempt to develop a concept that would come to fruition during the Silver Age with the Scarecrow.

Batman #4: Too interesting stories. The Joker story featuring a crime circus is really carried by the Joker's presence as the concept really doesn't go much more than, "The Joker starting a gang with circus performers." Not a bad concept. Another one involves Batman fighting on a pirate ship.

Batman #5: This issue of Batman redeems the rest of the book which was so boring. When Robin says, "Not much doing in town since the Joker's finished. Ho Hum." He's not just giving a lead in to tell us what the joker was up to since his last supposed death but summing up Detective Comics 48-50. This Issue features a good Joker story than an outlandish fantasy with Batman and Robin travelling to a fairybook World to a save a girl in distress, and the best book in the story.

Titled by DC, "The Case of the Honest Crook." It features Batman helping out a young man who got waylaid into a false conviction and Batman's efforts to clear him. In the process of this, the crooks shoot Robin and Batman's reaction is classic. He really taps into his earlier darker version in his effort to get Robin's assailant. It says something about Batman's character. The character may have softened a bit by having Robin around, but don't think you'll get away with harming him.

Finally, World's Best Comics #1 tells a nice mystery. Published in June 1941, it ties into fears of fifth columnist and is a bit of an early warning from the period.

Overall, the book has some outstanding gems in it. To get to it, you'll just have to endure some average material, but the good stuff is worth the read.



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The Superman Chronicles, Vol. 5 by Jerry Siegel

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This chronological look through Superman's early years continues as this Volume collects Superman stories from Action Comics #32-#36, Superman #8 and #9 and World's Best Comics #1 and have publication dates between January-May 1941.

Superman continues his war on racketeers and fifth columnists in this book.

Action Comics #32 is noteworthy for Superman inventing a hand held Krypto Raygun with which he could take pictures and then play them back on the wall and also for curing a chemically induced catatonic state through "mental hypnosis."

Superman #8 is probably the best illustration of every type of Golden Age Superman story with Superman taking on a group of mind controlled giants, fifth columnists, a carnival racket, and a gang controlled by drugs provided by their boss.

Action Comics #33 has Superman taking on a mystery at a lumber camp where the will of the late owner to leave the proceeds of future sales to a boys camp after he died is in danger of failing because the owner died. This is an okay issue. Same thing for Issue #4 about an heiress inherits a mine.

Superman #9 has one of the most iconic covers in Superman history with Superman tearing through the yellow background. It also has some of the best stories in the book including Superman taking on phony pacifists, a tale of a racketeer trying to intimidate judge, a great intrigue tale surrounding a missing formula, and a suicide that sets Superman on the trail of something far bigger.

World's Best Comics #1 has Superman facing his most dangerous mad scientist foe since Luthor's last appearance. This time he's actually phased, which is a rarity for golden age Superman.

Issue #35 is a somewhat confusing story about an attempt to steal 100 shares of a useless mining stock. The story is fun but the solution is hard to buy. Issue #36 has Superman taking on more phony anti-rearmament activists. They go out of their way to avoid naming the Axis powers in this pre-World War II book, so this book goes with "Country X" as the bad guy. (I'm not making that up.)

Overall, this was fun, even though I didn't quite think these ere as good as the stories in Volume 4, there's still some nice plots and Superman and Lois are both fun characters to read about.



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Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age All-Winners, Vol. 3 by Marvel Comics

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 9-14 of Timely's Quarterly comic All Winners, featuring stories with the Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America from Summer 1943-Winter 1944/1945. The book has some more stories, but if you're looking for the best Golden Age comic books this is a collection to skip. The draft had taken a toll on Timely's writers and also the magazine had a far less engaged editor than the drafted Stan Lee.

1) The Human Torch only appeared in five of the six issues, but I think his stories were probably the best. He kept mostly to battling typical war time foes, but this was done with the gusto. The best story in the book was Sky Demons over America which has the Torch battling the Hawk, who's a superb looking villain. There's a beautiful spread of a aircraft carrier early in the story.

2) The Submariner probably has the biggest artistic problems in the book. His head just seemed to grow more and more out of proportion as the war went on. Still, his stories aren't half bad. A very nice tale has Sub-mariner trying to convince the Germans he's got tired of fighting for the allies (You could almost believe it with him.) In Issue #11, the Sub-mariner began to use alliterative interjections at an alarming rate (all related to the sea.) These interjections included Sleeping Salamanders, Shriveling Shrimp, and Galloping Guppies. (All that on one page.) Overall, these aren't great Sub-mariner stories but again solid.

3) Captain America really has an uneven quality about him. The first three stories are ho hum. Whoever was writing Cap during the war had lost track of what made the character so appealing so when we were only getting a plain adventure strip. Things picked up a little bit with Issue #12's "Four Trials of Justice" in which the Red Skull returns to fight the Four Freedoms. Issue #13 comes closest to capturing the Simon/Kirby style with a real horror story. Issue 14 is a dumb story that's war propaganda that depends on people throwing away puzzles when it's found out they're made in Japan.

4) The Whizzer: These six-seven page stories were mostly filler. The best one of them was in Issue 13 where a mad scientist sets elaborate traps for Timely's speedster.

5) The Destroyer: Without Stan Lee, this character went downhill. The stories are dull and fairly hoe hum affairs, with a good moment or two thrown in. He was only in four issues and that was a mercy.

The book includes some fine cover art, a few public service announcements featuring Captain America, and some bland text stories. The book has as much politically incorrect material as any other book in the era.

Overall, this isn't bad but there are much better collections out there.



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All Star Comics Archives, Volume 4 by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects four issues of All Star Comics from 1943 in Issues 15-18. This volume sees the Justice Society back off a bit from the war. While Americans were all for our War Efforts, they didn't want to hear about war in every book, movie, radio program, and certainly not every comic book. However, Issue 16 would be an exception to this.

Each issue told one over-arching story with the Justice Society together at the end and the beginning of the story while each hero had his own six page mini-adventure.

First off, Issue 15 has every member of the Justice Society so busy they can't attend the meeting but not too busy to send their secretary Wonder Woman their excuses. Wonder Woman's biggest role in this book is getting her and all the girlfriends of the heroes captures. (Wonder Woman couldn't take part in battles because she was only the secretary.) The story itself introduces a great supervillain for the Justice Society in Brain Wave. Still, his plot using mirror images does get a little old plus the nonsensical girlfriend plot weighs this down. Grade: B-

Issue 16 has the Justice Society taking on a series of Nazi spies trying to pit Americans against one another. It's a beautiful patriotic story. For those of us who admire the greatest generation's sense of unity and purpose, this is a gorgeous illustration of that, particularly the last couple pages. Grade: A-

Issue 17 marks the return of Brain Wave and this time he's shrunk the Justice Society. The story is better than the last time though there are a few sore points. It doesn't even make sense to shrink the Spectre given his powers, the Thunderbolt has to appear in all the stories to bail Johnny out. Grade: B+

Issue 18 sees the Justice Society battling King Bee who has turned men into human bug creatures with the powers of Insects. It's a fun concept and a b it educational too. Overall, a decent final story. Grade: B

The book has a warm and nostalgic introduction by James Robinson who wrote the modern day Starman revival. Overall, this is an enjoyable installment and a step up in quality from Volume 3 and a very enjoyable chapter in the career of the Justice Society.



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Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Captain America, Vol. 6 by Stan Lee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Captain America Comics Issues 21-24 as the pool of Timely Comics drained and Stan Lee prepared to go to war.

The Captain America stories predominate and by comparison all the other features are window dressing. Captain America stories are not as good in the early going but more than any other hero, there's a sense of Cap taking on truly colossal foes including Vampires answered even Satan. There's no Red Skull but there are other villains that are far stronger than the typical Axis strong men that other heroes took on. However, not all was high quality in Cap comics as seen by the racist caricature that dominated the lead story in Captain America Comics #22.

The Human Torch stories are merely adequate and come across as the hallow filler they were.

The Secret Stamp actually seemed to be improving in its logic, even though many of the stories are ludicrous they were enjoyably so. The Dippy Diplomat was actually funny as well and was a nice humor piece. The text stories were about average, maybe slightly less so.

Overall, I'd give this collection 3 1/2 stars. The best reason to get it if you're a diehard fan of Captain America. Any Golden Age stories with him are truly worth reading.



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All Star Comics Archives, Vol. 5 by Gardner F. Fox

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 19-23 of All Star Comics and features five issues with the Justice Society of America. Issues 19 and 20 are fairly standard but well-done fare as the JSA goes after a series of crimes to music and another where a sinister villain seems to be to blame and he's haunted the man who asks for their help.

After the JSA got better by getting shorter. War Time shortages required that the roster be trimmed from eight to six and the result seems to be better more focused stories, starting with Issue 21's, "The Man Who Relived His Life," it's a touching fantasy about tho he JSA going back in time to help fix the mistakes of an old man who is dying as a result of his help to finding a cure for a disease after a life of selfishness. It's a beautiful and thoughtful tale.

Issue 22 finds them going further through time and place to fight prejudice with a story that features the sort of positive message of tolerance and understanding that was often proclaimed during the war. The story is a noble attempt to build understanding. Issue 23 features the introduction of Psycho-Pirate, a villain who preys on the team's emotion. He would become a long-standing character in the DC universe. This is a chance to see him in his first story, though he's clearly not at his best.

The text stories included in the book are all Hop Harragan tales featuring that great flying ace and like the rest of the book the quality shows a marked improvement y bad about the book over previous volumes. Of course, the one thing that's really bad about is that Wonder Woman is kept out of action as the Secretary while Johnny Thunder at the Golden Age are key operatives.

Still beyond that, this is an enjoyable fifth volume.



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Captain Midnight Archives Volume 1: Captain Midnight Battles the Nazis by Various

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Golden Age of Comics is best remembered for characters whose career and fame continued past the golden age: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, and Captain America come to mind. Few talk about Captain Midnight. I was vaguely aware of the character because I'd heard of his radio program. I knew he was a pilot of some sort and aviation radio programs and comics have never been my thing. So I picked this book up from the library on a lark and was surprised by what I found.

The comics contained in this book are in the same league as nearly any other comic hero of the time. Whether this was always the case would require some research. The stories included here are cherry picked from the various books that the good Captain appeared in while many other heroes have had every appearance republished. Still, what we have is pretty good. While Captain Midnight is a pilot, he's also a costumed crime and Nazi fighter whose real identity is the inventor Captain Albright. In this story he faces off against not only Nazis but "gremlins," giant vampire bats, and man-made tornadoes. Captain Midnight has a good supporting cast that rotates including a kid sidekick, a dopey sidekick who disguises himself as Sergeant Twilight, and a super strong robot named Samson.

The execution on all of these elements is actually marvelous. The stories are great and the action sequences are really well-drawn. The book doesn't contain an origin story, so you'll leave with no idea why a famous inventor is disguising himself with an obvious pseudonym. Also, while the book references battling Nazis, there are many foes in this book, and Nazis are only one of them. That's just a minor quibble.

For fans of the Golden Age of Comics, this volume offers some great examples of the era at its best and a chance to explore a hero they may have never heard of but should have.



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The Batman Chronicles, Vol. 8 by Don Cameron

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Batman stories from Detective Comics #71-74, Batman #14 and #15 and World's Finest #8 and #9rd the ar

In the book, there are appearances by four major Batman villains and one had another minor one. The Catwoman story is really good and features Batman and Catwoman seeming to get together for a while. The Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum story is great for just how weird and unsettling they look. The Penguin story is pretty good. I thought the Penguin story had a clever idea of him selling crime ideas, but he was way more brutal than the Penguin typically is. The Joker story contains the very silly idea of Batman delivering public lectures is a bit silly. The Scarecrow story is very generic.

Add to that, you have a touching Christmas story and another tale that seems to pay tribute to the honorable drugist.

These aren't all bad, however the quality isn't as good as some other volumes.



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