WORLD’S FINEST #195 FACSIMILE EDITION DC COMICS
Oh those meddling kids! In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, DC Comics recognized that their readers had a general love for the teen sidekicks of super-heroes. And no one represented that love better than Jimmy Olsen and Robin the Boy Wonder. Jimmy had been part of the Superman universe since issue #6 of Action Comics where he was simply referred to as office boy. It wasn’t until the April 15th, 1940 episode of the Adventures of Superman radio show, that he was officially named. And began being called that in the comics in Superman #13 in December of 1941. In fact, the secondary characters in Superman created a sort of prototype sitcom along with Perry White, Lois Lane, and Clark Kent. And if you don’t know the beginnings of Robin the Boy Wonder, shame on you! So by the time this story by Bob Haney, Ross Andru, and Mike Esposito was being commished to do this issue, those crazy kids had been everywhere and done everything. If they weren’t trying to solve their peers deaths, then they were on the verge of being exterminated themselves. And this is a perfect example of those stories. The boys are about to be executed but Superman has a code against killing. Luckily, his pal Batman is their with a Tommy Gun. (Really? Batman is going to use a gun? What The …) With plenty of super speed tricks and red herrings, the boys escape to fight another day. But if that isn’t enough, we are treated to a bonus feature with Congo Bill and Janu the Jungle Boy (as the stories featuring the golden gorilla known as Congorilla had lost some popularity as Bill’s sidekick. And while DC was notorious for their use of old story reprints, World’s Finest’s gimmick that these reprints were listed as stories from the Editors’ Round Table. An interesting way to present them. Just another example of why comics were better back in my day. 9 out of 10 Grahams.
DC FINEST WESTERN THE HANGMAN NEVER LOSES TPB
While everyone remembers the glut of Westerns that took over both television and the comic industry during the 1950’s, many don’t realize how long the fad went. And while such movie star powerhouses such as Dale Evans (her husband Roy Rogers was over at Dell starring in a title of his own) and Jimmy Wakely both had some lengthy titles at DC. But they were just the beginning. Original western characters such as Nighthawk, Pow Wow Smith, the Wyoming Kid, Johnny Thunder (no not that one!), Tomahawk and Foley of the Fighting Fifth filled the pages of DC’s titles. So with the dawning of the Silver Age of Comics and the new science based heroes, you would have thought the cowboy would have been put out to pasture. But amazingly, even more exciting westerns stars emerged and continued the genre into the 1980’s. El Diablo, Firehair, Son of Tomahawk, and Jonah Hex kept the western alive for more than a decade. And a good portion of them are given a wonderful flashback. With dynamic art styles by such names as Frank Thorne, Gil Kane, Gray Morrow, Sam Glanzman, Joe Kubert, and Neal Adams, these were masterpieces made to be treasured. So slap on your six-shooter and pull your ten gallon hat down over your eyes this one is worth every penny! 10 out of 10 Grahams.
EVERY NOW AND THEN, A COMIC ELUDES THE STAFF AT DOC’S PLACE AND IT IS ONLY BY DUMB LUCK THAT I STUBBLE ACROSS IT. MAYBE IT WAS THE UNUSUAL COVER ART OR THE DIFFERENT TITLE ‘TIGRESS ISLAND’ THAT CAUGHT MY EYE ON THE RACK. (OR MAYBE IT’S THE FACT THAT I HAD BEEN WATCHING AN ILSA MOVIE THE OTHER DAY, THAT THIS 2ND PRINTING CAUGHT MY ATTENTION, WHO KNOWS?)
TIGRESS ISLAND #1 (2ND PRINT) IMAGE COMICS
How this one snuck by me, I’ll never know. The creative team of Patrick Kinbdlon and Ephk are definitely connoisseurs of 1970’s exploitation films as this title seems to ripped straight from a 42nd Street Theatre. When a group of high end but troubled women find themselves transported to an impossible situation, the story relies on the personalities and strengths of the women to fight back. The dialog is well thought out and executed. And while I am not a great fan of the art style, I will admit that it does help distinguish the characters and the locations. With a backround in bad B movies, I would say this story fall into an 8 out of 10 Grahams.