Flag Day 2020 With Superman

Though Superman was a strange visitor from another planet, Superman still saluted the American flag!  

Artist Jack Burnley provided this cover for Superman #24 (September-October, 1943)....

...inside, Clark Kent toured the War Department and Superman fought enemies of our nation in the Arctic!
 
 

Wanted Doctor Light Iron Mask Mist Blue Lama Yellow Wasp

Even more of the E. Nelson Bridwell goodness that was the 1970s reprint magazine called Wanted The World's Most Dangerous Villains....

...here with the fifth and sixth issue of that series, mostly wonderful little treats from the Golden Age, with foes of Doll Man, Starman, Sargon and Wildcat, but it starts off with Green Lantern's battle against JLA foe Dr. Light....before going on with Iron Mask, Mist, Blue Lama and the Yellow Wasp!

Wizard Of The Light-Wave Weapons

First up, from the first story reprinted in the fifth issue is Green Lantern #33 (December, 1964) by Gardner Fox, Gil Kane and Sid Greene (under an original cover by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson), is the battle between Green Lantern and Doctor Light!



Hal Jordan, the alter ego of Green Lantern, starts the issue by facing himself over an award....but, that might be jumping ahead to much.  A little bit earlier, Hal and his pal, Thomas Kalmaku, were getting ready for the trophy presentation as Ferris Aircraft when Coast City was suddenly overcome by an Aurora Borealis, prompting Hal to investigate as Green Lantern.

Over the city, Green Lantern found Doctor Light, who was trying out his new light weapon, the Lightolater, and sends Green Lantern crashing into the ground, unconscious.  Green Lantern's ring keeps him from hitting the ground, but when Hal revives, Dr. Light is gone.  So, back at Ferris Aircraft, Hal prepares for the gala again, as his ring is searching for Dr. Light. Sadly, it finds the doctor just as Hal is going to accept his award, so he power ring's Tom into a "Hal duplicate" to get the award, so Green Lantern can face Dr. Light.  Dr. Light uses his weapon to send a VIBGOYR army after Green Lantern (light constructs as warriors based on the seven colors of the spectrum).  Hal only has trouble with the yellow one, but successfully turns it against Dr. Light and defeats the villain.  Hal returns to the gala, finding Tom as Hal, turns him back to Tom, and they exchange how their respective evenings went (with Hal dropping a lot of knowledge on light phenomenon as well).

Dr. Light first premiered fighting the JLA, with that story being reprinted many time, including in a JLA Giant, and then faced the Atom, in a story that has been reprinted a few times (including in an Atom Archive) as well.

The Man In The Iron Mask

The second story of the fifth issue is from Doll Man #15 (Winter, 1947) by William Woolfolk and Alex Kotzky (under an original cover by Al Bryant), with the mighty miniature Quality hero of Doll Man fighting against the dangerous menace of the man in the Iron Mask!



Darrell Dane was being tormented by a model plane, but it was an invention of Dr. Roberts, the father of his girlfriend, Martha, who suggested that this could be a weapon in Doll Man's arsenal, being the Dollplane!  Darrell couldn't wait to try it out as Doll Man, and used it to stop mob boss Don Vittorio, who looked like he perished in a car crash off a bridge into a river.  But, Don survived, burned badly, to find a kindly hermit who helped nurse him back to health (and showed off his collection of metal masks with key locks). 

Taking off his bandages, Don saw he was burned, killed the old man and vowed to live under an Iron Mask.  Doll Man was going after Frank Morbo (who had taken over the Vittorio mob), but was beaten there by the Iron Mask, who killed his former lieutenant, and took control.  Doll Man showed up, but was beaten by a headbutt from the Iron Mask.  Iron Mask then left Doll Man to drown in a fish tank, but Doll Man escaped that trap.  Doll Man then faced Iron Mask at the home of a stamp collector, but Iron Mask escaped the ground, but Doll Man wouldn't follow.  Waiting, Iron Mask returned and Doll Man stopped him.  Iron Mask had lost the key to his mask, and had to return or he would have starved in his mask.

Doll Man had a few reprints of his Quality tales in the Super Spectaculars of the 1970s, with new stories as a part of the Freedom Fighters to follow soon.

Finder's Keepers

Starting the sixth issue off by shining bright with the Starman story from Adventure Comics #77 (August, 1942) by Gardner Fox and Jack Burnley (under a Sandman cover by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon), as astral avenger faces the return of his most tenacious foe, the Mist!

Starman's foe, the Mist, escaped from jail after one of his henchmen, Whitey, had slipped him some of his inviso solution, so the Mist turned his cell invisible and escaped in the confusion.  The Mist had a new plan, using items people would find to hypnotize them into stealing for him.  This plan was fouled by Honey Jenkins, who tried to return her item to the police.  Ted Knight heard of these odd thefts from his fiancee, Doris Lee, and went to check out Honey as Starman.  Good thing, as the Mist's men were trying to kidnap Honey, to prevent her from revealing the plan.  Starman went to the Mist's new windmill headquarters, where he faced a few traps, and even had his gravity rod taken from him by the Mist, but was able to beat his foe with some reflected light.

The Mist had previously faced Starman once, returned again as Starman teamed up with Black Canary, then the Mist represented himself as a Black Canary foe in a battle with the JLA and JSA as a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains..

The Man Who Met Himself

A nice surprise for the sixth issue, as this Sargon the Sorcerer tale from Sensation Comics #71 (November, 1947) by John Broome and Paul Reinman (under an original Wonder Woman cover by Harry G. Peter), facing off against his regular foe, the mysterious Blue Lama.


Sargon the Sorcerer was finishing his onstage magic show when he was met by two versions of his assistant, Maximillian O'Leary. 

Taking the two backstage to solve the mystery, Sargon is thrown into the otherdimensional world of his foe, the Blue Lama.  She took advantage of Sargon's confusion to draw him into her world.  She had him tied, unable to use his Ruby of Life (as he couldn't touch his bonds to control them), but he could control his Ruby of Life as she tried to take it from him.  This allows him to get free, where he escapes the Blue Lama and the Max doppleganger to return to the stage.  There, he faces his own duplicate....the Blue Lama in disguise!  The two battle, and she retreats, to face Sargon again.

Sargon was a member of the All-Star Squadron, but mostly featured in Golden Age comics, with a few reprints in the 1970s, as well as appearing in the Flash as a villain, and helping out in a JLA/JSA adventure involving Black Canary.

The Wasp's Nest

Last, but not least, taking a swing in the sixth issue, is a reprint of a  Wildcat story from Sensation Comics #66 (June, 1947) with no known writer and art by Joe Kubert (also under a Wonder Woman Peter cover), where he faces off against his old foe, the Yellow Wasp.




A crowd was attacked by giant wasps, and it was from an old foe of Wildcat's, the Yellow Wasp, who had escaped jail. 

The Yellow Wasp challenged police, until a radio call hit the office of Stretch Skinner, detective pal of boxer Ted Grant, with Stretch going into action (allowing Ted to change into Wildcat, and pursue his foe as well).  Wildcat and Stretch were captured, with the Yellow Wasp planning to kill Wildcat by flooding a room he was in with water.  Wildcat remained calm and floated on the water until he could reach a roof skylight and escape.  Wildcat had to find the Yellow Wasp, who was to leave Stretch to die on a subway track, but Wildcat found and freed him, then defeated the Yellow Wasp, throwing him back in jail.

The cover of the Wanted issue had the villain listed as the Golden Wasp, which caused confusion for years, but a Golden Wasp, who was the protege of the Yellow Wasp, faced Wildcat as as member of the Injustice Society in the JSA's 2000 revival.

The letters' pages still teased the idea of new villain stories in Wanted (which never did happen), along with letters about the first two issues, Golden Age stories like in the third and fourth issue, and let readers know of a new series of Secret Origins due out soon, also edited by E. Nelson Bridwell, with a first issue that had a Hawkman story facing the Gentleman Ghost (who would appear in the next issue of Wanted).

Wonder Woman At The Movies Almost

Today was suppose to have been the premiere of the second Wonder Woman movie....but, unfortunately, that will have to wait until August.

Back in the day, Wonder Woman went to the movies, and faced a dinosaur that came out of the screen in Wonder Woman #64 (February, 1964) under a cover by Irwin Hasen, and story by Robert Kanigher and Harry Peter.

Talk about the ultimate in 3-D!

Wonder Woman isn't the only hero to have faced dinosaurs.  Batman did....


...even made one of them a trophy in his Batcave!  (and, hey, why not a marathon of the 1966 Batman TV show to keep you busy this weekend?)

If you need some folks who've faced horrible menaces in their movies with friends...



...how about taking a look at these books, where Spider-Man teamed up with some other folks who have had movies, like Dracula and Doc Savage?
 

Or, just chill out with Superman...


...as he stops Bizarro from harassing an actor playing Frankenstein?

Try these and a few other comics, and August and the Wonder Woman movie will be here in no time! 

We won't keep you hanging on for too long...

Wanted Dummy Nyarl-Amen Human Fly Bandits Solomon Grundy Master Man

More E. Nelson Bridwell goodness from the past, as shown on these Nick Cardy covers for Wanted: The World's Most Dangerous Villains #3 (November, 1972) and #4 (December, 1972).

This time, it is foes of Vigilante, Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Green Lantern and Kid Eternity....all from the Golden Age, with villains of the Dummy, Nyarl-Amen, the Human Fly Bandits, Solomon Grundy and Master Man.

The Little Men Who Were There

First up, the first story reprinted in Wanted #3 is Action Comics #69 (February, 1944) by Joe Samachson, Mort Meskin and Joe Kubert, featuring the western Vigilante and his foe....the Dummy (though the original cover by Wayne Boring and Stan Kaye featured Superman fighting the Prankster!).

The Dummy was a small man, with a big evil intellect, who after finishing a train robbery, sent a message to Vigilante about his next robbery....he was going to heist a flying plane! 

Vigilante (Greg Sanders) and Stuff the Chinatown Kid got aboard that plane to keep it safe, but the Dummy and his men used a shrinking ray at their blacksmith headquarters.  The Dummy and his men were hidden in a crate on the plane, and enlarged to go after the diamonds on the plane, and escaped via parachute.  Vigilante and Stuff followed them back to their HQ, but that was the Dummy's plan....so he could use the shrink ray on them!  After a fight with a chicken (!!!), Vigilante and Stuff turned the tables on the villains and shrunk them, defeating them easily.  Then, they presented the villains to the police...in a parakeet cage!

The Dummy was the only villain from the third issue who appeared outside the tale reprinted, featuring in issues of Leading Comics with the Seven Soldiers of Victory, as well as facing Vigilante in other issues of Action Comics (sadly no other Vigilante/Dummy stories were reprinted).

The Fish-Men Of Nyarl-Amen

Next up is the Doctor Fate reprint from More Fun Comics #65 (March, 1941) by Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman (though Bernard Baily's Spectre was on the cover). 

Here, the Doctor faced the ancient foe of Nyarl-Amen!

Nyarl-Amen were fishmen from the sea who ruled over 50,000 years ago, and Dr. Fate saw them attacking a Hawaiian naval base in the here and now!  The fish-men attacked the soldiers with ancient mystic weapons, but Doctor Fate drove them off.  Doctor Fate followed them to their undersea home, where he found that Nyarl-Amen was gathering information on the worlds' armies to plan an attack against mankind.  Using his ancient sorcery, he fought Nyarl-Amen, who perished falling on his own sword, with Dr. Fate destroying the city of the fish-men to end their ancient evil.

The Human Fly Bandits

Last but not least of the first issue of reprints, is a Hawkman/Hawkgirl tale from Flash Comics #100 (October, 1948) by John Broome and Joe Kubert (with a Kubert Hawkman cover no less!). 


The flying duo faced The Human Fly Bandits!

John Rotor was the villain of the story, and he was kidnapping Professor Garvey (an inventor friend of Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders) when the alter egos of Hawkman and Hawkgirl came upon the crime, and stopped Rotor from kidnapping Garvey in their heroic alter egos (though they had to chase a car up a building to do it!).  The professor had invented a way to deny gravity via gyroscope and the Human Fly Gang wanted it.  Rotor and his men were tracked by Hawkman and Hawkgirl, but the gang overpowered them using their new walking on walls gimmick.  Captured, Hawkgirl was placed in a giant thermometer, with Hawkman fighting to get a chemical before being thrown in with her.  The plan was to use a heating plate, and have the mercury suffocate them as it rose from the heat.  But, Hawkman got a chemical that would explode in contact with the mercury, which it did, allowing the Hawks to escape, then capture the villains (though they destroyed the professor's gyroscopic car in the process).

Fighters Never Quit

First up for the fourth issue of Wanted is All-American Comics #61 (October, 1944) by Alfred Bester and Paul Reimman (who also drew the cover), it must have been Monday, featuring the debut of Solomon Grundy and his first battle against Green Lantern Alan Scott!



Cyrus Gold was an old thief who died in Slaughter Swamp 50 years before this story.  Escaping hoods wandering the depths of Slaughter Swamp outside of Gotham found a reanimating corpse...who could articulate enough to say he was born on Monday (which gave them the idea to name him Solomon Grundy). 

Getting non-prison attire on Tuesday, the new gang went to rob a jewelry story on Wednesday, facing Alan Scott (at least until the gang pulled out guns, at which point Alan left to become Green Lantern).  Solomon Grundy proved invulnerable to Green Lantern's mystic ring (which was only vulnerable to wood), and with his tremendous strength beat Green Lantern.  Going over the battle with his pal, Doiby Dickles, Alan found out that Solomon Grundy dropped the silver ring of Cyrus Gold in a robbery (Gold having died 50 years ago, escaping police in Slaughter Swamp...his body was the basis of Solomon Grundy).  After Solomon Grundy had a looting spree on Thursday, Green Lantern confronted him again, where the giant nearly killed Green Lantern!  Dazed, Doiby tried to confront Solomon Grundy on his own on Friday (with Alan eventually recovering and going to help on Saturday....but he forgot his Power Ring!).  Fighting Grundy in a trainyard, Green Lantern was able to trick Grundy in front of a train, perhaps spelling an end to Solomon Grundy as the sun rose on a Sunday.....

Only this and Grundy's JSA appearance from the Golden Age have been reprinted, but his Silver Age appearances (against Dr. Fate and Hourman, and two battles against the JLA and JSA have been).  Grundy would soon become very popular, facing Superman in his title and becoming a member of the Legion of Doom on the Super Friends cartoon.

Master Man

The last story of the fourth issue is from Kid Eternity #15 (May, 1949) by William Woolfolk and Al Bryant (with an original cover by Al Bryant)...

....featuring the debut of Master Man, evil foe of Kid Eternity and his helper, Mr. Keeper!



As Kid Eternity could summon dead heroes to help him by saying "Eternity", Master Man was empowered by the devil to bring up dead villains for more dastardly deeds by saying "Stygia". 

Outside a prison, Master Man first summoned evil Russian Rasputin to break into a prison (where Kid Eternity and Mr. Keeper brought up coach Knute Rockne for help).  Foiling Master Man's plans, the devil bid him to kidnap Kid Eternity, and use the Spanish Inquisition's main torturer, Torquemada, against the kid.  Fighting free after being found by Mr. Keeper, Kid Eternity summoned Will Rogers for help....then Master Man summoned Mongol Batu Khan, whom Kid Eternity had face European Charles Martel...with Kid Eternity eventually beating Master Man...who was dragged to hell via a fissure because of his failure.

Master Man would later return with other Satanically influenced villains to face the Marvel Family and Kid Eternity in two digest issues of Adventure Comics (the Marvel Family's last solo tales before the Crisis On Infinite Earths).

E. Nelson Bridwell seemed to be picking favorites here, as both Vigilante and Kid Eternity would have their Secret Origins featured in a soon to debut new reprint title that he edited, and the Hawkman and Dr. Fate stories were more for the heroes (though Green Lantern was a big thing).  The letters' pages promised if there was enough demand, new stories would be possible, but later issues didn't prove that out (but, unlike the first two issues, these were all Golden Age stories!).

Remembering Bob Hope

Remembering British-American comedian Bob Hope (May 29, 1903 to July 27, 2003) on his birthday.

Bob Hope was famous for his vaudeville routines, his road movies with Bing Crosby, and his legendary tours for the USO to entertain the troops.

But, did you know...

...he had a 109 issue comic book series at DC Comics from February-March 1950 to February-March 1968?



The earliest covers were photo covers!

That changed to covers by Owen Fitzgerald

Later covers by Mort Drucker

Then covers by Bob Oksner

Even covers by Neal Adams!

We do remember, and Bob....thanks for the memories!

Wanted Signalman, Clock King, Puppet Master, Joker, Penguin, Trickster

E. Nelson Bridwell was a fan of comics, and an editor at DC.  He loved old comics, and had a bit of success with reprints of heroes fighting villains in two issues of DC Special.  They proved popular enough to warrant the title Wanted -- The World's Most Dangerous Villains!

The first two issues #1 (July-August, 1972, with cover by Murphy Anderson) and #2 (September-October, 1972, with cover by Nick Cardy will be covered now!

Signalman Of Crime

First up, the first story in the first issue is from Batman #112 (December, 1957) by Bill Finger, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris (though this story isn't featured on the original cover by Sheldon Moldoff) which introduces the Signalman!

Phil Cobb was a small time hood who wanted to make it big leading a gang in Gotham....so, inspired by the Bat-Signal, he became....the Signalman!  Vexing Batman and Robin with crimes based on symbols, Signalman fought on land, air and sea before the Dynamic Duo put him in prison, where he joined a different gang.

Signalman would return a few times, then got a revival in the 1970s, being in the feature in an issue of Detective Comics that featured the Calculator, and being a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains that faced the JLA/JSA.

The Crimes Of The Clock King

Next up from the first issue of Wanted is the story of the Clock King from World's Finest Comics #111 (August, 1960) by France Herron and Lee Elias (though Superman and Batman featured on the Curt Swan/Sheldon Moldoff cover of the original issue).

Clock King started his crime spree in costume all over Star City, using time and clocks as the focus of where he would strike.  Green Arrow and Speedy figured this out and where he would strike next, and, after defeating Clock King's giant hourglass trap, captured the villain!

Clock King appeared next working with the next villain and a few others in an issue of Justice League of America (reprinted in giant size) as a Green Arrow villain, and then got a name for his alter ego (William Tockman) and motivation in an issue of World's Finest, then appeared in Crisis On Infinite Earths where he made enough connections to join the Injustice League during Invasion! along with Major Disaster and Multi-Man! 

Menace Of The Giant Puppet

The last story reprinted in issue one is the last story of Green Lantern #1 (July-August, 1960) by John Broome, Gil Kane and Joe Giella (with a knock out of a cover by Kane/Giella), featuring the premiere of the Puppet-Master.

Oddly, the story begins with Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan's boss, who is playing puppet games of her own, thinking how she can win the heart of Green Lantern (not knowing test pilot Hal IS Green Lantern).  Then, Green Lantern deals with some odd burglaries where criminals are robbing banks, but not under their own free will, during parades (where Hal fights a giant float as well...which is like a giant puppet).  Green Lantern continues to track down the Puppet-Master, who is using a hypno-ray to get criminals to steal for him.  Carol wins a date with Green Lantern, but Puppet-Master tries his hypno-ray on Green Lantern, dragging him away.  Thanks to Hal's willpower, he beats the Puppet-Master, and takes him to jail (and faces Carol's wrath as Hal).

Puppet-Master returns with Captain Cold and others working for Doctor Destiny, then returns as the Puppeteer (a name hinted at in the original appearance) to face the Teen Titans (including Cyborg, Raven and Starfire) for H.I.V.E. (and gets an alter ego, that of Jordan Weir).

Knights Of Knavery

The first story of the second issue features a Golden Age tale from Batman #25 (October-November, 1944) by Don Cameron, Jack Burnley and Jerry Robinson (under an unrelated cover by Dick Sprang), with twice the fun...a team up of the Joker and the Penguin!

Batman and Robin put Penguin in jail, but, there, he meets the Joker, who has hatched a plan to get the two of them free, which is a sweeping success.  Free, the two villains plan to get revenge on Batman and Robin (who become aware of the villains), but also need cash, so plan to steal the Van Landorpf Emerald (and this is the competition to determine which of them will get to remain in Gotham.  Batman uses the gem to lure the villains into a trap, but, they both appear, and, though reluctantly, do work together to escape.  The villains keep the alliance going, and are successful as a duo, even capturing Batman and Robin, but that proves their downfall, as the Dynamic Duo turn the villains against each other, allowing the heroes to capture them!

Joker's origin was reprinted as well in a Limited Collectors' Edition, while it took a while to get an origin for the Penguin (a story for a later time).

The Trickster Strikes Back

The second story of the second issue was from Flash #121 (June, 1961) by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella, under a cover by Infantino/Giella, and is the second story that the Trickster appeared in, as he tried to disconnect the Flash's phone line!

James Jesse is able to use a children's toy to fly free from prison, and, after reviewing his file, reporter Iris West checks in with her beau, police scientist Barry Allen about a date tonight as well as the Trickster (with Barry going off as the Flash to catch him).  After speeding around Central City, Flash tracks down the Trickster (who plays a few practical jokes on the Flash first).  Trickster puts the Flash through his paces, but eventually gets caught.  All this running gives Barry Allen sore feet....which makes him unable to dance with Iris West on their date!

Trickster's first appearance was first reprinted in a Flash Giant, and the Trickster would return again and again to vex the Flash (including two Flashes in his next appearance), as well as later facing Black Lightning and Blue Devil, as well as joining the Secret Society of Super-Villains.

These weren't the only issues of Wanted -- The World's Most Dangerous Villains, and Bridwell had even teased future team-ups in the letters' page of issue number one, as well as answering letters on 100 Page Super-Spectaculars, which were full of reprints, though not necessarily with villains, like the two DC Specials that led to this issue!