Comics, old time radio and other cool stuff

Friday's Favorite OTR

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Fri, 08 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000

You Are There: "New Amsterdam" 1/22/50

The British are demanding the Dutch surrender the city of New Amersterdam. Will they fight or will they give up?

Click HERE to listen or download.

Short Story Genre Survey, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Thu, 07 May 2026 12:42:00 +0000

cover art by George Gross

Recently, my Thursday posts have proportionally been concentrating on short stories more than movies or other subjects I normally cover. I didn't plan it that way, but what the hey. It happened.

So I thought "Why not give the short story reviews more structure?" Because if there is one thing that is lacking in the world, it's more structure on obscure blogs in coverage of short stories. It is, I think, the greatest failing of our civilization.

So I decided to make a list of genres, then--over the course of the "Short Story Genre Survey" I am starting today--cover one story from each of these genres.

Here's the Genre List:

Sports

Adventure  

Mystery

Horror 

Science Fiction 

Fantasy

Western  

War

Sports is crossed off because we are knocking the sports story out of the park today.

"Ol' Knucklehead," by Paul R. McCully, was published in the Summer 1946 issue of Baseball Stories. According to the FictionMag index, this is his only published work.

But it's a good one. In fact, the baseball stories (and sports stories in general) from this era were always a lot of fun. Written without cynicism, they tell straightforward tales that usually depend on inning-by-inning accounts of key games to generate tension. I love 'em.

The story involves a fictional National League team called the Barons that brings up a new catcher from the minors. The new guy is an extremely confident hotshot who soon gets on everyone's nerves. But he's a good hitter and he has an uncanny ability to signal for just the right pitch.

But he screws up, once with an embarrassing fielding error and, in another game, with an even more embarrassing running error. This gets him benched and earns him the nickname "Knucklehead."

It's only when the Barons play the Cubs in the last game of the series that "Knucklehead" might have a chance to redeem himself when he improvises a brilliant plan during a key at-bat. It's a plan that is perfectly within the rules, but I can't find an example of it being done deliberately. Kudos to the writer for coming up with something both original and plausible.

As I said, it's a fun story--hitting all the right vibes that make the sports stories from the first half of the 20th-Century so gosh darn entertaining.

It's also fun to think about another aspect of the story. Or at least it's fun if you are a total nerd: Why was the protagonist put on a fictional team rather than a real one?

As far as I can determine (and I'm not an expert, so take this with a grain of salt), it was (and is) okay for writers to use real-life teams in fiction as long as it's for story purposes and not marketing. John Tunis' classic 1943 baseball novel The Keystone Kids, for instance, put its main characters on the roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers. There's no evidence that Tunis had to obtain permission to do this. He just did.

But the pulp magazines often used fictional team names. Part of the reason, I think, was to stay neutral and not alienate any fans. If you put your hero on the Yankees, you might drive Red Sox fans away from buying your magazine in the future. A fictional team avoids this problem and also allows the writer to ignore real-life schedules, pennant results and so on.

Also, I thought I caught the writer of "Ol' Knucklehead" in a slight error, but when I looked it up, I discovered there was no error AND there was actually a factoid from baseball history I actually DIDN'T KNOW!!! I hang my head in shame, of course. The "error" is that the Barons and the Cubs end the season with 1/2 game difference in the standings. This means they didn't play the same number of games, which in turn means someone had a game cancelled (likely a rain delay) that was not made up. With the pennant at stake, I thought, wouldn't the league have made a point of getting that game played?

The answer is NO: Unless the game needed to be played because of a tie for first place, the League would allow the 1/2 game lead to stand. Travel restrictions and other logistical matters made playing the game impractical. In 1908, for instance, the Detroit Tigers had a never-made-up rainout and finished 90-63. This put them one game over the Cleveland Naps, who finished at 90-64. Gee whiz--why didn't I know this? I pride myself on my impeccable knowledge of baseball history, but didn't know this! WHY, UNIVERSE? WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?

Anyway, you can find this story online HERE. If you like baseball, I can pretty much promise you'll enjoy reading it.

Next week, we will look at a story from another genre.

Man Wolf Goes to Space! Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Wed, 06 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000

cover art by Gil Kane

In 1974 and 1975, the last eight issues of Creatures on the Loose focused on Man Wolf. This, of course, is John Jameson, the astronaut son of J. Jonah Jameson who has a moonstone grafted to his skin that turns him into Man Wolf. He's not just a werewolf. He's an ASTRONAUT WEREWOLF. That's inherently cool.

Creatures on the Loose was cancelled in the middle of a Man Wolf story arc that sends our astronaut werewolf back into space. This left readers hanging and the tale wasn't concluded for ANOTHER THREE YEARS, when it finally resurfaced in two issues of Marvel Premiere. Gee whiz, it wasn't always easy being a comic book reader back in those ancient times.

Anyway, what we are going to do this week is look at Creatures on the Loose #36 (July 1975), written by David Kraft and drawn by George Perez. In the following weeks, we'll move on to the next (and last) issue of Creatures, then on to the two issues of Marvel Premiere that finish up this story.

Anyway, poor John has been AWOL for sometime and the government has been looking for him. But after a run-in with the villain Hatemonger and an encounter with SHIELD, he gets a second chance at putting his life back together.

NASA has lost contact with the crew aboard a space station (Marvel science has always been a few years ahead of real life.) John is the best-qualified pilot to fly a rescue vehicle to the station and find out what the heck is going on.

John agrees, but things don't go well. He pilots his ship to the space station and, still unable to contact anyone, space walks over to a hatch to enter the station. But he's a bit too slow. The sun rises from behind the moon and bathes him in moonlight. He turns into Man Wolf and rips his own space suit off. Not even an astronaut werewolf can survive more than a few minutes in a vacuum.

Someone in an alien-looking spacesuit comes out of the station and drags the dying Man Wolf into the station. But Man Wolf is not someone who will show (or understand) gratitude. In a magnificent two-page spread that shows just how awesome George Perez' art can be, he attacks his rescuer.

There are actually three men on board, all visitors from a dimension call "Other Realm." Garth of Mournhelm, Lambert and Gorjoon are all human (or at least humanoid) and also recognize the stone that causes John to turn into Man Wolf. They call it a godstone, hinting that it might have a more complex history than has previously been revealed.

Anyway, a cool fight ensues, with Garth knocking out Man Wolf by zapping him with a power cable.

I'm describing the fight very quickly, but it runs several pages, covers several decks of the space station and is superbly choreographed.

The issue ends here, setting up a space opera plot with several plot elements as yet unexplained (who are the Other Realm guys; why do they recognize the stone and call it a godstone; where's the regular crew of the space station). Creatures on the Loose only has one issue left, but its setting itself up to go out on a high note.

Cover Cavalcade

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Mon, 04 May 2026 13:00:00 +0000

MAY IS POST-APOCALYPTIC FUTURE MONTH!!!!

This George Wilson cover is from 1968.

Friday's Favorite OTR

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Fri, 01 May 2026 14:01:00 +0000

Gunsmoke: "Romeo" 1/22/56

Two wealthy ranchers hate each other. But the daughter of one rancher has fallen in love with the son of the other. This is likely to get someone killed.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Silver Age Superman

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

I hope you all don't mind if I take a Thursday to highlight someone else's work, but this video about the value of Silver Age Superman stories is extremely well-done and deserves to be shared:

What Happened to Poor General Norton?

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

cover art by Joe Kubert

A brief bit of comic book history: In G.I. Combat #148 (June-July 1971), writer Bob Kanigher and artist Russ Heath introduced the character of General Norton, who is clearly an expy for real-life General Patton.

In fact, he's so clearly supposed to be a fill-in for General Patton, it's a wonder that Kanigher didn't just use Patton as a guest star again.

In G.I. Combat #159, writer Archie Goodwin and artist Sam Glanzman give us a General Norton cameo as he sends an armored column led by the Haunted Tank on a raid behind enemy lines to liberate a POW camp. This mission fails, just as the real-life March 1945 raid ordered by Patton failed.

That brings us to G.I. Combat #196 (November 1976). General Patton appears in this issue, pushing his tank column forward to reach a fuel depot before he runs out of gas, ramming tanks that do run out of gas off the road so the rest of the column can keep moving.

Jeb is asked to lead a column of four other tanks to take and hold the fuel depot until Patton arrives. Along the way, though, a German ambush leaves the crews of the other tanks dead, killed by concussions that left the tanks intact. With no time to bury the dead, each member of Jeb's crew takes the driver seat in one of the tanks, making an eerie trip to the fuel depot with dead men essentially looking over their shoulders.

They reach the depot just in time to hold off an approaching German column. The German commander realizes the tanks are short-handed, but doesn't want to attack in the growing darkness for fear of igniting the fuel. He needs it as badly as Patton does.

During the night, Jeb and his men sneak into no-man's-land to plant cannon shells as booby-traps. They're spotted just as they finish and Rick is wounded, but they all make it back to their tanks.

There's an effectively done scene showing Gus praying for Rick. Then daylight comes. Jeb sees Patton's tanks approaching and roll barrels of gas down towards them.

The Germans attack, but are slowed by the cannon shell booby-traps. Patton's tanks arrive and drive them off.

It's a good story. The tank ride with dead companions really does hit an eerie vibe. Gus's concern for Rick and his faith in God are handled respectfully. Patton's determination to keep moving forward is historically accurate, while the story moves along at a nice pace. As usual, Sam Glanzman's art is superb.

Patton would make several other appearances in the book (issues 208 and 275), with the General actually getting to see and talk to the ghost of General Stuart in #208.

Why didn't Kanigher originally use Patton back in #148? It's very possible there were legal concerns--Patton had been dead for 25 years by then, but his son was still around and was himself a general who had served in Vietnam. A concern that an appearance by Patton in a comic book might generate a lawsuit may have existed.

So what opened the door? I have no documented proof, but I have a theory. In 1974, Jack Kirby put in a Patton cameo in Our Fighting Forces #148, based on his own encounter with Patton during the war. Kirby, I suspect, just did this without worrying about legal concerns and, as it turns out, there were no legal concerns. No lawsuits came flying at DC Comics.

Was this, then, what convinced Kanigher to drop poor General Norton into Comic Book Limbo and begin using the real General Patton? Kirby did it--got away with it--so Kanigher followed suit. I think it's at least possible. And it would be ironic, considering that Kanigher was always openly critical of Kirby's work.

Of course, the 1970 movie Patton, which helped shape him as an iconic historical figure, might have also eventually helped convince DC legal eagles that using Patton in a story was okay.

That's it for now. Next week, we'll return to the Marvel Universe as one unlikely character is thrown into a sword-and-planet adventure.

Cover Cavalcade

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

APRIL IS "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES" MONTH!!!!

An intense Tony DeZuniga cover from 1972.

Friday's Favorite OTR

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Archie Andrews: "Dinner in a Restaurant" 1949

Mr. Andrews decides to take his wife and Archie out to a nice restaurant for Sunday dinner. What can possibly go wrong?

Click HERE to listen or download.

Yet another Werewolf

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

cover artist uncredited

Last November, I wrote about a werewolf story by Karl Edward Wagner. I mentioned at the end of that post that it would be interesting to look at another classic werewolf tale--James Blish's "There Shall Be No Darkness." Well, it took me several months, but I finally got around to it.

The story first appeared in the April 1950 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Blish usually stuck to science fiction, as opposed to fantasy. So when he tackled the werewolf trope, he introduced an explanation for the condition that strips it of the supernatural. Lycanthropy, we learn, involves a disease that affects the pineal gland, allowing the person suffering from it to shape change (including changing his clothes) and be unaffected by non-silver weapons. Silver, on the other hand, works as a poison. Wolfsbane activates a strong allergic reaction.

It's an explanation that does work quite well within the story, though it's so far-fetched that the story might as well be treated as a fantasy. That's not a criticism, by the way. The "rational" veneer does give the story a unique feel and works quite well. Blish opted to come up with a rational explanation for something that is inherently irrational and did as well as anyone could.

The story is set in then-modern day, when an artist named Paul Foote realizes a fellow guest at a house party is in fact a werewolf. He soon turns out to be correct and soon after manages to chase the werewolf off by wielding a silver candlestick.

A doctor also staying at the house backs up Foote's claim that a werewolf exists. This, along with tracks in the snow, quickly does away with initial skepticism. Silver is melted down and molded into bullets and the party goes a-hunting.

Stopping a werewolf is not that simple, though. He escapes this initial attempt to get him and--well, what happens to a normal human who is bitten by a werewolf? The situation quickly grows more complicated.

I don't want to give more details because Blish does an excellent job of building suspense and tossing in a few plot twists. "There Shall Be No Darkness" is a great werewolf tale and well worth tracking down to read.

You can read it online HERE.

THAT is one heck of a fight scene!

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

cover art by Sal Buscema

Captain America and The Falcon #152 (August 1972) has Gerry Conway (writer) and Sal Buscema (artist) bringing their A-game to finish up the Scorpion/Hyde storyline.

It tosses us right into the action with Falcon tracking down the villains by also tracking down the chemicals Mr. Hyde needs to maintain his super strength. He intercepts a shipment, finds out who the boss of the operation is, then goes to see that boss.

It is, by the way, the introduction of the crime boss Morgan, who will be a thorn in Falcon's side in the future.

Anyway, this allows Falcon and Cap to raid the bad guys' hideout, where they have been holding Sharon Carter prisoner. Cap has to go AWOL while on patrol as a cop, but he's been tense and sleepless since Sharon was kidnapped and NEEDS to do this.

What follows is one of Buscema's best ever fight scenes--six pages of kinetic, viceral action as Cap trades blows with Scorpion and Hyde.

Wait... while CAP trades blows? Where's Falcon?

This issue is a great example of how fictional logic sometimes SHOULD differ from real-life logic. Sam realizes that Cap is running on fumes, but also that he does indeed need the cathartic effect of beating the villains on his own. He needs to regain a feeling of control after feeling he failed Sharon when he didn't prevent her kidnapping. He's confident that Cap will show both physical AND emotional strength when he needs to do so. This is what happens. Skill, timing and an unyielding will make the difference. When Cap finishes off Hyde with a punch to the face, its one of the most satisfying conclusions to a comic book fight ever put down on a page.

Sam's decision doesn't make real-life sense. In real life, no responsible person in a dangerous profession would sit back and watch while his partner did something life threatening without helping. Yes, Cap needed the emotional release, but if he lost, he would have been dead. A cop or soldier would have backed up his partner without hesitation and worried about emotion crises afterwards.

But, as I said, in the world of fiction and superheroes, sometimes the rules are a little different. The writing and characters still have to be strong enough for us to empathize and identify with the protagonists, but sometimes--to hit an important character beat--the "right thing to do" becomes different from what it would be in reality.

It's an example of superhero fiction bending realism to hit a necessary psychological or mythic beat.

There's a few other subplots going on in the story. Nick's jealousy that made him kick Cap out of SHIELD is given a page or two--a motivation I always thought of as out-of-character for the always professional spy/soldier. There's the beginning of a subplot involving a supporting character who works with Steve in the police department. But the Scorpion/Hyde fight is the heart of this issue and, gee whiz, it is cool.

Next week, General Patton needs fuel and its up to the Haunted Tank to get it.

Cover Cavalcade

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

APRIL IS "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES" MONTH!!!!

A 1977 cover by Gil Kane.

Friday's Favorite OTR

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

The Six-Shooter: "The Capure of Stacy Gault" 11/8/53

People are in a panic when outlaw Stacy Gault rides into town. Britt, though, has some doubts about whether the stranger really is Gault.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Underwater Shenanigans

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

So I watch the 1973 movie The Neptune Factor on YouTube and I kind of like it. So I decide to do a blog post about it, alerting my thousands of devoted readers (don't disillusion me!) to the movie's existance.

Except now that I'm writing about it, the flaws in the movie are starting to become more apparent. This doesn't retroactively prevent me from having enjoyed watching the movie, but the flaws are real.

The movie is about an undersea lab, with three men aboard, that's knocked into a deep trench by an undersea earthquake. An experimental sub--the Neptune--is sent down to see if the lab is still intact and the crew rescued.

The sub is cool and the underwater photography is quite good. Also, I like the cast, especially Ernest Borgnine as a diver and Yvette Mimieux (who played Weena in George Pal's The Time Machine) as a scientist. Ben Gazzara (an actor I normally like) puts on a very unconvincing Southern accent as the sub's designer/pilot, but he's still good in the role.

When the sub gets close to the remains of the lab, the crew discovers the deep waters are infested with huge sealife. Rescuing the crew, who are rapidly running out of air, means running a gauntlet of giant moray eels.

This is all pretty cool. The problems with the movie are:

1. Why is there sunlight this deep?

2. How can the divers so casually leave/enter the sub this deep without worrying about water pressure?

3. The "giant" fish are regular fish shot in extreme closeup without any effort to give them a sense of scale.

These problems were obvious when I watched it and more obvious now that I'm writing about it.

But, gosh darn it, I like the sub. And I like Ernest Borgnine. I watched this whole movie and I don't regret it.

I've read of a Sean Connery rule--a rule that states if Connery was in it, the movie is worth watching no matter what its quality is otherwise. Should there be an Ernest Borgnine corollary to this rule?

Decide for yourself. Here's the movie:

Dead Bad Guys Who Aren't Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

cover art by Sal Buscema

Steve Rogers is walking home after seeing Sharon Carter--perhaps for the last time, because he's on the outs with Nick Fury and has been told to stay away from SHIELD and SHIELD agents.

Mr. Hyde and the Scorpion, though, are looking to take revenge on SHIELD and, seeing some guy in the company of an agent, decide to capture him to get more information.

This is how Captain America #151 (July 1972), written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Sal Buscema, starts out. And it's a good slam-bang opening for a good slam-bang issue.

Steve fights back effectively, but to protect his secret identity, he runs away rather than finish the fight. We then get a flashback that sets up why the two villains are working together and why they are mad at SHIELD.

It's a bit complicated and because of that takes up a page or two more of this issue than it should have. The two were supposed to have been killed fighting Daredevil and the Black Widow not long ago. But those were robot duplicates. The real Hyde and Scorpion have escaped from the super-villain who made the duplicates and mistakenly assumed that SHIELD was behind their capture.

Anyway, Cap goes to Falcon for help. Falcon is dealing with some other black people in his neighborhood calling him a sell-out, but he's always available to help his best friend.

Because Sharon had mentioned being followed, Cap and Falcon head to her apartment. But, because of Fury's decree, he's locked out and can't warn Sharon. It's then that the two bad guys show up.

There's a fight, with Buscema doing his usual superb job of depicting action scenes. The good guys are winning, especially when Falcon begins to take out his personal frustrations on Scorpion. But Hyde manages to capture Sharon, forcing the heroes to back off. The issue ends with the villains escaping with Sharon and, when Nick Fury arrives, a frustrated Cap decking the SHIELD leader.

It really is a slam-bang issue, despite having to take a little too much time explaining the complicated Hyde/Scorpion backstory. It mixes in the heroes' personal issues without slowing down the pacing and gives us several really good action scenes.

Next week, we'll look at the second part of this story.

Cover Cavalcade

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

APRIL IS "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES" MONTH!!!!

This cover, by Hugh Rankin, is from 1930.

Friday's Favorite OTR

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Tales of the Texas Rangers: "The Wheelchair Killer" 10/7/51

A man confined to a wheelchair is found beaten to death. A few grains of sand found at the murder scene is the first clue in tracking down the killer.

Click HERE to listen or download.

Another Great LAST STAND Scene!

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:44:00 +0000

Francis Xavier Gordon, known as "El Borak," had numerous blood-and-thunder adventures in Afghanistan and the surrounding countries in the early years of the 20th Century. One of the seven El Borak tales is set during World War I--the others sets before the war.)

All the El Borak yarns are great--though, of course, Robert E. Howard rarely turned out anything other than great--and just occasionally merely good-stories.

The one I want to mention today is "Country of the Knife," first published in the August 1936 issue of Complete Stories. It's been reprinted--often under the title "Sons of the Hawk"--multiple times and is currently available in Del Rey's El Borak and Other Desert Adventures.

The story awesome from start to finish, with El Borak showing off his talents for disguise, playing another part, and manipulating his enemies. There's still lots of action, of course, and--as good as the rest of the story is--I want to emphasize how good REH is at writing short action scenes that are so effectively stuffed with violence that you come away thinking it was several pages more to it than there is.

The climax has El Borak and four companions fleeing a remote city, pursued by a larger force on fresher horses. The fugitives reach a mountain pass soon after one of them tumbles off a cliff and their remaining horses die of exhausion. They take cover at the entrance to the path, determined to sell their lives dearly. They "lay behind boulders in the mouth of the pass. They had three pistols, a saber, a tulwar and a knife between them."

The bad guys charge them on horseback. Bullets fly and the battle quickly turns into a hand-to-hand melee.

From start to finish, the action runs through only about a dozen short paragraphs. So much happens in those few paragraphs that, as I said, you think the battle might have run several pages before coming to its unexpected and satisfying end. But the prose doesn't feel crowded, over-stuffed or too long. It feels just right.

This was one of REH's talents as a writer. He did the same thing in Black Colossus, a Conan novella in which you THINK the epic battle between two armies must have been several chapters, but is only a few pages. The large-scale battles in his Conan novel The Hour of the Dragon are the same way--satisfying battle scenes that last just a few pages, but (in a good way) feel much longer.

You can read "Country of the Knife" (aka "Sons of the Hawk") online HERE.

The Mighty Hercules, The Final Chapter

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

cover art by Rube Grossman

The Mighty Hercules #2 (October 1963) comes to an all-too-soon end with the last story in the last issue.

This time, writer Paul S. Newman and artist Rube Grossman move the action to sea. Helena is aboard ship, coming home after trading her sheep for food and spice. (She was herding her sheep in the first story--I wonder if that minor bit of continuity was intentional or a coincidence.)

On a nearby island, Aeolus, the god of winds, is asleep. The sea witch Wilamene sees this and takes the opportunity to hypnotize him and place him under her control. Knowing Helena's ship will contain valuable cargo, she has Aeolus call up a wind to toss the crew overboard and then bring the ship to shore.

Helena calls on Hercules for help, who jumps down from Olympus. Wilamene tries to use a freezing wind to encase Hercules in ice, but he uses his warm super-breath to melt that ice and then still rescues Helena and the rest of the ship's crew.

That tactic surprised me, though that wasn't a rational reaction. Hercules' frequent use of super-breath can't help but call up images of Superman using his super-breath. Since Kal-el's breath freezes things, it momentarily seemed weird that Hercules' breath is warm. But it is two different universes and each one is allowed to have its own "Super-Breath Logic."

Everyone is soon safe on the island, so Wilamene uses Aeolus to use some wind to bring a shipful of slavers to shore. Hercules drives them off by using a tree as a spear.

Hercules knows Aeolus lives on the island and goes to look for him. Wilamene tries to use wind to bury the hero in sand, but he manages to bury her first, then forces her to release Aeolus from mind control.

The good guys begin to sail away, but the sea witch is a sore loser. She uses her own magic to set the ship's sail on fire. But Aeolus uses a wind to call up a water spout and douse the flames, while Hercules mans the tiller to keep the ship on course during the deluge.

The ship escapes and, well, the comic book adventures of the Mighty Hercules comes to an end. It really is sad. Newman's skill at pacing and plot construction, plus Grossman's lively and expressive art made both issues a lot of fun. There was potential for a lot of good stories yet.

Next week, we'll visit with Captain America to witness an unusual villain team-up.

Cover Cavalcade

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

APRIL IS "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES" MONTH!!!!

Here's a 1934 cover by Hubert Rogers.

Friday's Favorite OTR

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Lights Out: "Fast One" 1/5/43

25 burgalries are committed in just a half-an-hour, with no witnesses. A private detective thinks its the work of one man. But how could that be possible?

Click HERE to listen or download.

The Fighting Pilot (1935)

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Richard Talmadge, born in 1892, worked as an acrobat as part of the Flying Melzettis before diving into the movie business as a stuntman, often doubling for Douglas Fairbanks or Tom Mix. In later years, he was behind the camera as a stunt coordinator or second-unit director. But for a few years in the 1930s, he was the star of a series of B-movies, produced by the Poverty Road studio "Reliable Pictures."

One of these films is The Fighting Pilot, which was released in 1935. Talmadge plays Hal Foster, a pilot with acrobatic talents that come in handy when someone tries to steal both the plans and the prototype of a new airplane.

The movie clocks in at 56 minutes, so (like most B-movies) it doesn't waste any time. A villain named Cardigan steals the plans and a couple of pilots he's hired fly off with the plane itself. Foster pursues a carload of bad guys on a motorcylce, eventually jumping into the car and fighting three men while the car careens out of control.

Laster, he trails Cardigan to a building in Chinatown. More acrobatic/fight shenanigans follow. Along the way, he learns where the prototype plan is actually stashed. Flying there, he makes a mid-air leap into a plane full of bad guys.

The story is structured purely to show off Talmadge's acrobatic abilities. This is fine, because he's a great acrobat and his stunts (especially that motorcylce-to-car leap) are fun to watch.

The supporting cast is also good. Well, mostly good. Rorbert Frazer is appropriately oily as Cardigan. Gertude Messinger plays Foster's gal--she's nice to gaze upon and is pretty darn spunky. The downside is Eddie Davis as Berty, Foster's comedic sidekick. It's here that the movie as the same failing as many other B-movies in that it inserts a sidekick who simply isn't that funny.

But it's not enough to spoil the film. Richard Talmadge was a great acrobat and stuntman, so a short film built around his stunts is an inherently good idea. This makes watching The Fighting Pilot a pleasant way to pass an hour.

You can watch it yourself here:

The Mighty Hercules, Part 5

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

cover art by Rube Grossman

Sandwiched between the two Hercules stories in Gold Key's The Mighty Hercules #2 (October 1963) is a comic book adaptation of the Perseus vs. Medusa myth. Written with by Paul S. Newman with his usual skill at quick exposition and sound plot construction, it is drawn by Rube Grossman.

After I read it, I was surprised when I leafed back through the issue and discovered it was only four pages long. Newman and Grossman pack a lot of story into those few pages without the story being crowded or rushed.

King Polydectes has the hots for Perseus' widowed mother. (A little cleaning up of the original myth goes on here to match Gold Key's family-friendly standards. Perseus, in this version, is explicitly not one of Zeus' many illegitimate kids.)

Perseus' mom declines a proposal and the king doesn't want to just take her because she's protected by Perseus. So Polydetes sends Perseus off on a mission--he has to bring back the head of Medusa the Gorgon.

It seems like a suicide mission, but the gods Athena and Hermes give him a shield, sword and Hermes' super-speed sandals to aid him. For brevity, the story leaves out the cap of invisibility and a few other magic items also given to him in the original myth.

Perseus uses the reflection of Medusa on the back of his shield to approach and behead Medusa, with our view of the beheading hidden by some rocks.

Perseus heads home. Again, for brevity's sake, this version leaves out events of a longer version of the myth where Perseus saves his future wife Andromeda from a sea monster. Too bad--Grossman's lively art would have made that look cool.

Perseus arrives at home to discover the king has made Perseus' mom a slave. But the hero uses Medusa's head to turn the evil king to stone, then takes his mom home.

That Newman and Grossman were able to condense the story into just four pages and still make it a satisfying read is a remarkable accomplishment. One of the sadder things about this second issue being the last is that we don't get to see anymore adaptations of classic myths by these two.

Next week, we'll finish our journey through the pages of The Mighty Hercules.

Cover Cavalcade

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

MARCH IS SCIENCE GONE MAD MONTH!!!!

We close out "SCIENCE GONE MAD!" month with the original Mad Scientist. This January 1973 cover is by Mike Ploog.

Friday's Favorite OTR

noreply@blogger.com (Tim DeForest) — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Sherlock Holmes: "The Iron Box" 12/31/45

Because he was born on February 29, a man has waited over eight decades to reach his 21st birthday and receive the iron box (reputedly containing gold) that is his inheritance. But reaching this milestone might be a motive for someone else to commit murder.

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