BB-Gun

Here's another image from the cover. This will probably be the last clue for the evening. I'll post more images tomorrow if no one guesses the comic tonight. That is Mystery Men 5 bb Oops. I didn't see your response. BZ, I was looking at some scans of Rex Dexter. I think he was particularly good in Mystery Men. Do you have an issue of Rex and was there another issue? I found a scan with a different cover. Perhaps they put out a little black and white copy (or maybe they didn't bother to use the correct cover for the ad). bb

Here's another image from the cover. This will probably be the last clue for the evening. I'll post more images tomorrow if no one guesses the comic tonight. That is Mystery Men 5 Scrooge and Jack must be on vacation.. bb

I had forgotten the history of the strip but found an article by R.C.Harvey which described Crane's technique and his relationship with Leslie Turner who took over the strip. Crane was an innovator and could tell a good story. I have a years worth of daily and sunday pages (no color) but I think they are after the story done in Cap Easy 13. Most of that series was probably from an earier adventure in the 1930's. Can anyone date this more exactly? Below is a portion of Harvey's article describing the shading technique which was used so effectively by Crane and Turner. [Towards the end of the 1930s, Crane added two new arrows to his creative quiver — Craftint doubletone illustration board and a full-time assistant. Both figure importantly in the history of the medium; both can be seen as Crane contributions to the art of the comic strip. As we have noticed, Crane had been experimenting for years with ways of giving his pictures different textures and tones. Late in 1936, he chanced upon Craftint doubletone, and within six months, he had adopted exclusively this method of achieving tonal effects. Doubletone illustration board is a chemically treated drawing paper. By applying a foul-smelling liquid developer with a brush or pen, an artist can make fine lines or tiny dots appear. The lines Crane brought out created two patterns: parallel diagonal lines or cross-hatching. In reproduction, the diagonal lines gave a drawing a light gray tone; the cross-hatched lines, a dark gray tone. Crane had dabbled briefly with the use of Ben Day shading as early as the spring of 1936. Ben Day shading, a gray tone of tiny dots created mechanically in the photographic stage of reproduction, produced a single, uniform gray tone. Crane used it sometimes alone, sometimes augmented by hayey cross-hatching with a pen. During 1936, he would deploy every method he could think of for creating variety in texture and tone — grease crayon, splattered ink, Ben Day, and cross-hatching and shading with a pen. He was searching. And once he found Craftint doubletone, the quest was over. With twice the gray-tone capability of Ben Day, Craftint was clearly the superior product. By April 1937, Crane was using doubletone on a daily basis. Grease crayon and all the other textural effects were abandoned for good. With Craftint doubletone, Crane created some of the most beautiful scenes in comics. With solid black as a third "tone" — progressively, the darkest of the three — he produced pictures with photographic gradations of gray, giving his strip a visual depth no other strip on the funnies pages had. He is noted for the exquisite delicacy of shade and tone in his outdoor scenes. Distant objects, he rendered in the lightest gray tone; closer to the camera, he added the dark gray. With doubletone, he could give the backgrounds against which he played out his stories a photographic realism — dramatic seascapes, moody wind-swept swamps, majestic mountain ranges, brooding jungles festooned with foliage and vines and mysterious shadowy somethings. As always, the realism of the settings added an aura of actuality to the otherwise sometimes fantastic events. Just about the time he had mastered doubletone, Crane acquired a full-time assistant. Apparently, Crane lost his most trusted bullpen assistant because NEA assigned that individual to other chores. Whatever the case, sometime in the summer or early fall of 1937, Crane wrote to a friend of his youth, Leslie Turner, and asked for help. The two had reconnected briefly in 1923 when Turner came to New York to pursue a career in illustration. Then Crane went to Cleveland in 1924 to do Wash Tubbs out of the NEA offices, and Turner stayed on in the Big Apple. Turner was an established illustrator by 1929 when a medical condition forced him to seek a warmer climate. He tried ranching on his father-in-law's sheep ranch in southeastern Colorado for several years but returned to New York and magazine illustration in 1933. By 1935, he was re-established as an illustrator. Then in 1937, he got the letter from his old chum Crane. Crane had been doing the strip for nearly fourteen years without a break. It was a grueling pace — albeit no different than that endured by every syndicated newspaper cartoonist. The only way a syndicated cartoonist got a vacation was by working twice as hard: if a cartoonist drew two weeks' worth of strips in one week, he could take the next week as vacation. By 1937, Crane needed a rest. He wanted to escape the deadline-meeting ordeal for an extended period — say, six weeks — without having to double his rate of production. He could do it if he had an assistant who could draw enough like him to sustain the strip. His old friend Turner was his choice. Before leaving for his European vacation, Crane finished writing the story he was in the middle of. Then he left, and Turner drew the strip. Turner's work was published from October 17 through December 1, 1937. When Crane returned, Turner stayed on as his assistant, and the two moved to Florida, the first of the NEA stable to escape the, er, stable in Cleveland. "This new field appealed to me," Turner once wrote, "and I stayed on as his assistant for nearly six years [until Crane left the strip]. And he taught me all I know about the writing and drawing of the continuity strip. During those years we worked together harmoniously, with never an unpleasant episode that I can recall." Crane described the way he and Turner divided the production chores: "We each had our specialties. I did the writing, drew all of the Sunday, all water and action on the daily, while he drew girls, aircraft, etc. The strip sprang back to life." In the early days, it wasn't quite that clean-cut a division of labor: Turner recalled times when, pressed to meet a deadline, they'd work together on the same strip, cut in half, each doing two panels.] bb

BZ, You are probably correct. I still think that they are done by someone else but it isn't very similar to Schomburg unless he was imitating Crane. Too much speculation there and we probably don't have records. Crane's work was really good. I think I posted this half of a strip a while back. bb

Did you read this issue? How come the Japanese guys have thier own guys strung up over the sharks? I don't remember the story but I thought that the guys hanging over the sharks were Chinese. If I remember correctly, the Japanese invaded the mainland during WWII and were in control of the country until the Allies defeated them and liberated the country. Brief freedom before the communist take over. I will go back and check the story one of these days. bb

I scanned a couple more photographs from Goodstone's book. I like the dragon cover and the Tarzan was worth seeing again. bb

I picked up this Captain Easy at the flea market but I wondered whether Schomburg did some of the interior art. Each story of Easy and Oop has a nice splash panel which isn't a blown up version of a panel from the Sunday page. Does anyone know whether Xela did them or some other guy. It wasn't Crane or Hamlin I think. bb

Flee, Thanks for the information. As I said there are still some bargains out there but a lot of people that go to flea markets, know the value of their books. A lot don't and expect too much. I always enjoyed finding something new but never liked negotiating with a dealer that thinks his VG- is near mint. But you win and lose. Wear a hat down there in Florida. The sun can be brutal. My friend developed skin cancer and moved to Oregon where the sun doesn't shine as much and the whales feed just off shore in the summer time. bb

I posted this Spider cover a while back and the Black Bat. I would like those issues with the first stories of each. And I don't have a Black Amazon story but if she has red hair I don't think I could resist. bb

I liked the cover of this Whiz Bang and the paper quality is good. Earlier issues didn't have much color on the cover and they used some cheaper paper. I only have three issues. I liked CEO a little more because there were more cartoons (and art by Carl Barks). bb

I enjoy the Matt Fox covers. This one reminds me of punching the time clock. And I think this one was used in the "Back to the Future" movie wasn't it? bb

These are pretty nice to have. There are ads for Doc Savage, the Shadow and the Whisperer inside. bb

Btw, every time you mention this mystical flea market, I am sick with envy. You're posting interesting stuff for sure but I want to know where that flea market is. Of course, when would also be an interesting question and if I need a time machine to attend, I might as well use it to go straight to the printers (yes, those that would use their time machine to go to the newsstands are . Me, straight to the printing press). Scrooge, Most of the comics and pulps that I have were purchased since 1995. Since I live on the east coast, I have gone to flea markets in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York (including Manhattan) and Florida. They are all well known to antique collectors and toy collectors (like Noah from the antique road show). Some flea markets were better than others. I think the competition with ebay has made it all a little more difficult but I am sure there are bargains out there. Sometimes you pay too much like for platinum age stuff. A rare Mutt and Jeff may not be worth as much as a Donald Duck or an All Star. Near Mint original Classic Comics can be found at low prices but low grade 15th edition classics can also be found at the same price. I only made one really large purchase but the condition of the comics were low (a few near mints) and I had to sell the best ones (Suspense 3, Captain America 4 and Thrilling 41) due to the expense. But I have a lot of other comics, pulps, BLB and badges that I have kept. bb P.S. I bought this Daring from the back of a pick up truck. The former owner collects toy cap pistols but he wasn't interested in collecting comics. There is some spine damage on this one too. Send me a note if you are still curious about the names of these flea markets.

Great pulps, BB. I think that's the first Pocket Detective I've ever seen. Thanks BZ, I picked those up from the back of a truck with some shadow and Feds pulps. They were cheap since I had bought the guys western comics collection. I love all of those ME westerns but I think the pulps were a bargain. I picked these comics up at the flea market too. bb

BZ, That is a pretty good list on the website. It even has the more obscure pulps from 1936 and 1937.

Below are a couple of Barks drawings from Aug and Sept 1928 issues of CEO. bb

I think that is a very significant cover. Schomburg must of had a reason for doing another cover so similar to his first. bb

By the way, of the five Captain America motorcycle covers that I have seen (including AW, AS and USA), he is riding a Harley in 3 of the them and an Indian in 2. The suicide shift is on the left hand side for Harley motorcycles made for WWII. The Indian shifter was on the right hand side as below. I assumed the Destroyer stole a BMW with a toe shift since the swastika was on the right side and no shifter. bb

I didn't know you were in to frogs? Whether it was Giant Killer Frogs, Snails, Bloody skulls, Nazis or Mother Goose, the Hangman was always interesting and sometimes spectacular, especially by Fuje. bb ps Thanks for the scans Shawn. Buy the entire Pep collection for peanuts from Golden Age Comics.

Pep #32. and the cover of Roly Poly 14. bb

That Human Torch splash was from MMC 2 but if I had been there at the time and compared that splash to the Thunderer I would have suggested that Daring would have a long run with it's star character. bb

Pulps are usually pretty violent but even Lulu had her moments. And what were they thinking with this Human Torch splash?

The Finlay art is amazing! The Saunders cover is great. I love the blue background. Finlay's Moorlock looks great. I have a Super Science pulp with a red-headed Whatzit but it could have been a Moorlock. And I found more Bats! BB

Hawkman!? Alright, give me a sec to pull out the Photo-Journals... Flash Comics #94. You fooled me with those indian pics. The Winner!! BZ, You got it with just a foot or two feet. :golfclap: There was a little deception there but most of the DC titles had western themes for their superheroes. Kubert did some nice cowboy stories too. bb

Perhaps another clue would help. bb Looks like Magazine Enterprises. This hint may give you a better idea. bb