What Hitler And Axis Covers Comics Do You Have? 11 11

[jimbo_707]

Thanks for the info West and Walter!

[Sqeggs]

 

 

Lots of Mussolini covers. Usually with Hitler and Tojo or Hirohito, but occasionally with just Hitler (and once, in the case of Cat-man #3, with Hitler and Stalin).

 

 

Is there a good way to tell whether the oriental baddie pictured on a given axis cover is Hirohito or Tojo? I don't know how to tell them apart, and I'm not sure the CGC labels always get it right.

 

My guess is that early in the war Hirohito was better known to the U.S. public than Tojo. Later in the war, I think Tojo, rather than Hirohito, would have been more the focus of U.S. anger. So I would venture the guess that earlier the cover, the greater the likelihood it depicts -- or was intended to depict -- Hirohito.

 

Another point: In practice, there wasn't much coordination between Japanese strategy and German strategy. So the covers showing conferences with Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito/Tojo dividing up the world were fictitious. In the early part of the war there was a strong desire among the U.S. public to concentrate on Japan, while strategically it appeared to make more sense to concentrate on Germany. Just speculation, but perhaps some of these covers were meant to reinforce the idea that Germany was allied with Japan and striking a blow against Germany was indirectly striking a blow against Japan.

[jimbo_707]

I would venture the guess that earlier the cover, the greater the likelihood it depicts -- or was intended to depict -- Hirohito.

It would be interesting to research that point further to see if whether your theory is borne out by covers where Tojo or Hirihito can be clearly identified!

[Sqeggs]

I would venture the guess that earlier the cover, the greater the likelihood it depicts -- or was intended to depict -- Hirohito.

It would be interesting to research that point further to see if whether your theory borne out by covers where Tojo or Hirihito can be clearly identified!

 

I hate attempts to verify my random thoughts!

[Timely]

For comparison, definitely a Hirohito cover! Looks like Hirohito is drawn with a thin mustache.

 

[jimbo_707]

(thumbs u

[Sqeggs]

For comparison, definitely a Hirohito cover! Looks like Hirohito is drawn with a thin mustache.

 

 

That cover is from nearly the end of the war when Tojo had been forced from office as a result of the endless series of military defeats Japan was suffering. Whether Tojo's having fallen from power would have been widely known by the U.S. public -- and Schomburg! -- at the time, I'm not sure.

[walclark]

Here's a comic that is listed as a "Hitler and Hirohito" cover, but I think it depicts Tojo. Emperor Hirohito had a full head of hair throughout his life. Tojo was balding. Both wore similar glasses and sported similar mustaches. During the war, Hirohito often wore uniforms.

 

I think the various designations of Hirohito vs. Tojo covers is somewhat random.

 

 

Hirohito photo:

 

 

 

Tojo photo:

 

[jimbo_707]

I think the various designations of Hirohito vs. Tojo covers is somewhat random.

 

I think you might be right!

[Timely]

I think the various designations of Hirohito vs. Tojo covers is somewhat random.

 

I think you might be right!

 

It may also depend on the artist interpretation of the subject as well as his skill as to how close his drawing of Hirohito or Tojo resembles actual reality. Drawing them as bowling pins or in outrageously evil-looking ways certainly can skew how they look.

[vaillant]

I agree that in the Superman #17 looks like Tojo, here it seems CGC has made a mistake.

But on the Master #29 posted earlier it’s Hirohito, and the difference is marked (it seems to me) by an elaborate uniform, which maybe was unique as he was the emperor.

 

Hirohito, in general, had somewhat more graceful features (being also thinner, when he was young), so this may be another element to look at.

[Sqeggs]

I agree that in the Superman #17 looks like Tojo, here it seems CGC has made a mistake.

But on the Master #29 posted earlier it’s Hirohito, and the difference is marked (it seems to me) by an elaborate uniform, which maybe was unique as he was the emperor.

 

Hirohito, in general, had somewhat more graceful features (being also thinner, when he was young), so this may be another element to look at.

 

I agree that it's Tojo rather than Hirohito. The mistake, though, originated with Overstreet. So far as I have been able to tell, CGC's label notes always follow Overstreet. The few cases I've found where CGC contradicts Overstreet appear to have been the result of CGC having misunderstood Overstreet's notation.

 

If anyone has an example of CGC arriving at an independent judgment with respect to cover appearances, first appearances, etc. that isn't a mistake in interpreting Overstreet, I would be very interested in seeing it.

[Cat-Man_America]

[font:Times New Roman]Another recent yeller cover acquisition (arrived this morning)...

 

 

 

Note: There is a very small bindery chip, no other visible imperfections aside from scan glare & a couple of scuff marks on the surface of the slab.

As with my under-copy, this one apparently came from the ERB estate.[/font]

[vaillant]

Another recent yeller cover acquisition (arrived this morning)...

 

I just thought you must have had one but you didn’t – heck, you made up for that with a BANG!

I can’t keep up with those high-grade anomalies, waaay out of my price range!

 

How about this one, although not strictly Hitler (as it is a parody) it’s extremely significant as the story came out first in 1945 (this collected edition is from 1948 or 1949) and the author, Benito Jacovitti, debuted in 1940 when he was 16 with a story featuring the very same characters that at the end of the story are rescued by a Nazi ship (!) (Both from my personal collection).

 

 

 

(Ehm, in case someone thinks the boy had a loose screw, it helps remembering that unfortunately Italy and Germany were pretty fresh allies in 1940).

[bluechip]

[font:Times New Roman]Another recent yeller cover acquisition (arrived this morning)...

 

 

 

Note: There is a very small bindery chip, no other visible imperfections aside from scan glare & a couple of scuff marks on the surface of the slab.

As with my under-copy, this one apparently came from the ERB estate.[/font]

 

One of the most interesting books of the golden age! Love my beat reader copy

[Twistty1]

[font:Times New Roman]Another recent yeller cover acquisition (arrived this morning)...

 

 

 

Note: There is a very small bindery chip, no other visible imperfections aside from scan glare & a couple of scuff marks on the surface of the slab.

As with my under-copy, this one apparently came from the ERB estate.[/font]

 

Cat, congratulations on acquiring that beauty. It's a gorgeous copy. I really would love to learn more about it's provenance. We've talked about it before and I've looked around but can't seem to find anything. Do you notice many similarities between this one an your other ERB copy?

[Cat-Man_America]

[font:Times New Roman]Another recent yeller cover acquisition (arrived this morning)...

 

 

 

Note: There is a very small bindery chip, no other visible imperfections aside from scan glare & a couple of scuff marks on the surface of the slab.

As with my under-copy, this one apparently came from the ERB estate.[/font]

 

Cat, congratulations on acquiring that beauty. It's a gorgeous copy. I really would love to learn more about it's provenance. We've talked about it before and I've looked around but can't seem to find anything. Do you notice many similarities between this one an your other ERB copy?

 

[font:Times New Roman]Just one noteworthy one, but it's fascinating. Here is my under copy...

 

 

Notice the tiny yellow spot directly under the "H" of Hitler that isn't filled in on the black shadow of both copies, then look at other copies of this title. I'm inclined to believe that there was a fleck of ink that failed to cover one specific spot during this part of the run. You can clearly see it on these, but not on most other copies. Maybe there's a logical reason for this phenomenon other than the likelihood that these copies came from the same limited run of books, but if so, I haven't figured it out yet[/font].

 

 

 

 

[comicjack]

Hitler never looked so good in double

[Marty Mann]

Ran across this in my collection.

 

 

mm

[Timely]

I'm extemely happy to have this Hitler & Hirohito cover by Raboy in my collection!