tabcom Posted August 30, 2014 Author Share Posted August 30, 2014 Issue #56August 1944Rating: 4 The Flash story in this issue feels like a rush to meet adeadline submission. The Martin Naydel art is rough and looks cartoonish.Peachy Pet gets another lead in the Johnny Thunderstory. Johnny only makes a cameo. The Hawkman story is typical formula. Page count has been reduced. The Whip didn’t make the cut.The Minute Movie utilizes a mysterious Japanese drug that fakes death. The best strip is the Ghost Patrol battling Nazis in Holland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Issue #57Sept 1944Rating: 4The Ghost Patrol find themselves off the battle front and inan art gallery. Martin Naydel art for the Flash is still challenged by adjusting his cartoon style art to suit the superhero genre. This issue would be Ed Wheelan's penultimate Minute Movie strip which began in 1921 in newspaper form and ran in all Flash Comics thru issue #58. Below follows the typical format of a silent film parody. Most of which I found very entertaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciorac Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Always liked that cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 Issue #58October 1944Rating: 5 When ‘The Creature From The Black Lagoon’ was matinee gold in 1954, Gardner Fox must have been saying to himself, ‘Yeah, I did that ten years ago’. The murky green bog that the Merman lives in works well with Jon Chester Kozlak art The story begins with a Moses like origin of the Merman. Ashe becomes an adult his duel nature finds that he is not accepted as a man. Themissing link between fish and man turns to a life of crime and has to swimupstream when the Flash is in pursuit. Hawkman and Hawkgirl serve up the corny jokes with their punches. This issue is the correct end of the run of 'Minute Movies' strip.Overstreet and CGC Labeling mistakenly cite the next issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 (edited) Issue #59November 1944Rating: 4 The Flash story may hint to Gardner Fox’s boredom withwriting mobster yarns and his need for a vacation. The John Chester Kozlak artin the story is ok. Peachy Pet, along with Johnny’s help, continues to have fun in Hollywood. "The Story of Leif Ericsson and the Norsemen" by M.C.Gaines and Don Cameron, doesn’t seem to transition well with the other stories. Although credited as the last Minute Movie strip inOverstreet and CGC Labeling, it was replaced by Ed Wheelan’s 'Fat and Slat' one pager. DC begins adding the title of the series to the top of thepage. Edited September 20, 2014 by tabcom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Mann Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 FAT & SLAT...one of my all time favorites. Thanks for sharing! mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 Glad you enjoyed it! (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Tabar Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Agreed! Always liked that cover Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Tabar Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Anyone know when Hawkman got his new look? When he got rid of the bird head and wings and donned a simple yellow mask? I seem to remember it being rather late in the Golden Age Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Mann Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Anyone know when Hawkman got his new look? When he got rid of the bird head and wings and donned a simple yellow mask? I seem to remember it being rather late in the Golden Age I believe it was FLASH #98, August 1948. mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryw7 Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Anyone know when Hawkman got his new look? When he got rid of the bird head and wings and donned a simple yellow mask? I seem to remember it being rather late in the Golden Age I believe it was FLASH #98, August 1948. mm Nice book, Marty! You hardly ever see that one around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 Anyone know when Hawkman got his new look? When he got rid of the bird head and wings and donned a simple yellow mask? I seem to remember it being rather late in the Golden Age All Star Comics #42 also shared an August 1948 cover date. So it comes down to whom ever hit the newsstand first. Here is the splash page from The Flash Comics #98. The play on words sort of alludes to this being the first appearance of Hawkman (and Hawkgirl) in his new costume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Tabar Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Thanks for the information guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 Issue #60December 1944Rating: 3 Regretfully, this issue has to rank as one of the worst ofthe series. Not only is the Martin Naydel artwork flat (his treatment ofJoan is unforgivable), the Fox Flash story reads like an Angela Lansbury'Murder, She Wrote' vehicle – YUK! Ghost Patrol, Johnny Thunder – painful to read. The three page'Picture Stories from History', "The Story of Ferdinand Magellan"just doesn’t feel like a good fit for the series. The Hawkman and Hawkgirl story is well done. Shelly’s art is top notch. The Humming Bird makes another appearance. If only Sheldon Mayer would have picked-up on the value of having super-villans oppose the heros earlier, it would have made for more interesting stories. It wasn't until Julie Schwartz took over before the appearance of super-villian became mandatory in the later issues of the first series. This panel is a rare acknowledgment by Hawkgirl that the world was at war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 Issue #61 January 1945 Rating: 5 The brilliant run of 61 issues of Sheldon Moldoff’s Hawkman art has reached its finale – along with it an end of what I consider to be the first phase of the Golden Age of Comics. The gangsters are set aside for a fantastic story of men from Saturn preparing for their invasion of Earth. Fox’s eloquent story foreshadows much of his work to come during the Silver Age of Comics. Joan’s great idea for Jay to become a Magician to aid sick kids leads to more trouble then they counted on. Full page ad for the one shot 'The Big' All-American Comic Book. I plan to review it as a supplemental entry after the 104 issue series has been completed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ciorac Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Such a cool book. One that I need for the run as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaillant Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 I am sad because I did not follow your dedicated work for some time now… I love the cover of #61… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted October 25, 2014 Author Share Posted October 25, 2014 Issue #62February 1945Rating: 5 With the page count reduced to 48 pages for a few issuesnow, this era of Flash Comics have a standard line up of the Flash, JohnnyThunder, Ghost Patrol, and Hawkman. The Hawkman continues with itscrime themes. The other three titles have plenty of zany comedy and actionthat makes them a fast and enjoyable read. I wonder what the editor of the splash page thought when he saw the misspelledHawkman headline? A simple cut-n-paste can mask a multitude of errors. Joe Kubert’s first work on Hawkman. His early style looks like a continuation ofthe Moldoff setups; as seen in the ‘sock’ of the fight scenes. What strikes meimmediately with the new look is the attention to detail that was missing inthe past. By the start of 1945 a new era of the Golden Age of Comics isstarting to take form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted November 8, 2014 Author Share Posted November 8, 2014 (edited) Issue #63March 1945Rating: 4The splash page to the Flash story hints to somethingspooky. However, it turns out to be a tame formula tale more fitting for thenow cancelled ‘Minute Movie’ strip. Johnny Thunder story foreshadows the returning GI’s and need for new housing. This Volto ad is strikingly similar to the Joe Kubert workon Volton in Cat-Man Comics. Link courtesy of fourcolorshadows.blogspot.com It is the dawning of a new era in comic book layouts: Edited November 8, 2014 by tabcom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabcom Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Issue #64April 1945Rating: 3 Of all the artist to draw the Flash, Martin Naydel's cartoon style doesn't transfer well to the superhero genre. Furthermore, he commits the unforgivably insult of drawing the vivacious Joan in a manner fitting fora spinster school teacher (panel withheld out of respect for Ms. Williams). The art and stories are formula phoned in service of no importance to be memorialized. The only redeeming story in this issue is the Hawkman, presented here in its entirety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...