Dead Artists' Society 1 1

[Scrooge]

Hi guys,

 

since many of us seem excited about the ability to read some books from the Golden Age Comics download site, how about we institute a Comic Book Reading Club. Here's the idea. Each week, we pick a book to read and come back to the thread to comment on the issue. We could each vote / rank our favorite stories in the book, favorite page and favorite panel.

 

I suggest we start with Planet # 6. I know it's shot from micro-fiche and not the best quality repro but it's a classic series in its formative period with a lot of different and interesting strips. I suggest we come back here to comment on Sunday?

 

Please post a reply in the thread to let everyone know if you're in.

 

Also, if someone that has downloaded the issue can make it available for download outside of the Golden Age Comics website that would be great.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Architecht

[Detroit MIke]

I'd be glad to join the club. Maybe a link to the comic would be helpful? Okay, I tried to open the download and couldn't. What type of file is a cbr?

[jkrk]

"I'd never join a club that would accept me as a member"

[Scrooge]

I'd be glad to join the club. Maybe a link to the comic would be helpful? Okay, I tried to open the download and couldn't. What type of file is a cbr?

 

Mike,

 

I see you have the file now but in case others want to download it I just opened a 4shared account so I can host it for others to download at:

 

Planet Comics # 6

 

and the .cbr reader as Neurosis posted elsewhere is a program called CDisplay. You can download it free from this link:

http://www.cdisplay.net/?page_id=2

 

This should put you and every one else in business.

[Detroit MIke]

Great. I just downloaded the program. Thanks.

[Mad Dog]

Im game.... and planet 6 is a great starting choice

[Theagenes]

I think it's a great idea - I'm in!

[innocuous]

A book club. I love it. Downloading the file now...28MB!

[jimm]

Cool. would suggest The Thing number 13 after this one! Holy Ditko!

[Neurosis138]

Sounds fun, I'm in!

[moloch]

Awesome - and great first book! I'm in

[Scrooge]

I suggest we come back here to comment on Sunday?

 

All right, I guess I should have said, let's talk about it until next Sunday when we will pick another book for next week.

 

Sorry if this is overwhelming but I put down some (long) thoughts about the book -

 

Content:

 

Red Comet

Gale Allen of the Girl Patrol

Flint Baker

Auro Lord of Jupiter

Don Granval in The Destruction of the Atomic Universe!

Planet Payson

Buzz Crandall of the Space Patrol

Spurt Hammond

Fero, Interplanetary Detective

Crash Barker and the Zoom Sled

Captain Nelson Cole of the Solar Air Force

 

The issue is pretty uneven in term of quality but you sure did get a lot of content for 10¢! Most of the stories can not only be called simple but worse quite a few are also rushed or downright abrupt in their conclusions to the point where it’s difficult to find a favorite story among the many features. That being said, there are many very nice and GA-ish touches throughout this comic. I’ll try to highlight them as I go down the list.

 

Red Comet Synopsis: A giant from Jupiter lands on Earth causing havoc. The Red Comet comes to the rescue, sizes up for an epic planet-wide battle. After being hurtled into space, the giant is knocked out, towed back to Earth and sent back to Jupiter.

 

While the art is simple (no background), the story provides the best visual of the entire book: the hand to hand struggle on Page 3; otherwise, this is a rather bland outing.

 

Gale Allen of the Girl Patrol Synopsis: The forces of pirate Prince Blaga Daru plans on overtaking the Transatlantic subway than runs underwater under the Mid-Atlantic platform. Gale and Jack use new rocket technology to join the fray under the sea. Disguised as agents of Blaga Daru, they get on board of the head submarine and subdue Blaga Daru.

 

Here’s an example of what’s hurting these GA stories: there is no build-up in the fight as the heroes blunder more into the victory than they actively make their own fortunes. The story does afford some of the funniest bit of dialog between Blaga Daru and a minion:

 

Underling: “We can land our soldiers at the ducts. They can get behind the guarding troops and bang! It’s ours … you know that!”

Blaga Daru: “It’s a good idea, and it better work, because, if it doesn’t, I’ll have your head – and you know that!!”

 

Flint Baker Synopsis: Flint and Mimi fly to Mercury to find that half of the population dead at the hand of the other half, the savage hordes of the Eastern hemisphere. With the help of the last electronic converter, Flint and Mimi aim to restore order. After a wild chase, Mimi is “converted” into gold and worshipped as a goddess. Flint is captured and about to be burned to death in a sacrifice while tied to the golden Mimi. Using the converter, Flint successfully escapes his predicament, floods the savage horde, turns them into salt and dissolves the threat. In a final act, he recreates life from local flowers and starts on rebuilding the entire Mercury civilization.

 

Talk about an ex-machina filled story. Any time such a powerful tool as the electronic converter is introduced the story can only go downhill from there: over-reliance on the weapon ruins any suspense and credibility in such a story. While the use of the converter is imaginative, it still forces this story to the bottom of the pile for this reader.

 

Auro Lord of Jupiter Synopsis: Auro rescues Jane from the horror of the bug-men. Out of spite, Ogre, lord of the bug-men, launches a full blown assault on Auro and his people. To prevent blood-shed, Jane surrenders and accepts to become Ogre’s wife. Auro will have none of it, rushes to Jane’s rescue alone from the bug-men stronghold. Jane is safe for now but the bug-men menace remains very real.

 

Visually, this is the strongest the story in the entire book. The story-telling is strong and clear; some panels hide more details than they seem and the staging is excellent with atmosphere created with ease from the use of some simple architectural or landscape elements. This was one of my top two features in the issue.

 

Don Granval in The Destruction of the Atomic Universe Synopsis: Don Granval, having invented a way to observe sub-atomic life in a block of Uranium, witnesses the impeding doom of a humanoid race and decides it’s time to shed his observer’s role for a more active participation. After enlisting the help of several men, he launches into the sub-atomic world leaving behind his fiancée Claire in charge of the apparatus that can send them back to Earth. As Don saves the beautiful princess of the sub-atomic world, Claire becomes jealous and in truth jeopardizes her betrothed and his crew’s life out of spite! In the end, she does bring home more than she bargained for as the sub-atomic princess along with the monster menace reach Earth. After dispatching the menace, it seems the princess is here to stay to the frustration of Claire.

 

While the whimsy of having Claire jealous of the “rival” princess started as a nice addition to the story, once she puts Don’s life in danger due to her feelings, this story soured for me. Others might find this a breath of fresh air amid otherwise carbon-copy stories but, in the end, the story didn’t work for me but I’ll give it some credit for creativity.

 

Planet Payson Synopsis: Planet Payson is asked to go on a delivery round to Mercury after some previous shipments / convoys have disappeared. After being intercepted, Planet figures out Martian pirates are responsible for the foul play. Quickly heading to Mars, Planet is able to disable the pirate’s base.

 

This story line and that of Captain Nelson Cole are funny to me in that a decade later they will be replayed over and over in Western comic books. Take away the space ship and call the guy Bronco Payson and you’ve got a story from any run-of-the-mill early 50’s Western. Yet, those Western get reviled and the early sci-fi books are adulated. What gives? To the credit of this feature, the art picks up on page 35 which is one of the best of the entire issue with the Morg and the oil poured into the cave. The episode with the Morg being put to sleep by Planet swinging on a vine was priceless and very GA-fun to me!

 

Buzz Crandall of the Space Patrol Synopsis: An “iceberg” falls off the surface of Pluto and clogs the spatial shipping lane. Buzz and Sandra head out to push it towards the sun to free up traffic. The trouble starts when some Martians want to recover the Pteridons frozen inside that iceberg. The iceberg gets blown up, an explosion that Buzz and Sandra miraculously survive by hanging on the Pteridons as they are towed into the spacecraft that will deliver them to their buyers on Mars. Profiting from a rampaging Pteridon, Buzz and Sandra reach safety and go on their merry way.

 

I felt that the story lost focus very quickly and couldn’t take the accidental nature of the chain of events in this story. To me, it’s another below average entry in the issue.

 

Spurt Hammond Synopsis: Spurt Hammond receives a distress signal from Queen Veloptan that her people on Venus are dying. Upon investigation, the people are dying from calcium deficiency. Spurt quickly asserts that’s the doing of the people on Mercury who are in dire need of Calcium. Hopping to nearby Mercury, Spurt confirms the truth: King Todrax is siphoning Venus’ calcium out of spite for Queen Veloptan instead of taping Jupiter’s vast calcium deposits. With the aid of the rebels on Mercury, Spurt is able to redirect the apparatus capturing the Calcium and to depose King Todrax from his throne.

 

While the story is a little rushed due to the lack of space, this yarn holds pretty well together. If this had been a Flash Gordon sequence stretched over an 8- or 16-week period, it would have provided some good fun. The machinery is well depicted. This was above average and probably my # 3 story in the issue.

 

Fero, Interplanetary Detective Synopsis: After Earth’s grand councilman’s daughter is abducted, Fero is sent to investigate her disappearance. Fero traces her to planet Betanus where her abductor wants to trade his captive for a favorable trade agreement on Cosmodium. Pretending to wanting to be as a stool for the abductor, Fero is able to secure Brenda and escape from the abductor as his space bats are defeated by Earth’s rescue fleet.

 

I’m on the fence post about this story. I guess it’s average with some pluses: the detective bend of the story and the classic use of space bats, and some minuses: the rather unnecessary changing into a child and the enigmatic decision of Fero to go meet the right guy right off the bat (ah ah) without much of an explanation. That’s a series I’d be willing to read more installment of before making a final judgment call.

 

Crash Barker and the Zoom Sled Synopsis: Crash Barker is about to reveal his Zoom Sled powered by brand new technology to a jeering and doubting public. When finally the Sled zooms past the crowd, it makes some elements jealous and envious …

 

The combination of the decent art by Quinlan (better known for his Catman Comics covers), the build-up of the story with the introduction of the characters, the added plot element that will fuel the further installments of the story, I will say that this is the feature I enjoyed the most in the issue. It’s not often that the writers took time to create some 3-D characters and this is the closest we have in this comic.

 

Captain Nelson Cole of the Solar Air Force Synopsis: Jupiter, Venus and Saturn declare war on Earth out the blue. The president charges Captain Cole to find out why the sudden outburst of hostility. Through a blunder, Captain Cole discovers that Gregor, a member of the war council, is behind the attacks on other planets’ convoys that lead them to declare war on Earth. Captain Cole follows Gregor and exposes his scheme to the universe and averts Solar System War I.

 

As mentioned above, this plot is so similar to later Western plot as, at least to me, to be jarring to see play out in space. There’s nothing new or interesting in this story aside from the visual on the second tier on the first page.

[moloch]

Quick impressions of this issue are that like most of GA the art appeals to me much more than the stories.

 

Red Comet was good pulp fun with an almost poor man's Lou Fine art style that I liked.

 

The Don Granval reminded me of when I was a kid a first came across the idea that atoms looked like solar systems and the 'what if the earth was just an atom in the leg of a table' type ideas.

 

Spurt Hammond... isn't he a porn star? And I had no idea how important calcium was. Note to self: drink more milk.

 

Crash Barker had perhaps my favorite art in the book, but another pretty forgettable story.

 

Overall though great bang for your .10!

[sacentaur]

Great analysis, Michael!

 

Planet 6 and Planet 8 are the two issues I'm missing from my 1 - 10 run

 

STEVE

[Detroit MIke]

Planet Comics # 6 , June 1940, Fiction House

 

 

Hey everybody! I couldn't quite get through the whole issue yet. It's twice as much effort as a modern book! I didn't really want to read scrooge's thoughts until I had finished my own. It's fun to see the different takes we have on this book. This was the first time I had read an issue of Planet Comics. I'll try to finish my critique before Sunday.

 

I guess Planet Comics would have appealed to kids who preferred outer space adventures like Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers to super heroes. I find the cover art, credited to Will Eisner, very appealing and fantastical, yet there’s total chaos. The viewer’s eyes finally latch onto the flying monster attacking a space craft. But, there isn’t really a main focal point… just total pandemonium. The Planet Comics logo is the true star of the cover… designed to scream, “Hey kid, c’mon over here and spend your ten cents on me!”

 

Red Comet was a fun read. I was surprised at the size of the combatants. I think that people are always intrigued by giants and monsters from space. Luckily, Red Comet can defy physics and protect Earth from the towering evil-doers that threaten us. I wondered why he didn’t stuff the bad guy back into the spaceship while he was still in giant form? I’d give Red a “C”.

 

“Gale Allen and Jack North! You’ve tricked us again!” was the best line in the second story. Gale Allen was ahead of her time as she battles pirates who want to conquer the world. But, we all know how fast she’ll submit to Jack North. Gale is strong and sexy, yet a little too motherly. Her “Yes, dear” line really didn’t fit. Where is the Girl Patrol? And, why do we always portray the bad guys as numbskulls? Doesn’t this cheapen the victory? I’d give Gale a “B”.

 

Flint Baker, by Starr Gayza, was definitely a little more complex than the first two stories. Our hero and the beautiful girl find a dying scientist, the lone survivor of an advanced civilization, that was attacked by savages. Luckily, the mortally injured man hands Flint his greatest invention, a gun, which can manipulate atoms. Then, savages capture the girl. Flint saves girl. Flint and girl create life with futuristic technology and repopulate the once destroyed civilization. When reading this story, I couldn’t help but notice how many biblical themes were transferred to this tale: pure vs. evil, Creators, messiahs, pagan gods, parting the sea, pillars of salt, gardens of Eden, etc. I’d give Flint an “A”.

 

Auro Lord of Jupiter was a third-rate Tarzan rip-off. The writer could have at least come up with a better name, than Jane, for the damsel in distress. My favorite part was how ridiculous the bugmen looked. I’d give Auro a “D”.

 

Don Granval, or the hero that isn’t very likable, was an okay story. Don is a scientist/ hero that is living things up before being weighed down by marriage. He bears a strong resemblance to Clark Gable… physically and emotionally, who starred in Gone With the Wind a year earlier. Since, Red Comet dealt with gigantic foes in the first adventure, Don was forced to travel into the micro-universe in search of kicks. He really enjoys stressing out his fiancée. Unfortunately, he relies on this dame to save him if there’s trouble, but everybody knows you can’t count on a woman, unless you manipulate her heart. More savage brutes fill the panels, but what their motives are doesn’t matter. I’d give Don a “C”.

 

Now, you might have seen intergalactic pirates cutting off the supply routes in our attempt at universal expansion, but I saw something a little different. Planet Payson was a subconscious reaction the comic-book deadlines that must have plagued the writers and artists of the golden age. In the end, the man who can deliver the product, on time, wins the approval of the boss… and lives to draw another page. I’d give Planet Payson a “C”.

[Theagenes]

That was a fun read! I love early Sci-Fi. This is only the second early issue of Planet that I've read, the other being the first issue, in the form of the Pacific Comics reprint from the 80's. The stories are, for the most part, generic and simplistic, and the artwork is often sloppy and awkward, but it must have been a great, cheap form of entertainment for kids that were fans of the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon strips.

 

As has been pointed out, many of the stories are really typical plots from other genres (western, jungle, detective, etc.) transplanted into a sci-fi setting, with only a couple of the stories, such as Don Granval being real sci-fi.

 

One thing I'm always on the look out for in GA comics are glimpses of the socio-political context in which they are created. In several of the stories you have references to the events that were playing out in Europe in early 1940. In both Gale Allen and Planet Payson, the villain is a fascist-type dictator (even down to the uniforms). Also, both stories are making reference the Battle of the Atlantic, which had been underway since the previous Fall. German U-Boats were attacking Canadian supply ships trying to reach the UK, while the Brits and French were trying to blockade Germany (American involvement with Lend-Lease was still another year away).

 

Gale Allen seems to be heavily influenced by Buck Rogers, with a futuristic Earth in danger of being conquered by an Eastern menace (Yellow Peril theme). Europe has been subjegated already and America will be next! (can you guess which side of the inventionist vs. isolationist debate this writer is on?) I love the reference to submarine warfare being banned - many people don't realize that submarine warfare was very controversial after WWI, much like land mines and cluster-bombs today. On a side note, GCD credits Bob Powell with the art on this one.

 

In Planet Payson, the U-boat theme is there as well. Payson's mission is to protect shipping from raiders (submarines). He basically acts as the sub-hunter who locates the raider, then the destroyers come in to finish it off. Tracing the raiders back to their source, he finds that they are being sent out by a Pytho, fascist-looking dictator of Mars. Again the parallels with the growing war in Europe are evident.

 

Of the stories that seem to be referencing the war, however, Nelson Cole is the most intriguing to me, as it seems to be taking the isolationist/anti-war view. The villain is a hawkish member of the President of Earth's cabinet who is secretly trying to provoke a Solar System (read: World) War. Cole forces the villain Gregor to confess, just in time to prevent all-out war. Comments in the LAST couple of panels ("What a waste of lives it would have been." and "I'm glad you let me investigate before blood was needlessly shed.") show clearly where the writer stood on the whole "should America get involved?" debate. The only other Nelson Cole story I've read was in Planet Comics 1 - in that one the villain is again trying to start a war, this time backed by an arms manufacturer who hopes to profit from it. The idea that wars are instigated by those who would profiteer from them was a common theme promoted by the anti-war movement in the years between the world wars (cf. Action Comics 2).

 

It's fascinating to me to get a glimpse here and there from these GA comics of what people were thinking about and how they felt about the events taking place around them. It's often the case that you can learn more about a particular time and place in history by looking at the underlying themes in pop culture, rather than the contemporary non-fiction, which often has a conscious agenda. Great stuff.

[Detroit MIke]

Very interesting points Theagenes. Do you some of these stories were written by the same person... that might explain some similarities too.

[Scrooge]

for the insights. This is the reason why I work with numbers and am not a critic in any way, fashion or form. In my comments, I tend to stick close to the evaluation of the story within the confine of the genre (comic book story-telling) while you're able to deconstruct the subject matter in its context. Very impressive.

 

Also, I noticed that Mike and I have a vastly different ranking of the stories in the book! Compare his dislike of Auro to my liking the execution of the story and my dislike of Flint Baker to his praise of that sequence, giving it an A. Mike and I are Bizarro versions of each other on this!

[Theagenes]

Well, my background is in history and anthropology so this kind of stuff sort of jumps out at me.

 

Mike, to answer your question - I think that the only thing that can be said with reasonable certainty is that the writer of Nelson Cole is probably not the same writer as Gale Allen. I want to go back and download some more of these early Planets and read some more Nelson Cole stories to see if this anti-intervention theme is present. It just struck me as unusual - i'm used to seeing pro-war propaganda in GA comics, not anti-war.

 

As for the writers, I remember reading that Iger wrote a lot of the scripts for the books that the Eisner-Iger shop packaged, but I think this issue (spring 1940?) was done after Eisner left to form his own shop(?). Maybe someone who knows more about the history of the Eisner-Iger shop can shed some light on who might have been doing the scripts on these storys. Did Bob Powell write as well as draw Gale Allen, perhaps?

[Theagenes]

I've been downloading some of the other early Planets and I just realized that the Pacific Comics reprint that I have is not a reprint of Planet no.1 like I thought - it's a compilation of stories from several issues. So the other Nelson Cole story I referenced early about the arms manufacturer is not from no. 1. I'll post the correct issue no. when I figure it out.

 

Edit: It's from Planet #5. I feel pretty certain that both the writer and artist are the same as in #6 - the byline is "Beekman Terrill" but that's probably a pseudonym. Here's a page from it:

 

Edited February 23, 2007 by Theagenes