MEDIA IN COMICS 007

We've got some real early media for you today, so get ready for the crustiest scans of microfiche you ever saw.

Movies:

Steve Rogers and Bucky almost get to the movies to see a flick called Million Dollar Robbery before being interrupted by a real, if smaller-scale, robbery. BONUS: a classic case of real movies stars barely obfuscated by having their first names swapped, in Humphrey Raft and George Bogart, aka George Raft and Humphrey Bogart. (Captain America Comics 004, 1941)

Hired to look into dirty dealings on the Stupendous Films lot, Slam Bradley and Shorty Morgan go undercover as stunt doubles. The comedy film that Shorty works on is never named, but Slam briefly works on a film called Jungle Man. (Detective Comics v1 004, 1937)

Larry Steele's own investigations into a series of high-profile kidnappings take him to the set of Too Much Money, a movie we never learn anything about. (Detective Comics v1 005, 1937)

It's just barely possible to make out that this movie that the Radio Squad boys watch is called The Fighting Cop. A bit on the nose, boys! (More Fun Comics 038, 1938)

Music:

Detective Bruce Nelson investigates a series of murders committed on stage while each victim was singing the same song. That song was originally called "The Night is Blue," but is now known as "The Song of Death." (Detective Comics 020, 1938)

In Action Comics 006, a grifter named Nick Williams falsifies some contracts and begins licensing Superman's name all over town, and one of the results of this is a song! Specifically, a big band tune called "You're a Superman!"

I wouldn't call it the greatest song ever written (no song should include the word "resistless," for example), but it's not entirely terrible. (Action Comics v1 006, 1938)

Newspaper Columns:

Written by Paul Revere Sr, ultra-patriot and father to comic book adventure kid Paul Revere Jr, "America Awake!" is one of those exciting titles that works for an anti-Nazi column in 1941 and also potentially for a pro-Nazi one in the present. (Banner Comics 003, 1941)

Jay Garson Jr, aka the Ragman, wrote his "Crime Does Not Pay" column right up until someone tried to kill him for it and he was forced to fake his own death. And then kept on writing it for a while afterward, seemingly mostly in order to give his old editor a hard time. (Cat-Man Comics 001, 1941)

Radio Shows:

In addition to "You're a Superman!" Nick Wilson's Superman-licensing deals included a Superman radio show, meaning that the DC Universe had one a full two years before we did.

Wilson also mentions having sold movie and comic book rights, but as he is beaten up and forced to stop his scheme by the real Superman not long after this conversation it's likely that those never saw the light of day. (Action Comics v1 006, 1938)

Theatre:

Slam Bradley and Shorty Morgan investigate the crimes of the Broadway Bandit by getting jobs on Broadway, specifically as tap dancers in a production called Love on Ice that despite its name seems to be a variety show rather than anything with a discernible plot. (Detective Comics v1 016, 1938)

Renick's Frolics, the show in which "The Song of Death" appears, is another of these variety productions. (Detective Comics v1 020, 1938)

 

We learn nothing about Darkest Dawn other than the fact that someone is trying to kill the lead actress and Nadir, Master of Magic, is on the case. (New Adventure Comics 028, 1938)

REAL PERSON ROUND-UP 026

Once again we point and go "Hey. It's that guy."

Adolf Hitler:

Captain Courageous has to deal with a few pseudo-Nazis working for Hitler-alike Hinkler. (Banner Comics 003, 1941) 

Real Hitler takes a scheme-foiling by Vulcan pretty hard. (Four Favorites 001, 1941)

Devil's Island:

Captain America and Bucky infiltrate Devil's Island to free a prisoner who is not only a victim of carceral justice taken to unjust extremes but also as an arm of the Nazi government in France. (Captain America Comics 005, 1941)

the Duke and Duchess of Windsor:

The Duke of Windsor, aka the former King Edward VIII of England and his wife Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, welcome Speed Martin to the Bahamas in the Duke's wartime role as the Governor General of that territory. (The Funnies 051, 1941)

FDR:

Super-American rescues the most obscured-by-shadow (and completely silent!) FDR we have yet seen from the evil Tyrannus. The usual shadowed-features treatment that he usually gets is so over the top in that it looks like the President is going to be dramatically revealed to be some sort of frog monster in the next panel. (Fight Comics 015, 1941)

By contrast, here's a very recognizable FDR congratulating newsreel cameraman Speed Martin on returning from Europe with some vital intel on the Axis war machine. (The Funnies 051, 1941)

And by contrast with that, here's "Mr Jones," the mysterious government official who recruits Captain Midnight into his country's service and who is heavily implied to be a disguised FDR, even though he lacks the President's famously large head. (The Funnies 057, 1941)

(don't worry: someone thought about the big head issue and inflated it by The Funnies 058)

the German-American Bund:

Very rare appearance of the German-American Bund under it's own name, even if the actual group was already in severe decline at the point this book was published. (Captain America Comics 005, 1941)

Harold R. Stark:

He's not named, but the Chief of Naval Operations seen here sure looks like the man who held the position at the time, Harold R. Stark. Did they do a photo reference this one time? (The Funnies 055, 1941)

Joe Dimaggio:

"Joey Diraggio," star player for the Brooklyn Badgers and victim of the Black Toad. (Captain America Comics 007, 1941)

the Venus de Milo:

The Venus de Milo is stolen by Zeus and brought back to Ancient Greece so that he can turn it into a human woman to be his wife. Zanzibar the Magician rescues the statue woman and brings her back to the present with him, but the question is never resolved: does he chop off her arms and turn her into a statue again? Is the Fox Features Universe minus one statue and plus one blonde lady? (Mystery Men Comics 002, 1939)

Winston Churchill:

Personally thanks Vulcan for escorting a convoy to England. (Four Favourites 001, 1941) 

MINOR SUPER-VILLAIN 972: THE BLACK TALON

(Captain America Comics 009, 1941)

The Black Talon is honestly such a disappointing character. Two-thirds of him is composed of concepts that I love, but that remaining third is very rough. A hard character to endorse.

First good Part: The Black Talon, aka Pascal Horta, is a mad artist who kills both as a way of eliminating his rivals and as a means of deriving inspiration for his series of horror-themed portraits. I always love seeing the mad arts represented in a field that traditionally favours the mad sciences, plus we must applaud the efficiency.

Second Good Part: Horta's origin involves the classic trope of the evil transplant that brings some part of its original owner's mentality to its new host. Specifically, his right hand is crushed in a car accident and is replaced with that of condemned murderer Strangler Burns. A terrific trope, particularly as it so easily dovetails with a Jekyll/ Hyde concept where you can introduce the idea that the transplant recipient isn't posessed but it just using the idea of a murderer's body part to enact their own inmost desires. In this specific instance, this idea is offset somewhat by the fact that the hand itself is portrayed as super-human: incredibly strong, equipped with clawlike fingernails (the eponymous Black Talons) and even fireproof as of its second appearance, but the point still stands. 

(I've never asked a transplant surgeon but I reckon that they must hate this trope)

If you read through all of the panels up to this point you might have noticed the third, unfun thing about the Black Talon: that at least as much weight is given to the fact that the hand comes from an African American man as from a murderer. Could a thoughtful writer do something interesting with the concept of a man who is horrified by the race of his own hand? Certainly! Do they do this here? Certainly not. It really says something when Marvel's other Black Talons being chicken-themed Voodoo priests is the less racist option.

After a couple of encounters with Captain America and Bucky, the Black Talon is killed when Cap punches him out a window to his death. Or so Captain America believes, because he never bothers to go check. In reality, Horta is scuttling off to get ready to return in an upcoming issue of Young Allies. Stay tuned!

Categorized in: Body (Nonhuman Parts, Hands), Colours (Black), Origin (Evil Transplant)

MEDIA IN COMICS 006

Now that's entertainment. 

Magazines: 

Are magazine titles in comics more likely to be plays on real ones than other forms of media? Perhaps. We'll just have to see how many variations on Life and Time we can find over the years. Pretending to work for Living has enough caché that it gets these fascists into a secure aircraft plant - how long has it been since magazines were so relevant? (Big Shot Comics 014, 1941)

Movies:

I never actually mentioned it in the entry on the Hunchback of Hollywood, but the anti-Nazi movie that incites the story's action is called The Tyrant. Featuring Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes and Sergeant Duffy in minor roles! (Captain America Comics 003, 1941)

Rang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog's boy companion Richy (the Amazing Boy) never seemed to be that impressive to me, but Hollywood disagreed and he was made both the star and subject of a film called Riverfront Richy with lots of animal stunts. (Blue Ribbon Comics 011, 1941)

There's never any real indication of what Scoopin' Jive is about - music seems likely - but it's such a baffling name for a movie that I must celebrate it (Crackajack Funnies 036, 1941)

Similarly, we never really learn what Wings Aflutter is about, other than being a "new Navy Air smash hit" with a terrible name. (Jumbo Comics 034, 1941)

Theatre:

Minor super-villain the Black Death of course takes his costume and MO from a character in a stage production called The Black Death. There's not quite enough of the play's plot in the story to know if the fictional Black Death is supposed to be a metaphor or something or some sort of slasher movie killer as it appears. I sincerely hope it's the latter. (Thrilling Comics 010, 1940)

One of Professor X's attempts to get Sub-Zero involves attacking him in the audience of a big stage musical that his girlfriend Mary is appearing in as part of the "Living Chandelier". "George Whyte's Sandels" is a very specific-seeming reference, but I am unable to easily connect it to a show of the era. (Blue Bolt v1 006, 1940)

Fuller Spunk, former star of stage and now Holmes-inspired detective, starred in the evocatively-named shows Hector's Last Gulp and The Gripes of Raft. (Hyper-Mystery Comics 001, 1940)

Waltz of the Vampires is a ballet performance that is narratively used to set off vampire Carlos Hubbelo's bloodlust, but more importantly, it kind of rules? Comic book media is so often a version of something from the real world that it's always very fun to see something like this that (as far as I can tell) is just a sincere depiction of a vampire ballet. (Blue Ribbon Comics 011, 1941)