Jul 9
The splash page of the Black Condor story from Crack Comics (vol. 1) #15 (August, 1941). Art by Lou Fine.
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The splash page of the Black Condor story from Crack Comics (vol. 1) #15 (August, 1941). Art by Lou Fine.
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HIT COMICS (volume 1) #17 (November, 1941). Cover by Lou Fine.
The Quality Comics superhero Hercules was not the mythic Greek demigod (with a Roman name). Instead, he was just plain ole Joe Hercules who grew up with super-strength, limited invulnerability, and was able to outrace a car going 90 m.p.h.!
I've not read all his stories, but as far as I know an origin of his super-powers was never offered.
He is one of dozens of characters who has languished in limbo ever since DC purchased all of Quality's properties back in 1956.
HIT COMICS (vol. 1) #1 (July, 1940). Cover by Lou Fine.
This gorgeous Lou Fine cover is, unfortunately, the only thing good about the Red Bee, who makes his debut in this issue.
A rather lame hero with a garish costume and no super powers, his only claim to fame is that he had a trained bee hidden inside his belt. He could release the bee to sting and annoy his enemies. His "stinger pistol," so prominently displayed on this cover, did not make an appearance in his first story.
The Red Bee did not prove to be popular with comic readers, and he disappeared after Hit Comics #24 (October, 1942). He was later revived, sorta, in Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron in the 1980s.
For comparison purpose, here's some competition for Atlas war comics. This page is from the lead story in the first issue of G. I. COMBAT, published with an October 1952 cover date. While that makes this title a latecomer, it proved one of the most successful war comics. It was published by Quality, the company that gave us Plastic Man and the Blackhawks during the Golden Age of Comics. When Quality sold out to DC in 1956, G. I. COMBAT was one of the two titles (BLACKHAWK was the other) that DC continued publishing. The title lasted into the 1980s, long after Marvel had given up on the genre. So G. I. COMBAT must have been doing something right -- but by what standard?
The art here is credited to Reed Crandall, Quality's ace who also did some EC stories in this era. It exemplifies Quality's house style: clean, well rendered, often bland. A difference I notice is that Crandall's art here is less expressive than the Atlas stuff. I identify Atlas art with strong facial expressions, especially in the horror books. Crandall's work is laconic, perhaps deliberately so -- but to what end?
The story, credited to Robert Bernstein, follows a unit that enjoyed the leadership of a friendly, selfless big brother of a lieutenant until he's killed in action. His replacement is a hard-driving martinet who instantly alienates the vets -- but wins them over in the end by proving that he doesn't order them to do anything he won't do himself. You have something like the conflicts typical of peak Atlas, but the focus is on reconciling differences for the common good. Other stories in this debut issue emphasize people proving themselves. In one, the titular "runt," who seems ineligible for service from how he's drawn, ends up a hero, when in similar circumstances Hank Chapman might find some grimly ironic way for the runt to prove himself by dying. You won't mistake G. I. COMBAT for a horror comic disguised as a war book, as Atlas comics often seem to be, but if the Quality title proved more popular than its Atlas precursors, maybe it's because this is what people (and not just the establishment or the authorities) wanted in a war comic. That shouldn't dictate our preferences, but it should complicate our perspective a bit.
"MADAM DOOM !"
Smash Comics #14: The Legion of Living Bombs
by Will Eisner and Dan Zolnerowich
Quality Comics
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BW's "Yesterday's" Comic> Doll Man Quarterly #2
"I'm her nemesis..."
Plastic Man #11
by ?
Quality Comics
The original Black Condor by Jim Steranko.
