Number 1538: Kid Eternity: Rembrandt and the stolen “Night Watch”

Kid Eternity exists in an afterlife called Eternity. Kid Eternity can travel back and forth to Earth and correct injustices by shouting “Eternity!” and having the manifestations of deceased persons with the proper credentials (except when calling in a fictional character like Inspector Javert, as in this story) help him do his good deeds. In this story from Kid Eternity #3 (1946), K.E., and his buddy, Mr. Keeper, help Rembrandt Van Rijn bring back a hijacked painting, “The Night Watch,” by the old master,  

This is the first day of a theme week, our second Week of Quality.* We will feature characters who did well for Quality Comics during its own Golden Age of the forties, including Blackhawk, Doll Man, and Plastic Man.

Quoting the Grand Comics Database:  “Pencils tentatively credited to Pete Riss through consensus art identification on the GCD-Main discussion list (September 10, 2013).” Cover is credited to Al Bryant.

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*More Kid Eternity from our first Week of Quality last November. Click the thumbnail:

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Number 1470: Kid Eternity and the Land of Amazons and wimpy men

 It is day two of our Week of Quality theme, presenting examples of the Quality Comics Group.

Kid Eternity, star of Hit Comics from 1942 to 1949 and his own book for 18 issues, had a gimmick. He would travel from his home in Eternity (another name for the afterlife, or heaven), with his buddy, Mr. Keeper. He would solve problems by invoking the word “Eternity!” at which time a (dead) character from history would appear to help out. Apparently in Eternity they don’t distinguish between dead real people or myths and legends. In this story from Kid Eternity #1 (1946), written by William Woolfolk and drawn by Al Bryant, Kid Eternity calls for Paul Bunyan and Sir Galahad. The other person he calls up, fireman Patrick Clancy, well, I don’t know if he was a real fireman or not. Frankly, I don’t care.

The main plot is another of these types of stories* brought back from a male-dominated, chauvinist era. In this case Mr. Keeper is worried because men who hardly have souls are appearing at the gates of Eternity. They’ve been browbeaten by women. Kid E. and Mr. K. travel to the Amazon where they encounter — you guessed it — Amazons, who keep their men tiny and unmanly. (I think page 6 is actually hilarious, where Sir Galahad invokes the knight’s code of chivalry against fighting women: “Page 45, paragraph 15," and the kept men of the Amazons worry about such things as dishwater hands and fixing beet soup.)

If I run into more of these types of stories I’ll post them. Even though most comic books were aimed at a male market, girls and women read them, also. It sends a message to both: guys, you’re in charge, and don’t forget it; gals, your man is in charge, and don’t you dare forget that.

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*For the classic “It’s a Woman’s World" from Mystery in Space #8, just click the picture:

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Number 1326: Saboteurs!

This is the second entry in our "War is hell on the homefront" week, with war stories published in 1942, America's first full year of World War II.

Sabotage was a big concern during the war,* and counter-espionage would have been less of a problem had Nazi spies and saboteurs been as easy to catch as they are in these stories from Jumbo Comics #41. These are short comic book tales and need quick resolution, so coincidence and confessions extorted by force speed them up.

Lightning, not to be confused with Ace Comics' Lash (né Flash) Lightning, made his final appearance in this story. He had begun his career in Jumbo #14. It helps to get a spy to talk if he can be zapped by electricity shooting from fingertips. Today some zealous interrogator might use a stun-gun or a Taser, but Lightning had the innate ability. No waterboarding necessary for this spy to give up the sinister plans. The story, credited to “Teller Tayles” (groan) is drawn by main Sheena artist Robert H. Webb, according to the Grand Comics Database. ZX-5 was a long-time continuing feature in Jumbo. This particular episode, with its sexy enemy agent, is credited by the GCD to Mort Leav, with a guess that the inking may be by Al Bryant.

*And what’s changed in 71 years? It’s still a major concern, and billions are spent every year to prevent it.

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Number 1087


The non-PC Nazi


Doll Man helps an escapee from the Nazis who is being pursued by a Nazi in a purple hood who wears a corrective shoe. Huh. That sounds like making light of a physical problem, but it's fairly well solved in the story by never showing the villain, "Wobble-Foot," actually walking or dragging his foot. We see the corrective shoe only in the splash panel. The writer decided it would be more suspenseful if the victim heard the sound of the foot dragging. It didn't have anything to do with being politically correct; it wasn't uncommon for comic books to have villains with deformities.

Doll Man had a fairly long career for a superhero in the comics. I've said before I thought Doll Man was a bad name for a comic book hero, and it would scare boys away from the comic. I'm wrong. His comic book was still being published years after many of DC's heroes, including Flash and Green Lantern, had been canceled. Doll Man had a simple power: he could get really small, yet retain his punching power. DC used that as the basis for the powers of their revival of the Atom.

This story is from Doll Man #6 (1943), drawn by Al Bryant.

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