Number 1116


Police follow the Code


Police Trap was a Simon and Kirby comic, from their Mainline Publishing. Issue #1 came out in 1954; there were four issues under the Mainline imprint and when Mainline folded the title was sold to Charlton. They published two issues. Issue #6, which I'm showing here, was all Kirby. Unlike earlier issues, #6 was produced under the newly instituted Comics Code, and shows it.

A sequence of panels from #1 (not drawn by Kirby) shows a deadly police shootout:

A somewhat similar sequence, bad guy pulls a gun, gets shot by cops, is handled more "off camera" as drawn by Kirby in the Code-approved issue.

The reason I'm showing it is because of the dynamism of Kirby's artwork, where he actually doesn't need to show the mayhem. The reader can fill it in based on the dramatic drawings.

The book, Simon and Kirby Crime, reprints stories from S&K's 1940's period. (The sole exception being a few pages from Police Trap, including "The Debt," shown below). The depictions of shootings and murders are more violent from the pre-Code era, but as far as comic art goes they really aren't any better.

As anyone who followed Kirby's career at Marvel can tell you, he could have impact with a panel full of people talking. It was because of his innate ability to stage scenes to best effect. He was very cinematic and his stories, regardless of genre, could be used as storyboards for movies.

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Monster Howls (PART TWO)

Our Part Two look at the Monster Howls '66 one-shot issue (Humor-Vision / Major Magazines) features even more fun art and monster madness, aka "Laughs in a Horror Vein" from additional top of the line greats like Joe Maneely, Bill Everett, etc... other goofy gags from this issue by Don Orehek and Pete Wyma, can be found in the THOIA 2008 Archives by clicking HERE!

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Number 1115


Return of the singing cowboy


This post gives me a chance to make up for a faux pas. The last time I showed a story from DC's Jimmy Wakely comic book* I titled it "The second-string Gene Autry." A reader sent me a note, telling me he understood I was trying to be funny, but felt that Wakely deserved more respect.

The Jimmy Wakely Trio was a popular Western group with several hit records. Wakely was in movies with his trio, then starred in his own movies for Monogram in the late '40s. I'm not able to find any that are currently available on DVD.

I believe that Wakely has mostly disappeared from the pop culture radar, but Jimmy Wakely deserves respect for what he accomplished in his career as a movie star and popular singer. I'm reminded to be careful what I say about people, even though they may be deceased. Family members and fans are googling their names and sometimes ending up at Pappy's. I don't need anyone angry with me over some snarky comment I may have said about their father, grandpa, brother, uncle, best friend...you get the picture.

Drawn by Alex Toth and Joe Giella, from Jimmy Wakely #1, 1949:











*"Jinx Town Lives Again," also from Jimmy Wakely #1, in Pappy's #1020.

Another Jimmy, this time Jimmy Thompson, was the artist for this beautiful three-page strip, "The Sun-Dance of the Crow Indians!" from this issue of Jimmy Wakely. Writing is credited to Gardner Fox, although a caption on the splash page says that Thompson lived with the Crow Indians. I assume he had more than a little to do with technical advice.

Thompson is also the artist who did the Robotman back-up strip in Detective Comics.

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