Shark Week Special! THE SHARK "Menace of the Mental MadMan at the Middle of the Earth"

The Aquatic Avenger travels (involuntarily) to the center of the Earth...

...to face a scientist from the surface who plans a horrible fate for him, specifically!

When this never-reprinted tale from Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #10 (1940) was published, the superhero genre was only about a year and a half old.

There were few established tropes or rules so creatives like writer/artist Lew Glanzman were literally "flying by the seat of their pants" as they figured out what would work and what wouldn't!

Shark Week Special! THE SHARK "Father and Son"

In his second, never-reprinted, appearance in Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #7 (1939)...

...the Aquatic Avenger meets his long-absent father (who may or may not be the actual Roman god of the sea)!

The two of them make a heckuva team, eh?
Father Neptune would appear in most of the stories, sometimes helping and sometimes hindering The Shark's crusade.

Be Here Tomorrow for Another Adventure of

The Shark!

SHARK WEEK SPECIAL! Before Aquaman! Before Sub-Mariner! There Was THE SHARK!

We interrupt our ongoing weekly Russkie-Smasher feature this week...

...to present a Shark Week special...a reintroduction to the aquatic super-hero who predated both DC's Aquaman and Marvel's Sub-Mariner!

This never-reprinted story from Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #6 (1939), written and illustrated by Lew Glanzman, appeared within the same month as Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner's debut in Timely's Marvel Comics #1 (1939) and well before Aquaman's premiere in DC's More Fun Comics #73 (1941)!

The son of Neptune (who may or may not be the Roman god), The Shark once lived in an undersea kingdom, but set out to fight all crime committed at sea by anyone; human, sea-dweller, or extraterrestrial alien!

He's called "Shark" because sharks often accompany him...and eat his enemies!
The character is also a skilled scientist, who creates and uses technology far beyond then-current human science! 

• His super-powers include...
• The ability to breathe underwater
• Superhuman strength and near-invulnerability (which he loses on land unless he's in physical contact with a magic knife given him by his father)
• Mental control of sea life
• Ability to create creatures out of water which he can direct mentally
  

With a strip appearing in both Amazing-Man Comics and Stars and Stripes Comics, The Shark lasted until the company (which also published pulp magazines) gave up comics. 

 Be Here Tomorrow for Another Adventure of

The Shark!

Russkie-Smashers AVENGER "Rust on the Iron Curtain!"

Helping the innocent escape from Russkies can be as satisfying as kicking their asses!

Luckily, this tale has both!

Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Bob Powell, this story from Magazine Enterprises' The Avenger #3 (1955) features Austria, a country divided (like Berlin) into four zones, Russian, American, British, and French, a situation that existed from the end of World War II to the end of 1955, when all four occupying countries pulled their troops out and returned control of the nation to the Austrians.

You can read more about it HERE!

Be Here Next Week For Another Exciting Installment!

Russkie-Smashers AVENGER "Lost H-Bomb"

Before we begin, please note that this is a symbolic splash panel!

The Avenger doesn't have size-changing powers...but there's a footnote at the end of the story you won't want to miss!

Written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Bob Powell, this never-reprinted tale from Magazine Entertainment's The Avenger #2 (1955) is typical of the "kick Commie ass" adventures that ran through his four-issue series.

Be Here Next Week For Another Exciting Installment!

Footnote: Powell illustrated the final five issues of Ant-Man/Giant-Man's original, Silver Age series in Tales to Astonish...

....demonstrating his proficiency in rendering enormous characters in normal-sized environments!

Coming Sunday...the ULTIMATE RUSSKIE SMASHER!

There's an interesting sub-genre of superheroes, known as the "inspired-bys".

These are characters who are inspired by other characters to take up the mask and seek justice.

Usually they're family members who take up the same identity as their predecessor (The Phantom, Black Canary, Silk Spectre of The Watchmen, The Black Hood, HourMan, etc.)

Sometimes, as in this case, they're inspired by an unrelated hero who just happened to be published by the same company!

The best-known example is DC Comics' WildCat, inspired by the Golden Age Green Lantern to become a crimefighter.

Magazine Enterprises' The Avenger had a similar origin.

When his brother is taken hostage by Communist spies who wanted the prototype StarJet aircraft, inventor Roger Wright is inspired by remembering stories of the Original Ghost Rider (also published by Magazine Enterprises) to take up a masked identity to rescue his captive sibling!

Proclaiming himself "an Avenger against the evils of Communism",  Roger dons a red costume in defiance (Communists were often described as "the Red Menace" because their flags were predominiantly red) and uses his StarJet to attempt a rescue.

Unfortunately, his brother, who had attempted to escape, was already dead! The Commies were dealing, of course, in bad faith!

Roger captured the spies, and declaring "No man can be complacent while such as you are bent on enslaving all Mankind", began a one-man war against Communists everywhere!

The war lasted only four bi-monthly issues from 1954-55.

The Avenger, like Nature Boy and several other mid-1950s heroes came along just before the audience was ready for the return of superheroes, who had all but disappeared from comics in 1949!

It wasn't until an updated version of The Flash appeared in Showcase #4 (a year after the last issue of The Avenger) that the Silver Age of Comics, and the resulting explosion of superhero books that continues to this day, got going!

Beginning Sunday, we'll be re-presenting his Russkie-smashing saga!

BTW, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have digitally-restored and remastered what we believe to be his first and best cover appearance by Golden Age great Bob Powell, on an assortment of pop-culture collectibles, including t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs and other goodies!

Show you believe in capitalism and buy an Classic Avenger goodie or two.

You don't want him thinking you're a Communist, do you? ;-)

Note: this character is in no way related to the earlier pulp/comic character The Avenger published by the same company as Doc Savage and The Shadow, and currently being revived by Dynsmite Publishing

Holiday Reading Room CAPTAIN MARVEL ADVENTURES "Plot Against Christmas"

He's not a captain in the Kree starfleet (or his son) or the other, female, Human/Kree Captain...

...or even the Silver Age android who briefly bore the name.

This is the original guy, the one who yelled "SHAZAM!", starring in a Christmas tale about a miser who...well read it for yourself...

This Yultide tale from Fawcett's Captain Marvel Adventures #42 (1945) was illustrated by Pete Costanza with touchups by C C Beck.

The writer, who owed a great deal to Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", is unknown.

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