Russkie-Smashers DATE WITH DANGER "Spies Walk Alone!"

Not All Russkie-Smashers Wear Costumes...

...because sometimes...to battle spies, you need a spy...like this guy!

Remember, this was the era before we had elegant secret agents in dinner jackets, carrying various kool gimmicks!
(But he still got to make out with the "bad girl"! Some things never change!)
It was a time of down n' dirty action and survival meant using your wits and whatever was at hand!
Illustrated by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito, this never-reprinted story from Standard's Date with Danger #5 (1952) featured a character the publisher might have wanted to do an ongoing strip about, but since the book ended with the next issue, he never returned!

Russkie-Smashers HUMAN TORCH & TORO "Human Torch - Fugitive at Large!"

Since We Spent All of March Punching Nazis...

...it's only fair we dedicate April to kicking Russkie ass, starting with Captain America's fellow Russkie-fighter, the original Human Torch!

Written by Hank Chapman, penciled by Dick Ayers, and inked by Ernie Bache, this tale  from Atlas' Sub-Mariner #35 (1954). is one of the most-reprinted of the 1950s Human Torch stories!
Understandable since its' packed with a lot of action in only five pages!
(BTW, besides appearing in the Men's Adventures and Young Men's anthology comics, the "Big Three" of Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and Human Torch all had backup features in each other's comics!
"Corporate synergy" long before the phrase was coined!)

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Marvel Masterworks

Atlas-Era Heroes

Volume 3

(which includes this story)

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Russkie Smashers SPACE ADVENTURES Captain Atom II in "One Second of War"

Cold War Paranoia Hit It's Peak in the Early 1960s...

...when people were terrified about being one button-push away from nuclear annihilation!




Interestingly, Captain Atom isn't concerned about radioactive fallout contaminating the surrounding area...inhabited by innocents!

Guess if it's Africa, they don't matter, eh, Captain?

Written by Joe Gill and penciled/inked by Steve Ditko, this was one of two tales in Charlton's Space Adventures #38 (1961) involving enemy nuclear missiles!
(The other one doesn't involve Russkies!)

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Action Hero Archives

Captain Atom

Volume 1

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Russkie-Smashers on Valentine's Week! SEARCH FOR LOVE "Atomic Amour!"

 Russkie Deceit and Deception Occurs Even in Matters of the Heart...

...even though we forget they were masters of such things during the Cold War!

As hard as it is to believe, this tale appeared in a romance comic, specifically, ACG's Search for Love #2 (1950).

Similar tales had appeared in crime/espionage titles, but their audience was radically-different from romance series' readers!

Regrettably, both the writer and illustrator(s) are unknown, so we can't blame anybody in particular for their stereotyped attitudes towards intelligent women.

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Weird Love

Vol 1
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Russkie Smashers HUMAN TORCH COMICS "Rekindling the Flame of Confidence!"

Besides Catching (and Sometimes French-Frying) Russkie Spies...

...the Human Torch and his teen partner Toro occasionally have to render aid to the American military in other. somewhat more unique, ways!

The Human Torch displays a power/ability in this story by writer Hank Chapman, penciler Dick Ayers, and inker Ernie Bache that he never used before...the ability to move at super-speed, thus appearing invisible to the naked eye!
Maybe because this tale from Atlas' Human Torch #38 (1954) was the final appearance of the character in the 1950s, editor Stan Lee let the introduction of a totally-new ability go without trying to keep the character within established continuity!

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Marvel MasterWorks

Atlas-Era Heroes

Volume 2

(which features this tale)
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Russkie Smashers SOUTH SEA GIRL "Echoes of an A-Bomb"

Because Winter Has Returned in a Big Way...

...we're going to look at the tropical adventures of a sarong-clad heroine battling atom bomb-wielding Russkies in an airship!

This tale from Leader's Seven Seas Comics #6 (1947) was scripted by Manning Lee Stokes with art by legendary "good-girl" artist Matt Baker, who also illustrated most of the legendary Fox Comics Phantom Lady series (which we ran HERE).
Stokes was a pulp/paperback writer specializing in mystery and action.
His only comic book work was for various strips in Seven Seas Comics.
This strip ran for all six issues of Seven Seas Comics and some of the stories have been reprinted, usually renaming the heroine or changing the story title.
When it was reprinted in the 1950s, the heroine's name was changed to "Vooda", and her bare midriff was covered both on the new cover art and the modified story pages...

When it was reprinted in the 1960s, she was once more "Alani" and her tummy was uncovered (in the interior pages)...

...but not on the new cover art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito!

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Divas, Dames & Daredevils

Lost Heroines of Golden Age Comics

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