Russkie-Smashers BLACKHAWK "Nightmare Cruise"

We're Winding Up a Month of Russkie-Smashing with the Busiest Russkie-Smashers of All...

...awww, you guessed!

Scripted by Robert Bernstein, penciled by Dick Dillin, and inked by Chuck Cuidera, this never-reprinted story from Quality's Blackhawk #105 (1956) showed no matter what environment (air, land, or sea), nothing stops the Dark Knights (yes, they were referred that way long before a certain Caped Crusader) from defending democracy!

Next Week: We're Back to Nazi-Punching...with Blackhawk and his team!
(He was around a loooong time!)

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Blackhawk

by William Rotsler

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Russkie-Smashers PLASTIC MAN "Incredible Sleep Weapon"

 Though the Villain of This Tale is Named The Sandman...

...the foul fiend doesn't use sand or knockout gas, as DC's Golden Age hero did!

So, the one-shot Sandman, who used hypnosis, from Quality's Plastic Man #51 (1955) was a sandwoman!

Such a gender-swap has been a moderately-common trope in comics, usually detectible by any or all of the following...
A) villain wearing bulky or shapeless costume.
B) villain using voice-altering mask/filter.
C) villain usually not performing any sort of hand-to-hand combat.
In this story, written by Dick Wood, pencilled by Charles Nicholas, and inked by Chuck Cuidera...it was all three!

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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