Showing posts with label spy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spy. Show all posts

Monday, August 4, 2025

Russkie-Smashers SPY CASES "Smashing the Iron Curtain!"

"A secret agent is not some mythical being born on the comic page..."

...and raised to glory on the silver screen!"
How "meta" can you get?
Though the tale is closer to Mickey Spillane than Ian Fleming, it's still a rousing adventure that proves you don't need tights and a cape to smash Russkies!








Doug Grant was the star of the ongoing (and usually cover-featured) lead strip of Atlas' Spy Cases anthology comic.
This intro tale from #27 (actually #1, but they were continuing the numbering from a different comic, The Kellys) is scripted by Robert Bernstein and illustrated by Al Hartley.
He lasted for 39 stories, longer than any other Atlas-era secret agent except for The Yellow Claw's nemesis Jimmy Woo!
Next Week:

The legendary Man of Bronze takes on the Nazis at the 1936 Olympics as they put up an athlete who was trained from birth using the same techniques that Dr Clark Savage Sr used for Doc in this never-reprinted, almost 40 year-old extra-long tale!
Guest appearances by historical figures including Jesse Owens and Adolf (You Know Who)!
See the Nazi-Punching action at
Hero Histories and Medical Comics and Stories

Monday, July 21, 2025

Russkie-Smashers THE FBI STORY

Remember the "Good Ol' Days" When We Could, More Often Then Not, Trust the FBI?

To demonstrate this, we submit Exhibit A, an excerpt from Dell's Four Color Comics #1069: The FBI Story (1959), an adaptation of the movie of the same name!






Adapted by writers Eric Freiwald and Robert Schaefer and ilustrated by Alex Toth, the movie covered the career of "everyman" agent Chip Hardesty played by Jimmy Stewart, from 1924 to the "present" of 1959, fighting bootleggers, Nazis, the KKK, and, of course, Russkie Commies!
Of course, there was no CGI to "de-age" Stewart for the chronoligically-earlier scenes, so they depended on makeup and hair dye for those scenes.

Foreign movie poster with the "younger" Jimmy Stewart.

Comic cover with pic of the "current" (1959) Jimmy Stewart.
The flick was filmed with the full cooperation of the FBI, since J Edgar Hoover had total approval over the final edit!
Here's the trailer for the movie, which features a cameo by J Edgar...
Enjoy!

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Alex Toth in Hollywood
(which reprints the complete comic)
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Monday, March 17, 2025

Nazi-Punchers PAT PARKER: WAR NURSE ""Disease from the Depths"

Few non-superpowered World War II heroines had as active a career as...
 ...who went through three different incarnations during the conflict!
Introduced in Harvey's Speed Comics #13, British nurse Patricia Parker kicked the butts of spies, saboteurs, and medical black marketers in plainclothes for two issues before donning her costume and identity at the end of this never-reprinted story from Speed #15 (1942).
She was as proficient at Nazi-clobbering in costume as without one.
You'll note Pat didn't need a guy to assist her.
But, as of Speed Comics #23, she teamed up with several women from other countries (China, Russia, and America) to form the Girl Commandos, a distaff version of the multi-national Blackhawks...
...and dropped the "War Nurse" identity for the remainder of her run!
Note: If the art seems a tad un-detailed, even for a Golden Age comic, that's because the book wasn't normal sized (7.75" x 10.5"), but the smaller digest magazine-size (4" x 6.75")!
We just ran it at the same size as regular comics on this blog for your viewing ease!

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Monday, February 10, 2025

Russkie-Smashers JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Invisible Woman!"

Sometimes, the Best "Man" for Russkie-Smashing is a WOman...
...as this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #43 (1957) aptly-demonstrates!
This story has a rather unique artistic pedigree
Pencils by Syd Shores, who is usually an inker, and inking by one of the (now) most famous pencilers of the era...Matt Baker!
Why did editor Stan Lee make these particular choices?
Did the artists themselves suggest it as a change of pace?
Did Lee want to test to see how they'd do in unfamiliar roles?
I'd note there's also speculation Baker re-penciled certain panels, particularly the ones focused on the female spy!
What's the truth?
We'll never know the answer!
Just enjoy the result!
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Monday, August 19, 2024

Russkie-Smashers DANGER "Duke Douglas in 'Intrigue' "

When You Want a No-Nonsense, Basic, Extremely-Effective Russkie-Smasher...

...Look No Further than kick-ass Secret Agent Duke Douglas!
Co-creators Ken Fitch (writer) and Don Heck (illustrator) produced this cover-featured tale from Comic Media's Danger #9, 1954.

Monday, July 29, 2024

NoKo Crushers MADAM ZERO "Rockets of the Red Mist"

Perhaps Falwell was inspired by this forgotten  heroine's never-reprinted final tale from Fiction House's Fight Comics #84 (1952)!
Anonymous Commie-buster Madam Zero made only three appearances in her short-lived career!
A mistress of disguise, she always surprised the (also anonymous) secret agent who narrated these stories and who played the helpless "Steve Trevor" to her plain-clothes "Wonder Woman"!
Nothing is known about her real identity, motivations, or even which department she worked for!
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