Russkie-Smashers CAPTAIN ATOM II "Crisis"

Remember the Good Ol' Days...

...when we would negotiate with other countries, and they were the ones who were untrustworthy?

I miss those days...

Written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this is a short-but-sweet tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #40 (1961) about beating the Russkies at their own game of deceit and deception by utilizing something...or rather someone...they don't expect!

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Action Hero Archives

Captain Atom

Volume 1

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Nazi-Punchers / Twice-Told Tale FIREBIRD / BLACKOUT "Secret of the Valkyrie!"

He's a Colorful Nazi-Puncher...

...facing a Nazi woman warrior in a story that's both his first..and final...but not only...story!

Confused?

Keep reading!

"In all his checkered career..."

What "checkered career"?

This tale from Spotlight's Tailspin Comics #1 (1944) was FireBird's only appearance!

But it wasn't this story's first publication!

It's a "twice-told tale", which originally was the final appearance of an ongoing strip about a hero named BlackOut! in Holyoke's Cat-Man Comics #24 (1942).

Berlin-based American newspaper reporter Jack Wayne was arrested on Dec. 9, 1941, when the US declared war against Germany.
Tortured and blinded by the Gestapo, Jack was rescued by the German Resistance and brought to a doctor secretly aiding freedom-fighters, who provided him with a pair of experimental glasses which enabled him to see!
Though not an aviator, the multi-talented ex-reporter operated throughout Germany in Cat-Man Comics #10 through #24, proving equal to any challenge presented!

You'll note the last page of FireBird dropped the original final caption about the character's next appearance.
(Ironic since there weren't any BlackOut tales after this one!)
Plus, the story's splash page was considerably-modified to reflect the character's new phoenix-like name and motif by Spotlight Publications' art director LB Cole, who was noted for his use of color against solid black backgrounds!

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Take That, Adolf!

Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War!

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Russkie-Smashers PHANTOM LADY "Television Spies!" 2.0

The Phantom Lady Usually Punched Nazis, but in This Case...

...she did so in a totally-redrawn version of a previous Phantom Lady tale! which now has her taking on Russkie spies!

In the original 1948 version of this tale, the tv images were in full glorious color, and television was just beginning to enter American households, so few people had actually seen a tv screen!

But, by the time of this story in Ajax/Farrell's Phantom Lady #3 (1955), almost half the households in America had tvs, but they were almost all b/w sets.

As a result, the tv screens shown in this version of the story were b/w, the way most Americans experienced video at the time.
Plus, in the original tale, it wasn't made clear if it was industrial spying or international spying!

The artist (or artists) of this tale are unknown, but the writer is probably editor Ruth Roche, as usual.

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Phantom Lady

Crime Never Pays!

(With a new Adam Hughes cover!)

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Russkie-Smashers CAPTAIN ATOM II "An Ageless Weapon"

When You Need Vitally-Important Defense Plans Safely-Delivered...

...Only One Man Can Do the Job...Guaranteed!

Written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Steve Ditko, this is a short-but-sweet tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #39 (1961) about beating the Commies at their own game of deceit and deception by utilizing something...or rather someone...they don't expect!

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Captain Atom

Volume 1

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Russkie-Smashers SPACE ADVENTURES "Captain Atom II '...on Planet X' "

Despite the misleading title, Our Russkie-Smashing Hero never leaves Earth orbit...

...as you'll see in this tale from Charlton's Space Adventures #36 (1960)!

WOW!

Writer Joe Gill and illustrator Steve Ditko jammed a lot into just five pages!

These days, that'd be a whole issue, if not a two-parter!

As you saw, "Planet X" was, in fact, an artificial satellite, not another planet!
But the code-name made for a catchy title for an extremely-action-packed tale, eh?

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Captain Atom

Volume 1

Russkie-Smashers ATOMIC ATTACK! "Tomorrow's War!"

RUSSKIES!

In 1953, we thought we'd still be fighting them in the not-so-distant future...

... of 1972!

Now that's scary!

This wild tale was from the first issue of a "future war" title from the 1950s called Atomic Attack!

(It was called simply Attack for it's first four issues and added "Atomic" to the title as of the fifth issue, so the first issue of Atomic Attack was #5!)

Oddly, only the lead story in each issue was future-based!

The other tales were set in contemporary (Korean War) times!
Sadly, because the publisher, Youthful Publications, is long defunct and left no successor company, there are no records of the writer or artist(s) for this story!

Visit the Atomic PX...

 ...for all your radiation-proof 

uniform and equipment needs!

Reading Room THE SHADOW "Showdown on Gargoyle Island!"

The Shadow is Losing to the One Foe He Can't Defeat...

...an artificially-enhanced man equipped by Shiwan Khan to resist the Shadow's ability to "cloud men's minds"!

There was one more camp-classic issue of The Shadow, and we  presented it several years ago HERE, HERE, and HERE.
It's the only issue of the series without Shiwan Khan!

You can also read the somewhat less-campy first issue (by writer Robert Bernstein and artist John Rosenberger) on this blog by clicking HERE, HERE, and HERE!
We haven't done #2 yet, but we'll get to it soon!

PLUS: You can read the text feature revamping The Shadow's origin that ran through all eight issues of the comic series by clicking HERE....which leads us into...

...our presentation of the never-reprinted final "Maxwell Grant" Shadow novel from the 1960s which begins...

MONDAY!

But, before that...

Thursday, head to...

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

for another never-reprinted comic tale featuring the pulp/radio, slouch-hatted, twin .45 automatic-wielding Shadow we know and love!

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Shadow Scrapbook

by Walter B Gibson