Monday, September 5, 2022

Russkie-Smashers BLACKHAWK "Battle on the Moon"

From a lone Black Cobra to a flock of Blackhawks...
...there's no end to the lineup of Commie-crushing Russkie-Smashers who will fight for freedom anywhere on Earth...or beyond!
Though the writer of this never-reprinted tale from Quality's Modern Comics #99 (1950) is unknown, it's illustrated by penciller John Forte and inker Chuck Cuidera.
The "Dark Knights", as they're often referred to, went whole-heartedly after Russkie and Chinese Communists during the post-World War II days of their Quality Comics run.
But, when the characters were continued by DC after Quality closed up shop, their other opponents, mad scientists, aliens, and the occasional ex-Nazi, took center stage, along with newly-created super villains until the middle-aged aviators became superheroes/spies in the Swinging '60s as shown
 HERE!
But, Quality's two books featuring the "Ace Aviators", Modern Comics and Blackhawk have more than enough Russkie-Smashing stories to keep this feature going for months to come, so they'll be popping up again...
Trivia: John Forte is better-known to present-day comics readers as the primary artist on the first few years of The Legion of Super-Heroes' run in Adventure Comics, while Blackhawk co-creator Chuck Cuidera remained on the strip after DC took it over, almost to the very end of the Silver Age run!
Plus, Cuidera inked Dick Dillin (who penciled almost all the DC Blackhawk stories) on Dillin's Hawkman run after Blackhawk was cancelled!
And, in an ironic turn, that the Blackhawks adopted uniforms surprisingly-similar to the Russkies' outfits in this story when they entered a "scientific adventurer" phase in the early 1960s...
..yet nobody noticed!
(Of course it was over a decade later...)
Next week, another Russkie Smasher takes center stage!

Monday, August 29, 2022

Russkie-Smashers BLACK COBRA "Ace Spy Smasher vs Voice of Treason"

He's not as well-known as our previous Commie-crushers...

...but there's no denying his enthusiasm for the job...or his effectiveness!
The creatives for this never-reprinted tale from Ajax/Farrell's Black Cobra #1 (1954) were from the Iger Studio which "packaged" comic stories (both scripts and artwork) for various publishers including Fox, Chesler, ElliotFiction House, St John, and (of course) Ajax/Farrell!
It may be a re-working of a previously-published comic story, which the studio was notorious for, as shown HERE, where a story written and drawn for one character was modified/updated for a totally-different character!
Or, it may be a totally-new tale.
We're not yet certain.
BTW, the Voice of America is still broadcasting, as shown HERE!

Monday, August 22, 2022

Russkie-Smashers FIGHTING AMERICAN and SPEEDBOY "Second Assignment: Track Down the Baby Buzz Bombs"

...unlike Simon and Kirby's first super-patriot, Captain America, he didn't have a sidekick from the first story onward!
Nope, this kid had to earn the job...
While the costume has a similar look (and color scheme) to Bucky's, at least his costumed identity isn't his real name (as Bucky's was)!
But "Speedboy"?
Really?
Do we blame Joe or Jack for that one?
This tale from Prize's Fighting American #1 (1954) concludes our presentation of this patriotic pair...for now.
While the duo had a number of other adventures, those involved other Communists like Chinese and North Koreans, as well as gangsters...and even aliens, so they don't fall under the "Russkie Smasher" category.
But fear not!
Beginning next week, we'll be rotating several other 1950s heroes' anti-Soviet exploits, including one of this summer's breakout-hit movie characters!
Which one?
You'll have to drop by each week to find out!
(Sneaky little devils, ain't we?)

Monday, August 15, 2022

Russkie-Smashers FIGHTING AMERICAN and SPEEDBOY "First Assignment: Break the Spy Ring!"

"Who He Is and How He Came To Be"...
...later known as "Peter Piper's Red Vipers"!
You'll note that Simon & Kirby add an extra layer to the weak-but-valiant-experimental-subject concept by making both scrawny Nelson and crippled brother Johnny physically-helpless before the transformation!
You may note there's no SpeedBoy in this story!
That's because he wasn't introduced until the second tale, which you'll see next week!
Trivia:
This story was renamed "Peter Piper's Red Vipers" when it was re-presented in Harvey's Fighting American V2N1 (1966), modified to fit into a previously-unpublished tale.
As with Captain America's origin, this tale was reworked and re-presented continually, including during the title's seven-issue run at Prize (so that's twice in one year), the Harvey one-shot in 1966, and the various reworkings/updatings at Awesome, DC, and Titan!
Oddly, this origin (and lead story) by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby from Prize's Fighting American #1 (1954) wasn't the cover feature!
(We ran that tale last week!)

Monday, August 8, 2022

Russkie-Smashers FIGHTING AMERICAN and SPEEDBOY "Assignment Three: Duel to the Finish Line!"

We're beginning the presentation of our Russkie-Smashers' premiere issue...
...when the concept was taken (relatively) seriously!
Here's the cover-featured (though final) tale from Prize's Fighting American #1 (1954)...
A solid action-adventure tale, as were all the stories in this issue.
But Simon and Kirby were looking for something more, and as you've seen from our other posts, they certainly found it!