Tuesday, April 18, 2023

ChiCom-Crushers COMMANDER BATTLE AND THE ATOMIC SUB "Behind the Bamboo Curtain"

...wel, that covers it pretty well!
Don't worrry, we'll check out the rest of the team as the story goes along...
Tomorrow:
PayOff Battle!
Written by Richard Hughes and illustrated by Ken Landau, this never-reprinted tale from ACG's Commander Battle and the Atomic Sub #5 (1955) was the second issue of the new anti-communist direction the series took.

Monday, April 17, 2023

ChiCom-Crushers COMMANDER BATTLE AND THE ATOMIC SUB "ChiCom Deception"

Its Americans vs The Red Chinese!
(Gee, just like real life!)...
...as Commander Battle and his Atomic Commandos grapple with various Communists, not just Russkies!!!
Tomorrow:
Behind the Bamboo Curtain!
Written by Richard Hughes and illustrated by Ken Landau, this never-reprinted tale from ACG's Commander Battle and the Atomic Sub #5 (1955) was the second issue of the new anti-communist direction the series took.

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Monday, April 10, 2023

Russkie-Smashers/ChiCom-Crushers AVENGER "One Man War!"

...let's look at how one of our favorite Russkie-Smashers was also a ChiCom-Crusher in a story (from 1955) that shows an amazingly-similar concept!
With both the North Koreans and the Red Chinese threatening the world...again...we believe it's only fair and right that we add them into the weekly rotation of Smashers, Crushers, and Clobberers, especially since most of the characters we've been re-presenting fought them along with the Russkies!
In this tale from Magazine Entertainment's Avenger #3 (1955) by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bob Powell, the Russkies are supplying the ChiComs with the armament and tech, while today the roles are reversed as technologically-superior Red China provides tech and armament to a struggling Russia!
Note: there are historical tie-ins, since the Russkies supplied the North Koreans with aircraft and pilots during the Korean War, and now the NKs are supplying ex-KGB guy Putin with armaments against Ukraine.
In addition, the Red Chinese assisted the North Koreans with arms and troops during the Korean War.
Technological Note: All the Asians (both good and bad) in this story have a skin tone of 50% Yellow!
While it's an improvement from the "bright lemon" 100% Yellow used during the Golden Age, it's still not quite correct!
Next week: another of our Russkie-Smashers shows versatility as a ChiCom-Crusher or NoKo-Clobberer!
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(Though, technically, The Avenger is a Silver-Age Hero!)

Monday, April 3, 2023

Russkie-Smashers JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "Propaganda"

Not every Russkie-Smasher is a super-hero...or even human...
...as this tale from over sixty years ago seems as timely as ever!
Note: because of racial stereotypes common to the era of publication, this may be NSFW, though it is Comics Code-approved!
This story from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #80 (1962) by plotter Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, penciler Jack Kirby, and inker Dick Ayers, is a reworking of an earlier more horror-oriented story, also called "Propaganda", from Atlas' Uncanny Tales V1N9 (1953).
That one was reprinted in Marvel's Uncanny Tales V2N1 (1973) and can see it on our "brother" RetroBlog, Seduction of the Innocent by clicking HERE!
In the meantime, here's a special treat...scans of the complete original art for this tale!
Enjoy!
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Monday, March 27, 2023

A Twice-Told Tale About Nazis Becoming Russkies...and Being SMASHED Both TImes by Different Heroines!

This is a "twice-told tale"...
...demonstrating how similarly WWII Germans and Cold War Russkies could be portrayed in pop culture!
First, a tale starring a long-forgotten heroine from Elliot's Spitfire Comics #132 (1944)...
Secret agent Spitfire Sanders made only two appearances, in successive issues of Elliot Comics' Spitfire Comics, which despite the high numbering of this issue (#132), only had two issues!
(And this was the first of the two!)
The art on this story about an extremely competent female spy is by journeyman artist Paul Cooper, working for the Iger Studios, who also supplied art to Ajax/Farrell (where the re-worked version appeared several years later) and Fox Comics.
It was scripted by "Rick Shawn", which was likely a pen-name since he's only credited with the two Spitfire Saunders tales!
Now we jump a decade to 1954.
The Nazis have been defeated.
Communism is on the rise.
A comic book publisher needs a story about a superheroine to meet a deadline, so Nazi-Crusher Spitfire Sanders becomes...already-existing Russkie-Smasher Phantom Lady!
Oh, and due to space limitations, the original story has to be cut by a couple of pages...

For this presentation in Ajax/Farrell's Phantom Lady #5 (actually #1) from 1954, the brand new (and extremely-restrictive Comics Code also required a reduction in gunplay and use of torture instruments like whips, so a number of panels were reworked...or deleted entirely!
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TPB Reprinting the Complete Golden Age Fox Comics Series, Mostly Illustrated by Legendary Good Girl Artist Matt Baker, and with a New Cover by Good Girl Artist Adam Hughes!