I was saddened to hear about the passing of Nick Cardy over the weekend. He always had a place near and dear to my heart because, of the many things he drew, he also drew this cover:
This cover was the first comic with Batman that I had ever read. I had been introduced to Batman via a Hostess trading card that came in a package of Wonder Bread, and when my father agreed that I could subscribe to a comic, I chose Batman.
Imagine my delight when I slid the comic out of that flat brown paper wrapper and saw all that awaited me. 100 PAGES worth! It was right up there with Christmas morning. You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but I always get all fanboy about a great comic cover, and Cardy produced some of the best.
And now let's take a look at Pep Comics #29:
I'm prepared to guess that someone unknowingly ate a lot of waiter saliva that evening.
And here was something that caught my eye from the Sergeant Boyle story:
Keep in mind, this was found in a Japanese military kitchen. I've worked in a few professional kitchens in my day, and I certainly don't claim to be an expert on Japanese cuisine.
But what the heck are you cooking that calls for knockout drops?
Whatever those are.
In any sense, someone probably needs to double-check their recipe.
Let's continue our look at Pep Comics #26, shall we?
I wasn't raised Catholic, but I've certainly seen and read about nuns in Catholic school and how hardcore they were about discipline.
All I can tell you is...
... your average schoolhouse nun has nothing on that guy.
One of the more recent CMNS meme's, Well, THAT Took a Very Dark Turn! (tm!), has gone over quite well with you darlings, so let's do another!
Oh, Thomas! You lazy scamp!
Well, THAT Took a Very Dark Turn! (tm!)
And finally... Hey! It's time for some Fun with Out of Context Dialogue! (tm!):
Now, anyone that has read this blog at all knows that I do not condone the use of "gay" as a slur or as a negative connotation for anything, and I'm certainly not meaning that here.
Hmmmm... the General is acting a little peculiar in this bit from the Sergeant Boyle story from Pep Comics #23:
Okay... everyone follow that? What could be causing the General to act in such a way?
I don't know what the potency situation is with "marijuana extract," but I have to say it's dang impressive. Usually, marijuana use simply results in excessive Doritos consumption followed by a run for cheap tacos. General be trippin' yo. Word.
Disclaimer: Avoid the Devil's Parsley, kids. Drugs are bad.
I couldn't resist pulling another title from the Public Domain. I've been on a Golden Age kick because... well, because modern comics have been a bit too violent for me lately, so I just want to read stuff that's fun. Sooooo, let's add America's Best Comics to our rotation, shall we?
It's interesting that there was a Golden Age character called "Doc Strange," who was no relation to the Marvel character that we all know and love. I don't know that Stan Lee or Steve Ditko (who created Doctor Strange) had heard of this character, but it's an awfully big coinkydink. I mean, I understand that names like "The Vulture" get used over and over, but this one is pretty limited.
Now, the deal with Pyroman as I understand it, is that he was put in the electric chair and came out of it with electrical powers. Of course, the name "Pyroman" leads you to believe he had fire powers, but the Human Torch's sidekick was called the Spanish name for "bull," so I'm not sure people gave these things a whole lot of thought.
All I know is that HEY! It's time for Fun with Out of Context Dialogue! (tm!):
Well, don't leave me hanging!
Get it?
Meanwhile, contributor Robert Gillis came up with a great new CMNS meme. We've covered the Excessively Impossibly Expository Dialogue (tm!), which is where a character says way too much within the time frame given by the artwork. But Robert has given it a new twist, which he has appropriately named...
Got All That? (tm!)
How does it work? Thusly, courtesy of SupermanFamily #167:
Got All That? (tm!)
That's awesome. Thanks again, Robert!
Meanwhile, from the Sgt. Doyle story in Pep Comics #11, we give you yet another CMNS theme I like to call:
Okay, my lovelies, here's the deal: I am taking off for holiday vacay, so I'll be back on January 1st to ring in a new year! I hope everyone has a great holiday season for faiths of all stripes! Thanks again to everyone. I'm still amazed that more folks are reading now than ever before, and that's so encouraging I can't even describe it. Each and every one of you were a gift this year!
But before we say good-bye to 2012, let us finish up Pep Comics #6, starting with Sgt. (Effin') Boyle with some Fun with Out of Context Artwork! (tm!):
It's really funnier if I just kind of move on to the next thing, so I will. Which means it's off to the Kayo Ward story and more Fun with Out of Context Dialogue! (tm!)
"Tie me up?" "Get these clothes off?"
Kayo's lapse was going to prove disastrous indeed! I'm not at all comfortable with where that's going. It brings to mind Ned Beatty in Deliverance.
Lastly and perhaps leastly, we have Bentley of Scotland Yard.
Okay, follow me. John Baker peers into an open furnace and...
... okay, got it? Remember that because it's important.
Keep it in mind as I make a totally unrelated joke:
Barney Reyman and John Baker both had a weakness for Disembodied Floating Heads (tm!).
Okay, back to the furnace thing. Now his son does the exact same thing his father did and....
See the pattern here?
YA THINK, BENTLEY?
And then Bentley decides that the only way to learn their fate is to....
This is really not Bentley's finest hour. Sadly, he survives. As usual, things get way too wordy for me to learn who was doing what and why, but I'm sure it made more sense than sticking your face in a furnace.
And that's it for me, Dear Ones! I'll see you January 1st!
Apparently, the qualifications for having a "super-brain," were a bit lower back in the day:
So we're supposed to get all weak in the knees because he correctly identified three people in uniform/costume? Slow down, Wizard! Let me catch my breath!
And he even correctly identified himself.
And now, a public service message from Fu Chang.... International Detective:
It's like every Afterschool Special I ever watched.
Meanwhile, let's check in on Sgt. Effin' Boyle...
Ten to one... or as we count here in the USA, three to one. That Metric System gets a little complicated when you try to convert it to ours.
That reminds me... remember the Metric Marvels?
This was back in the day when we were going to convert to the Metric System. The system itself was actually easy to grasp, but everyone insisted that you had to know the formulas to convert our current system to Metric and vice versa. That involved a lot of math, and we as a culture just weren't going to do that. Had they just said, "We're following the Metric System now," and switched everything, it probably would have worked out. But some people just won't relax unless you're forced to do things the hard way.
Some of you folks may have noticed that I was pretty quiet about politics this election season. Well, that was deliberate, not because there's anything wrong with talking about politics, but because I just didn't want to exert the energy into all the flaming. But now that it's over, I will tell you that this country dodged a bullet recently.
No, not Romney. The proposed Wonder Woman television show:
I forget who the actress is, but she was way to skinny to be an amazon. She would be a spear-carrier for an amazon at best.
Sorry to get all opinionated on you, but it had to be said. We as a nation avoided a very dark chapter in history.
Hey! It's time for the Sergeant Boyle story from Pep Comics #2!
He's had that enemy soldier in a headlock for the past 45 minutes. He just hasn't gotten around to killing him yet. That's Sergeant Effin' Boyle!
Hand to hand combat to the death makes him purr like a cat:
He's Sergeant Effin' Boyle!
He can dodge bullets!
Wait.... why can he dodge bullets?
Oh. I know why.
Because he's Sergeant Effin' Boyle!
Is that man behind you holding a gun to your back?
What? Oh... yes, sir.
Does that in any way affect the credibility of your report?
No, sir. That's just Sergeant Effin' Boyle!
He'll hop in your foxhole and clean house!
You know it's a serious beating when entire planets come flying out.
I learned something today. The "Gettin' Enough" video I liked so much that I reposted it last week? Turns out it was actually a spoof of 80's teen sex PSA's. Silly me. It just goes to show that when you do too good of a job spoofing something, you actually just end up recreating it.
Although that's good news because it means I can listen to the song without people thinking I'm a pervert. Not that people don't think there's something wrong with me, I'm sure they do. It just gives them one less thing upon which to hang their proverbial hat.
For example, I'm about to talk about the first "Sergeant Boyle" series, and it may appear that I don't think it's the greatest comic ever. And I totally do.
Get that? He's an American that joined the British Expeditionary Forces. Now, you may wonder why, but remember that this comic was the January, 1940 issue. So, it came out at least a year before the United States was engaging in any hostilities with the Axis, much less the formal declaration of war on December 8th, 1941.
See? See? You'll learn stuff here. Not a lot that will help you get through life or anything, but you'll pick up a thing or two.
Sing it with me!
Dang straight.
Anyway, back to Sergeant Boyle. Here he is shooting a Nazi with one hand while tossing two rifles at once as if they were spears:
Keep in mind there's no "Super Soldier Formula" or anything like that here. This guy is just your average American.
.... if by "Average American," you mean "Average American Ass-Kicking Machine!"
Dodge a machine gun at point blank range? No problem!
Okay, I'm not at all sure shooting another gun's bullets creates and explosion like that.
Eh, who cares? There's no bad way to take out a Nazi!
Uh-oh... a coded message:
Didn't the Nazis have this whole Enigma machine thing going on? If this is a product of its work, I'm not surprised the Allies were able to crack it. By jove, old chaps! I was flummoxed by this kibbles and bits until I read it while I was shaving!
Okay, that wasn't even close to a good imitation of a Brit. My apologies to my friends across the pond.
What do you mean, Sgt. Boyle? What about the...?
Oh.
OH!
I see what you're doing there. You're being all modest like it's all in a day's work or something! You sly fox!
Surprisingly, this feature would go on for thirty-nineissues of Pep Comics. You'd think that so much badassery would be considered far too much for the comics-reading public to handle, but there you go.
Between Sergeant Boyle, the Shield and the Comet, Pep was a pretty violent title. I'm kinda surprised Archie and Jughead get their introductions here. Maybe Archie and Jughead were originally government assassins or something. I'll let you know when I get there.
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