Post #115

Issue #103
Jan. 1949
Rating: 4




The penultimate issue of the series is routine for the genre.

Outline for a GA comic strip:
1. Bad guys do something bad.
2. Hero\Heroine investigate the clues.
3. Hero\Heroine stumble into a trap.
4. Hero\Heroine gets free.
5. Bad guys get caught.

Step #3 for this issue:

Post #114

Issue #102
Dec. 1948
Rating: 5



Joe Kubert cover. Alex Toth is credited with pencils on the Flash. Robert Kanigher (Script), Carmine Infantino (Pencils), and Bernard Sachs (Inks) presents an outstanding Black Canary story in this issue.















By the end of 1948, comics were evolving. So was Jazz.



With the Jazz soundtrack combined with the silent film of the streets of New York in 1948, it helps in understanding from where comics found their inspiration.

Post #113

Issue #101
Nov. 1948
Rating: 5



Cover and Flash story inks credited to Bernard Sachs. The Atom is dropped. A text story and a couple pages of cartoon gags by Martin Naydel are added.



This fledgling pre-SA style Flash story, scripted by John Broome, is unique in that it substitutes cops-n-robbers cliches for a sci-fi adventure. Broome would go on to write the very first SA Flash time travel story in "The Man Who Broke the Time Barrier!", in Showcase #4 (along with Infantino and Kubert). Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs superb work in the GA Flash vision of time travel makes this one of the truly lost gems of the GA.



The following panel brings to mind the outstanding work of a future Joe Kubert on the Viking Prince strip of the mid-fifties in The Brave And The Bold. In that strip, the Viking Prince spends a lot of time sailing the North Sea.





The kid friendly roller coaster ride does create a sense of vertigo.

This issue exhibits glimpses of the future for comics, and the death spasms of the past for the superhero genre. An Ectroplasmic Magnet???


How many times has Batman and Robin found themselves in this exact situation?

Bernard Sachs gets a well deserved feature in the Nov. 2013 issue (#121) of Alter Ego fanzine. More to come in future a post.

Post #112

Issue #100
Sept. 1948
Rating: 5



The Kubert (Hawkman) and Infantino (Flash, Ghost Patrol, Black Canary) art in these stories makes for a quick fluid read. Dialogue is mostly window dressing. Even the Paul Reinman\Bob Oksner work with the 5pcs. Atom filler is respectful.



The following newsreel from 1948 stirs the fear pot of "Hitler Werwolf Gangs" lurking to retake Germany.

Post #111

Issue #99
Sept. 1948
Rating: 5

 

Carmine Infantino is credited for the cover. Lee Elias art in the Flash. Infantino art in the Ghost Patrol and Black Canary. Kubert art in the Hawkman. Paul Reinman, who is best known for the Green Lantern, does a fine job with the Atom. Martin Naydel who is best as a cartoonist does the two page Flash Facts filler pages.

Jay is now officially a criminal forensics expert. Now we have the source material for his SA counterpart, Barry Allen choice of career.
These house ads foreshadow the new trend in comics away from the Superhero genre . . .

Post #110

Issue #98

Rating: 5

Although the art work and scripts have evolved to a new level, the stories are anchored to the typical GA superhero exploits. The clock is beginning to tick to the end of the GA.
If the Hawkman roamed the skies of Gotham City, why no encounter with the Batman? The Atom deserves honorable mention in this issue. Black Canary script is well worn, but looks good. I should do a black-jack to the back of the heros head count sometime.

Post #109

Issue #97

Rating: 5

Cover by Irwin Hasen. Lee Elias credited for art on the Flash, Carmine Infantino Ghost Patrol and Black Canary,Joe Kubert Hawkman (and Hawkgirl), Paul Reinman for Atom. Robert Kanigher scripts Flash, Hawkman, and Black Canary.

With a cover date stamp of May 11, 1948, two weeks later, the Film Noir Classic 'Raw Deal' was released.





Flash story is one of the all time best (and lost to several generations of comic book lovers). Joan Williams (Flash's girl friend) takes a trip into the twilight zone and with the help of the Flash, regains her sanity. I'm going to reprint the story in its entirety at a later date.



Generally, GA stories use the artwork as window dressing. With Paul Reinman's art, the words take a backseat to the action.



For a seven pager, this Black Canary strip packs the action