Friday Trivia Quiz #15: Hallowe'en Treat

Unfortunately, the Silver Age of Comics was undoubtedly the worst for horror comics. The Comics Code Authority basically arose to ensure that America's youth did not read comic books with horror elements. Consider these requirements from the CCA:

1. No comics magazine shall use the word horror or terror in its title.

2. All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.

3. All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated.

4. Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly nor as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.

5. Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism and werewolfism are prohibited.

That pretty much does it for the more interesting forms of horror, and as a result, the "horror" comics of the Silver Age were pretty tame fare, mostly featuring monsters like Frankenstein. By the end of the 1960s the cracks in the CCA wall were becoming obvious, and in the 1970s horror with vampires and all returned with a vengeance.

So here's a little quiz about some of the moderately horrific comics of the Silver Age:

1. In Detective #336, Batman was bewitched:



Who was the witch, and who was the real mastermind behind her?

2. Although vampires were prohibited, the CCA allowed two stories featuring a villain who stole the life force from people, battling (and battering) Superman. What was the name of this villain?

3. Who was the original Green Goblin?

4. What was the name of Marvel/Atlas' late 1950s ripoff of Casper, the Friendly Ghost?

5. Although werewolves were banned as noted above, one key DC character turned into a wolf in a mid-1960s comic. Name him.

Trivia Quiz #15 Answers

1. Who was Ace the Bat-Hound's original master?

Bat-Hound's original master was John Wilker, an engraver who had been kidnapped by criminals planning to force him to create phony bonds.

2. Superboy's dog, Krypto, joined an organization of super-powered dogs. What were the initials of the organization, and what did they stand for?

Krypto joined the SCPA, the Space Canine Patrol Agents, in Superboy #132.

3. What gave Streaky, Supergirl's cat, its super-powers?

Streaky got its superpowers from X-Kryptonite, a variant of Kryptonite that Supergirl created while experimenting in an effort to eliminate the weakness to Green K that she and Superman were afflicted with.

4. Supergirl also had a pet horse with super abilities named Comet. What famed sorceress gave him his powers?

Comet was given his powers by Circe, in part to atone for a mistake she made in turning him into a horse (he was originally a centaur). Comet was arguably the most powerful creature in the DC universe during the Silver Age of Comics; he had all the powers of Superman and Supergirl, with no vulnerability to Kryptonite.

5. What was the name of the Martian Manhunter's pet dog?

The Martian Manhunter's pet dog was known as Jupiter during his only appearance in Detective #232.

Dan M and Michael Rebain got the first four; Michael Sensei chipped in the answer to the last question (and I suspect knew the other answers as well).

Worst Criminals of the Silver Age

It's an ill wind that blew this crook into the Marvel Universe:



Meet the Whirlwind, aka the Human Top. Clearly a charter member of the "my incredibly stupid-looking helmet gives me no peripheral vision" club, along with Magneto and others.

He's an exceedingly rare type of supervillain; one that had superpowers from childhood, as shown here:



Powers far beyond those of mortal men? Is Stan (or Roy Thomas) swiping a little of the Superman intro? Anyway, the Human Top faced Ant-Man during the latter's run in Tales to Astonish, then returned in Avengers #46. Of course, you may wonder, having been bested by a bug boy, how the newly-renamed Whirlwind thought he could tackle the entire team. Well, you guessed it:



This was a well that Marvel kept going back to: Hero defeats villain, then villain gets more powerful (and hero loses power or is sick/injured), so we have another matchup.

Friday Trivia Quiz #15: The Pets

1. Who was Ace the Bat-Hound's original master?

2. Superboy's dog, Krypto, joined an organization of super-powered dogs. What were the initials of the organization, and what did they stand for?

3. What gave Streaky, Supergirl's cat, its super-powers?

4. Supergirl also had a pet horse with super abilities named Comet. What famed sorceress gave him his powers?

5. What was the name of the Martian Manhunter's pet dog?

When I'm the Evil Genius...

I will not suddenly see it all clearly:



For the rest of the Evil Genius series, click here.

The Great Races

Get this letter and response from Superman #141 (November 1960):



It was indeed an excellent request, and yet despite Weisinger's promise, nothing came of the Superman-Flash race for almost seven years.

Finally, in Superman #199, the race came off. Supes and the Flash agree to a race for a UN benefit, with a "sweepstakes" (i.e., legalized wagers). One very interesting aspect to the race was that it emphasized the difference between Superman and Flash's powers, even though this was nominally a footrace. Superman was able to beat the Flash in some places, but when it comes to the sand dunes of the Sahara, the Scarlet Speedster has the advantage:



Making the race a little more interesting is that a US crime syndicate has bet on Supes, while a European cartel has bet on the Flash. This seems to be a swipe. Some may not be aware that there was another iconic series of races in American pop culture; in the early 1940s, Warner Brothers produced three separate cartoons featuring the Tortoise (Cecil B. Turtle) Against the Hare (Bugs Bunny), and oddly enough, the storyline for the second instalment, Tortoise Wins By a Hair, includes a subplot of gamblers sabotaging one of the racers:



And such was the case here:



Hilariously, though, the other syndicate has laid out the Flash as well, and substituted a ringer. Given the order for both of them to lose, the inevitable happens:



But in the meantime the two heroes have freed each other and they rocket towards the finish line, where they carefully break the tape together, in order to foil the gamblers (and presumably the sweepstakes ticket holders as well).

The rematch came in Flash #175. A pair of alien gamblers want the race rerun, and this time they add a little incentive: If the Flash loses, Central City will be wiped out, whereas if Supereman fails Metropolis will be leveled. Despite this, both heroes find themselves helping each other overcome obstacles. Predictably, perhaps, the outcome is inconclusive:



We learn that the two alien gamblers are actually the Reverse-Flash and Abracadabra, who have set this up in order to unleash some death traps at the Central City Comet, but they are eventually foiled.

The rubber match came (appropriately enough) in World's Finest #198-199. Superman is summoned to Oa by the Guardians, who advise him that a race of faster-than-light robots is moving through the galaxy and the only way to prevent them from destroying the time/space fabric is for Supes and the Flash to run in the opposite direction. This time the race will take place in outer space, so they give the Flash an amulet which protects him and also creates a track for him to run on.

The alien robots turn out to be a plot by the Phantom Zone criminals to escape from their prison. Superman and the Flash are wounded, with their legs useless, so they must crawl to a control room to turn off the robots:



And in the end, the story doesn't cop out:



It's hard to believe Weisinger would have allowed this during his reign as editor, but Julius Schwartz had taken over the reins of World's Finest effective with #198, and Schwartz was naturally a Flash partisan, having guided the Scarlet Speedster since his initial (Barry Allen) appearance in Showcase #4.

Trivia Quiz #14 Answers

1. Who was the Ductile Detective?

The Elongated Man

2. Who was Horn-head?

Daredevil

3. Who was the Pinioned Policeman?

A pinion is the wing of a bird, so the Pinioned Policeman is Hawkman.

4. Who was "Stretcho"?

Stretcho is Reed Richards, aka Mr Fantastic.

5. Who was Goldilocks?

Goldilocks was this fella:



Lots of entrants this week. The Groovy Agent submitted all five correct answers, as did Dan, Jehingr and Michael Rebain. Checking in with four right responses were Mike P, Lito S, and Ralph C. Congratulations to all; you really know your Silver Age Comics!

Friday Trivia Quiz #14: Nicknames

1. Who was the Ductile Detective?

2. Who was Horn-head?

3. Who was the Pinioned Policeman?

4. Who was "Stretcho"?

5. Who was Goldilocks?

Weddings Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine...

Initially, almost all superheroes were single. This is quite common in fiction as it allows for additional storytelling elements like romance and physical attraction.

But the negatives of not being married became apparent when Dr Wertham published Seduction of the Innocent, with its implication of gay themes in Batman's relationship with Robin. So when the Silver Age started, many of the new DC heroes had longterm girlfriends. Ray Palmer had Jean Loring, Barry Allen had Iris West, Hal Jordan had Carol Ferris (more or less; she was mostly interested in Green Lantern). Hawkman and Hawkgirl broke new ground for the Silver Age; they were a married couple right from the beginning.

Aquaman did not have a girlfriend in his Silver Age debut, but he rectified that situation with Aquaman #11, when Mera debuted:



When she returns in Aquaman #13, the Sea Sleuth is not shy about expressing his feelings:



Nor is she timid about pushing matters forward a bit:



And for once there was no extended engagement:



I believe that Aquaman and Mera were the first superhero couple to get married in a comic book; as noted earlier Hawkman and Hawkgirl were married when they first appeared in the Silver Age and the Elongated Man and Sue Dibney were married just prior to their appearance in Detective #327.

However, they were not the only couple to wed during the 1960s. Reed Richards and Sue Storm tied the knot in the pages of Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965):



The final major wedding of the decade was announced rather tastefully:



In two of the stories, there was a usurper to the groom. The Flash's mortal enemy, Professor Zoom attempted to marry Iris in Barry's place as shown here:



And in the Aquaman story, Oceanus kidnaps Mera and attempts to make her his bride. Oddly, there is no similar effort by the Submariner to prevent Sue Storm from marrying Reed Richards.

Why so many weddings in the mid-1960s after none before? I suspect that the comics writers were taking their cue from TV shows, which had discovered around the time that a marriage (and/or a new baby) gave sagging programs renewed ratings.

Update: Turns out there was another wedding which the baddies tried and failed to break up.



And there actually was one wedding that failed to come off due to the actions of the villains; in Hulk 124 Bruce Banner and Betty Ross were standing at the altar when the Leader's ray transformed Bruce back into the Hulk:

Trivia Quiz #13 Answers

1. What was the name of Richie Rich's butler?

Cadbury, or to be more specific, Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury. IIRC the butler in Richie Rich #1 had a different name; Cadbury became more prominent in the mid-1960s as Richie started branching out into spy stories.

2. Fatso, Fusso and Lazo were better known by what collective nickname?

The Ghostly Trio; they were like the Three Stooges of the ethereal set.

3. In the early 1960s, DC had some success with the Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, based on the popular TV series of the time. Near the end of the Silver Age, DC reused the stories and much of the art (simply erasing the heads) to create what "new" comic?

The Way Out World of Windy and Willie.

4. What long-running DC comic featured the adventures of two toddlers?

Sugar and Spike, created by longtime DC editor Sheldon Mayer, ran for 98 issues.

5. The longest-running comic title today is Detective Comics, but until 1962 that record was held by what comic featuring Woodie Woodpecker, Oswald the Rabbit, and Andy Panda?

New Funnies (originally just The Funnies) was the longest running comic book in history when it published its final issue (#288) in April 1962. After it passed, the title of longest-running comic moved to Adventure Comics (which had undergone name changes from New Comics to New Adventure Comics). When that title folded in 1983, Detective Comics (from which DC gets its name) inherited the mantle.

Joe Bloke kicked major butt on this quiz, correctly getting all five answers. Great job, Joe! Lito S came up with the correct answers for #1, #4 and #5 and also earns our applause.

Friday Trivia Quiz #13: Kids

As a break from the superhero routine, here are some questions about Silver Age comics featuring youngsters:

1. What was the name of Richie Rich's butler?

2. Fatso, Fusso and Lazo were better known by what collective nickname?

3. In the early 1960s, DC had some success with the Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, based on the popular TV series of the time. Near the end of the Silver Age, DC reused the stories and much of the art (simply erasing the heads) to create what "new" comic?

4. What long-running DC comic featured the adventures of two toddlers?

5. The longest-running comic title today is Detective Comics, but until 1962 that record was held by what comic featuring Woodie Woodpecker, Oswald the Rabbit, and Andy Panda?

Single Issue Review: X-Men #8

X-Men had continued to specialize in one-off stories, but much like the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four, they quickly found their major antagonist. Magneto (who appeared in the first issue) and his evil mutants (popping up in #4) became regulars in the early issues of X-Men, much like Dr Doom had a few years earlier in FF, and Zemo and the Masters of Menace in the Avengers.

But there really had been little development of the individual characters. Yeah, Bobby (Iceman) and Warren (Angel) had a little feud going and yes, we knew that Scott and Jean were in love with each other, but the team still really hadn't been fleshed out much beyond that.

X-Men #8 (November 1964), while still a one-off story, offered some interesting developments that would characterize the team for the rest of their history.

The book starts with what by now had become somewhat cliche in X-Men stories; an introduction in the Danger Room, where the drills were being ordered by Scott:



Later that page was the end of the snowman-looking Bobby, as he adopted the chiseled ice sculpture look that would characterize the rest of the series. It was a good move.

We had always heard that the outside world distrusted the mutants. Now we found out just exactly how much. While on a break in Greenwich Village, the Beast saves a little kid who has climbed up on a water tower. But the crowd quickly turns ugly:



This was a theme that would recur over and over in the X-Men, and clearly Stan is drawing parallels to racial prejudice here. Angered over his treatment by the crowd, Hank quits the X-Men and becomes a pro wrestler. Of course, he was the second Marvel character to enter the ring; Spiderman had a brief career as a grappler as well.

The Beast discovers the newest menace facing humanity: a fellow wrestler named Unus the Untouchable. Unus' power lies in his ability to fend off any attack:



Hank observes the Mastermind, one of Magneto's minions, in the audience. Afterwards, we learn that Unus has asked to join up with the Evil Mutants. He comes across a bank robbery in progress and steals the money from the crooks. When the X-Men face him they discover his invulnerability. Returning to the school in Westchester County, they discover that Hank is back.

But is he on the side of good or evil? He is using his scientific knowledge (previously undiscussed) to create a ray that will dramatically increase Unus' powers. At first the X-Men fight to prevent him from using the ray, but he succeeds in bathing the villain in its beam, and it turns out that he was acting for good, as Unus discovers his uncontrollable powers prevents him from doing certain necessary things, like eating:



This idea of a villain so powerful that the only way to defeat him is to make him more powerful is one that would recur many times over the years. The Beast reverses the ray's effects and Unus agrees to go back to the wrestling ring (apparently the authorities don't want him for the bank robbery).

Overall issue comments: A solid story with some movement forward in the characterization of the X-Men, especially the Beast and featuring beautiful sequential art from Jack Kirby. Unus did not go on to become one of the major villains in the Marvel pantheon, but aside from that this is an excellent example of the Marvel magic.

Trivia Quiz #12 Answers

1. Blackhawk, Stanislaus, Andre, Olaf, Chop-Chop, Hendrickson, and _______?

Chuck. Actually Chuck was originally the American of the group, as Blackhawk himself was Polish in the early stories (although that eventually changed).

2. What was the real name of Lady Blackhawk? What villainess did she become for several years during the 1960s?

The real name of Lady Blackhawk was Zinda Blake; she currently is featured in Birds of Prey. She became Queen Killer Shark for a number of issues in the 1960s.

3. Name the villain:

The Sniper

4. What kind of bird was Blackhawk's mascot, Blackie?

This was supposed to be the trick question, because my impression had always been that he was a raven or a blackbird, but it turns out he is indeed a black hawk:



5. Name the villain:

King Condor had several appearances in the Silver Age; he used mechanical birds to help him with his robberies.

Michael Rebain got the first question, while Michael Sensei got all but #3.

Single Issue Review: Blackhawk #148

This issue (May 1960) would seem very familiar to Batman fans because the editor at the time, Jack Schiff, was also in charge of the Caped Crusader's books. Check out the cover:



Not substantially different from the September 1961 issue of Batman:



In the opening story, Four Dooms for the Blackhawks, the Blackhawks visit a space research center, where scientists are attempting to recreate conditions in space and on other planets. The plot and setting for this story are direct swipes from Detective #208 (June 1954). Here's the cover of that issue:



And the similar situation in Blackhawk #148:



In the story the bandits are trying to steal a force field projector, but Blackhawk foils the scheme cleverly.

The second story, is another obvious swipe from an even earlier Batman comic. Here's the origin, complete with another classic "Suddenly something snapped in his mind" bit:



From Batman #55 (Oct-Nov 1955), we met another guy who couldn't stand bells:



In a memorable scene from that issue, the Gong lowers Batman and Robin onto a bell buoy where he assumes they will eventually tire and fall off; so too it is with the Bellmaster:



In the cover story, Blackhawk faces the Secret of the Flying Serpent. In this case the story appears original. Blackhawk and his men discover a hidden valley where the Aztecs still remain, now ruled by a corrupt archaeologist pretending to be Quetzalcoatl who has discovered a flying serpent (whose mutation was caused by radiation). The radiation angle is interesting; I'd have to look to see if there's an earlier example of radiation imparting superpowers. Certainly this predates the Marvel Silver Age, where seemingly every character under the sun got his powers from radiation (Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, the Sandman, etc.).

The Blackhawks eventually defeat the phony Quetzalcoatl and the flying serpent dies in the battle. As noted earlier, a fairly similar story came up in Batman again a year later, with a flying serpent, a hidden valley (Mayan instead of Aztec).

Overall the stories are entertaining even if two were borrowed from earlier Batman adventures. The artwork, by Dick Dillin and Chuck Cuidera, is solid if uninspired; I'd much rather read these stories with their artwork than with Sheldon Moldoff, who did most of the Batman stories of the time.

Friday Trivia Quiz #11: Blackhawks

1. Blackhawk, Stanislaus, Andre, Olaf, Chop-Chop, Hendrickson, and _______?

2. What was the real name of Lady Blackhawk? What villainess did she become for several years during the 1960s?

3. Name the villain:



4. What kind of bird was Blackhawk's mascot, Blackie?

5. Name the villain: