Thursday, March 8, 2012

Pete Riss Manhunter

This list's Manhunter stories in Quality's Police Comics are pencilled by the Superman artist I identified as Pete Riss in my previous post. The same "actor" appears in both the Action 92 Superman story ("Haircut—and a Close Shave," May/46) and the Police 49 Manhunter one: the bullet-headed and emaciated type who plays the barber in one and Allard in the other.

Action 92 Superman and Police 49 Manhunter tiers with identical characters

None of these Manhunter stories' pencils are by Al Bryant, to whom they've been attributed. Other artists worked on the feature before #37 and after #59; Riss may have done some stories in years other than this mid-Forties run. Note that Riss did not draw the story in Police 55.
"MH" is a writer whose style I can follow from story to story but whom I can't name. I see more than one inker on this run of stories; penciller Pete Riss may well be one of them. Perhaps John Forte is another.

I'm using my own standards as to which words on a splash page constitute a title, and I've made up the titles in brackets for this list.

Manhunter Pencilled by Pete Riss in Mid-1940s Police Comics

Dec/44#37 The Matchw: Joe Millard
Jan/45#38 [Blind Justice Will Kill Manhunter]w: Millard
Feb/45#39 [A Picture Kills]w: Millard
Mar/45#40 Music Hath Charmsw: "MH"
Apr/45#41 Port of Missing Goodsw: ?
May/45#42 Two Tracksw: Millard
June/45#43 Tramp Club Deathw: Millard
July/45#44 The Most Dangerous Game Ever Hunted—Manw: "MH"
Aug/45#45 The Tailor's Dummyw: ?
Sept/45#46 [Torch Tigue]w: Millard
Oct/45#47 I'm Guiltyw: "MH"
Nov/45#48 [The Corpse behind the Catsup Bottle]w: Millard
Dec/45#49 Archer without a Boww: Millard
Jan/46#50 Disgracew: "MH"
Feb/46#51 Crime Declares an Armisticew: William Woolfolk
Mar/46#52 [Mystery from the Morgue]w: Woolfolk
Apr/46#53 [A Houdini under Water]w: Woolfolk
May/46#54 [Target: Thor]w: "MH"
July/46#56 The Vengeancew: Woolfolk
Aug/46#57 Will Death Miss Twice?w: "MH"
Sept/46#58 Hatchetw: "MH"
Oct/46#59 [The Bonds of Cruel Captivity]w: ?

2 comments:

  1. Here's a link to a scanned and signed! Peter Riss story from 1955

    http://archive.org/details/RomanticAdventures0561955

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  2. Well, both Pete Riss's and Sam Citron's art looks better at ACG in the Fifties and Sixties than any of the art attributed to them in the Forties does! I don't know if this proves or disproves my thesis...

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