Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Woolfolk Records 1948/05

Monte Hale Western 32 cover
Fawcett, Quality, and Orbit are the familiar publishers here.

Monte Hale stories aren't that easy to track down, with his comics spottily collected or indexed; but this will be one of William Woolfolk's frequent assignments for four years. I did find one of this month's five in Real Western Hero; the unindexed Monte Hale Western 32 came out in the same month. These descriptions don't fit any of the story titles indexed in 31. UPDATE: darkmark IDed two of the Monte Hale stories, #32 having since been indexed on the GCD. I've corrected my transcription of "overage" here, which I'd put down as "average." Now that I've seen the issue itself, I can add the other two stories. "Indian chief" might be better described as "Indian warrior," but a chief is a character in it.

Likewise these Wanted stories fit between known stories in issues 15 and 17. They may have been published under titles other than Woolfolk's. UPDATE: They were. Now that I've seen Wanted 16, I've changed the titles here as the editors did there, and added the text story title.

May 1948 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

7 pg  Captain Marvel the chameleon stone
"The Chameleon Stone" CM Advs 91, Dec/48
Marvel Family world's greatest magician
"The World's Greatest Magician" MF 30, Dec/48
14  Doll Man Undertaker's coffin crimes
"Coffins for Crime" DM 20, Jan/49
Woozy becomes general of a S. American country
"Commander in Chief" Plastic Man 15, Jan/49
Ibis the skull of a sorcerer
"The Skull of Evil" Whiz 105, Jan/49
Monte Hale crooked judge runs town
"Outlaw Town" Real Western Hero 74, Jan/49
15  The Musical Murders a mad pianist
"The Musical Demon" Wanted 16, Nov/48
Monte Hale the overage sheriff
"The Over Age Sheriff " MH Western 32, Jan/49
Monte Hale outlaw stallion
"Pardner--Outlaw Stallion" MH Western 32, Jan/49
12  Plastic Man Beau Brummel
"Beau Crummel" PM 15, Jan/49
Monte Hale alone with 5 killers
"Terror Trek" MH Western 32, Jan/49
Monte Hale Indian chief
"Tribe of the Tomahawk" MH Western 32, Jan/49
10  Double for Death playwright becomes character he writes about
"Double for Destiny" Wanted 16, Nov/48
fiction "What Happened to the Cyclops?" [text] Wanted 16, Nov/48

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Writers: Aquaman in Adventure 247-284

Adventure 282 logo with Aquaman blurb

247 would be an arbitrary start to a run of any comic except Adventure; the significance lies in the Superboy story, of course, not with Aquaman or the other back-ups. A number of my attributions here were circulated through fandom in the Nineties by Rich Morrissey, but on this list I've filled in the gaps in the run.

Jack Miller typically uses the captions Just then..., Before long..., The answer comes the next instant..., and In the next [adjective] instant...; Robert Bernstein typically the caption Moments after... instead of Moments later.... But these are not hard and fast differences, of course; in "The Robinson Crusoe of the Sea" (252) there's a Moments after..., but more clues point to Miller. If so, he happened to use that style of caption once.

"A World without Water" (251), out of all the Aquaman stories, uses the exclamations "Owoofff" and "Eeaahh" (also used in only one Green Arrow story: "The Man Who Hated Arrows" in 249). These are seen throughout the Dale Evans and Sierra Smith stories by Joe Millard, at DC, as well as the myriad of stories he did at Quality. The "Y-i-i-i-i" in both turns up in 250's "The Guinea Pig of the Sea."

All Aquaman art in these Adventure issues is by Ramona Fradon except 284, which is by Jim Mooney.

"How Aquaman Got His Powers" in 260 is the new origin. "The Manhunt on Land" in 267 is the crossover with Green Arrow, the other back-up, also written by Robert Bernstein at the time; the two villains switch land and sea theatres of operation. "The Kid from Atlantis" in 269 introdues Aquaman's new partner, Aqualad.

Aquaman begins appearing in the forerunner to his own book, four Showcase appearances, in the same month as Adventure 280. With 281, the back-up space that held Aquaman and Congorilla stories is devoted to double-length stories of either one, alternating, so Aquaman doesn't appear in 281 or 283. After Adventure 284 his back-up slot moves to Detective and then to World's Finest.

The Superboy story in 280, by the way, "Superboy and the Mermaid from Atlantis" (written by Jerry Siegel), takes two panels to account for the difference between Aquaman's Atlanteans with legs and Lori Lemaris's fishtailed merfolk.

Aquaman in Adventure 247-284 Writers

Apr/58 #247  Aquaman's Super Sea-Squad Jack Miller
May/     #248  The Traitor of the Seven Seas Miller
June/     #249  Wanted—Aqua-Crook Robert Bernstein
July/     #250  The Guinea Pig of the Sea Joe Millard
Aug/     #251  A World without Water Millard
Sept/     #252  The Robinson Crusoe of the Sea Miller
Oct/     #253  The Ocean of 1,000,000 B.C. Bernstein
Nov/     #254  The Menace of the Electric Man Miller
Dec/     #255  Aquaman's Double Trouble Bernstein
Jan/59 #256  The Ordeal of Aquaman Bernstein
Feb/     #257  The Imitation Aquaman Bernstein
Mar/     #258  The Incredible Fish of Doctor Danton Miller
Apr/     #259  The Octopus Man Miller
May/     #260  How Aquaman Got His Powers Bernstein
June/     #261  Aquaman Duels the Animal-Master Bernstein
July/     #262  The Undersea Hospital Bernstein
Aug/     #263  The Great Ocean Election Miller
Sept/     #264  Aquaman and His Sea Police Bernstein
Oct/     #265  The Secret of the Super-Safe Bernstein
Nov/     #266  Aquaman Meets Aquagirl Bernstein
Dec/     #267  The Manhunt on Land Bernstein
Jan/60 #268  The Adventures of Aquaboy Bernstein
Feb/     #269  The Kid from Atlantis Bernstein
Mar/     #270  The Menace of Aqualad Bernstein
Apr/     #271  The Second Deluge Bernstein
May/     #272  The Human Flying Fish Bernstein
June/     #273  Around the World in 80 Hours Bernstein
July/     #274  Aqua-Queen Miller
Aug/     #275  The Interplanetary Mission Bernstein
Sept/     #276  The Aqua-Thief of the Seven Seas Bernstein
Oct/     #277  The Underwater Olympics Bernstein
Nov/     #278  Aqualad Goes to School Bernstein
Dec/     #279  Silly Sailors of the Sea Bernstein
Jan/61 #280  The Lost Ocean Bernstein
Mar/     #282  One Hour to Doom Bernstein
May/     #284  The Charge of Aquaman's Sea Soldiers Miller

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Woolfolk Records 1948/04

Police 86 cover: Plastic Man
 
The scripts William Woolfolk wrote this month were bought by Fawcett, Orbit, and Quality, plus a publisher I hadn't heard he worked for: Prize (content supplied by Simon & Kirby on this title). This would be his sole known story for the company and his first romance story (whose publication data I couldn't track down from his description). In fact, in an interview decades later, he recalled he hadn't worked for Simon & Kirby.

As a sign of where the times are going for superheroes: Real Western Hero has taken over the numbering of Wow Comics, and Monte Hale Western, which will figure in May's listings, has taken over that of Mary Marvel.

April 1948 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

7 pg  Captain Marvel Capt. Marvel's hand commits crime
    "The Hand of Captain Marvel" CM Advs 90, Nov/48
Captain Marvel Titans beneath the sea
    "The Mightiest Sea-Mortal" CM Advs 91, Dec/48
Young Romance spoiled rich girl
    Young Romance
14  Kid Eternity the living dead
    "Obeah-Brutes" KE 13, Jan/49
Ibis magic tapestry
    "The Tapestry of Terror" Whiz 104, Dec/48
15  True Western the taming of Tombstone
14  as Wild Bill Pecos "Terror in Tombstone" The Westerner 16, Oct/48
15  Plastic Man Plas thinks Woozy a crook
    "Woozy's Reputation" Police 86, Jan/49
Captain Marvel Jr. Sivana Jr.'s dream machine
    "Sivana Jr.'s Dream Machine" Master 98, Dec/48
10  Tom Mix the crime showboat
9    "The Crime Show Boat" Real Western Hero 73, Dec/48
12  Monte Hale the hangman's scroll
    "The Hangman's Scroll" RWH 71, Oct/48
Captain Marvel war between the planets
    "The War between the Planets" CM Advs 91, Dec/48

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Writers: Batman 141-150

Batman 146 cover: The Deadly Curse of Korabo Bill Finger is the main Batman writer at this point, but not the only one. The sound effects Whapp or Whammp, and the spelling "Aaah" instead of "Ahhh," among other indications, show Jerry Coleman scripting. I had assumed Finger wrote all the Bat-Mite stories in Batman and Detective until I saw "Batman and Robin's Magical Powers"; Coleman, as I'd seen earlier, wrote Bat-Mite in a couple of World's Finest team-ups with Mr. Mxyzptlk.

The expression "Jumping Jonah" appears in the three stories I've attributed here to Arnold Drake. See also, among others, the splash page of "Captives of the Alien Hunter" in Challengers of the Unknown 25, April-May/62. The "Ayeee" in "The Deadly Curse of Korabo" is another clue to Drake.

Except for 148/1 and 150/3 (pencils by Jim Mooney and inks by Sheldon Moldoff), art is by Moldoff, penciller, and Moldoff and Charles Paris, inkers on different stories. Dick Dillin pencilled the covers of  143 and 150.

Batman 141-150 Writers

Aug/61 141  The Crimes of the Clockmaster Jerry Coleman
The Race of Death Bill Finger
Batwoman's Junior Partner Finger
Sept/     142  Batman's Robot-Guardian Finger
The Crimes of the Ancient Mariner Finger

Ruler of the Bewitched Valley Finger
Nov/     143  The Twice-Told Tale of Batman and Robin Finger
The Blind Batman Arnold Drake
Bat-Hound and the Creature Finger
Dec/     144  The Alien Feud on Earth Finger
The Man Who Played Batman Drake
Bat-Mite Meets Bat-Girl Finger
Feb/62 145  Hunt for Mr. 50 Finger
The Tiniest Villain in the World Finger
The Son of the Joker Finger
Mar/     146  Batman and Robin's Magical Powers Coleman
The Secret of the Leopard Boy Finger
The Deadly Curse of Korabo Drake
May/     147  The Plants of Plunder Finger
The Secret of Mystery Island Finger
Batman Becomes Bat-Baby Finger
June/     148  The Alien Force Twins Coleman

The Boy Who Was Robin Finger
The Joker's Greatest Triumph Finger
Aug/     149  The Maestro of Crime Coleman
The Invaders from the Past Coleman
Batman Tunes In on Murder Coleman
Sept/     150  The Secret behind the Stone Door Finger
The Girl Who Stole Batman's Heart Coleman
Robin, the Super Boy Wonder Finger

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Woolfolk Records 1948/03

Feature 130 cover; Doll Man

The usual suspects—Fawcett, Timely, Quality, and Orbit—bought from William Woolfolk in March '48. These were his final stories for Timely. Two Blonde Phantom scripts were published in more pages than he submitted them.

The True Crime story noted in January '48 must have been for Wanted (and by the timing, Wanted 14; the title is bimonthly at this point). It was paid at the same page rate as this month's True Crime, and the same as that month's Western Outlaw; after I posted, SangorShop noted that the latter was published in Orbit's companion magazine, The Westerner. I think it pretty safe to say now that all the crime stories Woolfolk has written so far were for Wanted; his rate there stabilized in January.

March 1948 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

9 pg Marvel FamilySivana tries to drive Marvel crazy
"Captain Marvel's Dilemma" MF 28, Oct/48
Blonde Phantoman ambitious orchestra leader
8 "Rhapsody in Death" BP 19, Sept/48
10 Doll Mancrook uses modern witchcraft
"The Hag" DM 19, Nov/48
15 True Crimesociety of Black Hand
"The Black Hand" Wanted 15, Sept/48
Blonde Phantomvaudeville crime
"Curtain Call for Crime" Namora 2, Oct/48
Ibisthe zoo of men
"Lo-Kar's Circus" Whiz 103, Nov/48
Blonde Phantomman framed for murder
5 "Justice for Jimmy Sullivan" BP 19, Sept/48
14 Blackhawkmen from the asteroid
"The Men from the Asteroid" BH 22, Dec/48
Blonde Phantom test pilot loses his nerve
"The Test of Fear" Sub-Mariner 28, Oct/48
11 Doll Mancrimetown U.S.A.
"Crimetown, U.S.A." Feature 130, Jan/49
Tom Mixthe pony express
"The Ride to Doom" Real Western Hero 72, Nov/48
Captain Marvelworld run by atomic power
"The World of Mr. Atom" CM Advs 90, Nov/48
11 Doll Mancandid microphone program
"The Stork" DM 20, Jan/49