In the previous issue of Target Comics, SpaceHawk had been assigned by Uncle Sam himself to...
...but this danger wasn't extraterrestrial, though it looked like it was!
Note: this was published in 1941...before Pearl Harbor...so we weren't at war...yet!
Though their nationality is never specified, these characters are caricatures of Asians...obviously the Japanese, who were invading and occupying neighboring countries in the Pacific!
Written and illustrated by series creator Basil Wolverton, this tale from Novelty Publications's Target Comics V2N2 [#14] (1941) followed a change in concept for the book as all the various series' characters, no matter where or when they took place, became protectors of America from threats from other countries...which were thinly-disguised versions of Germany, Japan, and Italy!
Showing posts with label 1940s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1940s. Show all posts
Saturday, July 2, 2022
TARGET COMICS "SpaceHawk and the Concealed Bomber"
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
Asians in American Comics MILITARY COMICS Blackhawk "Doomed Battalion!"
We presented the Silver Age origin of the Blackhawks' Chinese member, Chop-Chop HERE...
This is the amazingly politically-incorrect way he debuted back in 1941...
Quick background info:
Blackhawk was the leader of a multi-national team of aviators known as "Blackhawks" who were "black ops" before there was "black ops!
Debuting in the premiere issue of Quality's Military Comics, they quickly became popular enough to receive their own title (which was one of the company's best-sellers) while continuing as Military's cover feature!
The team members were ex-military from most of the Allied countries, including ones who had been conquered by the Axis...but there was no member from Asia, where Japan was rampaging though various countries, facing limited resistance!
So a Chinese national was introduced, albeit one who was running around Europe...
The team flies off, rescues the nurse and her allies, then returns to Blackhawk Island...
There was one-more page featuring the Blackhawks' newest member...
Chop-Chop became the group's extremely-stereotypical cook/bottle-washer/mechanic/comedy relief, eventually participating in their adventures, sometimes saving their leather-clad butts!
(If you think this portrayal was insulting and disrespectful, you should see how American comics portrayed Asians, like the Japanese, who weren't our allies!)
He became thinner, lost the buck-teeth, and his English improved, but he wasn't given a uniform and plane of his own until the book was sold to DC by Quality when they ceased publication in the late 1950s.
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Friday, June 5, 2020
CoronaVirus Comics IRON ACE "Leper"
You'd think if an aircraft pilot is called "Iron Ace", it would be meant metaphorically!
Not in this guy's case!
And the villain of this tale is called "The Leper"!
Guess why?
Illustrated by Bill Fraccio, this never-reprinted (and extremely-racist) tale from Hillman's Air Fighters Comics #12 (1943) features the only appearance of that publisher's "Leper" character.
Trivia: the CrimeBuster strip in Lev Gleason's Boy Comics had featured a different Axis character (a German) the year before, also called "The Leper"!
However, he wasn't diseased and his name was merely symbolic.
However, he wasn't diseased and his name was merely symbolic.
Both were one-shot baddies.
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Wednesday, April 15, 2020
CoronaVirus Comics DR NEMESIS "Blood-Bank Massacres!"
During World War II, superheroes entered the fray against biological warfare...
...as shown in this story about a doctor turned costumed hero that, due to both graphic gruesomeness and extreme racism, almost redefines "Not Safe For Work"!
Written by longtime pulp (and later paperback) scribe Robert Turner and illustrated by Earl Da Voren, this never-reprinted tale from Ace's Super-Mystery Comics V1N01 (1944) displays the classic propaganda tropes that, unfortunately, endured in the impressionable minds of those who read them long after the war ended!
Trivia: This was Doctor Nemesis' final appearance.
Since the name's trademark had elapsed decades earlier and his original appearances had become Public Domain, Marvel Comics revived and revised the character in the early 1990s.
(Marvel has a tendency to take Golden Age names from defunct companies' characters and reuse them...including Captain Marvel, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider!)
Doctor Nemesis was one of the few superheroes named "Doctor" who was an actual practicing MD!
Others included Dr Mid-Nite (even though he was legally-blind) and Doc Savage!
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018
MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL "Chapter XII: the Bombardment of Earth"
Buckle up, fans!
This one is spectacular!
This one is spectacular!
Without it, you'd be as helpless as an Axis spy to figure out what the message was!
Now that was an EPIC chapter, almost impossible for even the big-budget movies of the time to duplicate convincingly!
In terms of scale, the closest movie would've been Shape of Things to Come...
...but comics were considered lowbrow, so, it would've been treated more like Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers...
With Dr Smashi's demise, the use of offensive racial stereotypes in the serial comes to a temporary end, so...
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Monday, August 20, 2018
MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL "Chapter XI: the Firing of Great Big Bertha"
x
"I've got to stop that second one somehow!"
What about the first, Russia-bound, one?
You'll note Dr Smashi's teeth, which were originally fang-like are now the usual sterotypical "Japanese" buck teeth.
The Captain Marvel Code-Finder was a mail-in premium that would enable you to understand the cryptic messages (like this one) in stories!
Without it, you'd be as helpless as an Axis spy to figure out what the message was!
What about the first, Russia-bound, one?
You'll note Dr Smashi's teeth, which were originally fang-like are now the usual sterotypical "Japanese" buck teeth.
The Captain Marvel Code-Finder was a mail-in premium that would enable you to understand the cryptic messages (like this one) in stories!
Without it, you'd be as helpless as an Axis spy to figure out what the message was!
Please Support Not Safe For Work Comics!
Visit Amazon and Order...
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