DCRO 20- New Comics (1935) #10 [Y Story]

Story title: "The Invisible Empire, Part 7"

Cover Date: November 1936

By: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

DCRO entry

And now, the epic conclusion to the saga of "The Invisible Empire". In which Steve Carson will, hopefully, fight a giant robot.

After the robot found Steve and Co. at the end of the last part, the titular hero leaps onto the ship, leaving his friends alone at the mercy of the robot. Apparently, he "knew" the monster would only pursue him, and luckily, he was right. 

The chase continues, and it appears that the robot has inverse eyes (fun fact: "eye" is eye spelled backward!), as in, they emit light instead of absorbing it. 

Either that or it's shooting lasers, which would be much cooler. 

The robot finally catches Steve's ship and smashes it into the sea, then heads to the city. Now, Steve survived a submarine explosion, but there's no way he survived that right? Right?

He jumped right before the impact... Of course...

Anyway, Steve has obviously played "Shadow of the Colossus" (unlike me), because he starts climbing the robot and enters a door on the back of its head.

Meanwhile, the city is terrified.

Seriously, what the hell is up with the newspapers of this series?

Back to Steve, he finds a control room inside the robot, and this doesn't make any sense at all. Why, you ask? Well, let's look at the possibilities.

1- The robot is controlled at a distance / is automatic. Obviously, this is not the case, since there's a control room. 

2- The robot is "piloted" from the control room. That would make sense, except Steve doesn't really encounter anyone inside it...

3- The robot is controlled at a distance / is automatic, but there's also a control room that can be accessed by anyone and there's no one inside to guard it. This seems to be the real option...

Back again to the robot, it's terrorizing the city in an amazing panel that covers two-thirds of the page, easily one of the best panels we've seen so far.

This is only part of it. 

In the middle of this chaos, Steve manages to take control of the robot and directs it to its home to give them their fair share of destruction. However, the inhabitants of The Invisible Empire still have an ace up their sleeve... or a robot... or two!

An epic battle ensues. Steve, who is just now learning to pilot the robot, is apparently better at it than the other pilots, who are very likely thoroughly trained, so he manages to throw one of his foes onto the other and end the fight a bit too quickly if you ask me.

 

Then, he goes to the no-so-secret-anymore city and destroys it. Or at least the part that's still standing after three of these beasts came out of it...

That's the end of the Invisible Empire (or at least of this particular branch?), so Steve breaks the controls for the robot, rendering it useless. Kind of a waste, I'm sure he could have used it on his next adventures. Although, if we go back to the type of more generic stories the first entry in the series introduced, it would be a bit overkill to use this giant robot on some poor gangster.

After that, Steve goes back to his headquarters or whatever, gets congratulated and that's how this storyline ends...

Hmmm... "Gang Smasher"... "Complete in one issue!"... I wish Federal Men continues with this type of over-the-top, massive stakes, action stuff, but something tells me it won't...  This whole story was definitely not perfect, but it was a lot of fun (especially this last part).

Anyhow, the ratings:

Quality/Enjoyment: 4/5

Okay, so I know this is kind of bad, but hear me out... There's a battle between three giant robots!

That's it, that's my whole argument...

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

And that's the end of the new longest (and best in my opinion) story in the order so far... It was definitely a ride. Next time, we begin another multi-parter, this time starring The Clock. Until then, thanks for reading, and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 19- New Comics (1935) #9 [Z Story]

Story title: "The Invisible Empire, Part 6"

Cover Date: October 1936

By: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

DCRO entry

So, let's continue with "The Invisible Empire"

There's a giant robot on the title banner... I don't know what to say.

After a summary of the events of the previous issue, we find Steve Carson applying makeup. Naturally,  Jean asks what he's doing. Ralph then proceeds to explain that he's going to change his appearance into that of the guy that they locked in the closet, AND has the nerve to say: "Can't you see his plan?". Well sorry for not deducing that he'd come up with the dumbest plan ever, which is definitely going to work anyway because this is comic books!

According to the narrator, Federal Men don't usually adopt disguises. Does that mean that they don't go undercover or that they don't literally impersonate someone else? Because if it means the former, I'm not sure if it's true...

Anyway, Steve disguises himself as the closet man and goes to the place of the meeting. Part of me still thinks that "a long trip" was code for "we're going to terminate you".

Steve is then driven to a field where he gets to a plane that looks suspiciously similar to the plane that he was driving last time:

 

More people get into the plane, and when they arrive at their destination, this is what they see:

It's whatever they were building in the last part! Apparently, it's a "man-made island". Pretty impressive stuff.

Oh, look! The title banner continues on the next page.

This is the first mention of the Invisible Empire within "The Invisible Empire". And it only took six out of seven parts! The concept is cool but kind of weird. I mean, the title obviously suggests some kind of secret society, but I expected that I would be hidden among the rest of society, not on a literal secret artificial island. Also, weren't they just building this in the last part? Is this like a new thing? Is this just one of their bases? If it is new, then it's safe to assume that the attack on DC with the giant tank was meant to fund the construction of this base, but I mean, that whole thing was a failure... I don't know, it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Anyway, the plane lands and the island goes underwater again. One can't help to wonder why don't they transfer the new arrivals by submarine or at least by ship, so they can avoid exposing the city.

Then, the new arrivals, including Steve, are immediately put to work. Ho ho, that's rich! You'd think that living in a subaquatic, artificial, secret city would be some kind of privileged position but no. Steve and the rest get forced labor, and they can't even choose a position.

Steve eventually finds out that the access to the hangars that are close to his work area is severely restricted (I guess they don't want their slaves to escape), so he tries to approach one and gets threatened.

He tries again at night, and while this time there aren't any guards around (who'd imagine someone would try to escape at night!), he triggers all the alarms.

Steve manages to outrun his pursuers and then escapes on this funny-looking rocket:

Meanwhile, the closet guy escapes! he's about to stab Ralph, but Jean wacks him with a wrench.

Nice! But what's the point of this? Did they need to fill up exactly three panels? Were readers worried that the guy was going to stay in the closet forever?

Back to Steve, he flies through the glass ceiling (a literal one, I mean) and finally escapes. Someone somewhere within the hidden city says that they need to raise the dome or they'll drown. I'm not sure why that's the case... I'd have assumed that Steve breaking the ceiling would flood the place, but apparently, this order was given before his escape so... I don't know.

There's one more page to go, but before that, there's a panel for fanmail! Let's see what the fans had to say:

Very interesting. You can tell the average reader was very insightful back then...

In all seriousness though, I'm actually interested in reading what these fan letters say, so if anyone could direct me to a better scan or to a transcription or something, I'd appreciate it.

Then, claw first, a giant robot comes out of the city (Wrecking it in the process, mind you)! I'm not even kidding.

This is easily the best thing that has happened in the order so far.

The robot chases after Steve, matching the speed of the rocket (which is not surprising, it's standing on the ocean floor, the thing is fucking huge!). Steve gets to the lighthouse in time to warn his friends, who can't really do anything except hide and pray the Colossus doesn't see them. 

But of course, the thing punches some land and:

Is it just me or does this actually look like intentionally comedic timing? Anyway, that's the end for now:

Well, it better be the most intense conclusion! It's been six parts already and there's a giant robot involved!

Ok, let's get to the rating.

Quality/Enjoyment: 3/5

The first three pages are pretty dull, and as always, filled with inconsistencies. However, I think the appearance of the giant robot (which also happens to have a pretty kickass design) deserves an extra point.

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 2/5

It's not the first in history, but it might be the first in comics, and this is definitely the first time there's a giant robot (or any giant "monster" for that matter) in the order, so 2/5 it is.

Alright, that's it for today. Next time, we finally get the conclusion to this storyline, so make sure to tune in I guess. In the meantime, thanks for reading, and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 18- New Comics (1935) #8 [Y Story]

Story title: "The Invisible Empire, Part 5"

Cover Date: September 1936

By: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

DCRO entry

Alright, today we start the final stretch of The Invisible Empire. We have three (that's right, it's a seven-part story, I made a mistake) more parts to go, so let's get to it.

The story begins with a helpful summary in the form of Steve's boss congratulating him for stopping the terrorists twice. Nice bit of continuity! It turns out that maybe Siegel and Shuster actually knew what they were doing after all. 

Steve, however, accurately believes we haven't seen the last of the terrorists. Good, because we still don't know a lot about them.

Anyway, in the meantime, an autogyro (first time I hear that word) casually blows up the Plymouth bridge.

I mean, it's not a huge shock after what we've seen in the previous parts of the story.

Steve and his federal man pal, Ralph Ventor, go out to see what caused the explosion they heard, and look at this!

Just how fast do newspapers get printed in the DCU?

Then, Steve and his buddy somehow learn that, for some reason, the autogyro is still overflying the city, so they pick up a random plane and chase after it.

An aerial battle ensues almost immediately:

Also, what's up with this transition panel?

The autogyro is green and also, you know, not a plane. So why is Steve battling a yellow plane here? Anyway, Steve is closing down on the autogyro, and about to win, but then another plane (a yellow one) shows up and shoots the Federal Men down instead. I see, that explains the transition panel I guess, but what a way to mess up the flow of the story.

Luckily, our heroes have parachutes, so they fall safely and hide out. 

There are three things very wrong with this panel, let's see if you can spot them! 

.

.

.

Nothing? Ok, let me point them out then: 

1-The moon looks like it's covered in Dorito dust.

2- The yellow plane seems to be flying extremely close to the ground.

3- The searchlight is only a few centimeters close to Steve and Ralph! They totally should have been spotted!

The plane flies off (of course) and Steve and Ralph magically learn another clue off-screen (or off-page I guess?): There's a radio station somewhere doing... something. I guess it had communication with the autogyro or something. Whatever, they go to the place (an abandoned warehouse) and they find an alone dude who's managing the place. Steve holds him and Ralph ties him up... Let's hope they're sure he's the bad guy. Also, they shove him into a closet. Maybe he'll come out as Doctor Occult!

Then, someone calls the station, and before waiting for confirmation from the operator, they spill the "important instructions", which are heard by the Federal Men.

Well, that doesn't sound very nice...

Steve has an idea relating to this, but before he can tell Ralph about it, a woman comes in and aims a gun at them.

Before the final page of the story, there's this!

I'm not gonna try it, but something tells me that a piece of newsprint paper pasted on cardboard and pinned onto a coat wouldn't look very nice.

Anyway, the Doctor Occult wannabee kicks the closet door, distracting the woman and giving Steve an opportunity to jump in (as he does) and take the gun.

So, the girl then recognizes Steve and tells them that she's a reporter that received a "hot tip" about the place. Now that the matter's cleared, apparently, everyone starts recognizing each other because Ralph also recognizes the reporter. 

Also, a fearless female reporter created by Siegel and Shuster? I don't know why but that's ringing some bells... 

Lois Lane Jean Dennis then informs the Federal Men that she'll essentially be latching onto their adventures now, in search of some scoops.

Then, there's a cutoff to a "distant spot" where the bad guys are building... Whatever this is.

And that's it for now, but instead of a "to be continued" we get a message from Steve Carson.

I was going to say something about this message being somewhat simplistic and old-fashioned, but I mean, this is a kid's strip from 1936 so I don't know what I was expecting...

Now, the ratings:

Quality/Enjoyment: 2/5

Not a terrible story, but pretty bland. I mean, there's nothing here that we haven't seen in Federal Men already. Also, the events kind of just happened without much cohesion, and I noticed a lot of conveniences, even more so than usual.

It is nice that we were introduced to another Federal Man though. I don't know if more of them will join the roster over time or if Ralph will stay long, but if those things happen, then it would make more sense that the series is called Federal Men instead of Federal Man.

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

Alright, that's it for now, but we still have two more parts to go. For now, thanks for reading and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 17- Funny Picture Stories (1936) #1 [A Story]

Story title: "Alias the Clock" 

Cover Date: November 1936

By: George Brenner

DCRO Entry

Hey! Today we have a new magazine (for a change, we're actually starting from issue #1), and a new character! I couldn't find if the magazine published reprints or new stories, but I'm leaning toward the latter because the comics in here are maybe a bit too long for reprints. Sadly though, the larger page count is used mostly to have bigger panels, instead of to tell longer/more fleshed-out stories. It's still an improvement, but I'd prefer the latter...

Now The Clock is a character that had a pretty good run in the Golden Age, and we'll get into why he's in the order later (mostly because I haven't looked it up yet lol). He is pretty much your average crime fighter, but with an extra sliver of brutality (you'll see). He kind of reminds me of early Batman, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the Caped Crusader was partly inspired by him. You know, he's also a rich and brutal (that whole no killing and no using firearms thing is relatively new) crime fighter.

Also, we should start paying attention to the covers. Or at least the ones that include the character in question. I mention it because that guy you see there is The Clock! There's not much to discuss in this case though, as the cover is literally just a panel from the story... But hey, at least the title is there: "Alias the Clock".

One more thing before starting: the magazine has a contents page with a blurb for the Clock's story.

That's a first... Or maybe I haven't paid enough attention. Anyway, the story:

The story begins with a shot to a newspaper that informs us that a jewel dealer has been robbed and his guard beaten up. Next, the guard in question is talking to a policeman (or a private investigator? not sure...), apparently, he received a blow to the head while doing his rounds and doesn't know anything else.

Then, another guy comes in and calls the investigator "chief" so I guess he's a policeman, and he lets him know that the (former) owner of the jewelry also wants to see him. Now, that guy is a jackass. He's threatening to make the cop lose his badge (probably through some kind of bribing or another form of power abuse) if he doesn't catch the thieves even though: 1- He's already rich, so it's not like losing some jewels is a huge blow and 2- The jewels were insured! So he's not losing anything! But of course, he wants his profit... (Don't get me wrong though, it's understandable that he wants to catch the thieves and get his wares back, but I just think he's being kind of an ass about it)

Anyway, our hero finally appears!

Apparently, at this point, he's just a creep that read about the case in the news and wants to get involved.

Next, the watchman is doing his rounds again. That's kind of weird, you'd guess he would've been fired after that blunder (mostly because we've met his boss), but apparently, he wasn't. He hears someone calling him and since he's probably the dumbest character in the order so far, he spills the beans then and there:

The Clock probably already knew he was involved (though exactly how is beyond me) but it's funnier to think that he just wanted to ask him some questions and accidentally stumbled upon the truth.

The Clock then kidnaps the watchman and takes him to his home(?) at gunpoint, where he shoves him into his weird dungeon with nasty intentions. Wait, who was the bad guy here again?

Anyway, the Clock has a lot of devices to make crooks sing, including:

An Iron Maiden (or Iron Lady I guess), which I recently learned was not an actual torture device, but rather an attraction invented by museums and antique dealers, and I don't know if I should be relieved or disappointed.

This thing that's explained by the Clock.

A table that turns you into Stretchy Armstrong.

A furnace? That's savage!

A brine bath... I don't know what brine is so time to look it up... Well, that doesn't sound that bad, but I guess it's meant to be used on wounds and stuff.

Of course, the poor devil immediately discloses the locations of his partners in crime, so The Clock goes to the place. He then finds the worst possible hiding place and the criminals immediately catch him.

Hey, look! It's the cover!

Also, I think it's the first time in the order (or maybe it was with Scribbly?) that we see dialogue written phonetically to emphasize accents. It's done quite often in comics and honestly, as a non-native English speaker, I sometimes struggle to understand what characters are saying lol. It's not really a big deal though, especially after reading stuff like Preacher.

The Clock is left alone with one of the crooks, and I think someone's about to pull a Steve Carson...

Well, not exactly, this one's a bit smarter: The Clock presses a button, and the head of his cane is flung onto the crook's face, rendering him unconscious. Again, very Batmanlike, with the gadgets and all.

Of course, by the time the rest of the criminals arrive, The Clock is armed and just like that, they are turned over to the police.

The Clock then sends a letter to the cop from the beginning of the story, telling him where to pick up the criminals and informing him that the money from the jewels has been given away a la Robin Hood. 

Then, the cop burns the letter (or it burns itself, it's not very clear), and that's how the story ends: The Clock has become an enemy of the law, as well as of the underworld.

And that's the closest we get to a "The end".

Now, the ratings: 3/5

The story itself is nothing special, just a basic Golden Age crime strip, but the bit with the torture room was insane!

Also, The Clock, he has potential. I'm kind of confused with the name though. I thought he would have a time motif or something, but apparently, he just calls himself "The Clock" because his stamp/calling card is shaped like one. Besides, his mask is weird... I mean, it's literally a black cloth with two holes in it. It looks like a napkin, what's up with that? 

One more thing: it's a shame character backstories weren't a thing yet, because out of the characters we know so far, I think both Doctor Occult and The Clock could really use one.

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 2/5

So, why is The Clock in the order? Well, I'm not sure about the specifics, but he's had the occasional reference in the modern DC universe. That's probably a 1/5, but he's had a pretty good run in the Golden Age, so I'll raise it! Plus, this is the first story not occurring on Earth-Two, but on Earth-Quality (from Quality Comics, the company that bought Centaur Publishing, the publisher of this magazine, and was later in turn bought by DC). If you don't know what I'm talking about, well, the DC multiverse is complicated, so if you want to know more, I recommend this video. Otherwise, we'll discover it along the way.

Also, there isn't a "collection" for The Clock like there is for Scribbly and Doctor Occult, but you can read the magazine this story is in here.

Alright, that's (finally) it. Next time, we'll start the final stretch of "The Invisible Empire". Until then, thanks for reading, and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 16- Popular Comics (1936) #7 [AJ Story]

Story title: "Knickers, Longies-or art?"

Cover Date: August 1936

By: Sheldon Mayer

DCRO Entry

Today we have another short Scribbly strip from Popular Comics. This shouldn't take long so let's get to it.

The story starts with Scribbly admiring a book that has a picture of his favorite cartoonist: Ving Parker. And in case you're wondering, no, that's not a real person, I looked it up.  Scribbly is fascinated by the fact that this Ving Parker is wearing a smock, which is apparently the quintessential piece of clothing for any self-respecting artist. 

So, the young artist goes to ask his mother to buy him a smock, but she interrupts him and gives him a (admittedly pretty awful) pair of short pants, and forces him to wear them.

Man, fashion was weird back in the 1930s... I mean, for a kid, Scribbly is extremely finely dressed, he's wearing a tie and all! And then his mother makes him dress like a clown...

Next, Scribby calls himself a sissy! 

That aged well...

However, the kid proves that he's smarter than he looks in those pants because he then convinces his mother to buy him the smocks he wants so that his new pair of clown pants won't get dirty.

Oh my! And I thought the short pants were ridiculous...

By the way, Scribbly's baby brother is present in almost every panel, following the cartoonist around the house and witnessing his hijinx. I think that's pretty cute.

Later, Scribbly's mother is bragging to her friend about how she got her son to wear the clothes she wanted him to wear and calls the kid so she can show him off.

So, the friend in question asks Scribbly to open up the smock (a petition you should never make to a kid), but he doesn't want to, so his mom gets so angry she literally turns white.

So Scribbly, filled with terror, obeys and what's below the smock is...

His underwear I guess? Was underwear this weird in 1936? The joke is that Scribbly (understandably) didn't want to wear the short pants, so he's just not wearing any pants? What the hell is this?

Anyway, that's the end of the story.

Also...

Just how many July issues can they release?.

Anyway, the ratings:

Quality/Enjoyment: 2/5

Yeah... That was pretty bad. The joke wasn't funny and the story was generally weird. Most of the stuff we've seen so far hasn't aged too well, but this one especially stood out to me. Anyway, I still don't hate this. I like Scribbly and it's fun to follow his hijinks. 

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

Before I go, remember you can read every Dell-era Scribbly strip here.

Well, that's it for now. Next time we get a new character and the longest entry in the order so far, (seven pages!!) so you should maybe get excited. Until then, thank you for reading, and have a nice rest of your day!