DCRO 27- More Fun Comics (1936) #15 [Q Story]

Story title: "Koth and the Seven, Part 3" 

Cover Date: November 1936

By: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster

DCRO Entry

So, we're still on More Fun Comics, and I'm pretty sure this will be the permanent home of Doctor Occult, at least until he revives in the 80s. Anyway, let's see how Occult and Zator's invasion of Koth's home goes.

Oh! We begin the story with an attack by a racial stereotype...

I don't even know what it's trying to portray, (it doesn't really look like an Egyptian stereotype) but it seems offensive alright!

It's also interesting to note that it's not "The black giant's path" but "The giant's black path"... That's all I had to say, it just sounds a bit weird lol.

So, anyway, racial stereotype over there is about to kill Zator, but the Doctor intervenes! During their fight, Occult notices his weapon "counters attack of its own volition", and so he "understands why it was presented to him by The Seven". So they were like: "Yeah, this guy doesn't know squat about fencing, how's he gonna stop Koth?" "Idk man, give him the automatic sword or something, he's Zator friend, just go easy on him". Also, this is kind of the epitome of the theme of Doctor Occult not really doing much. Think about it! Most of the problems in his stories usually get resolved by other people, with the Doctor just kind of being there. I guess it's alright to have a series where the main character isn't the center of the universe and the other characters also do stuff, but it'd be nice if he actually did something once in a while...

Well, no, I bet he didn't actually expect you to have a magical weapon that wins automatically...

Meanwhile, Koth is hearing all about the invasion, but even though he could kill the invaders immediately, he holds back because "that would be too easy"... Sure, buddy, whatever makes you feel good about yourself.

Next, the heroes are attacked by some green creatures, and apparently, the Doctor's a bit too thirsty for blood, after sampling the power of the auto-blade.

But before they can taste the steel, the green creatures vanish, and in their stead, the heroes find a case with the magic belt they were looking for. What the hell? Is that a trick from Koth? If it is, it's a bit too obvious, but we all know they're going to fall for it anyway...

But it wasn't a trick though... Apparently, Koth is just now hearing about this belt, which just so happens to be the only real threat to him... 

Also, someone hasn't heard about not killing the messenger... Especially when he's your own lackey...

So, after hearing the news, Koth forgets about trying to have fun and orders that Occult and Zathor are killed immediately. Guess someone just poop their pants... Or whatever he's wearing. To be fair though, an auto-blade AND a magic belt do sound like too big an advantage for the heroes...

Meanwhile, the green creatures have un-vanished and Zator is fencing them off while the Doctor opens the box with the belt at a leisurely pace.

And that's it for this issue.

As always, you can read the early Doctor Occult works here. And you can find this particular story in its DCRO entry, which is already linked above. I think the ComicBoook+ scan is a bit better though, but don't quote me on that.

So, let's see the ratings:

Quality/Enjoyment: 3/5

Decent enough for what it is, a nice infiltration into an enemy lair. There's some action, there's a villain being villainous, and there's some magical bullshit... Pretty much what you'd expect for this kind of comic book from this specific era.

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

Alright, that's it for today, we still have two more parts of this to go, so I'll see you then. In the meantime, thanks for reading, and have a nice rest of your day!