In The Flash 153 and Hawkman 8, the heroes played to their strengths. While the Scarlet Speedster tangled with two members of his colorful rogue’s gallery, the Winged Wonders solved an archeological science fiction mystery.
In The Mightiest Punch of All Time (The Flash 153, June 1965), “The Flash and villainous Reverse-Flash continue their battle for Al Desmond, the former Mr. Element, trying to steer him away or towards a life of crime,” noted comics historian Michael E. Grost.
“This is a sequel to Our Enemy, the Flash (#147, September 1964), and it is much better than the original. It is rich in plot inventions of all types.
“In the previous tale, Reverse-Flash had used physical force to coerce Al Desmond, who was virtually his hostage. This second tale is much more science fictional: it involves 25th Century mental control rays designed to influence people towards or away from a life of crime. This is typical of Broome’s approach, in that he takes ideas from an earlier tale, and science-fictionalizes them to construct subsequent story premises.
“Broome shows skepticism about the infallibility of advanced scientific machines. He had written many tales in the sf magazines criticizing computers, and these stories are in those traditions.”
Meanwhile, Hawkman traces a mind-controlling mask purportedly forged by the god Vulcan to Mount Olympus in Greece, where he and Hawkgirl battle a hostile metal giant.
Artist Joe Kubert had introduced the revamped Hawkman to the world, but by the time the Winged Wonder landed his own title, Murphy Anderson had taken over the feature.
“Anderson is not as flashy a stylist as Kubert, but, admiring both Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant and everything Lou Fine had done, he is a master draftsman,” observed comics historian R.C. Harvey. “He can portray the human figure in every position from any angle, capturing, in every pose, a classical elegance. If Kubert was Rembrandt, Anderson was Michelangelo. The body English in his pictures amplifies dramatic moments.”
Bob Bailey:
ReplyDeleteThat’s a good description of Murphy Anderson.
ReplyDeleteBob Bailey:
Dan, I loved all the Schwartz books. But I always looked for the Murphy Anderson artwork. I would pick up Strange Adventures and Mystery In Space just to get stories he worked on. While I liked collected Hawkman I wish he had been able to continue The Atomic Knights. Good post, Dan
Joseph Lenius:
ReplyDeleteBack in the days when the Reverse-Flash apparently wasn't the totally evil murderous piece of garbage as post-Silver Age writers would present him. And when the Flash had great art.
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteAnderson was a master draftsman. He may not have been as innovative an artist as his editorial mates (what is a comic book term to stand in for band-mates or teammates?) but his detailed and lush style made up for that, and when he was really excited about the work, as on the Atomic Knights or Spectre, it soared. Over all, Hawkman was not as interesting a title as the other Schwartz books though the earlier issues were quite good. As time went on, the book became less plot-oriented, and DC tried to emulate the action style of Marvel without understanding the emotional content as well, and so the stories began to suffer. But I enjoyed the early issues. I wish that Hawkgirl got a bit more action, I mean, showed up more often, I mean showed what she was capable of..oh whatever, You get what I mean! She often didn't make it to the cover and frankly, I would rather see an Anderson drawing of her than of Carter! 🙂 Even her job seemed to vary--I just read the second Archives edition that reprinted the early Hawkman stories from his own title, and it seemed that even Fox got confused what Shayera did in the museum, because in one issue he called her Carter's secretary, but I thought she was a curator. Who knows. Who also knows how they got that job in the museum with no credentials to speak of, but did we question that as kids? No!
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteRe Mr. Element aka Dr. Alchemy: Al Desmond was the second of John Broome's villains. He was the first to have two criminal identities - an intriguing idea back in the 50s and he had an interesting arc. First appearing as Mr. Element in Showcase 13, he was back the next issue as Dr. Alchemy. No back story for the character to speak of in either issue. And then, it seemed that Broome just forgot about him. For years, the only Showcase villain that made it into the Flash' own run was Captain Cold, who had premiered in Showcase 8. Gardner Fox, scrounging around for opponents in the first JLA/JSA team-up, found Dr. Alchemy. He didn't need to know anything about the character other than his magical philosopher's stone could do just about anything that Fox was going to dream up for that two-issue free for all.
Maybe it was the reprints in the Flash giants that reminded Broome and Schwartz about Dr Alchemy/Mr. Element. But his long absence (not counting the JLA story) allowed for Broome to convincingly depict the character, now with a civilian identity of Al Desmond and a lovely girl friend, as being reformed. Reformed villains at DC was not that common-even at Marvel, it seemed that bad guys got reformed only to fill seats in the Avengers-so it was a novel approach. And so Mr. Element lived again!
Jim Gray:
ReplyDeleteThe first time I ever heard of complementary colors is when a reader wrote in and asked "shouldn't the reverse flash be green and purple?"