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GRADING THE MILLENIUM: MORE FUN COMICS #101
Reviewed by Alex Bernstein
MORE FUN #101. A 1945 anthology starring: Green Arrow, Aquaman, Johnny Quick, the Spectre, Dover & Clover, and presenting the first appearance of Superboy.
Let's get to the punchline: Recommended.
No, wait - Highly Recommended. Hah! There, I said it. You can all go home now.
Why wasn't Johnny Quick a bigger star? His art - by Mort Meskin - knocks everyone else's down. And it's even muddy here. But he had that certain something, you know? Johnny had a great costume. And a gimmick I still don't understand. (He said a magic formula - 3X2(9YZ)4A and it gave him - wait-a-minute - what's a magic formula? Is it magic? Or a formula? Say it! Go on!) Quick was funny, charming, always smiling. His sidekick wasn't half-bad. But in the golden age - he didn't get covers - he got back-up. Not enough shelf space next to The Flash? Too bad.
Green Arrow and Speedy get the cover - a big yellow thing - shooting arrows two feet away at a guy in armor who never appears in the book. The art's 100% Simon and Kirby studio. The story is stolen by shots of the arrowcar - drawn in acute perspective. The tip of the car literally "hangs" off the page. What happens? God knows.
What happens to Aquaman? Stuff.
What happens to the Spectre? He grins a lot and hits a surprising number of people for an omnipotent ghost. The layout here is curvy on almost every panel. And, of course, you get Percival Popp, Super Cop (his sidekick). I'd like to say Bernard Bailey, the artist here, is on a level with Jack Cole - but, really, he's not. Still, all the timeless, creepy fun of the strip is here - as you'd expect it.
Who the hell are Dover and Clover?
The book gets reprinted because it's the first appearance of Superboy. Drawn by the Siegel/Shuster studio (studios were getting a lot of work those days) - it's almost exactly drawn like early Superman. We're still working out what Kryptonians wore at this point - favoring turn-of-the-century (American century) football jerseys for Jor-El and the Krypton Science Council. And y'know, you can never see Krypton blow up too many times.
It's Quaint. That's what it is. Quaint.
Over half the creators are listed as Unknown. Unknown. Unknown. Unknown.
Did I read the text piece: "A Personal Reason" written by Joseph Greene? I did not. (Although I skimmed it for Dover and Clover. MIA.)
Of course, it's recommended. For curiousity's sake alone. Where else are you going to find an artifact like this - at this price? My only question is: who picked this one? Okay, it's the first appearance of Superboy - but it's only five pages. And Superboy himself gets a whole issue in the Millenium series. How did this beat out the first appearance of say, Black Canary or the Ray?
And who the hell are Dover and Clover?
Recommended.
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MORE FUN COMICS #101
