Old-timey comics reviews
Dec. 2nd, 2011 06:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jkcarrierI was at Mid-Ohio Con back in October, and ended up picking up a pile of early-70s comics for dirt cheap. Bronze Age DC comics are my "comfort food" -- even the ones that aren't so great fill me with a warm, nostalgic glow. A quick run-down of my purchases:
ACTION COMICS #454
December 1975
Superman in "Superman's Energy Crisis"
Script: Cary Bates
Art: Curt Swan & Tex Blaisdell
After a fight with the Toyman, Superman finds himself constantly hungry and exhausted, unable to maintain his energy. The explanation (and solution) is a bit perfunctory and out of left field, but the main fun of the story is watching Superman cope with his sudden limits: having to eat hundreds of hamburgers to replenish his energy, Clark Kent falling asleep in the middle of his newscast, etc. Swan's art, as always, is clean, clear, and attractive.
The Atom in "The Campus That Swallowed Itself"
Script: Martin Pasko
Art: Jose Delbo
The namesake ivy vines of Ivy University are growing wild and destroying the campus, and the Atom has to stop it. The culprit turns out to be the typical "scientific experiment gone wrong", but there's some clever, contemporary references to pop psychology and the practice of talking to plants to make them grow faster. With only 5 pages, there's barely enough time to explain the premise before the whole thing's over, but Pasko's tight, witty script makes it work. Delbo's art looks better than usual here -- inking himself seems to make a big difference.
ADVENTURE COMICS #404
March 1971
Supergirl in "Super-Girl?"
Script: Mike Sekowsky
Art: Mike Sekowsky & Jack Abel
A gang-leader named Starfire has slipped Supergirl a pill that causes her super-powers to randomly fade in and out. In theory, this dilemma should make for some great drama, but in practice it's just a little too convenient: Supergirl's powers conk out just in time to get her captured, then reappear at the right moment for her to save the day. Sekowsky's stylish art is the main appeal here... part of the story takes place at a Mardi Gras-type carnival, and he really goes to town drawing the crowds of people in outre costumes.
ADVENTURE COMICS #426
February-March 1973
"Adventurers' Club"
Script: John Albano
Art: Jim Aparo
The start of a new series, hosted by manly, eyepatch-wearing Nelson Strong. The title made me think it would be some kind of African safari adventure or something, but it turned out to be an urban tale of crime and revenge, with a Twilight Zone-ish twist at the end. Pretty clever, and you can't go wrong with Aparo artwork.
The Vigilante in "Snow-White Death"
Script: Cary Bates
Art: Mike Sekowsky & Dick Giordano
The cowboy hero comes to the aid of a woman being hunted by her former drug dealer. The subsequent chase and gunfight is very well-staged, some great action here. The ending is almost humorous in its abruptness: upon learning that the law "can't touch" the big drug kingpin, Vigilante simply strolls into his office and delivers a punitive beating (and there's a final twist on top of that, which I won't give away).
Captain Fear in "God of Vengeance"
Script: Robert Kanigher
Art: Alex Nino
In 1850s Indo-China, the Indian slave-turned-pirate Captain Fear rescues a woman from a murderous cult. There's some funny banter/bickering between the two as they fight their way back to Fear's ship, and I thought this would be a typical "they meet, they fight, they fall in love" routine, but the story takes an interesting swerve at the end. Nino's lush artwork really adds to the exotic, antique atmosphere.
CLAW THE UNCONQUERED #3
September-October 1975
"The Bloodspear"
Script: David Michelinie
Art: Ernie Chua & Pat Boyette
Our barbarian hero meets a lady centaur, who recruits him to help her find the magic artifact that will turn her back into a human. Nothing startlingly original here, but the expected elements are strung together fairly well, and I like the downbeat, unsentimental ending. Chua's bold, heavy figures and Boyette's fine-lined inking make a surprisingly good combination.
DC SPECIAL #18
October-November 1975
(A collection of reprints from the '50s and '60s, with the theme of "Earth Shaking Stories")
Superman in "The Super-Human Bomb!"
Script: Jim Shooter
Art: Wayne Boring
A four-armed alien named Grax straps a bomb to Superman and surrounds the Earth with a force field so that when Superman blows up, he'll take the planet with him. There's a real sense of tension building as Superman tries to figure out a way to deactivate the bomb. The answer to the puzzle is smart, and follows logically from the established premise (not always a given in this era of Superman stories). Wayne Boring's art is solid and he's especially good at drawing emotional, anguished faces, which reinforces the sense of fear and desperation.
Green Lantern and Flash in "Catastrophic Crimes of Major Disaster!"
Script: Gardner Fox
Art: Gil Kane & Sid Greene
As part of his scheme to take over the world, Major Disaster causes Green Lantern and Flash to switch super-powers (there's a delightfully loopy technobabble explanation of how he does this, involving "Stress-Null Beams" and the conservation of energy). The heroes have to cope with their new, unfamiliar powers and still thwart the bad guy. The logic is strained at best, but the headlong action and novel gimmicks make this a fun read. Not to mention Gil Kane's gorgeous art...it's no surprise that he draws a great Green Lantern, but he does a nice job with Flash as well.
Captain Marvel in "Captain Marvel Battles the Atomic Fire"
Script: Unknown
Art: C.C. Beck & Pete Costanza
An unscrupulous scientist unleashes an unquenchable "atomic fire" on a lumber mill, so the mill owner will have to pay him to put it out. But it turns out the scientist can't put it out either, and the atomic flames threaten to consume the whole world. It's pretty intense, with Captain Marvel trying one method after another to put out the flames, all in vain. There's a particularly good sequence where Cap uses psychology to goad the scientist into confessing. Eventually, he manages to save the day, and even helps the mill owner get back on his feet after his lumber was destroyed. Beck does a great job depicting both the character moments and the "widescreen" vistas of firey destruction.
FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL #4
July 1975
Lady Cop in "Poisoned Love!"
Script: Robert Kanigher
Art: John Rosenberger & Vince Colletta
Witnessing her friends' murder inspires Liza Warner to join the police academy and become a beat cop. This story is notorious for its melodramatic, but still Comics Code-approved, depiction of venereal disease ("It's a secret destroyer -- poisoning you like an underground river!"). Flowery excesses aside, it's not a bad story at all. I wouldn't go so far as to call it realistic, but it does at least give a nod to the more mundane aspects of policework. Liza is not taking down Mafia kingpins or international terrorists...she's just patrolling her beat, breaking up fights, catching petty thieves, counselling wayward girls. And to Kanigher's credit, she's consistently portrayed as smart, tough, and in control of every situation. There are books coming out NOW that don't handle their heroines this well.
FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL #12
March 1976
"Starman"
Script: Gerry Conway
Art: Mike Vosburg & Mike Royer
The premise here owes a bit to (Marvel's) Captain Marvel: an alien race is preparing to invade Earth, but one of them, Mikaal Tomas, turns traitor and comes to warn the human race. Conway devotes a fair amount of space to the various ordinary folks that Mikaal encounters: the cops who find his spaceship, the couple who take him in when he's injured. It's a nice humanizing touch, and serves as a reminder of the stakes involved -- if the aliens succeed, all these people will be enslaved. Mikaal himself is kind of generically noble and brooding, and doesn't seem to have any interesting powers beyond the usual super-strength and flying. Still, there's room for growth here, and some visual panache... I like the character design a lot, and Royer's inks add an appealing slickness to Vosburg's art. I'm surprised this character stayed in limbo for so long.
HOUSE OF MYSTERY #158
April 1966
(The one 1960s comic in my haul -- beat to hell, but intact and readable)
Dial H for Hero in "Dial 'V' for Villain"
Script: Dave Wood
Art: Jim Mooney
I think this was only the 3rd or 4th "Dial H" story, and they were already playing around with the premise, asking the obvious question, "What if a bad guy got ahold of the Dial?" A gangster with the unfortunate name of "Daffy Dagan" dials himself into a powerful monster, and Robby Reed has to rely on his wits and trick him into returning to human form. Jim Mooney's art is clean and attractive, although the designs for Robby's superhero forms (Quakemaster and The Squid) are pretty cheesy. That might be deliberate -- although the Dial supposedly conjures up forms at random, they do seem to be the kind of heroes that a kid like Robby might invent himself.
J'onn J'onzz, Manhunter from Mars in "The Origin of the Diabolu Idol-Head"
Script: Jack Miller
Art: Joe Certa
The Idol-Head of Diabolu -- a strange statue that spit out random monsters -- was an ongoing plot device in the J'onn J'onzz stories for a couple of years. This story finally wraps it up, as J'onn is drawn back to ancient Babylonia, where the Idol was originally created. It's not exactly an epic conclusion (whattaya want for 8 pages?)...Diabolu himself conveniently keels over from natural causes, and J'onn finally just picks up the Idol and crushes it. Certa's art is better than the story probably deserves. He really goes to town with the wizened, ranting Diabolu, and I like the design of the shaggy, beaked monster that pops out of the Idol.
KOBRA #5
November-December 1976
"The Eye of the Serpent!"
Script: Martin Pasko
Art: Rich Buckler & Frank McLaughlin
Kobra is somewhat typical of the Explosion/Implosion era at DC, going through multiple artists and changes of direction, being cancelled, un-cancelled, and then cancelled again. You can't blame writer Pakso, though...he pulls out all the stops, really pushing the idea of Kobra as a world-conquering mastermind in the Fu Manchu tradition. This issue has private eye Johnny Double stumbling into the periphery of Kobra's conspiracy. Double is a classic Dashiel Hammett-style gumshoe, and I found him more likeable than the usual series lead, Jason Burr. Buckler's art is a little stiff, but he does a pretty good job keeping the action clear in this very crowded, somewhat complicated story.
KORAK, SON OF TARZAN #47
July-August 1972
Korak in "The War Machine"
Script: Len Wein
Art: Frank Thorne
There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference between Korak and his dad -- this could just as easily be a Tarzan story. But it's a pretty good pulpy adventure, regardless. The Nazis have invaded the jungle to dig up a special metal to use in making airships. So we get to see Korak swinging from the mooring ropes of a dirigible instead of the usual jungle vines. Frank Thorne delivers great period flavor, lush jungles, and well-staged action.
Carson of Venus in "The Girl in the Garden"
Script: Len Wein, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel
Art: Mike Kaluta
I guess it makes sense to backup the Tarzan knock-off with the John Carter knock-off. ;-) This chapter is heavy on the exposition, as we learn a little bit about Venus and the people who live there. The action picks up towards the end, as Carson spies the hot alien chick of his dreams, and comes to her defense against a group of thugs. Burroughs can get away with the heroic fantasy cliches, because he invented most of them. It's early days for Kaluta, and his figure work is a little hit-or-miss, but he's already showing off his talent for intricate art noveau flourishes in the backgrounds.
MAN-BAT #2
February-March 1976
"Fugitive From Blind Justice"
Script: Martin Pasko
Art: Pablo Marcos & Ricardo Villamonte
The Ten-Eyed Man -- a villain who literally sees with his fingertips -- is pretty hard to take seriously. But this story does a decent job of making him seem both formidable and somewhat sympathetic, as the real mastermind takes advantage of his bizarre condition and fragile mental state to pit him against Man-Bat. There's an intriguing premise here: an organization seeks to eliminate all super-beings, hero and villain, because of the collateral damage they cause (kind of anticipating Marvel's notorious "Civil War"). Too bad the series didn't last longer to follow up on it. Marcos' dark, moody art helps sell the seriousness of the story, too.
RIMA THE JUNGLE GIRL #5
December-January 1974-1975
Rima in "Jungle Vengeance"
Script: Robert Kanigher
Art: Nestor Redondo
A mad scientist is performing horrific experiments on the jungle natives, and Rima has to put a stop to it. There's a nice bit of gender role-reversal here: Rima deliberately ditches her boyfriend Abel when she knows she's going into danger. Of course, he manages to get captured anyway. There's some suspense here, but ultimately Rima has a pretty easy time of it: she calls out to the animals of the jungle, who stampede in and take care of the bad guys. Redondo's art is just stunning.
Space voyagers in "The Queen Ant!"
Script: Robert Kanigher
Art: Alex Nino
Very basic space opera yarn: a spaceship crew lands on a planet inhabited by giant ants, and mayhem ensues. Nino's art is the main attraction here -- his loopy, surreal style turns the blah story into a vivid fever dream.
SUPERBOY #191
October 1972
Superboy in "The Kid With the Super-Brain"
Script: Leo Dorfman
Art: Bob Brown & Murphy Anderson
This is a sequel to an earlier story about Kathy, a little girl who gets zapped by an alien artifact and becomes a super-genius. This time, she and Superboy have to team up to solve a mystery involving sunken treasure and a mysterious bad guy with a grudge against Kathy's parents. Kathy is a fun character -- she's brilliant (and rather condescending), but still has the emotions of a little kid. Bob Brown was an underrated artist, I think -- he drew great, expressive characters.
The Legion of Super-Heroes in "Attack of the Sun-Scavenger"
Script: Cary Bates
Art: Dave Cockrum
The apparent death of his arch-enemy leads Sun Boy into a trap, and his fellow Legionnaires have to come to his rescue. You can see the "twist" coming a mile away ("Hmm...the solar-powered villain's last request was to be cremated in the heart of a star... what could possibly go wrong?"), but it's good fun regardless. This is one of Cockrum's first Legion jobs -- he hasn't even started redesigning the costumes yet. But you can already see the fresh energy he brought to the table, that really put this franchise back on the map (a trick he duplicated a few years later with an obscure book called "X-Men").
ACTION COMICS #454
December 1975
Superman in "Superman's Energy Crisis"
Script: Cary Bates
Art: Curt Swan & Tex Blaisdell
After a fight with the Toyman, Superman finds himself constantly hungry and exhausted, unable to maintain his energy. The explanation (and solution) is a bit perfunctory and out of left field, but the main fun of the story is watching Superman cope with his sudden limits: having to eat hundreds of hamburgers to replenish his energy, Clark Kent falling asleep in the middle of his newscast, etc. Swan's art, as always, is clean, clear, and attractive.
The Atom in "The Campus That Swallowed Itself"
Script: Martin Pasko
Art: Jose Delbo
The namesake ivy vines of Ivy University are growing wild and destroying the campus, and the Atom has to stop it. The culprit turns out to be the typical "scientific experiment gone wrong", but there's some clever, contemporary references to pop psychology and the practice of talking to plants to make them grow faster. With only 5 pages, there's barely enough time to explain the premise before the whole thing's over, but Pasko's tight, witty script makes it work. Delbo's art looks better than usual here -- inking himself seems to make a big difference.
ADVENTURE COMICS #404
March 1971
Supergirl in "Super-Girl?"
Script: Mike Sekowsky
Art: Mike Sekowsky & Jack Abel
A gang-leader named Starfire has slipped Supergirl a pill that causes her super-powers to randomly fade in and out. In theory, this dilemma should make for some great drama, but in practice it's just a little too convenient: Supergirl's powers conk out just in time to get her captured, then reappear at the right moment for her to save the day. Sekowsky's stylish art is the main appeal here... part of the story takes place at a Mardi Gras-type carnival, and he really goes to town drawing the crowds of people in outre costumes.
ADVENTURE COMICS #426
February-March 1973
"Adventurers' Club"
Script: John Albano
Art: Jim Aparo
The start of a new series, hosted by manly, eyepatch-wearing Nelson Strong. The title made me think it would be some kind of African safari adventure or something, but it turned out to be an urban tale of crime and revenge, with a Twilight Zone-ish twist at the end. Pretty clever, and you can't go wrong with Aparo artwork.
The Vigilante in "Snow-White Death"
Script: Cary Bates
Art: Mike Sekowsky & Dick Giordano
The cowboy hero comes to the aid of a woman being hunted by her former drug dealer. The subsequent chase and gunfight is very well-staged, some great action here. The ending is almost humorous in its abruptness: upon learning that the law "can't touch" the big drug kingpin, Vigilante simply strolls into his office and delivers a punitive beating (and there's a final twist on top of that, which I won't give away).
Captain Fear in "God of Vengeance"
Script: Robert Kanigher
Art: Alex Nino
In 1850s Indo-China, the Indian slave-turned-pirate Captain Fear rescues a woman from a murderous cult. There's some funny banter/bickering between the two as they fight their way back to Fear's ship, and I thought this would be a typical "they meet, they fight, they fall in love" routine, but the story takes an interesting swerve at the end. Nino's lush artwork really adds to the exotic, antique atmosphere.
CLAW THE UNCONQUERED #3
September-October 1975
"The Bloodspear"
Script: David Michelinie
Art: Ernie Chua & Pat Boyette
Our barbarian hero meets a lady centaur, who recruits him to help her find the magic artifact that will turn her back into a human. Nothing startlingly original here, but the expected elements are strung together fairly well, and I like the downbeat, unsentimental ending. Chua's bold, heavy figures and Boyette's fine-lined inking make a surprisingly good combination.
DC SPECIAL #18
October-November 1975
(A collection of reprints from the '50s and '60s, with the theme of "Earth Shaking Stories")
Superman in "The Super-Human Bomb!"
Script: Jim Shooter
Art: Wayne Boring
A four-armed alien named Grax straps a bomb to Superman and surrounds the Earth with a force field so that when Superman blows up, he'll take the planet with him. There's a real sense of tension building as Superman tries to figure out a way to deactivate the bomb. The answer to the puzzle is smart, and follows logically from the established premise (not always a given in this era of Superman stories). Wayne Boring's art is solid and he's especially good at drawing emotional, anguished faces, which reinforces the sense of fear and desperation.
Green Lantern and Flash in "Catastrophic Crimes of Major Disaster!"
Script: Gardner Fox
Art: Gil Kane & Sid Greene
As part of his scheme to take over the world, Major Disaster causes Green Lantern and Flash to switch super-powers (there's a delightfully loopy technobabble explanation of how he does this, involving "Stress-Null Beams" and the conservation of energy). The heroes have to cope with their new, unfamiliar powers and still thwart the bad guy. The logic is strained at best, but the headlong action and novel gimmicks make this a fun read. Not to mention Gil Kane's gorgeous art...it's no surprise that he draws a great Green Lantern, but he does a nice job with Flash as well.
Captain Marvel in "Captain Marvel Battles the Atomic Fire"
Script: Unknown
Art: C.C. Beck & Pete Costanza
An unscrupulous scientist unleashes an unquenchable "atomic fire" on a lumber mill, so the mill owner will have to pay him to put it out. But it turns out the scientist can't put it out either, and the atomic flames threaten to consume the whole world. It's pretty intense, with Captain Marvel trying one method after another to put out the flames, all in vain. There's a particularly good sequence where Cap uses psychology to goad the scientist into confessing. Eventually, he manages to save the day, and even helps the mill owner get back on his feet after his lumber was destroyed. Beck does a great job depicting both the character moments and the "widescreen" vistas of firey destruction.
FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL #4
July 1975
Lady Cop in "Poisoned Love!"
Script: Robert Kanigher
Art: John Rosenberger & Vince Colletta
Witnessing her friends' murder inspires Liza Warner to join the police academy and become a beat cop. This story is notorious for its melodramatic, but still Comics Code-approved, depiction of venereal disease ("It's a secret destroyer -- poisoning you like an underground river!"). Flowery excesses aside, it's not a bad story at all. I wouldn't go so far as to call it realistic, but it does at least give a nod to the more mundane aspects of policework. Liza is not taking down Mafia kingpins or international terrorists...she's just patrolling her beat, breaking up fights, catching petty thieves, counselling wayward girls. And to Kanigher's credit, she's consistently portrayed as smart, tough, and in control of every situation. There are books coming out NOW that don't handle their heroines this well.
FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL #12
March 1976
"Starman"
Script: Gerry Conway
Art: Mike Vosburg & Mike Royer
The premise here owes a bit to (Marvel's) Captain Marvel: an alien race is preparing to invade Earth, but one of them, Mikaal Tomas, turns traitor and comes to warn the human race. Conway devotes a fair amount of space to the various ordinary folks that Mikaal encounters: the cops who find his spaceship, the couple who take him in when he's injured. It's a nice humanizing touch, and serves as a reminder of the stakes involved -- if the aliens succeed, all these people will be enslaved. Mikaal himself is kind of generically noble and brooding, and doesn't seem to have any interesting powers beyond the usual super-strength and flying. Still, there's room for growth here, and some visual panache... I like the character design a lot, and Royer's inks add an appealing slickness to Vosburg's art. I'm surprised this character stayed in limbo for so long.
HOUSE OF MYSTERY #158
April 1966
(The one 1960s comic in my haul -- beat to hell, but intact and readable)
Dial H for Hero in "Dial 'V' for Villain"
Script: Dave Wood
Art: Jim Mooney
I think this was only the 3rd or 4th "Dial H" story, and they were already playing around with the premise, asking the obvious question, "What if a bad guy got ahold of the Dial?" A gangster with the unfortunate name of "Daffy Dagan" dials himself into a powerful monster, and Robby Reed has to rely on his wits and trick him into returning to human form. Jim Mooney's art is clean and attractive, although the designs for Robby's superhero forms (Quakemaster and The Squid) are pretty cheesy. That might be deliberate -- although the Dial supposedly conjures up forms at random, they do seem to be the kind of heroes that a kid like Robby might invent himself.
J'onn J'onzz, Manhunter from Mars in "The Origin of the Diabolu Idol-Head"
Script: Jack Miller
Art: Joe Certa
The Idol-Head of Diabolu -- a strange statue that spit out random monsters -- was an ongoing plot device in the J'onn J'onzz stories for a couple of years. This story finally wraps it up, as J'onn is drawn back to ancient Babylonia, where the Idol was originally created. It's not exactly an epic conclusion (whattaya want for 8 pages?)...Diabolu himself conveniently keels over from natural causes, and J'onn finally just picks up the Idol and crushes it. Certa's art is better than the story probably deserves. He really goes to town with the wizened, ranting Diabolu, and I like the design of the shaggy, beaked monster that pops out of the Idol.
KOBRA #5
November-December 1976
"The Eye of the Serpent!"
Script: Martin Pasko
Art: Rich Buckler & Frank McLaughlin
Kobra is somewhat typical of the Explosion/Implosion era at DC, going through multiple artists and changes of direction, being cancelled, un-cancelled, and then cancelled again. You can't blame writer Pakso, though...he pulls out all the stops, really pushing the idea of Kobra as a world-conquering mastermind in the Fu Manchu tradition. This issue has private eye Johnny Double stumbling into the periphery of Kobra's conspiracy. Double is a classic Dashiel Hammett-style gumshoe, and I found him more likeable than the usual series lead, Jason Burr. Buckler's art is a little stiff, but he does a pretty good job keeping the action clear in this very crowded, somewhat complicated story.
KORAK, SON OF TARZAN #47
July-August 1972
Korak in "The War Machine"
Script: Len Wein
Art: Frank Thorne
There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of difference between Korak and his dad -- this could just as easily be a Tarzan story. But it's a pretty good pulpy adventure, regardless. The Nazis have invaded the jungle to dig up a special metal to use in making airships. So we get to see Korak swinging from the mooring ropes of a dirigible instead of the usual jungle vines. Frank Thorne delivers great period flavor, lush jungles, and well-staged action.
Carson of Venus in "The Girl in the Garden"
Script: Len Wein, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel
Art: Mike Kaluta
I guess it makes sense to backup the Tarzan knock-off with the John Carter knock-off. ;-) This chapter is heavy on the exposition, as we learn a little bit about Venus and the people who live there. The action picks up towards the end, as Carson spies the hot alien chick of his dreams, and comes to her defense against a group of thugs. Burroughs can get away with the heroic fantasy cliches, because he invented most of them. It's early days for Kaluta, and his figure work is a little hit-or-miss, but he's already showing off his talent for intricate art noveau flourishes in the backgrounds.
MAN-BAT #2
February-March 1976
"Fugitive From Blind Justice"
Script: Martin Pasko
Art: Pablo Marcos & Ricardo Villamonte
The Ten-Eyed Man -- a villain who literally sees with his fingertips -- is pretty hard to take seriously. But this story does a decent job of making him seem both formidable and somewhat sympathetic, as the real mastermind takes advantage of his bizarre condition and fragile mental state to pit him against Man-Bat. There's an intriguing premise here: an organization seeks to eliminate all super-beings, hero and villain, because of the collateral damage they cause (kind of anticipating Marvel's notorious "Civil War"). Too bad the series didn't last longer to follow up on it. Marcos' dark, moody art helps sell the seriousness of the story, too.
RIMA THE JUNGLE GIRL #5
December-January 1974-1975
Rima in "Jungle Vengeance"
Script: Robert Kanigher
Art: Nestor Redondo
A mad scientist is performing horrific experiments on the jungle natives, and Rima has to put a stop to it. There's a nice bit of gender role-reversal here: Rima deliberately ditches her boyfriend Abel when she knows she's going into danger. Of course, he manages to get captured anyway. There's some suspense here, but ultimately Rima has a pretty easy time of it: she calls out to the animals of the jungle, who stampede in and take care of the bad guys. Redondo's art is just stunning.
Space voyagers in "The Queen Ant!"
Script: Robert Kanigher
Art: Alex Nino
Very basic space opera yarn: a spaceship crew lands on a planet inhabited by giant ants, and mayhem ensues. Nino's art is the main attraction here -- his loopy, surreal style turns the blah story into a vivid fever dream.
SUPERBOY #191
October 1972
Superboy in "The Kid With the Super-Brain"
Script: Leo Dorfman
Art: Bob Brown & Murphy Anderson
This is a sequel to an earlier story about Kathy, a little girl who gets zapped by an alien artifact and becomes a super-genius. This time, she and Superboy have to team up to solve a mystery involving sunken treasure and a mysterious bad guy with a grudge against Kathy's parents. Kathy is a fun character -- she's brilliant (and rather condescending), but still has the emotions of a little kid. Bob Brown was an underrated artist, I think -- he drew great, expressive characters.
The Legion of Super-Heroes in "Attack of the Sun-Scavenger"
Script: Cary Bates
Art: Dave Cockrum
The apparent death of his arch-enemy leads Sun Boy into a trap, and his fellow Legionnaires have to come to his rescue. You can see the "twist" coming a mile away ("Hmm...the solar-powered villain's last request was to be cremated in the heart of a star... what could possibly go wrong?"), but it's good fun regardless. This is one of Cockrum's first Legion jobs -- he hasn't even started redesigning the costumes yet. But you can already see the fresh energy he brought to the table, that really put this franchise back on the map (a trick he duplicated a few years later with an obscure book called "X-Men").
