Happy Veterans Day 2010!!
Dynamic Comics #1 (Oct. 1941) featured characters like Dynamic Man, Black Cobra, Lucky Coyne, Hale the Magician and this patriotic crusader, Major Victory. Marvel and DC both utilize the name now, but golden age publisher Harry A. Chesler got there first.
This story introduces Maj. Victory; his mentor, Father Patriot; and the villainous, Von Krumm. Comic book artist, editor and publisher, Charles Sultan is responsible for the art on this fine tale and the cover too. Although Sultan was the art director at Chesler from 1940 until 1953, he produced work for several companies on features like Minute Man, Rick O'Shay & Spy Smasher for Fawcett; Clipper Kirk, Sky Rangers & Suicide Smith for Fiction House and various romance stories and Black Condor for Quality.
Rather than jump right back into my "Nedor-A-Weekend" posts following last months Halloween/Strange Terrors celebration, I'm going to rotate some of the old golden age superhero stories from Chesler with my regular jungle comics stuff. There will also be a special weekend feature replacing my Nedor posts (at least for the time being). Kicking off this very Saturday, you are invited to be here for the start of "Science Fiction/Double Feature"; a weekly thrill ride of classic, golden age sci-fi comics and interesting filler pieces from Ziff-Davis.
Enjoy!
6 comments:
With Major Victory and Santa Claus on our side, those fifth columnists didn't stand a chance!
Interesting similarity to DC's Liberty Belle. Two characters created around the same time whose origins revolve around the Liberty Bell. Hmmmmmm.
Daniel, I almost mentioned the "Santa Claus" thing and Scott, it's just your typical golden age coincidence I suppose.
Wow, Sultan's really got that Lou Fine thing going, doesn't he?
Sultan was definitely one of the better artists of the time especially for working on the inside pages. I tend to associate his stories with slightly surreal and macabre touches though, such as the "Santa Claus" version of American spirit or the simple fact the hero is pretty much a ghost, having to die before becoming a superhero.
Charles, Sultan was just one of the many artists who tried to emulate Fine's style.
Too bad more of today's readers aren't as familiar with his name. The guy was revered by many of the silver age artists who succeeded the golden age contingent!
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