The Human Torch Battles the Sub-Mariner as the World Faces Destruction!
Featuring: Human Torch Release: October 8, 1941 Cover: Fall 1941 10 cents 60 pages (!)
The comic gives no credits. I’ll point you to the GCD, which notes work from Carl Burgos, Bill Everett, Jack D’Arcy, Hank Chapman, Mike Roy, Harry Sahle and George Kapitan. That’s… a lot of names. I will make no attempt to untangle who did what.
Counting to 5
Let’s get the confusing part out of the way. We are looking at Human Torch #5, with a cover date of Fall 1941.
The previous issue of Human Torch was… Human Torch #5, with a cover date of Summer 1941. Why? I have no idea. I think somebody counted wrong.
Featuring: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos Release: September 3, 1963 Cover: November 1963 12 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Jack Kirby Inked by: G. Bell 22 pages
The cover lets us know that one Commando will fight no more after this mission. Comic covers of the time are full of exaggerated dramatic assertions. This is not one of those.
George Roussos is fast becoming one of the more regular inkers, using the pseudonym George Bell. This is his first time on Sgt. Fury. Dick Ayers handled the inking for the first 3 issues.
The opening page is a good test for me to see if I’ve been paying attention. Last issue offered the name of each character on the opening page. This time the question is whether I can identify each Commando to fill out my character section below. Sgt. Fury and Dum-Dum are distinctive, and I know them well from many later comics. Gabe Jones is clear, the only black man on the team. Fortunately, Dino Manelli is combing his hair; that comb is a signature; recall he’s a famous Hollywood actor. The scraggly guy is Izzy Cohen. That leaves the two blonde guys to not mix up, and I had to peek at the previous issue. I think the green hat is meant to be distinctive for Rebel Ralston, making the other one Junior Juniper. Junior is freckled, but that’s not obvious in this picture.
