Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1941-01-01 00:02:10 |
Marvel Mystery Comics #14 (Terry Vance)
Issue(s): Marvel Mystery Comics #14 (Terry Vance story only)
Cover Date: Dec 40
Title: "The school boy sleuth"
Credits:
Raymond Gill - Writer
Bob Oksner - Penciler
Bob Oksner - Inker
Review/plot:
This is a weird one that i almost considered not including, but i figured what the hell. It's about Terry Vance, "boy of a hundred hobbies", his pet monkey Dr. Watson, and his friend Deadline Dawson.
They help foil a plot to kidnap and ransom a young actress Diana Dunn.
It seems they hadn't quite figured out word balloon placement yet; there's a few times in this story where you have to kind of figure out what to read next.
Say what you will about this comic, it does feature a monkey.
Vance and company had a significant number of appearances in Marvel Mystery Comics, but to my knowledge he was never officially brought into Marvel continuity. This story was reprinted in 2009's Young Allies 70th Anniversary Special #1, so i initially assumed Vance was a member of the Young Allies, but that's not the case. I don't know why a Young Allies story wasn't reprinted instead of this, but i suspect it was due to the racism surrounding the Whitewash Jones character in Young Allies, a point that Roger Stern's Anniversary issue spends a decent amount of time trying to address.
The reprint does include a text piece from Captain America Comics #8 featuring the Young Allies and sure enough Whitewash Jones is depicted with a mouth full of watermelon and saying things like "Yeabo! I'se just itchin' to meet up with some trouble - providin' it ain't bigger than me, ob course!". So i guess that's enough for me.
Also looking at the bonus material in the reprint, it seems there was a fanclub called Captain America's Sentinels of Liberty, where patriotic kids could send money (to Timely Comics) to help root out spies and traitors.
And there's also this puzzle. Can you find Mr. Squirrel and Mr. Donkey? I sure as hell can't.
Quality Rating: C-
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: Young Allies 70th Anniversary Special #1
Comments
Looks like Mr. Squirrel (I assume that's an alias) is mostly in the negative space between the birds on the left side of the page. His eye's just below Mrs. Goose (her married name)'s hat feather, the fur on her collar forms his tail.
No sign of Mr. Donkey yet, but even after we find him it'll be revealed that he's aerospace mogul George Maxon, then that Maxon's a third reich imposter.
I found Mister Donkey! He's easier to see if you turn the picture upside down. His front leg is brown and he shares an ear...
What a cool picture. I like it better than the story!
Mr Donkey is much harder to find because he's five different colors and has a tree growing through his back.
What sorcery is this that I cannot find Mr. Squirrel or Mr. Donkey whatsoever??
I like Terry Vance; several of his many Golden Age stories are uploaded online and eventually they take on a slight sci-fi tone; I think there's a lot they could still do with this character in a 'Leave It To Chance' sort of way.
