As Usual, Jack Was There Before Us

I'm awake! First time i've gotten more than 2-3 hours of sleep in a single block in weeks. Kinda forgot what that was like.
 Others are busy not forgetting.

A lot of folks in this country (the USA) got their first introduction to Guy Fawkes, or "Guy Fox" as many seem to believe, in the movie V For Vendetta. And most of those folks don't seem to realize that he was an actual person from history, and one of your more bizarre holidays.

Fortunately, Jack Kirby is here to educate as well as entertain. Let's jump back almost 75 years to Headline Comics #23 and Jack & Joe Simon will learn ya some -

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The gunpowder treason and plot...

page art by Simon & Kirby from Headline Comics #23 (1947)

Worldbeater & Unggh?

A brief divergence whilst the brain reboots...

Do ya know Worldbeater and Unngh (and later in the run, JoBlo, the Martian who learned to speak English by listening to radio commercials)? I'll forego giving you the set-up just now - it's laid out in most every splash page below.

Originally written and drawn by Fred Morgan, the fifth tale was drawn by Maurice del Bourgo, and then August Froehlich took over art chores on the strip. (Fred Morgan continued writing while also drawing other strips like Air Male and Flying Fist & Bingo. (Don't ya love those names?))

Usually when i'm doing one of the features, i only use the splash panels. But we're going to go with full pages today, simply because the bottom after the splash often recaps the weirdness ongoing in the series-

Some Odd is more odd than others, y'know?

page art by Fred Morgan, Maurice del Bourgo, and August Froehlich from Prize Comics #s 38-48, Headline Comics # 15 (1944)

Son of Mobster Monday (King Kirby 052)

I mentioned Headline Comics as one of the old Simon & Kirby crime comics i enjoyed. Headline worked to create a specific feeling to the book that worked well for me. They featured behind the scenes exposes and cautionary tales...

...true Crime Never Pays stories from the 'headlines'...

...and TRUE Confidential Reports by "Red Hot" Blaze!

 Blaze even got a terrific clasic Simon & Kirby 2-page splash:

 And his stories are all True! How do we know? Because they're told directly to Simon & Kirby:

But... How do we know that's true, and not just a gimmick? Well, for that we have to jump over to Treasure Comics. Both Headline and Treasure were published by American Boys' Comics under the Prize Comics banner, along with Wonderland Comics, Frankenstein Comics, and the eponymous Prize Comics. If you go digging, Simon & Kirby can be found in all but Wonderland Comics.

Meanwhile, back at how do we know the stories are really told to the team by "Red Hot" Blaze... Let's go to Treasure Comics #10 (right) - Just LOOK!

There he is, telling the story to Jack Kirby:

So, now you know. All completely True.
Treasure Comics indeed.

all pages by Jack Kirby & Joe Simon for Headline Comics #s 23-29 (1947-1948) and Treasure Comics #10 (1946)

Entertaining Headlines (King Kirby 039)

Y'know, the news must have been a lot more interesting back in the first half of the last century.
I mean, check out these Headlines:

Yep - that last one was out of numeric order. But it's such a great cover, it got saved for last. These Headline Comics covers are all Jack Kirby/Joe Simon pencil/inks.

covers by Jack Kirby & Joe Simon for Headline Comics (1947-1951)