Sugar and Spike #97 (1971)

Sugar and Spike #97 (September, 1971)
by Sheldon Mayer
Cover Price: $0.25

We got Sugar, we got Spike, we got Raymond and Henry (the Nervous Angel)... all that and the opportunity to win ten American dollars for writing our own bad-ass comics page (which... as luck would have it, the kid (?) who owned this gem back in 1971 DID do)... 

Funny thing, I rescued this comic from a Half-Price Books just last night... and saw that the spine was a bit off center.  Off I go searching online for a cover image I can use... lo and behold, the best one I find (and several of the not-so-best) has the same pulpy scoliosis.  Go figure...

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Our first story opens with poor Spike standing in the corner.  I miss the days where a kid can stand in the corner and it not be referred to as "time out".  Sugar pops her head in the window, and asks what's the haps.  Spike claims he's been wrongfully incarcerated for knocking over a lamp... it was all their damn cat's fault.

Sugar is pleased to reveal that she's learned two words in "grown up talk"... hey, let's keep it clean Sug'... that will fix everything... and so, to test her theory, she goes on a rampage throughout Spike's house.  When Mrs. Spike comes a'calling, Sugar speaks the two magic words "I Sowwy!".

Mrs. Spike immediately grabs Sugar and celebrates that she's started talking.  She runs next door to share the news with Mrs. Sugar.  After she's outta the picture, Sugar and Spike put their heads together and decide that "I'm sorry" means "The cat did it".

With this discovery, Sugar believes she's found her "get out of jail free" card, and can cause as much havoc as possible and get away with it.  Spike, being the conscience of the duo tries to stop her from further sullying the name of his fine cat.  Their spat is short-lived, as a passing by motorist crashes his car into Spike's fence.

The kids run out to get the skinny, and find the man explaining the situation to Mrs. Spike.  The pair are shocked when he says he's sorry... thinking he's trying to pin the entire thing on the poor cat!

The tots chase down the walking road hazard, and push him into the wall with their off-brand Radio Flyer, when an officer wanders by.  The road warrior wonders just why in the world the kids wanted him to stand in the corner... the end.

Our next story stars Raymond.  Who's Raymond?  Hell if I know.  Anyhoo, he's in the middle of a field in his playpen.  That doesn't seem safe, now does it?  In the background there are some older kids playing ball.  A bird lands in the pen and steals a loose thread from the lad for it's new nest... it's quite the chilling scene.

Raymond is upset that he can't fly away like the bird did, and laments that the only use he has for his non-flight granting hands is the that they have thumbs that he can suck.

At that very moment, we shift scenes... to Heaven!  Here we meet Henry, the Nervous Angel.  He's been shuffled from job to job in Heaven... failing-up so well that all politicians should be taking note.

He is given one job... taking an envelope with the words "Good Luck" written on it to the filing cabinet.  Well, Henry is not only a nervous angel... he's kind of jerk angel.  He opens the envelope and finds that there's a pink cloud inside of it.  Like a doofus, he drops it... and it falls directly into Raymond's playpen.

Ray bobbles the cloud until it falls to pieces.  Suddenly Ray's got the strength of... well, maybe a slightly older child.  He lifts the playpen and sneaks his way onto the ball field... where he just so happens to catch a long fly ball.

The ball-playing kids argue about their being an extra man (as it were) on the field.  It's decided that if Ray Ray's gonna play, he's also gonna have to bat.  Long story short, he manages to accidentally hit a home run.

Back in heaven, Henry and his new supervisor worry about the logistics of the "Good Luck" prayer being used without the proper forms having been filled out.  We close with Henry readying himself for his next transfer... in a much warmer climate.  Wonk wonk...

Our third tale is a shorty.  Some bratty neighbor kid is playing on a pogo stick, while Spike looks on in awe.  The jerk kid realizes Spike's interested, and so leaves the pogo stick unattended... hoping that poor li'l Spike at best makes a fool of himself, and at worst... dies in a pogo-related impalement.

Over the next page we see Spike nearly do just that.  If I were a betting man, I'd say he'd likely caused some brain damage here... clearly his gigantic skull hasn't yet hardened fully, he's lucky to still be walking after some of the bumps he's taking.

As luck would have it, Sugar happens by.  She's acting quite protective of her "doll-boy" here, and wants to give bratty Arthur his pogo stick back, her way.  They press the thing into the fence, and launch it straight for the little jerk.  I guess two attempted infanticides makes a right!

In our fourth... whew... story, Sugar and Spike spend some time together in a dark closet... not like that... Spike wants to show off his new flashlight, or as he calls it his "handful of day-time".

Inside the closet, Spike shines the light in Sugar's direction... which throws her ponytailed shadow upon the wall... Spike thinks there's a large horned monster in there!  Sugar grabs the light and shines it at Spike... his shadow resembles a creature with wings on its head.

The pair run out of the closet and proceed to barricade the beasties inside.  Somehow, Spike loses his pants here.  The sound of furniture being pushed across the room finally draws the attention of a grown-up... Spike's father.  

He proceeds to make things right and much to Sugar's chagrin, puts Spike's pants back on.  Weird.

Spike needs an adult!

The cycle repeats a couple more times until Sugar and Spike realize that the monsters only appear when the flashlight is turned on.  Easy peasy... just toss that bad boy in the garbage, and your house is monster-free.  the end.  This story, I might add was written for Sharon Moir (Age 8) of Clifton, New Jersey.  Hopefully Sharon's the kinda person who googles her own name... maybe she'll find us!

Finally... the final story... and the one the cover is based on.  Sugar and Spike hit the beach!  After some water-fight shenanigans, the pair head toward the angry sea.  As they approach, Spike's dad bellows in their direction... the proceed nonetheless.  What they find is the sea bellows just as loudly and they both get clobbered by a wave.

Spike's dad retrieves the tots and plops'em on the beach blanket.  Spike's mom believes this might give the poor boy a complex about water.  What follows is a couple of pages where Spike's parents continually toss a terrified baby into the ocean.

That night back at Casa Spike, the lad decides he's going to "make friends" with water... and so, overflows the bathtub causing thousands of dollars in mold damage to their home.  For this infraction, the poor boy gets the weakest spanking ever put to pulp.  the end.

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Okay, now I'm not gonna lie to you and say this was some amazing must-read book.  It was super fun, and it's a really neat novelty piece...

The art is very nice, probably better suited for a newspaper strip or something, but still very nice.  One thing that was weird is that in all but one of the stories they took special care not to show what Sugar or Spike's parents looked like (even going as far as placing the speech bubbles in front of their faces)... but in the epic flashlight joint, we get the full view of Spike's folks.  It's always a surprise seeing just how much story is crammed into these older books.  Such an incredible value.  Even if you didn't like one of the stories in the book, you were still ahead of the game.

I'd say if you can get your hands on one of these, go for it... just for the novelty of the thing.  I wouldn't spend too much on it, however.  It's sad that the current generation of comics fans (okok, let's not kid ourselves... the same old generation that still buys comics) will think of Sugar and Spike as the detective duo in that ridiculously-priced Legends of Tomorrow book, rather than the precocious tots that they were way back when.  I will say, however, if we ever get a Henry, the Nervous Angel Rebirth... all will be forgiven.

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Fun Stuff:

Think this is worth $10?  Sadly, I cannot take credit for it... it was already in the book when I got it.

Carmine dropping truth bombs on the recent DC Comics price increases.

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Letters Page:

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Inferior 5 #11 (1972)

Inferior 5 #11 (August, 1972)
"The Coming of the Costumed Incompetents"
Writer - E. Nelson Bridwell
Art - Joe Orlando & Mike Esposito
Cover Price: $0.20

Was running quite behind today.  I had forgotten that the wife and I had plans this evening across town.  Once actually across town, I realized that I hadn't given a whole lot of thought to today's post.  Decided to stop in at a used record store in Tempe, and as luck would have it some poor fool traded in a copy of the book we're going to discuss today.

As the day turned to night, I actually got a bit antsy... afraid I'd miss my self-imposed "one-post per-day" mandate.  Not sure why... it's almost as though I have something of an inferiority complex, where I need to continually prove myself... to myself (?).  Anyhoo... there's my lame-o attempt at a segue... today's discussion, welcome the Inferior 5.

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We open with a brief introduction of our Inferior Friends... so we've got ourselves a roll call.  This is promising to be a flashback story depicting the group's origin story.

Our real open is some time ago (it's never made clear) with stoolie Louis the Lip walking past a somewhat run-down property in Megalopolis.  From the other side of the fence, he hears the plotting of a mad scientist.  This scientist needs a ruby to finish his fantastic device of world domination.  Louis, being a rat-fink does what he does best... runs off to tip off the local police.

At the station, Louis spills the beans to a big-bellied officer, who thinks long and hard about the situation before suggesting they enlist the aid of the vaunted (though retired) Freedom Brigade.  After struggling a bit with some crossed radio wires, the call is made.

We shift to a young man named Myron's bedroom in Cosmopolis.  He is preparing to leave home for an exciting new job in Megalopolis when his parents call him to the living room.  Here we learn that this boy is the son of two retired Freedom Brigade members, The Patriot and Lady Liberty (I would assume analogues of Uncle Sam and Liberty Belle).  They tell him it's time for him to join the family superheroing business.  There's a mad scientist in the big city who needs taken down.  

The lad protests a bit, being the skinny wimp that he is.  The Patriot ain't hearing it... being a superhero is in his blood.  Here we see the heroes that made up the original Freedom Brigade, including Captain Swift (Flash), The Bowman (Green Arrow), Princess Power (Wonder Woman), Mr. Might (Superman), and The Mermaid (Aquaman).  Myron finally relents, and agrees to joining the next generation of the Freedom Brigade.

Upon arriving in Megalopolis, Myron checks in with a costume designer to gear-up for his new career in defying death.  He chooses the costume of a jester, feeling as though if he's going to be acting like a fool, he may as well look the part.

After gearing-up, Myron (now Merryman) walks across town to the Freedom Brigade meeting site.  It's crazy seeing this kid walking through the street dressed like a goofy court jester.  So damn fun.  When he arrives, we meet the remaining members of his new superhero team... The Blimp, who is Captain Swift's son... Awkwardman, son of Mr. Might and the Mermaid (guess that's more Aquawoman)... White Feather, son of the Bowman... and Dumb Bunny, daughter of Princess Power.

Once acquainted, the crew displays their "powers".  Awkwardman proves to live up to his name, stumbling all about... and putting his foot through the floorboard.  The Blimp, despite being the son of a scarlet speedster just... kinda floats... like a blimp... realllll slow-like.  Dumb Bunny is strong... but dumb... and White Feather is a coward who gives new meaning to an archer's quiver.

The crew tries to decide what to call themselves, and suggest names such as the Jester's League of America, the Fantastic Farce, and the Doomed Patrol.  Merryman throws his arms in the air and suggests Inferior Five... so it is written, so it shall yadda yadda yadda.

We now finally meet the mad scientist, Dr. Gregor Gruesome.  He laments the fact that most mad scientists are wealthy... while he lives in a run down shack with but one transient man servant.  A man servant who is currently out on a mission to procure a ruby.

We shift scenes to the city streets, and meet chain-smoking man-servant Hermes.  He's resorted to some devious means to come up with funds to buy a ruby... he panhandles.  After 59 turn-downs (in a row), he spies a ruby ring in a nearby gumball machine.  He pops his penny in, and sadly only gets a gumball for his troubles.  He finally realizes that he's a bad guy, and smashes the gumball machine, and just takes the damn ring.

Now... if the gumball machine outside of your place of business was trashed, who would you call?  The JLA?  The Outsiders?  The Ravag-- hahaha, I can't even say that with a straight face.  The answer is... you'd call the Inferior Five.  They appraise the devastation left in Hermes' wake... and learn that the ruby is the thing.

Back at casa Gruesome... the Mad Doc is lambasting poor Hermes for... being a horse's ass, and bringing him a toy from a gumball machine when what he really needs is an authentic ruby.  Well, never mind all that... where there's a will there's a way.  The Doc's gonna... build himself a robot to steal the famed Shinboni Ruby.  This robot is an amazing piece of comic book foolery.  Couple'a bathtubs, maybe a vacuum or two, and a radio for a head.  I love it!

It's only a matter of time before our heroes encounter the evil robot... and what a confrontation it is!  Dumb Bunny gives the robot directions to the local jewelry store... then complains that it was a rude robot.  Ya can't make this up... this is awesome.

Merryman gives the reader a look of "please kill me", before siccing his team on the renegade robot.  Awkwardman manages to trip over his own feet (which, for whatever reason are wearing flippers), and rolls right into the robot... knocking it's body off the Radio Flyer wagon it was riding in.

With the distraction, Dumb Bunny and Merryman team up to... tie the robots fingers into a "lovely bow"... the 'bot ain't all that pleased, and begins threatening the team.  Blimp floats into action... and neutralizes the threat by changing the station on the robot's radio head (from K-EVIL to K-ROCK apparently).  It's all left to White Feather... he fires what he believes to be a TNT arrow into the villain.  The arrow was actually of the shock variety, which not only takes the robot down... it results in some of the finest rock 'n roll music to that point.

Back in the lab, Gruesome and Hermes are watching this all go down via their video screen/secret camera set-up... that is, until Awkwardman accidentally crushes the camera in his hand.  Gruesome now knows it's time to unleash his most diabolical device yet... the Crime Car!

Before ya know it, the Crime Car is barreling directly for our Inferior friends.  The teammates all fumble about trying to engage in battle, resulting in both Dumb Bunny and Awkwardman being taken out by a concussion shell, and White Feather accidentally firing an arrow in Merryman's direction due to his crippling quivering.

Luckily, our buddy the Blimp is still lumbering about.  He manages to pluck the arrow out of the air, and redirects it into the Crime Car.  All Gruesome can do is hit the ol' eject button... which luckily lauches him all the way back to his lab... where he learns that man-servant Hermes snatched the ruby himself while the Doc and the Five tussled.

The Inferiors give chase to the ejected doctor, and manage to track him to his lab.  In a great bit, Merryman is demonstrating his karate skills to Hermes, who responds with a simple bonk on the head.

Shortly, the Doc is back on the scene... with his ruby powered laser death ray!  Luckily, Dumb Bunny decides this is the perfect time to check her makeup... Doc Gruesome fires a blast in her direction... which reflects off of her compact's mirror... and fries the doc where he stands.

Gruesome gives up, and the Inferior Five are all given medals... which causes White Feather to faint... er, out of modesty of course!

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Just what in the blue hell did I just read?  This was a ton of fun... haven't had this much fun with a "new to me" book in quite some time.  The whole while I was reading this, I had a stupid grin on my face... which must have really clashed with my also furrowed eyebrows.  This is just one of those books that defy explanation.

The characters, the story... even the setting, all nutty as hell.   I know it's supposed to be something of a superhero parody, but this is great in and of itself.  I'm glad that this is the issue of this series I happened across, as it's the team origin.  Very well done by Bridwell, and Joe Orlando's art is just as great as ever.

It's interesting to learn that the Inferior ones are actually a second generation team... all children to some very familiar, yet different superheroes.  This is really some goofy stuff that has to be experienced to appreciate it fully.

I wish there was a bit more to say, but there really isn't.  This was fun, and I'd certainly recommend checking out the Inferior Five if the opportunity should present itself.

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Superman (vol.4) #2 (2016)

Superman (vol.4) #2 (2016)
"Son of Superman, Part Two"
Storytellers - Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason
Inker - Mick Gray
Colorist - John Kalisz
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Assistant Editor - Andrew Marino
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99

Gonna kick it new school today, talk about another post-Rebirth book.  Really enjoying most of these releases.  Sure, there's a couple that haven't tickled my fancy, but I'm happy to report that the Superman titles are not among that lot!  The Man of Steel is finally back, and I'm diggin' every panel of it!

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Fresh off of last issue's ending, Superman has snatched Jon from his bedroom and flown off with him... terrifying right?  Nah, he's taking him someplace safe to watch and learn how the powers he's growing into are to be used.  There was a distress signal from an icebreaker ship, and Superman told the League to sit this one out... this one's for the Kents... er, Whites... um, Smiths.  Superman saves the day with ease.

Suddenly, a huge squid-like critter raises it's homely head (and tentacles) out of the near-frozen drink, and latches onto the Icebreaker.  Superman hops into battle, and realizes that the beastie is being controlled by some sort of crystal in it's eye.  He holds the eye open, and calls upon Jon to focus some heat-vision into the crystal.  It's takes Jon a little while to concentrate enough to blast the bugger, and along the way actually manages to burn his father's back!

Here we get the big reveal... Jon sheds his winter coat, and we find that he's wearing a Superman shirt under it.  Awesome.

With the squid outta the way, Superman and Son sit on the ice and have a bit of a heart-to-heart.  Superman pretty much lays it all out... one'a these days Jon's more than likely gonna have to be Superman.  Upon hearing this, Jon breaks down and fesses up to having heat-visioned Lois' cat.  Clark nods knowingly, and the boys decide the best course of action would be telling "Ma".  Back home, the Smiths have a formal burial for their cat.  This would be a "coming of age" moment for any child in a similar (but not entirely, of course) situation.  Having to physically "say goodbye" to a pet... man, that's gotta be up there among the more difficult things a person's going to have to do.  Just instantly brings a bit more "realness" to this bit.

Later on, we see Jon sitting in a tree... he is soon joined by neighbor-girl from last issue.  It's made clear that she saw what he was able to do, and Jon asks why she didn't rat him out.  She makes a comment about keeping secrets, which leads me to wonder if she's not hiding something.  She scoots a bit closer, and places her hand on his... causing him to clench his (super-powered) fist... destroying the very branch he was sitting on!

Meanwhile, Lois and Clark are digesting the recent events... Lois receives a package from... Lois Lane... hmm... well, before she gets to open it, the neighbors come running in holding an unconscious Jon Smith... and I just realized that his name is Jon Smith... 

Clark grabs his boy, and is kinda snippy with their kindly (?) neighbor.  Clark does a scan, and finds that Jon's got a slight concussion.  Lois asks why he's getting hurt at the same time he's exhibiting Superman-ish powers.  Clark realizes his next stop is the Fortress of Solitude.

What Clark doesn't know is when he/they arrive at the Fortress they're going to be greeted by a... very 1993 Eradicator.  Is this the Reign of the Supermen version???  Gonna have to wait two-whole-weeks to find out.

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Here's our new Superboy!  Really fun issue, as I've come to expect from this post-Rebirth era (for all the couple'a months we've had it so far).  Here we see something of a coming of age for Jon, in more ways than one.  We come to learn that with his heritage comes an expectation.  Superman literally tells him that one day (soon) he'll have to wear the real-deal "S".  How's that for pressure?

Jon also comes clean about what happened to poor Goldie in the previous issue.  It was a touching scene, and made Jon feel like a real young boy.  The way he confesses, you can tell that his conscience was just eating away at him.  His dad's revelation that he sorta-kinda already knew was a nice touch.  He believes enough in his son, that he knew he would eventually come clean.  That's the way he was raised, and it's the way he'll raise his son.  The fact that Jon actually feared he was going to be "turned over to" the Justice League was a very kiddie reaction as well, perfectly suited however.

The art maintains the same amazing level of quality we'd come to expect from Patrick Gleason.  Not a bad panel in the lot.  Helluv'an iconic cover too... almost wish they used it for issue #1.  This is definitely worthy of being the first cover of a volume!

Enjoyed this, and looking forward to what's to come.  This Eradicator looks amazing... and really evokes that Reign of the Supermen feel.  Can't wait for the next issue!

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Funny story, the original name for this blog was gonna be
Chris is of Infinite Colonels... sure dodged that bullet!