CoronaVirus Crime Comics SCOTLAND YARD "Little Al of the Secret Service in Case of the Microbe Menace"

When Commies attempt to use biological warfare on US soil...

...only America's brave intelligence agents can uncover and neutralize the threat!

This never-reprinted story from Charlton's crime anthology Scotland Yard #3 (1955) is actually previously-unpublished inventory from Ziff-Davis' Little Al of the Secret Service (previously Little Al of the FBI) that Charlton acquired when Ziff-Davis' short-lived comic division closed and they sold the previously-published and never-published material to recoup costs.

Illustrated by Mike Roy, the story is probably written by Ziff-Davis' comics editor Jerry (Superman) Siegel.

Little Al was called that because, though he was shorter than average but so feisty and determined that he overcame that height disadvantage with martial arts skills and superb deductive abilities.

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Mammoth Book of Best Crime Comics

CoronaVirus Crime Comics SPY AND COUNTERSPY "Man Hunt from the East"

Commies and bio-weapons...

...just went hand-in-hand during the Cold War, as this never-reprinted tale from ACG's Spy and CounterSpy #1 (1949) demonstrates!

Does this mean that, in typical 1940s-50s fashion, she'll give up her spy-busting career and get married?

Since both the writer and artist are unknown, we can't ask them!

Note: the character never appeared again, so...

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Comic Books and the Cold War

Essays on Graphic Treatment of Communism, the Code, and Social Concerns

CoronaVirus Crime Comics ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN "Eternal Fires"

A "clever" criminal making a deal with the Devil!

What could possibly go wrong?

(If you asked that question, you've obviously never watched The Twilight Zone...)

Written by editor Richard E Hughes, penciled by Dick Beck, and inked by Art Gates, this tale from ACG's Adventures into the Unknown #49 (1953) was relatively-mild for the 1950s "Seduction of the Innocent" era of horror and crime comics!

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Four Color Fear

Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s

CoronaVirus Crime Comics JUSTICE INC "Monster Bug" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

Art by Jack Kirby and Al Milgrom

The terrorist named Sodom, having barely survived a battle with The Shadow, now matches wits with The Avenger as he plots to use a virus that mutates humans.

Disguising himself as a scientist Sodom tried to kidnap, The Avenger proceeds to an auto show, hoping to lure Sodom out into the open.

The plan works, but Sodom, when cornered, uses some of the virus to turn innocent show visitors into mindless monsters...

Written by Denny O'Neil, illustrated by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer.

Unlike the first two issues, this was an original tale rather than an adaptation of one of the 1940s pulp stories, giving a different version of how Mac, the chemist, joined the group.

(Fergus "Mac" MacMurdie joined in the first pulp story, which was adapted in DC's Justice Inc #1, without his character!)

Trivia: Strangely, all three issues drawn by Kirby featured the villain falling to his death from a great height!

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Justice Inc: the Avenger

CoronaVirus Crime Comics JUSTICE INC "Monster Bug" Part 1

The terrorist General Sodom had been defeated by The Shadow...

...but, the now-Colonel Sodom returns with another plan to spread terror and horror, this time using disease...

Is this...The End of The Avenger?

Be back next Monday for the astounding conclusion!

Since Sodom was a freelancer, why did he give himself a reduction in rank from General to Colonel?
(The same writer, Denny O'Neil, created Sodom and penned both stories, so it's not like a scripter unfamiliar with the character made a boo-boo!)
In the original 1940s pulp series, Fergus MacMurdie was introduced in The Avenger's origin story "Justice Inc", but since the 1970s comics adaptation of that tale was only 17 pages, Mac and his back story were cut from it!
As a result, he made his comics intro in this all-new tale!
BTW, he's a chemist, not a bio-chemist!
The never-reprinted DC's Justice Inc #3 (1975) was also the first of two crossovers involving the Street & Smith characters The Shadow and The Avenger (who never met in the original pulp magazines).
The two heroes themselves met in DC's The Shadow #11 (1976) as shown HERE!
You may be asking, why was the comic called "Justice, Inc." instead of "The Avenger", especially since the then-current paperback reprints...

1970s paperback reprint

...of the original pulp series (which was called The Avenger) were also titled The Avenger?

Because of trademark law!

Marvel Comics had been publishing a comic book called The Avengers (note the "s") since 1963.
Since two comics called "The Avenger" and "The Avengers" could be confusing to consumers, DC decided to retitle their comic based on the pulp/paperback Avenger character "Justice, Inc.", after Benson's crime-fighting organization.
Bonus Trivia: When Gold Key Comics did an adaptation of the 1960s Avengers tv series starring Patrick MacNee and Diana Rigg, it was titled "John Steed and Emma Peel".

Who says comics ain't educational?

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Justice Inc: the Avenger

CoronaVirus Comics MYSTERIES WEIRD AND STRANGE "Death in the Night"

What if a pandemic was deliberately-created?

This never-reprinted story from Superior's Mysteries Weird and Strange #3 (1953) provides a possible answer!

The concept of a criminal deliberately-attempting to infect an entire city (in this case, New York City), isn't exactly new, but this tale does add an entertaining, sensationalistic spin on the concept!

Note: This is part of an on-going series throughout the entire RetroBlog line featuring disease/epidemic/pandemic tales!
Check out the other RetroBlogs on the left of this page for more such stories!

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Four Color Fear

Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s