AMAZING MYSTERY FUNNIES #2 (SEPTEMBER 1938)

Having read Ron Goulart's novel Skyrocket Steele and his short story "Skyrocket Steele conquers the Universe," it was interesting to the very first comic book adventure of Bill Everett's 26th century hero. (Note that although this was the first Skyrocket Steele story, the character has graced the cover of the previous issue of  Amazing Mystery Funnies. Ahhh, the vaugarities of the publishing industry.)

The year is about 2500 (yes, "about" -- evidently there are no calendars in the future) as we meet our hero Steele Dodge, he of the thick, wavy brown hair and the finely chiseled features.  Exactly what his position is we are never told, but he does have his headquarters and lab at Merne (which we presume is the capital city).  Steele has two loyal friends:  Sari Marston (a sexy red headed Veronica Lake wannabe who may be more than a friend, if you know what I mean **nudge, nudge, wink, wink**) and Peter Muhr (a thin dude with curly dark hair and a pencil-thin mustache of "the Boston Blackie kind" that any Parrothead could relate to).

Anyway, the king -- King Kurt, although Steele just calls him "Kurt" because...well, I don't know why -- is concerned about his outpost on Mannin.  No one has reported back from there for several days and the KODAKON (a spy device that reminds me of the stargates from SG1) reveals nothing.  And the number of "'bat raids" on Mannin have been on the upswing.  (These may be real bats, or not.  In either case they are deadly.)  Steele and Sari and King Kurt (along with a suitable amount of redshirts) head out to Mannin where they find everybody there dead and we find the story is to be continued next month.

Also in this issue:

• "The Sacred White Elephant," a jungle tale by Victor Dowling, featuring Brailey of the Tropics
• "Diamond of Doom," featuring Speed Rush, hard-boiled ace of the private sleuths
• "Rocks of Fate," a prospecting story of the old west
• "2038 A. D.," the first appearance of this one-page humor strip
• "Flying Bluff," a filler story about an air encounter between an American flyer in the Chinese Flying Corps and an enemy Japanese plane.  These prose filler stories were a standard part of comic books in order to meet Post Office regulations.
• "The Brothers 3," a Moroccan desert adventure by Will Eisner
• "Treachery on the Trail,"a western adventure with a pretty gal, a treacherous guide, bad Indians, good Indians, and a stalwart hero
• "The Red Raider." Lt. "Smoky" Battle and his small band of Gurkhas go up against Rango Osef and his horde of outlaws in this tale of British India

All in all, a pretty good issue for ten cents.  And it has a great GGA cover!

Enjoy.

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