WOW COMICS #5 (SPRING 1942)

Wow! is the word for this comic book because it features Mr. Scarlet and Pinky the Whiz Kid.  Mr. Scarlet is actually district attorney Brian Butler, who did such a good job fighting evil that his job was often in jeopardy due to a lack of crime, sometimes forcing him to take odd jobs.  Created by France Herron and Jack Kirby, Mr. Scarlet wore a full red, tight body suit, complete with red boots and red gloves, a three-quarters head mask with an occasional red topknot, and a gold utility belt with attached holster, and a long golden cape.  He made his debut in Wow Comics #1 (Winter 1940-41).  Pinky the Whiz Kid (full name Pinkerton Butler) premiered in the fourth issue of Wow Comics as Butler's son.  Pinky also had a similar full red body suit with belt (sans holster) and cape, but his hood let his wavy blond hair flow freely; because for his father's shaky employment situation, Pinky also had to take occasion odd jobs.  Both Mr. Scarlet and Pinky were Olympic-level athletes.  (Twenty-first century me wonders about th wisdom of naming a superhero "Pinky the whiz kid.")_ There is also Butler's secretary, Miss Wade, whose primary function appear to be to show some leg.  The pair were featured on the cover of the first five issues of Wow Comics; Mr. Scarlet also made an appearance in Mary Marvel #9 (February 1947).  Fawcett Comics were later acquired by National Comics (the future DC Comics), Mr. Scarlet was reactivated for three issues of Justice League of America in 1976, and later joined Shazam's Squadron of Justice.  Alas, Brian Butler was killed off and Pinky took up the Mr. Scarlet mantle in The Power of Shazam #44.

In Wow Comics #5, Mr. Scarlet and Pinky go up against The Moon Torch-Man and his diab1olical brain-searing weapon.  Mr. Scarlet and Pinky do get the goods om the villain, but not before Mr. Scarlet is  temporarily transformed into a helpless baby by the brain-searing thingamajiggie.

The pair return in the next story, "Mr. Scarlet and the Boss."  The Boss, "the roughest, toughest mug in sixteen counties" has taken over the city.  This gargantuan villain is more than a match for Pinky, but not for Mr. Scarlett!  The best part of the story is that the Boss is depicted in typical Jack Kirby style.

The Kirby artwork gain is the best thing about "Mister Scarlet Battles the Fire Fiend!"  The fire Fiend is determined to burn down the city's slums, even if it includes the residents of the slums.  In this cape, Pinky fools Miss Wade and sneaks out to join the fight; in the last panel, she feeds him some castor oil as punishment -- but Pinky fools her once again by substituting a bottle of honey (they don't call Pinkerton Butler the Whiz Kid for nothing!).

That's it for Mr. S. and Pinky for this issue.  What follows are five other tales:

• "The Hunchback" High society playboy Alan Lanier dresses up like Quasimodo and beats the pants off the Spinto gang of submarine pirates.
• Rick O'Shay beats up Nazi soldiers on the battlefield and the has to blow up the Volskay Dam.
• Jim Dolan, 'the crime solving, gang busting editor of  DETECTIVE MAGAZINE" runs afoul of  Zara the spy.
• And Atom Blake, the Boy Wizard, enters "The Worlds of Time"; more specifically, The Planet Where Time Stood Still.

Plus, a two page text story by pulp, paperback, and western author Joseph Millard, "The Death Peddlers" -- "They were salesmen of death, with guns for sample cases.  They'd never lost a sale...until they ran up against Dick Wade -- who was a pretty good salesman himself!!"

Enjoy this issue:

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=96942&comicpage=&b=i