Episode 17 - Atomic War!

Welcome back to The Forgotten Library; I’m Nikki Gee. And today, we’re going to take a look at some more of our four-color friends – genre comics.

Since it’s been a while, let’s do a brief historical on comics in the United States. Generally, comics are divided up into four ages: Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Modern. The comics I have discussed on this show are from the Golden Age, which runs from slightly before World II (and usually narrowed down to 1938 and Superman’s introduction to the world) to about mid-1950 (and the overabundance of genre comics edging out superheroes).

For your own edification, the Silver Age is usually defined as 1956-1970, the heyday of Marvel, and many publishing houses struggling or folding due to the Comics Code. The Bronze Age is about 1970 to 1985, with the end of the Comics Code and grittier themes. Post 1985 to the present is the Modern Age, which is really another Marvel heyday, with blockbuster film adaptations and merchandizing.

The Golden Age saw a good number of comics publishing houses come and go; many got their start cranking out pulp fiction titles, such as Ace Magazines, whose well we have continually drawn from thus far. The Wyns, a husband and wife team, ran Ace, mostly publishing romance comics until they left the game entirely for paperbacks in 1956.

Today’s selection is Atomic War!, published in 1952-53, and a bit of an outlier for Ace based on their catalog. However, I suppose even they were not immune to the Cold War obsession of potential atomic annihilation by our Soviet enemies. As these comics are a product of their time, they are presented without any context, so let’s provide some!

The origins of the Atomic Age really go back to the tail-end of the 19th century, with the discovery of x-rays, radioactivity, and the discovery of the electron, by Roentgen (rentgn), Becquerel and the Curies, and Thomson, respectively. The turn of the 20th century brought Einstein’s theory of relativity and the discovery of radioactive isotopes by Soddy. Models of an atom’s structure were put forth by various individuals, including Thomson, Rutherford, and Bohr.

Things really began to take shape in the early 1930s, when the neutron was identified by James Chadwick; now all three major parts of the atom – the proton, the neutron, and the electron – had been discovered, and uncovering the neutron shed light on why there could be a weight discrepancy between atoms of the same element, which are now known as isotopes. These discoveries led to atom splitting and eventually nuclear fission and the “chain reaction.” (So as not to get too bogged down in the science and technical terms, basically, they learned that an unchecked reaction could create an explosion of some magnitude).

The independent research done at individual universities began to coalesce under government support, and in the summer of 1941, the MAUD report (a committee which had studied the possibility of creating a nuclear weapon) concluded that a bomb of 10kg, or 22lbs, would be enough to produce a massive explosion while still light enough to be loaded onto current aircraft models; and also, that it could be ready in about two years.

At this point, of course, the United States had not yet entered the war; the attack of Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941 would change that, and accelerated the race for the bomb. What began as a coterie of scientists now included the Army Corps of Engineers and was christened the Manhattan Project. Robert Oppenheimer and his luminaries at Berkeley explored the possibility of fusion bombs using deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, which was easier to obtain than, say, uranium or plutonium. Almost one year post Pearl Harbor, the first self-sustaining chain reaction was achieved at Stagg Field in Chicago. The last days of 1942 saw President Roosevelt authorizing the Manhattan Project to build the plants and facilities needed and government funds of $500 million.

Truman took office after Roosevelt’s sudden death in the spring of 1945. Japan was being attacked by U.S. air strikes and supply lines to the nation had been cut by the U.S. Navy. They were already pretty near defeat, but the prevailing view was that the Japanese would fight until there was nothing left, and therefore, a bomb-drop might push their surrender. On July 16, the Trinity test took place at the Alamogordo Bombing Range in New Mexico, and, as history knows, was successful. Little Boy, a uranium bomb, was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945; three days later, the plutonium-based Fat Man – the one tested in the New Mexico desert – was detonated over Nagasaki. Hiroshima’s death toll, from immediately post-explosion to radiation sicknesses up to five years later, would be 200,000; Nagasaki’s would be 140,000. Japan fully surrendered on August 14.

The final weapons tests conducted by the Manhattan Project occurred during Operation Crossroads in the summer of 1946, with 2 plutonium bombs (Able and Baker) detonated for an audience of journalists, military officers, and others at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. Manhattan gave way to the Atomic Energy Commission, and brings us to the Cold War.

The Atomic Energy Commission was in charge of all aspects of nuclear power, and was a civilian organization, rather than military. The United Nations was also trying to work out how to deal with nuclear weaponry in peacetime. The U.S. proposed an international authority, but Russia did not like this idea, as they felt that the US would have the upper hand until a detailed plan was worked out and their burgeoning Soviet program would be canceled, so they called for universal disarmament. The UN did not adopt either of these proposals, and about two weeks later was when the Able test was conducted at Bikini Atoll, followed later by Baker. Meanwhile, the Soviets had their own secret site and used intelligence from spies inside the Manhattan Project to build a carbon copy of Fat Man, which was detonated in Kazakhstan in August 1949. The U.S. discovered radioactive debris floating off the Siberian coast several weeks later, which is how they discovered what had been done.

More than two years would go by before the USSR would test another bomb; in the United States, however, Truman announced that work on the controversial hydrogen bomb would continue and in November 1952, “Mike,” a hydrogen device, was detonated on Enewetak [ennaweetok] Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Bikini Atoll, once again, became a testing ground in the spring of 1954 for “Bravo,” which was grossly underestimated as to its strength. It was the largest U.S. nuclear test ever exploded, making a crater more than a ½ mile wide and several hundred feet deep, and more importantly, exposing the residents of the nearby atolls to 200 rems of radiation; ten years later, the majority of those exposed would develop thyroid tumors and other problems as a result of the radiation poisoning they would receive from “Bravo.” The Soviets resumed their bomb tests in 1953, also focusing on hydrogen, and this is where our selection today falls on the timeline. The Cold War would last for approximately four decades, but for our purposes, this is where we will stop. If you are interested in learning more, I’ve provided my references and some further reading in the show notes.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

[break]

Aight, so let’s start with the cover of issue #1. “Only a strong America can prevent ATOMIC WAR,” according to the title and headline, and it’s a rather dark cover, with destroyed buildings in what appears to be New York City, with billowing clouds of smoke; the title layered over the de rigueur mushroom cloud.

“The Sneak Attack” sets our scene; the year is 1960 and there is peace in our time. The U.S. has stopped building atomic bombs, and we listen in on the last day of the peace drive conference in Paris, where the United Kingdom, the U.S., France (presumably), and Russia are delivering speeches. A Russian representative says that his country stands for peace and friendship, to rousing applause from the naïve congregation . . . because of course, 30 minutes later, the Russians are speeding away, talking about destroying documents and the “Western fools” suspect nothing.

Meanwhile, in the United States, New Yorkers are talking about sports; in Detroit, they’re talking about closing down the plane factories; and in Washington, a Senator stating that the peace conference was a great success.

The next morning, it’s a quiet shift at the main air defense headquarters in Manhattan, and the colonel tells some guy named Klement he can take a break, but he says he’s fine. Suddenly a report – unidentified planes flying over Quebec towards the United States! They’re MKV4s, Russian jet bombers! The colonel tells Klement to send notice to the interceptor units, but it looks like several of them have been shot down! The Russians keep getting closer – what’s up with our interceptors, Klement? Yeah, Klement, what gives?? The colonel checks the plotting board . . . only to find that Klement has sent the interceptors AWAY from the city. This can mean only one thing . . . Klement is a dirty agent! {dun dun DUN] Klement leaps from his chair, suddenly armed, and says that New York City will be rubble in twenty minutes; they’ll all die but the Soviets will conquer the world! He shoots one of the men for good measure; they try to subdue him, but the colonel knows it’s too late for all of them. The only thing they can do now is send out the alarm and warn the rest of the country!

The Russians drop the bomb over the city, and the next panels are scenes of utter destruction – the mushroom cloud, bridges melting and falling into the water, the Queen Mary ramming into the Statue of Liberty. Then a tidal wave in New York Harbor, sweeping over lower Manhattan, washing out the shelters and drowning untold numbers of citizens. The gas works is aflame and in the cellars beneath, workers try to shut off the valves before everything blows up . . . but too late. BLAM! People are crushed in the subway; Central Park floods; the George Washington Bridge’s cables snap and collapse into the water. People are trapped like rats in the Lincoln Tunnel and then the rushing water collapses the roof and washes them away.

A few of the crew of the Civil Defense force now come up from their shelter, gasping and choking on the fumes, but they have no safety equipment and somehow manage to not die right away, despite the narrative telling us that this was five minutes after the atomic bomb fell. And New York City was not the only target.

We go to Chicago, where a bomb was dropped there, too! Cattle flee their pens into the city, and once again, somehow don’t succumb immediately from breathing in all of the toxic smoke and radiation. Detroit is blasted, which floods Lake Erie and the Detroit River somehow and washes the city in thousands of gallons of water.

The Russians are headed to Washington. Meanwhile, every possible U.S. plane that could took to the air to intercept, all except for one pilot who can’t get off the ground due to a fuel-line leak; and there are no more planes to be had. The Russians are intercepted, and bailing out of their fiery planes. They take the Soviet pilots alive on the Aberdeen Proving Grounds (in Maryland). The one soldier wants to kill them, but the government wants them alive for questioning. The Russians claim that they were told to capture U.S. planes and strike America first, before a bomb was dropped on U.S. soil.

Russ, the lieutenant with the dodgy plane, is still trying to get off the ground. Radar picks up another enemy plane coming a different direction, so they send Russ to see if he can get his plane up and running. The leak hasn’t been repaired, but Russ says there’s no time, he has to take to the sky RIGHT NOW. The enemy plane is another MKV-4, Russian, as suspected. He gets them in his sights, but they’ve dropped the bomb. Only one thing to do, he thinks, and dives straight for the bomb’s path, letting it hit him. And thus, the first great hero of World War III died. The President thanks him for giving his life for his country in his address to the nation later that day, adding that the war we did not want has come.

Once again, under the panels, the comic editorializes that this shall not come to pass with a strong America!

“Berlin Powder Keg” is set several hours earlier, in Berlin, where some soldiers are celebrating their return to the U.S. and getting home to see their wives. One remarks in a letter he’s writing that it’s been quiet and that the “Russkies” have been friendly. As they get one last stein of beer “for the road” and sing Auld Lang Syne, they hear an explosion! The soldiers see that their zone in West Berlin has been bombed; they try to get back to their area, but then the tanks roll in, blocking their way.

The area is in flames; a couple cry on the streetcorner about living through the war, and all of ITS bombing, and now their home is gone. There is more important stuff going on behind them, however; people being carried out of the rubble, and in the foreground, someone literally hanging from a street sign. At first look, I thought that this was a result of the bombing, but the person has a sign around their neck, as well as a noose, with a German phrase that (near as I can figure out) says, Here is a thief. Another grim detail in an already grim as fuck story.

In the Allied bomb shelter, we learn, through dialogue among the soldiers and commander, that all of the highways and bridges have been taken, an entire regiment has been wiped out, and now the men learn that this is not an isolated incident and the U.S. has suffered untold casualties as well.

Some soldiers, somehow still on the ground and breathing despite all of the nuclear fallout that would be occurring, get out of their Jeep and try to make it through some back alleys, but they are surrounded. Some Russians are getting out their tank, a signal unit with telephones. One of the soldiers, who speaks Russian, yells to the Russian soldiers as if he’s one of their own, so that they’ll come by and they can take a thwack at him, which they do. They tackle another one who starts running back to the safety of the tank. They take the Russian uniforms and the tank, and roll through the city until they eventually come to a Russian check point; the Russians quickly discover that something is amiss here when they realize this division is supposed to be in a different city entirely. The Russians tell the soldiers to get out of the tank, but they just fire on them.

More tanks follow to destroy the Americanskis, as they call them, so they lead the tank into the woods and then abandon it and race away on foot. They eventually run into another of their own, who sadly informs them about the U.S. cities facing the same fate. They all pile in a Jeep, and here come some more reds to shoot at them. They hit the sargeant and kill him; the men run to the Rhine and see more U.S. troops retreating across the river. This small contingent notice that there is a whole column of tanks heading for the bridge that they need to take out so that their fellows can make it across the jammed bridge. They decide to use the IO5, which I presume is some sort of ballistic missile, from how they are loading it in the next panel. They blow up some of the tanks; meanwhile, at the rear of the tank column, the commander is pissed at the holdup, but one of his underlings informs him that they’re getting blasted to hell up front. Only a plane can stop them.

So of course, that’s what happens; a plane flies over to knock out the gun, so the men flee for the bridge on foot. They’re the last stragglers, and then they blow up the bridge so the Russian tanks can’t get across. They notice planes, but it’s the U.S. in a counterattack, so they have a little breathing room somehow . . . right after an atomic bomb exploded a few miles away. The soldiers cheer the planes as they fly overhead, and say it’s forward motion from here on out, and one wants to take his shoes off in what’s left of the Kremlin when they’re done. Yeah, that’ll show ‘em!

“Operation Haystack” is a weird interlude – it’s a story along the same lines, but just text, no pictures to accompany it. Lieutenant Edwards and his patrol are in Italy; he’s discovered by some Russian soldiers and they take him right into the munitions area that his men had been attempting to uncover. He’s grilled for hours but doesn’t break. When they take him outside, he realizes that the recon from the air wouldn’t be able to see the munitions dump because it’s kind of under the shrubbery. They lock him in the barn for a while, and then one of the soldiers comes back, either for any sort of American luxury, like a watch. He palms part of the cigarette the Russian gives him and puts it in his pocket, so that he can toss it on the dry haystack. And his sergeant manages to rescue him from being shot. Yay.

“Counterattack!” is next and we’re back to the regular comic format. The setting here is Greenland where apparently the U.S. has its largest secret airbase. Okay, this is actually true; we established a base there in the 1950s and it’s now part of the Space Force. Anyway, we open with the men receiving the news that Russia has attacked the U.S. The base, known as the “Ice House,” was going to be shortly closed down, and now look what’s happened! All leaves are effectively canceled (which, yeah, where are you going to go right now?) and the base is on alert. All the planes are checked over to make sure they are ready for combat. A courier plane comes in and brings news from Washington; the plan is to rendezvous with the rest of the force at Cape Jessup (also in Greenland), then everyone is heading for the Ural Mountains (in Russia). They are to start out the next morning at 4.

Night falls, and all checks have supposedly been made, when one of the hangars catches on fire! It’s obvious from the speed of the blaze that it was deliberate, and while they are occupied, a Russian saboteur moves among the rest of the planes, slipping something into the mechanical works. After the fire is put out, they try to determine how it could have happened; everyone has been accounted for . . . One of the mechanics, Jimmy, decides to go check a plane one more time, and to his astonishment, find a little vial stuck to the engine. He is heading to report it to the chief when he’s cracked over the head with the butt of a gun and knocked out. Two of the pilots talking nearby hear the thud of his body hitting the floor and take him to the infirmary. When Jimmy comes to, he tells the captain about finding something in the plane; of course, he no longer has it in his possession, but he knows what it looks like. It’s now 3am, so they rush to check the planes and find another vial next to the engine. The saboteur comes out of the shadows, gun pointed at the other men. They realize that it’s the courier pilot, “the only one we didn’t check!” Durr. Jimmy tackles him before he can shoot anyone. They ask the Russian what’s in the tube and he won’t tell them, of course.

An announcement comes over the base to tell all pilots NOT to start any planes due to sabotage. The captain takes the one vial they discovered and cuts off the wax seal; they watch as it bursts into flames on the ground. Apparently, it’s a compound that burns on contact with oxygen, so the plan was to put it near the engine so the wax seal would melt from the heat; then the solution would let out and set the plane on fire. Threatened again, the Russian says that he planted a hundred of them, and all in the same place, so now they have to go through all the planes, in twenty minutes! An announcement is made for all pilots and mechanics to check the planes for the vials. They get it done in record time, and hope that the Russian wasn’t lying when he said a hundred.

The Ice House planes and the Cape Jessup planes rendezvous and head towards Russia.

This magazine was meant to shock you – to wake up Americans to the dangers, the horror and utter futility of WAR! So, here’s a contest – did they succeed? They wanted submissions of no longer than 150 words and were giving four cash prizes of $15, $5, $3, and $2, respectively.

There are also two ads for U.S. Savings Bonds in this issue, as well as a “health supporter belt” for men, to “lift and flatten your bulging ‘bay window.” Bay window as slang for your paunch is a new one on me, I have to say. I get it, but it’s just weird. So, yeah, essentially this is a girdle, but for men.

Issue #2 came out a month later, in December 1952. Merry Christmas, here’s a Russian submarine coming to kill you!

But first, an advertisement – for the “Magic Art Reproducer” which claimed you could draw without lessons or talent. It’s actually a form of a camera lucida, an optical drawing tool which was popular in the days before photography. “The ‘See-Through’ camera lucida makes use of an angled piece of transparent or semi-transparent glass. When you look through the glass, you see the reflection of your subject plus your paper at the same time, superimposed.” Think of it like a double-image you can see in a glass storefront. It was made by Norton Products, and I can’t seem to find any other products they ever made!

Once again, the warning at the beginning that the reader should think about this level of devastation, and pray that it never happens in real life.

“Operation Vengeance.” We open with the planes in route to Cape Jessup, as arranged in the previous issue, and the narrator tells us that this is a daring mission, with every person knowing full well they might not make it out alive. No one knows this better than Steve Ranshaw, the group commander aboard the lead bomber, known as The Igloo. Someone, presumably, Steve, gives an envelope to Lou, which came in hours ago from the courier before they left the ground; apparently, they gave Steve a star, so now he’s a general, and designated as field commander, so technically shouldn’t be on this mission. Steve says he knows and what is supposed to do now, bail out? Lou says that’s a deliberate disobeying of orders, but Steve basically tells him to shut his yap and you never saw that letter, ya hear? I’d never let the men fly without me, not for a star, not for anything! Steve looks a little bit like Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec, if Ron were in a 50s comic book.

Another plane points out the other two bomber groups as they all get into formation over Greenland. Orders are given via crackling radios and hours later, they approach the Siberian coast. One of the soldiers is testing a gun in the plane and saying he hopes that he gets a crack at “them Russkies,” because he has a score to settle. Yeah, bud, you and everyone else! But seriously, I guess when the Russians invaded Poland during the war, they killed his whole family except for him and his mom.

They approach the Urals and of course, the Russian squadron is ready to meet them. Planes attack planes, and the Igloo is one of the ones hit. The guy who lost his family, whose name is Povack (?) (it’s hard to keep track of all these characters when they blip around some fast) guns down the enemy plane by hitting its gas tank. After fifteen minutes of battle, they’ve lost twelve planes. Steve calls to the leaders to take central positions, mainly to cover the lead plane, which, of course, is carrying the bomb. The Russians infiltrate, causing the other pilots to bitch about Steve’s leadership. Povack the gunner does his gun thing and hits two more Russian fighter jets. The lead plane, the one with the bomb on it, gets hit before they’re close to the drop zone, and the oxygen supply has been compromised. Steve tells the bombardier to get ready for the drop zone, but apparently, only the pilot is alive in the plane now; two of his motors are gone and his whole crew is dead. He wants to bail out, but Steve gives him a pep talk that basically amounts to, Shut the fuck up and do your job. So, as he is continually getting shot at, he musters his final courage, and releases the bomb to the target, Sverdlovsk, blowing himself up in the process.

On to the next target city, and the pilot for the next bomber is amazed at how heartless Steve is being. His co-pilot says he’s just doing his job, and now is not the time for flowery sentiment. Bombs away, there goes Chelyabinsk. They’re elated for all of a few seconds until a MIG comes up and literally cuts off the tail of their plane, so they have to bail out. The pilot gets caught in the spin after the rest of the crew has parachuted out, and by the past tense they use, that’s the last that was seen of pilot Sam Paris . . . alive, that is.

Ron Swanson, I mean, Steve, tells the remaining planes to follow him westward, which wasn’t part of the original plan, but Steve says that now he wants to hit at Russian morale, so they’re going to Moscow. Some of the remaining pilots are skeptical and thinking they’re not going to make it, and indeed, they are attacked once again an hour away from their new target. Two more planes are struck down, and Steve’s plane is also hit; Steve strikes a hysterical Lou and says that he will ride the bomb down himself if it’s the last thing he does. He puts the bomber into a dive towards the earth and drops its payload on Moscow. Lou notices that this bomb was much more powerful, and Steve says that’s because it’s a hydrogen bomb, the first ever used in combat. Povack the gunner is still gunning – well, trying to, but his hands are frozen and he’s having difficulty squeezing the triggers. The plane has been hit too hard, and Steve tells them they’re going to have to bail out, which they do, into Turkey. The Turkish Navy rescues them from the water and later, he shows them at Allied military headquarters in Istanbul (not Constantinople) where they bombed Russia. Steve admits it was an enormous human cost, but they have changed the map of Russia!

“The Ice-Box Invasion.” This “chapter,” if you will, takes place in Alaska, nicknamed “The Ice Box” by the GIs stationed there; the 73rd mountain regiment is on alert since the US attacks. Colonel McCobb has been pushing them really hard for the last three weeks, however, mushing through blizzard conditions. The man are tired and weary, and the two lieutenants are thinking about transferring out, anywhere, as long as it’s not frozen tundra. They go to see the colonel, opining that they’ve been there for 22 months – damn, that is a long time to be up there and still be mostly sane. The colonel says this is an important outpost, vital to Alaskan defense. One of the lieutenants says he doubts the Russians would waste time taking it. Colonel Oneupmanship says he’s been there THREE years, so boo hoo, you’re stuck, now get the fuck outta here!

One of the lieutenants sighs and says, “I guess that’s it then,” but the other has a plan. The next morning, they try going over the colonel’s head and talk to the general about getting a transfer. Of course, the general wants to know if they have permission from the colonel and before they can really answer, they’re interrupted by a siren. The general thinks it’s a practice drill, but not this time – it’s a sneak air attack from the Russians, bombing the jets where they still sit on the ground. The gunners are trying to take them out, but now there are also troop carriers in the mix. Men parachute to the ground and begin their attack on foot. The gunners try to take out as many as they can, but they’re getting strafed by fire so they must retreat. The foot soldiers have rocket launchers and they shoot at the Americans. The colonel comes in and is all, Wanna bitch about no action now? Didn’t think so!

The American troops grab their trintinium explosions and rig up a bomb to lie in wait for the columns of foot soldiers, and then blow them up, a liquid explosive a thousand times more potent than dynamite. Somehow a sled makes it through, and they take the soldiers out independently so they can use the equipment. Of course, this has the potential to backfire when the American troops see them in a Russian sled. More air military ballet as the Russians and Americans fight with their planes.

“The Spy from Coney Island!” is another one of those text stories sans pictures. It’s told in the first person and we’re dropped in medias res: someone yelling and a loud crack and flames on the wing of the Atomizer, the first “atom-power” plane flown in the Third World War. Lot packed into that sentence.

The three passengers parachute out and the plane explodes soon after. They land in the frozen tundra of Russia and immediately need to dodge a hail of bullets. And then, a woman overtakes them, asks them if they are Americans – her English is good with a slight accent that our unnamed narrator can’t place, but it sounds so familiar . . .

The Americans are marched by the woman and several armed Russian soldiers through a gate into a building. The woman reports to the man holding court at the table – she found these spies! The Russian at the desk told her that she has done well and made the Kremlin very happy.

The narrator, blood boiling, hums his signal to the other two men; that means for them to start swinging. They knock down a few of the Russians before they can grab for their weapons. The man behind the desk looks familiar, too! But why? He punches another Russian, but then he gets knocked out cold himself, and wakes up sometime later with the other two men. Our narrator, who we now learn is named Finnegan, has something nagging at the back of his head, but can’t remember what it is.

Someone comes to their cell and says that “the master” wants to see them. One of the other men talks back and says no, and they are all strongarmed by more Russian guards and marched through the complex into a small hut. Inside are the woman and the man that Finnegan gave a shiner to before he was conked out. They’re told that they’re to be killed, but not here. This is merely administrative buildings, not firing squad buildings. Another man comes in, and he’s the pilot who will be taking them elsewhere to be shot.

The men follow the pilot outside. As the plane takes off, Finnegan is given an envelope. Essentially, there’s a note inside that they’re heading to Washington, D.C. right now to deliver military secrets. Now Finnegan realizes why the woman and the man were so familiar . . . they’re from Brooklyn, and they’re American spies! He waves goodbye to “Brooklyn” as the plane heads for the states.

“Mission Demolition.” Back to Europe, where the Reds are attempting the final march to the Atlantic Ocean. What’s left of the U.N. force is trying to keep them back but having difficulty; they bring out the big guns, something they’re referring to as a “naptha-phospor” gun. Naphtha is a flammable liquid mixture, usually derived from natural gas, or petroleum, or coal tar, or peat, while the phosphor is probably referring to phosphorus, which was used during both World Wars (and now here, again, in this fictional WWIII). Their weapons are blown up by enemy fire and the UN contingent go deeper into the castle they are trying to keep as a defense post. There’s a secret door in the deepest part of the underground and they take that passageway to escape. It doesn’t look like the Russians were able to find and follow them.

The soldiers get back to command post and it’s bad news all around; the Russians are building a bridge across and they need to be stopped. They develop their plan. The next night, they go back to the castle and then drop out to the water below, to swim out to the bridges and plant explosives underneath. It’s polytomic, the next best thing to an atom bomb, the soldier says aloud! There is a Russian sentry in a canoe waiting for them, and he shoots at the lieutenant, but they manage to take the guy down. The bullet only grazed; ‘tis but a scratch [it’s just a flesh wound] and they continue to the next bridge.

Everything is set, now all they need is for the heavy Russian artillery to roll across the bridge, and then BOOM everything is blow to pieces! The rest of the Russian army panic and retreat. The men receive high honors from UN headquarters and now the castle is quiet. But, one of the soldiers ruminates, for how long?

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Issue #3, on newsstands in February 1953, shows a plane heading toward the Kremlin to plant an H-bomb, as the dialogue balloon says; meanwhile, the cover is also littered with multiple colorful explosions.

But first – Buy U.S. Defense Bonds! Help keep America strong so that the Commies don’t get us!

“Commando Crackerjack” takes place in London, which is being attacked by supersonic guided missiles. The Europeans are having a hard time intercepting the Russians. Two men see more coming and dive for the shelter. One of them, Glen, says that he doesn’t understand why Adam is there – for he’s a scientist and was offered a job at an underground lab away from London, and instead, Adam volunteered to fight. It’s revenge, of course, as the Russians killed Adam’s entire family. Glenn thinks to himself that Adam is not commando material and will probably be kicked out soon, but he doesn’t need to know that yet.

At the training camp, two of the men comment on Adam’s performance – he doesn’t have the stamina and isn’t really commando material, just as Glenn thought. He says he’ll try again, and his opponent calls him Heinie, a slur for a German person, which enrages Adam and he kicks the other guy’s ass. The men watching have to haul Adam off the other man before he strangles him. Adam’s defense is that he thought his loyalty was being questioned – his father was a Nazi collaborator, but Adam hates him. They tell him to save it for the Russians.

At the UN staff headquarters in London, they’re contemplating how to get to the missile launchers; they’ve lost two hundred planes so far, so it looks like it’s time to send in the commandos. Adam is not selected for the mission. He tries to scheme a way to get himself selected. He tells the Colonel that he is very familiar with the West Frisian Islands (which is where the missile launchers are located) because he spent many summers there. They agree to let him go with the other commandos. The next night he overhears some of the men wondering why he’s being allowed to come on the mission because he is kind of useless.

Later, the men load onto the jet-powered assault boats and head for the Islands. Suddenly, the radar is jumping – a Red patrol fleet! They have to submerge, and slip past the Russian patrol; they continue on their way by coasting, and then Adam notices that there are obstacle signals on the radar – could be mines. Since he knows the area, he suggests a different course towards the sand bar. They land at the sand bar, and then as they prepare to ascend, the missiles are launched at them.

They see a few Russians in the distance and take them out, but suddenly, they hear a mighty siren; when they took out the one Russian, he had an “electronic eye” in his hand, which has now been released and is giving a signal to the barracks. Adam is panicking that they’re outnumbered and should go back to the boat. The other soldier with him thinks that he has to stop him from causing panic in the others, so he says out loud that he’s a coward and calls him that slur again. This angers Adam enough to pick off a bunch of the soldiers.

They find the missile launchers and set explosives on them, but realize that they haven’t checked the control room yet. They encounter more Russian soldiers on their way to the control room. Adam says he can reroute the launchers towards the supply center; one of the men is skeptical, but he does it, and blows up the ammunition depot. The Captain says that Adam was the key man and the commandant will get a full report of what a great job he did.

But it’s not over! Here comes a Russian warship, a small one called a corvette. The men are wondering how they can possibly do anything about it, as their boats are stripped down to the bare minimum for speed. They notice Adam stripping off his clothes; he says he’s going to sink the corvette with one of their own mines. They tell him that this is madness, as he will never be able to get out of the way in time. He knows – he’s thinking of all the women and children lying and dying in fear in London, and he can’t have that, so remember him! He quicky swims towards the mines, and sets one up while the captain tells his crew to sweep the searchlight over the water to see if any of the Americans are still lingering in the area.

Adam is almost done when the searchlight lands on him. With what remained of his strength, he hurls the mine into the ship and explodes the whole island, as well as himself. The men that talked shit about Adam are of course remorseful now, and say that they misjudged him. This island is now a memorial, not just to Adam, but to freedom!

These are getting a bit repetitive, no? Let’s see if we can speed through the rest of this.

“Log of the Snorkel Wolf Pack.” As America is trying to recover from the A-bomb blasts, there’s a new threat – long range Russian snorkels. Captain Jarvis Brown leads a convoy against the snorkel fleet. They blow them up with explosives from below. They haul up a log book and have it translated; it’s a diary of the Russian commander, talks about new weapons, and where they are putting the snorkels, etc. There is a briefing where it is read aloud, and it is revealed that one of the men on board doesn’t seem as excited about blowing up the Americans like all the rest, so they put a sentry over him. Turns out that he just wants peace and thinks that the US and the Soviet Union could come to some agreement, so he is killed. The diary logs right to the last minute of the Commander, as the water comes rushing in and there is only the choice of drowning or shooting. The US says that this is the proof they’ve gotten the Russians “licked” for a while and their new weapons are grrr-eat!

“The Invaders,” a text only story. A young Navy lieutenant in a post-H-bomb world trying to find the top secret papers and such in the rubble of the Navy shipyards in Newport News, Virginia, sees a Russian submarine, takes out the Russians who come on land before they can commandeer the deserted base, and dies for his efforts . . .but he’s awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, so good for him?

“Slash by the Iron Greyhounds” is back to Europe. Russians attack, the Americans and French try their best to fight back. Tanks tank tanks. So many tanks. British tanks, too. Tanks tank tanks. They circle the Russians, and now here come planes, and more planes. And still more planes! But wait, here come Russian planes to fight back! And then silent guns, too. They beat the Russians back because THEY MEAN BUSINESS. Okay, but they keep coming back, so you haven’t won yet.

Remember, buy U.S. Defense Bonds!

And ladies, do you need to take off excess weight? Having trouble sleeping? Muscle aches and pains? You can get rid of all of these things with the Spot Reducer. It’s a magic wand that you plug into the wall, an archaic sister to the Hitachi Magic Wand that requires batteries!! Relaxing, soothing, PENETRATING massage, and the woman in the ad is reclining with her knees drawn up, and the Spot Reducer resting rather low on her stomach, so obviously code for “vibrator.” As I’ve said when we’ve come across this ad before, this is the real life analogue to Peggy’s Electro-sizer in the show Mad Men.

Issue 4 was published in April 1953. Battles take place in the Arctic Circle and Germany, as well as a submarine battle near Turkey. There’s an espionage story. Washington D.C. tries satellites.

More war bonds adverts, as well as the Magic Art Reproducer again and the Charles Atlas secret method book – how to be a new man in just 15 minutes a day!!

[break]

In August 1945, the Smyth Report brought the knowledge of the Manhattan project to the American people. Until that point, citizens had no idea that a years-long, government-run, top secret development project that been occurring under their very noses.

After this point, there was an obsessive fear as well as fascination with the incredible power of the bomb. Once the toll of atomic energy was learned, the fascination was mostly replaced by the fear, but before then, there were beauty pageants themed around it, song lyrics invoking it, and myriad uses for its energy proposed.

When the first televised blast was shown to the American people in 1952, people flocked to Nevada to visit the testing range. Miss Atomic Blast, the winner of the beauty pageant, greeted visitors to Last Vegas and posed with Marines at the test site. Ah, yes, equating a beautiful woman with a deadly, destructive weapon – no problems here!

William Laurence, who first reported on the Manhattan Project, published a book in 1946 called Dawn Over Zero, which bestowed nearly godlike power onto the atom. With atomic power, all things are possible; the new philosopher’s stone. Atomic energy defeated the United States’ greatest enemy; what can’t it do?

As time went on, not only the future implications were turning the public towards fear, but the fact that other countries, now armed with this knowledge, could turn it on the US. And it is in this vein, I suppose, that the comic we have looked at today was created.

It’s been over 75 years since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the spectre of nuclear attacks still endures in the public consciousness. No one would draw a comic book these day about it, perhaps, but we also have video games like Fallout, whose entire premise is an alternative history scenario and includes an apocalyptic nuclear attack, which creates an utterly ravaged wasteland of the United States.

Well, that’s the show. Please like, subscribe, rate, all that good stuff. The Forgotten Library is available on most podcast aggregators. There’s a Twitter account, which I try to post on, and also a Facebook page. Transcripts and source materials are available on the website, and if you enjoy what I do and would like to show some appreciation, you can Buy Me a Coffee – think of it as a little tip jar that takes Paypal and Stripe. Links for all of this are in the show description.

Until next time, I’m Nikki Gee, your intrepid library haunter.

Reference List and Further Reading Suggestions

“The Manhattan Project: Making the Atomic Bomb” and “Cold War: A Brief History.” Atomic Archive. https://www.atomicarchive.com/history/manhattan-project/index.html

U.S. Department of Energy. The Manhattan Project: an interactive history. https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/index.htm

Neolucida project page

Cornett, J. (2017). “Bombs, Bikinis, and Godzilla: America’s Fear and Fascination of the Atomic Bomb as Evidenced through Popular Media, 1946-1962.” Online Theses and Dissertations. 480 https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/480