Number 844

Vampire Klan Killers!

I don't know a lot about Canadian comic books. This story, from Grand Slam Comics #52, 1946, is a postwar attempt to create a product with original characters to be distributed outside Canada. The publisher, Anglo-American, based in Toronto, had the rights to reprint Fawcett comics, Captain Marvel, et al. The ads are for American companies. An ad from Fawcett featuring their toy line says "No Canadian orders accepted" on the coupon!

Commander Steel is drawn in a Fawcett Comics style. I don't know who the artist was, but his art reminds me of Pete Costanza's artwork. Steel himself is a member of the "International Police Service", yet seems to be without backup in the two stories I've read. This story, with its postwar Nazis and lurid vampire Klansmen, looks just like something from an American publisher of the time. It's silly but enjoyable.

In appearance Commander Steel evokes Captain Marvel, but also reminds me of the much later Alan Moore character, Tom Strong.