There’s an inside joke in this Steel Sterling story. Charles Biro wrote his buddy, Bob Wood, into the story as “Pig-Pan Wood.” His face, we are told on the wanted poster, “resembles that of a pig.” I wonder if Wood had any foreknowledge of this alleged joke, or what he thought of it.

About 15 years later Wood killed a woman in a hotel during an alcoholic binge. That tale is told in Blackjacked and Pistol-Whipped, Crime Does Not Pay. It’s an excellent anthology of lurid stories from the Biro-Wood edited Crime Does Not Pay comic book, which had its own nefarious history. These pictures of Bob Wood and Charlie Biro are from the book:

If anyone had a pig-pan it wasn’t Wood.

I found a real Pig-Pan — the resemblance is striking, you must admit — while surfing through some local mugshots. Yes, I entertain myself, not only by reading comics, but gawking at ID photos of people who end up in jail with their pictures posted on the Internet. The man whose photo this is was charged with “failing to register as a sex offender.”

From Zip Comics #11 (1941), by Joe Blair and Charles Biro:

Number 416


Origin of Mr. Justice


This is a followup to our Halloween posting, Pappy's #405. Correspondent 1506NixNix writes: I saw the comment asking about Mr. Justice, whether he was a ghost like the Spectre. This is the origin story from Blue Ribbon Comics #9. It was published in 1941. Mr. Justice was a good character from MLJ but the company went another direction and by 1943 he was dropped in favor of the Archie comics.

Story is by Joe Blair, artwork is by Sam Cooper. Don Markstein's Toonopedia gives us the short course on Mr. Justice here.

...and what is that name again? The name of the kidnapped girl's family? Piddle? Did I read that right? Let me look...yup, I read it right.

Number 405


Vampire Valtz


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A year ago today I showed you this MLJ Witch's Tale story. Pappy's friend, 1506NixNix, who provided the scans for that, has provided the scans for yet another MLJ treat. This time it's starring Mr. Justice from Blue Ribbon Comics #11. We see a dance called the vampire waltz, and we also find out that vampires can turn into werewolves. Has anyone else ever suggested such a thing?

The name Carlos Hubbello is an inside joke. Carl Hubbell was an artist who worked in comics for many years. According to the book, The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu, Hubbell's wife, Virginia, actually ghost-wrote many of the stories signed by Charles Biro.

OK, so that's off the subject. Sam Cooper and Joe Blair did the creative honors on this story, which runs the gamut from super heroes to horror, and is a good example of why for a couple of years at least, MLJ, in its pre-Archie incarnation, was one of the most garish and lively of the comic book companies springing up in the late '30s period.

Number 211

Witch's Cauldron

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I thought for this special day you might like a really early comic book horror story. It even has a witch.

The story comes from MLJ's Blue Ribbon Comics #22, March 1942.

I did a little research and saw that the feature, "Tales From The Witch's Cauldron," began in Blue Ribbon #20, and was continued in Zip Comics, because #22 was the last issue of Blue Ribbon. I believe it comes from the same source as the EC horror comics of a few years later, the original radio program, The Witch's Tale.

To me the most horrible thing about the story is the lead character lets a doctor listen to his chest, then tell him he has three months to live…and the dope doesn't get a second opinion!

The Grand Comics Database tells us that Joe Blair wrote the script and Sam Cooper did the artwork.

Have a great Halloween and keep your hands out of the kids' trick or treat bags. As for me, well, I'll be busy on Halloween day wrapping Ex-lax in Hershey wrappers for the arrival of the little kiddies. They usually stop at Pappy's Putrid Palace, a crumbling and ancient, cobwebbed mansion…but once is enough. They never come back! Bahahaha!

Scans for this story kindly provided by 1506NixNix.