Amazing Man Comics #5

(September 1939)

It's Hard to Beat (Table of Contents)

Amazing Mystery Funnies / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Paul Gustavson (Fantom of the Fair, signed); Malcolm Kildale (Speed Centaur, signed)

Inks:

Paul Gustavson (Fantom of the Fair, signed); Malcolm Kildale (Speed Centaur, signed)

Letters:

?

Indexer Notes

Inside front cover.

[Origin of Amazing-Man] (Table of Contents)

Aman the Amazing-Man / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Bill Everett (signed)

Pencils:

Bill Everett (signed)

Inks:

Bill Everett (signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Amazing-Man [John Aman] (introduction, origin); The Council of Seven [The Great Question (villain); Nika; five others] (introduction for all)

Synopsis:

After being raised for 25 years by the Council of Seven in Tibet, Aman is tested and sent out into the world. Of the council members, Nika exhorts him to do good and gifts him with invisibility, while the Great Question plots to bend Aman to his will. In America, Aman learns of a series of train wrecks and confronts the man behind the disasters.

Indexer Notes

The character influenced the creation of Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt in Thunderbolt (Charlton, 1966 Series) #1 as well a Iron Fist in Marvel Premiere (Marvel, 1972 series) #15. Once he was in public domain he was used in Protectors, The (Malibu, 1992 series) #1 (with other Centaur characters ), in Immortal Iron Fist (Marvel, 2007 series) #12 and in Project Superpowers (Dynamite Entertainment, 2008 series) #0.

["In the sumptuous office of Steve Harrington..."] (Table of Contents)

The Cat Man / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Tarpe Mills (signed)

Inks:

Tarpe Mills (signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Characters:

Cat Man [Barton Stone] (introduction)

Synopsis:

Barton Stone finishes his 20-year jail sentence and seeks revenge on his former partners who let his wife die in poverty while he took the rap for all of their crimes. A year later, each partner is visited by a strange old lady with a cat who scratches them.

River Subs (Table of Contents)

Jack Rhodes / comic story / 3 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Larry Riley [as Riley] (signed)

Inks:

Larry Riley [as Riley] (signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Characters:

Jack Rhodes (introduction, only appearance?)

Synopsis:

Rhodes is sent to investigate suspicious submarine sightings.

Indexer Notes

Previously a note here linked Jack Rhodes with Minimidget, but there is no evidence of any such link in this issue- Minimidget also debuts in a later story. All other references easily found on the internet mention this link only to dismiss it. Some mention that Minimidget may be called Jack Rhodes later in his run, but a spot check of several issues of this series and Stars and Stripes Comics reveal no such name.

["But Terry, I tell you I need another $10,000"] (Table of Contents)

The Iron Skull / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Carl Burgos (signed)

Pencils:

Carl Burgos (signed)

Inks:

Carl Burgos (signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

The Iron Skull (introduction)

Synopsis:

The Iron Skull thwarts a scientist's plans to use robots to carry out crime, and mechanized spiders to terrorize the town and extort cash from the local government.

Indexer Notes

No origin or explanation is given for the Iron Skull in this story. He is mentioned to have "steel fists" but it is not stated that he is a robot or android despite the presence of robots elsewhere in the story.

"It has been estimated that more than one-third..." (Table of Contents)

Stranger Than Fiction / filler / 2 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

?

Inks:

?

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Editing:

? (syndicated)

Content Information

Genre:

fact

Indexer Notes

There are two signatures and what appear to be syndication credits, but the scan is too blurry to make them out.

The Tragic Note (Table of Contents)

Aman the Amazing-Man / text story / 2 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Matty Point

Pencils:

Frank Thomas

Inks:

Frank Thomas

Colors:

?

Letters:

typeset

Content Information

Characters:

Amazing-Man [John Aman]

Synopsis:

In order to explain why he refuses to perform a certain piece of music, Aman tells of his musical testing during his time in Tibet.

The Congo War Drum (Part 1) (Table of Contents)

comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Paul Gustavson (credited)

Inks:

Paul Gustavson (credited)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

jungle

Synopsis:

"Sandy" Thorne of the Congo patrol and his servant Labu go in search of the source of the Congo war drums, knowing they mean trouble.

Indexer Notes

Credit is given in type (not lettering) under the splash panel. Jerry Bails' Who's Who shows that Gustavson generally did not write the stories he illustrated for Centaur proper, although he did often write for the predecessor issues published by Chesler.

["So my dear brother won't let me have more money"] (Table of Contents)

Minimidget / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

John F. Kolb (signed)

Inks:

John F. Kolb (signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Minimidget (introduction); Ritty (introduction); Barmell (villain, introduction, death)

Synopsis:

The mad scientist Barmell, who had already shrunk two people so small that they can fit in his hand, seeks to use Minimidget to kill his brother in order to inherit his fortune. Thwarted by his brother's will, he sends Minimidget out again and again to kill everyone who inherited his brother's fortune in his stead.

Indexer Notes

Neither Minimidget nor Ritty has a single line during this story, which is told primarily from the point of view of Barmell. Minimidget acts only as Barmell's assassin rather than as a hero, and Ritty makes only background appearances.

The Land Beneath the Sea (Table of Contents)

Chuck Hardy / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Frank Thomas [as Franklyn Thomas] (signed)

Pencils:

Frank Thomas [as Franklyn Thomas] (signed)

Inks:

Frank Thomas [as Franklyn Thomas] (signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

adventure; science-fiction

Characters:

Chuck Hardy (introduction); Jerry Peterson (introduction)

Synopsis:

Divers Chuck and Jerry are swept through a crack in the sea floor to an underground land populated by strange creatures.

Indexer Notes

Script credit from Jerry Bails' Who's Who.

Mystery of the Kidnapped Heir (Table of Contents)

Slim Bradley / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Dick Hayes (signed)

Inks:

Dick Hayes (signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Genre:

adventure

Characters:

Slim Bradley (forest ranger, introduction)

Synopsis:

Ranger Slim Bradley has to rescue a captured millionaire's son while a forest fire rages.

[Origin of Mighty Man] (Table of Contents)

Mighty Man / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Credits

Script:

Martin Filchock (signed)

Pencils:

Martin Filchock (signed)

Inks:

Martin Filchock (signed)

Colors:

?

Letters:

Martin Filchock ?

Content Information

Genre:

superhero

Characters:

Mighty Man (introduction, origin); Sunny (introduction); The Professor (introduction)

Synopsis:

Sunny brings the Professor to the giant valley he found with the Professor's map. They're pursued by bandits, but the giant man they find in the valley rescues them and agrees to come with them into the outside world.

["Wow! The Year's Biggest Bargain!"] (Table of Contents)

Johnson Smith & Co. / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

?

Inks:

?

Letters:

typeset

Indexer Notes

Inside back cover.

Flash! (Table of Contents)

Keen Detective Funnies #v2#9 / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Credits

Script:

?

Pencils:

Ben Thompson (signed on original cover)

Inks:

Ben Thompson (signed on original cover)

Colors:

?

Letters:

?

Content Information

Characters:

Masked Marvel

Indexer Notes

Back cover.