Page 1 of 1

Crash Comic Adventures/Crash Comics/Crash Comics Adventures

Posted: Wed Sep 06, 2017 4:27 pm
by vanhornluke
CRASH COMIC ADVENTURES #1 (May 1940)
By Scotty Walters

APPEARANCES:
Strongman, crooks, women admirers, partygoers, robbers, bellhop, sailors, fish

SYNOPSIS:
Percy presents himself as a useless playboy in order to conceal the fact that he’s Strongman! At a party, robbers steal a valuable pearl necklace from one of Percy’s friends. He makes excuses to leave and then tracks down the thieves to a merchant ship at the harbor. He discovers that the captain is secretly planning to arm the ship and become a raider. The crew find and attack him, but he easily withstands their attempts to kill them and sinks the ship, retrieving the jewels in the process.

NOTES:
While not explicitly stated, the ship’s captain and crew are implied to be Germans and thus somehow involved in the war effort. Strangely, Percy is the only named character in this story. I have only looked at this story in this issue, since none of the others are confirmed as being 616. Finally, it’s worth pointing out that the indicia indicate that the name of the magazine at this point is Crash Comic Adventures, but it’s changed to Crash Comics for the second issue.


CRASH COMICS #2 (Jun 1940)
By ?

APPEARANCES:
Strongman, El Matador thugs, Don Amigo, Swellport Yacht Club attendees, shark, soldiers, Great Sanchez, General

SYNOPSIS:
Strongman overhears thugs taunting a captive. He bursts into the building to find that the captive is Don Amigo, the former president of El Matador. He rescues Amigo and then tells him to sign onto Percy Van Norton’s private yacht as a cook and he’ll be taken back to his country. The yacht arrives but those who venture ashore are captured by the Great Sanchez, the new dictator of the country. Percy had remained behind on the yacht, so he could become Strongman in secret. He chases Sanchez and his general to a Big Bertha installation and prevents them from firing on the Panama Canal. Sanchez and the general escape on mules, but they have lost control, as Amigo is reinstalled as president.

NOTE:
El Matador, like many other golden age countries, was overlooked when creating the Marvel Atlas. It is (or was; we don’t know it still exists as a separate country in 616) located in Central America, and at least part of it is 75 miles from the Panama Canal. Again, the rest of this issue is not confirmed as 616, so I’ve only focused on this story.


CRASH COMICS ADVENTURES #3 (Jul 1940)
By ?

APPEARANCES:
Sparks, Strongman, women on the yacht, submarine sailors, King Lorac of Rutania, Rutanian sailors, Aissuran soldiers of the 62nd Battalion, Gen. Shatov, Nilats

SYNOPSIS:
Still on his yacht shortly after the end of last issue, Percy intercepts and decodes a secret radio message indicating that Rutania is about to be invaded by Aissur. King Lorac of Rutania is an old friend, so Percy takes his yacht to Rutania and, after secretly becoming Strongman again, proceeds to smash the Aissuran 62nd Battalion. He then travels to Aissur’s capital, Wocsom, and captures its dictator, Nilats, and forces him to sign a peace treaty with Rutania.

NOTE:
Sparks was probably aboard the yacht in issue #2, but that isn’t confirmed, so I haven’t listed him as appearing there. Some of the women on the yacht are clearly the same as in last issue, but none of them are named, so I can’t create chronologies for them. Rutania and Aissur are two more golden age countries overlooked by the Marvel Atlas. Rutania has a harbor reachable by sea through the Mediterranean, and I would guess it’s somewhere in Eastern Europe. Aissur is clearly inspired by Russia (it’s just “Russia” spelled backwards; do the same for “Wocsom” and “Nilats”). I don’t think we should interpret this as just an appearance of Stalin and Russia under other names, though, since I don’t think Stalin would have caved so easily to Strongman’s demands, but if MCP wants to interpret this as Stalin rather than an original character then this would have to be added to Stalin’s chronology. Notice that the indicia shows that the title has reverted back to what it was for #1, except that it’s now Crash Comics Adventures.


CRASH COMICS #4 (Sep 1940)
By Bill Scott

APPEARANCES:
Strongman, Scanlandian refugees, Moslav, Moslav’s troops, President Gregory, Scanlandia’s Provisional Government (in hiding), president of Buzzards Aircraft, Moslav’s navy, Scanlandian citizens

SYNOPSIS:
Sailing through the Mediterranean toward home after last issue, Percy’s yacht comes across a boatload of refugees from Scanlandia, which has just been conquered by the tyrant Moslav from a neighboring country. Percy sneaks out and crushes Moslav’s army and navy, reinstalling the former President Gregory, who had been in hiding.

NOTE:
Yet another country left out of the Marvel Atlas, Scanlandia, which is located somewhere along the European Mediterranean coast. My theory is that the Atlas was of “present” 616, and all the golden age countries that aren’t depicted were absorbed into other countries during/after WWII (e.g., into Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, USSR). Moslav’s country is never named, so we don’t know if he was from yet another new country. According to the indicia, we're back to just Crash Comics.


CRASH COMICS #5 (Nov 1940)
By ?

APPEARANCES:
Strongman, hangers-on, Polarian taxi driver, ticket vendor, German invaders, Polarian commander-in-chief, Polarian army

SYNOPSIS:
While Percy’s friends visit a theater in Polaria, he spots invading German paratroopers. Percy captures the first wave then warns the Polarian commander-in-chief that Germans are invading in force. He leads the Polarian army in driving off the invaders. When Hitler asks Polaria to sign a non-aggression pact with Germany, Percy advises against it, since Hitler can’t be trusted.

NOTE:
Yet another country not placed in the Marvel Atlas, Polaria. No clues are given as to where exactly it's supposed to be, but I would guess that it bordered Germany or German-held territory in 1940. While the invaders are never named, it’s obvious that they’re supposed to be the Germans. Hitler doesn’t actually appear, but the Polarian commander-in-chief explains to Percy that he’s received the non-aggression pact request from the dictator who leads the invaders. Does that mean this qualifies as a behind the scenes appearance of Hitler that should be listed in his chronology? Polaria is obviously based on Poland, but it can't be Poland under another name, since the invasion and conquest happened a year earlier and wasn't stopped by Strongman.


Chronologies (Strongman already has a chronology at MCP, so here’s everyone else; you’ll notice that Percy’s stories tend not to include named characters):

AMIGO, DON
CRASHC 2

GREAT SANCHEZ
CRASHC 2

GREGORY
CRASHC 4

KING LORAC
CRASHC 3

MOSLAV
CRASHC 4

NILATS
CRASCHC 3

SHATOV, GEN.
CRASHC 3

SPARKS
CRASHC 3

Re: Crash Comic Adventures/Crash Comics/Crash Comics Adventures

Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2017 4:11 pm
by vanhornluke
The more I think about it, the more I think Hitler deserves a BTS appearance listed in his chronology for issue #5. Where in his chronology should it go?