For his first several stories, Kid Eternity's creators have been quite...frugal in using his most powerful ability, summoning dead heroes and legends from the afterlife.
In his first story, Kid didn't even summon anyone!! In the following stories, it was never more than 3 summonses. In fact, after 4 tales, this was the grand total of those recalled by Kid:
| Achilles | 1 |
| Blackhawk | 1 |
| Nobody | 1 |
| Robin Hood | 1 |
| Samson | 1 |
| Solomon | 1 |
| Sullivan, John L. | 1 |
Well, after this story, we're going to need a bigger list! In fact, Kid will summon more people in this story than all his prior stories combined!!
Hanging about invisibly, Kid and Mr. Keeper come upon Barry and Joy, an aspiring (but broke) magician and his best gal!
Anyway, Dale The Dickweed Stepbrother does try to sabotage Barry's show. So Kid makes himself visible, and pretends that he was summoned by Barry!!
That's four already, and this story is barely getting started!
We should note, of course, the beginning of the phenomenon of Kid summoning figures who are...problematic from a modern viewpoint. Napoleon still has his admirers, but many view him as an autocratic despot whose grandiose ambitions brought needless war and death throughout Europe. And Columbus? Well, obviously many hold him in disrepute these days. Kid (and the narrator) probably covers themselves with the term "great person" rather than "heroes." Still Kid Eternity in present day would have to be a little more careful in whom he brought back from the dead...
Also noteworthy is that we've apparently gone past Kid transforming himself into the historical figures, just merely calling them forth. Unless he can split himself into four...Don't worry, next issue we're back to "he transforms himself." Sigh...
We should also note that Kid is merely showing off here, or rather, helping Barry show off. The 4 historical figures don't actually do anything besides stand around and talk. It's rather like the "report" at the end of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure!
And the audience reacts like they're in San Dimas--they're thrilled!!
But now we get the meat of this issue's plot. When Barry's father died, Dale The Dickweed's dad took him in. And ever since, Dale treated Barry like dirt. Why?
But no we're faced again with the 100% confirmed fictional character. No "legendary" figure who might have existed and caused tales to come about. So how can Kid summon him from "Eternity?"
Anyway, during their investigation, they find a hidden safe, and need help opening it. So why not summon...
Anyway, they discover evidence that the "scientific formulas" that made Dale's father wealthy might actually have been invented by Barry's father!!
Well, when Kid Eternity is on your side...you can just ask him yourself!!
After sending Barry's dad back to his "happy" death, Barry decides he needs to confront (beat the crap out of) Dale. But he's a total wuss!!
That's OK...welcome to the Kid Eternity Workout Program!!
Well, needless to say, Barry now kicks Dale The Dickweed's ass...and gets him to confess!
So, we added ten--10!!--new summonses this time!! Crazy, eh? So after 5 stories, the board stands at---
| Achilles | 1 |
| Antony, Marc | 1 |
| Barry's father | 1 |
| Blackhawk | 1 |
| Columbus | 1 |
| Corbett, Jim | 1 |
| Holmes, Sherlock | 1 |
| Houdini | 1 |
| Leander | 1 |
| Napoleon | 1 |
| Noah | 1 |
| Nobody | 1 |
| Pheidippides | 1 |
| Robin Hood | 1 |
| Samson | 1 |
| Solomon | 1 |
| Sullivan, John L. | 1 |
We're gonna need a bigger boat!!
Next time--what happens when historical figures show up--when they haven't been summoned by Kid? Plus, crazy-ass afterlife politics!!
From Hit Comics #29 (1943)
4 comments:
Hold up. Barry's dad invented some scientific stuff, but Dale's dad stole them, getting the credit and money for them? Maybe Thomas Edison actually was in this story after all... :)
Well now, let's not trouble ourselves with the fact that Pheidippides keeled over stone dead after his famous run, shall we?
The last person I'd want as a cross-country coach...
So it's bad when Dale's dad steals formulas and passes them off as his own, but it's okey-dokey for Barry to pass off Kid Eternity's conjurings as his own to boost his magic act? Stuff that he can only do when the Kid's around, which means his act is doomed to failure after he goes? And just what possessed them to put a discus thrower (excuse me, THE discus thrower) on the cover when they had Houdini in the wings?
I used to be a part of various groups that would liberate fiche comics like these and gift the world with scans of them, but oh how I wish either someones would find original copies of the published comics to scan or companies like DC would release recolored and restored versions of these old books they own.
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