Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Dial E For Eternity--Love For The Kid?!?

Words cannot describe how much I like this story, for a hundred different reasons.

First, we break up the formula, by starting in media res, as the very first panel is in the middle of a (very) minor case:

Davy Crockett!! Maybe not my first choice to stop an unarmed purse snatcher, but what they hey--you're Kid Eternity!! Go wild!!

And it turns out that he's getting a bit of a fan following here on Earth!

Look at poor Kid trying to be all casual and modest while impressing the lovely young woman. Oh, to be young again!

Time for Mr. Keeper to be a wet blanket!!

Hmm...you know what? For some reason, I don't trust that guardian, Mr. Hardeel...

Uh-oh...

This doesn't bode well, does it?

Oh, you greedy guardian!!


You know, now the the Kid is apparently becoming well-known--this is the third story of the last four where someone has said "I've heard of you and your powers"--it's kind of surprising that this kind of thing doesn't happen more often. It's a pretty easy power to fake, if your audience is credulous enough:



OK, I'm going to dock Hardeel a point or two for not using a smoke bomb, to make the imitation complete. Otherwise, though, it's a perfect put-up job.

Unfortunately for Hardeel, Kid Eternity picks that moment to come a courtin'--complete with flowers!!
And so he walks in on the scam...

...where the dumb actor/crook thought our Founding Fathers spoke Shakespearean! Verily!!

Time to bust up this scam!!


The REAL Alexander Hamilton!!


Good gravy, Lin-Manuel Miranda wishes he had written something this great!!

But Mr. Hardeel is clever, and able to roll with the punches:


Uh-huh.

Kid's too besotten witth Lally to realize that Hardeel's story makes no sense. So while Kid takes her on a picnic, Hardeel moves to Plan B:

Ah, from fraud to kidnapping. See how crime snowballs on you, folks?

Kid borrows Hardeel's car to take Lally on the date...

Wait--Kid can drive? Well, I guess when you're legally dead, you don't worry about legal technicalities...


Anyway, Kid is kind of stumbling a bit, so Keeper sends for some help:


Lord Byron!!! This is his second time on our show!!


Well, so much for his help!!

But while they were off gabbing. Lally was snatched!


Tecumseh!

Well, they find the hideout--but how to get in?


Belle Boyd!! Also known as the Cleopatra of the Secession and Siren of the Shenandoah, she really was a successful spy for the Confederacy!!!


So, being idiots, the gang leaves Lally penning her own ransom note, while they go drool over the charming Boyd:

So now is Kid's chance. But the goons are all armed. How to ensure that Lally isn't harmed?

Jesse James!!

From here on out, it's the Jesse James show, including this remarkable sequence:



Unlike some of the bad people Kid has summoned before, it seems as if James' death has taught him a lesson. Jesse actually tries to talk the crooks into reforming!!

It doesn't work, though, so time for shootin '!!!

Yes, Jesse James actually shot a hand grenade out of mid-air!!

And Jesse is good at the fisticuffs, too!

And then Mr. Hardeel shows why he's not a criminal genius:


D'oh!!

Which just leaves one thing--LOVE!!


And..we never heard another word about Lally. Sigh.

Still, a great story--Kid falling in love, dueling Hamiltons, Jesse James feeling remorse but still kicking ass, criminals at least a bit creative in their schemes--what's not to love?

This is the 36th Kid Eternity story. Here are the summoning standings:

Abu 1
Achilles 4
Antony, Marc 2
Aramis 1
Arnold, Benedict 1
Arthur, King 2
Astor, John Jacob 1
Athos 1
Atlas 3
Attila The Hun 1
Attucks, Crispin 1
Baker, Lafayette 1
Barry's father 1
Barton, Clara 1
Bernhardt, Sarah 1
Bertillon, Alphonse 1
Blackhawk 1
Bluebeard 1
Bolivar, Simon 1
Boone, Daniel 1
Breitbart, Zishe 1
Bucephalus 1
Bunyan, Paul 2
Byron, George Gordon 2
Caesar, Octavian 1
Cagliostro, Alessandro 1
Canary, Martha “Calamity” 1
Cannon, John W. 1
Carden, Foster 1
Cherry Sisters 1
Clancy, Patrick 1
Cleopatra 1
Cody, “Buffalo” Bill 2
Colt, Samuel 1
Columbus 1
Corbett, Jim 3
Crockett, Davy 1
Cronson, Gerald 1
Crusoe, Robinson 1
Custer, George Armstrong 1
D'artagnan 2
de Leon, Ponce 1
Decatur, Stephen 1
Discus Thrower 1
Dockstader, Lew 1
Dracula 1
Drake, Sir Francis 1
Dupin, C. Auguste 1
Edison, Thomas 1
Emery 1
Ericson, Leif 2
Frankenstein's Monster 1
Galahad 1
Gotch, Frank 1
Gothicus, Claudius 1
Grant, Ulysses S. 1
Greb, Harry 1
Griffiths, Albert 1
Hamilton, Alexander 1
Hatfield, John 1
Hauser, Kaspar 1
Henry, Patrick 1
Hercules 2
Hickathrift, Tom 1
Hickok, Wild Bill 1
Hippocrates 1
Holmes, Sherlock 2
Hopkins, Matthew 1
Houdini 2
Hyde, Edward 1
Hyer, Tom 1
Jackson, Andrew 1
James, Jesse 1
Javert 1
Jeffries, Jim 1
Jones, John Paul 1
Jove 1
Khan, Genghis 1
Kidd, William 1
Lafayette, General 1
Lancelot 1
Laughing Cavalier 1
Leander 3
Lee, Robert E. 1
Leonidas 1
Lincoln, Abraham 1
Lister, Joseph 1
Marable, Fate 1
Masterson, Bat 1
Mercury 4
Milo Of Croton 2
Mix, Tom 1
Mulgrew, Jason 1
Murphy, Charles 1
Napoleon 1
Nation, Carrie 1
Nightingale, Florence 1
Noah 1
Nobody 1
Nostradamus 1
O'Brien, David 1
Og 1
Osceola 1
Paddock, Charley 1
Penelope 1
Pheidippides 1
Pinkerton, Allan 1
Plastic Man 1
Porthos 2
Prometheus 1
Quixote, Don 1
Revere, Paul 1
Richard the LionHeart 1
Rin-Tin-Tin 1
Robespierre, Maximilien 1
Robin Hood 2
Russell, Lillian 1
Rustum 1
Ryan, Paddy 1
Samson 2
Sandow, Eugen 1
Schleyer, Johann 1
Siegfried 1
Silver, Long John 1
Skunk, Jimmy 1
Socrates 1
Solomon 1
Sullivan, John L. 2
Tecumseh 1
Tell, William 1
Thalfi 1
Thor 1
Thurston, Howard 1
Tiglath IV 1
Tut-ankh-amen 1
Twain, Mark 1
Ulysses 1
Uncas 1
Vercingetorix 1
Villa, Pancho 1
Vulcan 1
Washington, George 2
Webster, Daniel 1
Xanthippe 1
Zbyzko, Stanislaus 1

NEXT--After Kid's first crush we get...Kid's first femme fatale!!

From Hit Comics #46 (1947)

4 comments:

Green Luthor said...

How odd that Jesse James is the only person to be so different in the afterlife than they were in (the Hollywood History version of) their lives.

Too bad Lally didn't stick around. I'd love to see how that relationship would play out. "Merry Christmas, Lally! I got you... a visit from your dead parents!" "Oh, uh... I got you a book?" I think Kid could one-up anyone when it comes to gift-giving... :)

snell said...

There have been ac couple of others, but yeah, Jesse James was certainly given a lot more space for explanations and attempts to convert others.

Still, you're right...if you're a baddie, you'll still be a baddie when Kid calls upon (like next week, for example...)

tomg said...

You forgot to include Belle Boyd's name on the list at the end. (Or maybe I just missed it?)

snell said...

Good catch. Thank you.