Sometimes, the non-costumed adventurers of comics past are forgotten, left by the wayside in favor of their costumed peers. For example, do you know about The Three Aces? Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of Action Comics #18 awaits!
ACTION COMICS #18
Writer: Uncredited
Penciler: Bert Christman
Inker: Bert Christman
Colorist: Uncredited
Letterer: Uncredited
Editor: Vin Sullivan
Publisher: Detective Comics, Inc. (DC Comics)
Cover Price: 10 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing:
Release Date: September 25, 1939
Previously in Action Comics: In the year 2025, “comic book” and “superhero” are often treated as synonymous, but the modern comic book and the serialized storytelling it represents debuted several years before the full superhero archetype debuted with Superman. The various two-fisted reporters, private eyes, and athletes of the Golden Age stood alongside the likes of Superman, Batman, and Bozo The Iron Man, with their lack of powers slowly them down not a whit. Thus, did lady-killer Whistler Will, American tough guy Gunner Bill, and the veddy British Fog Fortune find themselves allied, flying the world righting wrongs, fighting evil, and never once paying for their jet fuel.
This four-panel introduction serves as all the background that our heroes get in their forty-odd appearances, but that’s actually okay. They’re roving soldiers of fortune, flying their own planes into danger around the world. This adventure finds Gunner, Whistler, and Fog in Baghdad following rumors of disappearing airplanes. Unbeknownst to the Three Aces, their own customer fighters are the next target of local air pirates, but they’re about to get sidetracked by Whistler’s knack for finding beautiful women in need of assistance.
Gunner Bill is immediately suspicious, while Will reminds him that they’re in town to unravel the mystery, so being right in the middle of it is perfect. This story’s visuals remind me a great deal of Joe Shuster’s art, but I can’t tell if it’s just the era in question. Bert Christman, who handled the visuals for this story, had previously been the artist on the aviation adventure strip Scorchy Smith and is credited as the co-creator of the Golden Age Sandman. His bona fides with airplanes are on full display with the Aces’ debut adventure, as the pilots encounter a caravan in distress and land to provide assistance. Gunner’s distrust allows him to get away as the “caravan” rises up to attack them and steal their plane, while Fog and Whistler are captured by the evil Doctor Tussin.
In addition to easing the symptoms of the common cold, Tussin is the mastermind of the plane-stealing ring, but Gunner Bill’s skills as a pilot even the odds. While the villain holds his partners at gunpoint, Bill circles, shooting whenever the group tries to disperse, keeping his fellow Aces safe with air cover. Unfortunately, his fuel supply isn’t as bottomless as his will, and his engine eventually sputters out, forcing Gunner Bill to bring it down. Tussin’s thugs spring into action…
…but they have forgotten the awesome power of radio! Summoned by Gunner, a squadron of British fliers arrives just in time for the Three Aces to leap into action.
Will and Fog bust themselves out, following the mastermind into the desert and bringing him to justice, allowing the three roving pilots to take off again for parts unknown. Honestly, this story is basically a Western, the sort of plot that you might have seen in the pages of Zorro or The Lone Ranger, with fighter planes in place of stallions, but it’s functional, and exciting. The debut of The Three Aces is one of the best tales in Action Comics #18, providing a good-looking tale (despite the horrific microfiche state, which seems to be the only way it survives), earning 3 out of 5 stars overall.
While the Three Aces adventures would continue until August of 1943, artist Bert Christman had already joined the Navy by the time this book hit the stands. A member of the American Volunteer Group (sometimes known as the Flying Tigers), Christman flew missions in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. On January 26, 1942, Colonel Christman was shot down while providing aerial defense for the Burma Road, parachuting from his plane. He did not survive.
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ACTION COMICS #18
The aviators of the Golden Age were, in many ways, proto-superheroes, and The Three Aces are an example, well-drawn by real-life aviator Bert Christman.
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Writing5
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Art6
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Coloring6
