Condorman (Whitman)
Oct 23, 2013 20:50:48 GMT -5
Post by Defiant1 on Oct 23, 2013 20:50:48 GMT -5
Condorman #1
I took a break from scanning to read this. The story is really goofy. A wannabe super-hero is actually a comic artist who wants all his characters to be someone who can exist in real life. He dons a condor costume which fails to work and he falls to the ground. His friend tries to talk common sense into him but it is to no avail. His friend works as a file clerk for the CIA. The CIA needs a civilian to deliver some papers to a KGB (double?) agent in Turkey. It needs to be inconspicuous, so they don't want a normal field agent to do it. Initially the CIA wants their file clerk to deliver the documents, but he enlists the cartoonist. Condorman has no costume after his intial failed flight. The file clerk friend handcuffs a briefcase to Condorman and he embarks upon his mission. Of course I see nothing inconspicuous about a brief case being handcuffed to someone's wrist, but the story continues. He meets his attractive female contact and boasts of being a CIA agent to her. She urges him that they are undercover as civilians. A Chinese spy witnesses the transfer of documents and several guys confront them with the goal to steal the documents. Condorman slings the briefcase around and by luck defeats them all. The KGB agent and Condorman immediately have a crush for one another. They part and go their separate ways. The KGB agent's boss says that word of the confrontation is going to blow her cover and that she's not allowed to leave the country for any more spy missions. She decides to defect to the US. The CIA once again enlists the cartoonist to help her defect to the US. He designs all these James Bond type spy weapons and heads off to Russia to save her. It pretty much ends with him thwarting all the evil Russian hitmen.
The art is very good, but it's the typical weak inking and distracting lettering that Gold Key/Whitman line offered. The only fun in reading it was the goofiness that it provides. At no point can you really take the character seriously. At no point was I compelled to go look for more issues. For me it's just a throwback to the variety that spinner racks used to offer. I kinda miss that.
The comic was released in 1981. Mike's Amazing Wold of Comics shows it as having a November 1981 cover date, but the month is not in the indicia. According to his site they only published for 7 more months.
Defiant1
I took a break from scanning to read this. The story is really goofy. A wannabe super-hero is actually a comic artist who wants all his characters to be someone who can exist in real life. He dons a condor costume which fails to work and he falls to the ground. His friend tries to talk common sense into him but it is to no avail. His friend works as a file clerk for the CIA. The CIA needs a civilian to deliver some papers to a KGB (double?) agent in Turkey. It needs to be inconspicuous, so they don't want a normal field agent to do it. Initially the CIA wants their file clerk to deliver the documents, but he enlists the cartoonist. Condorman has no costume after his intial failed flight. The file clerk friend handcuffs a briefcase to Condorman and he embarks upon his mission. Of course I see nothing inconspicuous about a brief case being handcuffed to someone's wrist, but the story continues. He meets his attractive female contact and boasts of being a CIA agent to her. She urges him that they are undercover as civilians. A Chinese spy witnesses the transfer of documents and several guys confront them with the goal to steal the documents. Condorman slings the briefcase around and by luck defeats them all. The KGB agent and Condorman immediately have a crush for one another. They part and go their separate ways. The KGB agent's boss says that word of the confrontation is going to blow her cover and that she's not allowed to leave the country for any more spy missions. She decides to defect to the US. The CIA once again enlists the cartoonist to help her defect to the US. He designs all these James Bond type spy weapons and heads off to Russia to save her. It pretty much ends with him thwarting all the evil Russian hitmen.
The art is very good, but it's the typical weak inking and distracting lettering that Gold Key/Whitman line offered. The only fun in reading it was the goofiness that it provides. At no point can you really take the character seriously. At no point was I compelled to go look for more issues. For me it's just a throwback to the variety that spinner racks used to offer. I kinda miss that.
The comic was released in 1981. Mike's Amazing Wold of Comics shows it as having a November 1981 cover date, but the month is not in the indicia. According to his site they only published for 7 more months.
Defiant1
