Editor's Note: Twelve ½ #1 arrives in stores Thursday, September 4.

"Action picture magazines!" - That phrase appears nowhere in this book, but describes early 40's comics so succinctly it LOUDLY demanded inclusion. Think of it as an unofficial sub-title. Either that or "Before They Were Stars".

This is the second set of Golden Age reprints released in association with J.M. Straczynski's charismatic story of The Twelve, a group of WWII era Timely Comics heroes who were, in their quasi-retconned state, captured and placed in suspended animation by the Nazis, then accidentally "discovered" in 2008. If you dived into this book (perhaps via pre-order) anticipating something else, I refer you to The Whizzo Assortment:

Inspector Praline: Nevertheless, I must warn you that in future you should delete the words "crunchy frog", and replace them with the legend "crunchy raw unboned real dead frog", if you want to avoid prosecution.

To be fair, and with no thought at all about their sales, this is more a case of taking a bite from "Spring Surprise", but forewarned is forearmed and all that. Now let us settle into our happy place.

The Twelve ½ features five stories starring three members from Straczynski's series: Fiery Mask, Mr. E, and Rockman. For some characters, like Mr. E, this is all that was ever seen of them prior to their revivication. For others, there were perhaps two or three further appearances before being discarded. Because of their utter obscurity, and the Golden Age being a time when stories frequently ran without credits, piecing together information has been the sort of challenge for which my editor no doubt assigned me this book. "Mark'll love this, he's like a ferret in a box of socks, ready to sniff out, um..." My imaginary metaphor sort of breaks down at this point. Nevertheless!

The Fantastic Thriller of the Walking Corpses - Daring Mystery Comics #1 (Fiery Mask) - Joe Simon
The Strange Case of the Bloodless Corpses - (Fiery Mask) - The Human Torch #2 - Joe Simon
Who In Reality Is Mr. "E"? - Daring Mystery Comics #2 (Mr. E) - Joe Cal Cagno/Al Carreno
The Killers of the Sea - USA Comics #2 (Rockman) - Stan Lee/Basil Wolverton
The Deadly Pixies - USA Comics #3 (Rockman) - Stan Lee/Charles Nicholas (Syd Shores)

The "Charles Nicholas" pseudonym was an Eiser/Iger studio invention, one of many, that's reputed to have included a handful of artists including Jack Kirby. Syd Shores wasn't among the short list associated with this particular name, whereas Charles Wojtkoski was. Critics more familiar with both of their styles have more or less definitively pegged at least one, or part of one, Rockman story as Wojtkoski's (as "Nicholas"). "The Deadly Pixies" (the story has no actual title) has been credited to "Nicholas" but spotted as Shores. I suppose that I could call Tom Brevoort, but unless he's been practicing with the Ouija board, it's doubtful that further clarification is likely.

Other than Stan Lee, who'd been pumping out stories for uncle Martin (yes, yes, I know, "cousin by marriage Martin") with astonishing speed, the two names stealing focus are Joe Simon and Basil Wolverton. Joe Simon is a living legend, of course; for shame if you need to ask about him! Basil Wolverton, on the other hand, passed away thirty years ago after considerable acclaim for, but hardly limited to, his (in)famous cover for Life featuring Lena Hyena from Al Capp's L'il Abner (how Wolverton came to draw Lena is a whole other story, but Frank Sinatra and Salvador Dali were there, or so it's told). Though his work here on Rockman is somewhat primitive, it's indicative of the direction in which his style would soon develop.

The first story offers the origin of the Fiery Mask, a young physician named Jack Castle asked to assist with a police enquiry only to fall prey to the villainous Doctor. When Castle's will proves too strong for the Doctor's hypnosis ray, he turns it up to eleven with the resultant catastrophe embuing the new hero with the abilities of the elements. In the ensuing battle, Jack opts to save the conveniently placed captive girl while the Doctor vanishes as his lair collapses around him. The prose is purple, the drawing clearly rushed, and the layouts often so anarchic that little arrows are included to navigate panels. In short, everything one comes to expect from a war era superhero story.

The second story, which was no doubt referred to at some point by the publisher as "again with the corpses...?!?", has the Fiery Mask ("Scourge of the underworld!") face off with the mad Doctor Sendach - eminent stomach specialist. Laugh if you must, but it's true! Simon seems to have had an extra fifteen or twenty minutes at his disposal this time around, as page layouts are simpler to follow and various layers of subtext are added. From Castle's need to treat victims of the bizarre "bloodless plague" as a physician and not a detective or masked vigilante, to a swipe at the sensationalist nature of the media, to combining his medical and detection skills in an effort to flush out what, or who, he believes might be the cause of the spreading illness. Unfortunatley, Simon paints himself into a corner when it comes to the nuts and bolts of Sendach's evil scheme, and the resolution employs a lurid vengeance motif - there's even another conveniently placed damsal in distress for Fiery Mask to rescue - but it is on the whole a satisfying tale. It would be a stretch to describe it as "nuanced," but there's actually quite a bit going on here, which is doubly impressive as this is a standard ten-page story no doubt written and drawn in little more time than it takes to read.

We turn to Mr. E, "the enemy of the underworld" - fair enough as Fiery Mask was already its scourge. The first things you'll notice are Al Carreno's meticulous layouts and sharp brush (which devolve somewhat as the deadline loomed). Many artists of the era claim Hal Foster and Alex Raymond as influences, but few were afforded the opportunity to demonstrate it. Perhaps this is why only one Mr. E adventure exists, since time was money, and page rates were slim. Carreno's work did grace other books, including some very pretty work for Fawcett, however. Another reason for Mr. E's brief existence might have been that, thematically, comics were lousy with rich, athletic, masked vigilante detectives (or combinations thereof). Upon first glance you might think you're reading a Shadow or Spirit story. Carreno's partner in crime here, Joe Cal Cagno, had nearly as brief a career as Mr. E, himself, having contributed to a few issues of Daring Mystery Comics before returning to whatever else he did for a living. The story itself is a straightforward tale of extortion, kidnapping, and murder, with a "You dirty rat!" thrown in for good measure. The "Vampire", a mysterious, hooded figure sporting a macabre crest on his forehead and ostensibly Mr. E's "arch-enemy", tries and fails to kill his nemesis three times in the space of ten pages, which is strangely impressive in its futility. In the end, Mr. E saves the Vampire's next slated victim, as well as the victim's abducted daughter (it's not "crime" without a femme, after all), and we're promised a rematch "next month." Sixty-eight years later and we're still waiting...

Next up is another Basil Wolverton Rockman story (a previous one having been included in the first set of reprints). Off the top we're asked, "could the mighty Rockman, ruler of the underground kingdom, destroy Zombo, the fiend who sought to destroy a nation?" You know, I'm betting he can. Anyone reading this story at the time must've wondered with what they'd just been clobbered. Though still formative, Wolverton's innovative layouts and overwrought style were unlike anything being printed. His take on the evil "Zombo" is just... creepy. Surely a villain worthy of destruction! Not before a battle on the high seas, however, as Rockman defeats his enemy's submarine and mind-controlled crew, then calls upon his faithful subjects in deepest Abyssmia to subduct a continental plate (or words to that effect). A wacky whale of a tale; every bit as silly and over the top as it deserved. The only thing missing was a distressed damsal. Fortunately, the next story more than makes up for the oversight.

The lovely Jugoslavian Princess Alecia, looking like she stepped out of a Flash Gordon strip, is abducted from her bedchamber by mysterious, gnome-like creatures. According to the king, still in his nightshirt, there exist "legends tell of underground pixies who sometimes kidnap our people." Too true, your majesty! You know he's the king, incidentally, because he's wearing a silly hat. Oh, and he wears a badge to bed that sports a crown-like crest. Naturally, the king calls upon Rockman to save his daughter. Who else!? Familiar with the pesky pixies, and surprised that they'd made it to the surface (despite Jugoslav legend), he climbs aboard his new Mole-Ship and tunnels into the depths. The nasty if not quite evil Pixie King has arranged a shotgun wedding with the comely princess, but the proceedings are broken up in the nick of time. After a brief and somewhat pointless fight, Rockman leaves his own Abyssmian Prime Minister behind to justly rule the defeated pixies. For some reason there's a dash of homo-eroticism in the soup, including Rockman's spanking the pixie guards two at a time ("Bad little pixies!"). Shores turns in journeyman work, the story is presented in a simple, straightforward manner, in keeping with it being a simple story. Lee's prose is as deeply purple as ever.

If you absolutely adore rare Golden Age stories, this is your book. Similarly, if you've had little or no exposure to the foundation upon which modern comics are based, it's worth your while. You'll get some proto-typical Wolverton, some neat and clean Shores, several panels of glowing Carreno, and some not so special Simon. You'll also get rather more of Stan the Man's vintage dialogue than you might otherwise desire, but it's harmless. There are no great highs and no terribly deep lows to be found. It all manages to average out. Straczynski's book, on the other hand... definitely worth a look.

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