by Frank Robbins
Chapter 5: Side-Pocket Sam
Aug 13 - Nov 19, 1945
10/16/21
Aug 13-14, 1945 - Johnny, Brandy, and Admiral Slocum depart the Japanese airbase and start heading back to their own lines. Slocum’s best guess is that they have about 200 miles to go.
That seems like a long way to go. I wonder if the tank has enough fuel to get them there? Was the gas tank full when they took off?
10/18/21
Aug 15-16, 1945 - Johnny drives the tank through the night and into the next day as they continue to try and get back to the airbase where they are stationed.
Brandy falls asleep but Johnny and Slocum don’t seem to need sleep.
10/19/21
Aug 17-18, 1945 - Johnny slows the tank long enough for them to steal some food from some unsuspecting Japanese officers.
10/20/21
Aug 20-21, 1945 - General Ishigaki and Ma’mselle Touché are stuck in a muddy section of the road. One of the tires to his car is flat. His driver is trying to fix it when a Japanese tank approaches.
I wonder where this is going?
10/21/21
Aug 22-23, 1945 - Mademoiselle Touché shows off some leg, in a an effort to flag down the tank. Slocum and Johnny are dazzled by what they see.
Aug 24-25, 1945 - Johnny takes the Japanese general, his girlfriend and his driver prisoner. He frisks the general and his driver but Brandy forcefully objects before he gets around to frisking the lady.
Johnny takes the general’s pistol but lets him keep his sword. That doesn’t seem like such a good idea.
10/24/21
Aug 27-28, 1945 - Johnny doesn’t frisk Mademoiselle Touché even though, unlike Brandy, she doesn’t object. She tells Johnny that she only works for General Ishigaki because her brother is being held hostage. Johnny is unconvinced and points out the faults in her story.
I’m still unsure as to where this is all going or what the title of this chapter refers to.
10/25/21
Aug 29-30, 1945 - Mlle Touché objects to Johnny’s assertion that she is willingly working for the Japanese general. Johnny’s next trick is to trick the general into revealing that he can speak English.
Mlle Touché and General Ishigaki talk briefly in Japanese but I suspect that the words in the word balloons are nothing but gibberish.
10/26/21
Aug 31-Sep 1, 1945 - Johnny uses the tank to tow the general’s car out of the ditch it was in and then has the car drive in front of the tank. Brandy gives Johnny an earful about eyeballing Mlle Touché.
They don’t really show them getting the car out of the ditch but by the end of these two strips they are back on their way to the American airbase with the general as their prisoner.
10/27/21
Sep 3-4, 1945 - the general’s car and the tank come to a Japanese checkpoint. They stop. The General says nothing but Mademoiselle Touché speaks to the guard at the gate, in Japanese.
Japan officially surrendered to the United States on Sep 2, 1945. These strips are usually prepared weeks in advance so I am not surprised there is no mention of it just yet. This arc goes on for another 2 months which leaves me wondering when it will be revealed that the war is over.
10/28/21
Sep 5-6, 1945 - the car and the tank are let through the checkpoint and continue on their journey. Mademoiselle Touché had a gun trained on the General the whole time. She insists that she is still on his side but he is disappointed to learn how cutthroat she can be.
Most of these two strips are focused on the pair in the car.
10/29/21
Sep 7-8, 1945 - Mademoiselle Touché continues to reassure General Ishigaki that her neck is on the line just as much as his. Admiral Slocum questions whether the general’s driver knows where he is going. Someone is listening in on the conversation between the general and the mademoiselle from a distance.
Mademoiselle Touché must have some sort of a two-way radio on her. Is she working for the Chinese?
10/31/21
Sep 10-11, 1945 - it looks like they will be home free in 3 hours but then a slow moving cart appears on the road in front of the general’s car.
I think Mademoiselle Touché is working for or with the Chinese resistance. She is clearly sending information surreptitiously to someone whom I think is Chinese.
11/01/21
Sep 12-13, 1945 - gun toting Chinese men emerge from the slow moving cart. Johnny assumes that they must be allies but they point their guns at Johnny as well as the Japanese general.
Are they bandits or partisans? Was Frank Robbins aware of the complicated patchwork of political alliances in China in 1945?
11/02/21
Sep 14-15, 1945 - Johnny, Slocum, and Brandy are confused as to why the armed Chinese men keep pointing their guns at the them after they have made it clear that they are Americans. Mlle Touché points out the obvious. These men are bandits and she is quite amused by the situation.
Mademoiselle Touché acts like she doesn’t know the bandits but if that is the case then who was she relaying messages to in the strips from a week ago?
11/03/21
Sep 17-18, 1945 - Johnny and the others are stuck. The Chinese bandits are calling the shots for now. General Ishigaki tries offering the bandits a bribe to free him but they don’t take him up on his offer.
I still think that Mademoiselle Touché hasn’t laid all her cards on the table. I think these bandits are the ones she was communicating with but so far there is nothing concrete to confirm my suspicion.
11/04/21
Sep 19-20, 1945 - the car and the tank arrive at their destination. The bandits order everyone out.
Based on the titling of the past stories I’m wondering if the bandits leader will be the titular Side-Pocket Sam.
11/05/21
Sep 21-22, 1945 - Johnny, Brandy, Slocum, General Ishigaki, and Mademoiselle Touché are all blindfolded. Brandy fears the worst. Mlle Touché makes fun of her and the two get into an argument.
They are almost 3 weeks out from the surrender of Japan, although it has yet to get acknowledged in the strip. Are the Chinese bandits the new villains?
One of the bandits is named Mao Tse. Hmmm…
11/06/21
Sep 24-25, 1945 - Johnny and the others are marched, while blindfolded, along a secret path. Slocum finds time to flirt with Mademoiselle Touché while they are walking.
11/07/21
Sep 26-27, 1945 - Johnny and the others, still blindfolded, approach a hidden city surrounded by high mountains. A monk in the city sees them approaching and rushes to inform the Great Mind of their arrival.
The Great Mind must be the leader of this city. It isn’t clear at this point how big this city is so maybe it’s a stretch to call it that.
11/08/21
Sep 28-29, 1945 - the monk is ushered in to the Great Mind’s presence only to find him playing billiards. Johnny and the others sit on a bench, still wearing their blindfolds, and wait until someone comes for them. General Ishigaki and Mademoiselle Touché are summoned first.
The identity of the Great Mind is still unclear but he, and even that is a guess, is wearing a suit. Why does he want to see the general and his companion first? What plans does he have for them?
11/09/21
Oct 1-2, 1945 - the monk returns to get Johnny, Brandy, and Slocum. He allows them to remove their blindfolds. Johnny is ready to tackle the monk when Slocum points out the size of one of the guards.
Johnny jokingly refers to the guard as Lennie and the monk as George, a clear reference to Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. The novella was published in 1937 and a film version of the story starring Lon Chaney, Jr. and Burgess Meredith was released in 1939.
11/10/21
Oct 3-4, 1945 - Johnny, Slocum, and Brandy are seated. A meal is brought in by several beautiful women. Brandy rushes to cover Johnny’s eyes.
How far in advance was Frank Robbins producing these strips? Did he know by the time he drew this one that the war was over? It had been just over a month at this point.
I’ve seen an image of women bringing in food on trays like this one but it was from Terry and the Pirates. I have yet to get up to that strip so I’m not sure exactly when it ran. In the other version I’ve seen of this image the women are topless and the trays are obscuring their chests.
11/11/21
Oct 5-6, 1945 - General Ishigaki and Mademoiselle Touché meet with the Great Mind, their host. He quickly informs them that he prefers to be called Side Pocket Sam. He is looking for the Second Tanaka document. He thinks that they have it. Although they act as if they don’t know what he is talking about.
Side Pocket Sam looks like a stereotypical American gangster and is holding a pool cue when the general and Mlle Touché meet him.
The Tanaka Memorial or Tanaka Document was a supposed Japanese plan for world domination. It was widely believed to exist in the 1930s and 1940s but proof of its existence has never been found. Tanaka was the Prime Minister of Japan from 1927 to 1929. The Tanaka Memorial first surfaced in China in 1929.
11/12/21
Oct 8-9, 1945 - Side Pocket Sam gets ready to torture General Ishigaki. He sends Mademoiselle Touché away.
The truth is revealed as Mlle Touché is welcomed back by one of Side Pocket Sam’s employees, Ching Soo, after she is out of earshot of the general.
11/13/21
Oct 10-11, 1945 - Mlle Touché unburdens herself of the communications equipment she has been lugging around. Johnny, Brandy, and Slocum wonder what’s next after they finish their meal.
11/14/21
Oct 12-13, 1945 - the monk checks in on Johnny, Brandy, and Slocum to make sure they are doing alright. He advises against exploring but he does not lock the door when he leaves. They do not follow his advice and fall through a trap door.
I’ve got no idea where this is all going but there is only 31 strips left in this arc. I doubt that they are going to rescue the general but they might run into Mlle Touché before it is over.
11/15/21
Oct 15-16, 1945 - Johnny, Brandy, and Slocum fall through the trap door into the room where Side Pocket Sam is interrogating General Ishigaki. He asks them to stick around.
The general looks like he is scratching his under arm in the final panel but is there more to what he’s doing than just that?
11/16/21
Oct 17-18, 1945 - General Ishigaki swallows some poison and dies. Side Pocket Sam blames Johnny and prepares to shoot him.
I guess that's one way end World War 2 in this strip.
11/17/21
Oct 19-20, 1945 - Johnny and Side Pocket Sam talk about what just happened. Sam is talking in code which leaves Johnny wondering what this is all about.
I’m not sure what’s going on here but I think that Robbins is trying to redirect the story, in midstream, now that the war is over. I think he probably had plans for something different.
11/18/21
Oct 22-23, 1945 - Side Pocket Sam’s quest to find the second Tanaka paper comes to a dead end.
Johnny seems to acknowledge that the war is over in the first panel. I still say that the strip is treading water while Robbins tries to figure out where to take strip next.
11/19/21
Oct 24-25, 1945 - Side Pocket Sam wants to play some pool. Admiral Slocum takes up the challenge.
I don’t understand who Side Pocket Sam is supposed to be. He seems on one level like a gangster but is he supposed to be OSS? I’m confused.
11/20/21
Oct 26-27, 1945 - Johnny asks Sam about his plans for the second Tanaka document, if he can find it. Johnny figures it must be pretty valuable. Mademoiselle Touché shows up in time to hear Johnny’s estimate of the value and wants her cut.
Slocum and Brandy are in these two strips but they are just window dressing. It is still unclear who Sam is working for. It feels like he’s an American gangster who set up shop in China somehow.
11/21/21
Oct 29-30, 1945 - Johnny finds something, a strip of paper attached to the vial of poison from which the general drank.
Could it be the Tanaka document they are looking for? I gotta admit this story ain’t that great. They are all in a room talking. There’s no adventuring or traveling or wide shots. This arc will be over soon but I hope the next one is a lot better.
11/22/21
Oct 31-Nov 1, 1945 - Johnny unrolls the strip of paper but it is blank. It looks like a dead end but then Brandy gets an idea. She sprinkles the poison powder on the paper and then pours water over it. Words written in Japanese start to materialize on the paper.
Neat trick. Can any of them read Japanese? How will they know if this is the Tanaka document they are looking for?
11/23/21
Nov 2-3, 1945 - Mademoiselle Touché grabs the piece of paper. She has a gun in her other hand. Side Pocket Sam grabs his guns but she shoots him before he can squeeze off a shot.
Things are starting to heat up a little bit. Is Sam dead?
11/24/21
Nov 5-6, 1945 - Sam is down. Mademoiselle Touché is about shoot Johnny, Brandy, and Slocum when Sam comes back to life and pops her in the head with a billiards ball.
It feels like they are running for the door. Robbins can’t end this arc fast enough so he can get on to a new and hopefully better story arc.
11/25/21
Nov 7-8, 1945 - Sam gives Johnny the keys to a motor boat and tells them to get out of there. He will deal with Mademoiselle Touché. Johnny, Brandy head for the dock. They hear a couple gunshots as they near the boat.
I double down on my previous comments. Sam seems like a gangster from New York City. Robbins just wants to move on and end this arc. His plans seem to have changed now that the war is over.
11/26/21
Nov 9-10, 1945 - Johnny, Brandy, and Admiral Slocum make it back to base with the Tanaka plans. Several weeks later, they get ready to head back to the United States.
It seems to me, without flipping ahead, like the second of these strips should be the beginning of a new arc. It opens with a narration box that reads “Weeks have passed…”. Yet, there still is about a week’s worth of strips in this arc.
11/27/21
Nov 12-13, 1945 - Johnny, Brandy, and Slocum return to the United States by ship. Johnny and Brandy enjoy the voyage but Slocum gets sea sick on more than one occasion.
This seems more like an interlude than it does like the beginning of something new.
11/28/21
Nov 14-15, 1945 - there are reporters waiting for Johnny when he gets off the ship. Johnny doesn’t understand what is going on.
Johnny seems to have won something from a Mr. Bilby but there is no explanation as to what that something is. My guess is that it has something to do with being the one millionth GI to return home from the war.
11/29/21
Nov 16-17, 1945 - Johnny is presented with a check for $5000 by the Wear-Like-Iron Company which built the gangplank that he just walked down. He passes out. When he revives he gets out of there with Brandy and Slocum before they get mobbed by the press.
11/30/21
Nov 19, 1945 - Johnny and Slocum drop Brandy off at a hotel. They promise to give her a call once they get discharged.
That’s it for this arc and this collection. As I mentioned before this arc was a bit uneven. It started off ok but then the war ended and Frank Robbins didn’t seem to know how to wrap it up. Hopefully future arcs will be better than this one, more akin to the previous ones or better.
I’ve already purchased the next collection and plan to start reading that tomorrow. I’m not sure how much Johnny Hazard I will read ultimately. It took me a little over 8 months to read the 5 arcs in this collection. There are 6 arcs in the next one and it has 100 more strips in it than this collection does so at the same pace it should take me about 10 months to finish off that one.
There is about 33 years worth of daily Johnny Hazard strips. I can’t see me reading it all. There are about 10,400 daily strips, including the ones I already read. At my current pace it would take me over 14 years to finish it all off.
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