by Frank Robbins
Chapter 9: The Stout Man
Jan 20 - Mar 29, 1947
07/01/22
Jan 20-21, 1947 - Brandy types up her story about Major Risk. Johnny gets hired by Timely Malcolm to fly Brandy around.
Once again there is a clean break and the title for this story is clearly stated up front.
07/02/22
Jan 22-23, 1947 - Johnny volunteers to catch a flight to San Tomayo to pick up some parts needed to repair his plane.
No sign of Brandy in these two strips. It looks like she won’t be part of this story, unless I am quite mistaken.
07/03/22
Jan 24-25, 1947 - the airplane is getting ready to leave when one final passenger runs up and boards the plane, Blitz Martin.
Jan 27-28, 1947 - Johnny says hello to Blitz Martin. Johnny introduces himself to the passenger sitting next to him, Noble Caldwell of Stratford University. Caldwell is one of the leading figures in nuclear fission research.
One of the other passengers seems to take notice when Johnny acts stunned to learn whom he is sitting next to.
07/05/22
Jan 29-30, 1947 - Blitz schmoozes the stewardess who isn’t buying what he’s selling. Johnny’s ears perk up when he notices one of the other passengers head for the cockpit.
It doesn’t feel like there is a lot going on here. The passenger who heads to the cockpit is probably up to no good but his exact motives have yet to be revealed.
07/06/22
Jan 31-Feb 1, 1947 - Johnny tries to stop the passenger who entered the cockpit. The man clubs Johnny with the but of his pistol and then shoots the pilot and co-pilot.
I still have no clue what this man is up to but presumably he is going to take over piloting the plane or jump out with a parachute.
07/07/22
Feb 3-4, 1947 - the stout man emerges from the cockpit after setting the plane to autopilot. He orders the stewardess and all the other passengers to the back of the plane, except for Caldwell whom he pulls aside.
Johnny must still be out cold.
07/08/22
Feb 5-6, 1947 - the stout man reveals his plan. He gives Caldwell a parachute and orders him to put it on. The stout man opens his coat revealing that he already has one on. Blitz chooses this moment hit on the stewardess once again.
Still no sign of Johnny.
07/09/22
Feb 7-8, 1947 - Mr. Am, the hijacker, pushes Caldwell out of the plane once he has his parachute on. Am disables the autopilot and jumps out of the airplane. The airplane stalls and starts to go into a spin.
Presumably this is Johnny’s cue to wake up and save the day.
07/12/22
Feb 10-11, 1947 - Blitz and Robin, the stewardess, make their way to the cockpit. Johnny is still there and very much unconscious. Blitz and his new best friend try to get the airplane under control.
I’ve got a feeling that it would be quite disorienting to try and function on an airplane under those circumstances.
07/13/22
Feb 12-13, 1947 - Blitz and Robin crash land the plane in the jungle.
The tail ends of the plane breaks off in the landing. Robin and Blitz are only visible in the first of these six panels. All the other panels show the outside of the airplane but they are not wordless panels.
07/14/22
Feb 14-15, 1947 - Blitz and Robin look around. Johnny is the only other survivor of the crash landing. He wakes up and asks them for an update.
07/15/22
Feb 17-18, 1947 - Johnny and Blitz bury the dead. They try the radio. It works for a few minutes and then stops working.
I think they should be considerably sweatier they currently look, considering they are in the jungle and just finished burying bodies.
07/16/22
Feb 19-20, 1947 - Johnny sets up a visual signaling device in the hopes that a plane flying overhead will see it. Robin thinks she hears something.
What does Robin hear? An airplane?
07/17/22
Feb 21-22, 1947 - Johnny, Blitz, and Robin spot a helicopter approaching. Johnny is puzzled because he figured they were out of range for a helicopter. The helicopter lands nearby and the stout man steps out with a pistol in his hand.
Did he come to finish off the job or is there something he needs from the wreckage of the airplane? My guess is that Caldwell left behind his papers and the stout man wants them too.
07/19/22
Feb 24-25, 1947 - Mayhem is not happy to find anyone from the plane still alive. He orders Johnny and Blitz to siphon fuel from the airplane. They wonder what he plans to do next.
07/21/22
Feb 26-27, 1947 - Mayhem orders Johnny, Blitz, and Robin to get into the wreckage of the airplane, at gunpoint. Another airplane passes overhead but sees the helicopter and assumes that it’s crew will help the passengers. Mayhem gets ready to murder Johnny and the the others.
Mayhem speaks with an accent that I can’t identify. He has a thick mustache and wears a fez. I’m not sure where he is supposed to be from.
07/22/22
Feb 28-Mar 1, 1947 - The plane that passed overhead dropped some supplies in parachute packs. One of the packs hits Mayhem just as he is getting ready to shoot Johnny, Blitz, and Robin.
They said something about dropping supplies but why here? Why now? It’s convenient for the story but it doesn’t make much sense.
07/23/22
Mar 3-4, 1947 - Johnny and Blitz rush forward to try and grab Mr. Am’s gun but he picks it back up before they can grab it.
Mr. Am looks a little out it maybe he will collapse before he can do anything with the pistol.
07/25/22
Mar 5-6, 1947 - Mr. Am is stuck under the box but he has the gun trained on Johnny, Blitz, and Robin. They offer to help him out but he doesn’t trust them.
This is a weird predicament. I wonder how it will get resolved?
07/26/22
Mar 7-8, 1947 - Johnny and Blitz try to reason with Mr. Am but he insists that they keep their distance.
This is dragging a little bit. I expect the situation will get resolved fairly soon but I’m not exactly thrilled with this arc.
07/27/22
Mar 10-11, 1947 - Johnny, Blitz, and Robin wait until Mr. Am nods off and then make a run for it.
07/28/22
Mar 12-13, 1947 - Mr. Am wakes up in time to see Johnny, Blitz, and Robin running away from him. He shoots at them. Robin is hit in the arm. Blitz drops after a shot is fired in his direction.
These six panels are all action. It’s unclear to me if Blitz was hit or not.
07/29/22
Mar 14-15, 1947 - Blitz gets up and starts to run. Mr. Am is lining up his shot when a local shoots him with a dart from a blowgun that hits him in the forehead.
Four of these six panels are silent, without dialogue or sound effects.
07/30/22
Mar 17-18, 1947 - Mr. Am is killed by the dart. Johnny grabs the gun while Blitz tends to Robin’s wound.
Johnny assumes that the native is going to target them next but I think he may be overreacting.
07/31/22
Mar 19-20, 1947 - Johnny is getting ready to open fire on the natives when he sees that they are accompanied by some White people.
08/01/22
Mar 21-22, 1947 - Johnny, Robin, Caldwell, and the rescue party compare notes.
08/02/22
Mar 24-25, 1947 - Johnny, Blitz, Robin, and Caldwell fly to San Ruiz in the helicopter. They are met at the airport by a mob of reporters.
I don’t understand what makes their return such a big deal. I suppose they are the only survivors of the plane crash but still. Maybe it was a slow news day.
08/03/22
Mar 26-27, 1947 - Johnny carries Robin from the plane. The press wants a good picture so she kisses him. It doesn’t take long before the picture appears in a newspaper that Brandy reads.
This is Brandy’s first appearance since the very beginning of this arc. She doesn’t look too happy about the picture in the newspaper.
08/04/22
Mar 28-29, 1947 - Johnny calls Brandy from San Ruiz. She tells him that she saw the picture of him kissing Robin and tells him to take a hike. He calls back and finds out he’s been fired by Timely Malcolm for letting Blitz get the story in print first.
Is this bye-bye Brandy? I don’t know but this is the end of this arc. This was a fairly short one. Maybe Robbins just wanted to reset things or maybe something came up that made him change things up in the middle of the arc.
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