This is a weekly serialization of an adventure featuring the Seven Soldiers of Victory, written in the 1940s by writer Joe Samachson but not published until three decades later when Joe Orlando had the script illustrated and published as a back up series in Adventure Comics.
In our previous installments, a magical imp named Wee Willie Wisher has sent the individual members of the SSoV to confront a variety of mystical conundrums in the Land of Magic.
We've seen the Shining Knight, Green Arrow & Speedy, the Crimson Avenger (AND Wing) and the Star Spangled Kid and Stripesy face off against strange and mystifying shenanigans in the Land of Magic.
This week, it's time for that cowboy crime fighter, the Vigilante, to face his own weird mystery of magic and mayhem.
So who is this Vigilante guy anyway?
Created by Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin in Action Comics #42 (November 1941), the Vigilante was Greg Sanders, grandson of a Native American fighter and the son of a sheriff in Wyoming, Saunders moved to New York City to become a country singer on the radio as the "Prairie Troubadour". Greg returned home to bring to justice the gang of bandits who killed his father.
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| Art from the 1940's Vigilante solo series by Mort Meskin |
Vigilante survived past the end of most Golden Age super hero strips with his feature in Action Comics until issue # 198 in 1954.
Vigilante would star in a number of new solo stories in the 1970s in Adventure Comics and World's Finest Comics.
Vigilante even appeared on the acclaimed animated series, Justice League Unlimited.
About the artist for today's visit to the Land of Magic, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez. The art is a bit more cartoonish that the usual style of Garcia Lopez, possibly owing to the inks of Mike Royer. Royer was a frequent inker for Jack Kirby.
I love the little throwaway bit with this gnome archer looking kind of like the 1970s Green Arrow of Earth-1.
Here are samples of some interior artwork from Garcia Lopez that's more indicative of his usual style.
Jose Luis Garcia Lopez was the artist for a lot of DC merchandising and style guides.
And just for no good reason other than it's my blog, here's the illustration by Mr. Garcia Lopez from DC's Who's Who for the sexiest scientist at STAR Labs.
Man, I loved it whenever any DC hero went to STAR Labs and Jenet Klyburn was there.
Anyway....
The credit where credit is due department:
The scans for these SSoV stories come from Diversions of the Groovy Age.
Sadly, the Groove Agent is no longer posting as he once did but the site remains a treasure trove of comic books from 1968 to 1980.
Next week in Seven Soldiers Saturday #6, Wee Willie Wisher's Land of Magic no longer holds the 8 heroes of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. The team is united for a confrontation with their mystic nemesis.
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