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MARVO POWER

power_marvo_cb_joke10 power_marvo_cb_joke09 power_marvo_cb_joke08
 
Full Name: Marvo Power
Series Name: Marvo Espionage Agent
Nationality: British
Organization: British Intelligence
Occupation Agent

Creator: Ed Shecter
Time Span: 1943 - 1943

ABOUT THE SERIES

Marvo Power is an agent with British Intelligence.

The time frame of Power's activities in the early days of the Second World War. The locale for his operations is Great Britain.

To the majority of the world who might know anything about him, Power is a reporter for a major newspaper called the Daily Globe. Under that cover identity, Power has the ability to go to wherever his real espionage line of work would take him. While getting caught snooping can be trouble for anyone, claiming one is doing it on behalf of his editor and being believed is a lot better than being napped as a spy.

Power is a good looking, athletic man with wavy blond hair complete with a long swatch dangling from his forehead. We learn that he speaks and reads German like a native and is quite knowledgeable about ship operations as well as being able to fly an airplane. He is intrepid as shown by his willingness to fly into Germany to locate Nazi invasion plans and good (or lucky) enough to actually pull it off.

Power apparently has some very impressive abilities with disguises as shown in the second adventure when he decides it is important to alter his appearance to impersonate a just-murdered speaker at a political convention. He not only does it well enough to fool the spectators, he convinces the killer of the actual man to take another go at him.

Working with Power is Jane Hawkins (shown as Joan in the first adventure), a blonde haired fellow reporter. She is every bit as adventurous and daring as Power, shown by the fact that when he suggests an outrageous plan, she is gung-ho to go along with it. It is doubtful that Hawkins knows anything about Power's real job but it is clear that she and he are both good friends and very close competitors in the news business.

Interesting Line:

- Upon hearing a man speak, Power decides immediately, "That fellow must be an enemy agitator. He has a foreign accent!"

COMIC BOOKS, GRAPHIC NOVELS, AND MANGA

Number of Stories:3
First Appearance:1943
Last Appearance:1943

     According to Wikipedia: "Bell Features, also known as Commercial Signs of Canada, was a Canadian comic book publisher during the World War II era. They were the most successful of the publishers of "Canadian Whites", and published comics such as Adrian Dingle's Nelvana of the Northern Lights. Founded in 1939 as a commercial art business, the company found success when it started publishing comics in September 1941, and changed its name to Bell Features in 1942. It folded in 1953 under increasing competition from American publishers."

     The success that Bell Features enjoyed for a few years came as a result of a freeze in the import of comics from the United States (or export to Canada, depending on what you read). As stated in ComcSyrup.wordpress.com: "In December of 1940, American luxury goods (including comics) were forced out of the Canadian market. Without the heroes that Canadian children had come to know and love like Batman and Superman, Canadian publishers got a clear shot to produce Canadian ones."

     One of those strictly Canadian heroes was Marvo Espionage Agent.

Note: At the end of the third adventure, there is a promise of more tales to come but apparently none did. So far we have found no 4th adventure and since the industry is filled with instances of promises of "next adventure" never being fulfilled, it is not unreasonable to assume there was no 4th story.


1 The Nazi Agitator The Nazi Agitator
Published by Bell Features
Contributors: Ed Shecter (writer and artist)
Copyright: 1943

Printed in Joke Comics #8 (May 1943) with 3 black & white pages.
Marvo onboard the S.S. Maria finds a Nazi who tries to make the crew rebel.
Click here to read the story.

2 Victory Loan Campaign Victory Loan Campaign
Published by Bell Features
Contributors: Ed Shecter (writer and artist)
Copyright: 1943

Printed in Joke Comics #9 (Jul. 1943) with 3 black & white pages.
Marvo and Jane must discover who killed a speaker that was to speak at the titled event.
Click here to read the story.

3 The Blackest Hour The Blackest Hour
Published by Bell Features
Contributors: Ed Shecter (writer and artist)
Copyright: 1943

Printed in Joke Comics #10 (Sep. 1943) with 3 black & white pages.
The Germans have planned to attack England and the mission of Marvo Power is to find their plans slowing them down.
Click here to read the story.

MY COMMENTS

I was about to start this comment with a lament that Marvo Power never had a chance to become anything. Then I re-read the three stories and decided that, IMHO, even if he had more of a chance, I doubt he would have survived.

The artwork was not up to the standard other comics were producing and the number of pages allotted for each story was far too few to give the writer a chance to tell a decent, logical adventure.

Power was a doomed character from the beginning. Nevertheless he deserves an entry to remember that he did exist, even if just for a short time.

GRADE

My Grade: B-

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