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JEFF CURTISS

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Full Name: Jeff Curtiss
Nationality: British
Organization: Military Intelligence
Occupation Agent

Creator: Unknown
Time Span: 1960 - 1963

ABOUT THE SERIES

Jeff Curtiss is an agent with British Military Intelligence.

Most of the over three dozen recorded operations that exist for this man take place during the Second World War though his area of operation will change quite a few times showing that he definitely got around a lot. The European Theatre was where he would spend most of his time though he does make trips to the Indian subcontinent and even closer to the Japanese theater.

Curtiss is a Commander in the British Royal Navy where he is considered by many to be that service's "ace trouble-shooter", especially by one of his commanding officers in Military Intelligence, Colonel Quentin.

In addition to being an experienced naval officer, trained in and capable of taking command of a warship, he is also a very accomplished pilot able to sit in the cockpit of either a fighter or a bomber and get the job done. It is not unusual to see him switch gears (or vehicles) like that often in the course of an adventure. That does not mean, however, that he is the least bit out of his elements when he works on land dealing with groups like the French Resistance - Curtiss is good at his work no matter what environment he is put in.

Curtiss is an extremely fit man of normal height likely in his late 30s with wavy blond hair. He speaks both German and French well enough to be able, when needed, to impersonate either nationality. He also has working knowledge of several other languages making him able to function in other regions such as in Burma.

In just about all of his missions, Curtiss is partnered with Leading Seaman Ernie Black (roughly the equivalent of a corporal in the Army). Black is, from the looks of him, several years older than Curtiss but looks up Curtiss younger not just because of his far higher rank but also because Curtiss has shown him, obviously, how very good he is at his job.

Note: in the graphic adventures we have of Curtiss, the action takes place during WWII but in the few text adventures, they transpire at least a decade and a half if not more later. Curtiss and Black are still teammates and partners in these later missions.

NOVELLAS AND SHORT STORIES

Number of Stories:4
First Appearance:1961
Last Appearance:1961

1 The Mystery of Snake Island The Mystery of Snake Island
Written by Unknown
Copyright: 1961

1st of 4 text adventures found in Combat Picture Annual 1962.
Jeff Curtiss and his partner, Ernest Black, were in Jamaica when they got their latest mission to assist American authorities in a strange case. In recent weeks several rocket firing tests at Cape Canaveral had gone wrong and the rockets failed to arrive at their expected splash sites. They had apparently vanished!
Click here to read the story.

2 The Windmill of Terror The Windmill of Terror
Written by Unknown
Copyright: 1961

2nd of 4 text adventures found in Combat Picture Annual 1962.
Jeff Curtiss is assigned the mission to meet up with a former Admiralty Signals Division member who fled with a number of secret documents that he is now trying to pass to the enemy. This will take he and Ernie Black to a windmill where danger awaits.
Click here to read the story.

3 The Spy Cruiser The Spy Cruiser
Written by Unknown
Copyright: 1961

3rd of 4 text adventures found in Combat Picture Annual 1962.
It is in the harbor of Gibraltar that Jeff Curtiss and Ernie Black have come in advance of a visit to the region by a Soviet warship. There is concern that the visit coincides with the arrival of the latest nuclear submarine the Dolphin.
Click here to read the story.

4 The Devil's Mountain The Devil's Mountain
Written by Unknown
Copyright: 1961

4th of 4 text adventures found in Combat Picture Annual 1962.
Both Jeff Curtiss and Ernie Black are in Africa trying to trace the steps of a man named Forrester who had disappeared on a trek for his employer, the Diamond Corporation. On a previous trip he had found signs of a possibly rich area but on his second trip to narrow the location, he vanished.
Click here to read the story.

COMIC BOOKS, GRAPHIC NOVELS, AND MANGA

Number of Stories:34
First Appearance:1960
Last Appearance:1963

1 The V3 Menace The V3 Menace
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 04/1960

From Combat Picture Library #44
Jeff Curtiss is sent to find out about the new German weapon called the V3.
Click here to read the story.

2 The Sea Wolves The Sea Wolves
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 06/1960

From Combat Picture Library #49
Jeff Curtiss is sent on a mission to hunt down and destroy the Sea Wolves.
Click here to read the story.

3 Submariner - Special Duties Submariner - Special Duties
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 08/1960

From Combat Picture Library #57
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

4 The Giant Bomber The Giant Bomber
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 11/1960

From Combat Picture Library #69
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

5 The Q-Ship The Q-Ship
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 12/1960

From Combat Picture Library #74
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

6 The Secret Weapon The Secret Weapon
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 01/1961

From Combat Picture Library #78
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

7 The Secret Valley The Secret Valley
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 02/1961

From Combat Picture Library #82
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

8 U-Boat Captain U-Boat Captain
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 03/1961

From Combat Picture Library #87 - [plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

9 The Arctic Menace The Arctic Menace
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 04/1961

From Combat Picture Library #89
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

10 Traitor! Traitor!
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 05/1961

From Combat Picture Library #96
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

11 The Black Leopard The Black Leopard
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 06/1961

From Combat Picture Library #100
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

12 The Missile Menace The Missile Menace
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 07/1961

From Combat Picture Library #104
Jeff Curtiss is pulled from a short leave to travel to German-controlled France to look for a missing MI5 agent who had vital film and intel on a new launch set for V2 rockets.
Click here to read the story.

13 The Last Zeppelin The Last Zeppelin
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 08/1961

From Combat Picture Library #108 - [plot unknown]

14 The Phantom Cruiser The Phantom Cruiser
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 09/1961

From Combat Picture Library #112 - Reprinted completely in the Combat Picture Annual 1962 as the 2nd of 3 graphic adventures.
plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

15 The Fighting Windjammer The Fighting Windjammer
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 10/1961

From Combat Picture Library #114
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

16 Jeff Curtiss Must Die Jeff Curtiss Must Die
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 11/1961

From Combat Picture Library #120
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

17 The Golden Scarab The Golden Scarab
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 12/1961

From Combat Picture Library #124
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

18 The Red Falcons The Red Falcons
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 12/1961

1st of 3 adventures published in Combat Picture Annual 1962
Curtiss and Blackie are sent to Russia to arrange a docking place for British ships and then he gets the chance to fly with the Russian flyers called "The Red Falcons!" But it appears there is a plant saboteur at work! Will Curtiss be able to catch him?
Click here to read the story.

19 The Vanishing Island The Vanishing Island
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 12/1961

3rd of 3 graphic adventures published in Combat Picture Annual 1962
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

20 Forgotten Island Forgotten Island
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 01/1962

From Combat Picture Library #128 - [plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

21 The Foreign Legion The Foreign Legion
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 02/1962

From Combat Picture Library #132 - [plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

22 Tiger By The Tail Tiger By The Tail
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 03/1962

From Combat Picture Library #136
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

23 Cretain Steel Cretain Steel
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 04/1962

From Combat Picture Library #140 - [plot unknown]

24 Midnight Raider Midnight Raider
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 09/1962

From Combat Picture Library #160
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

25 The Flood The Flood
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 12/1962

From Combat Picture Library #172
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

26 Top Priority Top Priority
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 02/1963

From Combat Picture Library #180
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

27 South To Freedom South To Freedom
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 03/1963

From Combat Picture Library #184
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

28 Enemy Base Enemy Base
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 04/1963

From Combat Picture Library #188 - [plot unknown]

29 The Death Of Berlin The Death Of Berlin
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 05/1963

From Combat Picture Library #192
[plot unknown]
Click here to read the story.

30 The River Of Death The River Of Death
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 06/1963

From Combat Picture Library #196
In 1943 Burma, a detachment of British soldiers is needing to make a strategic retreat but there are two routes, each with its own dangers. Jeff Curtiss is asked to fly to the areas to recon both.
Click here to read the story.

31 Flight Into Danger Flight Into Danger
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 08/1963

From Combat Picture Library #204
German victories against Allied shipping is getting worse and with a flotilla of warships about to be delivered to England from the US. Cdr. Curtiss is assigned to find out if the Germans are using a new device to block communications and radar.
Click here to read the story.

32 Operation Bulldozer Operation Bulldozer
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 09/1963

From Combat Picture Library #208
It is September of 1943 and the Allies are preparing to make a landing on Sicily. Jeff Curtiss is on hand and volunteers to lend a hand on recon. Doing so he discovers the Germans preparing to solidify battlements and decides to do something about them.
Click here to read the story.

33 Decoy Mission Decoy Mission
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 10/1963

From Combat Picture Library #212
[plot unknown]

34 Sink The Osaka! Sink The Osaka!
Published by GM Smith Publishing

Copyright: 11/1963

From Combat Picture Library #216
It is 1944 and both Commander Jeff Curtiss and Leading Seamon Ernie Black have been sent to the Far East via the Indian Ocean to 'assist the Yanks' in the war with Japan. When their ship is sunk by a Japanese ship named the Osaka, the two men make it to an island. They are surprised to find the dreaded Osaka pulling into a cove on the same island and they decide to get even.
Click here to read the story.

MY COMMENTS

I could be so wrong about the following theory but what the heck....

While I enjoyed the Curtiss adventures, I got the impression they were stories that different people came up with that were then adjusted enough to make the protagonist be Jeff Curtiss. That is, he was dropped in rather than written about.

What that means to me is that we learn virtually nothing about Curtiss the person and that is a shame because each of these tales is rather long and there would/should have been opportunity to personalize them just a wee bit.

GRADE

My Grade: B

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