Two-Fisted Tales #36

Credits:
Cover dated January 1954
Cover by John Severin

"Gunfire!" - Art by Jack Davis/Story by Colin Dawkins
"Battle!" - Art by Reed Crandall/Story by Colin Dawkins
"Justice!" - Art by John Severin/Story by John Severin & Colin Dawkins
"Dangerous Man!" - Art by John Severin & Bill Elder/Story by Colin Dawkins

This issue was the first of "The New" Two-Fisted Tales. Following the end of the Korean War, EC made changes to its war comics by cancelling Frontline Combat entirely and changing Two-Fisted Tales back to more of an adventure comic (which was the original intent of the comic before the start of the Korean war). This was also due to Kurtzman's increasing need to focus on Mad. While Kurtzman remained credited as editor, he stopped writing each story as he did in the past (and in fact had no more writing credits the rest of the run). A new writer, Colin Dawkins was brought aboard who wrote the vast majority of the stories for the next year of the comic. John Severin also became the dominant artist, and had a part in the artwork of every story for the next three issues following this one. Severin had become for all intents and purposes the editor of the comic at this point, even though it wasn't credited that way. I didn't particularly like the format change, especially the fact that nearly every story was drawn by John Severin. There just wasn't enough variety and EC must have agreed as there was another stylistic change for the final 2 issues

"Gunfire!" - At a town in the old west, four criminals rob a bank and murder the martial, Ben Slaughter. Ben's son, Jack, witnesses his death, and the man with a scar across his left cheek that killed him. Jack is sent back east by his aunt and uncle. A few years pass and Jack returns. Jack meets back up again with his aunt and uncle after encountering some criminals. Jack's uncle thinks he's in hiding. Jack tells his uncle he's been hired to go after a man named Regan, the toughest gunhand in town. Jack successfully kills Regan's colleagues when they come after him after demanding Regan shave his beard. His men dead. Regan does so, showing the scar across his left cheek. Jack reveals Regan is actually a criminal named Bill Guthrie who has a warrant on him and he was assigned to go after him by a Stockmen's Association. A old west fashioned decent story to kick off the new format in Two-Fisted Tales, albeit being a bit predictable with the ending.

"Battle!" - This story takes place in 55 B.C., and features Emperor Claudius Caesar leading the Roman troops to Britain. Caesar's troops sneak through the swamp at night and battle against the British troops, led by a man named Caractacus. The Romans are very successful due to the Elephants and Nubian tribesmen within their ranks. This story is based on a passage from Claudius the God by Robert Graves.

"Justice!" - A trio of men kill a native american man in order to steal his horse. One of the victim's tribemates spots what has happened. He returns to the tribe which demands war, but he insists that justice be served instead. The tribesmen put the corpse of the victim across the railroad tracks in a white man's clothes, causing the train to stop. Once it does, the native americans force themselves on the train and make it to head into the nearby fort. There they search for the trio of murders, killing those who get in the way. As soon as they kill the three, the attack is stopped and they leave. The native americans in this story don't kill everyone, but they still kill a bunch of people (half of those in the fort per the final panel), including many innocents in their attempts for 'justice', so it was still quite the brutal killing spree.

"Dangerous Man!" - A man comes to see someone named E.J. Coffey, aka "Ruby Ed". telling him he has a picture of Hee-Chin, a member of Red China's Intelligence Corps. Along the way however, he loses the picture and is shot, dying soon after being brought into Ruby Ed's house. Ruby Ed recalls a book in a nearby museum having a picture of Hee-Chin, so he heads there. He meets the curator, who is revealed to be a subordinate of Hee-Chin when Ruby Ed finds the book. The two battle with swords, with Ruby Ed coming out on top. As a result, Hee-Chin is apprehended. This story was the first appearance of Ruby Ed, who would appear in a number of Severin-drawn stories in Two Fisted Tales during the remainder of its run. Ruby Ed was one of the very few non-Ghoulunatic recurring characters that appeared during the New Trend. This is an average story at best, with a rather drawn out sword battle taking up much of the second half of the story.