Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, wrestling

Police Comics Story Inspired by Wrestler Gorgeous George, at Auction

The Ken Shannon story in Police Comics #104 appears to be influenced by a two Gorgeous George wrestling matches that took place in May 1950.

Little remembered today, writer Joe Millard worked regularly in comics from 1941 to 1957 for several publishers, including Quality Comics, Fawcett, and DC Comics.  Most of that work was done for Quality, where he most often wrote stories featuring Plastic Man, Blackhawk, Doll Man, and Ken Shannon.  Millard was a prolific writer outside of comics as well, and the author's profile of his 1964 science fiction novel The Gods Hate Kansas notes that during his life he had also been a cowboy, advance man for a flying circus, and advertising agency executive.  We can also assume that Millard was a professional wrestling fan, because his Ken Shannon story in Police Comics #104 (Quality Comics, 1951) seems to have been inspired by the May 23, 1950 Gorgeous George vs. Cyclone Anaya match at the Chicago Coliseum, and the May 26, 1950 Gorgeous George vs Chief Don Eagle match at the International Amphitheater in Chicago.  An interesting footnote to the popularity of wrestling and its biggest stars during that era, there's a copy of that issue in this Police Comics Group of 12 (Quality, 1951-53) up for auction in the 2024 June 2-4 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122423 at Heritage Auctions.

Police Comics is best remembered for its 1941 debut of Plastic Man in Police Comics #1, who remained the title's cover feature through issue #102.  Despite the title, the series had largely featured superheroes up to that point, but with Police Comics #103, Ken Shannon, a private detective in the hard-boiled Mickey Spillane style, took over the series covers.  It would appear that Joe Millard co-created the character, possibly with Gene Colan.

In the Ken Shannon story in the next issue, a flamboyant wrestler named Luscious Louie enters Shannon's office, wearing a suit with a cape and accompanied by a valet in a tuxedo who sprays "a cloud of fragrance" as Louie enters the room.  The wrestler tells Shannon that he and wrestling promoter Dutch Hanscon have bad history in this city because Louie refused to sign up with Hanscon and pay him kickbacks.  Louie is scheduled to fight  Sammy "the Cyclone" Geiss, and has gotten word that Hanscon will retaliate with underhanded and possibly deadly tactics. Ken Shannon soon uncovers Dutch Hanscon's plot against Luscious Louie:  he has bribed Louie's valet to drug his food, and has instructed the Cyclone to break Louie's neck during their match.

Luscious Louie is a clear reference to legendary wrestler Gorgeous George, whose larger-than-life flamboyance made him one of the most popular professional wrestlers of his or any era.  With the rising popularity of wrestling on television, George was a pop culture phenomenon whose impact ranged from influencing Muhammad Ali to inspiring a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bunny Hugged (1951).  Like the Ken Shannon story in Police Comics #104, Bunny Hugged also references Gorgeous George's infamous bit of having his valet spray perfume around the wrestling ring.

The Ken Shannon story may more specifically be inspired by a pair of matches beginning on May 23, 1950 with Gorgeous George vs. Cyclone Anaya.  In addition to using the Cyclone nickname for the rival wrestler in the comic, the story also notes a plan to snap Luscious Louie's neck, which seems to be a reference to Anaya's "spinning neckbreaker" move during that match, with George making the audience think his neck has been snapped.

Gorgeous George spent spring 1950 in Chicago, with this match and others promoted by legendary Chicago area promoter Fred Kohler. One of the best-known wrestling promoters in the country, Kohler had been part of the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance, but competition in the Chicago area continued to be fierce, and Kohler's moves could be contentious.  Three days after the George vs Anaya match, George faced Chief Don Eagle in a controversial match orchestrated by Kohler.  The promoter asked George to "shoot" on Chief Don Eagle and pin him, with the goal of weakening the rival American Wrestling Association promotion.  It seems that even fans in attendance could tell something was amiss here.  This match is likely the other part of Joe Millard's inspiration for the Ken Shannon story.  In addition to the behind-the-scenes territorial maneuvering that this instantly-notorious match implied, the comic's rival wrestler Sammy "the Cyclone" Geiss has hair that resembles Chief Don Eagle's distinctive mohawk hairstyle.  It would appear that Sammy Geiss is an amalgam of Anaya and Chief Don Eagle, two wrestlers that Gorgeous George faced three days apart.

Police Comics #104 hit newsstands in mid-November 1950. Given the realities of comic book production schedules, Millard likely wrote the Luscious Louie script for this story several weeks after he saw those two Gorgeous George matches that May.  An undiscovered reflection of the influence of wrestling on pop culture even in the 1950s, there's a copy of that issue in this Police Comics Group of 12 (Quality, 1951-53) up for auction in the 2024 June 2-4 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122423 at Heritage Auctions.

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