Jerry Iger's Golden Features #1

Another yard sale find.

Title: Jerry Iger's Golden Features
Issue: #1
Date: 1986
Publisher: Blackthorne Publishing
Writer: Ruth Roche
Artist: Matt baker

First issue of a series reprinting classic Matt Baker work from the 1940s. Although the cover proudly proclaims this as an "All-Flamingo Issue", the book actually consists of two Flamingo stories and one Ace of the Newsreels story.

Flamingo is a gypsy, traveling with her father and the rest of their gypsy band through France. The portrayal includes some stereotypes, but it avoids some of the nasty racism that is often directed at Roma. Flamingo and her band are not thieves or criminals, and there are no hints of curses or witchcraft. Flamingo herself is a very likable character, kind and compassionate but unwilling to back down in the face of danger.

The first Flamingo story is the better of the two. It's a crime story involving Flamingo and her father uncovering a conspiracy to impersonate a dead man in order to gain access to his family fortune as well as a secret formula that is sought by foreign (Communist, presumably) agents. Flamingo's father is a mask-crafter, and he knows that the man is an impostor because he personally crafted death-mask of the dead man who is being impersonated.

There's also a romantic subplot that comes into play before the bad guys get what is coming to them.

The second story involved Flamingo helping a man who has been falsely accused of theft. It was good except for the ending, which was way too abrupt.

The final feature was a very choppy mystery story involving reporter Ace Williams. It had a bunch of plot twists, but they were so sudden that the story was difficult to follow.

Matt Baker did a tremendous job with the artwork. Unfortunately, the reproduction quality of this reprint leaves much to be desired. This book is better for getting a sense of the type of stories Baker was working on than for really gaining an appreciation for his artwork.

Rating: 6.5/10