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| World's Finest Comics 150, June 1965! |
Download Episode 383 Part IV!
WORLD'S FINEST COMICS 150, June 1965, was published on April 29, 1965. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of 12¢. Mort Weisinger was the editor, and the cover was pencilled by Curt Swan, inked by George Klein and lettered by Ira Schnapp.
- (5:49) THE SUPER-GAMBLE OF DOOM (17 pgs., Part I is 8 pgs.), written by Edmond Hamilton, pencilled by Curt Swan and inked by Sheldon Moldoff. This story was also reprinted in SHOWCASE PRESENTS: WORLD'S FINEST vol. III.
- (14:54) Part II: THE DUEL OF THE SUPER-GAMBLERS.
- (34:38) Congorilla starred in THE ONE-APE CIRCUS, written by Robert Bernstein and drawn by Howard Sherman. This story was originally published in ACTION COMICS 259, December 1959, published on October 29, 1959. It contained 32 pages for the cover price of a dime. We covered this issue on Episode 202, for the week of October 26, 2011.
- (38:26) CAPE AND COWL COMMENTS letter column.
- (48:32) ELSEWHERE IN DC COMICS, 30 titles carried the June or June/July 1965 cover date, according to Mike's Amazing World Of Comics.
Also highlighted on this episode are the ads and other features in this issue.
Beginning next episode: SUPERMAN COMIC BOOKS COVER DATED JULY 1965: PART I: SUPERMAN 178, PART II: SUPERMAN'S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE 58, PART III: ACTION COMICS 326 & PART IV: SUPERMAN'S PAL JIMMY OLSEN 86!
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Writer Edmond Hamilton is quite good, especially when it comes to science fiction, so, although it was unexpected, it made sense that Rokk and Sorban of the Gamblers' Planet Ventura would be behind this one. Unfortunately, though, Hamilton doesn't seem to present casino gambling in a clear fashion here. For example, we're told that the games in the casino aren't "rigged", but it's not really explained how players are virtually certain to lose all their money. The way honest casinos make their money is not by cheating, but by paying out winning bets at less than true odds. That's the "house advantage". For example, on a standard American roulette wheel, there are the numbers 1 through 36, half of them red, and half black, as well as green numbers 0 and 00. If you pick any one of those numbers, the odds against winning are 37 to 1, but, if you win, the casino pays out at 35 to 1, less than true odds. Similarly, if you bet "Red" or "Black", because of those two green numbers, the house payout at "even odds" or 1 to 1 (If you win, you get your original bet plus an amount equal to your bet.), is a bit less than true odds. Similar less-than-true-odds payouts happen in other casino games, as well. Even with such an arrangement, though, the only virtually certain way to lose all your money is to keep gambling over a long enough period of time that the house advantage takes it all. You're most unlikely to lose everything over a short period of time, and the casino doesn't really want you to lose everything, because that's bad publicity and cuts down on repeat business. I realize that none of this would make for a good comic book story, but there's really nothing in the story that explains exactly why Rokk and Sorban would always win. In a game like poker, certainly their knowledge of probability and psychology would be tremendous advantages, but there are human players who use those tools, as well, and in games like roulette, or slots, they wouldn't have had any inherently overpowering advantage. The only likely explanation is that the games were rigged, but we readers are assured by Batman himself that they are not. This seems to me to be a flaw in the story logic, even a story aimed at kids.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your explanation. Spoken like a Math Teacher.
ReplyDelete"Teacher" isn't what I do; it's who I am.
DeleteWell said!
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