In the December 1939 issue of Keen Detective Funnies debuted one of the most enigmatic super-heroes of the Golden Age of Comics. The issue featured the omnipotent character of THE EYE. The feature, titled The Eye Sees, was created by Frank Taylor and ran for a few years until the title suspended publication.
The Eye was a god-like creature of brutal retaliation and terrible justice. The supreme being that metes out revenge was a concept which became a recurring theme of the type of hero that would later be commonplace in comic books of the Golden Age and could be found in the form of such characters as the Specter, Stardust the Super-Wizard, Green Lantern and others.
The Frank Taylor creation was unusual in several respects, one being that it was one of the few characters that went without elaboration and readers never received an origin or back story. Another aspect of The Eye was that it was different from many other "heroes" in that it was very Old Testament when dealing with mortals. The Eye did not simply perceive wrongs and act to correct them from on high through improbable means. The Eye demanded unquestioning obedience from the people it deigned to assist and ordered them to do some actual field work to attain justice.
You can download and observe for yourself the debut story of The Eye Sees by zapping the picture with your lightnings.
Yikes! "Traveling with the speed of the eye itself!" THE EYE was not so much an enigmatic super-hero as a religious conspiracy theory waiting to happen. (Isn't THE EYE on top of a pyramid on the dollar bill?) These two panels make you do double take in today's news climate: [ 1, 2 ] but what I really enjoyed was the villian, the Great and Wise Herat! [ 3, 4, 5. 6, 7 ] What a puss on that guy! A truly great comic, thanks for providing it!
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