From the Database: Astounding Doc Stalwart #3

The Astounding Doc Stalwart Issue 3 (March, 1937)

Doc Goes Bananas

Summary: In the lead story, Doc appears at the Midvale Zoo for the grand opening of a new ape exhibit. Professor Finro, jealous that local reporter Jessica Darin has expressed her attraction to Doc Stalwart, devises a plan to control an ape with radio technology to kill Doc and win her heart. The plan goes awry, and Doc saves the day. The story ends with Doc leaving for a date, and Finro arrested - but vowing revenge.

First Appearances: Simian Prime (as the 'radio controlled ape')

Historical Notes: The character of Simian Prime would evolve over these seventeen issues, and was the only recurring villain other than Professor Finro. Prime appears again in issue 7 (when he steals the intelligence of the zookeeper) and again in issue 12, as the leader of a group of apes that attacks the city of Midvale. The series ends with "the Simian Overlord" building a fortress for apes just outside of Midvale. That city would become the foundation for Simian City, a recurring location in the later Mighty Doc Stalwart series. Jessica Darin was a recurring character (starting from issue 1), and appeared in all but 3 of the original 17 Astounding Doc Stalwart comics. She appears in the Silver Age comics only as a background character, and is never a serious love interest of Doc's after this Golden Age series ends. She has recently been re-introduced into the world of Doc Stalwart, having assumed the criminal identity of Foxy Loxy II.