Number 1504: Jack Frost in the Land of the Lost

Brrrr. Much of North America and the United States is gripped right now is what is called a polar vortex, with record-breaking cold temperatures. Jack Frost is definitely nipping at our noses and any other exposed parts.

Speaking of Jack Frost, I’ll bet you wouldn’t place Jack Frost under the ocean (nor would I), but here he is in The Land of the Lost #3 (1946). The story is written by Isabel Manning Hewson, the creator and writer of the then-popular radio series, and illustrated by Olive Bailey.

I have shown other episodes of this charming series, published by EC Comics when EC stood for “Educational Comics,” under the ownership of Maxwell Charles Gaines, father of William Gaines, who went on to a wholly different style of comics when he took over the company after the elder Gaines’s accidental death in 1947.

Stay warm!

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More Land of the Lost. Just click on the thumbnails.

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Number 1157: The Disappearing Desert

In addition to writing scripts and songs for the successful mid-'40s radio program, Land Of the Lost, Isabel Manning Hewson wrote the scripts for the comic book version, published by EC Comics. The comic book apparently sold well enough to have nine issues between 1946 and 1948. I'm not sure whether it was eventually canceled due to a drop in sales, or because EC founder Maxwell Charles Gaines died in the summer of 1947 and his son, William M. Gaines, took over the company.

As is well known in comics history, Bill Gaines took EC in a whole 'nother direction from that of his father.

Land Of the Lost is a clever and charming radio show/comic book, about a kingdom under the sea where lost things go. In the case of "The Disappearing Desert," it's a pair of Z-ray glasses. Red Lantern is joined by two human children, Isabel and Billy, who use "magic seaweed" to allow them to breathe underwater.

Olive Bailey did a terrific job on the artwork. As far as I know Bailey's only comic book credits are in those nine issues. I'm sorry she didn't do more in the field. As I've mentioned before, Hewson and Bailey may be the only female writing and art team in this era. Go to the labels below this posting and click on "Land Of the Lost" for more stories.

From Land Of the Lost #2, 1946:

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