Number 1373: Mysterious Island

Mysterious Island, which is Dell Four Color #1213 (1961), is an adaptation of the movie from producer Charles H. Schneer and stop-motion animation wizard Ray Harryhausen. Harryhausen died recently at age 92. The comic book doesn’t give any credit to Harryhausen or SuperDynaMation, the trade name for his process, except in a tiny slug on the cover. I suppose somebody reckoned there’s no need for stop-motion animation in a comic book.

Credits for the artwork from the Grand Comics Database are given to Tom Gill, pencils, and Herb Trimpe, inks. You remember Tom Gill was the longtime artist on the Lone Ranger, and Herb Trimpe went on to Marvel Comics.

Mysterious Island, the movie, was not a big commercial success on its theatrical release in '61. I saw it in a theater with some friends. We hooted, hollered, threw popcorn and made obnoxious nuisances of ourselves. It took until VCRs were invented before I saw it again. After you read the comic book, I have a YouTube video with an interview of Harryhausen talking about Mysterious Island. I’ve always admired Harryhausen for his ability to combine such a technical and time-consuming process with fantasy.

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Harryhausen on Mysterious Island

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Number 1149: The Lone Ranger is pure gold

You've probably seen this picture of Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp (as Tonto, no less) from a revisionist movie version of the Lone Ranger legend.

I have mixed feelings. My Lone Ranger is the Lone Ranger of the Baby Boomers, growing up with the television show starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. But the Lone Ranger franchise has been lying dormant for a while, and some movie people are betting it's ready for a reboot and new look. I might not like it, but who knows? I'm not the target audience, and for those at whom it's aimed it might be good. (I'm a bit concerned about a white guy, Depp, playing a Native American. Even in the era of white people playing ethnic minorities, at least Jay Silverheels was a Navajo.)

This story, "Gold Coin Fraud," is from The Lone Ranger Western Treasury #1 (1953). It's a thick 25¢ annual, drawn by Tom Gill and his studio staff. "Gold Coin Fraud" has an educational slant to it. I've included two text pages showing different types of gold coins of the era.

I showed you the origin of the Lone Ranger from this issue in Pappy's #1046.

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