Tintin in America (Тaнтан в Америке)

Today this blog has crossed a landmark:
200 000+ visitors (703 000+ pages were veiwed since 15 May 2008)

These are just figures, not a motivating factor; however it's a pleasant moment, must confess.

So, today I’m going to share 2 unique comics. Tintin in Russian which was never printed & very first Hindi Asterix.

Tintin is one of my favorite comic. I collect physical copies in 3 languages - English, Hindi & Russian.

While searching issues in Russian for my physical  collection, found this comic at RUS-BD which was never printed in russian. Yes, it's a effort of some fans, you can't buy a physical copy. :)

Although it was 3rd album, I find as turning point of Tintin comics. Its relatively balanced story  style was improved and followed in later albums. 

As I can read it, can say confidently - very nice job is done by following persons:

Translated by Loran Boss & Visitors

(Перевод: Лоран Босс и посетители)

Edited by Vansa
(Редактура: vanasa)

Design: Ruslan Nasibullin
(Оформление: Руслан Насибуллин)

Download (It's original link provided by RUS-BD.COM)

And 2nd one is coming very shortly today: First Hindi Asterix:  Estriks Olampik me

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The Mimic

This fits in with an old post of mine on the prevalence of copycat villains during the Silver Age. Cal Rankin was a young man who possessed the rather unusual ability of mimicking the abilities of any person he happened to be around. This was not a mutant ability of his own, rather it came from an accident in his dad's laboratory:

Cal grew up as a jerk, as we can see when he first encounters two of the X-Men out on a date:

And a bit later, he (improbably) also meets up with Jean Grey:

During this second encounter he realizes that she is a member of the X-Men, and follows her back to the school. At first he pretends to want to join the team, but then he fights them and makes off with Jean in a car. They follow after him and he leads them to a sealed-off cave, where his dad had been working on an experimental device to augment the Mimic's power, before his death. But it turns out that dad had actually been working on a way to get rid of his son's powers, and in the end:

He would return in X-Men #27. Jean Grey is off at college when an explosion catches her attention:

The smoke restores his powers and the explosion brings back his memories, but at first he appears really interested in joining up with the X-Men. Professor X has many sterling qualities, but being a judge of character is not one of them:

And indeed when the team encounters the Super-Adaptoid (another doppelganger, this time with the powers of the Avengers), Calvin offers to join the android:

But at the last minute, the Mimic rebels against the Super-Adaptoid and when the latter tries to steal his copycat powers, it causes an "electrical backlash" that shorts out the android (and costs the Mimic his abilities). That was essentially the end for the character in the Silver Age; he did pop up in an issue of the Hulk in 1973 and perished in that tale according to the GCD.

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D2-035 Derelict of the Skorpi War

Writer: Harvey Kurtzman
Art: Dan Barry

Summary: Travelling back to Earth from Venus (see D2-034 Space Construction Corps), Flash and Dale discover a damaged battleship drifting in space. Soon pair soon must bail out in a rescue capsule as their ship is shot to pieces by robot defences on the drifting vessel.

Boarding the massive battleship, Flash and Dale assume that they are completely alone in what proves to be a centuries-old floating coffin, but it is not long before a strange voice can be heard and a young girl rises from the grave...

(Source of summary: www.ipcomics.net)

Download  D2-035 Derelict of the Skorpi War


It's from Emile's e-collection. All credits go to her & "Allen Lane" who scanned and first shared at net.

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What Century Is That?

I don't ordinarily highlight simple and obvious mistakes, but this one is rather amusing and unusual. Consider the cover of Jimmy Olsen #31:

Okay, so Jimmy's going to wake up in the year 2058, or about midway through the 21st century, right? Err, no, not according to the splash page:

Okay, so he's going to sleep for five hundred years and wake up in the 25th century or presumably somewhere around 2458. Got that? Nope, not according to the story itself:

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D2-034 Disaster at Bigtree

Writer: Harvey Kurtzman
Art: Dan Barry

Summary: Leaving Marsair for Marsport (see D2033 Colony on Mars) Flash receives reports about a massive earthquake on Venus and agrees to join the rescue effort by piloting an emergency relief ship to the planet.

Shortly after takeoff, a stowaway in the form of TV presenter Andy Pace emerges from his hiding place to declare his intention to film the devastation and relief work for his viewers’ benefit - the first sign of big complications ahead...

(Source of summary: www.ipcomics.net)

Download D2-034 Disaster at Bigtree

It's from Emile's e-collection. All credits go to her & "Allen Lane" who scanned and first shared at net.

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D2-033 Colony on Mars

Coming soon
First Hindi Asterix:  Estriks Olampik me 

****************************************************

Writer: Harvey Kurtzman
Art: Dan Barry

Summary: Wrapping up the hostage situation on the solar satellite (check D2-032 Solar Mirror) Flash picks up an urgent Mayday from a Mars-bound relief ship and hurries to intercept before the ship’s pilot perishes.

Piloting the ship to Mars, Flash finds himself mediating between the inhabitants of a Marsair colony in desperate need of water and a local landowner with access to water in his wells but determined not to let anybody trespass to retrieve it - with feelings running higher by the minute...

(Source of summary: www.ipcomics.net)

Download 

It's from Emile's e-collection. All credits go to her & "Allen Lane" who scanned and first shared at net.

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Trivia Quiz #40: Answers

1. Who taught Roy Harper how to use a bow and arrow?
Brave Bow, an Indian chief, taught Roy Harper how to be an archer:


2. Name the three major differences between the Silver Age Mr Mxyzptlk and his Golden Age counterpart.
There are more than three major differences: the spelling of his name (the GA version was named Mxyztplk), the costume, the GA version had a different look and hairstyle, the GA version only vanished for a month when forced to pronounce or spell his name backwards, while the Silver Age vanished for ninety days, and the GA version had a job as a court jester.

3. What souvenir did Batman bring back with him from the planet Zur-En-Arrh?

Batman brought back the Bat-radia:


4. Who was Barry Allen's childhood sweetheart?
Daphne Dean, as I discussed last year.

5. What famous actor was Hal Jordan's appearance patterned after?
Hal Jordan was intended to look like Paul Newman, as Julius Schwartz revealed in the letters page of Green Lantern #3.

Kudos to Scott Nesmith, who aced the test and to Ed, who got #1, #2 and #5 and was on the right track with #3.

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