Number 1529: “Twisting” Dickens...Green Mask and the boy pickpockets

Người đăng: Unknown on Thứ Sáu, 21 tháng 2, 2014

Not long ago I showed a science fiction story that was inspired by Robinson Crusoe, and here is a superhero/crime-fighter story of the Green Mask and a Fagin-like criminal (Spelled “Fakin” or “Faken” depending on the panel) right out of Dickens’ Oliver Twist. I always say if you’re going to swipe, swipe from the best.

Green Mask was a short-lived superhero (1939 to 1942) from Fox Features. According to Don Markstein’s Toonopedia.com, the character was drawn by Walter Frehm (spelled phonetically as “Frame” in the splash panel.) Also according to Toonopedia, Frehm went on to draw Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. His cartooning style on Green Mask was pleasing, but reminiscent of a style of an earlier era. He died in 1995 at age 89.

From Mystery Men Comics #3 (1939):










More about

Number 1528: Phantom Lady “just doodly do it...”

Người đăng: Unknown on Thứ Tư, 19 tháng 2, 2014


I googled the lyrics the chorus girls are singing on page 6 of this Phantom Lady story, and came up with a 1924 song called “Doodle-Doo-Doo” sung by Eddie Cantor. Isn’t the Internet amazing?*

The story is also amazing, if not for the plot but for the Matt Baker pretty girl artwork. For you connoisseurs of such things there is a lingerie panel and also a panel of Phantom Lady tied up. I, being a comic book historian, am more interested in the story in its historic context and avert my eyes at such pandering to the pin-up crowd of the 1940s. (Ha. You are right not to believe that. The great thing about this sort of artwork is that it looks just as sexy as it did when it was drawn 66 years ago.)

From Phantom Lady #16 (1948):












**********

*I also found a YouTube video of Eddie Cantor singing the other song on the page, “I Faw Down and Go Boom”.

Here's another Phantom Lady story, with a bonus Blue Beetle story, I showed in 2011:


More about

The Man in the Background

Người đăng: Unknown on Thứ Ba, 18 tháng 2, 2014

I've been remiss in posting a lot lately, but I've also been reading a lot of comics that fall outside the target of this blog; I'm working my way through a couple of series, including the 1970s Flash issues and Cerebus. But as it happens, I got a hankering to read the Action Superman stories starting from issue #200, and I began noticing the man in the background of a lot of scenes set at the Daily Planet offices. And I do mean a lot. Action #200:
Action #202
That's the only instance I can find so far of him having any lines, but he appears quite often:
Sometimes he's portly, sometimes he's rather svelte:
But the pipe and the bald head are absolutely ubiquitous. Well, the bald head is, occasionally he does take the pipe out of his mouth:
He's also the little man in this picture which was pointed out by longtime commenter Ralph C:
There's not really any mystery here; apparently Superman artist Wayne Boring put editor Mort Weisinger into a lot of panels as an inside joke.
Update: For a more biting look at Mort Weisinger from Boring, check here. Hat tip to commenters Wordsmith for the suggestion and Diane for the link.
More about

Number 1527: Spirit of the gun

Người đăng: Unknown on Thứ Hai, 17 tháng 2, 2014

Recently I presented a bloody tale from Desperado #1 narrated by a gun. Here I have another tale, this time from Will Eisner’s Spirit Section of March 4, 1951, also narrated by a gun. Is this a good gimmick or not, having stories narrated by inanimate objects? (To answer my own question, the esteemed Ray Bradbury used it when he had a rocket ship narrate “I, Rocket” in Amazing Stories, May 1944. Perhaps I should just shut up.)

Another thing about this Spirit story that caught my eye was the panel sequence I have used as a teaser above, and a similar sequence from Mad #12 (1954), when Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder did their satire, “Starchie.”

I wonder if the Spirit had any inspiration on the Mad sequence, either consciously or unconsciously.









More about

Number 1526: Foul Powell

Người đăng: Unknown on Chủ Nhật, 16 tháng 2, 2014

Bob Powell and his studio had such a recognizable style it is easy to spot their work, no matter the genre. Some of my favorite Powell stories are from the horror comics of the early '50s, where they drew some of the foulest monsters and creepiest characters in the comics. These two stories are from Ziff-Davis’ Eerie Adventures #1 (1951) (The only issue, title dropped to avoid legal trouble with Avon, who also published a comic called Eerie).

There should be some sort of award for understatement in “The Vampires from Venus.” Two brothers rescue a manlike creature from the swamp. The thing is fish-belly white and has cat eyes. One of the brothers says to the other, “Jake, there’s something weird about this guy.” (Hey! you think?!) Yet Jake replies, “Don’t be silly! He’s just a little shaken from the crash.” People in horror comics can be so damn dumb it’s no wonder horrors happen to them.















More about