Saturday, May 28, 2022

Space Hero Saturdays SPACEHAWK "My Friend, My Foe"

He's the mysterious "Superhuman Enemy of Crime" in space...
...but he has friends he's known for years...and the only way they refer to him is as "SpaceHawk"?

This action-packed tale from Novelty's Target Comics #11 (1940) was written, illustrated, and lettered by the one-and-only Basil Wolverton.
The sheer unfettered imagination of the man was astounding, creating vistas and aliens far beyond anything the technology of moviemaking at the time (except for animation) could match.
With the current fascination for high adventure and fantasy and the incredible level of realism CGI can provide, SpaceHawk would be an ideal project for either theatrical or direct-to-home video, and I'm surprised no one is doing it!


Friday, May 27, 2022

Friday Fun SPEED RACER COMICS "Ralph Snart Meets the Terminator Cockroach"

Last week's Friday Fun entry was among the most popular ever!
So, if you want roaches, I'll give you roaches!

This never-reprinted featurette from NOW Comics' Speed Racer #18 (1989) by creator/writer/artist Marc Hansen was a promo for a new Ralph Snart Adventures series (after a previous series from the same publisher ended).
You can read about this rather...unique...character (whose adventures are still being published) by visiting Marc Hansen's website HERE!
BTW: The "Terminator" reference (even though the roach isn't a robot from the future) is appropriate, since NOW was publishing The Terminator movie tie-in comics!


Thursday, May 26, 2022

Reading Room STRANGE WORLDS "Abduction of the Earth"

Behind this kool Wally Wood inside cover vignette...
...lurks a never-reprinted tale from Avon's Strange Worlds #5 (1951) by an unknown artist or artists!
A typical "hard" sci-fi tale from the 1950s, not a classic, but an entertaining way to spend a few minutes letting your mind wander.
It could have made a decent B-movie back then...or a $100 million 3-D flick today!
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Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ADVENTURES OF THE DOVER BOYS "Peril of the Inca Treasure"

Remember when "high adventure" meant "politically incorrect"?
Whether they meant to or not, Archie Comics dove headfirst into the concept with this one-shot.
Incas don't wear turbans.
Indians (residents of the Indian subcontinent, not Native Americans) do...
The unknown writer was apparently conflating colonial India with Peru.
Artist Harry Lucey, who was also doing Archie's entry into crime comics, Sam Hill: Private Eye, presents the action in clear, concise terms.
Be here
Next Wednesday
for the continuation of this never-reprinted saga!

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

Dick Tracy Revives a Dead Villain...

The current Dick Tracy continuity (aka storyline) features a familiar...yet unfamiliar...face...

...who's likely based on a villain most CrimeStoppers (as some Tracy fans call themselves) have never seen!
In the spring of1966, due to the success of midseason replacement Batman, producer William Dozier was asked to try out other comic properties as TV series for the 1966-67 season.
He considered three...
Wonder Woman
(which resulted in a test reel featuring gorgeous future Planet of the Apes starlet Linda (Nova) Harrison as Wonder Woman...(actually a delusional Diana Prince's self-image of herself) which you can see HERE.)
The Green Hornet
(which had a half-hour pilot, then a one-season series that (damn it) still isn't available on DVD/BluRay or streaming!
and
Dick Tracy
(in a half-hour pilot starring future soap opera fixture Ray MacDonnell as the square-jawed hero!)
The villain of the episode was Victor Buono as Mr Memory, a villain who used computers linked directly to his brain...
.....does he look...familiar?
In reference to the "henchmen" the as yet-unnamed character mentions, Tracy made short work of them using karate!
(He was a serious kick-ass in this version!)
There's a kool blog entry about the pilot HERE with a link to the pilot on YouTube!
Is the character in the strip, in fact, Mr Memory?
Keep reading in your local paper or HERE to find out!
(Trivia: there was a Dick Tracy novel by William Johnston issued in 1970 featuring a villain named "Mr Computer".
Since Johnston was primarily a novelization writer doing books based on TV series and movies ranging from Get Smart to Room 222 to Klute to Caligula, I suspect this was based on unused plots for the TV series featuring Mr Memory.)

Monday, May 23, 2022

Monday Madness CAPTAIN BATTLE COMICS "Doctor Horror"

It's Monday, you're expecting "madness", and I'm gonna deliver it...
...with a character who made only one appearance...but what an appearance!

If this had been produced in the 1960s, I'd say the artist had gotten some bad weed before producing the latest issue of his underground comix.
In fact, it appeared in 1941's Captain Battle Comics #2, illustrated (and probably written) by Don Rico and read by impressionable young kids throughout America!
Publisher Lev Gleason had already introduced comics' first major super-villain, The Claw, in Silver Streak Comics, and it's possible he posed the suggestion to his artists that they come up with something to top The Claw.
Or, it's possible that with a deadline looming and pages to fill, Gleason assigned Rico to come up with a story in a very brief time frame!
We'll never know the answer.
But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying this startling story!

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