Monday Celtic Madness: He's NOT Who You Think...Banshee!

Before a certain Marvel villain-turned X-Man...

Original pen & ink art by Dave Cockrum

...acquired the title, there was this guy...who also used the name of a female Irish demon!

(And yes, I know Sean Cassidy's daughter now uses the name, but this is Atomic Kommie Comics, not Heroines!)

Illustrated by Louis Cazeneuve, this premiere/origin of the Banshee plays more off the classic "Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot..." shtick with a costumed athlete than the later, sonic super-powered mutants from Marvel.
Of course, I'm curious as to why a villain named "The Scorpion" is wearing a Devil mask instead of, say, a hood with an embroidered scorpion image....like this baddie from the Republic Studios serial Adventures of Captain Marvel...

Was he working on a really tight budget?

Debuting in Fox's Fantastic Comics #21 (1941) and continuing until the book was cancelled two issues later, the Banshee migrated to a new book, V... Comics, for it's brief two-issue run, then disappeared into comics limbo.

BTW,
HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

Space Hero Saturdays FANTASTIC COMICS "Space Smith and the Floating Island in the Lost Sun"

One of the Truly Difficult Things About This Feature...

...is coming up with titles for Fletcher Hanks' almost-always untitled stories!

How do you convey some of the truly weird goings-on?

This Space Smith tale from Fox Features' Fantastic Comics #5 (1940) could've had several different titles including "The Hopping Men of the Floating Island!" or "The Hopping Men of the Lost Sun!"!

We decided on the title based on the two locations shown in the story!
But, like most of Fletcher Hank's stories, there's so much going on that it's hard to pin down one or two aspects.

Best to just go along for the ride and enjoy!

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I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!

by

Fletcher Hanks

Space Hero Saturdays COSMIC CARSON "Iako's Attack!"

This totally-inaccurate cover from Fox's Science Comics #4 (1940) by Joe Simon...

...featuring characters who never appear in the strip (except for the hero) marks Cosmic Carson's only cover appearance ever!

Ah, but it's who's on the inside that counts...and for this issue, it's Jack (King) Kirby, who penciled and inked this story!

("Michel Griffith" was a Fox Comics pen-name that anybody who wrote or drew this strip used!)

Though this Cosmic Carson tale from Fox's Science Comics #4 (1940) ends on a cliffhanger, the story in the next issue neither resolves nor even mentions it, or the current plotline and characters!
Not surprising, since Kirby had been moved to other strips in the next month's production cycle.
Cosmic Carson, in and of itself, was one of the worst, most inconsistent, poorly-plotted and illustrated strips (with this one exception) in the history of comic books.
(And that's saying a lot!)
So enjoy this appearance, since it's the only one Cosmic Carson will make in any RetroBlog!

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Reading Room ROCKET SHIP X "Robot Rebellion"

We're DOOMED, do you hear me?

DOOMED, because tomorrow will bring a...

...as shown in this never-reprinted tale from Fox's Rocket Ship X #1 (1951).

It's actually a decent little tale whose creators, regrettably, are anonymous.

Think James Cameron read it as a kid?

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Taylor History of Comics

Vol 3
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Space Hero Saturdays FLICK FALCON IN THE FOURTH DIMENSION "Return to Mars"

We Have Already Seen...

...now that you're caught up, watch as, unarmed and with Adele by his side, Flick prepares for another journey.

Writer-penciler Don Rico's wild imagination goes full-speed, combining science fiction and fantasy elements with equal aplomb in this never-reprinted tale from Fox's Fantastic Comics #2 (1940).

It's interesting to note the three-armed slavers introduced last time aren't native to Mars, as Flick thought...though no mention is made about whether the giants they control are Martians or not. 

Also, rather odd for a kids' story, is the fact that sexual attraction can be used to break the alien slavers' control!

Inker Claire Moe (who usually scripted, penciled and inked her own material for Fox, Centaur, and Novelty), helped out probably due to a tight deadline.

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Space Hero Saturdays FANTASTIC COMICS "Space Smith and the Headless Men of the Gold Comet"

Newspaper comics had Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, and Brick Bradford...

...but comic books had the even wilder exploits of adventurers like Space Smith!

Wow!

Dianna's no mere helpless female sidekick, as this tale from Fox's Fantastic Comics #4 (1940) proves!

Fletcher Hanks was no stranger to visualizing assertive women.

His Fantomah strip in Fiction House's Jungle Comics presented a jungle heroine with super-powers on a par with Wonder Woman (whom she pre-dated by a year)!

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I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets!

by

Fletcher Hanks