Daily Scans
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Below are 20 entries, after skipping 20 most recent ones in the "Daily Scans" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries -- Next 20 entries >>]
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09:20 pm
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
Thanks a Heap, Ceres!
Here's a sample of the Heap from a late 1940s issue of AIRBOY. The character started in the Skywolf strip but proved popular enough to get his own back-up and even took over the covers a few times. Obviously inspired by Theodore Sturgeon's great 1940 story "It" in UNKNOWN, the Heap was himself echoed a quarter-century later in Marvel's Man-Thing and DC's Swamp Thing. By this point, the half-alive walking pile of moss and muck surrounding the corpse of a WWI German ace has come under the guidance of the goddess Ceres. It's great to see such an overlooked Olympian get some time onstage. Naturally, storytellers over the ages have gone for the more flamboyant and glamorous of the gods and goddesses (sex and violence always sell), but Ceres deserved her place in the pantheon. After all, if she chose, she could see that the other Olympians would have no worshippers.
Wellll, the writer didn't know much about octopuses if he thought they only had one vulnerable spot. They're not exactly armored. And Ceres is seriously deluding herself with this talk about how no one has to fear the Heap because he means no harm, etc. This is the same creature that used to drink blood and which left a trail of broken corpses all over Europe in its rampages. Maybe she means that now, under her control, the monster can survive as a vegetarian but he sure wasn't always that way. (The art is by reliably good Dan Barry, I don't know the writer.)
Tags: char: the heap, era: golden age
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12:27 am
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
SPIRIT Splashes
Every now and then, I'd like to do a little gallery of splash pages from THE SPIRIT. The strip appeared as an insert in syndicated newspapers (and as such, the Spirit had an astonishing circulation; many thousands who never picked up a comic book read THE SPIRIT every week). This impromptu selection leaves out several of the types of stories Will Eisner did so well. There were his satires on advertising and consumerism and current fads; there were his whimsical fantasy or science-fiction romps, his tough gangster sagas and locked-room mysteries; the little misadventures that Ebony or Sammy went off on their own; and so many that are hard to classify. You just never knew what you would find when you opened your Sunday paper.
It flummoxes me how heartbreakingly good Sunday comics used to be. From the 1930s to around 1960, you might pick up a paper that had THE SPIRIT, POPEYE, PRINCE VALIANT, TERRY AND THE PIRATES, POGO, MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN, GASOLINE ALLEY, KRAZY KAT... Then the size of the pages started to shrink faster and faster, the quality of the printing and coloring dropped, the era of high adventure and screwball humor faded away.
Tags: char: the spirit/denny colt, creator: will eisner, era: golden age
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08:12 pm
[sandoz_iscariot]
[Link] |
Stardust: "De Structo and the Headhunters"
Reposted because it appears the original post was deleted, and I really wanted to show this to somebody. And this is a story no incarnation of S_D should be without!
( you are now in the power of Stardust )
Current Mood: contemplative
Tags: char: stardust, creator: fletcher hanks, era: golden age, status: public domain, title: fantastic comics
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05:19 pm
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
Why isn't Popeye rich?
From July, 1934, a Sunday page by E.C. Segar. Popeye has survived his first encounter with the Sea Hag and her Goon, and come home with a fortune. Finding treasure is not his usual means of support, when not at sea he's a fighter who normally gets in the ring with an opponent three or four times his since. But over the course of his life, the sailor has sometimes been wealthy. It never lasts, though.
This sequence must have been much more powerful back in 1934, when the Depression meant millions were out of work (the unemployment rate hits 30%), families were homeless, lots of children were trying to sleep with empty stomachs. It was a time before unemployment benefits, welfare (Roosevelt would introduce that), child services, shelters (the few church missions had long been swamped by then), any of that... when you hit hard times, you were on your own. Popeye being rich and impulsively seeing to it that poor families had good food to keep them was as much a wish fulfilment as any super-hero slugging a Nazi spy. And more satisfying.
Tags: char: popeye, creator: e.c. segar, era: golden age
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09:17 pm
[sandoz_iscariot]
[Link] |
Fantomah from Jungle Comics #7.
More insanity from Fletcher Hanks, this one featuring my favorite of his creations, Fantomah.
( when a flaming disembodied skull with blonde hair tells you not to do something, don't fucking do it )
(note to mods: the comic is in the public domain, so I'm posting the complete story.)
Current Mood: sleepy
Tags: char: fantomah, creator: fletcher hanks, era: golden age, theme: racism
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12:02 pm
[strannik01]
[Link] |
Weird Golden Age Patriotism - Super-American
MLJ's the Shield was the first patriotic superhero in American comics, but it wasn't until Captain America came around that the trend really took off. Every publisher rushed to jump on the bandwagon and get their own patriotic hero (or several) out on the shelves. Some were fairly mundane, but others... Others were just plain weird.
In this series, I will take a look at some of the odder, more unique examples of the trend. Members of the original scans_daily will probably remember some of them, but others will be brand new.
First, we have Super-American, originally published by Fiction House. The following story originally appeared in Fight Comics #15. Writer unknown, art by Dan Zolnerowich.
( Super-American kicks some crypto-Nazi ass... in America! (13 pages under the cut) )
I was originally going to put up dial-up links, but then I noticed that I kept getting errors and reread the rules. So, if anyone out there has a dial-up connection (or has to deal with a wireless connection to a coffee shop), you can go to this folder.
Current Location: Argo Tea, Chicago
Current Mood: nostalgic
Tags: char: super-american, creator: dan zolnerowich, era: golden age, publisher: fiction house, series: weird golden age patriotism, status: public domain
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09:44 pm
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
Say, that Demon looks familiar
Here are two Sunday PRINCE VALIANT pages from December 1937. The word "epic" has been so trivialized that it's hardly useful anymore. Maybe it should be retired for a generation until it regains some of its power. In any case, PRINCE VALIANT actually was an epic in the original sense. Looking over Harold Foster's gorgeous art and getting into the solid storytelling, I'm struck by how well-done it was and how it was just one of a dozen strips you could read every week as part of your newspaper. It looks as if newspapers are declining fast and may soon be just a minor curiosity to a relative handful of readers. But certainly, as far as Sunday comics go, newspapers are just a faint echo of what they once were.
So. The young and idealistic Val is trying to prove himself to the knights at Arthur's court and he applies himself to ridding the land of the oppressive "Ogre," a lord who rules his turf through terror. Catching a goose, Valiant fashions a disguise from its body....
Tags: char: prince valiant, creator: harold foster, era: golden age
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12:29 pm
[mosellegreen]
![[User Picture]](https://www.insanejournal.com/userpic/8462170/399431) [Link] |
Golden Age Wonder Woman
Today's scans are about the same Fun Clinics mentioned in yesterday's. They're from "The Malice of the Green Imps", originally published in Sensation Comics #28 in 1944, reprinted in Wonder Woman Archives Volume 4. (Those volumes are indispensable for the Golden Age Wonder Woman geek.)
Tags: char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: sensation
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12:56 pm
[mosellegreen]
![[User Picture]](https://www.insanejournal.com/userpic/8462176/399431) [Link] |
Golden Age Wonder Woman
There's a few GA WW images here: Ask Golden Age Wonder Woman; Advice on love, life, and relationships by Dr. Golden Age Wonder Woman, Ph.d. Hint: her solution to every problem involves getting tied up.
These are from "The Fun Foundation", originally published in Sensation Comics #27 in 1944, reprinted in Wonder Woman Archives Volume 4.
Tags: char: paula von gunther, char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: sensation
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10:20 pm
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
Why didn't Starman win the war?
It's a problem with ongoing science-fiction series, whether pulps or comics or TV. If advanced technology is shown to be available and workable, why doesn't it change the world? Anti-gravity, matter transporters, telepathic transmitters.. any of these would start the biggest change since the Industrial Revolution. The problem is that following stories would have to incorporate these changes and the series would suddenly stop being the world of Doc Savage and look more like the world of the Jetsons. So the amazing new gadget has to be destroyed, the only prototype smashed and the plans lost. Or, if the hero is using the gizmo as his trademark, it must be the product of a freak accident that can't be duplicated. (Doc Savage used to regularly claim the villains' disintegrator guns or earthquake machines or whatever and just declare they were too dangerous to use. Rather than trust the human race to use the tech properly, he just took it on himself to lock him them away in his Fortress of Solitude. But then, Doc had a lot of nerve any way you look at it.)
Now, the original Starman (the one who appeared in ADVENTURE COMICS and ALL-STAR COMICS beginning in 1941)had as his main distinction something called the Gravity Rod. This was a sceptre that charged up with starlight and converted it into useful energy. Anti-gravity, concussive blasts, heat rays (and the occasional rabbit-out-of-the-hat application) made Starman an upper-level super-hero able to hold his own with the heavy hitters in the Justice Society.
Tags: char: starman/ted knight, era: golden age
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12:21 pm
[mosellegreen]
[Link] |
Golden Age Wonder Woman
When I first made this post, which was pretty early in my GA WW postings, I remarked that several people at the old s_d were so amazed at the amount of bondage and other crack that they asked me if I was sure my scans hadn't been photoshopped. When one has experienced the full crackiness of GA WW, photoshopping more craziness in would seem anticlimactic.
The Sherlockian title of the story from which today's scans come is "Adventure of the Kidnapers of Astral Spirits", originally published in Sensation Comics #25 in 1944.
Just two panels from this one. I'm not trying to convey the full story or anything, just highlighting the most cracktastic bits:
Tags: char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: sensation
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01:34 pm
[mosellegreen]
![[User Picture]](https://www.insanejournal.com/userpic/8462173/399431) [Link] |
Golden Age Wonder Woman, featuring Paula von Gunther
"The Crime Combine", published in Sensation Comics #32 in 1944. Just three panels.
Tags: char: paula von gunther, char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: sensation
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07:38 pm
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
Smokey Stover's Spooky
This was a back-up strip that ran along SMOKEY STOVER back when newspapers were much larger and Sunday comics had room to breathe and experiment. Bill Holman drew an odd strip, that's for sure. The adventures of a fireman and his chief, as well as their wives and cronies, were just a vehicle for a mass of sight gags, horrendous puns and disturbing art. People and objects tended to wander out of the panels, there were these enigmatic and vaguely ominious phrases scattered all over ("Foo," "Notary Sojac" and "1506 nix-nix," were most common)and the reaction shots involved dentures flying out of mouths and ears whirling away. There was also the habit Smokey and Chief Nutt had of addressing each other as "girlie," "cutie," and "sweetie." SMOKEY STOVER ran from 1935 to 1973, and remains a gem of the screwball outlook.
Anyway, Spooky was a typical cartoon cat, concerned with her own comfort and meals no matter how much distress she caused getting them. I've often wondered about the red bandage tied to her tail... it was there year after year.
Tags: era: golden age
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11:39 am
[mosellegreen]
[Link] |
Golden Age Wonder Woman
Today's offering is from "The Blue Spirit Mystery", Sensation Comics #30, 1944. It's a surprisingly complex (though nonetheless cracked out) story about a racket in the form of a cult that swindles people out of their money.
Really, a lot of Golden Age comics had plots much more complex than most Silver and Bronze Age ones, and dealt with comparatively mature subjects - not mature in the sense of sex and violence, but how many 7-year-olds would one expect to be interested in cult religion scams? I think they gave kids more credit then. Though of course, the stories were still whacked out.
For dial-uppers:
32 KB
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Tags: char: etta candy, char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: sensation
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11:55 am
[mosellegreen]
[Link] |
The introduction of Giganta
THIS IS ONE OF THE CRACKIEST WW STORIES EVER.
The story reveals Marston's usual lack of compunction about deus ex machina and, shall we say, casual grasp of science. Remember that he was a psychologist, with more than a hint of the huckster about him. His editor revealed years later that "if I had let him put in all the symbolism and stuff he wanted to, the stories would have been even weirder." The mind boggles.
This story was 36 pages long, so there are lots of scans, 9 pages worth. Good thing, because I didn't want to have to drop any of them.
Also, you can see Silver Age Giganta here.
Not at all dial-up friendly.
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/00066xy7
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/00067kb4
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/00068kgt
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http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006a43h
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006b97a
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006c1sw
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006d0gr
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006e3rf
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006f8d7
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006gh0b
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006hb4g
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006keag
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006ps66
http://pics.livejournal.com/mosellegreen/pic/0006qkb0
Tags: char: etta candy, char: giganta/dr. doris zeul, char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: wonder woman
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11:26 pm
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
What's going on in this cover?
Looking at this 1944 cover for BLUE BOLT COMICS, I have to wonder exactly what is the situation with this woman? Are those all her own children? Maybe, they do seem awful close in age but it wasn't rare to pop out a kid a year back then. If they are hers (and she is married, as would be mandatory for comics cover), is her husband in the service and that's why he's not there? But if he had all these dependants, surely he wouldn't be dratted? Maybe he was already in the service when war heated up and in now somewhere in the Pacific? Possibly he's at work himself at the moment and she's just stirred with patriotism enough to consider dropping the urchins off so she can contribute to the war effort as well.
Or maybe some (or all) of those moppets belong to other women and she's watching them so the mothers can work the swing shift at Lockhood?In any case, it's an interesting cover that stands out among the costumed heroes punching enemy soldiers or goofball funny animals in that year. It does give a hint of how many public service posters and signs were everywhere... "Save Your Scrap To Beat the Jap." "Is This Trip Really Necessary?" "Tin Cans in the Garbage Pile Are Just a Way of Saying Heil," "Buy War Bonds Today"...
Tags: era: golden age, publisher: novelty press, status: public domain
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11:25 am
[mosellegreen]
[Link] |
Golden Age Wonder Woman
Just one image today. This is from Wonder Woman #8, 1944. If you read the Golden Age WW stories, you start to see that Paradise Island was developing quite an immigrant population, including women from Venus, Atlantis, America, Germany.... And come to think of it, most of them had criminal records. This could become a real problem.
That is, if you didn't keep them all tied up.
Tags: char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: wonder woman
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11:45 am
[mosellegreen]
[Link] |
Golden Age Wonder Woman
Three panels from Sensation Comics #29, 1944. Mala is the Amazon in charge of the Amazon prison. You can imagine what Amazon prisons are like by now, I expect. Here's how Mala fares in Man's World:
Tags: char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: sensation
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10:40 pm
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
Working for the Brow
As a kid, DICK TRACY seemed more nightmarish to me than most outright horror comics. The art was so strange, flat and claustrophic. The villains WERE villains, not anti-heroes with a noble streak but just heartless human monsters who were usually physically deformed in some way. And the strip was violent. Tracy had no code against killing, he was not a masked avenger or secret operative or millionaire playboy investigating crimes. He was a cop. Period. When the shooting started, he usually sent a bullet tunneling through the crook's head (which left a neat little hole.. Chester Gould's art was weird). At the same time, even the likeable secondary characters wandering in and out were eccentric. It was an odd strip, but immensely popular in its day and influential. The grotesque bad guys with a visual gimmick were used by the pulps and later by Batman and other comics heroes.
In 1944, Dick Tracy took on the Brow. This charmer was a Nazi spy working the USA despite his conspicuous appearance. Both ears had been cut off in a knife fight and he had a high, deeply furrowed forehead. The Brow got hold of the Summer Sisters, May and June... these were a pair of unreliable would-be actresses who were not above picking pockets or pulling a con, making their way in the big city by their wits but they got in over their heads this time.
Tags: char: dick tracy, creator: chester gould, era: golden age
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08:24 am
[mosellegreen]
[Link] |
Golden Age Wonder Woman
Just two panels today, from Sensation Comics #31, 1944.
Tags: char: wonder woman/diana of themyscira, creator: william moulton marston, era: golden age, publisher: dc comics, title: sensation
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