Daily Scans
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Below are the 5 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Daily Scans" journal:
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10:07 pm
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
Alanna of Rann
The Adam Strange strip ran in MYSTERY IN SPACE beginning in 1958. It was a riff on Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series in a way. Earthman Adam Strange found a way to get to the planet Rann of the star Alpha Centauri, although he could only stay there a short time each trip. This being a Silver Age comic, naturally he found some wildly implausible alien invasion or other menace to fight each time. But that was not the real reason he counted the minutes until the next Zeta-Beam would appear to take him to his heart's desire.
Tags: char: adam strange, char: alanna, creator: carmine infantino, creator: gardner fox, creator: murphy anderson, era: silver age
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11:05 pm
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
Katar and Shayera know ALL your dirty little secrets
Some bits from 1961 and 1962 issues of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD. Script by Gardner Fox, art by Joe Kubert.
One of the most off-beat but underused aspects of the Silver Age Hawkman strip was that Katar and Shayera Hol had prepped for their arrival by using a device called an Absorbascon to transmit all memories and knowledge from the brains of Earth people. (There has to be a limit to the depth and type of information fed into the Hols' brains, I think. Probably they started with intake of language, geography, history, that sort of thing and cut off before they started getting into what size shoes Trotsky wore or how to make haggis. But you never know. The text says "everything" and perhaps the information was stored in compressed form in their brains, sort of like cerebral MP3s.)It was a slightly eerie touch that made our Hawks seem "other," not just everyday humans in costumes. They would sometimes sit in the dark and concentrate to try to bring out just the bit of knowledge they needed. One limitation was that (as I recall) they only did this Absorbascon process once. So if a Mad Scientist invented a reverse evolution ray while the Hols were here, they wouldn't have any information on it. Whether they would know about Green Lantern's weakness or Alfred's collection of antique keys is debatable. On the other hand, they would be great to have around when trying to do the SUNDAY TIMES crossword.
This last page doesn't relate to the Absorbascon, but I wanted to show off some Joe Kubert art. He often drew Hawkman and Hawkgirl at night, making them seem more mysterious and even ominous. Kubert also drew regular human bodies, something of a lost art. Shayera is not Jenna Jameson, Katar is not Lou Ferrigno. They're normal people in good athletic shape and that's enough.
Tags: char: hawkgirl/shayera hol, char: hawkman/katar hol, creator: gardner fox, creator: joe kubert, era: silver age, publisher: dc comics, title: the brave and the bold
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12:04 am
[dr_hermes]
[Link] |
Catching up with Thanagar
A couple of panels from the Hawkman story in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD# 42, June-July 1962. Art by Joe Kubert, story by Gardner Fox. It's a tradition in science-fiction to use advanced alien civilizations to show how our own progress might go. Let's see how Fox did.
 
Wellll, we're still not flying around our towns wearing anti-gravity belts and big artificial hawkwings. No "central cooking" delivering meals by pneumatic tubes, either. The closest to that might be if you're residing in a hotel and order room service, but dumbwaiters have almost vanished entirely and instead an employee brings you your order. The "identi-cards" are on target, though. I don't think debit cards existed all in 1962. By the late 1970s, there were such things but not in common usage. (Thanks for the exposition, Katar. Do you explain everything like that everywhere you go? "As you know, after we digest food, we have to eliminate it from our intestines. This is what I intend to do now. Excuse me for five to six minutes.")
Of course, Earthwomen are not interested in fashion and would not want to go shopping for clothes after being away six months. I don't know where Fox got such an idea, except maybe to show how odd Thanagarian culture is. It sure looks to me like Shayera is shopping online; although she might just be watching a show, the caption uses the word shopping in quote marks, so it's ambiguous. Then we see the Hols lounging about and watching the news which was recorded for them. We actually are ahead of this ourselves, what with YouTube and NPR archives. I do like the way Shayera is nibbling on a grape (or whatever) and that they seem to be watching a Mad Scientist.Then there's the Weather Control. This was a popular prediction in old school sci-fi. Nope, we haven't got that yet. The best we're doing is producing global climate change and that wasn't exactly a project we undertook consciously.
Tags: char: hawkman/katar hol, creator: gardner fox, creator: joe kubert, era: silver age, publisher: dc comics
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04:54 pm
[xdoop]
![[User Picture]](https://www.insanejournal.com/userpic/7353873/376622) [Link] |
The Flash's REAL origin
Tags: char: flash/barry allen, char: mopee, creator: carmine infantino, creator: gardner fox, publisher: dc comics, title: the flash
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03:18 pm
[jkcarrier]
[Link] |
One Perfect Moment: Snapper Carr
Those not well-versed in the Silver Age JLA often ask: "Why would the world's greatest super-heroes let some teenaged punk like Snapper Carr hang out with them?"
Answer: "Because somebody's got to save their sorry asses."
Tags: char: snapper carr, creator: gardner fox, creator: mike sekowsky, group: justice league of america, series: one perfect moment week
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