#254. The Phantom - The Singh Web (Moonstone)

The bloodthirsty Singh Brotherhood are the Phantom's oldest foes. Deep within the Bengali jungle lies their most revered and evil treasure, THE SINGH WEB! It's diabolical secret simmered quietly until the stunning and ambitious archeologist Dr. Veronica Roberts got her mitts on it. Now, it's rest disturbed and it's terrible supernatural force placing the entire world at risk, the Phantom must embark on an adventure that will lead him through the streets of New York to the gates of Shaolin! Unfortunately, Hassan Singh, current head of the pirate empire, is a step ahead of him.

The Phantom: The Singh Web (2002)

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Scanned by Foyle-DCP and uploaded by BENNY31 & MMDSX. All thanks & credits to them.

Batman and the Aliens: 1957

In 1957, the Milwaukee Braves won their only World Series title behind stars like Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron and Warren Spahn. Tobin Rote, subbing for the injured Bobby Layne, led the Detroit Lions to their last NFL championship by passing for four touchdowns and running for another as the Lions swamped the Cleveland Browns, 59-14. All Shook Up by Elvis Presley was the #1 tune in the nation, while Gunsmoke was the top-rated TV show.

And in 1957, here are the appearances by aliens in Batman stories:

None. Zip, zero, rien. In Detective #250, an alien rocket does make it to Earth, giving a crook some fantastic weapons, but the aliens themselves do not appear.

In 1956, the same thing. Oh, Superman does have a cameo in Batman #101, but that's it.

So graphing 1956-1966:



A big bulge in 1961, but pretty sharp declines after that, so it looks like Schiff was phasing out the aliens before Schwartz took over.

I am aware of at least two other Batman and the Aliens stories; in Batman #41 (June-July 1947), Batman battles a Martian villain, and in Batman #78 (Sept 1953), he encounters The Manhunter from Mars.

Incidentally, the alien craze of the late 1950s-early 1960s was not solely limited to Batman and Jack Schiff. While doing some research on the Archie series, I came across this cover:



That's also 1961.

Number 585


Bloodsucker


I feel like posting a vampire story. It's the end of August and I just got my property tax notice for this year, so a bloodsucking vampire story, "Villa of the Vampire," seems appropriate. In this recession the value of my own "villa" has gone down, but my taxes have gone up. Even when you've paid off your mortgage you find out that you never truly own your home. I bought my house in 1975 and since 2007 have owned it "free and clear" after paying off the third mortgage. But that's a myth of homeowning, really. If I don't pay my taxes it will no longer be mine. Grrr. Gripe, grumble...

The story is from the one-and-only issue of Challenge Of the Unknown (not Challengers Of the Unknown, an entirely different comic), published by Ace in 1951. As pointed out by reader Charles of the South in the comments section for this post, the artwork is by Lin Streeter, and as pointed out by Karswell, the name Lin is in the lower right corner of the splash.

I like the vampire's gimmick.

**********

Say what...?

That's when he realized he'd brought the wrong person on his honeymoon to Niagara Falls...

From Gang Busters #16, 1950.

Trivia Quiz #31: Answers

1. True or False: All major comic publishers submitted their comics to the CCA for its approval and seal during most of the Silver Age.

False. Dell, Gold Key and Classics Illustrated were among the larger publishers to ignore the CCA.

2. Name three DC features of the Silver Age (aside from annuals) to debut in their own books with a #1 issue instead of having a tryout.

There may be others, but the three I had in mind were Pat Boone, Captain Storm and Secret Six. Others mentioned in the comments that were right are: Dobie Gillis, Swing with Scooter, Brother Power the Geek and Bomba the Jungle Boy. Ones that are wrong and their tryout issues are: Metal Men (Showcase #37-40), Teen Titans (Brave & Bold #54, Showcase #59), Creeper (Showcase #73) and Aquaman (Showcase #30-33)

3. What was the first DC title of the Silver Age to have a letters column?

Well, every now and then I get surprised by an answer from a commenter. Osgood Peabody noted that Sugar and Spike had a letters column from near its inception, and when I checked, he turned out to be right. The answer I had in mind was Superman, which got its letter page with #124 (September 1958), but now we know that's wrong.

4. What was the original title of the Captain America letters page?

Let's Yap with Cap was the title before Marvel got hip and changed it to Let's Rap with Cap.

5. What DC title called its letters page "Destination Infinity"?

Rip Hunter, Time Master.

Thelonius Nick got #1 right. Osgood Peabody gets #2 and #3 right, with extra credit for outsmarting the quiz-maker. JJ got #4 right. MW Gallagher got #1. Ed O'Toole got #1, #2, #3 and #5.

Number 584


The imitation Flash Gordon


My correspondent, Nix, who supplies me with great scans from MLJ comics, has contributed this from Blue Ribbon Comics #1, November 1939.

Back in the earliest days of the comics, when they were almost exclusively anthologies, they tended toward certain types:a cowboy, a magician influenced by Mandrake the Magician from the newspaper comics, a spaceman like Flash Gordon...you get the picture. Dan Hastings is the spaceman, and he's not only influenced by Flash Gordon, he appears to be lifted right off the Sunday funnies.

Well, sorta...the artwork by an unknown artist isn't Alex Raymond, but the story is sort of a mishmash of various Flash Gordon stories, including the Saturday matinee serials with Buster Crabbe. Dan has his Dale in Gloria, his Dr. Zarkov in Dr. Carter, his Ming the Merciless in Eutopas, his Mongo in planet Mexady. Errrrr...Mexady? Even though it's issue number one we're dropped into the story with no prelims, no backstory, so it's as if the writer expects us to know about Dan already. And we do, if we read Flash Gordon every Sunday.

Anyway, it's not so surprising to find an imitation Flash Gordon in Blue Ribbon Comics #1, when the lead strip is an ersatz Rin-Tin-Tin called Rang-A-Tang. I love the old MLJ comics but at the company's beginning originality was not a strong point.

Batman and the Aliens: 1958

In 1958, the New York Yankees avenged their 1957 World Series loss to the Milwaukee Braves by winning Game 7 at County Stadium. The NFL Championship went to the Baltimore Colts in a 23-17 overtime thriller over the New York Giants, in the game that is generally credited with popularizing professional football, which up till that game was considered second fiddle to college gridiron. The top song that year was Danny and the Juniors' At the Hop, while the #1 TV show was Gunsmoke.

In 1958, Jack Schiff was not the credited editor in the Batman magazines; he did not assume that title until March of 1959. However, according to many sources, Schiff was the de facto editor of the Batman from well before his name appeared in the indicia.

In Batman #113, Batman becomes the Superman of Planet X (Zur-En-Arrh):

Status: True aliens (two races). One race is human-sized and multi-colored for two Klaatus, while the other is human sized and Caucasian (five Klaatus for the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh).

In Batman #116, Batman encounters the winged Bat-people while in another dimension:


Status: True aliens, slightly smaller than humans and winged; five Klaatus. The second race of aliens is human-sized and Caucasian in color; only one Klaatu. Although the story takes place in another dimension, it's also on another planet.

In Batman #117, a crook gets assistance from an alien:



Status: True alien, human-sized and green. One Klaatu.

In Detective #251, Batman himself turns out to be an alien:



Status: Fake alien (both Batman and the other guy). This was a plot by gangsters to discredit Batman with the public by making them believe he was from another planet.

In Detective #256, Batman and Robin are imprisoned on another planet:



Status: True aliens, two different races. One race is human-sized and green: one klaatu. The other race is human-sized and Caucasian.

In Detective #256, Batman encounters two aliens (one a lawman and the other a crook) from the future.


Status: True aliens, human-sized and pale blue in color. Four Klaatus for aliens from the future.

In Detective #260, Batman competes in the Olympic Games of Space:

Status: True aliens (several species), all human-sized with several different colors. Three Klaatus for the Olympics mention.

Comments: 1958 was another big year for the aliens.

Batman #113: True aliens (two races); one is human-sized and multi-colored while the other is human-sized and Caucasian.
Batman #116: True aliens (two races); one is smaller than human-sized and winged, while the other is human-sized and Caucasian.
Batman #117: True aliens, human-sized and green.
Detective #251: Fake aliens.
Detective #256: True aliens, human-sized and pale blue in color.
Detective #260: True aliens (several races); all are human-sized and there are several different colors.

Totals: Five stories with aliens, one story with fake aliens.

1959:

Detective #263: True alien, green and human-sized
Detective #270: True alien, green and giant-sized
Batman #124: Not a true alien, robot
Batman #125: True aliens, caucasian and human-sized
Batman #128: True aliens (two separate species), orange and human-sized and purple-red and human sized.

Totals: Four stories involving true aliens, one story with an alien robot

1960:

Batman #130: Fake aliens
Batman #132: Fake aliens
Batman #136: True aliens, yellow and human-sized
Detective #277: True alien, orange and human-sized
Detective #279: Not a true alien, rather alien robot and alien beast
Detective #282: True aliens (two races): one orange and one green, both human-sized
Detective #283: True alien, white and human-sized

Overall for the year: Four stories with true aliens, one with an alien robot and an alien beast, and two stories with fake aliens.

1961:

Batman #137: True alien, white and human-sized and true aliens, yellow and human-sized (two separate stories).
Batman #140: Superman appearance; not counted in the tabulation, and true aliens, green and human-sized.
Batman #142: True alien, orange and human-sized.
Batman #143: Not a true alien, an alien beast.
Batman #144: True aliens, yellow and human-sized.
Detective #287: True aliens, one white and the other yellow, both slightly smaller than humans.
Detective #291: Not a true alien, an alien beast.
Detective #292: Superman cameo, not counted in the tabulation.
Detective #293: True aliens, pink and oversized.
Detective #295: True aliens, yellow and human-sized.

So in total we have 8 stories with true aliens (counting both stories in Batman #137), two stories with alien beasts and two Superman stories.

1962:

Detective #299: True aliens, several, green or white, human-sized.
Detective #303: Fake aliens.
Batman #148: True aliens, green and human-sized
Detective #305: True alien, orange and human-sized
Batman #152: Fake alien.

Three real aliens, two fake aliens.

1963-1964:

Batman #153: True aliens, green.
Batman #153: True aliens, multi-colored.
Batman #156: Fake alien (dream sequence)
Detective #320: No alien visible but implied.
Batman #160: Fake Alien

Two real aliens, two fake, one not seen.

Number 583


Harvey Kurtzman's Mr. Risk


The Art of Harvey Kurtzman, The Mad Genius of Comics by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle is a fabulous book, highly recommended, which covers the most pertinent aspects of the career of one of comics' most revered creators. Kurtzman, born in 1924, first got work in comics at an early age. The biography shows examples of his postwar comic book work, but doesn't show any of his comic book art before he went into the Army. This particular Mr. Risk strip, from Four Favorites #9, dated February 1943, was drawn in 1942, when Kurtzman was barely 18. There's very little, if anything, of what we would later know as the Kurtzman style (arms and legs like noodles, bold graphics, stylized). It looks more Jack Kirby than Kurtzman.

Still, it's always fascinating to look in on an artist's early work, if only because you know how he developed. Had Kurtzman continued on with this Kirby-style artwork we'd remember him today as a copier, not an innovator. The story is a fairly typical programmer of its day. Kurtzman also drew the Lash Lightning feature in that issue of Four Favorites, but the copy I have is too damaged. Of the two strips I think Mr. Risk is the better drawn, which isn't saying a lot, but considering his youth it's actually extraordinary. I ask myself what I was doing at age 18. Nothing like this, anyway.

Hairy Green Eyeball has Kurtzman's 1949 syphilis comic book here.

Classic Marvel Sagas: Captain America #114-119

This series takes place from June-November 1969. Following the Death of Captain America saga which I wrote about two years ago, Stan launched into a terrific series featuring the Red Skull. In #114, Sharon is still convinced that Cap is dead, so she embarks on a suicide mission against AIM. But he arrives at the crucial moment to turn the tide:



Rick Jones doing his best Bucky imitation there. But after the hugs and kisses with Sharon, Cap finds himself living in a $10 a week flophouse. And as if things couldn't possibly get any worse:



The next issue builds to a climax here:



We also learn that the Skull located the Cosmic Cube with the help of the Exiles, a team of Nazis that he had nurtured. But in a classic Marvel villain moment, rather than sharing his triumph he sends them away to a desert island.

In the next issue, Cap (now appearing like the Red Skull), tries desperately to make it back to the Avengers Mansion, in the hopes he can convince them he's really Captain America. Some terrific moments in this ish:



A side note: Starting with Captain America #112, the pencils on the next five issues were done by: Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Johnny Romita, John Buscema and Gene Colan. I'm all for consistency, but if you can't put the same guy on every issue, that's not a bad rotation. ;)

At the end of this story, the villainous Captain America decides why not send the Red Skull (with Cap's mind) to the island of the Exiles. He battles them, and is aided by a red falcon, which belongs to a young African-American:



The Falcon becomes a co-hero with Captain America effective with #117. They manage to defeat the Exiles:


In the accompanying subplot, Modok and the scientists at AIM are working on neutralizing the Cosmic Cube on the theory that if they can't have it, nobody should.

In the finale, Cap and the Falcon are transported to the Red Skull's castle in Germany. The Skull thinks he's got things under control but:



But Modok and AIM have succeeded in destroying the Cube (apparently) and the Skull can only quickly teleport out of there with the remaining power.

Comments: Superb series of issues here, with great artwork, terrific storytelling and the launch of the first real African-American superhero. No mediocre issues in this run; all are quite good, and the overall effect is very pleasing.

Trivia Quiz #31: Grab Bag

1. True or False: All major comic publishers submitted their comics to the CCA for its approval and seal during most of the Silver Age.

2. Name three DC features of the Silver Age (aside from annuals) to debut in their own books with a #1 issue instead of having a tryout.

3. What was the first DC title of the Silver Age to have a letters column?

4. What was the original title of the Captain America letters page?

5. What DC title called its letters page "Destination Infinity"?

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A Request I Can't Ignore

A reader writes in the comments that he's searching for a particular story that he remembers from his youth:

What I do remember is that the cyborgs were depicted as green and faceless - looking remarkably like the Mad Thinker's android of Fantastic Four 71 (vol. 1 - old comic). That's the clearest memory of the comic - showing the faceless green cyborgs being mass produced. That's something I'm reasonably definite about.

Sound familiar to anybody? He's got more details at the blog.

I should mention here that I too am looking for a couple of issues from my youth. One is a Fox & Crow story in which the Crow slips a letter under Fauntleroy's door. Because the Crow's hand (sic) was muddy, the Fox believes he has gotten a "Black Hand" letter. The second is a Baby Huey story, in which Papa is looking for a 16-letter word meaning "Ringing in the ears". The answer, which Baby Huey quickly provides, is tintinnabulation. Both are 1960s stories; my guess on the Baby Huey would be about 1963-64, while the Fox & Crow story is probably closer to 1967.

Number 582


Ka'a'nga by Maurice Whi'i'tman


From Ka'a'nga #20, Summer, 1954, the last issue of that Fiction House title, we have the final Ka'a'nga story by one of the best and yet underrated artists in comics, Maurice Whitman. Whitman did covers for Fiction House in all the company's genres, did interior art, and was great at all of it. Why isn't there a Maurice Whitman cult following like there is for so many comic book artists? I don't know.

He was in the field a long time, from the 1940s until the 1970s at least. I see on his Lambiek bio that he did a Doc Savage in 1977, and that got my attention. I don't think I've ever seen it.

There's an interesting string on Collectors Society about Whitman, showing some of his outstanding covers. One correspondent said that Whitman's son is a tattoo artist and the fan thought of getting the son to do a tattoo as homage to his father, a cover like Ghost Comics #1. Only a comic book fan would think of that.

Ka'a'nga, with the unpronounceable name (I read it as Kah-ah-ahnga or a slight variation, and I avoid pronouncing it out loud) is yet another Tarzan type. Ka'a'nga starred in Jungle Comics from issue #1, and got his own title in 1949. He had his origins in Fiction House pulps under the name Ki-Gor,and why the name was changed to Ka'a'nga is anybody's guess. If you believe pulps and comic books there were about as many white jungle men and women as there were African natives. Personally, I always wondered how they kept from being eaten alive by bugs, or killing their bare feet running through jungles (calluses thick enough that spears would bounce off them, no doubt).

Ah, but I digress. Here's Ka'a'nga as drawn by the underappreciated but really fine comic artist, Maurice Whitman.