Number 784


Science Fiction Week: Three by Two


Science Fiction Week continues with this entry from the waning days of World War II, and the inimitable Planet Comics.

When the guys were at war, the gals helped by stepping in. That was true with Rosie the Riveter, her part in war production, and to a much lesser degree in comics. Some of the women who got into the male bastion of comic books during this time drew as well as, if not better, than many of the men. These three stories, "The Lost World" by Lily Reneé, "Mysta Of the Moon," and "Gale Allen" by Fran Hopper, are good examples.

After the war Lily Reneé worked for several years in the boys' club of comics, but Fran Hopper eventually left to go into another field.

I think Planet Comics was at its peak at this time. Bug-eyed monsters, beautiful leggy babes, and even if some--did I just say "some"? I meant "most"--of the stories are ridiculous, they sure are fun to look at. Pure pulp, through-and-through. These three stories are from issue #37, 1945:

Number 640


Camilla is a thrilla


This is day three of Pappy's Jungle Girl week. Are these chicks swingers, or what?

Camilla is from Fiction House's Jungle Comics, one of the secondary characters to Ka'a'nga, a Tarzan-type, who was the book's star. She actually had an intriguing start, based on H. Rider Haggard's Ayesha (She), but eventually Camilla settled in to being yet another jungle queen. Camilla had several artists, but I've chosen a story by Fran Hopper, one of the fantastic female cartoonists of the 1940s.

Chuck Wells is also showing jungle girls this week at his Comic Book Catacombs blog.

This story is from Jungle Comics #70, 1945.





TOMORROW: Two "Foxes," Nimba and Tangi!