Number 1554: Abbott and Costello Meet Lily Renée

Abbott and Costello #6 (1949) from St. John presents a time-worn scenario: mirages, oases, sword-wielding sheiks and beautiful babes in bra-tops and harem pants. Oh yeah, and a lot of silly jokes and cornball word play. How many movies used the same setting?

The point of showing this, even for those who don’t remember how popular Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were in their era, is the art of Lily Renée and Eric Peters. Renée, born Lily Renée Wilhelm,  was a teenage war refugee from Austria. She came to America having never seen a comic book, and yet soon found herself drawing comics for Fiction House (Señorita Rio, The Lost World, Werewolf Hunter). Peters was Renée’s husband for a time. He also come from Austria. As I understand the division of labor, Peters drew the caricatures of Abbott and Costello, and Renée the other stuff, including the beautiful women.

Number 1374: A one-two punch from Fight Comics

In this 1945 Hooks Devlin story from Fight Comics we see a tattooed woman. In that era tattooed women were seen in circuses and sideshows, not walking down every street in cities and towns, large and small. Times, people and fashions change. Nowadays we don't see men going to circuses or carnivals wearing suits and ties. The difference is, of course, that putting on a suit and tie is temporary, whereas ink on skin will live with the wearer forever. However, not in the case of this tattooed woman in the story. You'll understand what I mean when you read it.

I don’t remember if I ever told you that Señorita Rio was a movie star who became a spy. In this episode she meets up with a young admirer and wannabe movie star, Susy, who helps her.

At the Grand Comics Database art credits for “Hooks” are given as Alex Blum pencils and Al Feldstein? inks. It doesn't look like Feldstein to me. His inking is usually heavier than the thin, slick lines in this story. Lily Renée signed the Rio story.

From Fight Comics #38 (1945):

Number 1264: The replacement Planet

My apologies. This is a replacement posting, done on February 21, 2013. The original, posted on November 18, 2012, which had stories from Fight Comics#36 and Rangers Comics #23, plus this story from Planet Comics #41 (1946), was accidentally deleted.

I don't have the original to look at, but as I recall, I mentioned that this story of ’The Lost World” was reprinted in IW Reprints Planet Comics #1 in 1958, and was the first time I had ever seen it or the work of Lily Renée, who did the artwork.

If I'm able at some point to recreate the original post I will.

Number 1222: Paper dolls: Katy and Kitty Kut-ups

Katy Keene had a relatively long run in comics, 1949 to 1961, produced by her creator, Bill Woggon. She was revived by others in 1983 and was published until 1990 by the same folks at Archie. On the other hand, Kitty, drawn by a favorite of mine, Lily Renée, was a one-shot from 1948.

Paper dolls were popular, and I've seen comic books where someone cut them out, thereby damaging the book beyond repair. But I think to do it they'd need sharp eyes and a sharper pair of scissors to follow the outlines of the tiny images published in comic books. If you want to use my scans to print your own go ahead.

Kitty was drawn in 1948 by Lily Renée for St. John with a cleaner, less complicated style than that required by Fiction House, where she drew Werewolf Hunter, Señorita Rio* and the Lost World features. I'd think Kitty would be a natural character for Renée, who wasn't far out of her teens (born 1925). Although born in Austria and a war refugee who became an emigrant to the U.S., she captured the American bobby soxer very well. She claimed she dressed Rio in clothes she wanted to wear, so a paper doll fashion comic book seems a natural.

In 1953 St. John changed Kitty's name to Lucy, and reprinted the story (whiting out Renée's signature) in Lucy the Real Gone Gal #1.

 Bill Woggon got a lot of mileage out of simple storylines about supermodel Katy, her tomboy little sister and several boyfriends. He also helped future fashion designers by providing an outlet for them. They supplied the creations, Woggon drew them up and published them in his comics. Woggon, born in 1911, died in 2003.

I picked this story to show because Katy wears a leopard costume. There is just something about a girl in a cat suit...

 From Katy Keene #2 (1950):

 From Kitty #1 (only issue, 1948):

*I've posted several stories by Renée, but the latest was this one where I told a little of her story: Pappy's #1175.