Number 803

Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand...

Ah, that sultry, seductive and sexy spy, Señorita Rio, the babe from Brazil, is back. This beautifully drawn story is from Fight Comics #53, 1947. It's credited to Nick Viscardi, who later changed his name to Cardy. His work at DC Comics is still loved by fans. This fan especially. I thought at the time he was active he was one of DC's top artists. I think history, and other fans, will agree with my assessment.

Born in 1920, Cardy is now retired, and according to the latest information I have, still drawing in his 90th year.

Rio had some great artists assigned to her: Lily Renée, Jack Kamen, Bob Lubbers, Cardy (who was also the first to draw Rio before he went into the service during World War II)...and Jerry Grandenetti even pitched in. I showed a Señorita Rio story by him in Pappy's #682.

Number 728


The apes of Ape-ril


As you read in Pappy's #705, I've got some weird thing for simians in comic books. I'm apparently one of many ape fans, because as I've said more than once, DC Comics found out years ago that putting gorillas on the covers of comic books sold more comic books.

I have three stories for you today: From DC's Strange Adventures #8, 1951, a tale of evolution* by Gardner Fox, illustrated by Bob Oksner and Bernard Sachs. Moving forward along the evolutionary scale we have Nick Cardy's drawing on "Experiment 1000" from House of Secrets #6, 1957. We swing from the branches, away from the DC experimental lab to the Gold Key jungle and a 1964 Boris Karloff tale, starring the Great Man himself, Karloff! chasing after the great white ape in "The Mystagogue." The art is by Frank Thorne.

Chuck Wells' is joining in with his Comic Book Catacombs Going Apeshit jungle story here.




























*Yet another take on Edmond Hamilton's "The Man Who Evolved," here.

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Say...what?

And here's an extra, from Smash Comics #11, 1940:




By Jove, Captain Cook...a rare chimpanzee with transplanted owl eyes trained to steal green so he could eventually steal the royal emeralds would have been my choice for the culprit, too!