D2-015 Starling (11-Jul-1955 to 3-Sep-1955)

Writer: Harvey Kurtzman
Art: Dan Barry

Summary: Flash turns space tour operator as the world’s largest rocket manufacturer B.B. Remsen persuades him to test the magnate’s reckless and arrogant wildcat grand-daughter and future heir in a gruelling space environment.

Reluctantly agreeing to this arduous task in return for a hefty donation to one of Dr. Zarkov's space projects, Flash sets off into space with his incorrigible passenger, unawares that his troubles have only just begun...

(Source of summary: www.ipcomics.net)
B&W English version:      

Colour French Version:            

Both are from Emile's e-collection. All credits go to her & original scanning person.

The Phantom Captain Action 2 (of 2)

It's scanned by YZ & provided by  Emile.

Rapidshare

Hotfire

Megaupload 


Mediafire

Enjoy! 

The Horror of Candle Lodge

Presenting more eerie "believe it or not" style filler terrors from Standard Comics, and the July 1953 issue of Out of the Shadows #9. Really nice art from Nick Cardy on the "Candle Lodge" tale, I think I'm going to do a more indepth retrospect of his work one of these days for sure... but for the next few posts you can expect lots more from the underrated Out of the Shadows series.

D2-014 Tympani (27-Apr-1955 to 9-Jul-1955)

Writer: Harvey Kurtzman
Art: Dan Barry

Summary: After safely returning to Earth in the Space Kids’ rocket (read D2-013 The Trail of the Vulke), Flash and Dale decide to wind down, but their respite is short as unearthly sound waves at supersonic pitches start to devastate buildings and equipment.

Determined to follow the trail into space after turning deaf during a freak accident in Dr. Zarkov's lab, Flash blasts off in a soundproof ship and lets himself be guided by sound waves to a mysterious planetoid...

(Source of summary: www.ipcomics.net)

   

It's from Emile's e-collection. All credits go to her & original scanning person.

Trivia Quiz #39: Answers

1. What did Dick Grayson and Kathy Kane have in common? (No, not that!)

Both Dick and Kathy were circus performers before they teamed up with Batman.

2. Who was Bat-Boy?

Bat-Boy was Midge Merrill, a circus performer who took up crime-fighting to avenge his acrobat pals who were killed in a fire set by mobsters to cover their stealing of the gate receipts. He teamed up with Robin in Batman #90 to catch the murderers of his pals. His "shtick" was that he used baseball bats filled with unusual items (including webbing) to thwart his enemies.

3. Who was Batman Jones?

Batman Jones was a youngster whose parents had named him after the Caped Crusader. This was first mentioned in Batman #92 (June 1955):

The thread was later picked up in Batman #108 (June 1957). It turned out that young Master Jones, inspired by his namesake, was studying detecting as a career and was actually pretty good at it:

But his threat to become a permanent addition to the cast ended with that story as well, as Batman Jones decided that what he really wanted was to become a stamp collector.

4. Who was Mr. Marvel?
Mr Marvel was an alien gambler who had wagered that he could lure Robin away from Batman, and who posed as the new superhero in Gotham City. At first it appears that he has succeeded, but then at a critical moment Robin disarms MM and reveals that he only joined the new guy because Batman's life was threatened.

5. Who was the Eagle?
The Eagle was Alfred, the butler.

In one of Dick Sprang's last stories in Batman #127, Alfred trips over some wires, shines a light on one of those alien jewels that Superman was always bringing back from outer space, and gains (temporary) super-powers.

6. What did Commissioner Gordon like to have every evening? (Golden Age reference).

Commissioner Gordon liked to have a rub-down (massage) every night, which his son, Tony, gave him. Permission to say "Ewwwww!" granted.

Darius Smith got #3 right. Michael Rebain correctly answered #1. Blaze Morgan got #1, #2, #4 and #5. Ed was on the money for #1 and #5. The Strange Sr. Mulder hit the target with #1, #3, #4 and #5.

Number 764


I was a teenage Archie!


Senior year in high school was my Archie year. I had two girlfriends, one blonde, one brunette. I thought I could finagle them both, play one off against the other. As it turned out, by the end of the year each was so disgusted by my ratty behavior I lost them both. Shame on me. Would that have happened to Archie? I don't think so. But that's what I got for using a comic book character as a role model.

Dudley is someone we've met, having been featured in this blog a few times (go to the link below and click on "Dudley" to see the other entries). At least the comic, Dudley, by Boody Rogers, lasted three issues. Adventures of Homer Cobb, with this story drawn by a callow Al Feldstein, only lasted one issue in 1947. Both Dudley and Homer Cobb hewed close to the Archie formula, but Archie is still around and they're not.

From Dudley #2, 1949:










Holy Charlie Brown! Check out Homer's sweater, three years before the Peanuts strip was born. Was this a fashion of the time that Feldstein and Schulz picked up on?

From The Adventures of Homer Cobb #1, 1947:

Gunnvor the Sorceress

From the July 1953 issue of Out of the Shadows #9, comes this quickie overview of an ancient 'n evil Icelandic vixen turned vengeful dismembered ghost - turned troll - turned giant water dragon or something (umm, 3 pages to cover this much supernatural awesome only makes me wish I could google it for more info, but alas all I get is Warhammer links), anyway the Ralph Mayo art is still pretty spectacular. I padded out this post with the usual cool Standard Comic text story, half page filler and a vintage ad... I'll have more like this all week too.