Showing posts with label Black Owl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black Owl. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Reading Room: BLACK OWL "Man Who Couldn't Remember to Forget"

Realizing it would be best if The Black Owl was still believed to be fighting crime...
...Army recruit Doug Danville aka Black Owl, passed his costume and equipment to Walt Walters, father of patriotic teen superheroes, Yank & Doodle whom Danville had teamed up with on several occasions, most notably Prize Comics #24, when they, Green Lama, and several other characters, took on the Monster of Frankenstein!
While the writer of this tale from Prize Comics V4#3 aka #39 (1944) is unknown, the artist is Maurice Del Bourgo, a journeyman with credits in every genre at almost every company during the Golden Age.
Once their dad became a superhero, the kids became his sidekicks, but remained Yank & Doodle, instead of renaming themselves something avian to match the Black Owl's motif!
(Luckily, their color schemes matched!)
Curiously, the boys didn't realize their father was the Black Owl, despite the fact they had worked with the original!
The Black Owl was framed for murder and jailed in Prize Comics #45, and when their father didn't return home, the duo finally figured out their dad's secret identity.
When Walt was shot and wounded in Prize Comics #64, he retired from active crimefighting, serving as a non-costumed assistant to Yank & Doodle until their series is cancelled several months later.
Note: we never learned what became of Doug Danville after he entered the Army...
 Next...Enter The Owl!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Reading Room: BLACK OWL "Crime in Chinatown"

The next hero in our look at comic book Owls was the Black Owl...
...whose politically-incorrect (and potentially NSWF due to racial stereotypes) first appearance in Prize Comics #2 (1940) is our subject today!
This never-reprinted premiere tale was written by Robert Turner, penciled by Pete Riss and inked by Jack Binder, under the single nom-du-plume "Pete Nebird", which the team retained for their brief run on the series.
The Black Owl kept his "mystery-man" ensemble until Prize Comics #7, when the Simon & Kirby team took over the strip and performed the first of their reboots/revamps of existing series which included giving the hero an actual costume (as opposed to a mask and business suit)...
...enabling him to take over the cover slot for most of his remaining stories.
You can see the complete Simon & Kirby Black Owl collection in the recent hardcover Simon & Kirby SuperHeroes, so we're not going to present those stories here!
Next, the Black Owl passes the mantle to...the Black Owl II!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Reading Room: PRIZE COMICS "Frankenstein vs the Prize Fighters"

Before the Justice Society!
Before the Avengers!
There were the Prize Fighters!
And who are these other paragons of justice (all of whom had their own strips in Prize Comics)?
"Well known"?
Most of them recently appeared in the Project SuperPowers series from Dynamite Comics, but beyond that...
Anyway, on with the action!
While the characters did appear in the next issue, it was in their individual strips, not in Frankenstein.
There is a mention of him being subdued by a group of heroes in the next issue's Frankenstein tale, but that's it.
This one-time team-up of the various characters, though historically-important, didn't even make the cover of the issue (Prize Comics #24).
Not even a blurb!
Note: We've covered a couple of the characters in separate entries including The Black Owl (both of them), The Green Lama, and The Monster of Frankenstein himself.
As to who Bulldog Denny is, we'll be explaining (and showing) who he is and how he came to be the Frankenstein Monster's nemesis in future entries during October.
For the record, the super-hero group never had an official name.
Several historical articles in print and on blogs gave the team the "Prize Fighters" moniker, and it seems like a good fit, so we're using it as well.
Frankenstein artist Dick Briefer did a good job trying to match several different art styles including the "bigfoot humor" look of the General & the Corporal strip.

Oddly enough, a cover from several issues (#20) earlier seemed to telegraph the events of this story four issues later...

...even though there was no reference in any of the stories in #20 to an attempt by a group of heroes to capture the Monster, he's clearly shown bound and helpless in the second car!

Of course, the concept of a group of heroes beating up on one misunderstood monster wouldn't catch on...
Art by Marie Severin & Sam Grainger
Art by Herb Trimpe
Art by Jack Kirby & Sol Brodsky
 Uh...yeah...won't catch on...
More Monster of Frankenstein later this week...

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Beware the Black Owl (BOTH of them!)

We already covered The Owl here, but there was another hero (actually two of them in the same costume) based on the wise bird of legend.
The first Black Owl debuted in Prize Comics #1 as K the Unknown, but became Black Owl in #2. He didn't get a cover appearance until Prize Comics #7, which also featured the comic book intros of pulp hero Green Lama and literary character Monster of Frankenstein!

Now stop me if you've heard this one...
Bored millionaire playboy Doug Danville decides to battle cowardly, superstitious criminals as a fearsome creature of the night.
Utilizing his personal fortune, he creates a masked identity with various non-lethal armaments and takes on the criminal element for several years.
Sounds like a whole slew of heroes of the period, eh?
But there's a twist, folks!
When World War II breaks out, he enlists in the Army!
(Most heroes remained on the Home Front battling spies and saboteurs.)
Realizing it would be best for the city he protects if The Black Owl was still believed to be fighting crime, Doug passes on his costume and equipment to another man in Prize Comics #34...

The second Black Owl was Walt Walters, father of a pair of patriotic teen superheroes, Yank & Doodle whom Doug Danville had teamed up with on several occasions, most notably Prize Comics #24, when they, Green Lama and several other characters, took on the Monster of Frankenstein!
Once Dad became a superhero, the kids became his sidekicks, but remained Yank & Doodle, instead of renaming themselves something avian to match their father's motif!
(Luckily, their costume's color schemes matched!)
When Walt is shot and wounded in Prize Comics #64, he retires from active crimefighting, serving as a non-costumed assistant to Yank & Doodle until their series is cancelled several months later.
Note: we never learn what became of Doug Danville after he entered the Army...

Alex Ross has now incorporated both Black Owls (and Yank & Doodle) into his Project SuperPowers Golden Age revival series, with one of the BOs somehow becoming a living black hole!

While we won't go that far, Atomic Kommie Comics™ has incorporated both Black Owls into our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line, even giving them their own section featuring the first cover appearance as well as the best cover art for each Black Owl on t-shirts, mugs and other goodies!

So, whether it's The Owl or The Black Owl, we have something on WHOOOever (sorry, couldn't resist) holds your interest!

And buy Project SuperPowers, the best Golden Age revival series on the market!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Revenge of SuperPowers Saturday

For the next few Saturdays, we're going to present the nifty updated designs of the Project SuperPowers characters by Alex Ross along with links to a couple of pages of background info and links about the series and characters...
Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers
(featuring characters who've been cover-featured)
Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers Strikes Again!
(featuring the other characters)
Erik Larsen's the Next Issue Project & Savage Dragon
(featuring several of the same characters as Project SuperPowers and others, but set in a different universe!)

In addition, you can find Atomic Kommie Comics™ kool kollectibles emblazoned with the ORIGINAL 1940s classic cover art featuring these classic characters...
Air Man
The Black Owl
(both of them!)
Boy King
Dart & Ace
(in Solo Heroes)
Doc Strange (aka "Doc")
Golden Lad
Man of War
(in Flag-Draped Heroes)
Radior
(in Solo Heroes)
Rainbow Boy
Yank & Doodle
(in Flag-Draped Heroes)
at
Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™!
SparkMan will be added shortly. but, unfortunately, we've been unable to find solo cover appearances for Man O'Metal.
If you know of any, e-mail us the issue numbers and we'll track 'em down and scan them!

And don't forget to buy the Project SuperPowers comics and collections including Black Terror, Death Defying 'Devil, Masquerade, and Project SuperPowers Volume 2!