Reading Room: THE OWL "Carter Escapes"

WHOOOOO Knows What Evil Lurks...?

Nope, it ain't The Shadow...but our hero does cast a shadow...with glowing eyes, in this installment of our look at owl-themed heroes in comics!

The Owl's premiere appearance in Dell's CrackaJack Comics #25 (1940) by an unknown writer  and artist doesn't give an origin, and features both a costume and gimmick (the shadow with glowing eyes) that will never appear again!

(Note: the strip is copyrighted to "R S Callendar" who apparently was a packager working with Dell.

His name appears on all the material in CrackaJack, Popular, Super, and other Dell titles that wasn't derived from newspaper strips or other licensed sources like Red Ryder and John Carter of Mars.)

As of the next issue, new ongoing artist Frank Thomas radically-redesigned everything from the characters' appearances to The Owl's costume and gimmicks.

You'll see that tale later this week!

Visit Our

Owl

Comic Collectibles Shop

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!

Visit our...

Black Owl

Comic Collectibles Store

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...

Check out the

Monster of Frankenstein

Comics Collectibles Shop

The Hero with Nine Lives...Cat-Man!

Debuting in Crash Comics #4, "The Cat-Man" as he was initially-known, had an amazingly-detailed (and politically-incorrect) origin crammed into only six pages...

Now, it would be a six-issue mini-series with at least two tie-ins with other books...
After the next (and last) issue of Crash Comics, the character was revamped and given his own book.
(Crash wasn't cancelled! It was simply retitled Cat-Man Comics*.)
While the writer is unknown, the artist (pencils and inks) for Cat-Man's two Crash apperances was Irwin Hasen, who besides creating the long-running newspaper strip Dondi, was also a prolific artist for DC, Atlas (Marvel), Centaur, Holyoke, and Radio (Archie), doing a lot of Golden Age superhero material including Green Lantern, Justice Society, The Fox, and co-creating another feline hero, WildCat!

When he gained his own title, David Merrywether doffed the furs and picked up a more traditional costume.
Somebody realized that the "nine lives" gimmick would only work for nine issues, so Cat-Man apparently became more cautious, since he wasn't killed and ressurected on a monthly basis after his first issue (which left him with six lives)!
He retained his other cat-powers.
Initally a private investigator, Merrywether made two major changes as of #5.
He joined the Army, and due to influental connections, was immedately made a lieutenant and given Stateside duty.

And his costumed alter-ego acquired a kid sidekick, when he rescued young Katie Conn, whose circus acrobat parents had been killed in an accident, from a life of crime with her criminal uncle.
Nobody minded bachelor Merrywether "adopting" the girl, nor did they notice that Cat-Man suddenly acquired a girl crimefighting partner who went from about 12 (see top of page) to a rather voluptuous 18 (see left) in a year!
The series continued until #32 in 1946, when the publisher went out of business.
An Australian publisher who was reprinting the series did several new stories after the supply of American-produced material dried-up, but that didn't last long.

Alex Ross has included both Cat-Man and Kitten in his Project SuperPowers series which utilizes forgotten characters from defunct publishers, with Cat-Man becoming a feral cat-creature now called "Man-Cat".
Kitten, thankfully didn't share that fate.

We've also revived the originals on a line of kool kollectibles including a 12-month calendar, t-shirts, mugs, and other goodies!

Cat-Man's got a new lease on life! Let's see how long it lasts.

*While the renamed book carried a cover numbering from #1 on, the indicia listed it as #6 on, continuing the Crash Comics numbering so the publisher could continue to use the 2nd Class Mail license issued for Crash! (The licenses were expensive, and publishers had to purchase a new one for each new title they published!) It's also why Amazing-Man Comics, began at #5, continuing the numbering from it's predecessor, Motion Picture Funnies Weekly!

Check out

Cat-Man & Kitten

Collectibles Store!

And check out these Golden Age-themed goodies from Amazon...

The Coming of the Courageous Captain!

A plethora of patriotic super-heroes POW! THWOCK! and BIFF!ed their way into the pages of Golden Age comic books, usually clad in red, white, and blue garb.
A number of them were either assisted by an embodiment of an element of "American Spirit" (like Fighting Yank) or were themselves the actual embodiment of a "Spirit of Freedom", like Uncle Sam!
Captain Courageous was one of the latter.
He had no secret identity, and tended to appear when brave Americans were in perilous situations requiring almost divine intervention, disappearing after the threat was disposed of.
His powers were never clearly defined, and seemed almost limitless, including flight, super-strength and limited invulnerabilty, although he could be captured or knocked-out as the plot required.
(In addition, his costume went thru a number of variations in design and color, which could be attributed to each person he encontered perceiving him differently, but was more likely just mistakes by the variety of artists who drew and colored him!)

The Captain debuted in Banner Comics #3 and took over the title as of #6.
(There was no #7, so maybe renaming the book for him wasn't the best possible move.)
Instead he moved into the anthology Four Favorites from #5 up to #29, when the comic dropped superheroes in favor of humor tales.

As you might have guessed, Alex Ross has included him in the assortment of characters revived in the new Project SuperPowers universe, this time as part of the "Super-MysteryMen" team made up of other characters from his original publisher, Ace Comics!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have revived Captain Courageous, as part of our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line, with two covers (including the single issue of his own title) on t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs and other kool kollectibles!

Remember, Captain America ain't the only star-spangled captain in comics!

And don't forget to buy the NEWEST Project SuperPowers comics including...
Black Terror, Death Defying 'Devil, Masquerade, and Project SuperPowers "Volume 2", as well as Savage Dragon! ON SALE NOW!

Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot...

"...so my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts."

Radio announcer Tony Trent, decided to fight crime after witnessing a murder committed by gangsters disguised as cops.

But what could he do with no evidence and criminals who have an unshakable (albeit phony) alibi?
Since a bat didn't fly thru his window, he decided to use a fright mask and pretend to be a creature of the night to scare the criminals into confessing.
The tactic proved so successful, Tony managed to use it for over 60 issues of Big Shot Comics as The Face, as well as two issues of his own title before discarding it, and continuing until Big Shot Comics ended as just a hard-hitting investigative reporter, operating without unusual garb or gimmicks.

He's been revived a couple of time since then...
In the 1980s, Ace Comics' What is...The Face?, drawn by comics legends Steve Ditko and Alex Toth ran four issues.
In 2007, as part of Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers series, The Face (now called Mister Face) was one of the heroes trapped in a mystic urn in the 1940s, but released in the present day with enhanced powers, and is unable to remove the mask!
Now, he can force people who look at him to experience their greatest fears!

And, of course, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have revived The Face as part of our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line, including three of his best 1940s covers on t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs and other kool kollectibles!
But that's not all!
His unique cover logo is included in our Comic Cover LogoWear line, where the best of Golden Age cover lettering ends up on your chest or bookbag!
Plus, he'll soon be part of our Icons of the Golden Age of Comics series!
So, if you're looking for a comic hero who's scary, or a hero who's visually-kool, or a hero who kicks butt, go with The Face! He's all that...and MORE!

And don't forget to buy Project SuperPowers Volume 2, featuring The Face, I mean MISTER Face!

The Doctor is IN...and he's STRANGE!

Initially called "Doctor Strange" scientist Hugo Strange became a superhero in Thrilling Comics #1 by ingesting a substance he created called Alosun, obtained by distilling the atoms of the Sun, which gave him super-strength and near-invulnerability.
He couldn't actually fly, but could leap great distances like the Hulk and the Golden Age Superman.
Like his inspiration, pulp hero Doc Savage, he initially wore a standard business suit, which would become shredded during the course of that issue's adventure,
But within several months, this became dark jodhpurs, riding boots, and a red safari shirt, which quickly became a faster-to-draw red t-shirt.
Again, like Doc Savage, he didn't have a secret identity, so there was no need for a mask, but Strange did have an unusually-large pompadour to give him obvious visual distinction.
When kid sidekicks became a trend, Doc introduced Mike, who wore a similar outfit. Reports conflict as to whether Mike received Alsoun or not, and since the Thrilling Comics I've scanned are all slabbed, I have no way of confirming if Mike was super-powered or not.
While he never received his own title, Doc not only ran in Thrilling Comics, but as one of the features in the anthology America's Best Comics, where the covers showed him interacting with other Nedor Comics heroes like The Black Terror and Fighting Yank. (Though inside, the heroes all had separate strips and didn't work together!)

Doc retained the Thrilling Comics cover spot for most of his run, only losing it for two months to the patriotic American Crusader, before regaining it until #60, when a jungle heroine named Princess Pantha replaced him. (Ironically, his final cover on issue #59 showed him rescuing a jungle girl, but not, as reported, Princess Pantha!). Doc stayed as a backup until #65, when he disappeared.

But you can't keep a good hero down.

In the 1990s, Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing) revived Doc as one of the Terra Obscura heroes in his Tom Strong series. (He had already used Doc as the visual template for the Tom Strong character.)

Working off the Earth-One/Earth-Two alternate-Earth concept made popular at DC Comics, Alan remade Doc Strange into Tom Strange (changing his name from "Hugo Strange" to "Thomas Hugo Strange" and making him into a Golden Age variation of Tom Strong!)

The concept proved popular enough that a spin-off book entitled Terra Obscura, starring Tom Strange and his new crime-fighting companion/wife, Princess Pantha (who had replaced Doc in Thrilling Comics!) ran for 12 issues!

Doc has also appeared in Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers series, though simply called "Doc", to avoid confusion (and potential trademark conflict) with Marvel's Doctor Strange.
We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have also revived Doc as part of our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line!
There are four classic covers (including his FIRST appearance) on a variety of collectibles including t-shirt, mugs, messenger bags, and other cool stuff as well as a Classic Doc Strange 2010 12-Month Calendar with a dozen different covers including his first and last!
Any of them would make great Christmas gifts, especially in conjunction with the trade paperbacks of the Project SuperPowers Golden Age revival series or Terra Obscura! (Hint, hint!)
The Doctor is in, and he's ready for action!