FLASH GORDON by Jeff Jones

Jeffrey Catherine Jones

1/10/44-5/19/11

Jeffrey was a serious Alex Raymond/Flash Gordon fan, so this work in Flash Gordon #13 (1969), while a bit rough, showed enormous love and enthusiasm for the character.
Written by Bill Pearson. Penciled and inked by Jeff Jones (as she was known then).

Recently reprinted, for the first time, in Dark Horse's Flash Gordon Archives Vol 3.

Jet Powers: Captain of Science!

 

Flash Gordon!

Buck Rogers!

Brick Bradford!

Even...Rocket Kelly!

Have you ever noticed that space-faring heroes almost NEVER have a first name like "Dave" or "Melvin"? (Yeah, there was DAN Dare, but his last name was "Dare" for chissakes!)
It's always something dramatic and/or futuristic!
Makes you wonder what their parents were thinking when they filled out the birth certificate..."Yeah, 'Brick'! That's a good name for the kid!"

Jet Powers was one of the last of that breed of high-adventure heroes, a kick-butt, blast-first-and-ask-questions-later kinda guy who crossed space and time like you and I cross the street!
As rendered by Bob Powell, one of the most versatile illustrators of the Golden Age (He did everything, sci-fi, romance, war, horror, etc), Jet was a ruggedly-handsome guy with distinctive white hair and a nose that had been broken and reset! (Think of a combo of Bruce Willis and Peter Graves.)
Besides being good in a fight, Jet was a scientific wiz with his own mountaintop base and spacecraft!
He operated as a freelance agent for the United States, at least once meeting the President himself to receive orders!
In four issues of his own title Jet battled Mr Sinn, an evil scientist equal to himself, who was colored bright green, but like Ming the Merciless, was an alien variation of the "Yellow Menace" villain stereotype.
Powers also met, rescued, and fell in love with Su Shan, formerly a servant of Sinn. Of course, Sinn wanted her back, so Jet had to keep rescuing her for the entire series!

Here's how it all began...

BTW, we did present a later appearance of Jet, unconnected with Mr Sinn or Su Shan, HERE.
The amount of hits to that entry inducated you wanted to see more, so we've decided to present his complete adventures over the next few months.

And, Atomic Kommie Comics™ has returned him to interplanetary action as SpaceMan Jet, along with the SpaceBusters, (whom you've previously-seen) in our The Future WAS Fantastic!™ series, even giving him his own section.where all four of his spectacular star-spanning covers adorn mugs, shirts and a plethora of other goodies!

For the special someone in your life with a taste for retro sci-fi / fantasy, you can't go wrong with one of these items as a birthday or graduation present!
(Heck, if I didn't already have them, I'd want 'em!)

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Comic Collectible Corner

Reading Room: JAGUAR MAN "Tale of the Tatooed Egg"

Well, that opening caption certainly synopsized all you need to know about our hero, which is convenient, since this is his one and only appearance anywhere!
The byline is "Jack Lane", but since this story is the only credit for him on the Grand Comic Database, I suspect it's a pseudonym for a writer-artist team, probably from the Iger studios, who supplied a lot of Fox Comics' material.

All-Great Comics was a giant-sized (132 pages!) annual for 25¢ from Fox that basically ran anything lying around the offices including one-shots like Jaguar Man and leftover material from other titles like Green Mask.
(There were 30 different stories in this issue!)
Two comments:
Why doesn't his costume have a mask? Does "Steve Lane: lion house keeper" have no acquaintances who might think his sideline a bit...odd if they ran into him as he prowled the streets?
Don't you think Wonder Woman villainess The Cheetah filled out the exact same costume much better?

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Reading Room: PHANTOM LADY "Vortex of Scoundrels and Scandal!"

Page 1 is the book's 2-color inside cover.

More Matt Baker "good girl" art in the first of three stories from Phantom Lady #14!
Enjoy!

When this story was reprinted as the cover feature in Daring Adventures #12, the splash page was left out, because the reprint publisher didn't have the cover printing plates, only the interiors for this issue!
FYI: Covers (on slick paper) and insides (on newsprint) are printed on separate presses and combined later.
Because the splash page was missing, the reprint editor didn't know the original title, and renamed the story "The Great Stamp Robbery"!
The splash page above is blue and black, not four-color, because, until recently, inside covers of comics were either b/w or 2-color, with the second color being either cyan (blue, as in this case) or magenta (pinkish-red).
Since the plates for the cover weren't available, a new cover by Joe Simon was commissioned, which was nowhere as nice as the original Matt Baker cover, and features Sandra Knight's boyfriend Ted being much more heroic than in the actual story!
You can see one of Matt Baker's 1950s romance stories at our sister blog True Love Comics Tales.
For those interested in writer Ruth Roche and / or artist Matt Baker, the books below will be of interest.

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featuring goodies emblazoned with cover art that Fredric Wertham railed against in Seduction of the Innocent.

Reading Room: THOR: GOD OF THUNDER "Buddha's Golden Hoard"

Note that the Real Thor has white hair on this page, but red hair on page 3

The third appearance of the Golden Age Thor was presented HERE.
We now present his fourth tale.
Note: there are Asian stereotypes common to the 1930s-40s in this tale.
Definitely not Politically Correct, so this story may be NSFW.

Penciled and inked by Dan Gormley, this was the longest story of the Golden Age Thor's run.
Gormley's version discarded all the accouterments (helmet, cape, long hair) of the mythological god, and Grant's blonde hair is now red.
The final story will run soon.
Watch for it.

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