Glittering is...Golden Lad!

One of the few Golden Age teen heroes both with his own comic book and not an established hero's sidekick, Golden Lad had a five-issue run in 1946-47 featuring art by comic art legends Jerry Robinson (who created Batman's foe, The Joker) and Mort Meskin!

High-school student Tommy Preston discovered an ancient Aztec artifact, the Heart of Gold in his grandfather's antique shop. (Wonder if grandpop discretely-handled some of Indiana Jones' transactions?)
The Heart of Gold had been empowered by "the blood of a thousand martyred Aztecs" to grant power to anyone who fought for justice.
Holding the artifact and saying its name, Tommy was transformed into Golden Lad, with the abilities of flight, super strength, and size-changing.

Trivia: unlike the Golden Age Captain Marvel, who changed from a kid into an adult hero when he said "SHAZAM!", Tommy still looks like his teenage self as Golden Lad, just in green tights, yet no one who knows him as Tommy recognizes him when he's Golden Lad! Go figure!

As part of our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line, he's one of the more obscure characters since he hadn't been revived since 1946 until Alex Ross brought him back for a cameo in the first Project SuperPowers mini-series!
Digging thru the Atomic Kommie Comics™ archives, we found all five issues, and decided on the three best covers (including the first and final ones) for Golden Lad, giving him his own section for his collectibles!

If you're looking for a kool, affordable, Golden Age comic collectible for your pop-culture-fan loved one, you can't go wrong with a Golden Lad goodie (unless you happen to find the Heart of Gold in an antique shop)!

Video Fridays: THE GREEN HORNET in "Eat, Drink, and Be Dead"

Continuing our weekly feature "Video Friday"...

In a plotline probably based on one of the original radio show's scripts, the Hornet and Kato take on liquor bootleggers operating out of a local dairy, using it's pasturizing equipment to ferment booze on a massive scale! (Why, by 1966, bars would even need illegally-produced liquor is not explained.)
In an interesting modern twist, the criminals use a helicopter to bomb any who oppose or betray them. Effective, and leaves no ballistics!
When The Daily Sentinel begins a series exposing the racket, the gangsters grab reporter Mike Axford, threatening to kill him if the articles are printed.
To save Mike, The Hornet cuts himself in on the racket, agreeing to turn Sentinel publisher Reid over to them in exchange for a percentage of profits.
Once inside, Reid sabotages the operation, rescues Mike, and defeats the helicopter bombing-baddies.
Side notes:
The Green Hornet series did quite a bit of location shooting during it's run. Last week it was a marina. In this episode, a huge local dairy.
The Green Hornet likes to make use of darkness to make dramatic entrances. He does it twice in this episode!
Another on-screen costume change as Britt Reid changes in the back seat of Black Beauty, this time donning his Hornet garb.
Lots of play for The Black Beauty as more of it's gimmicks are introed, including built-in loudspeakers (with tape player so The Hornet and Britt Reid can seem to be in two places at once), smoke projectors (probably the gas projector seen in "Crime Wave" using harmless smoke instead of knockout gas), and the (rare for the time) mobile telephone. Plus, both the flying Hornet Scanner and the car's rocket weapons get a healthy workout.
This is the only episode where the villain's lair is blown up, James Bond style! (And, no, they didn't blow up the actual dairy!)
While the 60s tv series is not yet available on official dvd, it is available on YouTube.
Here's the SIXTH broadcast episode "Eat, Drink and Be Dead" in three segments.
Enjoy.
Next week: a two-part episode in one blog entry!

The Coming of...the Purple Claw!

PURPLE CLAW!

The name that strikes terror into the hearts of evildoers...at least to the minds of an impressionable 9-14 year old audience!
Technically, it's the name of the metal glove that imparts mystic powers to it's wearer, but some refer to the user himself (or herself) by the name, much the way they do Green Lantern...
The user in this 1950s series, which mixed horror with heroics, was Dr. Johnathan Weir, a former US Army doctor who acquired it when he crashed his plane in Africa.

The Claw's origin and history, which Dr. Weir tried to trace, is somewhat cloudy, since it was all word-of-mouth. (It didn't come with a user's manual.)
What is known is that it's an ancient mystic artifact of Great Power When Used For Good. (Those who attempt to use it for Evil usually come to a Bad End!)
The bearer becomes a Defender of Humanity Against Occult Evil...whether they want the job or not!
The Claw's exact abilities and limitations are unknown, and Weir had to experiment to see what would and wouldn't work, always stumbling upon the right way to use it before being killed/dismembered/disintegrated by a foe. (Talk about "on the job training"!)

The series ran for only three issues, but Weir continued to fight evil as a reprint in Tales of Horror, until the Great Comics WitchHunt of the 1950s killed almost all horror/occult-themed comics titles.

As you might have guessed, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ found it to be a perfect fit for our Horror Comics of the 1950s™ collection, even giving The Claw it's own section!

We think any of the collectibles we offer with The Purple Claw on them would make a kool Halloween-themed (or birthday) gift for the horror/occult pop culture kitch aficionado in your life!
But, remember...Use Them For Good...not Evil! ;-)

Video Fridays: THE GREEN HORNET in "The Frog is a Deadly Weapon"

Continuing our weekly feature "Video Friday"...

 The Green Hornet faces off against The Shadow!
Well, sorta...
The villain of this episode, gangster Glen Connors, is played by Victor Jory, who portrayed The Shadow in the 1940 movie serial based on both the pulp and radio show!
Connors is impersonating millionaire recluse Charles Delaclare, and slowly draining his assets.
Britt Reid wants to expose Connors/Delaclare, not only because Connors evaded the law by faking his own death and replacing Delaclare, but Connors was part of a conspiracy that framed Reid's father years ago!
Side notes:
The frame-up of Reid's father is never pursued beyond this episode. Was dear old Dad the 1940s Green Hornet? We'll never know...
The idea of the villain replacing a reclusive millionaire is later used in the film version of Diamonds are Forever.
The idea of fighting a flock of frogmen (say that five times fast) was probably inspired by the box-office success of the then-current James Bond flick Thunderball!
Lenore "Casey" Case, played by the lovely Wende Wagner, finally gets serious screen time in this episode as she does some investigating for Reid, but gets caught by Connors' henchmen. As clever as she is beautiful, she keeps herself alive by bluffing the criminals until The Hornet can rescue her!
For the first time we see The Hornet change from his costume to civilian garb in the back seat of the Black Beauty. He does this a couple of times during the show's run to appear as both Reid and The Hornet to criminals within a short time-frame.
This is the first appearance of Barbara Babcock (Hill Street Blues) as Elaine Carey, a competitor with Casey for Britt Reid's affections. Barbara performed on the original Star Trek five times (twice on-screen, three times doing voiceovers), each time as a different character!
While the '60s tv series is not yet available on official dvd, it is available on YouTube.
Here's the FIFTH broadcast episode "The Frog is a Deadly Weapon" in three segments.
Enjoy.

Fear the Fury of...Miss Fury!

She wasn't the first superheroine, but she was the first to be created by a woman!
Conceived, written, and illustrated by cartoonist Tarpe Mills (who dropped her first name "June" from her published credit), Miss Fury started life in 1941 as a newspaper comic strip.

Wealthy socialite Marla Drake was preparing for a costume ball when she discovered a friend was going to wear the same costume as her!
Horrors! Social ruin!
Francine, her maid, hastily suggested an alternative--she instead wear a black panther skin sent to her by her uncle, which had previously been used as a ceremonial robe by an African witch doctor.
Strangely enough, it fit Marla perfectly!
En route to the party, Marla encountered an escaped criminal and kicked his, well, you know...
Police and reporters initially referred to her as "Black Fury", but she called herself "Miss Fury" in notes attached to crooks she caught. (The name "CatWoman" was already in use! ;-) )

Two items of note:
1) The panther hide didn't give her any super-powers, as such items tend to do in comics!
Marla was a gifted athlete, and, that combined with the visual shock value of the costume, enabled her to defeat foes. (ask another wealthy socialite, Bruce Wayne, about his similar, equally effective, strategy!)
2) Unlike most Golden Age heroines (Wonder Woman, Black Cat, Phantom Lady, et al), who seemed to wear skimpy swimsuits to battle evil, Miss Fury's costume totally covered her (but extremely tightly)!

The series spun off into comic books in 1942, but only as reprints of the newspaper strips (albeit with new covers by Mills).
Sadly, unlike most other adventure strips, there were no other spin-offs like movie serials, radio shows, or even a Big Little Book or two!
The newspaper strip ended in 1952, but Tarpe Mills continued to work as a comic illustrator for various publishers, including Marvel Comics! Her last published work was a new cover for a graphic novel reprint of Miss Fury in 1979. She passed away in 1988.

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ felt such a unique character would make a great, empowered role model for today's girls, so we gave her a section of her own in Heroines!™, where the so-called "weaker" sex RULES!
She'd make a cool pop-culture-themed birthday or holiday gift for your sister, daughter, or girlfriend!
Perhaps it'll inspire them to create a character of their own...