Friday, November 4, 2011

Reading Room: PHANTOM LADY "Bullets for Ballots"

When voting fraud needs to be revealed, there's no one better at exposing things than...
...the Luscious Law-Enforcer herself, the Phantom Lady!
This timely tale (Election Day 2011 is this Tuesday, November 8th!) from Phantom Lady #20 (1948), was probably penned by Ruth Roche and definitely illustrated by Matt Baker.
featuring goodies emblazoned with cover art that Fredric Wertham railed against in Seduction of the Innocent.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Reading Room: CAPTAIN TRIUMPH "Origin" Conclusion

When military aviator Michael Gallant is killed by sabotage to his aircraft, his twin brother, Lance discovers Michael's ghost can, when Lance touches a "T" birthmark on his wrist, merge with his living sibling to become the near-invincible Captain Triumph!
From his first appearance in Crack Comics #27 to the end the title's Golden Age run with #62, Captain Triumph not only took over the lead story spot, but the coveted cover slot (which had been a rotating showcase of the book's various heroes) as well.

which features his first AND last cover appearances along with two other classic images!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Reading Room: CAPTAIN TRIUMPH "Origin" Part 1

The third issue of Next Issue Project is out...Crack Comics #63...
...and to celebrate, here's the first appearance of the cover-featured character, Captain Triumph, from Crack Comics #27 (1943)!
Now, that's an origin!
 The writer, as is so often the case with Golden Age tales, is unknown.
However, the artist is Alfred Andriola, who did the first few Captain Triumph stories, then left comic books for comic strips...working on the Dan Dunn newspaper strip with Allen Saunders before co-creating (with Saunders) the Kerry Drake series!
Be here for the exciting conclusion tomorrow...
Same Blog Time!
Same Blog Feed!

Check out the
 Captain Triumph
Comic Collectibles Shop!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Reading Room: NOT WHO YOU THINK: Mr Monster

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
For a guy who had only one appearance in the Golden Age (and in a Canadian comic, at that) he's made a helluva impact on modern audiences!
Read the rest of this titillating tale, then we'll fill you in...
During the Golden Age, Doc Stearne had been a regular in the anthology title Triumph Comics.
"Triumph Comics"?
WTF?
Triumph Comics was a Canadian comic book.
We presented some background info about them HERE.
Doc was the typical two-fisted heroic adventurer in civvies of the 1930s-40s.
His nickname came from his daytime profession--he was a psychiatrist!
Doc Stearne continually ended up with patients who claimed they were seeing monsters...and actually were seeing deadly things of supernatural or alien origin!
Eventually, like most other civvie-clad heroes (Sandman, Doc Savage, Crimson Avenger, etc.), Stearne adopted a colorful set of tights and an appropriate name, though in his case, it was in his final appearance in 1947's Super-Duper Comics #3!
Years later, a copy of that book found it's way into the hands of writer-artist Michael T. Gilbert, who, long before Alex Ross did his mass resurrection of public domain characters in Project SuperPowers, revived the character in revamped form (though the original eventually did pop up as the new character's father).
Since then, Gilbert's version has been an action hero as well as a reprint anthology host.
And all his appearances are well worth picking up.
Oh, look! There's a bunch of them below!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Reading Room: CLASSIC COMICS Frankenstein Conclusion

Original art for the cover by Norm Saunders
Victor Frankenstein is insane!
With his wife strangled by his own creation and his father dead from shock, the scientist collapses from exhaustion and is placed in an asylum.
This adaptation was a change of pace for writer Ruth Roche, who served as an editor for the Iger Comics Studios and Ajax/Farrell Comics as well as (probably) writing almost all the Fox-Ajax/Farrell Phantom Lady stories during the Golden Age.
She also penned the Classics Comics version of Lorna Doone.

As a bonus, here's a bio about the novel's author...

For a double-dose of classic horror check out Atomic Kommie Comics™, where we're presenting the first comic adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula!