Reading Room: PRIZE COMICS "Frankenstein in the Adventures of BlooperMan"

You thought the Silver Age version was the first Frankenstein Monster superhero?

Nope!

During the post-war "humorous monster" period of Frankenstein's run, writer/artist Dick Briefer decided to satirize the superhero genre...

As you can see, he's not the grim 'n gritty version (also by Dick Briefer) who wandered the earth during World War II, as shown HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

This story from Prize Comics #49 (1945) was at the beginning of his transition from "serious" to "wacky".

This guy could've been inspiration for Frankenstein Jr or Herman Munster!

The Monster even gained a Munster-like supporting cast of humorous monsters who lived with him in an abandoned hotel (though they were friends, not relatives)!

The new "fun" version was popular enough to gain his own title in 1945, but he lost it in 1949.

In the 1950s, during the height of the horror comics fad, Dick Briefer would return to the dark roots of the character to produce some of the best tales ever told about Mary Shelley's creation.

You'll see those stories next week thru Halloween, beginning with his revival at our "brother" blog Seduction of the Innocent™, while we re-present a couple of his wilder humorous eps here before Halloween.

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Reading Room: DOC SAVAGE & THE SHADOW "Case of the Shrieking Skeletons" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

Art by Stan Manoukian and Dave Stevens

The plot's a bit convoluted, but you can re-read it from the beginning with Part 1 HERE, Part 2 HERE, and Part 3 HERE.

Right now, all you need to know is that Doc Savage and The Shadow have been taken prisoner by an alliance of Nazis and gangsters who are using genetically-modified humans turned into giant monsters who then deteriorate into shambling skeletal zombie-like creatures.

But holding the Man of Bronze and the Master of Darkness is another matter...

Writer Steve Vance tossed in a kool Easter Egg...Professor Reinstein himself, and the "secret government project"!

If you're a fan of a certain Star-Spangled Avenger, you'll recognize the scientist's name!

Professor Reinstein did receive a position at a government facility where he perfected his formula...

 But Professor Reinstein's legacy lives on...

Reading Room: DOC SAVAGE & THE SHADOW "Case of the Shrieking Skeletons" Part 1A

It's the team-up tale too big for just one blog to host...

..combining the two greatest heroes of the 1930s in a horror-themed story just right for the Halloween season!

And who would know more about shadows...than Lamont Cranston?

The tale continues tomorrow, at our "brother" blog Crime & Punishment™!

This never-reprinted tale from Dark Horse's The Shadow & Doc Savage #1 (1995) came out just as the ill-fated Shadow movie starring Alec Baldwin hit movie theaters.

Written by Steve Vance, penciled by Stan Manoukian, and inked by Vince Roucher, it's actually a pretty good combo of the two series' characters and storytelling styles.

Reading Room: CAPTAIN MARVEL "The Bat"

In the 1960s, including a "bat man" in your comic was a guarantee of high sales...

...even if he was a villain!

You'll note that the cover for the never-reprinted Captain Marvel #3 (1966) has a slightly different color scheme for The Bat's costume that mimicked Batman's design even more closely...

DC Comics' (then National Periodical Publications) lawyers noticed it too, and quickly filed suit for copyright and trademark infringement!
When The Bat reappeared in the very next issue two months later, he was both re-named "The Ray", and recolored!

Note: DC had acquired the rights to Quality Comics' Golden Age characters in the 1950s, including The Ray, but had not utilized most of them either in new stories or reprints as they had with Plastic Man and Blackhawk, so they couldn't go after MF Publications for trademark infringement.
(As it turned out, they also let the copyrights lapse, so almost all the Quality Comics heroes are now  Public Domain!)
Written and inked by Carl Hubbell, penciled by Leon Francho.
Though the story mentions an earlier encounter between The Bat..er, The Ray...and Captain Marvel, it's never been shown either in flashback or as a standalone tale!
We'll be presenting more of the FIRST Silver Age Captain Marvel's never-reprinted adventures, so bookmark us!

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featuring the cover from the issue this post's story is re-presented from!