NOT WHO YOU THINK: GRIMM "Lament of the Dead"

Long before the NBC TV series that returns right before Halloween...

...there was another man who battled the supernatural (and frauds who pretended to be supernatural)!

This never-reprinted tale from Elliot's Bomber Comics #2 (1944) is the only time Grimm encounters a non-supernatural threat.
The "Don Weaver" credit is probably a pseudonym since it doesn't appear anywhere else in comics besides on this series.
While it's a fascinating coincidence, I doubt the producers of the TV series Grimm even know about this incarnation of the concept.
Interestingly, Grimm bears marked similarities both to Zero: Ghost Detective, and the first appearance of Fero: Planet Detective, both of whom preceded Grimm.
And, as of this appearance, Grimm switched from being a "Ghost Spotter" to operating as a "Ghost Doctor"!
(And, yes, he makes "haunted house calls"...
Geez, it's like I'm talking to a bunch of 12-year olds...)

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SIR LEO "Sea of Blood"

The Victorian monster-hunter returns in a never-seen in the US adventure...

...from the British magazine Dracula #7 (1971)...which never had a story with the title character!

Written by writer/artist Jose Bea and co-writer Luis Vigil.

We're presenting the remaining never-seen in the US Sir Leo stories during October.

Don't miss them!

Recently, The Nerdist did a feature on comic book/graphic novel supernatural sleuths HERE.

Sadly, the writers don't seem to acknowledge any supernatural detectives existed before 1980, so they neglect cool characters like Sir Leo and Fero: Planet Detective!

Reading Room: WOLFF "Night of the WereWolf"

Return to the post-apocalyptic future Earth of Wolff the Barbarian...

...where sorcery rules and science is just a distant promise....

I don't remember this ever happening to Conan...
Is it just me, or does the Sorceress of the Red Mist remind you of sexy space heroine Agar-Agar, who was also published in the Dracula anthology magazine (and was also written by Wolff co-scripter Luis Gasca under the pen-name "Sadko")?

Or was that eye-makeup thing just a fashion trend in the early 1970s?

This tale from Dracula #4 (1971) was superbly-illustrated and co-written by Esteban Maroto.

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Reading Room: NATURE BOY "Jiver from Jupiter"

Before Percy Jackson was...Nature Boy!

...the early Silver Age teen hero with amazing powers granted by the ancient Gods!

If this story from Charlton's Nature Boy #5 (1957) has the "feel" of some of the wackier Superman Family stories of the Silver Age, there's a very good reason!
It was written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel!
The dynamic art was by John Buscema, shortly before his return to Marvel Comics, where his renderings became the "house" art style for over 20 years!
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Dynamic Duos in Classic Film Blogathon: LONE RANGER & TONTO "Part 1"

The first movie appearance of the Lone Ranger and Tonto...

...might not qualify as a "Dynamic Duo in Classic Film" entry...

...since it features five Lone Rangers!

Let me explain...

Republic Pictures did a movie serial in 1938 based on the already-legendary radio show.

However, Republic was notorious for using the comics and radio shows they based their serials on more as inspirations than adaptations, playing fast-and-loose with the concepts and characters, sometimes keeping little more than the name and costume.

In this case, while the idea of the Lone Ranger being the sole survivor of a massacre is kept, there are five different Texas Rangers (none of whom are named John Reid) who are now working together to solve this case!

And none of them will admit to being the sole survivor of a massacre!

But only one can be the Lone Ranger!

Which one?

Only Tonto (Chief Thundercloud) knows, because the only times we see him on screen is when the Ranger is in costume...

...and the Lone Ranger wears that odd mask that covers his entire face, making it impossible for the audience to deduce which Texas Ranger he is!
The serial has a "whack-a-mole" feel as one-by-one the Rangers are trapped and killed until only two remain.

One dies at the end of the penultimate chapter, and, while it's shown the Lone Ranger survives until the end, he's not unmasked until the end of the serial and we discover which one he is.

The owners of the character were so pissed at how the Ranger was portayed they ordered all prints and the negative of the serial destroyed!

The current versions on video are composited from prints sent overseas.

And look, you can see it for yourself...

(The current versions on video are composited from prints sent overseas.)

However, Republic's contract gave them the option to do a second serial if the first one did a certain level of box-office sales.

It did very well, so Republic went ahead with a second serial a year later, but since the original Ranger, Lee Powell, was in trouble with both the movie studio and radio show for making personal appearances as the Lone Ranger (see poster above), he was replaced by Robert Livingston as the Ranger, now disguised as "Bill Andrews".

Chief Thundercloud (Victor Daniels who was half-Native American) returned as Tonto.

It was a typical Western serial, well-done, but not really as good as the first Ranger production.
But then, you can judge for yourself, here...

When next the greatest duo in Western fiction appeared on the big screen, it was in the form of the definitive Lone Ranger and Tonto from the small screen, as you'll see at our "brother" RetroBlog, Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™, later today!
And see many, many other "Dynamic Duos in Classic Film" at this LINK to the blogathon participants!