Hero Histories

Friday, March 24, 2017

Berni Wrightson's RED-NECK!

The late, great Berni Wrightson didn't do much super-hero material...

...and this never-reprinted strip is probably his least-known work in the genre.

It's not even from a comic, but from Esquire Magazine's March 1972 issue!

The Monster Times #5 (1972) reviewed the article and accompanying strips.

"Berni, the baneful Wrightson, presented the adventures of Red-Neck...obviously Archie Bunker's fondest dream; abble to beat tall children in a single bound!"

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Berni Wrightson
A Look Back

Friday, March 17, 2017

Reading Room NOT WHO YOU THINK: BANSHEE "Origin"

Before a certain Marvel villain-turned X-Man...

Art by Dave Cockrum

...acquired the name, there was this guy...who also used the name of an female Irish demon!

Illustrated by Louis Cazeneuve, this premiere/origin of the Banshee plays more off the classic "Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot..." shtick with a costumed athlete than the later, sonic super-powered mutant from Marvel.

Of course I'm curious as to why a villain named "The Scorpion" is wearing a Devil mask instead of, say, a hood with an embroidered scorpion image.

Was he working on a really tight budget?

Debuting in Fox's Fantastic Comics #21 (1941) and continuing until the book was cancelled two issues later, the Banshee migrated to a new book, V... Comics, for it's brief two-issue run, then disappeared into comics limbo.

He didn't even appear in Dynamite's various Project Superpowers series which even brought back characters whose names had been co-opted by later, currently-trademarked (though unrelated) characters like Daredevil and Yellowjacket.

(Blue Beetle is a whole 'nother story...)

BTW, HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

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Project SuperPowers

Vol 1

(Even without The Banshee, if you're a Golden Age fan, it's worth reading)

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Reading Room: WOLFF "Mother of Waters"

At last, the never-seen (in America) continuation of the saga of Wolff...

...as our post-apocalyptic barbarian and Galadra meet...guess who?

This tale from New England Library's Dracula #7 (1972), by Luis Gaska (aka Sadko) and Estaban Maroto takes a tragic turn.

But, it also sets up a major change in the storyline, as we'll see in the near-future!

Don't miss it!

Thursday, December 8, 2016

SPY SMASHER "Crime of Pearl Harbor"

When Last We Left America's Greatest Anti-Espionage Agent...

...on December 6th, 1941, Spy Smasher discovered a huge Japanese submarine in the waters just outside Pearl Harbor.

Unfortunately, he was captured...

(NOTE: Considered NSFW due to racial stereotypes common to the era.)

Wow!
Those last two pages were a serious attempt at propaganda/revisionist history to an impressionable young audience!

Published in early 1942, this never-reprinted tale from Fawcett's Spy Smasher #4 was created just after the events of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, so the overt racism is somewhat understandable.

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