Shark Week Special! THE SHARK "Planet of the Walking Dead"

The Shark seems to encounter a lot of scientists...mad or otherwise!

The obvious question is, why does he listen to them?

Admittedly, this never-reprinted story by creator/writer/artist Lew Glanzman from Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #12 (1940) was written for a young audience, but several obvious questions come to mind...

• Where was this unknown planet which was obviously closer to Earth than Mars?
• Who were those three guys?
• Why didn't the unnamed scientist who sent The Shark know about their flight?

Even though we never learn the answers to those questions, we will learn something about Martians in the Centaur Comics universe...on Friday!
But first, we take a detour to a bunch of pirates (along with the return of Father Neptune) on Thursday!

Shark Week Special! THE SHARK "Menace of the Mental MadMan at the Middle of the Earth"

The Aquatic Avenger travels (involuntarily) to the center of the Earth...

...to face a scientist from the surface who plans a horrible fate for him, specifically!

When this never-reprinted tale from Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #10 (1940) was published, the superhero genre was only about a year and a half old.

There were few established tropes or rules so creatives like writer/artist Lew Glanzman were literally "flying by the seat of their pants" as they figured out what would work and what wouldn't!

Shark Week Special! THE SHARK "Father and Son"

In his second, never-reprinted, appearance in Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #7 (1939)...

...the Aquatic Avenger meets his long-absent father (who may or may not be the actual Roman god of the sea)!

The two of them make a heckuva team, eh?
Father Neptune would appear in most of the stories, sometimes helping and sometimes hindering The Shark's crusade.

Be Here Tomorrow for Another Adventure of

The Shark!

SHARK WEEK SPECIAL! Before Aquaman! Before Sub-Mariner! There Was THE SHARK!

We interrupt our ongoing weekly Russkie-Smasher feature this week...

...to present a Shark Week special...a reintroduction to the aquatic super-hero who predated both DC's Aquaman and Marvel's Sub-Mariner!

This never-reprinted story from Centaur's Amazing-Man Comics #6 (1939), written and illustrated by Lew Glanzman, appeared within the same month as Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner's debut in Timely's Marvel Comics #1 (1939) and well before Aquaman's premiere in DC's More Fun Comics #73 (1941)!

The son of Neptune (who may or may not be the Roman god), The Shark once lived in an undersea kingdom, but set out to fight all crime committed at sea by anyone; human, sea-dweller, or extraterrestrial alien!

He's called "Shark" because sharks often accompany him...and eat his enemies!
The character is also a skilled scientist, who creates and uses technology far beyond then-current human science! 

• His super-powers include...
• The ability to breathe underwater
• Superhuman strength and near-invulnerability (which he loses on land unless he's in physical contact with a magic knife given him by his father)
• Mental control of sea life
• Ability to create creatures out of water which he can direct mentally
  

With a strip appearing in both Amazing-Man Comics and Stars and Stripes Comics, The Shark lasted until the company (which also published pulp magazines) gave up comics. 

 Be Here Tomorrow for Another Adventure of

The Shark!

Russkie-Smashers FIGHTING AMERICAN and SPEEDBOY "Z-Food!"

Sometimes, you just have to ask..."What were Joe Simon and Jack Kirby imbibing/inhaling/drinking?"
Perhaps it was this stuff!

It was only 1954 when this story appeared in Prize's Fighting American #3, so how did Simon & Kirby predict the hallucinogenics which would become so prevalent in the early 1960s?