Sunday, October 2, 2011

Reading Room: PRIZE COMICS "Frankenstein vs the Prize Fighters"

Before the Justice Society!
Before the Avengers!
There were the Prize Fighters!
And who are these other paragons of justice (all of whom had their own strips in Prize Comics)?
"Well known"?
Most of them recently appeared in the Project SuperPowers series from Dynamite Comics, but beyond that...
Anyway, on with the action!
While the characters did appear in the next issue, it was in their individual strips, not in Frankenstein.
There is a mention of him being subdued by a group of heroes in the next issue's Frankenstein tale, but that's it.
This one-time team-up of the various characters, though historically-important, didn't even make the cover of the issue (Prize Comics #24).
Not even a blurb!
Note: We've covered a couple of the characters in separate entries including The Black Owl (both of them), The Green Lama, and The Monster of Frankenstein himself.
As to who Bulldog Denny is, we'll be explaining (and showing) who he is and how he came to be the Frankenstein Monster's nemesis in future entries during October.
For the record, the super-hero group never had an official name.
Several historical articles in print and on blogs gave the team the "Prize Fighters" moniker, and it seems like a good fit, so we're using it as well.
Frankenstein artist Dick Briefer did a good job trying to match several different art styles including the "bigfoot humor" look of the General & the Corporal strip.

Oddly enough, a cover from several issues (#20) earlier seemed to telegraph the events of this story four issues later...

...even though there was no reference in any of the stories in #20 to an attempt by a group of heroes to capture the Monster, he's clearly shown bound and helpless in the second car!

Of course, the concept of a group of heroes beating up on one misunderstood monster wouldn't catch on...
Art by Marie Severin & Sam Grainger
Art by Herb Trimpe
Art by Jack Kirby & Sol Brodsky
 Uh...yeah...won't catch on...
More Monster of Frankenstein later this week...

Friday, September 30, 2011

Reading Room: PHANTOM LADY "Fire Fiend"

Things get hot for the Voluptuous Vixen of Vengeance...
...as a pyromaniac tries to end the career of the Pulchritudinous Personage!
For God's sake, she doesn't even wear a pair of glasses or a mask, and the guy standing two feet in front of her (in both guises) can't figure out who The Phantom Lady really is?
The somewhat-silly story from All Top Comics #13 is probably by Ruth Roche, while there's no doubt the art is by Matt Baker.
Phantom Lady will be taking a month-long vacation as this (and all the other RetroBlogs™) celebrate October and the Halloween season with horror and monster-oriented tales.
Phantom Lady will return in November...

featuring goodies emblazoned with cover art that Fredric Wertham railed against in Seduction of the Innocent.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Reading Room: JET POWERS "Man in the Moon"

It's been several months since we looked in on Jet Powers and Su Shan...

Some guys really carry a grudge (but provide great expositional dialogue)!
Yeah, Sinn died.
Nothing to worry about.
Won't be seeing him again!
No, siree...
You don't really believe that, do you?
Good, 'cause if you did, you wouldn't be able to read the rest of this series, featuring superb Bob Powell art like this, the second Jet tale from Jet Power #1 (1950).
Watch for more Jet Powers coming soon!

Friday, September 23, 2011

Reading Room: PHANTOM LADY "Case of the Murderous Model"

When Tyra Banks tells models to be "fierce" on America's Top Model, this is not what she means!
At least our voluptuous vixen should hope so!
When you want to see the best examples of "good girl" art, look no further than tales like this from 1948's Phantom Lady #19 by the legendary Matt Baker!
Unfortunately, the script, probably by Ruth Roche, is no more than adequate.

featuring goodies emblazoned with cover art that Fredric Wertham railed against in Seduction of the Innocent.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Reading Room: NOT WHO YOU THINK: "Black Panther"

Prince T'Challa, Marvel's first Black superhero, ruler of Wakanda, husband of Storm, Avenger...
WTF???
1) Who is he?
2) Where did he come from??
3) What are his powers???
4) Why does he have a tail????
Of all those questions, we can only answer #3: Agile as a cat (obviously), expert in hand-to-hand combat, and probably good with the knife he carries.
Since he only made one appearance, in Stars & Stripes #3 (1941) from Centaur Comics, we will never know what his creator, writer/artist Paul Gustavson, had in mind for him.
Gustavson, though not a "big" name, did contribute several long-running characters to Golden Age comics history at Timely (Marvel), Quality, and Centaur, including The Fantom of the Fair (FantoMan), The Human Bomb, The Angel, two archer-heroes; The Arrow and Alias the Spider, and Man of War.
He also worked on Blackhawk, Uncle Sam, and other Quality Comics characters.