Number 994


I dream of mushrooms...


If I'd seen the story, "He Pierced the Unknown," in 1968 instead of when it was published in 1958, I'd have had a different interpretation of young Albert Huraki's dreams. Instead of just interpretive drawings of Albert's gift for precognition, I would have seen drug references, especially with the big mushroom. I shamelessly use that panel above in order to provoke knowing readers to nudge the person next to them, then point at it and snicker.

Sorry to disappoint. There are no drugs involved. The story, presumably written by editor Richard E. Hughes, is well thought out. Albert can see the future in his dreams, couched in mystic, almost biblical, symbolism. Artist Ogden Whitney did a fine job interpreting the dreams.

I have one more observation about this story: the description of Albert, especially in the early panels, seems to be describing what we now know as an autistic child. I wonder if the writer knew someone who fit this description...?

From Adventures Into the Unknown #101, 1958:








This is a letter (from "Alfred E. Neuman") with a response from editor Richard E. Hughes in that same issue of Adventures Into the Unknown:

Hughes answers the question I've had about the artist of "Space Adventurer," who I now know is Edmond Good. A couple of weeks ago I showed the origin of Tomahawk from Star-Spangled Comics, drawn by Good.

"Space Adventurer" is more typical Hughes: guy is a failure, makes good, impresses girl. In this case the story, published in 1958, takes place in 1991, one of the future-in-the-past stories I love. The future it describes is in the past for us, so we can see how it stacks up against the reality of 1991. Um, not so well, but I enjoyed the part about the hero buying a used rocket ship for $416. That's about what my first car cost in 1963.

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Frew #1608 - Encounter With Murder

Writer: Claes Reimerthi
Artist: Joan Boix


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Scanned & edited by Kit Walker. All credits go to him.

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Number 993


Don't make a spectacle of yourself


In our two stories today spectacles, meaning eyeglasses and not exhibitionist behavior, play a major part. They are similar, both from Atlas horror comics: "Spectacles of Doom" by Bill Everett and "The Last Look" by Robert Q. Sale. "Last Look" I showed a few years ago, but have re-scanned it for you.

Bill Everett had some fun with "Spectacles of Doom," drawing some very funny characters. I love Everett mixing cartoon exaggeration into his art. Robert Q. Sale was another veteran comic book artist, who at one time shared studio space with Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder and John Severin. He also mixed in some comic exaggeration--check out his graveyard dead on the last page, with their lolling tongues, or the cucumber-nose baby--and gave a nod to Kurtzman with panel four of page four, which is an homage to "Smilin' Melvin" by Wally Wood from Mad #7.

From Marvel Tales #94, 1949:






From Mystic #31, 1954:

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Wonder Woman 155

Even by the standards of the Silver Age Wonder Woman, that's a mind-boggling cover.

Back in the 1960s, young boys were off in the woods, playing army, possibly the dumbest game ever invented. Girls tended to want to play house, which certainly seemed dumb, but they were actually practicing the roles they were expected to grow into. The hope was that they would find a good man and settle down, just like Mommy had. Of course, there was also the fear that they would fall for the wrong man, or that only the wrong types would want to date them.

These hopes and fears were expressed and marketed to in many ways. For example remember the girls' board game, Mystery Date?

Note the reaction from the girl when she opens the door to discover the "dud" waiting to take her out. One of the amusing things about this ad is that by the 1970s, when these girls were dating for real, most of them were likely to date someone even more shabbily attired than him.

The covers of Lois Lane are filled with images of her falling for the wrong man:





The Wonder Woman story starts out similar to Wonder Woman #125, which I reviewed a few years ago. She's having problems with the men in her life being too aggressive:

She has similar encounters with Bird-Man and Manno, the Merman, during the latter of which we learn an interesting fact about Wonder Woman's physiology:

There's also this amusing bit:

King Kong's escaped again? What a pain!
She also gets some unwanted attention from an octopus. You have to see it to believe it:

So after all that excessive affection, she is intrigued when she meets a monster prince who rejects her friendship:

But when he destroys his castle during a battle with the Amazons who've come to befriend him:

We learn that's the real way to Wonder Woman's heart:

And she decides to marry him. There's an interesting statement on prejudice here:

Wow.

And so we get the scene on the cover. But at the last moment the groom gets cold feet:

There follows a zany sequence where a flying sphinx attacks her, and the monster helps save her and turns into a handsome dreamboat. But as they are falling off a cliff, he gets angry again and changes back into his monster self and rejects her, leading to this denouement:

Comments: Obviously the story is an insane remake of Beauty and the Beast. But it is redeemed a bit by the positive characterization of Wonder Woman.

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Frew #1605 - Fateful Meeting

Writer: Claes Reimerthi
Artist: Hans Lindahl

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Scanned & edited by Kit Walker. All credits go to him.

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Number 992


Joe Kubert Tor it up...


Tor, the comic book character from "1,000,000 years ago" was created by Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer, and copyrighted by the creators. Kubert later licensed the character to DC and then Marvel. This is from the last issue of the original St. John series in 1954.

The first story is a prehistoric soap opera tale of adultery and murder. It seems a bit out of place for a setting of a million years ago, but I'm sure people had trouble with spouses (or "mates") in those days, too. The second story is more typical, with Tor doing battle with an ape. I've also included a page with Kubert and Maurer defending their comic books against the attacks on comics that led to the Comics Code, and a page where Kubert and Maurer offer schooling in how to be a comic book artist, letterer or colorist, by practicing as little "as 15 minutes a day in the privacy of your own home," pre-dating the now famous Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Arts.

I posted another story from Tor #5 in Pappy's #647, and a 2-D version of a 3-D Tor in Pappy's #850.

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