Showing posts with label Alan Mandel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alan Mandel. Show all posts

22 June 2018

3 Day Weekend Matinee - Enter The Giant

For the lead feature on today's matinee, we travel back to 1943. Nearly a quarter century before Daisaku Kusama/Johnny Sokko commanded his Giant Robot, more than half a century before Hogarth Hughes teamed up with his Iron Giant, another young lad had his own giant warrior automaton for his adventures. We've got his 14 page debut strip from the first issue of Clue Comics. (Those first 9 issues were a bit odd.)

Before we get to that, of course, we've got our ongoing serial - Oskar Lebeck & Alden McWilliams' classic Twin Earths.

Previously on Twin Earths: Vana, a defector from Terra - the human inhabited planet in an orbital position opposite Sol from the Earth - has allied herself with the United States government. Having survived assassination attempts by her former planet, romance blossoms between Vana and her FBI liason, Agent Garry Verth while she educates him on the history of her planet. Two centuries prior, a terrible plague devestated their world, and killed off the vast majority of the planet's male population...

Twin Earths - Chapter Seven:


 While Steve Martin (the comedian/singer, not the Raymond Burr character from the US version of the original Godzilla) may champion Tut for the title, there's another contender for Boy King who gets the vote around here. (Sorry, old boy - not just shoes are cruel)

Meet David, the Boy King of Swisslakia. (What? Did you think that inventing countries in comics did not go back to the beginnings of the medium? But, don't fret - we get a map.)
Written by Charles Biro & Bob Wood, with artwork from Alan Mandel and Dan Barry, here's his introductory tale -


Do you think that maybe the Boy King might be a tad on the violent side in dealing with his enemies?
Take a gander at the blurb on the cover of the next issue:


"We Warn You! The BOY KING Will KILL CRIME!"

You might be right.

Meanwhile - Micro-Face?
Is he related to Taser-Face?
Or perhaps to Dick Tracy's Little Face?

Seriously - Micro-Face?

I guess we'll find out tomorrow...

page art from Twin Earths and Clue Comics #1 (1943, 1952)