Showing posts with label Cavemen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cavemen. Show all posts

25 August 2020

Some Cavemen Are More Cavemen Than Others

Before we get back to Tragg & Lorn (and we will get back to them), let's stop in to check out a rather different caveman. From the pencil of Joe Beck (often aided & abetted by Otto Eppers) comes the world of Prehistoric Pete

Pete first appeared in Spotlight Comics back in 1944. Spotlight only lasted three issues, but it didn't take Pete down with it. He also appeared in an issue of Punch Comics, and enough issues of Red Seal Comics to bring him up to an even dozen stories.

Today, let's take a look at those first three tales from Spotlight -





Get the feeling that perhaps this was where Dogpatch might eventually evolve?

page art by Joe Beck and Otto Eppers from Spotlight Comics #s 1-3 (1944, 1945)

27 May 2018

Mighty Kona Madness

I think they're finally going to be sending someone out to the cave this week to deal with net connections.
We can hope.  Meanwhile, back in cave man country...

We met Kona - Monarch Of Monster Isle in a previous post. As noted, Kona faced more than dinosaurs. It was, after all, Monster Isle - a place so strange that spiders grow large enough to trap tyrannosaurs...


...and cats...
Live in fear of the cats...




One could regularly expect titanic clashes (illustrated by Sam Glanzman) in Kona's world...






Let us not forget mutated alien races...


At least the dai kaiju are useful for getting off the island...


Kona was a rather insanely odd caveman book, as you can see.
Despite that, it didn't hold the #1 place for caveman comics in my heart...

page art by Sam Glanzman from Kona #s 2-10 (1962-1964)

10 May 2018

Introducing Kona - Monarch Of Monster Isle

Last week some "cave paintings" were offered up - painted covers to various caveman comics - and i asked which you thought might be my favorites.

Let's take an introductory look at one of them, Kona. Here's a second look at Tom Beecham's painted cover to "Kona #1" (actually Four Colour #1256)


 Before we proceed, a quick bit on the term 'Cavemen' is in order. I use the word as a cultural touchstone. It has precisely zero scientific value and is used to refer to a wide variety of hominids, ranging from neanderthal to nomadic homo-sapiens, depending on the situation. Very rarely does the term apply to actual cave dwellers. After all, most locations don't readily offer caves, as you might have already noticed in your day-to-day lives. The term is also used in the same way that 'Man' is used to refer to human beings in general, without regard to individual gender.
Okay, moving right along...

The first thing that sets Kona apart from most caveman comics is the time frame. Our story begins in the 20th century. Not that this is completely original or anything, just ask Marshall, Will & Holly. (Actually, the original Land Of The Lost is on our posting topic list; both the book and the 1940s comic)


The expedition proceeds until a massive storm assaults the craft, tearing it apart as it pushes them into an unseen island. The family works together to salvage as much as they can -


While Grandpa and the kids seem fairly well suited to adventure, Mom - not so much. She flees the bats and has to be rescued by Mason clubbing a bat away with the butt of his rifle. As things settle down, the family suddenly find themselves inundated with water again -


The dai kaiju wrestle until the snake crushes the breath from tyrannosaur, but as they collapse...


 The pithecanthropes behead the serpent, taking their prize with them and leaving the family staring in wonder at what just happened...


A short march later...


And there you have the setup for Kona.
By the way - his tribe have domesticated triceratops, much as the others had their tyranosaurs.

Not surprisingly, their first battle goes supremely well, and the tribesmen get brutally wild in their victory. Grandpa gets disgusted and declares no more guns. A nice sentiment, but the reality of their new world rapidly reverses that decision.

It didn't take long for things to begin to get wonderfully odd. In the 2nd issue...


"Though the tyranasaurus-rex is at the bullfrog's throat the croaking beast still manages to lash out with his powerful legs kill two charging triceratops!"
"Kona's .45 makes short work of the dragonfly and he turns to face an enraged bee..."

You're going to have to work hard to find more awesome oddness packed into two sentences and one panel.

He was called Monarch Of Monster Isle, not Dean Of Dinosaur Island, y'know.

page art by Sam Glanzman for Dell Four Color #1256 and Kona #2 (1962)

04 May 2018

Cave Paintings

Have you ever noticed how often Cavemen/Prehistoric comics have gotten painted covers over the years?
Even when not fully painted, they often incorporate painted elements in the colouring and background, as in the first two covers here -












One might almost think that there's an industry "Cave Painting" joke among editors.

Which do you think are my favorites?
You know i've got some - cave comics are home to all kinds of Odd, as certainly hinted at in some of those covers.

(In case you didn't guess - Yeah, i'm teasing another series topic)