Hm...
I've needed a feature title for a while now - what to call those great old characters that i'd purely enjoy seeing revived in modern times. Maybe a nice movie or three. Of course, my Odd brain tends towards totally obscure titles, like perhaps The Buck Board. Treated as a bulletin board upon which to post these characters, that name references Frank Buck, the big game hunter who popularized the phrase "Bring 'em Back Alive" as a nod to the hunt for these old characters to revive.
Sure, a feature title like that could work - but it's not very intuitive, is it?
So, for now, the notion percolates and we go without until something tasty bubbles to the top. (Who knows? Maybe it'll happen in the next 12 hours or so, and i'll modify this post before you see it!)
Meanwhile (70 years ago)...
As astute readers might already suspect, today's feature is one such character. Two, if you count her sidekick. Ladies, Gentlemen, and Other Determinations - may i present, fresh from 1947, the amazing Moon Girl (and the Prince). (The real Moon Girl, not some Janie-come-lately using the name)
Comic History Footnote:* Moon Girl is sporting the high heel sandals look here, a year before Wonder Woman adopted the look. Was this where WW's team got the idea?**
Though filled with potential, Moon Girl lasted only 8 issues in her own title. One issue of Moon Girl and The Prince...
...five issues of Moon Girl...
...and two issues of Moon Girl Fights Crime!:
Moon Girl was well ahead of the cultural curve, not only holding her own title in the '40s, but with a male sidekick to rescue for turnabout-
Hey! Look at that.
She even beat Captain America, actually managing to rescue her sidekick from the rocket.
The "Lady" above, Satana, was arch-nemesis to Moon Girl, with her debut in the first issue:
Interestingly, Satana's first appearance was the only time Prince Mengu got top billing.
The typical issue contained 3 stories, so there's about two dozen Moon Girl tales (including an appearance in International Crime Patrol #6). She faced a wide variety of often impressive foes in those tales...
Perhaps, by this point, you are wondering about our hero's origin/back story, hm? Fortunately, the first story covered that for us:
It likely comes as no surprise that the Queen informs the Princess that she is the "direct descendant of the daughter of King Kaidu! It is decreed that the man who takes you for his wife must first prove his superior strength."
"No man can do that!"
But is that true? After all, Prince Mengu is "a true son of Hercules". But while wearing the moonstone, her power is increased and she defeats the Prince in all his trials. But, as he leaves, she regrets having defeated him, finding that in winning, she has lost what she desired...
...and so began their epic adventures.
Moon Girl was initially scripted by Bill Woolfolk with art by Sheldon Moldoff and covers by Johnny Craig. Gardner Fox joined the team on issue #2, writing half the stories, and by #3 he was the primary author on the book. Shelly Moldoff took over the covers and, oddly enough, Johnny Craig stepped inside to do a story or two.
But, alas - it seems Moon Girl was too ahead of the cultural curve. Issue #9, the title changed once again...
Yeah, Feldstein's got a neat signature, but i'd have preferred more Moon Girl.
Roy Thomas was a fan, too. After Crisis On Infinite Earths he wanted to use Moon Girl to replace Wonder Woman in the restructured Justice Society. But the rights weren't secured and he wound up using Miss America instead.***
I'd wager a revived version of Moon Girl and The Prince, done well, would find a lot of fans in today's market and could kick some serious movie butt.
===
*(Sometimes those bad puns just cannot be resisted)
**(Thanks to Luke Blanchard over at Captain Comics for pointing out the timeline)
***( Thanks, also, to Phillip Portelli for offering that info tidbit over at the Captain's forum)
I've needed a feature title for a while now - what to call those great old characters that i'd purely enjoy seeing revived in modern times. Maybe a nice movie or three. Of course, my Odd brain tends towards totally obscure titles, like perhaps The Buck Board. Treated as a bulletin board upon which to post these characters, that name references Frank Buck, the big game hunter who popularized the phrase "Bring 'em Back Alive" as a nod to the hunt for these old characters to revive.
Sure, a feature title like that could work - but it's not very intuitive, is it?
So, for now, the notion percolates and we go without until something tasty bubbles to the top. (Who knows? Maybe it'll happen in the next 12 hours or so, and i'll modify this post before you see it!)
Meanwhile (70 years ago)...
As astute readers might already suspect, today's feature is one such character. Two, if you count her sidekick. Ladies, Gentlemen, and Other Determinations - may i present, fresh from 1947, the amazing Moon Girl (and the Prince). (The real Moon Girl, not some Janie-come-lately using the name)
Comic History Footnote:* Moon Girl is sporting the high heel sandals look here, a year before Wonder Woman adopted the look. Was this where WW's team got the idea?**
Though filled with potential, Moon Girl lasted only 8 issues in her own title. One issue of Moon Girl and The Prince...
...five issues of Moon Girl...
...and two issues of Moon Girl Fights Crime!:
Moon Girl was well ahead of the cultural curve, not only holding her own title in the '40s, but with a male sidekick to rescue for turnabout-
Hey! Look at that.
She even beat Captain America, actually managing to rescue her sidekick from the rocket.
The "Lady" above, Satana, was arch-nemesis to Moon Girl, with her debut in the first issue:
Interestingly, Satana's first appearance was the only time Prince Mengu got top billing.
The typical issue contained 3 stories, so there's about two dozen Moon Girl tales (including an appearance in International Crime Patrol #6). She faced a wide variety of often impressive foes in those tales...
Perhaps, by this point, you are wondering about our hero's origin/back story, hm? Fortunately, the first story covered that for us:
"No man can do that!"
But is that true? After all, Prince Mengu is "a true son of Hercules". But while wearing the moonstone, her power is increased and she defeats the Prince in all his trials. But, as he leaves, she regrets having defeated him, finding that in winning, she has lost what she desired...
...and so began their epic adventures.
Moon Girl was initially scripted by Bill Woolfolk with art by Sheldon Moldoff and covers by Johnny Craig. Gardner Fox joined the team on issue #2, writing half the stories, and by #3 he was the primary author on the book. Shelly Moldoff took over the covers and, oddly enough, Johnny Craig stepped inside to do a story or two.
But, alas - it seems Moon Girl was too ahead of the cultural curve. Issue #9, the title changed once again...
Yeah, Feldstein's got a neat signature, but i'd have preferred more Moon Girl.
Roy Thomas was a fan, too. After Crisis On Infinite Earths he wanted to use Moon Girl to replace Wonder Woman in the restructured Justice Society. But the rights weren't secured and he wound up using Miss America instead.***
I'd wager a revived version of Moon Girl and The Prince, done well, would find a lot of fans in today's market and could kick some serious movie butt.
all pages from Moon Girl #s 1-9 (1948-9)
===
*(Sometimes those bad puns just cannot be resisted)
**(Thanks to Luke Blanchard over at Captain Comics for pointing out the timeline)
***( Thanks, also, to Phillip Portelli for offering that info tidbit over at the Captain's forum)
Interesting to note, given your Wonder Woman allusion, that on the cover of Moon Girl #2, she seems to be sporting a 'w' around her waist. (Yeah, I know she isn't, but it looks like it.) Her costume certainly seems similar to WW's.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the twin points on her belt (cummerbund? what is that thing?) does suggest a W, but it's on the Prince, too. So... Wonder Twins?
ReplyDeleteFrom a design standpoint, was it perhaps a reflected M?
I've always thought it odd that DC never sued over Moon Girl, considering that she bears far more resemblance to WW than Captain Marvel did to Superman. I suppose Cap was more of a financial threat than Moon Girl ever was, but not at the beginning when the suit started. I suspect the reason for this lies in the fact the the "M" in "Charles M. Moulton", the pen name that appeared on the WW feature for decades, stood for "Maxwell Gaines", once the publisher of AA Comics when Wonder Woman was created, and then the publisher of EC Comics when Moon Girl was. Perhaps Gaines played a bigger role in the creation of WW than the official story claims? A lawsuit against Moon Girl might then have risked Gaines winding up with a legal claim to a piece of WW. Or maybe I'm making too much of an initial (but seriously, why did Gaines get more credit, even in a pseudonym, than Bill Finger got for Batman until the past few years?
ReplyDelete-Mindbender