Mars Needs More On Munson s

Munson Paddock, as we saw this morning, could deliver some beautifully odd work when he was in the mood. Perhaps not surprisingly, his oddities extended beyond his artwork. And it has led to some confusion over the years.

For an example, let's take a look at the rather blatantly named Eddie The Odd -

No - there are no further pages; that's where it ends.

The first thing to note is that he signed the work with a variation of his grandmother's name, Martha Cecilia Munson. (Yup - he beat both Bruce & Clark to it) Oddly enough, Cecilia/Cecelia Munson seems to have been adopted as a house name, so other artists may also have been signing their work with his grandmother's moniker.

He did this frequently enough that Cecilia Munson Paddock is listed as a separate creator in some databases, and others believe him to be female. But the government was fairly certain he was male, else they would not have issued him a draft card, eh?

Munson Leroy Paddock was born over 130 years ago, back at the beginning of 1886 (January 22nd). His first newspaper comic, Mr. Bluff, launched in October of 1907. Others included Angelic Angelina and Naughty Ned, his final strip. Of the three, i only recall having seen Angelic Angelina, and not many of those. The style was very clean with the fine line approach of the times - rather classical in look and feel. Nothing to really catch the eye, but well executed.
In addition to his strips, he was also a magazine illustrator during the early decades of the 20th century.

In 1936, this new comic books thing was getting its footing, and Munson was already there working for DC. His The Blood Pearls and Monastery Of The Blue God serials ran for the next two years in New Comics/New Adventure Comics (The title changed with issue #12).

Yes - Monastery Of The Blue God.
You didn't think that vikings were the first to worship Beebo, did you?

Over the next decade he drew a variety of tales, ranging from Cowboy Westerns to Yellow Peril Easterns. We'll be taking a look at some of them this week. But for now, it's time i let you return to the adventures of Mars Mason with episodes 2 & 3, continuing from where we left off this morning -

We lost Munson back in 1970 or 1971 - reports vary. But fear not, he'll still be with us next time...

page art by Munson Paddock for Amazing Mystery Funnies #2 and Speed Comics #s 8 & 9 (1939, 1940)