As i've mentioned before, i sometimes enjoy simply perusing the covers of Golden Age comics. They can be raw & primitive, boldly experimental, unbridled fun, and just plain strange at times.
Just under a dozen after the last issue of Flash Comics we saw yesterday, this cover hit the stands -
So, i was enjoying J.C. Kozlak's fun little cover, and my first perception was that Hawkman had picked up a caveman to take to Venus in a lightbulb. But then i saw the claws of the webbed feet and realized "Hey! That's Neptune Perkins!"
Those who remember Perkins very likely do so from his Young All-Stars revival. He was one of many golden age characters Roy Thomas brought into the (then) modern DC Universe. His penchant for doing that, his Alter Ego fanzine, and his Kree/Skrull War were the Big 3 that initially made me a life-long fan.
And, yep - the story inside, also drawn by Kozlak (writer unknown), brings Hawkman and Neptune Perkins together for a lightbulb ride to battle mythical monsters.
The cover does not lie -
Usually when an old Hawkman cover catches my eye it's from Shelly Moldoff or Joe Kubert. I think i'm going to have to snoop around to see what else i find from Kozlak.
Just under a dozen after the last issue of Flash Comics we saw yesterday, this cover hit the stands -
So, i was enjoying J.C. Kozlak's fun little cover, and my first perception was that Hawkman had picked up a caveman to take to Venus in a lightbulb. But then i saw the claws of the webbed feet and realized "Hey! That's Neptune Perkins!"
Those who remember Perkins very likely do so from his Young All-Stars revival. He was one of many golden age characters Roy Thomas brought into the (then) modern DC Universe. His penchant for doing that, his Alter Ego fanzine, and his Kree/Skrull War were the Big 3 that initially made me a life-long fan.
And, yep - the story inside, also drawn by Kozlak (writer unknown), brings Hawkman and Neptune Perkins together for a lightbulb ride to battle mythical monsters.
The cover does not lie -
Usually when an old Hawkman cover catches my eye it's from Shelly Moldoff or Joe Kubert. I think i'm going to have to snoop around to see what else i find from Kozlak.
page art by Jon Chester Kozlak from Flash Comics #81 (1947)
It's both an oddly enjoyable & enjoyably odd story. I can generally get into the weird-ass sci-fi adventures from the golden age more than I can the cops'n'robbers ones, and this obviously fits the bill.
ReplyDeleteGotta love the middle of the adventure middle class alien researcher whose demented experiment caused the problem in the first place. And gotta love how he puts all the blame on his assistant instead of taking responsibility himself!
I was checking around the internet and poor Neptune Perkins gets mocked pretty mercilessly. Despite the distinctly unimpressive name, he seems OK here... you know, for a Tarzan-type with creepily--if usefully--deformed hands and feet.
I agree that Kozlak is an artist to follow up on, but I'd also be interested in seeing Neptune Perkins' apparently only other golden age appearance in his apparently Kubert-illustrated origin story.
Also, believe it or not, I've been waiting for the Super Duck post you mentioned back in January. Surprising, perhaps, but true.
That researcher's behaviour added a bit of grounded reality to the tale, didn't it?
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that Perkins only had those two golden age tales until you pointed it out. Yeah, i think that other story would be a good one for here.
And, Thanks for pointing out that Super Duck was still waiting. It's easy for me to not realize that things haven't moved out of my head and onto the blog. There were a lot of Super critters out there, but few with the Duck's longevity - nearly 100 issues of his own title. I'll shuffle a stack up to the front of the piles.
But we'll probably do that Neptune Perkins origin first.
Mentioning things can have results. Today's Spider Widow post was spawned by our recent Frank Borth conversation.
I forgot to comment on Neptune Perkins' name.
DeleteYeah, it's funky/clunky by today's standards, but it fit in perfectly with the times. I've thought about doing a post with nothing but splash panels with some of the odd names that were running around.
Neptune Perkins stands up just fine next Bob Phantom.
Ack-
Delete"... next TO Bob Phantom."