Rosie? Is That You?

I bumped into an odd notation in the Grand Comics Database this morning. I was looking at an old issue of War Victory Adventures and noticed that the Rosie The Riveter strip indicated that this was her first and Only (discounting reprint) appearance...

...so, i ask you then, who is This...?
 

...or This...?
 

Obviously, though sharing the name of the iconic Rosie The Riveter, they're all different characters. And all three only appeared once, naturally during World War II in 1943 and 1944.

So, while i remembered other Rosie comics, the GCD entry was still correct while being incorrect.

Oh, BTW - the final segment of TIM ran yesterday in our back room for adult content, The Other Voice Of ODD!. I forgot to mention and link to it.

Sorry about that.

page art from War Victory Adventures #3, All-New Comics #10, and Green Hornet Comics #16 (1943, 1944)

Why Ya Cryin', Lion?

You know, there are times when i'm actually glad that the Big Guys stopped publishing comics for Readers (instead focusing on Collectors and FanBoys - with at times predictably horrific results) along with embracing the notion that they could never do as well as what came before, so might as well just trash all that and mine it for recycled goods. (Hmm... gonna shut up before this paragraph becomes the entire post)

It's because the pushed me away from modern comics that i've spent most of the last couple decades reading back into the past instead. With most of a century's worth of comics piled up, there're more than i can read in the time left to me on this plane. 

Yes, i'm rambling semi-aimlessly here. I don't have some amazing treasure from the hidden past to present to you today. Just some odd fun. We're going to stick with a single issue of one title and flip through the stories contained within. Most of them.

Let's start with one from the middle, just because it's a different kind of Odd, right from the start. You see - despite the title, his name is actually Groucho Gremlin. They couldn't even spell the protagonist's name correctly in the header. That is Odd -

The gremlins have changed a lot since arriving on our shores in WW2. (My fave is still the Cast A Deadly Spell version). 

Meanwhile(?), eons earlier...

Forget Prairie Dog - the name that tickles me here is Senorita Swoona. That one amuses me enough that i'm not even going to ask "What is Super Cow-Punching?" -
 

While i tend to avoid too-clever name mash-ups these days (they've too often in recent times been the only thing the creators seemed to think needed inspiration and have become a sign of low quality for me - sorry Batman Who Laughs. You came with LOSER tattooed on your forehead, just like Leto's Joker*, even if we can't see it under the mask)

That said, i do like the name Cock Robinhood...

We skipped Grease Monkey. It was just too cringe-worthy for my mood today. We're living in times that will be mocked and referred to with disgust in future days. It's just a little too close to home to be on the other side just now.
 

So - where did these folks appear? It's in the title, of course. It was the second issue (of 3) of this guy's book - Cryin' Lion -
 

Yeah.
I could do some popcorn...

page art by Art Moore, Rojo, and ??? from Cryin' Lion #2 (1944)

===
*(He may have used the letters b-r-o-k-e-n or whatever to spell it, but unless Batman held him down and tattooed it on his forehead, it said "LOSER" - as it would say about anyone who felt the emo need to advertise like that on his face)

Was Volto's Secret Identity Euell Gibbons?

Well, frell - i seem to have missed another day or two while off in my head. Again.

Mind the gap.

For a quickie to get things rolling today, let's go for another ADventure - this time with Volto From Mars. ADventures, as you may or may not recall, are what we call those old comic advertisements that were done in comic strip format.

So - what do might a hero named Volto be advertising? Batteries? Electronic Build Kits? Breakfast Cereal?

Um, yeah...   that last one.
I don't follow the logic here, but since there may not have been any involved, let's just move right along. 

So then, what were Volto's electric powers to earn that name?
Magnetism? Kinda/sorta but without the ferrous requirements? He's got repulsion and attraction powers - Always in that order; first the left hand repels then the right hand attracts, then we eat breakfast.

Let's take a look -

Yeah, more than a tad repetitive and bland.
So, maybe they did put a bit of thought into product representation?
(Sorry all you fans of the stuff)

page art by ??? from Adventure Comics, Coo Coo Comics, More Fun Comics, Whiz Comics, and lots and lots of other comics (1944-1946)