Let Evil Perish With Evil

Recently we've been picking up debris strewn from old posts, plucked at dangling threads, and generally tried to pick up things left hanging over the past couple years. Of course, in the process, more bits were left half forgotten along the way.

We were talking about Chen Chang and the Yellow Peril comics, and it was planned to continue with a contrasting strip from the time - Dr. Fung, by "Arthur Dean ", yet another golden age pen name with a mystery hidden behind it. Artwork was initially from Bob Powell, who we've seen previously with his classic Vic Torry And His Flying Saucer strip, as well as one of our Fly Girls, Lee Preston of the Red Cross. Powell authored at least some of the stories, and may have been the original scribe.

Here's a trio of Dr. Fung's early tales so you can get a feel for the strip. All 3 are both written and drawn by Bob Powell -

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that this was a comic free of cruel stereotypes...

...but it was a stark contrast to much of what was published at the time. The hero was a Chinese man, though stereotyped quite a bit, it was not in a generally derogatory manner. And yes, of course, he was partnered up with a jodpurs wearing great white hero to make him more palatable for the reading public in the USA.

The Doctor first appeared in the somewhat infamous Wonder Comics #s 1 & 2. Wonder Comics featured Wonder Man, a direct intentional Superman rip-off commissioned from Will Eisner. The title was, unsurprisingly, quickly sued out of existence. The only copies i've ever seen are micro-fiche, and bad micro-fiche at that.

With issue #4, Wonder Comics re-branded and became Wonderland Comics, wherein Dr. Fung continued until the title ended with issue #33.

He's no Di Renjie, but he's a nice contrast from 80 years ago.

page art by Bob Powell for Wonderland Comics #s 4-6 (1939)

1940 - A Good Year For Fly Girls

We haven't looked at any Fly Girls in a bit, and since we've been poking around in the 1940s lately, let's jump back to the beginning of the decade. 1940 saw the debut of at least 3 Fly Girls in the comics - Jane Martin - War Nurse, Lee Preston of the Red Cross, and Page Parks - Air Hostess.

While i'm trying to salvage data as the new hard drive exhibits signs of advanced dementia, why don't you folks take a look at the introductory tales for each of the ladies. All three of them debuted as features in the first issue of new titles.

Page Parks premiered in issue #1 of Blue Bolt, written by Ray Gill with art from William Rowland. (The standard practice of writer/artist ordering on the credits hadn't yet been established at this point) -

Okay, you're right. Page doesn't really qualify as a Fly Girl since she never takes the stick. But she was up there in the air very early on, and debuted in a highly prestigious title with a Joe Simon cover and young Jack Kirby just getting together with him in the background, about to start a partnership that would help shape the next half century of comics, and beyond. So she gets a mention anyway.
Meanwhile...

Actually, one month prior... Crack Comics #1 featured the debut of Lee Preston with Bob Powell using the Terrence MacAully pseudonym -

Three or four months later, depending on which comic you're counting from, Wings #1 hit the stands with Jane Martin. (Fred Hawks is a house name, not the actual creator)

Of the three, one had another handfull (and a half) of adventures, the second appeared perhaps a hundred times or more, and the third was never seen again. Care to guess who was whom?

This afternoon, we'll have the answers and an odd entry from later in the decade - a long running character who quit being a Fly Girl at the start of her first adventure.

See you in 12 hours!

page art from Blue Bolt #1, Crack Comics #1, and Wings Comics #1 (1940)

3-Day Weekend Matinee: Day The Third

I've got too many exclamations points laying around unused. Time to unload some!

Welcome back to our 3-Day Weekend Matinee!
Three Thrilling Tales!!!
Our 3rd chapter of Oskar Lebeck & Alden McWilliams' classic Twin Earths!
The return of Joe Kubert's Son Of Sinbad!!
The concluding chapter of Bob Powell's Vic Torry And His Flying Saucer!!!
Oh, the excitement! (Most of which comes from finally managing to connect and post this to the queue. Weather warming up again, and net connection failing. Oh, the joys of living outside the city!)

Okay... I think we used up a fair bit of our surplus - On With The Show!

Twin Earths - Chapter 3:

Previously on Twin Earths: Vana, an agent from Terra, has revealed the existence of her world to government agents of the United States. Occupying the opposite position on the same orbital path as Earth, Terra is scientifically more advanced than Earth, and poses a great potential danger - if she can convince the men in charge...

To Be Continued...

If you missed it, we recently took a quick look at Son Of Sinbad from Joe Kubert back in 1950. Here's another tale from that lone volume -

And, now - the exciting conclusion of Vic Torry And His Flying Saucer!

While looking for background information, i found that not only has Vic Torry's tale been reprinted in recent years, but Atlantis put out a 5" model of his flying saucer!

Nice to see some of those old lost strips being remembered. If you're interested in the model, here's their web page for it.

Twin Earths by Oskar Lebeck and Alden McWilliams for United Features,   Son Of Sinbad by Joe Kubert for Son Of Sinbad #1, Vic Torry by Roy  Ald and Bob Powell for Vic Torry And His Flying Saucer #1 (1947, 1950, 1952)