Moon Girl Bonus Bit 1

So...

I wrote up this morning's post and put it in the queue last night.
This morning Happy Houligans #1 and Animal Fables #7 arrived.

Those two statements might seem unrelated, but there is a direct connection.
EC was pretty proud of this new character they created with Moon Girl. In their advertisements, they referred to "This Amazing New Magazine Destined To Make Comic History!"

They thought they had something here, and they wanted to make sure it got seen. And so, her first tale also appeared in Animal Fables and Happy Houligans. (And International Crime Patrol #6? I haven't found that issue as yet, so i don't know if it's a new tale or another presentation of her origin story.)

This is particularly nice for us. You see, i'd only been able to work with library microfiche copies of some of those early Moon Girl issues, including the first. So now we have a better quality page to work with than that which we used for the original post.

That being the case, let's take a better look at that first story. Here is the 8 page tale in its entirety, as it appeared in Happy Houligans #1:

Moon Girl by Bill Woolfolk and Sheldon Moldoff from Happy Houligans #1 (1947)

Moon Girl Bonus Bit 0

A few extra bits on Moon Girl to follow this morning's post.

Shelly Moldoff's introduction, from Moon Girl #6-

...and the original art for it, if you like that sort of thing-

Here's the art for one of issue #8's splash pages that we saw previously-

...and, just for Kid - because of the blog timing - here's an advertisement that links our posts:

Moon Girl and Dandy together!
(Sorry, folks - that makes so little sense, i know)

Mooning for the Girl

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.

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)

A Conversation On Times Passed/Past

The main reason i live a retired life is focus. Trying to get my mind to go where i want it to can, at times, be like herding the proverbial kittens with a pack of duck mixed in. So, no Blue Monday today. Pretend it's a Twisted Tuesday or Throwback Thursday or something instead, eh?
=== 

Young Reader: Old Dead Dude, can you help me to understand "The 70s"?

ODD: Sure, kid. Read this-

NOTE: The cover contains weird nudity and has been moved to our back room for adult content.
Please follow this link to The Other Voice Of ODD! archive of the original post to view the artwork.

YR: I changed my mind. I don't want to know.
        I wanna go home now.

(Really, kids, it was a pretty groovy time. The Social Pendulum reached the apex of its swing towards Freedom before reversing course for our current arc into Tyranny. But, that led to a lot of strange explorations as people fumbled to find their way beyond the previous limits and get a grasp on that strange new territory)

the works from Weird Trips #1 (1974)

Who Was Dryasdust?

...continuing from this morning's post...

So, obviously, from the very beginning Dryasdust was perceived as a pseudonym. But for whom?

A few years after their initial publication, revised editions of Tales Of The Wonder Club began to appear, with the author's name revealed - M.Y. Halidom. The mystery solved!

Erm... not so much.
As the Dictionary Of Pseudonyms explains:

More specifically, halidom is a word for a Sacred Place or Sacred Object. Just as a note for those wanting to contemplate the author's intent.

From the beginning, this, too, was recognized as a pseudonym. See the 4 June 1904 edition of The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art for a contemporary example:

And so, the mystery lingered on throughout the 20th century. From The Encyclopedia Of Fantasy:

Some even thought they had found the author, though they were later proven eroneous, as in this entry from the Dictionary Of Literary Pseudonyms:

Not until this century, in 2005, did someone finally find an answer to this puzzle. And this is where it gets frustrating for me, because i can only find second hand references to the solution with no details of the determination process.
It seems that the folks at Wormwood magazine, a small UK publication from Tartarus Press put together a research team who uncovered Alexander Huth as our author.

Not a lot is known about the man. There's considerably more information available on his father, oddly enough. Here's his listing from ThePeerage.com :

Alexander Huth
M, #447198, b. 23 December 1838, d. 12 December 1914
Last Edited=27 Aug 2010
     Alexander Huth was born on 23 December 1838 at Marylebone, London, EnglandG.1,2,3,4,6,7 He was the son of Charles Frederick Huth and Frances Caroline Marshall.7 He married Gesualda Margherita Maria Milana, daughter of Bernardo Milana and Carolina Mastropietro, on 19 August 1870 at ItalyG.7 He died on 12 December 1914 at age 75 at Wandsworth, London, EnglandG.1,7
     He lived in 1841 at St. Marylebone, London, EnglandG.6,7 He lived in 1851 at Brighthelmstone, Sussex, EnglandG.2,7 He lived in 1891 at Wandsworth, London, EnglandG.4,7 He lived in 1901 at Wandsworth, London, EnglandG.3,7
Children of Alexander Huth and Gesualda Margherita Maria Milana

    Lancelot Arthur Huth+7 b. 5 Sep 1875, d. 14 Nov 1967
    Enid Agnes Huth+7 b. 1878, d. 1968
    Vivien Josephine Maria Huth7 b. 1 Nov 1879, d. Dec 1972
    Elaine Mary Huth7 b. 1881, d. 1948
    Galahad John Huth+7 b. Jun 1883, d. 6 Oct 1963
    Frances Guinevere Huth+7 b. Dec 1886, d. 1970
    Merlin Huth+7 b. Jun 1888, d. 1987

Not exactly a wealth of information.

That's the complete extent of my knowledge on the subject, and i've been unable to find either the Wormwood issue or a summary of the data. In fact, even Tartarus Press seems to be sold out of the likely issue containing the work.

Anybody out there who can fill in the gaps on how this mystery was solved? Or has it merely been declared to solved, with the mystery yet remaining?

For those wishing to read these early tales of the fantastic, all three books are available on Project Gutenberg.