17 July 2018

Do You Know Spudo?

When it comes to Odd, Spudo's got it handled -


No matter the situation, he's always got a grip on it...


...a master of arms...


...ever willing to lend a hand when he can...


...skilled in hand to hand to hand to hand combat...


...capable of handling multiple tasks simultaneously...


...when times are hard, he'll sully his hands with dirty work...


...while he may not be an old hand at the task, he's at least willing to try to grab the bull by the horns...


...and, of course, with the girls he's handy. Some might say they're putty in his hands...


 ...but a girl in trouble is in safe hands with Spudo...


Show of hands -How many want to stop me from ever writing again after reading through those intro remarks?

Okay. I'll stop now.

To give you a glimpse of the character, let's take a look at his first tale, written by Gwen Hansen with art, as always, by Klaus Nordling -


The thing is - that may be his first story, but that's not his first story...

page art by Klaus Nordling for The Barker #s 1-15 (1946-1948)

The Impossible Earth Man

I must be still wiped out from the other day. My brain just can't make sense of Earth Man.


Who is this mysterious hero? Why is he called Earth Man? Can we even call him a hero when his quest/mission seems to be simply beating someone who doesn't like him to a salvage goal? Let's look and see...


A-ha! He's got a rocket ship. Maybe this isn't Earth, but an Earth-like planet and he's a visitor from our world? That could explain the Earth Man name...


Nope - they're heading through the "core of the Earth" so not a different planet.
Maybe that's where the name comes from - he can burrow through Earth with his ship? His power is digging holes?


But, wait! A hint of power appears...


...with zero connection to the name Earth Man. That was his one and only appearance. I guess nobody else could figure out what he was supposed to be, either. If you're going to do a hero named Earth Man, have a reason for the name. That's not too tricky, is it? It's not like i'm asking the impossible here.

Actually, the Impossible would work just fine, and make more sense. Since the name is in use by some Kirby-Come-Latelee, just pretend Hugh Mann chose the name Earth Man instead of Impossible Man in this tale and see if it doesn't seem more appropriate than the usage above (art by Bernard Baily? (contested)) -


page art from Supersnipe v2#8 and Meteor #1 (1945)

16 July 2018

The Lighter Side Of Martian Invasions

We've got just a quickie post at the moment. Yesterday (per posting time reference) was a bit of a trial. I wound up being dragged across Idaho in burning heat for too many hundreds of miles and a wretchedly large number of hours to help a friend. I'm making this post with some ready material as i wind down for what may be around the clock slumber. Hence this short post in case i'm not functionally awake again today.

A great many of us grew up reading Dave Berg in Mad magazine, most notably his Lighter Side Of... features. So deeply ingrained is that association that we often forget that he worked in comics for well over a decade before joining the staff at Mad back in '56. In fact, he even worked as part of the Will Eisner Studio and did features for Timely/Atlas/Marvel.

Since we'll be looking at Venus sometime soon, let's go to a back-up tale in issue #13 of that comic for a look at his work five years before he joined up at Mad (author unknown) -


It's been said before, but - I'm off!
G'night all.

art by Dave Berg for Venus #13 (1951)

Blue Monday Calendar 2018 Week 29

This week's Gil Elvgren pin-up painting is Let's Go from 1957 -


art by Gil Elvgren (1957)

15 July 2018

Sunday Morning Funny Animals

I seem to be stuck in the '40s, so let's just roll with it. For our Sunday Morning Funnies this week, Funny Animals of the Fourties seems like a workable theme, eh?

Let's start out with another visit by Walrus Whopper -


DC's Comic Cavalcade featured a host of funny animals back in the '40s, including Dodo & Frog, Nutsy Squirrel, Blabber Mouse, the Raccoon Kids, Tortoise & Hare, and Goofy Goose. But the big duo, who stuck around for decades, was Fox & Crow -


Pelican Pete was an odd bird, no doubt. Beyond his Felix style "bag o tricks" pelican beak, he also lived... 'between worlds' seems the best description. Take a look at this tale, featuring art by Otto Feuer -


pages from Animal Antics #5, Comic Cavalcade #30, and Leading Comics #29 (1947, 1948)