Jane Dodge - Former Fly Girl

To answer the question we left off with last time, it was Page Parks - Air Hostess who never appeared again. That seems appropriate since she wasn't truly a Fly Girl. Lee Preston of the Red Cross appeared in the first 9 issues of Crack Comics before fading into history. Jane Martin - War Nurse had the longest run, appearing regularly in the first 111 issues of Wings.

In 1946, another Fly Girl, Jane Dodge, made a rather drastic career change to Jungle Goddess in the pages of Zoot -

Jack Kamen drew the cover above. The writing credit for the introductory strip is unknown, and the artwork is uncertain, but a good educated guess is Matt Baker, who did indeed draw the next issue, and the cover as well. Matt, as you may recall, was the artist on another Fly Girl, Ginger Maguire - Sky Girl, and our No-Fly Girl, Canteen Kate.

After almost a dozen issues, Rulah took over Zoot and had her own title from #s 17-27, while also appearing in All Top Comics. She was regularly reprinted over the years and is fondly remembered by genre aficionados. That's something of a regular footnote for characters drawn by Matt Baker.

Jungle Goddesses/Jungle Queens/Jungletc.,. is another recurring topic planned for this blog if i can ever figure out what to call them. (And, y'know, get things organized)

page art from Zoot #7 (1946)

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)

Moon Madness With Buck & Wilma

We haven't seen nearly enough of Gray Morrow's works around here as yet. Let's use our recent look at Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers parodies as an excuse to fix that a little bit. (Actually, if i could have found my frelling copy of his Amora, we could have slipped him into the parodies proper.)

This tale from Heavy Metal magazine, written by Jim Lawrence with art by Morrow, isn't a parody, but it is an odd piece that feels like a distorted reflection in some ways, due to the weird world in which they find themselves...

page art from Heavy Metal (Sept 1979)

More Flash For Your Buck

One last batch of Flash Gordon parodies, and we'll leave this topic alone for a bit.

Let's open up with a team-up from a classic comedy duo - Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. (If you're not used to thinking of them that way, take a look at Get Lost, Up Your Nose And Out Your Ear, Arrgh!, Nuts!, etc.,.)

Sometimes, it just got odd in concept, perhaps especially when you've got Wally Wood doing the artwork...

Frank Cho offers a bit of love for the original comic in his Liberty Meadows -

Bonus Flash!
In our adult content 'back room', we've got three Flash Gordon Tijuana Bibles / 8-pagers:

To check them out, visit the sister post over on The Other Voice Of ODD!

Meanwhile... if one looks hard enough, Buck Rogers parodies can be found, though few they may be by comparison...

...as previously noted, most of them focus on the Gil Gerard/Erin Gray tv show version...

But people forget!
While Flash Gordon may have famously Conquered The Universe, it was Rogers who Pacified it...

...um, okay....

maybe i got a little confused.

page art from Get Lost #1 (1954), Mad #57 (1960), Liberty Meadows #7 (1999), Myron Moose Funnies #2 (1987), and Crazy #65 (1980)