Hot Zig! My Greatest Discovery!

I'm feeling in the mood for some simple silliness today. Might be good for all of us.

Meet Dan Tootin, The Madcap Dentist -

Dan debuted in Hit Comics #9 (1941), from Jack Cole working under the name Ralph Johns. He had about 3 dozen one-page adventures over the next few years.

Here's about half of them...

"Now, Why can't I invent something like that?" became his final line. Seems like a good way to wrap up his series.

page art from Hit Comics #s 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 27, 29-33, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, & 46 (1941-1947)

In Case Anyone Is Interested - This Is The Professor

As usual, my monthly supply run down the hill left me fair wiped yesterday and much sleep ensued. Eventually consciousness returned but we're already running late. So let's sidetrack a bit and take a quick peek at Professor Fiend from "Boris Plaster" (a pseudonym, one would presume).

The professor only had 12 or 13 adventures, depending on how one counts. (We'll get to that) Here's the first tale introducing our Odd hero...

The professor may have returned to Earth, but only in a geophysical sense. His mind, and his encounters, were never really 'here'...

...and sometimes they were truly Out There...

Even when he tries to involve himself in the world around him, his own warped reality intercedes...

Professor Fiend was an odd creation who didn't last long (again - depending on how you count), but i rather enjoy his demented little world.

(And, yes - we'll get back to those parentheticals) 

page art by 'Boris Plaster' from Fantastic Comics #s 1, 2, 7, & 12 (1939, 1940)

Will Chen Chang Live To Carry On His Fiendish Schemes?

While we've looped back around to Munson Paddock, let's touch on a topic we'll be hearing a lot about over the next year or two - Yellow Peril.

Sax Rohmer's famous and infamous Fu Manchu is the best known example, and the popularity of the old books inspired a host of comic book imitations. Marvel, of course, had the Yellow Claw long before they licensed Fu Manchu - way back in 1942. He didn't get his own title until '56 - was that when Jimmy Woo first appeared? We'll have to go looking at some point. Not today.

Today, as i said, we're still hanging with Munson Paddock and looking at the Yellow Peril strip he produced for Victor Fox in Mystery Men Comics - Chen Chang. Some may recall that i have at times remarked on how the creators seem to have been trying to do good things even though they come off terribly racist in this next century. That's not the case here. While not quite leaping into Dwig territory, they fully embrace the racist elements of the stereotype. More often than not, Chen Chang stories open with an introduction like "Chen Chang, cultured but fiendish master mind, seeks the downfall of the white race!"...

...or "Chen Chang, master mind, plots to destroy the White Race!"...

...and occasionally the peril got a fair bit more yellow...

Here's a sampling of other introductions...

Even when there was no introductory caption, they'll mention the basics soon enough, as you can see in this tale of River Lily and the Purr of Death. And you can see how it's not just the introductions. It seems perhaps a conscious attempt to embrace and exploit the yellow peril trend...

No, we're not missing a panel. They were just so used to him dying at the end of each story that they could merely imply it by that point. Better to go ahead an tell you what story he'll be returning in than to finish the job there. 

Here's the reason Kendall asked "Can they really be alive?" in the story above...

And so it went...

...and went...

...and went...

...and went...

...and went...

...

...

...

Eventually, Kendall started to grasp the concept...

However, based on the closing captions, i guess they decided the readers hadn't figured it out yet.

page art by Munson Paddock for Mystery Men Comics #s 2-6, 10-17, & 20-23 (1939-1941)