10 August 2019

Into The Unknown And Fantastic Elements Never Before Traveled By Man

Well, i promised a Fantastic post this afternoon, so it's time to deliver. We actually have a bit of a head start on this a few days ago when we met this guy...





 Okay. You might not recognize a couple of those stories (we'll get there) but, it's the good (bad?) Professor to whom we refer, not the tales. Rather surprisingly, Professor Fiend is the first time we've touched on Fantastic Comics

Fantastic Comics premiered in December of 1939 (cover date), lasting only 23 issues over two years. (Or 24 issues over 70 years. As mentioned in Professor Fiend's previous post, it's a little tricky.)

The star of the book, hogging all the covers, was Samson, a legally safe Superman substitute...




...and in that classical vein, they featured The Golden Knight...




...and an updated version of another classic character, Captain Kidd -




With world war looming, it's no surprise to find a strip like Yank Wilson, Super Spy Q-4 -




And BTW - Yank was rocking the blue body suit look for superspies long before S.H.I.E.L.D. -


They also had scifi adventure beneath the sea in the far future with Sub Saunders -




What makes it so surprising that we haven't been here before is one of the  golden age kings of Odd had two features in the book, including his most famous creation, Stardust, The Super Wizard -




Fletcher Hanks was perhaps too obvious when i was starting this blog, and so Fantastic Comics got pushed to back of the cave and ignored.

Fletcher also wrote & drew Space Smith under his Hank Christy nomme de plume -




And then there was my personal favorite. Halfway to Buckaroo, it's the adventures of Flip Falcon In The Fourth Dimension -

(Yeah, it took a couple episodes to settle on his name)



These were just the characters who were around at the beginning of the book. More joined along the way; some only in the last couple issues as they tried new things before cancellation. We'll likely peek at them eventually, but next - Let's join Flip Falcon back when he was still Flick to see how he got started...

splash panels from Fantastic Comics #s 1-12 (1939, 1940)

I Never Saw THIS Planet In The Space Index

I mentioned the Rex Dexter of Mars->Mars Mason->Tex Maxon (il)logic chain a few days ago (skipping the Rex Baxter by Dexter sidetrack) on Tex's post. That got me hankering for another tale with that Interplanetary Adventurer - Rex Dexter.

So, we've got a short tale for a Saturday morning post to start the day. Dick Briefer shows us what happens when we mix strange scifi with Master Of The Flying Guillotine. (Well, not really. But, you'll see...)


"Follow Every Weird Adventure..."
Yup. They called that one right.

As indicated, this was just a quickie morning post. I'll be back with a Fantastic post this afternoon.

page art by Dick Briefer from Mystery Men Comics #18 (1941)

09 August 2019

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)




08 August 2019

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)