Posting Perkins' Past

Regular reader Eric (バーンズ　エリック) pointed out that Neptune Perkins only had one other Golden Age tale besides the one we ran a few days ago. It's an origin story tucked into Joe Kubert's Hawkman strip. 

That was going to nag at me and get in the way of Father Of The Inferior Five? and The Lighter Side Of Death Patrols, so let's dive right in and take a look at The Dweller In The Sea...

There. 

Now you've got the complete Golden Age Neptune Perkins. You'll have to jump ahead a few decades for Roy's Revivals to see more of the man.

page art by Joe Kubert from Flash Comics #66 (1945)

Frank's Girl

Do you know The Spider Widow?

She Weaves A Web Of Justice To Trap The Insects Of Corruption!

She had only sixteen short 5 page tales (6 pages for the intro) appearing in Feature Comics back in 1942-43.

One thing that makes her especially noteworthy around these parts is that signature above. That is indeed Frank Borth, the artist on the Enchanted Flivver tales, among other things.

The Spider Widow is a glimpse at another reality - a path not taken. The series was created and written by Borth, and drawn by him with the exception of the final tale. At that point, he was drafted into service in World War II and the strip came to an end.

After his return from the war, his comic work was primarily with Treasure Chest Of Fun & Fact. As many of you know, the book was only available to parochial students, and so his work went in a decidedly different direction. Given how much he worked with Capt. Frank T. Moss, i've wondered if perhaps they met while serving and returned to civilian life to work together? That's merely one of those idle speculations, not any sort of actual fact to be repeated as a distorted truth.
Kind of have to say that these days.

Instead of my speculative ramblings, i suspect you'd rather read the first Spider Woman tales, eh?

And so...

And then she fell for a guy...

...and for those who might be wondering - Yes, she did eventually meet the Spider-Man.
(Don't worry, we'll get there)

the works by Frank Borth from Feature Comics #s 57-59, 60 & 67 (1942, 1943)

Ride, Batman, Ride!

My Goddess informs me that today is Saturday. Damn - i'm getting worse on tracking time. I thought today was Thursday.
But, i'm finally awake so time for a quickie!

When digging through old Golden Age comics, one tends to notice little patterns and trends. One thing that stood out on the first few years of Batman covers - Batman likes to Ride!

That cover loops us back around to yesterday's post. And we left out riding things like skis, swinglines, dangling rope ladders, etc.,.

It sure looks like they were having fun, too.

Found In Space

I didn't make it to bed last night until the sun showed up. So running a wee bit behind today. Instead of rooting around for a new topic, let's just follow along with yesterday's space journey. Lots of old Golden Age heroes hopped off the planet now and again.

Even some you might never suspect - like the Black Pirate...

And then there's Batman. No surprise he left the planet. He even left the millennium. 
Batman Is Everywhere!

Too bad he didn't send them to the year 3000 to hook up with the Batman we met there three years prior to this tale.

Now, if you'll excuse me, i'm going to go caffeinate.

page art by Paul Reinman from All-American Comics #83 and Bob Kane, Lew Sayre Schwartz, and Charles Paris from Batman #59 (1947, 1950)