(Don't) Send In This Coupon Today!

A lot of readers passing through here tend to see most all of the superhero movies released every year.

So, you all saw this one that came out in late 2018, right?

Solid arguments could be made that they handled the basic idea (localized) better than John Cleese & John Byrne. That ain't bad, all by itself. But they added their own unique spin, too.

But, we'll get to that.

As mentioned (probably too often), i'm still getting my brain back up and running around here. That being the case, i've yet to start getting ahead on the posting queue. Today was my excursion out of the cave to visit the med techs. No longer down the hill - they opened up a location outside the city limits so it's right close by. Close enough to walk, assuming the nerve damage in the feet is being nice. (Spoiler: It was)

Back to the cave now, but fair wiped as is often the case after the trek.

Those of you who enjoy doing the math likely already realize there's no real post today. Just that teaser above, a bit of ramble in the middle, and an odd little bit at the end.

What magazine do you suppose Captain Marvel (Shazam, not Kree) enjoys reading in his down time?

...

Thinking about it?

Trickier question once we factor in Billy Batson and mix with the Wisdom Of Solomon and his being in adult form while reading, as implied by the phrasing of the question.

Got an answer?

I'm guessing you picked wrong...

ad page from Rocket Kelly #2 (1945)

Ernie! Confound It! What Have You Done Now?

Ernie was a guy who never caught on, it seems. But, he tried. He had three different strips (all by 'Vic Brown'), each appearing in a different title. He debuted in All Great Comics in 1945, and popped up in both Rocket Kelly and Zoot Comics in '46.

Although he may only have had these three comic tales, it seems his adventures were ongoing well before that time. The first story opens up "Yes! Ernie has blown the top off the peace and quiet of his home again!" And Ernie's father is already tired of his dren...

Ernie's interests turn from science to fantasy for his next tale. (We're guessing on the order here. One story is from August-September issue, the other is from the Fall issue. Ipsy/bipsy) His attentions have turned from chemistry to the tales of One Thousand And One Nights...

He manages to combine his interests in science and fantasy for his third, and final, tale...

Although Ernie may only have had three appearances in the comics, he got a pretty good ending to his stories.

page art from All Great Comics (nn), Rocket Kelly #4, Zoot Comics #3 (1945, 1946)

Skipping Rope In The Nude

It all started in the letters page.

One of the downsides to knowing that you're a comic book character - you could get drafted to answer your own fan mail. Eventually, that led to this remark from Jennifer...

Well, she wasn't wrong...

Of course, she tried to kill that idea real quick...

But, the very next issue...

And so...

Ah, the magic of illusion.

For an extra punchline to the joke, on the very next page...

Some days writing She-Hulk was easier than others. Let's see them try to adapt that scene to the movies, eh?

page art by John Byrne for Sensational She-Hulk #40 (1992)

...We've Seen The Odd Disturbance Or Two...

There are times when my mind and i are ... i guess 'frenemies' is probably the best term these days. I've made mention of how it can wander away from me, and that was a major part of the recent down time.

That's terribly vague and offers little understanding of how things can work around here...

Aside from my odd existence as a hermit (I typically interact with other humans twice a month - fetching supplies and letting the med techs poke & take their samples. Hermit.) things can get kind of weird for how my mind and i interact. Much of the time, we're quite chill together. We were a top performance team for a long time, after all. But other times...

Here's an every day type example of how it sometimes work.

I was debating what to make for dinner for a bit. I was feeling like doing breakfast for dinner with some bacon, eggs & hash browns or cooking up some pork chops and some black pepper beans with some bisquits or corn bread to sop it up. Eventually i wound up deciding on something in between instead - pork chops & hash browns. (Hash browns can make for some pretty good dinner taters when the mood is right) So, i get up and go to cut a couple chops off some pork loin.

A bit later i realize that i've minced the pork loin and i'm chopping up onion, bell pepper, cilantro & garlic. Apparently i'm making tacos for dinner.

Now, don't get me wrong. They were very good tacos (scratch, not packet mix, cooked street style) and i enjoyed them quite a bit. I just wasn't really involved in the decision making process.

Not surprisingly, this makes it fairly impossible for me to work these days when i can't reliably depend upon my mind to go where the editor/publisher needs it to be. Hence the early retirement.

Generally speaking, we maintain an equitable accord. But when it gets a mood, it's quite difficult, if not impossible, to work against it. Push harder, and it's got all those little mental tricks to divert and distract, or to zone out and shut down. Dirty tricks, they is.

Hopefully, i'll write more about things upstairs over time. It would be good for me, even if boring for you. At least it gives a little insight into what happened when things went quiet around here.

Don't worry.

I'm pretty sure none of this ever happened now...

art from Sensational She-Hulk #s 11 & 47 (1990, 1993)

So! It's YOU, Louise!

Let's get back to the Blonde Phantom...

Blonde Phantom Comics ran for only 11 issues between 1946 and 1949. But she got around during that time. Not only did she have her own book, she had strips in Sub-Mariner Comics, Namora, Sun Girl, Marvel Mystery Comics and Blackstone The Magician, whose splash panels we see here -

These were typically short (four page) tales. For examples of the stories, here are her two appearances from Sun Girl #s 2 & 3 -

When she showed up in Marvel Mystery Comics, she was the big star up front on a cover the heroes later made famous as The Invaders - Captain America, the Human Torch, and the Sub-Mariner -

She showed up on two more covers.* Once damsel in distressing for the Human Torch...

...and once more to party with Torch, Subby and Sun Girl...

Louise had seven adventures in MMC, the splash for one of which is featured at the top of this post. Here are the other six -

After 1949, it was off to comics limbo for her, as we saw in Sensational She-Hulk.

But - she did escape limbo once in the '70s, a dozen years before she managed to become a supporting character for Jennifer...

story art by Bill Black

We can see how desperate she was to leave limbo if she showed up for just those two pages, eh?

Some may wonder at why we didn't see the Blonde Phantom in the sequence that closed out the Sensational She-Hulk comic, which we saw at the end of our first post on Deadpool's Big Green Mama.

The thing is - we did! In perhaps the sneakiest way possible.

As you might recall (or can follow that link above to go back and look), Millie The Model was introduced as the hidden 'villain' in those pages.

So, so sneaky...

Story art by Ken Bald

art from Blackstone The Magician #s 2, 3, & 4, Submariner # 27, Sun Girl #s 2 & 3, Marvel Mystery Comics #s 84-91, Bizarre Tales #1, Millie The Model #2 (1946-1949, 1977)

*(Oops.
I just noticed that she appeared on one more cover for Marvel Mystery Comics - #86. Sorry, it's not scanned & prepped. It's a split focus cover, with her hanging out with a couple of pirates on the bottom right. That means there were 8 stories, also.

That help?)