Friday, February 19, 2010
The Chaotic World of Fletcher Hanks Strikes Again!
Today's stories are: Space Smith from Fantastic Comics 1 (December 1939), Stardust from Fantastic Comics 2 (January 1940), Big Red McLane from Fight Comics 2 (February 1940) and Fantomah from Jungle Comics 2 (February 1940). These four characters represent the major focus of Fletcher Hanks' short career in comics.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Blue Beetle, Wonder Boy & The Wasp
Today's stories are Blue Beetle from "Mystery Men Comics 2" (September 1939). Wonder Boy from "National Comics 1" (July 1940) and The Wasp from "Silver Streak Comics 1" (December 1939).
The Blue Beetle was originally published by Fox Features until 1942, when Holyoke picked-up "The Blue Beetle" for a little while. It returned to Fox in 1944, where the character would last until 1950. Charlton published the adventures of the Blue Beetle in the 50s & 60s, then AC Comics had a very short run with the character in the 1980s, and finally DC Comics has had a moderate amount of succes with the hero since the mid-80s.
Wonder Boy is another character that has bounced around from publisher to publisher. Starting-out at Quality Comics in the pages of "National Comics", he would appear in Elliott Publishing's "Bomber Comics" in 1944 alongside the superhero named Kismet. In 1955, Ajax/Farrell published more tales of this hero in the pages of "Samson", "Terrific Comics" and two issues of "Wonder Boy".
The Wasp appeared in the first two issues of "Silver Streak Comics", published by Your Guide Publications. Another hero named The Wasp (who looks the same, so I actually consider it to be the same hero, although others may disagree based on the fact that the character's secret id was different for each publisher), appeared in "Speed Comics 12 & 13" and "Champ Comics 19".
The Blue Beetle was originally published by Fox Features until 1942, when Holyoke picked-up "The Blue Beetle" for a little while. It returned to Fox in 1944, where the character would last until 1950. Charlton published the adventures of the Blue Beetle in the 50s & 60s, then AC Comics had a very short run with the character in the 1980s, and finally DC Comics has had a moderate amount of succes with the hero since the mid-80s.
Wonder Boy is another character that has bounced around from publisher to publisher. Starting-out at Quality Comics in the pages of "National Comics", he would appear in Elliott Publishing's "Bomber Comics" in 1944 alongside the superhero named Kismet. In 1955, Ajax/Farrell published more tales of this hero in the pages of "Samson", "Terrific Comics" and two issues of "Wonder Boy".
The Wasp appeared in the first two issues of "Silver Streak Comics", published by Your Guide Publications. Another hero named The Wasp (who looks the same, so I actually consider it to be the same hero, although others may disagree based on the fact that the character's secret id was different for each publisher), appeared in "Speed Comics 12 & 13" and "Champ Comics 19".
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Cool Comic Links update
I've updated the "Cool Comic Links", making a few additions while deleting one link. These links aren't just for you guys, it's also a quick way for me to get where I want to go 'round the 'net.
"OOP! Comics" is gone from my links. While it was a fun online comic strip to read, the guy running the show apparently isn't working on it anymore, not adding anything new since October 2009. That may not mean he's finished ... he could return, and when he does get back into creating new strips, maybe I'll put "OOP!" back on the list.
Love going to comic book sites that are mostly in a foreign language? Then check-out http://gotomars.free.fr/magician.html which features all five of Centaur Comics' "Magician From Mars" stories, which includes the work of John Giunta, Malcolm Kildale & Michael Mirando. Can't read French but want to know what the author of the site is talking about? Just use a free online translator (I usually use WorldLingo's translator because it's free).
The Golden Years is back and better than ever! Well, it's still a work in progress at this point as the old version of the site is still being transferred over to the new site, but things have gotten off to a good start as The Target, Black Terror, The Cadet & Black Diamond are all featured in the brand new issue 37 of "All-Amazing Comics". Go check it out and let the guy know what you think of his hard work.
And that's it for today. I was gonna babble-on about how I wish the Ottawa Senators would trade Chris Neil to either the Penguins or Flyers so he could play for a team I actually care about, or how I thought this past week's episode of "Smallville" was pretty cool but thought that the acting from Michael Shanks was his weakest performance I have ever seen, or how pathetic I think it is that Marvel Comics lets "The Twelve" just kind of linger in oblivion because they aren't smart enough to simply replace that egomaniac of a writer with someone who can meet deadlines & finish what they start, but who cares what I think?
"OOP! Comics" is gone from my links. While it was a fun online comic strip to read, the guy running the show apparently isn't working on it anymore, not adding anything new since October 2009. That may not mean he's finished ... he could return, and when he does get back into creating new strips, maybe I'll put "OOP!" back on the list.
Love going to comic book sites that are mostly in a foreign language? Then check-out http://gotomars.free.fr/magician.html which features all five of Centaur Comics' "Magician From Mars" stories, which includes the work of John Giunta, Malcolm Kildale & Michael Mirando. Can't read French but want to know what the author of the site is talking about? Just use a free online translator (I usually use WorldLingo's translator because it's free).
The Golden Years is back and better than ever! Well, it's still a work in progress at this point as the old version of the site is still being transferred over to the new site, but things have gotten off to a good start as The Target, Black Terror, The Cadet & Black Diamond are all featured in the brand new issue 37 of "All-Amazing Comics". Go check it out and let the guy know what you think of his hard work.
And that's it for today. I was gonna babble-on about how I wish the Ottawa Senators would trade Chris Neil to either the Penguins or Flyers so he could play for a team I actually care about, or how I thought this past week's episode of "Smallville" was pretty cool but thought that the acting from Michael Shanks was his weakest performance I have ever seen, or how pathetic I think it is that Marvel Comics lets "The Twelve" just kind of linger in oblivion because they aren't smart enough to simply replace that egomaniac of a writer with someone who can meet deadlines & finish what they start, but who cares what I think?
Friday, February 5, 2010
The Clock Strikes!
For 9 years, George Brenner produced The Clock, starting in 1936 and ending in 1944. In the beginning, The Clock appeared in the Comics Magazine Company's "Funny Pages" from November 1936 until June 1937. The Clock made additional appearances in CMC's "Funny Picture Stories # 1" and "Detective Picture Stories" numbers 1 & 5, with reprints appearing in the first two issues of "Keen Detective Stories" (July & September 1938).
In December 1937, The Clock began appearing in Quality Comics' "Feature Funnies" (eventually called "Feature Comics") from issue 3 through issue 31. The character was then published within the pages of "Crack Comics" for the first 35 issues, ending in "Fall" 1944.
From reading different articles and whatnot in magazines and on online, it would appear as if Brenner simply claimed ownership of The Clock when he went from working at the Comics Magazine Company to working for Quality Comics.
Even though The Clock saw his last new story produced before the end of World War II, his nine-year run is comparable to such popular characters as The Black Terror, The Shield, Quality's Midnight & The Target, and longer than the runs of the Golden Age Cat-Man, Green Lama or Black Hood.
In December 1937, The Clock began appearing in Quality Comics' "Feature Funnies" (eventually called "Feature Comics") from issue 3 through issue 31. The character was then published within the pages of "Crack Comics" for the first 35 issues, ending in "Fall" 1944.
From reading different articles and whatnot in magazines and on online, it would appear as if Brenner simply claimed ownership of The Clock when he went from working at the Comics Magazine Company to working for Quality Comics.
Even though The Clock saw his last new story produced before the end of World War II, his nine-year run is comparable to such popular characters as The Black Terror, The Shield, Quality's Midnight & The Target, and longer than the runs of the Golden Age Cat-Man, Green Lama or Black Hood.
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