Original cover by Alan Davis and Paul Neary; DC 1987. Brian Taylor's website is here.
Montag, 31. August 2009
Starfire
Also serialized in the Saturday Evening Post as Moon Pilot and made into a movie of the same name by the Walt Disney Company.Story by Robert Buckner (1960).
Artist uncredited, seems familiar but not enough to declare with any certainty.
Sonntag, 30. August 2009
You've gone to infinity and beyond, baby
Illustration for Underestimation, from Rocket Stories (September 1954).Story by Alger Rome with art by Eberle.
Samstag, 29. August 2009
Porny Mason
Throughout the two decades prior to the 1970s publishers had pretty much saturated the market with reprinted science fiction, adventure and mystery and were searching for new consumers. The 1970s offered a new opportunity in marketing. Continuing the practices of the 1950s and 1960s previously published stories were repackaged and some cases edited to take advantage of the perceived growing culture of sexual adventurism.
Sex and sexuality was explored as never before in popular culture media as cinema, television and print added eye-catching imagery to their products. One of those franchises that took advantage and one might say suffered from the advertising culture were the Earle Stanley Gardner Perry Mason collections of the 1970s. The Perry Mason character had been in nearly continual print and produced in other entertainment forms since the first story was published in 1933.
The photographic covers of the 1970s re-issues of the Perry Mason stories are a perfect example of recognizing, understanding and exploiting pop culture. Gone were the bombshells and hard-boiled dames of previous years. Now the books attracted a new audience by taking advantage of the pornography industry's emerging though short-lived legitimization.
Thematically most of the photographs would not be out of place if transferred to the film box covers of 8mm skin flicks. They were unapologetic come-ons. While the sexy covers may have generated some sales I recall that my mother and grandmother, who were ESG and Perry Mason fans from way back and read mystery novels on a regular basis, would not touch these books when they debuted. The idea put forth by the covers of Perry Mason, a mental image undoubtedly influenced by years of exposure to Raymond Burr, boinking his clients during huge orgies must have been a turn-off for them. I know that it is for me.
As far as I know new scenes of swinging, weed-fueled bacchanals were not edited into the old stories, though that was not true for all of the work in other fields. Sex scenes were often added semi-randomly to many reprints, most predominately for the science fiction crowd. Often I was
surprised to discover SF stories that I had read in old collections when reprinted had several paragraphs tossed in devoted to sex scenes. Undoubtedly in order to keep the interest of a reader and hook them for future sales.
If Diamond Bomb had existed to have her adventures reprinted in the early 1970s then her artistic covers may have been similar to all the others on the news stands and would have been just as exploitative. One exception to the sexy themes of the covers would be the intent of the art. Being a female character it would be unlikely that Diamond would be portrayed as dominant a character as Perry Mason had been. In diametric opposition to whatever established characterization existed, Diamond would almost certainly be depicted not as strong or an aggressor but as being submissive, willing and sexy, a toy for the other characters and an intriguing tease for the prospective buyer.
Sex and sexuality was explored as never before in popular culture media as cinema, television and print added eye-catching imagery to their products. One of those franchises that took advantage and one might say suffered from the advertising culture were the Earle Stanley Gardner Perry Mason collections of the 1970s. The Perry Mason character had been in nearly continual print and produced in other entertainment forms since the first story was published in 1933.
The photographic covers of the 1970s re-issues of the Perry Mason stories are a perfect example of recognizing, understanding and exploiting pop culture. Gone were the bombshells and hard-boiled dames of previous years. Now the books attracted a new audience by taking advantage of the pornography industry's emerging though short-lived legitimization.
Thematically most of the photographs would not be out of place if transferred to the film box covers of 8mm skin flicks. They were unapologetic come-ons. While the sexy covers may have generated some sales I recall that my mother and grandmother, who were ESG and Perry Mason fans from way back and read mystery novels on a regular basis, would not touch these books when they debuted. The idea put forth by the covers of Perry Mason, a mental image undoubtedly influenced by years of exposure to Raymond Burr, boinking his clients during huge orgies must have been a turn-off for them. I know that it is for me.As far as I know new scenes of swinging, weed-fueled bacchanals were not edited into the old stories, though that was not true for all of the work in other fields. Sex scenes were often added semi-randomly to many reprints, most predominately for the science fiction crowd. Often I was
surprised to discover SF stories that I had read in old collections when reprinted had several paragraphs tossed in devoted to sex scenes. Undoubtedly in order to keep the interest of a reader and hook them for future sales.If Diamond Bomb had existed to have her adventures reprinted in the early 1970s then her artistic covers may have been similar to all the others on the news stands and would have been just as exploitative. One exception to the sexy themes of the covers would be the intent of the art. Being a female character it would be unlikely that Diamond would be portrayed as dominant a character as Perry Mason had been. In diametric opposition to whatever established characterization existed, Diamond would almost certainly be depicted not as strong or an aggressor but as being submissive, willing and sexy, a toy for the other characters and an intriguing tease for the prospective buyer.
Freitag, 28. August 2009
Detective Comics #392
Detective Comics #392 (On Sale: August 28, 1969) has a cover by Neal Adams.Inside we have Batman in "I Died... a Thousand Deaths" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Joe Giella. I have this book around here some where and will read it soon and give a detailed description.
The back-up Batgirl story is "A Clue... Seven-Foot Tall" by Frank Robbins, Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. and introduces Jason Bard. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Batgirl Vol. 1 TPB.
Edited by Julius Schwartz.
Adventure Comics #385
Adventure Comics #385 (On Sale: August 28, 1969) has a cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.Inside we have two Supergirl stories. The first is "Supergirl's Big Sister" by Cary Bates and Kurt Schaffenberger. The second is "The Jilting of Supergirl" by Cary Bates, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel.
Edited by Mort Weisinger
Action Comics #381
Action Comics #381 (On Sale: August 28, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.We begin with Superman in "The Dictator of Earth" by Leo Dorfman, Curt Swan and George Roussos. The back-up story is the Legion of Super-Heroes in "The Hapless Hero" by Jim Shooter, Winslow Mortimer and Jack Abel.
Edited by Mort Weisinger.
Donnerstag, 27. August 2009
Mittwoch, 26. August 2009
Grave of the Fireflies
When we think of war, we tend to think first of the violence, death and atrocities, the soldiers, bombs, planes, tanks, guns, the whole grand theater of destruction that is war on the large scale. But what of the survivors? Their tears? Their grief? The untold agonies they must endure? Imagine the unbearable anguish of having to look on, helpless, as your dearest loved one slowly dies before your eyes, and there's no one there to help. If you find all of this depressing, then I'd advise against viewing Grave of the Fireflies (1988).
It's hard to know who the target audience is for this feature-lengh anime tale of a brother and sister trying to survive in WWII-torn Japan. Too heavy for kids, too dismal and heartbreaking for anyone else, it's a wonder anyone would want to watch it at all. And yet it's a film that should be seen, if for no other reason than to remind us all just what the human cost of war really amounts to.Grave of the Fireflies is fairly apolitical (the filmmakers scrupulously avoid any form of didactic statement, focusing solely on the protagonists' efforts to survive) and thus serves as a universal tale -- these could be any two kids in any war-ravaged land. Maybe modern kids should watch this film, regardless of the trauma it might inflict; by simply presenting a narrative that no doubt actually occurred a thousand times over, the ultimate tragedy of war comes across more clearly than in any war film (or anti-war film) I've ever seen. My advice: Keep a box of kleenex handy.
I'm the only Darb here
I'm having a blast with the my new mystery-thriller-pulp character, Diamond Bomb. It may not be worth a visit here to anyone else but there are no comic books featuring Krypto out this week yet and as much as I enjoy Green Lantern there isn't anything I can add to the discussions that are already out there. All the Diamond Bomb posts are is provenance, anyhow. Clicking the picture will take you to a fun wiki page mock-up about the character.
Dienstag, 25. August 2009
You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes
Swallow the tablet for printer-friendly pdf file.
Green Lantern #72
Green Lantern #72 (On Sale: August 25, 1969) has a cover by Gil Kane.Inside we have "Phantom of the Space-Opera" by Denny O'Neil, Gil Kane and Joe Giella. I have this book around here some where and will read it soon and give a detailed description. This story was reprinted in Showcase Presents: Green Lantern Vol. 4 TPB.
Edited by Julius Schwartz.
Girls' Romances #144
Girls' Romances #144 (On Sale: August 25, 1969) has another great sexy-girl cover by Nick Cardy.Inside we have "How Can He Love Anyone Who Looks Like Me?"which is penciled by Jay Scott Pike. Next is "Summer Time Romance" penciled by Jack Sparling. The book ends with "I Couldn't Be Faithful" drawn by Ric Estrada and Vinny Colletta which was later reprinted in Young Love #112.
Edited by Murray Boltinoff.
Bat Lash #7
Bat Lash #7 (On Sale: August 25, 1969) has another great cover by Nick Cardy.Inside we have "(Brothers)" which is plotted by Sergio Aragones, scripted by Denny O'Neil and drawn by Nick Cardy. One night Bat Lash runs into Don Pasqual, his father's best friend, who relates to Bat the night his family was killed and how Pasqual was able to pull Bat's brother, Billy, away from the
"evil ones" who burned his family's farm to the ground and killed his father and mother.
Pasqual related how he took Billy and fled to Mexico, to the house an an aunt, but how Billy would not speak and would not take notice when spoken to. A doctor examined Billy and said his problems were of the soul and he offered to adopt Billy. On the way back to the Lash ranch Don Pasqual was shot by bandits and "struggled with death" for a year. When he finally returned to the farm he learned how Bat had dealt with those who murdered his family and how since that time Don Pasqual has been searching for Bat.
Meanwhile in El Paso, a blond-haired bounty hunter is pulling a Bat Lash wanted poster off the wall and heads off in search of the man he does not know is his brother, while at the same time Bat and Don Pasqual set off in search of Billy. As the bounty hunter searches he recalls his lack of a childhood and how he does remember Dr. Jimeniz taking him to a camp of revolutionaries where he was trained like a man in the ways of shooting. As a revolutionary the young boy fought against the tyrannical Mexican government before traitors in their midst were their undoing. He sought out and hunted down the traitors, killing them one-by-one, and when he was through, he felt as if a part of him had died with each man. All that he was good for was killing, so he took up the life of a bounty hunter.
Billy hit the small town of Encinitas just after Bat and Pasqual, who are in the cantina trying to enjoy a meal wile being eyeballed by a group of brothers who think Bat looks a whole lot like the bounty hunter that nailed their pa, though, the bounty hunter looked younger than Bat. Bat overhears the brothers, knocks them around and then he and Don Pasqual convince them it is better for them to leave the cantina vertical rather than horizontal. As they are chased into the street they meet Billy coming into town and can't believe that there at two of them.
Unable to figure out which one nailed their pa, they run for cover and decide to take them both out. As bat and Don Pasqual leave the cantina, they are confronted by Billy. Bat tries to talk Billy down to no avail and as they prepare to stand off against each other, a shocked Don Pasqual attempts to break up the fight, telling them "You are bro--!" before he is shot in the back by the ambushing brothers. Fighting side-by-side, Bat and Billy neatly handle the four brothers. A dying Don Pasqual tries in vain to tell them who they each are, to no avail.
Billy lets bat go, for Don Pasqual's sake as he seemed like he "was a brave old hombre...an' he seemed to think yo're worth savin'!" As they go their separate ways, both brothers are haunted by the familiarity of the other. Billy is drawn to watch as Bat buries Don Pasqual while Bat laments how everything he touches dies. A sad ending.What is unfortunate is that this is the end, the last issue of Bat Lash; a book killed way too soon. I think DC ran the ads touting the book's near arrival longer than they published the book itself.
This story was reprinted in All-Star Western #11, Weird Western Tales #12 and Showcase Presents: Bat Lash TPB.
Edited by Joe Orlando.
Knot A Bad Girl
In the 50s and 60s and even well into the 70s old pulp series found new audiences as the relatively inexpensive and in some cases, public domain, stories of the 30s and 40s were repackaged as cheap paperback books. While considered to be disposable entertainment by both the industry and consumers many of these books featured the work of artists who were masters of their craft and examples of their work are much sought after by collectors. The nature of the industry and the readers of the time ensured that mint copies of the books are exceedingly rare and in many cases the original art is lost forever.One of the more popular artists of the era was R. A. Maguire, who specialized in his depictions of sexy, dangerous women. Maguire typically turned in a classic work no matter the theme, whether it be crime, adventure or sleaze.
If Diamond Bomb had existed to have her fictional Pulp adventures reprinted in the 60s boom of crime novels then I would definitely would have insisted she be envisioned by Maguire.
Original art The Brass Halo by R. A. Maguire. Check out his gallery at R. A. Maguire Cover Art , you won't be disappointed.
Montag, 24. August 2009
Big Man Japan
Last year I had a chance to see Big Man Japan at the San Francisco International Film Festival. However, I had a scheduling conflict: I was in Tokyo on the day of the showing (scouting images for Warring Clans, Flashing Blades). I was somewhat bummed, as this was the one film among that year's SFIFF offerings I most wanted to see. Now, having seen it, I realize I needn't have bothered.The simple fact of the matter is that Big Man Japan, for all its low-key, indie quirkiness, simply doesn't work. Chief among its problems is precisely its low-key, indie quirkiness. This is ostensibly a film about kaiju, giant monsters. Mere mention of the genre immediately engenders images and expectations ranging from the kinetic to the phrenetic -- certainly not the pathetic. Big Man Japan, while well made and lovingly executed, is nevertheless so downbeat and deadpan as to sap any and all energy from a story about a sixth-generation super hero who, with the help of massive jolts of electricity, grows to gigantic proportions to fight an array of bizarre, enormous creatures who routinely plague the more built-up parts of Tokyo. There's a monster that uproots tall buildings with its big, rubber-band arms; a fella with a big ol' eyeball on a stalk growing out of his crotch; a smelly, squid-like thing whose chief talent appears to be arguing; a humongo-demon-baby; hell, there's even a big Riki Takeuchi head bouncing around on a single, muscular leg. And through it all we have Hitoshi Matsumoto, our writer/director/star, portraying the Big Man as a likable looser, a slacker who doesn't get it and does a substandard job of giant superhero-ing (he's frequently upstaged by his similarly-enormo grandad).
Matsumoto is clearly taking a cue from Watchmen -- real-life superhero, hated by the public, trying to deal with personal problems and generally having a tough time. It's a shame he opted for a dull, documentary format to explore what could have been a genuinely engaging fantasy adventure film with deconstruction, social commentary and really weird monsters into the bargain.
In four words: Great concept, crap execution.
Pulps Did It First: Knightfall of Imagination
Imagination (September 1954) & Batman #497 (July 1993).
Sonntag, 23. August 2009
Diamond Bomb
Female lead characters were poorly represented in the Pulp Era of magazines. For the most part any magazines that featured women in the lead were usually written for titillation for male readers or the young adult female audience. Unless the book was aimed at the homemaker, no pulp titles with a woman carrying the series comes immediately to mind. So in a flash of inspiration that struck when I was browsing through some Pulp and Noir art I made one up.Diamond Bomb is a tough, practical dame from the mean streets of the city who isn't afraid to use a gun. Her past is hidden in mystery but some whisper she was the favored gun moll of notorious bank robber and cop-killer Michael "Boatswain" Sweeney.
Rumor has it when she fell out of favor with the ultra-violent "Boatswain" Sweeney the former Moll was marked for death. The hard-boiled blond went on the run, determined to gain revenge for the murder of her sister by single-handedly taking down the greedy criminal empire of the "Boatswain" Mob.
The Diamond Bomb pulp magazine mock-up is based on the classic July 1947 Black Mask magazine cover by Norman Saunders. The Black Mask pulp cover was used because it featured a blond packing heat and was easy to manipulate. Ideally though, in my mind the character resembles a "Maguire Girl". I have one of the Robert Maguire paintings specifically in mind that I feel perfectly represents the character of Diamond. Once I get the book of his collected art out of storage I'll post it up.
Samstag, 22. August 2009
Freitag, 21. August 2009
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #124
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #124 (On Sale: August 21, 1969) has a cover by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson.We begin with "Jimmy Olsen’s Girl Trouble" by E. Nelson Bridwell and Pete Costanza. This story was reprinted in Superman: Daily Planet TPB.
We end with the cover-story, "The Secret of Jimmy Olsen’s Lost Father" by Leo Dorfman and Pete Costanza.
Edited by Mort Weisinger.
Heart Throbs #122
Heart Throbs #122 (On Sale: August 21, 1969) has a cover some attribute to Jay Scott Pike but is obviously the work of Nick Cardy.Inside we have "3 Girls--Their Lives...Their Loves Episode 21" which is penciled by Jay Scott Pike. The book ends with "Deception" also penciled by Jay Scott Pike and later reprinted in Young Romance #204.
Edited by Joe Orlando.
From Beyond the Unknown #1
From Beyond the Unknown #1 (On Sale: August 21, 1969) has a Joe Kubert cover.The first issue of this new science-fiction reprint book begins with "The Turtle-Men of Space" by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Joe Giella and reprinted from Strange Adventures #118. Next is "The Unknown Spaceman" by Gardner Fox, Bob Oksner and Bernard Sachs and reprinted from Mystery In Space #11. We conclude with "Star-Actor of the Starways" by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Bernard Sachs from Strange Adventures #122.
Edited by Julius Schwartz.
Brave and the Bold #86
Brave and the Bold #86 (On Sale: August 21, 1969) has another great cover by Neal Adams. Nothing like Deadman to bring out the best in Neal.Batman and Deadman star in "You Can't Hide from a Deadman" which is written by Bob Haney and drawn by Neal Adams. Well, that's the story anyway, but I don't buy it for one minute because the Neal Adams Checklist on Neal's own site and my gut say this is Neal's work through and though. Now it is not that this checklist is all that accurate, as it only lists Neal as the writer and penciler of this story when he is obviously the inker as well, but my gut is pretty good on this stuff and this story so nicely wraps up the writing that Neal was doing on the Deadman strip in Strange Adventures, that I guess it is possible that Bob Haney did some of the dialog, but the plot has got to be Neal's.
This is Neal's eighth Brave and the Bold and his last of this run. Neal would draw one more full issue in a little over a year and finish up a Jim Aparo story a year or so later, but for all intents and purposes, this was the end of Neal's run as the regular penciler and it seems appropriate that he both began and ended his B&B run with Deadman.
However, this end-of-the-run may not have been Neal's idea. According to the DC Timeline "Neal Adams fired by Murray Boltinoff for rewriting Bob Haney’s script for Brave and Bold 86." I can't find any verification of this actually being the case. I know that Neal says that about this time Julius Schwartz came to him with "a handful of letters and he stops me in the hallway and he says, “How come all these fans say the only Batman at DC Comics is in Brave and Bold?” I said, “Well, Julie, in Brave and Bold he’s really Batman. He is not walking around in the daytime in his underwear, he is skulking around at night.” He said, “What makes you think you know how to do Batman?” I said, “Julie, it’s not me who knows how to do Batman, it’s me and every kid in America who knows what Batman ought to be. The problem at DC Comics is that no one knows what Batman is.” He said, “Get back here. Now you are going to be drawing Batman.” So it may have been a more gentle parting of ways than the DC Timeline says, but who knows.
It is rather telling though that in the same Comics Bulletin interview, Neal says of his talk with Boltinoff when getting the book, "I said, “Only one thing, I don’t want to change anything in the writing, I just want to every once in a while change locations and time of day.” I wanted to change the time to night because it just seems silly to have Batman walking around in his underwear in the daytime. Murray said, “That’s fine, no problem.” So, I took the script and I started drawing Brave and the Bold." If this is true and what I suspect as to the identity of the real plotter of #86, Boltinoff may have given Neal the boot.
It's just another night in Gotham as Batman and Robin break up an extortion racket, except that after mopping up the bad guys, Robin picks up a gun and tries to shoot Batman. Blinding the boy wonder with a smoke pellet saves Batman's hide and Robin strangely snaps out of it. When Commissioner Gordon and his men reach the scene Gordon uses an officer's service revolver to try and shoot Batman as well. Everyone is clueless, except Batman who has surmised that his "old friend Deadman is trying to kill me!"
Out on the street Batman runs a gauntlet of people suddenly possessed by Boston Brand's ghost and out to kill Batman. After almost being run over by a truck, Batman heads for the rooftops where Deadman will have a much harder time finding a host to possess. However Deadman finds a pigeon fancier and comes after Batman with a club. Batman tries to talk sense into Deadman, saying they are friends, but Deadman says he is trying to kill Batman. Batman's response is that Deadman is a liar and that he can prove it. "If you really want to kill me, do it the simple way...jump into my body and make me jump off the roof...clean and simple!" The logic of this causes Deadman to freak out and quickly exit the man's body.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong at the secret headquarters of the Society of Assassins, the Sensei is listening to a report from Willie Smith. Smith recounts how Deadman found his killer, the Hook and after confirming that he was dead, returned to Nanda Parbat seeking out Rama Kushna and the end of his unnatural existence. Deadman interfered with Smith's plan to destroy Nanda Parbat and thinking Smith dead, Deadman met with Rama Kushna. Afterward, Deadman chose to leave Nanda Parbat and return to being a ghost (a pretty good recap of Strange Adventurers #215 and #216). As Deadman was leaving, Smith shot him with a poison dart, but because he was only partially corporeal at the time it did not kill him but left him dazed and susceptible to suggestion. Smith used the opportunity to turn Deadman's hatred of the Sensei into a hatred for Batman. With Deadman busy trying to kill Batman the Sensei sees this as the perfect time to once and for all destroy Nanda Parbat.
Back in Gotham Batman visits the Hills Bros. Circus where Boston's brother, Cleavland, has taken over the role of the trapeze artist Deadman. Boston enters his brother's body and once again takes to the high platform, where he attempts his famous quadruple somersault, only to find that his brother's muscles are not as supple as his once were and he is saved only by the intervention of Batman. Boston is more confused than ever now that Batman has saved his brother's life. Just then circus mystic Vashnu arrives to say that Rama Kushna wants Deadman to return to Nanda Parbat.
Batman and Deadman in his brother's body are shot at as they parachute over the Himalayas down to Nanda Parbat. Deadman leaves his brother's body and leaps into the body of his attackers, turning one against the other. Returning to Cleavland's body Deadman leads Batman to Nanda Parbat where upon entrance he leaves Cleve's body and becomes corporeal once again. But as he does so the poison from Willie Smith's dart takes affect and he collapses to the ground.
Rama Kushna appears and explains that Boston has been poisoned but that one of the men coming to attack Nanda Parbat carries an antidote. Batman and Cleve head out to stop the assault on Nanda Parbat and to find the antidote. Using a now arrived blinding snowstorm for cover they take out the Sensei's men one by one, till they finally get to Smith and retrieve the antidote. The Sensei challenges them both, but they ignore him and hurry back to Boston.
Once back in Nanda Parbat Batman uses the antidote to save the life of a Deadman. Boston realizes the absurdity of it all and that Nanda Parbat is the only place where he can be harmed and therefore decides to leave and become a ghost once more. The Sensei is seen trudging down the mountain plotting his revenge on Batman and Deadman.
This classic story has been reprinted in Best of DC #26, Deadman #7, Deadman Collection HC, Batman Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 2 HC and Showcase Presents the Brave and the Bold Batman Team-Ups Vol. 1 TPB.
Edited by Murray Boltinoff.
Donnerstag, 20. August 2009
Mittwoch, 19. August 2009
Witching Hour #5
Witching Hour #5 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Nick Cardy.We began with "The Witching Hour Has Arrived - And I Have A Chilling Tale To Tell!" which is the story wrapper penciled by Alex Toth wherein the witches test the backbone of Cynthia's college boyfriend with their eerie tales.
The first of those is "The Sole Survivor" introduced by Mildred and drawn by Bernie Wrightson. That is followed by "The Non-Believer!" which is a one-page horror story. Next is "A Guy Can Die Laughing" which is introduced by Mordred. "The Computer Game" is Cynthia's tale and it is followed by "My! How small You've Grown!" a one-page tale drawn by Sid Greene.
Edited by Dick Giordano.
Superboy #160
Superboy #160 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has just an astounding cover by Neal Adams. Every once in a while Neal just knocks one out of the park and this is one of those!Superboy stars in "I Chose External Exile" by Frank Robbins, Bob Brown and Wally Wood. I find it hard to believe that these stories have never been reprinted. I remember Frank Robbins doing a good job on the scripts and hell, this is Wally Wood inks we are talking about.
Edited by Murray Boltinoff.
Sugar and Spike #86
Sugar and Spike #86 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Sheldon Mayer.Inside we have Sugar and Spike and Bernie the Brain in "Tale That Can Never Be Told" written and drawn by Sheldon Mayer.
Edited by Murray Boltinoff.
Star Spangled War Stories #147
Star Spangled War Stories #147 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has an Enemy Ace cover by Joe Kubert."A Grave in the Sky" is by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert and, my god, is Kubert on fire this issue. The story surrounds a British pilot who as a child was obsessed with the story of St. George and the Dragon. Years later he is still obsessed and sees the RAF as a way of attaining knighthood and flying a steed and using machine guns as his lance.
The delusional pilot wears the top half of a suit of armor when he flies and believes himself to be the reincarnation of St. George. As with all Enemy Ace stories, the real story is about the killer skies and the terrible strain leading men into battle is for Hans Von Hammer. It has some amazing Kubert artwork, bringing the aerial dogfights of Fokkers vs. Sopwith Camels to glorious life. Kubert in his early 40s at this time was a master of the brush for sure, but it is his amazing story-telling abilities that make these books come to life.
Suffice to say that in the end St. George is defeated by his own personal dragon, Hans von Hammer, the Enemy Ace. This story was reprinted in Enemy Ace Archives Vol. 2 HC and Showcase Presents: Enemy Ace Vol. 1 TPB.
Edited by Joe Kubert.
Secret Hearts #139
Secret Hearts #139 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover at least inked by Dick Giordano and another great example of a through-the-legs shot, which I gotta say, I find sexy.We began with "Not That Kind of Girl" inked by Vince Colletta. That is followed by "How Can I Tell Him the Truth?" penciled by Winslow Mortimer. We end with "Hide from Love" penciled by John Rosenberger.
Edited by Dick Giordano.
Metal Men #40
Metal Men #40 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Mike Sekowsky and George Roussos.As the Metal Men franchise is sputtering to a close next issue we have "Madman and Traitor," written and drawn by Mike Sekowsky and inked by George Roussos.
Edited by Mike Sekowsky.
Debbi's Dates #4
Debbi's Dates #4 (On Sale: August 19, 1969) has a cover by Samm Schwartz..We began with three Debbi's Dates' stories, "Better Date Than Never," where Buddy and Debbi sign up for a computer dating service, "Double Date, Mate," where Bernard wins a new car and clothes enabling him to easily get dates, and "A Date with Him... is Quite a Charge," wherein Debbi goes out with Harold but ends up paying for everything. This last one was drawn by Doug Crane.
We end with the Ding-a-Lings in "Swing n' Slay" where Bingo, Jinks,Denny, and Yo-Yo decide to form a band called The Ding-A-Lings.
Edited by Dick Giordano.
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