Number 1026


Master of Murder Castle


The Dark Horse book, Blackjacked and Pistol-Whipped: The Best of Crime Does Not Pay, is available as of September 6. You can see a preview at Amazon.com. It looks like a must-have, double-bag item for me, a fan of crime comics, the more lurid the better.

And that's what we have today! "Master of Murder Castle," drawn by Fred Guardineer in his precise style, emphasizing the horrific story of a true serial killer, H. H. Holmes, who lived--and killed--in Chicago in the early 1890s.

As an add-on, I'm including some pages from Rick Geary's terrific book, A Treasury of Victorian Murder: The Beast of Chicago, published in 2003 by NBM. Geary, who has a real feel for the era, has done his usual superb job with his pen-and-ink drawings, evocative of steel engravings of that time. His story of H. H. Holmes is a not as lurid, but no less fascinating. Geary has a series of these books of famous murders and I highly recommend them.

I haven't seen the Crime Does Not Pay book, but I also recommend it based solely on the preview.

From Crime Does Not Pay #53, 1947:









From The Beast of Chicago, Part IV, 2003:

Number 1025


Land of the Lost...found


I'm very taken by this clever children's comic from the late '40s. Isabel Manning Hewson created and wrote the radio series on which the comic is based, and she also wrote the comic, illustrated by Olive Bailey.

Bhob Stewart explained it in his editorial, "Perigee to Perilune," in Heavy Metal magazine, Fall, 1987:

[Speaking of characters in comics who came from radio]: "Such linkages may have been strongest in the case of Isabel Manning Hewson. As the writer/producer/narrator of Land of the Lost (aired by ABC beginning in 1944) and the scripter of EC's Land of the Lost comic book (illustrated by Olive Bailey), she maintained a consistency of characters and stories in both, duplicating the storylines. She also received credit for the story in the 1948 Land of the Lost animated short. The control Hewson exercised over Land of the Lost enabled her to actually become a fantasy fiction character: she wrote herself (as a little girl) into both the comic book and radio storylines. Each week Isabel and her friend Billy traveled underwater with a glowing red fish named Red Lantern, tour guide to all "of-fish-ally-lost" objects beneath the waves. Today, Red Lantern has himself become "of-fish-ally-lost" and forgotten, even though the radio actor who brought him to life was Art Carney."

You can visit Bhob's fantastic blog, Potrzebie.

You can see the Famous Studios cartoon, "The Land of the Lost" on YouTube here.

I've shown the stories from Land of the Lost #1 in Pappy's #706, Pappy's #859, and Pappy's #944.

This is the first story from EC Comics' Land of the Lost Comics #2, 1946:












**********

I got an e-mail the other day:

Hello,

I've just finished a music video for the Berlin-based band "Rats live on no evil star"

This is an animated video made out of image from old comics collected on internet.

Because some of these images come from your blog i thought i would share the result with you.

You can see the vidéo here :

http://vimeo.com/18264751

don't hesitate to let me know what you think of it, or even post it or share it.

Have a really pleasant day :)

Keep up the good work with the blog

Corentin Kopp

WEB: www.lallali.com

Thanks, Corentin; great work and I'm fascinated by how this looks.

Here's the video:

Rats live on no evil star - Tree in the Green from lallali on Vimeo.

Number 1024


Cowgirls, lasso me for romance!


I've told you before about my love for cowgirls...buckskin, short skirts, tall boots and a Stetson. I like to see cowgirls riding frontwards, side-saddle, and even reverse. I told you of the origin of my particular cowgirl thing in Pappy's #667 in 2010, and you can read about it.

Today we fulfill some personal wish-dreams with a Western love story from Cowgirl Romances #4, a Fiction House comic from 1951. As a bonus I'm including a story about a rootin', tootin', straight-shootin' buckaroo-gal (or would that be a buckarette?), Two-Gun Lil, from Crack Western #72, also from 1951.

Saddle up, cowgal, and meet me by the big rock on the mesa. We'll sit by the campfire under the moon and stars, listen to the coyotes wail. I'll pull out my fiddle and we can fiddle around 'til we drop from exhaustion. Now that's a cowgirl romance!

Number 1023


Cosmo the Merry Martian and Venus, the Queen of Venus


Presenting today, Cosmo the Merry Martian #4, from 1960, written (presumably) and drawn by Bob White. Since the series only lasted six issues we're 2/3 of the way through the run. I know I've been dilatory about getting these scans done and posted, Cosmo fans. What can I say, I'm slow.

The first three issues of Cosmo are in Pappy's #794 for issue #1; issue #2 is presented in Pappy's #907, and #3 is posted in Pappy's #976.

Queen Venus of Venus causes some sexual jealousy in Cosmo's Martian gf, Astra. And why not? Cosmo, as well as his little buddy Orbi, and the Oog moonmen are all smitten by Venus's swimsuited beauty. Astra leaves in a huff, and later it develops that Venus wants Cosmo for the king! Poor Astra. Well, anyway, it works out. As I've mentioned before, the Martians are shaped like phalluses,and Cosmo is the biggest of them all. No wonder Venus wants him.




























Go ahead to Cosmo the Merry Martian #5. Just click on the thumbnail: