For those of you joining us on New Year’s morning, how are you feeling? Tongue feel like someone stuffed a towel in your mouth? Head throbbing, joints aching, memory-loss from New Year’s Eve festivities? Well, go take a nap and come back when you feel better.
For the rest of you who did not over-indulge (including me), welcome to the first posting of 2014.
The Black Terror was a 1940’s character who had many artists over the years, and many adventures I consider silly. The Black Terror story I’m posting today, while silly, is one of my favorites. The art is credited by the GCD to Ralph Mayo and it has a gorilla. That’s good enough for me. I consider the panel I have excerpted from the story (above) to be some sort of oddball classic. The story is from Black Terror #20, 1947:
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I showed another Black Terror story last May. Click on the thumbnail.
I shall note en passant that aldehydes also include formaldehyde (used of course for embalming), and the various chemicals found in cilantro that make it distasteful (or worse) to those who are able to smell them. (Cilantro lovers, rather than being people of particular refinement, are unable to smell these chemicals.)
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year's Eve (late) Pappy!
ReplyDeleteNot just an ape, but a *purple* ape.
That's kind of a weird one, art wise. I'm not going to bother with the story, which is all shades of goofy. Not being able to tell the difference between a gorilla suit and a real 600 lb gorilla?
But the art -- normally 40s super hero comics have small, very compressed paneling. While the crazy paneling gets distracting, the figures are clean, the paneling isn't tight and cultured and the action is obvious.
Outside of people like Eisner and others, this book actually has really good art, for the 40s.
Well, gentlemen...Brian, Daniel, thanks for your comments. If ever I need to know that someone is looking at this blog and actually reading it, all I have to do is look at your notes and I know that not only do I have readers, I have perceptive, informed and intelligent readers, also.
ReplyDelete(Just for the record, even if readers don't comment I assume they are smart because they have the good taste to read this blog.)
Folks, I just flew in from my son's home in Pennsylvania, and man, are my arms tired.
ReplyDeleteActually, more like my butt is tired from sitting in coach class on Southwest Airlines for over five hours.
Whilst away in Western P.A. (for 12 days...the 12 days of Christmas, I suppose), I tried my best to keep up with the blog via my traveling wireless device, but had some connectivity issues with the local cable company, not to mention the fact that there were at any one time three adults and two children using wireless devices simultaneously.
I'd like to thank Daniel for a note on a problem with one of the postings, which due to my circumstances I probably would not have noticed had he not brought it to my attention. Thanks, Daniel! I was able to fix it during a time when there was a lull in wireless usage at my son's house, and I had it all to myself.