Number 1690: The Claw’s family ties untied

Even the supervillain Claw has some family. In this case it is an uncle in Tibet, who has a formula the Claw needs. But the uncle believes the Claw is the disgrace of the family. I would also be ashamed of a grotesquely ugly criminal nephew who can grow to 25 feet tall and tosses henchmen to their deaths for any old reason.

I am amused by the flights to Tibet (quoting the Claw: “I will be back shortly”), which are treated as if that faraway land is no further than a drive to the corner drugstore.

For a time in the forties the Claw, created by Jack Cole, was a supervillain in the Lev Gleason comics. He was on the side of America’s enemies (which accounts for his henchmen hailing him with “Heil, Claw!”) and pursued by a costumed hero called the Ghost. For some reason the mixture of a cartoon style and hideous villain seems to work. Well enough, anyway, that the caption in the splash panel, “This is NOT a true story!” doesn’t strike me as any kind of revelation.

This is from Daredevil #18 (1943), with writing and art attributed by the Grand Comics Database to Charles Biro’s co-editor, Bob Wood.

For another tale of the Ghost and the Claw go back eight years (yow!) to 2007, and this early Pappy's posting, and then to 2011 when the Claw shows up as a WWII training unit emblem!

Number 1689: Black Angel and Baroness Blood

The beauteous Black Angel is back, and so is her adversary, Baroness Blood. These deadly enemies, one British, one German, vie for who can wear the kinkiest costume. I have shown another Black Angel story, also featuring the Baroness. The link below this entry in the sexy saga will take you there.

This story is from Air Fighters Comics #9 (1943). The art is credited to John Cassone.

Dry your sweaty hands, guys, and click on the thumbnail:

Number1688: Frankenstein and the battle of the monsters

I can hear the ring announcer now: “Ladies and gentlemen! In this corner, wearing the scaly green hide and 6" teeth, THE MONSTER ALLIGATOR! His opponent in the other corner, wearing the body parts of several unidentified corpses, THE MONSTER OF FRANKENSTEIN! Let’s get ready to rum-m-m-m-m-ble!”

Written and drawn by Dick Briefer for Frankenstein #32 (1954).

Number 1687: A dandy Dan Dare

Today we have a science fiction adventure that, while also fanciful, was produced during a time when rocketry and space were entering into the public consciousness as part of a viable future of science and technology. Dan Dare, a famous and lavishly drawn strip from the UK which appeared in the weekly Eagle paper, represented that interest.

This particular strip is from Eagle Annual #7 (no date, but I estimate about 1957). It was beautifully drawn and painted by Frank Hampson. You can read more about Hampson and his creation, even see a British Pathé short feature on him, in the link provided under these scans to a 2011 Pappy's post.

More Hampson Dan Dare and the promised video. Just click on the thumbnail.

Number 1686: Back door to fame

Mindy loves Dave, but to marry him would mean “hideous boredom” and “the drab life of a middle-class housewife.” And what would be wrong with having ambition, not wanting to be one of the masses? When “Back Door to Fame” was produced in the mid-fifties the popular belief was that all women wanted to be middle-class housewives and moms. Who would blame Mindy for sacrificing her love for Dave to the slimy touch of the oily producer for her chance to dance her way out of such a lifestyle?

Ah, but would it be a fifties love story if Mindy had danced off into the sunset and forsaken her one true love?

Drawn by John Forte and Bill Ward, and published in Love Letters #38 (1955).