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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Number 1701: Cave Girl glows

Even without looking at the date of Cave Girl #12, (which is 1953, by the way), you can tell it is of another era. The cliché of fooling the “ignorant” natives by making them think the supernatural is at work is used, and a radium dial watch figures into the plot.

I read about radium dials. For safety concerns and by law their manufacture was ended in the late 1950s. I have a box of my late father’s cigarette lighters, tie pins, rings and wristwatches, most from the 1940s and '50s. After dark on a recent evening I turned out the room lights to see if any of the dials glowed. Thankfully none did. In this story, written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Bob Powell and his assistants, a radium dial and a geiger counter make a crude GPS for tracking the bad guys.







UPDATE: I can’t keep up with all the great reprints of Golden Age material. After posting this, I found out Dark Horse has an archive edition of the complete Cave Girl adventures. Just click on the thumbnail to be taken to the Dark Horse site for information.


8 comments:

M. Bouffant said...

Gee, I was expecting the skull men to be Nazis who forgot to surrender.

Anonymous said...

She talks to the animals and they talk back. The comic book jungle sure was an interesting and exciting place. My favorite page: 4. Although it doesn't contain the whole story in a nutshell, it seems to convey a fairly complete comic book jungle essence. Idyllic boat in a lagoon first panel; the jungle critters; the native people afraid; jungle dame swinging by a vine in the last panel. Every vine I ever saw —albeit I never was in a (comic book) jungle— was rooted in the ground. The jungle movies and comics always have the vines loose at the ground and attached 'way above in the upper trees tops. I probably don't know vines but, still, I wonder… Last page, last panel was extra appropriate: Cave Girl in a cave. I like jungle comics, Pappy!

J_D_La_Rue_67 said...

When I saw first panel I thought: Those bad guys are ex-Nazis with their souvenir U-Boat.
I love Cave Girl! Not only for the beautiful art, but because she's, you know, great.
She's the one in charge, she saves the sissy archaeologist, she "Throws the rock that talks to the black box" so she can track the Skulls, and in last page she explains: "Oh, I just trailed their submarine with the geiger counter". Where the heck have "box that listens" and "magic boat" gone?
I hate to say this but... Cave Girl ROCKS !

Pappy said...

7f7, I like jungle comics, too. The comic book jungle is more interesting than the real jungle, and we can traverse it without being eaten alive by bugs or crocodiles or squeezed to death by big snakes. Armchair jungle exploration is my method of visiting such an exotic place.

Daniel [oeconomist.com] said...

Oh, c'mon, guys! Luke twice used the term “Geiger counter”. Give Seegee some credit for ability to learn!

Alicia American said...

OMG Pappy I want a radioactive watch yo! OMG stupid nanny st8 is keeping my wrist non-radioactive & its got me mad yo OMG! xoxoxoxo We luv u Pappy! OMG That Bob Powell guy is pritty good, I shuld hire him 2 do my portrit yo #MegaBadass xoxoxoxoxo

Pappy said...

Ah, gee, Alicia...I should tell you that "Bob Powell guy" is pritty dead, too. He died in 1967.

I'm sure there are other artists out there who would be more than happy to draw your "portrit."

J_D_La_Rue_67 said...

you're right Daniel but I'd rather think she has the ability to pretend naivety as long as he can take advantage of it.