Translate

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Number 1758: Captain Daring is run aground by beauty

It is appropriate that Reed Crandall’s inspiration for Captain Daring should have been movie star Erroll Flynn. Flynn had a reputation as quite a swordsman...in more ways than one, heh-heh.

Captain Daring has an eye for a lovely lass like Quilla, the sexy savage of this tale. Even Lady Dolores, who is his lady love, is jealous of such beauty. Especially when Captain D. piles it on with comments like, "I find it hard to believe such beauties dwell in jungle huts!” In the last panel Dolores makes sure that Captain Daring knows she is available when she tells him, “And you know what welcome awaits your return!” Flog me if that isn’t an invitation to tussle with the lady’s bustle.

From Buccaneers #21 (1950):












Buccaneers had only an eight issue run. Here is the first Captain Daring story from Buccaneers #19, and the last from #27. Just click on the thumbnails, buckos.



9 comments:

J_D_La_Rue_67 said...

And now, for something completely different...
I have decided to post a comment based only on your very clever intro, and read the story later (truth is, i got no time now). So:
There is one Flynn's movie I always loved, and it happens to be "Captain Blood". Now, to give credit where credit is due, I think this guy is based more on Captain Levasseur (the bad guy played by the great Basil Rathbone). Just an impression, and I always thought Levasseur was a better pirate anyway.
I glimpsed the gals drawn by Crandall: wonderful! (Though Errol Flynn might care not). For all those who, like me, basically knew Crandall only for his horror comics, this is a good catch!

Daniel [oeconomist.com] said...

Wait! The beautiful dame is supposed to be pardoned, or allowed to escape! Didn't anybody know the rules?!?

(And, if the writer dropped the ball, didn't Crandall know enough to fix things?!?)

Pappy said...

J D, enter Reed Crandall's name in the search engine on the upper left corner of the blog...you will find he did many stories in many genres.

I heard a story from artist Ken Landgraf: In the sixties everybody's favorite, Wallace Wood, had an assistant that Wood kept busy for a year, tracing superhero and action panels by Reed Crandall. The panels showed up in Wood's comics output, including T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. Reed Crandall had stories in some of those issues, too...I wonder if there were Crandall stories next to stories with Crandall swipes?

For me, my favorite Flynn will always be Robin Hood. Not only is he a perfect Robin Hood, but Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian is incredibly beautiful. Ms de Havilland just had her 99th birthday on July 1...so happy birthday to her.

Pappy said...

Daniel, apparently not. Maybe there is more Erroll Flynn in Captain Daring than just his looks. Flynn had quite a love 'em and leave 'em reputation.

Unknown said...

Last week, I saw "The Adventures of Robin Hood" for the first time. Good sword-fighting, especially in the duel between Flynn and Rathbone. Flynn actually demanded a wig change before filming because he was unhappy with the original, which did look oddly unkempt. So, Captain Daring may have looked quite different if not for Errol's bitching.

Quilla's outfit appears designed to point out her erogenous zones (You don't have a copyright on dirty-mindedness, Pap). But, at the same time, Crandall must not have felt he could get away with showing more of her hips, because she's wearing biker shorts underneath her bottom piece (What do you call that thing? Not a loin cloth.).

In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. I don't know that these natives look like they really belong in the Balkans.

The writer missed a grand opportunity for a girl fight between Quilla and Dolores. Sigh.

I once read a horror comic in which a pair of con men used a tape recorder to convince some superstitious people that their god was talking to them, so I knew what was coming in this story, but I didn't foresee the reveal of Quilla's true identity. Not a bad twist.

"Tussle with the lady’s bustle": that's a great line! I'll have to use it. And, I must admit, Dolores's parting words do seem to suggest just that.

J_D_La_Rue_67 said...

I really dig Sean Connery as Robin Hood in "Robin and Marian".
Another funny version of Robin was from a TV show I saw in the mid Seventies called "When Things were Rotten", either written or produced by Mel Brooks. The guy who played the Sheriff (Henry Polic II) was great. My! We had only two TV channels back then (Nazionale 1 and 2)... I wonder how many Americans remember that show.

Alicia American said...

I think they shuld make a Quilla movie staring Lady Gaga yo!

Pappy said...

Alicia, I'm thinking Jennifer Lawrence, but then I think of her for everything.

Pappy said...

J D, I think that When Things Were Rotten was created by Mel Brooks (The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles). It was funny, but short-lived. I guess it didn't find an audience. I remember a line from the theme song, "When other times have been forgotten, we'll remember back when things were rotten!" I sing it out loud at appropriate moments.