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Monday, September 28, 2020

Number 2455: Ibis calls on god

My headline is correct. Ibis and his girlfriend, Princess Taia, call on their god, whose name is Osiris, “The God of Egypt.” It is when things get tough; the bad guy sends a storm their way, and when Taia asks if Ibis’ magic wand, the Ibistick, can help, he says he has a better idea. He’ll call on their deity.

All I can say to that is Osiris must not have much else to do if he can answer a prayer that quickly.

Ibis was the magic man of Whiz Comics, and later, his own title. He came from thousands of years ago and if not wearing his turban, would fit right in with the modern world. Unlike the usual comic strip and comic book magicians, Ibis uses his Ibistick to do the magical stuff. Magic wands have been staples of magic stories for how long? Millenia, perhaps; anyway, a long, long time. You fans of Harry Potter will know all you need to know about a magic wand.

The Grand Comics Database lists the artist as Alex Blum with a question mark. I believe it is Blum. He was an old time artist who went to work in the comics. He did a lot of Classics Illustrated book adaptations. He was born in 1889, so he was in his early fifties when he took this assignment. Alex Blum died in 1969.

From Whiz Comics #16 (1941):










1 comment:

Daniel [oeconomist.com] said...

Ibis and Taia display a remarkable lack of curiosity concerning the upstream source of the attack by the storm-demon.

I think that, in real life, there would be a depraved indifference involved in ostensible heroes leaving murderous villains in traps from which they can readily escape.

Given that Blum had a long prior career, I'm a little surprised at the panel layout; he's joined other artists in moving way from replicating the look of a series of comic strips placed in rows, but still the panels are to be follows in rows even when the result causes the audience to struggle to identify which panel is next, and indeed Blum (or some editor) recognized one instance in which an arrow is necessary to overcome the natural expectation.