tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31723906.post6699006616540064805..comments2024-01-28T22:17:29.551-08:00Comments on Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine: Numbner 2110: Red Comet sends criminals on holidayPappyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01977289662431694607noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31723906.post-729962773188314692017-10-07T00:56:30.132-07:002017-10-07T00:56:30.132-07:00Just to follow up on Daniel's comment: Hanks a...Just to follow up on Daniel's comment: Hanks also would've spent quite a bit of time on the horrible, nightmarish and inexplicably bizarre fates of the bad guys. It wasn't enough for Stardust the Super Wizard to chuck a villain into space; he had to reduce the guy to a living head, carry him to the other side of the galaxy and toss him to a headless giant which would then absorb the head into its torso...the bad guy screaming wild-eyed for mercy the entire time. <br /><br />Red Comet's foes got off easy. BillyWitchDoctorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14311279565432013472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31723906.post-58531880841876176442017-10-05T09:37:47.586-07:002017-10-05T09:37:47.586-07:00EG-Markus, you are correct; not only no pants, but...EG-Markus, you are correct; not only no pants, but their shorts look like underwear, or those panties that superheroes put on over the tights. The difference is these guys don't wear the tights. I think the no-pants was a "style" that began in Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond and other artists followed his lead. Or, since you mention subtext, perhaps the artists had fantasies about guys walking around without pants.<br />Pappyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01977289662431694607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31723906.post-88850026709288537042017-10-05T09:31:08.166-07:002017-10-05T09:31:08.166-07:00Daniel, good observation. It looks more inspired b...Daniel, good observation. It looks more inspired by than written by, but having someone actually try to emulate Hanks when he was still current would have been cool in itself. (I believe Hanks was trying to emulate Wolverton's art style, but that's just my opinion.)<br /><br />I guess Red Comet, despite fairy tale powers, was in a faux science fiction tale because he was in <i>Planet Comics</i>. To my eye all of <i>Planet Comics'</i> contents were fantasy, with some rocketships and rayguns thrown in to give it a science fiction look.Pappyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01977289662431694607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31723906.post-43721880292688930302017-10-05T03:51:21.088-07:002017-10-05T03:51:21.088-07:00I like a lot of speculative fiction that questions...I like a lot of speculative fiction that questions our everyday metaphysics. And, while I'm not much of a fan of science fantasy that tosses-in something such as the Force of Star Wars, I'm okay with it until someone sermonizes. <br /><br />But if one is going simply to have a character or characters who have what amount to <i>fairy-tale abilities</i>, then there seems little point in having elements of science fiction in the story. <br /><br />With the stories of ostensible science fiction by Fletcher Hanks, one is distracted from that absurd combination by various other deviancies. You rightly note to how this story has other resemblances to a tale by Hanks, but it's just not the full Hanks treatment. It's a childish power fantasy, whereas Hanks seemed to move between contemptuous indifference and rage as he assembled his stories. For example, the villains here are banal and imagine themselves as conforming to accepted convention, whereas Hanks would have made them creatures <i>driven by hate</i>, treating homicide as in itself a source of pleasure, and looking like trolls.Daniel [oeconomist.com]https://www.blogger.com/profile/06763094285750736837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31723906.post-11657828365259163542017-10-04T09:35:27.342-07:002017-10-04T09:35:27.342-07:00One thing I notice about these futuristic or inter...One thing I notice about these futuristic or interplanetary tales is that the men don't wear pants. This was especially so in the Adam Strange adventures where Alanna's father was shown wearing a short tunic and noting else. Is there some sort of subtext here?EG-Markushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02372866055587388313noreply@blogger.com