Number 2490: Ice cold plunderers from the past!

 In this Moon Girl story, “Plunderers From the Past,” Some Vikings are thawed from ice and come back to life. A character in the story explains that “some frogs” can freeze and yet come back from their organs and body being in the deep freeze. Yeah, I’d heard that a time or two, so to corroborate that factoid it was to the Internet I went. The National Science Foundation has an article, “Frozen Frogs Don’t Croak,” and from that article: “Jon Costanzo, a professor at Miami University in Ohio says at the first sign of ice in late fall or early winter, the frog freezes solid as a rock.

“That touch of ice immediately sets off signals inside the frog that pulls water away from the center of its body, so the frog's internal organs are now wrapped in a puddle of water that then turns to solid ice. . .The frog's heart stops beating, its kidneys stop functioning and its respiration ceases--for months. The frogs endure this suspended animation by producing a type of antifreeze made with glucose, keeping the water in their cells in a liquid state at temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius).” So when the Moon Girl character who talks about frogs asks, “Why not humans?” we know now that it is because we don’t have antifreeze in our blood.

Antifreeze or not, Moon Girl gets involved with these formerly frozen humans.

The story is written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Sheldon Moldoff. It is from EC Comics’ Moon Girl #6, 1949.

Number 2413: Hawkman and Hawkgirl: the elixir of youth

In the second panel of this story, Hawkman grabs a crook in a car speeding down a mountain and says, “Stop or I’ll pull you out one by one and drop you over the precipice.” I guess being a flying hero doesn’t make Hawkman, secret identity of Carter Hall, less threatening than the crooks he is after.

Hawkman has a hawk friend, Big Red, and a girlfriend, Shiera, who is also Hawkgirl, but sometimes he is on his own. That can result in what happens to him when the gang members in the car get the better of him. Then the story has a flashback to the reason for Hawkman’s plight. It has something to do with Shiera’s uncle and a “glandular elixir” he has invented, trying to make Shiera’s aunt into a young woman. Brainy, a gangster, wants to steal the elixir so he can turn his enemies into babies. That seems less effective than the old-fashioned way of killing enemies.

The elixir still needs work, but I am also thinking of it being used commercially. Can you imagine one of those late night infomercials selling this elixir? I could use about a gallon of it right now.

Drawn by Sheldon Moldoff and written by Gardner Fox. From Flash Comics #25 (1942).

Number 2412: Big Bird goes bad!

My jaw damn near hit the floor when I saw the panel of a talking bird with what looks like a machine gun. It reminds me of a current trend by American psychopaths, taking weapons of war and shooting up schools, churches and businesses. I am not making light of those terrible recurring atrocities, but they are the first things I thought of.

The story is drawn by Mr Precision, Fred Guardineer, with his fine examples of careful drawing and inking comic book pages. It is written by Gardner Fox. “The Harp of Death” is from the ME one-shot, Space Ace #5 (1952), a collection of reprinted Space Ace stories from the 1948 Manhunt comic books.

Number 2355: Money for nothin' and the house for free

What an offer! Such a deal! A free house, free food, free giant screen television (that black and white comes in high definition, I hope). Meals are cooked for the occupants, and they even have a guaranteed income of $200 a week...in cash. Oh, and they have robots to do the work. Those occupants, the Jenkins family, have hit the jackpot, and just when they were at their lowest point, sharing a tiny apartment with another family. They are offered a dream house, making their dreams come true. Who wouldn’t take the word of a kindly old man like Mr Appleby, who is so generous?

Me, for one. I remember the old saying: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And for the Jenkins family, it is not only too good, it comes with a hidden price.

“The Dream House” was written by Gardner Fox, using the pseudonym, Robert Starr, for Strange Adventures #3 (1950). It was drawn by Jim Mooney, pencils, and Ray Burnley, inks

Number 2306: Gone in a Flash

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I assumed Captain Marvel was aimed at youngsters, and I believe the same of the original Flash and Green Lantern comics. It has to do with the cartoony artwork, and an attempt at laughs. I say attempt because of the three dimwits, Winky, Blinky, and Noddy, who were the comedy relief for the Flash (just as Doiby Dickles was for Green Lantern). The dimwits were based on the Three Stooges, but there the resemblance ends.

This story stuck out for me because of the plot. A man can see the future while hearing the present.

In spite of the three dimwits, I have an affection for the Golden Age Flash, having first encountered him in the Silver Age story, “Flash of Two Worlds.”

Artist E.E. Hibbard drew a lot of Flash stories. He left comic books in 1947 and went to the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. Later he became a member of the Society of Animal Artists. Gardner Fox wrote the script.

This story appeared in Flash Comics #67 (1945).