Number 1691: Hunt and his “friend”

Hunt Bowman, the appropriately named hero who wields a bow as a weapon against alien invaders, the Voltamen, takes an unexpected flight to Paris for this episode of “The Lost World.” It's drawn by Graham Ingels several years before his time as “Ghastly” at EC Comics. He has a sense of humor...check out the restaurant sign in panel 2 of page 7.

I also got a smile at the description on page 1 of Hunt’s companion, Lyssa, as his friend. A friend in a top with plunging neckline, mini-skirt and spike heels, who stalks the enemy with Hunt.* I assume they are friendly enough to keep each other warm at night.

*Hunt looks kinda kinky, himself.

Cover illustration attributed to Joe Doolin. From Planet Comics #30 (1944):

Here is an extra bit of Ingels for you. After EC folded Graham Ingels, like other comic book artists, was looking for work. Here is a short four-page strip from a 1957 issue of Treasure Chest, a wholesome comic book published for Catholic schoolkids.

Number 1589: Invaded Earth

This is the first posting of a theme week. I'm calling it Skiffy Week, recognizing those science fiction fans who deplore the term “sci-fi,” pronouncing it skiffy. These are the kinds of stories that probably qualify for such a title...old-fashioned, corny, oddball. You know, skiffy.

First up, a chapter from the long series of post-invasion tales, “The Lost World,” illustrated by Graham Ingels. The villains are the usual Voltamen, but it’s early enough in the series (it began in Planet Comics #21*) that the Voltamen had not yet adopted their Yoda-speak. Dialogue that in this that story reads, “The old one is dead. We will take the female,” would soon be written as, “Dead the old one is. Take we will the female.”

This story shocks my sense of cultural heritage when our two protagonists, Lyssa and Hunt, burn movie film. Outrageous!

From Planet Comics #26 (1943):

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*I posted that first story last year. Click on the thumbnail to read it.

Number 1351: Planet Comics #21: the first “Lost World”

In 1942 when Planet Comics' popular feature, “The Lost World” began, America was in its first year of World War II, and many comic books reflected the war reality. Planet Comics went a step further by introducing the last man on Earth, Hunt Bowman, and a post-apocalyptic vision after invasion by the aliens-from-space, the Voltamen.

The story drops us right into the action, and without dragging out any preliminaries quickly introduces us to Lyssa, Hunt's companion/girlfriend for the rest of the series. It also presents Voltamen before they acquired the quasi-German Army uniforms, or their Latin-based speech patterns (“Me to your leader take!” by Richard Ellington, from All in Color for a Dime, 1970).

The writer is “Thorncliffe Herrick,” which is a grand and fancy name, but a house name. Various writers worked on the series, including science fiction author, Jerome Bixby. The art, according to the Grand Comics Database, is by Rudy Palais, a comic book journeyman then in an earlier stage of his career. Palais' art at this time looks like it was inspired by Lou Fine. Later artists who worked on the feature included Graham Ingels, Lily Renée, and George Evans.

From Planet Comics #21 (1942):

More “Lost World”...just click the pics.

Number 1264: The replacement Planet

My apologies. This is a replacement posting, done on February 21, 2013. The original, posted on November 18, 2012, which had stories from Fight Comics#36 and Rangers Comics #23, plus this story from Planet Comics #41 (1946), was accidentally deleted.

I don't have the original to look at, but as I recall, I mentioned that this story of ’The Lost World” was reprinted in IW Reprints Planet Comics #1 in 1958, and was the first time I had ever seen it or the work of Lily Renée, who did the artwork.

If I'm able at some point to recreate the original post I will.