Number 2486: Thinking of a stinker, the Thinker

The Flash was one of my favorite superheroes in 1960-1961...I was especially rocked when The Flash #123 came out in ’61, and the cover featured both the Barry Allen Flash, and the alternate world Flash, Jay Garrick. 

 

 

That issue introduced the concept of Earths One and Two to the DC Universe, and it was a genius move on the parts of DC editor Julius Schwartz, and writer Gardner Fox. Schwartz and Fox, as well as artist Carmine Infantino, had all worked for DC Comics (then called “National”) during the 1940s. In the days of my youth I read every fanzine I could get my hands on, and wanted to see the early versions of the DC/National characters I liked.

The Flash story below, from All-Flash #27 (1947) is drawn by Martin Naydel with story credited to Robert Kanigher. The villain, the Thinker, does his criminal acts while throwing a variety of gases around. He would have been unacceptable to me had I seen the story in 1961. No costume! What kind of superhero comic book villain goes out without a costume? Perhaps having just broken out of prison the Thinker hadn’t the time between his escape and gassing people to shop for a good costume.

 

Number 2043: Wonder Woman finds her Amazon plane

A few weeks ago* I promised to show this story of Wonder Woman’s plane. The origin story is unusual, since Wonder Woman has to find the plane in three parts. At least we don’t have to watch how hard it is, even for Wonder Woman, to put together a transparent plane.

We are also left with the question of what fuels this plane? Amazon magic, I guess.  It seems a bit less magical 60 years later in the computer era. The plane has a Siri-like quality of answering to Wonder Woman’s voice and obeying commands. Unlike Siri it doesn’t answer back. My gosh, that would make this tale weird.

H. G. Peter did the artwork and Robert Kanigher both wrote and edited. It is one of three equally bizarre tales in the issue.

From Wonder Woman #80 (1956).

*Pappy's Number 2023

Number 2023: Wonder Woman: Duke of Deception’s Dream Dooms

I don’t know if there was a legal arrangement made after Wonder Woman’s creator, William Moulton Marston, died in 1948. H. G. Peter, who was 61 when he began drawing Wonder Woman in 1941, continued as artist until his retirement in 1957 at age 77. (See link below for Peter’s last job as Wonder Woman’s artist, which appeared in 1958.) For some time when Wonder Woman was a big seller Peter had a studio where assistants were employed to help him with the artwork. I don’t know if he was still using assistants when Robert Kanigher took over editing and writing chores.

Peter’s distinctive artwork seemed more quaint as time went on. “The Dream Dooms” was published in Wonder Woman #81 (1956), the same year the Silver Age was born, with the revival of the Flash in Showcase #4, cover dated October, 1956. Kanigher may have been obliged to use Peter for the art chores until Peter chose to quit, but he chose a more contemporary style for the covers. The cover of #81* was drawn by Irv Novick.

Kanigher used two of Marston’s original characters, Paula Von Gunther, and the Duke of Deception, in this story.

*GCD entry for Wonder Woman #81

H.G. Peter’s last job as Wonder Woman’s artist was Wonder Woman #97 (1958). Just click on the thumbnail.

Number 1664: Tor to Viking Prince to Tarzan

Joe Kubert’s creation, Tor, had a short early run for St. John: two 3-D issues and three standard comic book issues. Despite the sin of commingling dinosaurs and humans in world of “1,000,000 years ago,” it was a nicely done title featuring a wandering caveman who shows up just as other tribes are having some problems that need Tor’s intervention. You can find a link to a Tor posting below. The series ended in 1954.

From Tor Joe went on to DC and the next year began the Viking Prince stories for writer/editor Robert Kanigher, with whom he had a long collaborative association. This entry in the series is from The Brave and the Bold #2 (1955). Go to the link below to see the first story featuring Viking Prince from The Brave and the Bold #1.

Occasionally when going through boxes of old comics I pause to look again at anything Joe Kubert did, just to remind myself how much all of it has meant to me.

(Even with that build-up, no, I am not furnishing examples of Joe’s Tarzan beyond this cover...sorry!) It is fitting that when DC got the rights to the famous literary character, Kubert’s progression from Tor to Viking Prince to Tarzan seemed very natural and a perfect choice.

More Tor, and the Viking Prince’s origin. Just click on the thumbnails.

Number 1648: Sea Devils, alien abductees!

Sea Devils, written by editor Robert Kanigher and drawn by Russ Heath, was popular in the early sixties. Maybe it was that combination of the exotic, the deep sea diving and giant aliens and monsters they came up against that made them stand out.

Besides giants, DC Comics never shied away from big concepts, either. In this case a fleet of flying saucers steal our planet’s water. Of course our heroes, despite being no bigger than the aliens’ fingers, are able to return the seas and their contents. It amazes me what Kanigher could accomplish in so few pages. And of course, Russ Heath’s dramatic drawings are superb.

From Sea Devils #5 (1961):

I showed another Sea Devil saga just over a year ago. (Correction: two years. See the comments below.) Click on the thumbnail.