Number 310


Beastie Boys!



Karswell of The Horrors of It All is showing Ace horror stories. I have some he doesn't, and vice versa. Here's a neat werewolf story, "Beast Of Skeleton Island," featuring not one but two beastly critters. This is courtesy of Web Of Mystery #13 (1952). Art is attributed by the Grand Comics Database to Lou Cameron.

I love a good werewolf story. I like the idea of running around in the woods at night biting people. Rowff! A doctor was examining me with my shirt off and said, "You are a hairy devil, aren't you?" My response was, "Especially when the moon is full."

Awooooooooooo!

Number 309


"...hungrily lap my blood…"


The writing in this Sheena story from Jumbo Comics #93, November 1946, is a really good example of purple prose. Deep purple! The artwork is by Robert Webb, a workhorse for the Jerry Iger shop.

Queen Darma of the Dawn Race (and that's what they call themselves, apparently realizing they're not evolved) looks like she could use a 55-gallon drum of hair remover.

It's very silly, but great fun from Fiction House.

Number 308


Henry Boltinoff: the Filler Brush Man


I wonder if anyone has ever counted how many individual DC Comics cartoonist Henry Boltinoff appeared in. When I was a kid in the 1950s reading DC he was in every single issue I read. For years he was the filler artist for DC. Boltinoff, who died in 2001, sold me some of his original art years ago. There was an ad in Comics Buyers' Guide from Mr. Boltinoff, three pages for $25! A real bargain. He sent me a couple of full-pagers, and a "Cap's Hobby Shop" entry, all from 1960s comics.

Studying Henry's original artwork showed me he was a meticulous craftsman. Nearly every neatly brushed line is worked over in white paint to make sure it looked as smooth as possible. He probably didn't need to spend that much time on it, but he did. He was a true professional in every sense.

If there's anything else I can say about these examples from my 1940s Batman issues, it's that the gags themselves aren't laugh-out-loud funny, but more like mildly amusing. His work is very appealing, though, and someone thought it was funny because he made many sales of single panel cartoons to prestige publications like Saturday Evening Post. He also did syndicated panels in newspapers for years.

The example on the top of this page is from Batman #37.

Batman #53:

Batman #54:

Batman #55:

Batman #56:


Batman #57:


Batman #58:

Number 307


Oona Goosepimple's Uncle Oaf


Of all the postings I've done for Pappy's the one with the most blogosphere buzz, resulting in links to this blog, has been Pappy's #269, which featured the Oona Goosepimple story from Nancy #175. Who am I to go against the vox populi and what the public desires? Here's an Oona story from Nancy #170, September 1959.

As with the previous posting, it's written by John Stanley. Even if I didn't tell you, you'd know by the huge OW! when Nancy runs into the light pole.

Number 306


That ol' black magic has me in its spell…


Meet Gar Macon, pilot, coward. Gar is doomed. He's doomed to repeat his mistakes. Most of us wish for a chance to go back and undo something we've screwed up, but in this case Macon gets to do it again until it undoes him. "Vengeance of the Living Dead" is from Fawcett's World's Beyond #1, 1951, the only issue of that title. It became Worlds of Fear with the next issue.

The artwork is by Bernard Baily, a fine golden age artist who contributed some of the best and most gruesome covers ever for horror comics. His abilities show in this effective and creepy story.