Number 1918: Volcano sacrifices: Moon Girl and her mom!

I have mentioned before the character of Moon Girl is inspired by Wonder Woman, introduced to the world by publisher Maxwell Gaines. Moon Girl is like Wonder Woman without the kinky stuff. She has a fella (the Prince), like Diana has Steve Trevor. While Wonder Woman comes from a mythical place called Paradise Island, Moon Girl comes from a mythical version of a real place, Samarkand. Here’s a bit of information about Samarkand, from a travel guide on the Internet:

“Samarkand - The Capital of Tamerlane. Samarkand is situated in the valley of the river Zerafshan. It is the second largest city of Uzbekistan and is of the same age as the city of Babylon or Rome.”

No mention of a Moon Mountain or the Volcano Kokama, which are key plot elements in “The Spirit of Kokama,” from Moon Girl #3 (1948). There’s a rebellion going on in Samarkand, and Moon Girl’s mom is thrown into a dungeon. She didn’t detect the plot against her, but then I don’t think she is very smart. When the volcano erupts, she claims it is “harmless.” She sounds like a queen in denial.

Despite all of the things about mixing fantasy with real places, I am intrigued by Moon Girl’s plane. It isn’t invisible like Wonder Woman’s, but is controlled by Moon Girl’s moon powers. When it flies from Uzbekistan to America and shows up, unpiloted, to collect the Prince, it reminds me of a drone.

Artwork is by Sheldon Moldoff.

Number 1917: Crime Machine

In 1971 Skywald Publications (a company founded by Sol Brodsky and Israel Waldman) published two issues of Crime Machine, which was a blackline reprint magazine of 1950’s crime comics, mostly from Avon.

Someone thought it was a good idea to introduce a host, Matt Grover, a “crime fighter and researcher into crimes and criminals of the past.” It required some paste-ups of Matt’s head in the splash panels of the stories. Perhaps the editor thought it would bring a touch of the present to stories of the past. Waldman, who had published the I.W. reprints line of comics sold through grocery and chain stores, had made his reputation with comics fans by reprinting old comic books, and when he co-launched Skywald he apparently had this sort of material lying around the office.

“Marion Gilmore” is drawn by Joe Kubert, and is a standard crime story of the era made special by Kubert’s dynamic artwork. Love that symbolic splash panel. (You got more of Joe’s artwork in the Pappy Tenth Anniversary Sunday post on July 3.) Marion’s story was originally published in Avon’s Parole Breakers #2 (1952). Did Gilmore really exist? Is this another example of a so-called true crime story? Did a girl luring men with an offer of sex, then having them mugged by her accomplices, move up to become crime queen of the San Francisco waterfronts? I don’t know. I don’t even care. Joe’s artwork is enough for me .

Pappy's Tenth Anniversary Sunday Special Number 2: Peter Wheat #1 by Walt Kelly

We are celebrating Pappy’s tenth anniversary with a series of Sunday postings this month. Today Adventures of Peter Wheat #1, the first of a series of bread company giveaway comics by the masterful Walt Kelly.

To the best of my (admittedly leaky) memory I have never seen an actual paper issue of this series. I have the copies that kind souls have scanned and that I have downloaded from the Digital Comics Museum (thanks, guys!) They came out in the late 1940s and early '50s, the first 35 by Kelly, the rest of the series by Del Connel and artist Al Hubbard (whose work looked a lot like Kelly’s and is an artist I think is underrated).

Today we have the first one, published in 1948 for the Bakers Associates, Inc. by Dell, and it is all Kelly, front to back. If Kelly ever wrote about this project I haven’t read it, and I wonder if he was given carte blanche to create characters and storylines. It has the distinctive art Kelly is known for, but not the humor. This postwar comic is about an ongoing war between the good guys and the bad guys, and bad guys who sometimes act like good guys. It was aimed at children, after all. It takes place in miniature, in a forest setting, perfect for Kelly's facile imagination and drawing style.

Number 1916: The strange delusion

A strange delusion this story is, indeed! It is a delusion of a mental health professional accusing a supposed mental patient of lying, for one. Kick that guy out of  the American Medical Association! Even though he is shown to be correct in his accusation, I believe his bedside manner is sorely wanting.

I love old flying saucer stories, even if I'm not a true believer in UFO lore (I do not believe every light in the sky which cannot be readily explained is a vehicle carrying aliens from other planets, for instance). But the iconic images of the genre are irresistible to me, reminding me of those days of movies like Earth Vs the Flying Saucers or This Island Earth. When I saw those movies during their initial releases in theaters I thought they were out-of-this-world-cool!* This Island Earth, and its images of Metaluna, the devastated planet under bombardment, appears to have influenced a couple of panels of “Strange Delusion” from Adventures Into the Unknown #97 (1958).

Grand Comics Database gives credit for the pencils to Pete Costanza.

*As jaded as I am about everything, there are glimpses of my childish gosh-wow that show themselves now and then.

A past saucer posting, this one from 2012, has links to yet more UFOs! Just click on the thumbnail:

Number 1915: Everybody’s got a hungry heart

Unlike what Bruce Springsteen sings, maybe not everybody has a hungry heart...but certainly our heroine, Wilma, has that condition. And for Wilma, raised by a hermit-dad in Vermont without neighbors, friends, or lovers, the only thing that will satisfy Wilma’s heart’s appetite is the love of a man.

“Hungry Heart” from Lovelorn #5 (1950) goes from the story of a naïve young woman going through a couple of gold-digging cads while looking for true love, to a story that is reminiscent of Titanic. Luckily for the lovers, with a much happier ending.

Gus Ricca gets credit for the artwork.