Number 935


Rubeny


When the Filipino comic artists were introduced to us American comic book readers nearly 40 years ago, I quickly came up with some favorites whose work I looked for. Ruben Yandoc, who sometimes went under the name Rubeny, is an artist I like. Yandoc had honed his skills for years in the local Philippine comics industry. The blog, PilipinoKomiks says, "Yandoc was at his best when illustrating fantasy and horror stories, the kind of which I consider Philippine gothic. It was a very popular genre in the early years of komiks in the Philippines." He includes a 4-page story by Yandoc from 1951.

These stories are some from copies of DC's mystery comics I had close at hand. "Fear Is A Nameless Voice" is written by George Kashdan and is from The Unexpected #143, 1973; "The Totem's Threat" by Carl Wessler and Yandoc, is from The Unexpected #147; "Over My Dead Body," also by Wessler, is from The Witching Hour #34. Kashdan also wrote "Blood Of Our Fathers," for The Witching Hour #42, 1974, which fits the description of gothic.

Number 934


Rio seems straight, with her seams straight


Señorita Rio, the lovely spy we love, is back. This time, according to the Grand Comics Database, drawn by comic book journeyman Maxwell Elkans and inked by either Elkans or George Evans (they use the ? after the name, so they aren't sure, but the inks look like Evans to me). The story is from Fight Comics #54, 1948.

We have featured Rio before, in Pappy's #682 and Pappy's #803.

I love Rio, who goes through this adventure while wearing a skirt with a hem that flutters about mid-thigh, high heels, and nylons. She is very talented: even while swimming she can keep the seams of her stockings straight. In this story she also wears those textured nylon "arm stockings," for lack of a better word. I don't know what they're called. They're sexy, though.

Fight Comics had two gorgeous stars, Tiger Girl and Rio, twice the bang for your comic book dime in the late 1940s.

Number 933


Ghost pirates of Skull Valley


Ghost pirates sound like Pirates Of the Caribbean, but this tall tale of a ship full of specters comes from Fiction House's Ranger Comics #54, published in 1950.

The moody, dramatic and cinematic adventures of Dr. Drew, the ghost hunter, were done in the style of the Eisner studio, drawn by Will Eisner assistant Jerry Grandenetti.

I've shown other Secret Files of Dr. Drew stories in Pappy's #571 and Pappy's #735.

Number 932


Funny furry Fritz


Frank Frazetta, an artist well known worldwide for his fantasy paintings, started out in comic books, including these funny animal comics from 1949.

Frazetta, who made comic book drawing look easy (and it probably was, for him), didn't seem to have any problems going from comic art featuring humans to a fuzzy critter funny book. His artwork in the issue is better than the other artists', and there isn't anything wrong with them, it's just in comparison. He was probably the best artist in any comic book his work appeared in.

"Bruno Bear" is from Happy Comics #32, "Daffy and Dilly" from Happy Comics #33. I've included another story from #33, the "Happy Fairy Tales, Diamonds and Pebbles," which is more the Frazetta most of us are familiar with, with human characters. To me the story looks like Cinderella meets Prince Valiant. Even the witch, Horrit (page 2, panel 7), from Prince Valiant makes a guest appearance, showing Harold Foster's influence on a young Frazetta.