A pretty vivid example of the kind of book that had half of America freaking out in the fifties. From BEWARE #6 (1953). To be fair, I’m pretty sure a lot of parents would freak out today if their nine year-olds wandered home with this little treasure.
From BLAZING COMICS #2 (1944). Featuring the Green Turtle. The most interesting thing about the Turtle is that he was only drawn from the back. A storytelling challenge that probably limited the character’s lifespan, but still pretty interesting for the era. The strange thing is that the cover of the book featured a full frontal view.
From ALL-AMERICAN COMICS #24 (1941). The snappy title of this strip was Rescue on Mars, An Adventure in the Unknown, Featuring Ted, Alan and Jack. On this page, the Martians (which look like painted uppers) somehow see through Jack’s brilliant disguise (not only is he wearing human clothes under his helmet, he’s toting a big white laundry sack). My favorite part is the brain-sucking machine, though. Barbarous, indeed.
And a bonus, since I think I missed yesterday. GAY COMICS #22 (1946). Jesus, really? Even in 1946, there is no way this cover was created obliviously. I imagine bored bullpen artists daring each other to see how much they could get away with before an editor’s head snapped off.
Am I the only one who finds this cover really unsettling? It’s as if a real world cop was tired of watching Archie’s zany hijinks on the comics page and stepped in to haul his ass to real jail, where guys named “Moose” aren’t as fun to be around as the ones in Riverdale. ARCHIE #114 (1960). Then again, I’ve never seen a bright red cop car with a white cross on the side. Archie might want to check that cop’s ID before he submits to a body cavity search.
What happens when you smash together Clark Kent and Batman and spend a good twenty minutes writing and drawing the story? Night Bird! From GREEN MASK #6 (1941). This story introduces Night Bird (alias photographer “Lens” Crockett), details his origin (he found a costume in a box), and features the most awkward scene shifts in comic book history. And, hey — who could blame Night Bird for leaving the damsel in distress hanging from “a projecting rock” in a bottomless wishing well? That’s bound to be safe! Bonus fact: The story describes Night Bird as a “dark bird of the night.” Dressed in yellow.
We dial it back to 1940 for this glimpse at an Iron Skull adventure from the pages of AMAZING MAN #15. The Iron Skull, one of the freakier looking heroes of the Golden Age, finds his IRON SKULL being dragged across the landscape by — what else? A giant magnet. Maybe he should have just called himself THE SKULL. (as always, click for a better view — (better being relative in this case))
