The Fox So Cunning and Free
Bridezilla
The Hornet
Mr. Nimoy
Smashed Hulk
P&O
Tricky Dick
Art Scott
The 6 Million Dollar Mask
Dirty Filthy Ape
Beware! More masks approacheth.
Beware! More masks approacheth.
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VINTAGE HALLOWEEN MASKS (Part 1)
Beware! More masks approacheth.
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Overlooked Films: The Continental Op in Dashiell Hammett's FLY PAPER (1995)
Christopher Lloyd stars as the Op, with Darren McGavin as the Old Man, and a screenplay by Donald Westlake. From the Showtime series Fallen Angels.
More Overlooked Stuff at Sweet Freedom.
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Pulp Gallery: SPICY ADVENTURE (1937)
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VINTAGE HALLOWEEN MASKS (Part 2)
Barney
Frank
Yo, Rinty
The Man With the Gun of the Man Called Paladin
Chucky
The Merry Man
The original Flash
The Boss
The Tramp
The first installment of this 12-Part Spectacular is HERE..
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Forgotten Books: FEARLESS FOSDICK by Al Capp (1990)
"Fearless Fosdick," I'm sure you know, was a long-running strip-within-a-strip appearing as part of - and sometimes seemingly in place of - Li'l Abner. It's complicated. And that was part of its appeal.
According to the scholarly introduction by Max Allan Collins, Fosdick first turned up in a minor way in 1942 and soon wormed his way back to become an important part of Abner's world. This 1990 Kitchen Sink collection features five Fosdick stories that originally appeared between 1947 and 1952. A couple of them are framed within the Abner strip, as Abner reads and reacts to Fosdick's adventures, while the others, including one that ran daily for two full months, dispense with Abner entirely.
In the beginning, Al Capp was simply lampooning Dick Tracy, but the longer the almost-a-strip went on, the more Fosdick became his own man, and the more the satire was directed at society in general. What I find especially cool is that Fosdick inspired the great comic strip parodies Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder did for MAD (the comic book incarnation) beginning in 1952.
Here's a small taste from the first tale in this book, "Introducting Anyface:"
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Comic Gallery: CRIME DOES NOT PAY (1944)
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Most Embarassing Minor League Baseball Caps (Part 6 - Balls)
Asheville Tourists
West Virginia Power
Hagerstown Suns
Salem Dash
Las Vegas 51s
Columbus Clippers
Omaha Stormchasers
Can they get any worse? You bet! Come back next week.
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VINTAGE HALLOWEEN MASKS (Part 3)
Uncle Ben Cartwright
Wolf Dude
The Donald
Supes
Chewy
Vlad and friend
John
Fred
The Sarge
The Cap'n
The Boze
W.C.
Our first two sets are HERE.
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Overlooked Films: THE THREE STOOGES in "The Three Troubledoers" (1946)
Apparently this short was officially titled "The Three Troubledoers," but some of the promotional material left out the Three. No biggee. It's the Three real Stooges Out West. Let the n'yuck-n'yuck-n'yucking begin.
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Altus Gallery: Frederick Nebel's MACBRIDE & KENNEDY
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VINTAGE HALLOWEEN MASKS (Part 4)
Cousin Eerie
The King
The other King
The Walrus
The Beetle
Heartless
Uncle Creepy
The Return of Uncle Creepy
"Read my lips."
Frank Buck
Armin Shimerman
George
Eric Estrada
Pruneface Boche
The First Three Parts are HERE.
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Forgotten Books: A KILLING IN COMICS by Max Allan Collins (2007)
When I read the first half (and only the first half) of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay a few years ago, I found it pretentious and boring and chucked it. That book, in case you were lucky enough to avoid it, was loosely based on Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and the shameful treatment they recieved from the burgeoning comic book industry.
Well, A Killing in Comics is less-loosely based on Jerry and Joe, and I'm pleased to report it's a far better book. It is, in fact, a joyful read from start to finish, by a guy who really understands and appreciates comics.
What impressed me first was Mr. Collins' Hammett-like narration. The hero, Jack Starr, is only marginally a private detective, but he fills that role well and relates his tale with style and wit.
In an afterword, the author warns us that the characters and events do not directly parallel those of real life, but some of them are pretty dang close. Siegel and Shuster become Spiegel and Shulman, the creators of Wonder Guy (who grew up as Wonder Boy in Littleburg). Batman becomes Batwing (who has a partner named Sparrow), with creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger portrayed as Rod Krane and Will Hander. And among the second banana superheroes mentioned are Amazonia, Marvel Man, the Blue Barracuda and Red Archer. Mag titles are fun, too, including Active Comics, Detection Comics and World's Strongest. And it all happens in a world that includes real characters and creators, like Flash Gordon and Alex Raymond, Dick Tracy and Chester Gould.
There are many realistic looks at the business and creation of comics in the forties, and the more you know of that era, the more you'll find to appreciate. One bit I especially liked was an oil painting of Wonder Guy, described as "the work of an artist who used to provide raunchy covers to Donny's old pulp magazines. Somehow that said it all - that the signature painting of the red-white-and-blue hero of America's youth had been executed by a guy who more commonly depicted slobbering males (mad scientists, cannibals, Red Indians) in the process of ripping the remaining shreds of clothing off tied-up nubile maidens."
That real world artist, of course, was H.J. Ward, many of whose Spicy covers have graced this blog. I had a chance to admire his painting of Wonder Guy's inspiration (above) a few years ago in a San Francisco museum.
All the comics-related fun aside, this is a good classic mystery novel. Throughout the book, chapter headings are provided by artist Terry Beatty, and just before the conclusion (when all the supects are confronted in one room by Jack Starr) those illos are employed to recap the mystery and challenge the reader to name the culprit. A cool technique.
I'm happy to report that a new edition of A Killing in Comics is now available here: A Killing in Comics (Dover Mystery Classics)![]()
. Jack Starr returned in Strip for Murder in 2008 and Seduction of the Innocent in 2013, both of which are on my reading list.
. Jack Starr returned in Strip for Murder in 2008 and Seduction of the Innocent in 2013, both of which are on my reading list.
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Poster Gallery: Cowboy Heroes of the '20s
1926
1926
1923
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Most Emarassing Minor League Baseball Caps (Part 7 - Seafood)
Biloxi Schuckers
Hickory Crawdads
Jupiter Hammerheads
Lakewood BlueClaws
Carolina Mudcats
Vermont Lake Monsters
More weirdness to come.
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VINTAGE HALLOWEEN MASKS (Part 5)
The Fink
The Dick
The Pop
Jaws I
Jaws II
The Scarlet Speedster
Darth's Daughter
Black Lagooner
Richard Starkey
Eddie Albert
Selina Kyle
Kevin Costner
The Ronald
The Mask Gallery is HERE.
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Overlooked Films: Danny Glover in Raymond Chandler's RED WIND (1995)
Danny Glover got an Emmy nomination for his performace in this episode of Showtime's Fallen Angels.
The story first appeared in this January 1938 issue of Dime, where Chandler got second billing to Carroll John Daly. Though the magazine detective was John Dalmas, Showtime followed the OTR, paperback and HBO tradition of pretedning he was Marlowe.
More Forgotten Stuff at Sweet Freedom.
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Black Dog Library: H. BEDFORD-JONES
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VINTAGE HALLOWEEN MASKS (Part 6)
The Mouse of Tomorrow
Mr. Greenjeans
"Fool!"
Fool
Sandwich
Robert Blake
Boris
Darth Jr.
Mr. Fantastic's uncle
The Monk
Huckleberry I
Huckleberry II
Hoss
See 'em all (so far) HERE.
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Forgotten Books: MURDER AT MIDNIGHT by Richard Sale (1950)
Like Richard Sale's earlier Popular Library entry, Home is the Hangman (reviewed HERE), Murder at Midnight is two long novelettes (or maybe novellas) disguised as a novel. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Sale was a great storyteller, and everything he cranked out is a pleasure to read. It's just that the work in these two volumes, designed for slick mags like the Saturday Evening Post, are less pleasurable than his novels or pulp stories. The novels are richer in theme and character, the pulp mysteries are funnier, and the pulp historicals are more intriguing.
"Murder at Midnight," filling the first 70 pages of the book, is solid mystery/thriller about a couple with a young adopted daughter. True to the title, there's a murder in it, and the mystery revolves around the identity of the adoptee's birth mother and the duplicitous relatitives and associates of the victim. I don't know if the story appeared in the Post or not, but it's just the sort of thing that would have rocked its readers' boats.
"Cape Spectre," at 84 pages, comprises the rest. Several pages into this one, I had the feeling I'd read it before, but I was wrong. Sort of. Like the story "Beam to Brazil," in Home is the Hangman," this one takes place after the start of WWII, but before the USA enters the fray, and stars a radio operator sent to take over a troubled station in the South Seas. The similarity, it turned out, was deliberate, because both stories feature the same minor (but vital) supporting character - British agent Dudleigh Peighton. And in this tale, Peighton tells the hero he reminds him of a certain Mike Heywood, the hero of "Beam to Brazil" This is the same technique Sale employed in the mystery novels Lazarus #7 (HERE) and Passing Strange (HERE), in which different protagonists are assisted by the same police detective, Daniel Webster. Other than that, though, "Cape Spectre" is a whole 'nother story. Really.
In searching for the links to those other reviews, I discovered this is the 32nd post I've tagged with the name "Richard Sale." And it won't be the last. Jeez, I must really like the guy.
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Pulp Gallery: THE SHADOW (1941)
Davy and I are deeply indebted to Mr. Frank Spremulli, whose generosity made this post possible. Thanks a million, Frank!
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