THIS POWER UNLEASHED by Dave Goode

It's funny. I started writing this week's blog about "Cap's Kooky Quartet". The second team of Avengers who just about no one would consider "Earth's Mightiest Superheroes". I even had my buddy Vance Capley draw a Judo League of America cover to go along with it. Then I got to thinking how much more I liked the team when Giant-Man and the Wasp returned. Especially when the editorial staff changed Giant-Man's name to Goliath. You see I've always liked the Silver Age Hank Pym.

Hank Pym first appeared in a seven page story in Tales To Astonish No.27 (January 1962) titled The Man In The Ant Hill. This was the cover featured story plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, and inked by Dick Ayers. Geez Louise! All those guys working on one seven page story! The story appeared to be one of those many one-shot Atlas/Marvel sci-fi horror tales that were featured in anthology titles like Tales of Suspense and Strange Tales. This one had generic research scientist and judo expert Henry Pym using himself as a guinea pig in an experiment and shrinking to the size of an ant. He escapes several dangers before restoring himself to normal size.

Hank Pym would return eight issues later in Tales To Astonish No.35 (September 1962) in a story titled Return of The Ant-Man where he becomes a union suited superhero. One of the first in the new Marvel Age of Comics. He had a feature that ran in Tales To Astonish from issues No.35 to No.69 where he would sometimes use judo to battle the bad guys. And he was also a charter member of the Avengers along with Thor, the Hulk, Iron Man, and his own female partner, the Wasp. Later Pym would gain the power to grow as well as shrink and became ... Giant-Man.

Interestingly enough in Avengers No. 10 (November 1964) he would face off against the biblical giant Goliath brought to the present by the villain Immortus. I had hoped Pym would take out Goliath with judo. But the creative team on this issue decided to get cutesy. Dr.Pym, the Wasp,Thor, and Iron Man leave the Avengers with the sixteenth issue and turn the team over to Captain America who teamed up with three reformed villains Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch.

Pym and the Wasp would return to the Avengers in Avengers No. 28 (May 1966) where he ditched the corny Giant-Man code name. I really enjoyed the Avengers after Pym rejoined the team. I thought the one thing the team was missing after the departure of Thor and Iron Man was a member with pure raw strength. Goliath provided that. Just not on an Asgardian level. I only wished that he would have  used his judo skills more often.

I mentioned that Vance Capley had originally drawn a new JLA cover for this blog. And since I hate to see anything go to waste you can find it below.

Now YOU can support the JLA!

Now lets take public domain superheroes and make an Avengers type team....

THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR SUPERMAN by Dave Goode

THIS LOOKS LIKE A JOB FOR SUPERMAN by Dave Goode

During the Silver Age my favorite Superman outside of the comics and reruns of The Adventures of Superman were the 17 animated technicolor Superman shorts from the 1940s. These cartoons with their art deco look and straight out of a comic book story lines were cooler than the other side of the pillow.

The first of these shorts was simply titled "Superman". But it's come to be known by fans as "The Mad Scientist". Released on September 26, 1941 it was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject: Cartoon. It however lost out to Walt Disney's Pluto cartoon "Lend A Paw".

To today's comic book fans the Superman of these cartoons was severely lacking in power. You could also say the same of George Reeves television of the 50s who was no way as powerful as his comic book counterpart of the 50s. But the cartoon Superman's "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man" were on par with the Man of Steel that was found in the comic books of the period. This led to a lot more suspenseful moments.

In a clever bit of casting the two voice actors who portrayed Clark Kent/Superman and Lois Lane were Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander reprising their roles from the Superman radio series. The pair would recreate those roles in an animated Superman series from Filmation in the 1960s as well.

The actor who did the heavy lifting in the 40s cartoons was 5' 11", 200 lb. pro wrestler Karol Krauser who was the model for the rotoscoped Superman. Born Karol Piwoworczyk in Poland, Krauser was an all-around athlete excelling in weight-lifting, swimming, track, and wrestling. Coming to America Krauser would find fame and fortune tag-teaming with Edward Bruce as one of the Kalmikoff Brothers in the 1950s and 60s.

...and now...SUPERMAN!!!

TARZAN AND SON by Dave Goode

TARZAN AND SON BY DAVE GOODE

Watching the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies a couple of years back it hit me that these flicks took place in an alternate universe. Not just because Tarzan  was an inarticulate savage as opposed to Burroughs' Lord of the Jungle that appears in the books. But in the first six films from MGM, Jane is a brunette Britisher and not a blonde American. And to top it off she's Jane Parker and not Jane Porter. Later in the RKO Tarzan movies Brenda Joyce takes over the role and is a closer match to the Jane of the books.

And then there was Tarzan and Jane's adopted son "Boy" played by Johnny Sheffield. A huge departure from Edgar Rice Burroughs' books. Sheffield would go on to portray Bomba, the Jungle Boy in a series of movies from Monogram Pictures. 

Looking at these low budget programmers they remind me a bit of Gold Key's Son of Tarzan comics from the 1960s. And it's easy to imagine Sheffield playing Tarzan's real son Jack Clayton a.k.a Korak, the Killer.

There is an interesting fan boy theory that involves the Tarzan that Ron Ely played on 1960s television. That big Ron was playing the "Boy" from the Weissmuller MGM and RKO movies grown to adulthood after having lived for years in civilization. An interesting idea. And we are after all talking about an alternate universe.

And As The Clown Prince Of Crime I Decline by Dave Goode

And As The Clown Prince Of Crime I Decline by Dave Goode

 

 

 

 

When the Batman television series premiered on ABC-TV, the 8 year old me thought it was cooler than the other side of the pillow. Largely because the pilot episodes Hi Diddle Riddle and Smack In The Middle were so much better than the comic book story The Remarkable Ruse Of The Riddler from Batman No. 171 (May 1965) they were based on. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the first season of the show a number of the episodes were adapted from the comic books. Of these my favorite was adapted from my favorite Joker story at the time...The Joker's Utility Belt from Batman No. 73 (Oct. 1952) .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A story that I first read in reprinted form in 80 Page Giant Batman No. 176 (Dec. 1965).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Joker Is Wild and Batman Is Riled that originally aired on January 26 and January 27 of 1966 were not a spot on adaptation of the comic book story. But the screenplay written by Robert Dozier (the nephew of the show's producer) is darn close. With things, like the Joker's escape from prison, a welcome addition. Dozier's screenplay captures the spirit of the original. Another welcome addition was Nancy Kovack as the Clown Prince of Crime's moll Queenie.

Also sometimes we also forget just how good Cesar Romero was as the Joker. Since Jack Nicholson played the role in the 1989 movie screenwriters have made the character more and more psychotic. And we forget just how scary Romero was in the role. Especially in this episode.

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