IT WASN'T JUST HYPERBOLE by Dave Goode

 

I came to the Marvel Age of Comics a little late. My first Marvel Comic was Tales Of Suspense No. 67 (July 1965) where I was introduced to Iron Man and Captain America , who would become my all time favorite comic book hero. A short time later I traded for Fantastic Four Annual No. 3 (Oct. 1965). It was pure magic to this young comic book fan. I started buying the FF and later Marvel Collectors Item Classics for its reprints of early Fantastic Four stories. On the cover of FF No. 3 ( March 1962 ) there was a blurb that declared it "The Greatest Comic Magazine In The World!!". Beginning with No. 4 (May 1962) the blurb would read "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!". And as far as I was concerned this wasn't just hype. It really was. And this comic was one of my must buys of the Silver Age.

 

 

The early issues were pure fun. Start with the name the Fantastic Four. As comic book historian Fred Hembeck said it sounded like the name of a circus act. Even their code names sounded like those of circus performers. Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) , the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), the Invisible Girl (Sue Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm). But it worked. Something else that worked were the stories. The FF had adventures like you'd find in DC Comics Challengers of The Unknown title. The Challengers was a Fantastic Four prototype as was DC's Sea Devils. The difference being that neither one of those teams possessed super - powers. Though the Fantastic Four didn't get superhero costumes (uniforms?) until their third issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite parts of the early FF stories  were the little "bits of business". The team breaking up and starting separate careers. Reed as a corporate research scientist. Sue as a B-Movie actress in a sci-fi flick. Johnny as a circus performer. And Ben as a professional wrestler. Another favorite of mine was Fantastic Four No. 9 (Dec. 1962) when the team went bankrupt. To recoup their losses they take an offer from a mysterious movie producer to make a Fantastic Four movie. Hopefully it was better than the Fantastic Four movies we got in the real world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My buddy Vance Capley always wanted to illustrate the FF. And this week he does just that with a faux Fantastic Four cover featuring the Red Ghost's Super-Apes. Enjoy.

 

 

The Bigger They Are.... by Dave Goode

 

 

One of the things that made the Mexiluchahero flick Los Campeones Justicieros a.k.a The Champions of Justice such over the top fun are the midget minions of the movies mad scientist villain. The most memorable scene in the movie remains when he charges them with a ray that gives them super - strength. And they use it to toss the muscular heroes like a salad. There are midget (actually dwarf ) protagonists in all three of the Champion of Justice movies. Los Campeones Justicieros , Vuelven Los Campeones Justicieros and Triunfo De Los Campeones Justicieros. Watching the trilogy this past weekend made me realize how much I miss "midget wrestling". I guess it's something that's not considered politically correct.

 

 

Also watching these three flicks got me to thinking about Cecil B. De Mille's epic spectacle Samson & Delilah (1949). Just before the movie's climax, where Samson literally brings down the house, the blinded strong man is tormented by the "Spider People". A group of pygmy warriors armed with spears and tridents. Thank goodness their skin wasn't darkened. In a previous De Mille spectacular The Sign Of The Cross (1932) the director had Nordic Amazons fighting African pygmies in the Colosseum. In this case white actors in blackface and wearing afro wigs. Cringe. It's probably why my favorite scene in the arena is the one where legendary fan dancer Sally Rand (uncredited) is bound to a post and threatened by a wild gorilla. Sorry to say there was no strength hero like Ursus or Maciste to save her.

 

 

There have been Tarzan and Jungle Jim movies featuring pygmy warriors. But none with Tarzan taking on a dozen of them at one time. And in several sinew & sandal flicks Hercules has a dwarf sidekick. But he doesn't fight an army of them. Too bad. It would have made for a striking visual. Just like the Mr. Incognito comic book cover below by Vance Capley.

 

 

 

 Super cool t-shirt (and other merch) designs available at:

 

https://www.teepublic.com/user/vancecapleyart1972

THE ALLURE OF LEOPARD by Dave Goode

 

 

 

 

 

There aren't too many things that are sexier than animal prints. As for myself I like tiger stripes. Both regular and snow tiger. But most prefer leopard skin. You can't go wrong with leopard. Nothing brings out a man's masculine sexuality or a woman's feminine sensuality like leopard.

 

Edgar Rice Burroughs clad his iconic hero Tarzan of The Apes in leopard to symbolize his primal power. Emulating carnival and circus strong men. Tarzan's many imitations (male and female ) would follow suit. Charles Atlas, the legendary strongman/bodybuilder wore it in his magazine ads.

 

 

Hollywood sex symbols were photographed wearing it. Or reclining on it. And more than one burlesque queen did a jungle girl act.

 

 

But no one did leopard quite like the ultimate 50s blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield. Leopard was a huge part of her over the top image. She and her Mr. Universe husband Mickey Hargitay wore it in tandem for publicity pics.

 

Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield were inspirations for the characters Brad King and Sugar Caine in the Golden Adonis feature written by Dave Goode and illustrated by Vance Capley. So was Mark Forest the gladiator movie star who began his show business career working in the nightclub act of ecdysiast Lilly Christine. And of course Steve Reeves. Reeves, the former Mr. America, Mr. World, and Mr. Universe champion even wore leopard in a television pilot about a Tarzan like hero. Below is a page for the upcoming Golden Adonis comic book featuring Brad & Sugar modeling leopard.

 

 

 Now you can be KING of the jungle with this super cool design by Vance Capley!

 Order yours today on t-shirts, buttons, magnets, posters, etc:

https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/13835525-king-of-the-jungle?store_id=140005&fbclid=IwAR285cBX8iaVRFzw3Vq9f5vIzuzTxGqp-5jqhdnp0ucShhjVu_Dg04HEJuI