Nyoka Returns? by Dave Goode

When I was a kid back in the early 1960s I got to see a lot of old movie serials on after school television. The Masked Marvel , Scouts To The Rescue , the Flash Gordon trilogy. One of my very favorites was The Perils Of Nyoka starring Kay Aldridge as Nyoka Gordon. There was an earlier serial Jungle Girl in which beautiful Frances (no relation to Frank) Gifford portrayed Nyoka Meredith. The first serial was based on a book by Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. And Nyoka Meredith was a sort of female Tarzan. Nyoka Gordon was more like a female Jungle Jim.



  


The cast for The Perils Of Nyoka was outstanding. The 15 chapter serial featured Tristram Coffin playing Torrini , a double-dealing double agent of Vultura the film's beautiful villain played by luscious Lorna Gray. Charles Middleton who gained film immortality as Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon trilogy plays Vultura's right-hand man Cassib in this one. This one also features a pre-Lone Ranger Clayton Moore as stalwart hero Dr. Larry Gordon.



Dr.Gordon could have been one of the models for Indiana Jones. Vultura was portrayed by sultry Lorna Gray. And in her turban , slit skirt with snake emblem and platform shoes she was one of the sexiest serial villains ever. Plus she had a pet gorilla named Satan played by ape-suit actor the great Emil Van Horn.

And then of course there was Kay Aldridge as heroine Nyoka Gordon. As an adult I wonder how she got her thick Southern accent raised in Africa. And regret that she didn't have the opportunity to wear the outfit that Frances Gifford wore in Jungle Girl. The outfit she's given fairly covers the former swimsuit model's outstanding figure. But the seven year old fondly remembers the character. She wasn't some helpless damsel in distress like other serial queens. She rode , shot and fought as well as her male comrades. She had moxie. She was girl next door pretty. But she had a tomboy feel to her. She was the girl you could play sports with. Or talk about comics to. And speaking of comics. The Nyoka serial proved so popular that there was a spin-off comic book series.First from Fawcett which adapted The Perils of Nyoka to the 4-Color page. And later by Charlton Comics.

Sky Marshall of the Universe by Dave Goode

I remember when I got my very first leather jacket as a kid. I didn't pretend to be Brando in The Wild One cool. Or even Eric Von Zipper cool. I imagined being Commando Cody cool. For those of you who might not be old enough to remember, Commando Cody was the hero in two 12 chapter serials from Republic Pictures. Actor George Wallace played him in Radar Men from the Moon(1952). And Judd Holdren portrayed the character in Commando Cody:Sky Marshall of the Universe which was originally shot as a television series in 1953. Judd Holdren portrayed a character named Larry Martin in another serial titled Zombies of the Stratosphere(1952) in which he was more or less playing Command Cody. Zombies of the Stratosphere is best known for featuring the original Mr.Spock from Star Trek,Leonard Nimoy, in a small role as a Martian invader. Commando Cody:Sky Marshall of the Universe would be released in theaters in 1953 as a serial. No doubt confusing young serial fans. And would eventually find it's way to television syndicated by NBC television as a 12 episode TV series.

 

The "Rocket Man" suit that Commando Cody wore made it's first appearance in an earlier serial King of the Rocket Men(1949) starring Tristram Coffin as Jeff King.And despite the chapter-play's title there was only one "rocket man" in this movie.Still the image of the Rocket Man has become almost iconic to sci-fi and movie serial fans.A black leather jacket with a rocket backpack and an aerodynamic bullet-shaped helmet. Obviously an inspiration for Dave Steven's Rocketeer character. Shots of Rocket Man taking off,flying and landing would be reused in the Commando Cody serials.

One of the things I remember most about the Commando Cody television series was the hero's futuristic military costume. It looked like something that a comic book reading kid in the 50s and early 60s could imagine a military uniform of the future to look like. Commando  Cody even wore a mask which gave him an air of mystery. Years later I read an article where Judd Holdren said the producers had the actor wear the mask so he'd be easier to replace with another actor if he asked for more money.Of course I was wondering why there wasn't a Commando Cody comic book.And for anyone else who might have wondered what one might have looked like here's a faux page illustrated by my buddy Vance Capley.

See Vance Capley at work! Click here :)

Masked Detective Comics by Dave Goode

Fawcett and then Charlton Comics would publish a series of Nyoka comics based on the Nyoka character from the serial THE PERILS OF NYOKA(1942) starring Kay Aldridge as Nyoka Gordon. Frances(no relation to Frank)Gifford had previously played jungle girl Nyoka Meredith in the serial JUNGLE GIRL(1941). So I ask again,why no Masked Marvel comic book?

In that alternate universe I sometimes find myself inhabiting there was a Masked Marvel feature starring the hero from the Republic serial. Republic itself instead of just licensing their popular characters to Fawcett or some other comic book company they would publish the comics themselves churning out comics starring their own galaxy of western stars. But more importantly they would have put out a comic titled MASKED DETECTIVE COMICS featuring the continued adventures of not only the Masked Marvel but the Copperhead as well.Heaven knows the Copperhead deserved a sequel after THE MYSTERIOUS DR.SATAN(1940).

There would be a comic book sequel to the Masked Marvel serial in the world. It came in 1990 from AC Comics. It was featured in CLIFFHANGER COMICS 1A and was written by Jodi Ensign and illustrated by Mark Heike and John Dell with a cover utilizing a still from the original serial.