WISH THEY HAD DONE THIS ONE by Dave Goode

Republic was known for there great serial adaptations of Golden Age comic book heroes. Both their SPY SMASHER and ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL are undisputed masterpieces of the genre. And their CAPTAIN AMERICA RETURNS is a great serial. Despite the fact that without the shield, sidekick Bucky, and secret identity of U.S. Army PFC. Steve Rogers you have to ask "was this really Captain America?". There is one comic book character that I wish the Republic studios had brought to life on the silver screen. And that would have been the Golden Age Black Cat.

The Golden Age Black Cat made her debut as a feature in the experimental
digest sized Pocket Comics No.1 (Aug. 1941) from Harvey Publications in a story illustrated by Al Gabrielle. Linda Turner, Hollywood movie star and America's sweetheart is bored with her ultra-sophisticated life of make believe. She becomes the Black Cat...her most adventurous role...and pledges to expose fifth columnists. After the cancellation of Pocket Comics after 4 issues, the Black Cat feature was moved to Speed Comics and ran in that title until it's cancellation in 1947. In 1944, her costume was changed to the one that she is best known for. The character was so popular that she would receive her own comic book in 1946 and would run until 1951 with art by Lee Elias.

I've been told that the Black Cat was modeled after screen goddess Rita Hayworth.

But I thought The Black Cat would have been the perfect vehicle for Republic's very own serial queen Linda Sterling who had played costumed heroines in the serials THE TIGER WOMAN and ZORRO'S BLACK WHIP both in 1944. 

She would look magnificent as the motorcycle riding judo expert. And imagine if you will a Black Cat serial with Republic movie stars playing themselves in the background scenes about film making in Hollywood.

 

Aside from being an absolute stunner Linda Sterling was a bit of real-life Wonder Woman. After leaving the motion picture business and with her children grown she enrolled at UCLA and received a BFA, MA, and a PhD in English Literature at 50. From 1967 to 1990 she would teach English and Drama at Glendale College.

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The World's Finest Models by Dave Goode

 If you are a Silver Age Kid chances are you probably owned the Superman model kit from Aurora. This was a decided must have for fan-boys of the era. Pure bosso-keeno coolness from 1963. It's coolness began with the illustration on the box cover of Superman (looking more than a little bit like George Reeves) smashing through a brick wall. That was an image burned into this Silver Age kid's mind from repeated viewings  of The Adventures of Superman. The man of steel more powerful than a locomotive and faster than a speeding bullet crashing through a wall to save the day.

A couple of years later during Batmania , Aurora would give comic book readers a Batman model kit. It had the caped crusader swinging on a tree branch brandishing his batarang. I kept the two figures on top of a bookcase in my room for years guarding a stack of books. It was just too bad that the figures weren't heavy or strong enough to use as actual bookends. Still later Aurora would come out with a couple of other superhero model kits. Superboy and his pet Krypto , the Superdog dragon-hunting. And Wonder Woman roping an octopus with her magic lasso. But the only other superhero model kit I picked up was Robin , the Boy Wonder heroically pulling the lever on some machine in the Batcave. Why oh why didn't they have him swinging on his bat-rope and brandishing his batarang?

 Aurora would also come out with a line of Marvel superhero model kits. The Amazing Spider-Man,the Incredible Hulk and Captain America , the Living Legend of World War Two. But after putting together the "World's Finest Team" I really had no further interest in superhero models. Now Aurora's line of classic Universal monsters was an entirely different story. I owned the model kits for Count Dracula , the Frankenstein Monster , the Wolf Man , the Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. All very cool stuff.

Speaking of cool superheroes, grab your self a copy of JUDO COMICS! 
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The Copperhead Strikes! by Dave Goode

One of my favorite serials was THE MYSTERIOUS DR.SATAN from Republic. It featured Eduardo Cianelli as the eponymous Dr.Satan. But what really made this chapter-play special to fan-boys was the introduction of the masked hero known as the Copperhead played by Robert Wilcox. The story has attorney Bob Wayne (Wilcox) thwarting the plans of Dr.Satan, his minions and a robot of the renegade scientist's design. Wayne learns in the 1st chapter that his late father was the masked vigilante of the wild west known as the Copperhead. Wayne decides to take up his father's mantle to run Dr.Satan to Earth.

The story behind the story is that Republic was negotiating with National Periodical Publications to produce a Superman serial. When negotiations fell through Republic tweaked their script and created a new hero. One without "powers and abilities far beyond mortal man". Creating another "superman" might have stirred up a hornet's nest. And so a masked mystery man along the lines of the ones in the pulps was created. Someone like the Green Hornet of radio fame.

Now if you watch THE MYSTERIOUS DR.SATAN knowing about the history and connection between the Lone Ranger and Green Hornet you'd come away saying Republic's screenwriters borrowed freely from the Green Hornet's origin. That is until you realize that the Lone Ranger/Green Hornet connection wouldn't be solidified until 1947. Some 7 years after THE MYSTERIOUS DR.SATAN was released. It was in an episode titled "Too Hot To Handle" broadcast on Nov.11, 1947 that Dan Reid Jr. tells his son Britt that his great uncle was the legendary Lone Ranger after Britt reveals that he is the notorious Green Hornet. Dan Reid Jr. would even appear in 14 episodes of The Lone Ranger television series portrayed by actor Chuck Courtney.

In any case like the Masked Marvel and many other Republic serial heroes there were no follow-up adventures in the movies.* More's the pity. But in the alternate universe that runs through my mind Republic put out their own line of comics. Ones that featured the further adventures of their classic serial heroes. One of these titles was Masked Detective Comics which alternately featured the exploits of the Masked Marvel and the Copperhead. Below is two covers of such a comics imagined by my buddy Vance Capley.

*Editor's notes: The Copperhead returned in a full color semi-remake of the serial in the 1973 Turkish film Yilmayan Seytan (aka The Deathless Devil/Copperhead vs. Dr. Satan)....and an unfinished sequel titled The Return of the Copperhead which you can read about here: http://www.rotc.elfess.com/