Super-Powered Sach by Dave Goode

Not a real comic, but Judo Comics is at lulu.com

Growing up I was a huge fan of Monogram's East Side Kids and Bowery Boys series. Actually growing up I didn't know anyone who wasn't a fan of those two series. And I always thought the East Side Kids would have made for a great comic book series during the Golden Age. Stories in a series would pretty much be like the ones in the movies.The kids would help to smash Axis spy rings. Or they would help to bring crooked gamblers and gangsters to justice. They would even have " Scooby Gang " adventures in haunted houses. But over the years I've given thought to the idea that the Bowery Boys may have been an even better subject for a comic book series.




The Bowery Boys were more or less an older version of the Eastsiders with the same actors playing basically the same characters. The difference was the Bowery Boys series injected more comedy into the films. And in many cases the stories were more far-out , with the gang facing a number of mad scientists. Something strangely enough that the East Side Kids never did. Especially when you consider that two of the movies from the series , SPOOKS RUN WILD (1941) and GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE ( 1943 ) featured Bela Lugosi. Also in a couple of the Bowery Boys films Huntz Hall's character Sach a.k.a Horace Debussey Jones gains super-powers.

The first of these Super-powered Sach movies was MR. HEX ( 1946 ) where a hypnotized Sach gains super-strength and limited invulnerability becoming a champion boxer.


























In HOLD THAT LINE (1952 ) he drinks a chemical concoction that increases his physical attributes so that he first becomes a track & field star and then later a football hero.

In NO HOLDS BARRED ( 1952 ) various parts of his body become steel hard and he becomes a professional wrestling star. In PRIVATE EYES ( 1953 ) he gains the ability to read minds and he and the rest of the gang open a detective agency. And in JUNGLE GENTS ( 1954 ) a flick that features a young Clint Walker as a Tarzan-type Sach gains the power to smell diamonds. Smell diamonds? That's a power even the Silver Age Superman never had.

My favorite of the Sach gains super-powers flicks may have been MASTER MINDS (1949). Though as a pro wrestling fan I'm quite fond of NO HOLDS BARRED as well. In this one Sach gets a toothache which somehow gives him the power to see into the future. His buddy " Slip " Mahoney (Leo Gorcey ) comes up with the idea to put him in a carnival sideshow to make some cash. A mad scientist played to perfection by Alan Napier reading about Sach's psychic abilities in the news decides to transfer Sach's brain into the body of Atlas , a humanoid creature of great strength that resembles a prehistoric man. The two have their minds switched for a brief time and comic antics follow. Imagine ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN if Lou Costello's mind had been transferred into the Frankenstein monster's body. Coincidentally enough Atlas in MASTER MINDS is portrayed by Glenn Strange , the same actor who played the Frankenstein monster in ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.

For my money the best performance in MASTER MINDS comes from Alan
Napier as Dr.Druzik. Best known as Alfred , the faithful Wayne butler on the 60s Batman television series, Napier is one of my favorite actors. I love just about everything I've ever seen him in. Especially as the commie agent in BIG JIM MCLAIN ( 1952 ) and as the acidic art critic in HOUSE OF HORRORS ( 1946 ) . And he's great in this one. It's hard to watch him here and not imagining him in the roles that made Boris Karloff a horror film icon.

SECRET - AGENT MAN by Dave Goode

During the Silver Age of Comic Books there was only one Marvel Comic Book hero that starred in two separate series. Nick Fury was the star of Marvel's " war comic for people who don't read war comics " , SGT.FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS. He also starred in NICK FURY , AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D A series that first ran as a feature in STRANGE TALES before graduating to it's own title. I never gave much thought to a Sgt. Fury flick. We already had more than enough John Wayne war movies. But a Nick Fury ,Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D movie made during the height of the spy-craze would have been bosso-keeno.







It was in Strange Tales No.135 (Aug.1965) that ex-World War Two hero Sgt. Fury , now a colonel , was recruited to be the director of a new counter-espionage agency in a life or death struggle against the forces of Hydra. But much like Captain Kirk on the original STAR TREK , Colonel Fury never learned to delegate. He wasn't just S.H.I.EL.D's director. He was the organization's No.1 field agent. But who to cast as the combat veteran turned secret agent? For the longest time I had thought Dean Martin. Dino had portrayed secret agent Matt Helm in a series of campy spy spoofs and may have been good as artist/writer Jim Steranko's version of the character. And it was Martin who played opposite Daliah Lavi in the best of the Matt Helm movies THE SILENCERS (1966).

Lavi was the only real choice to play the part of Valentinia Alegra de la Fontaine (Val to her friends). The stunning Israeli actress/singer had appeared in a number of Euro-Spy movies. And reportedly Val was inspired by the actress. I thought she would have made a great Modesty Blaise as well. But that's another discussion.

 

Someone suggested to me a better choice to play Colonel Fury may have been Robert Lansing. And I had to agree. Lansing would have been perfect as the S.H.I.E.D agent created by Jack Kirby and later drawn by John Severin. And if your a fan-boy of a certain age you remember him as Gary Seven on the STAR TREK episode Assignment:Earth. Watch it again. That was Nick Fury. In either case I wouldn't have put Fury in that skintight bodysuit that Steranko eventually did. Too much like Steranko's Spyman from Harvey Comics. Too campy.

THE TARZAN THAT WASN'T by Dave Goode

When pole-vaulter Don Bragg won the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome he thought he was on his way to fulfilling a lifelong dream. That of playing Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan of the Apes on the silver screen.


After all swimming
champions...

Johnny Weissmuller



















and Buster Crabbe

 used their gold medal victories
as a springboard into the role.

And Herman Brix

 who was the world record holder in the shot-put and won the silver medal at the 1928 Olympics was handpicked by Tarzan's creator Edgar Rice Burroughs to play the Lord of the Jungle in a movie he produced.


And then there was Glenn Morris

who won the decathlon at the 1936 Olympics earning the title of the "world's greatest athlete". Something Burroughs often described Tarzan as being.

It was while in Rome for the Olympics that LIFE magazine did a photo shoot of Bragg clad only in a loincloth among the Roman ruins. And if anyone looked like Tarzan it was the 6' 2" , 200 lb. Bragg. Growing up Bragg watched Johnny Weissmuller movies and played Tarzan climbing and swinging on ropes near his home. He also was blessed by great genetics. His father had done some professional wrestling. And Bragg grew into an all-around athlete who specialized in pole-vaulting.






In 1964 Bragg was given the chance to portray the king of the jungle in
TARZAN AND THE JEWELS OF OPAR produced by Sandy Howard and filmed in Jamaica. But almost as soon as filming started the production was shutdown. ERB Inc. won an injunction against Jamaica Pictures Ltd. headed up by Sherman S. Krellberg and Sandy Howard. I wonder what the finished product would have looked like? Would the script have had Bragg "aping" Weissmuller? Who would have portrayed La of Opar? Who would have played Jane? It's too bad that the film wasn't completed. Maybe changing the hero's name to Tyger or Zantar or something else. Just looking at pics of Bragg you can see he would have made a great jungle hero of some sort.


  Speaking of low budget jungle flicks, let's see what the Golden Adonis is up to in this brand new strip by Dave Goode and Vance Capley:

See more of the Golden Adonis' exploits in Judo Comics! Available at lulu.com

Watch artist Vance Capley draw a Golden Adonis strip!

Alias... Dick Grayson by Dave Goode

I had just started reading Batman and Detective comics a couple of years before the Batman television series premiered. I was introduced to Batman through a crossover story in one of the Superman titles and thought the character was pretty cool. So I started picking up titles that featured this other " caped crusader ". When I did I discovered a character that over the years would become my favorite comic book/comic strip hero. Robin, the Boy Wonder...alias Dick Grayson. Actually I liked him as Robin, Nightwing, or just Dick Grayson. As a kid when playing Batman with friends I got to be Batman because I was the tallest. But I secretly wanted to be Robin.

Honor student, top athlete and wholesome boy next door. Dick Grayson was the ultimate big brother even if there was no Tim Drake or Jason Todd during the Silver Age to look up to him. Seriously I imagined Tony Dow portraying him.

That is until the Batman series premiered.

There is a certain gold standard when it comes to casting comic book /comic strip heroes and heroines. It starts with Buster Crabbe as Flash Gordon and continues with Irish McCalla (Sheena of the Jungle) , Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman) and Burt Ward as Robin , the Boy Wonder. Actor Burt Ward as Robin looked like artist Carmine Infantino's  Boy Wonder come to life. Burt Ward (born Bert Gervis Jr.) was a sort of " boy wonder " in real life. At age two he was billed as the world's youngest professional figure skater.








The publicity department for the Batman show had put out some press releases describing him as as a brown belt in karate. As part of his audition he demonstrated some ukemi and tameshiwari techniques so these claims might have had some validity.

The funny thing is that in a 3-part story that ran in Batman No.234 (Aug.1971) , Batman No.235 (Sept.1971) and Batman No.236 (Nov.1971) written by Gary Friedrich and illustrated by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano Robin gives a karate demo at a commune where writer Friedrich describes Robin as being a karate brown belt. Hold the phone! Robin was only a brown belt in karate? This was as bad as Barbara " Bat-Girl " Gordon in her first appearance in Detective Comics No.359 (Jan.1967) written by Julius Schwartz and drawn by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson being described as a brown belt in judo.

I can't understand why any writer would depict someone fighting a guerrilla war against crime in the streets as being anything less than a 5th dan black belt. Perhaps this was writer Friedrich's way of of paying tribute to Burt Ward's martial arts skills. I wonder if there was some story during the Silver Age where Robin was described as a black belt?

Love the good old days of comics? Then grab JUDO COMICS by Goode & Capley
Here's the link: LINK

The Mystery of Death by Dave Goode

As a lifelong comic book reader I've developed a certain affinity for circus movies. Much in the same way I've developed a certain affinity for professional wrestling. And pretty much for the same reasons. In Phillip Wylie's novel Gladiator the hero , Hugo Danner , a Superman prototype spends a bit of time working as a carnival strongman. And remember when Superman made his first appearance in Action Comics No.1 (June 1938) his costume consisted of the colorful tights of a circus acrobat and Roman sandals of a strongman. As a little boy I would love going to the circus to watch the acrobats , dressed much like comic book heroes , perform. I'm also reminded that Fred Hembeck once wrote that the " Fantastic Four " sounded like the name of a circus act. Which leads me to my favorite Mil Mascaras movie...Enigma de Muerte.

Directed by Federico Curiel from a screenplay written by Ramon Obon Enigma de Muerte found pro wrestler and part-time superhero Mil Mascaras tracking down a group of Nazi war criminals. The Nazis are led by B-Movie icon John Carradine and are masquerading as carnival performers. And so Mascaras puts together an act to join the show and ferret them out. This flick features everything you would want in a carnival / circus mystery. Clowns hiding evil secrets behind their make-up. A sharp-shooter , a knife-thrower, a strongman (who matches his strength against Mil's) and a bevy of beautiful showgirls. Everything except for a man in a cheesy gorilla costume to fight the hero. More's the pity.

The bad guys in this flick always reminded me of Marvel Comics' Ringmaster and the Circus of Crime from the Silver Age of Comic Books. Carradine might have been a good Ringmaster. Though I might have cast Vincent Price in a movie.

By the way there was another Ringmaster who appeared during the Golden Age of Comics in Captain America No.5 ( August 1941 ) in a story from the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

The Silver Age Circus of Crime first appeared in The  Incredible Hulk No.3 (Sept. 1962) in a story credited to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

 

 

But to me the best Silver Age Circus of Crime stories came from the team of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in Spider-Man No.16 ( Sept. 1964 ) and Spider-Man No. 22 ( March 1965 ). It's Steve Ditko who I imagine drawing a comic book adaptation of Enigma de Muerte with inks by Wally Wood.

 

Below is a Dr.Judo comic book cover drawn by Vance Capley to give you an idea how that might look.

Where Would You Place Him? by Dave Goode

I think most people enjoy Top 10 Lists. It's fun to see where exactly your favorites fall. And they're usually the subject of spirited debates when your favorites don't make a list. Or aren't as high as you think they should be. For instance when it comes to the subject of television theme songs a dozen from the western genre pop into my head before I can think of any other genre. There are the themes to RAWHIDE and BONANZA at the top. And they're followed by themes from HAVE GUN , WILL TRAVEL and Warner Brothers westerns like CHEYENNE , MAVERICK , SUGARFOOT, BRONCO and LAWMAN. And let's not forget the songs Happy Trails and the William Tell Overture. In the end these lists are just the opinion of the people who compile them. If you agree with one cool. If you don't the sun will still come up tomorrow. As for myself there's only one list that bothers me.And largely because it omits Adam West as Bruce Wayne / Batman.

To me Adam West as Batman / Bruce Wayne was the epitome of cool. Sinatra use to say of Dean Martin that an H-Bomb could go off in back of Dino and the coolest member of the Rat Pack would just shrug and ask , " What was that? " . That was Adam West's Batman. Nothing phased him. Think back to the 1966 BATMAN movie starring West.Think of all the scenes with West in a tuxedo. He was Euro-Spy cool. Maybe he wouldn't have been a great James Bond. But I can imagine him as a Bond type. I'm surprised that he never turned up in a Bond movie as C.I.A agent Felix Leiter.

But I'm getting away from my original thought. My apologies. The list that Adam West never seems to appear on no matter who compiles it is for the Top 10 Television Fathers. My own favorites are Hugh Beaumont as Ward Cleaver and Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain. But I think there should be space on a list like that for Bruce Wayne / Batman. As I grew older one of my favorite parts of the old BATMAN television series was when Bruce Wayne and his young ward Dick Grayson played by actor Burt Ward were seen at stately Wayne Manor. Bruce was always giving teen-aged Dick some life lesson. Or he was teaching him some skill , mind expanding experiment or moral lesson before they were summoned by police Commissioner Gordon to solve some crime perpetrated by one of Gotham City's seemingly endless supply of super-criminals.

I'm just hoping that the reason that Batman is omitted from these lists is because Bruce Wayne was Dick Grayson's guardian and not his biological father. Sometimes a foster parent can be a better parent than a biological parent. Or maybe it was because of something we never gave much thought to as comic book reading or television watching kids. We all identified with Robin , the Boy Wonder. We wanted to be him fighting a war against crime alongside Batman. But the truth was Batman was committing a crime with the "reckless   endangerment of a minor"  every time they went into action.

Look for Judo Comics at lulu.com