Follow-Up Follies

Just like the title says, today we're doing some follow-ups on previous posts. Maybe even grab at a dangling thread or two in passing. The first of which goes back to The Spider Widow from Frank Borth.

When we were looking at her, i said we'd come back to see when Spider Widow met Spider-Man. You might not have waited as long as some of those mentioned upcoming posts, but it's been more than plenty long enough...

Oh, come on! You knew it wasn't that Spider-Man since Pete didn't get bit for another couple decades. 

Let's jump to more recent posts now with the second Un-Comic featuring Captain Marvel And The Lieutenants Of Safety. As teased last time, in this one we face the dangers of Climbing!

Our second second is the next strip in the series featuring the original Hank And Lank, by Frank Thomas, in which the Sooper Sweeps decide to join the Army...

One more Hank And Lank, Sooper Sweeps strip remains.

Bonus Sorta Follow-Up:
Here's a strip that got squeezed out by time and circumstance when we looked at Champ Comics. The writer and artist are unknown -

Proof that a child could do a better job than what we have now?

(BTW - If you notice any tags missing from this post, it's because blogger limits the total number of characters to 200, but flat refuses to tell you how many you're currently using so it's nigh impossible to correct without just randomly throwing some out. I really wish they had somebody who uses the system doing the design work. Especially since they always ignore any feedback, questions, or suggestions.)

page art by Frank Borth, C.C. Beck, Frank Thomas and ??? from Feature Comics #66, Champ Comics #23, Camp Comics #2, and Captain Marvel And The Lieutenants Of Safety #2 (1942, 1943, 1950)

Safety Sunday! (or The Captain Was A Lieutenant (There Can Be Only One))

I do believe we're overdue for an Un-Comic; it's been a fair bit.

For the unfamiliar, Un-Comics is what we call comics that didn't appear in standard comic books. They may have appeared in magazines, books, industry publications, etc.,.

Today, we've got a major comics star doing some public service work - Captain Marvel and the Lieutenants Of Safety. (actually written by Otto Binder and drawn by C.C. Beck!) versus Demon Danger and the terrible hazards of Kite Flying -

Don't you feel safer now?

There were three of these public service comics published in 1950. Next times, the deadly dangers of Climbing and Darkness!

Be good, stay safe, and take your meds -

page art by C.C. Beck from Captain Marvel And The Lieutenants Of Safety #1 (1950)

(Don't) Send In This Coupon Today!

A lot of readers passing through here tend to see most all of the superhero movies released every year.

So, you all saw this one that came out in late 2018, right?

Solid arguments could be made that they handled the basic idea (localized) better than John Cleese & John Byrne. That ain't bad, all by itself. But they added their own unique spin, too.

But, we'll get to that.

As mentioned (probably too often), i'm still getting my brain back up and running around here. That being the case, i've yet to start getting ahead on the posting queue. Today was my excursion out of the cave to visit the med techs. No longer down the hill - they opened up a location outside the city limits so it's right close by. Close enough to walk, assuming the nerve damage in the feet is being nice. (Spoiler: It was)

Back to the cave now, but fair wiped as is often the case after the trek.

Those of you who enjoy doing the math likely already realize there's no real post today. Just that teaser above, a bit of ramble in the middle, and an odd little bit at the end.

What magazine do you suppose Captain Marvel (Shazam, not Kree) enjoys reading in his down time?

...

Thinking about it?

Trickier question once we factor in Billy Batson and mix with the Wisdom Of Solomon and his being in adult form while reading, as implied by the phrasing of the question.

Got an answer?

I'm guessing you picked wrong...

ad page from Rocket Kelly #2 (1945)

Shazam! Up In The Sky!

It was 40 years ago at the American Nostalgia Convention in Dallas, in 1978? (Or was it '77 and i didn't see it reported until '78? I'm not entirely certain.)

I know in the main ballroom of the convention, the Public Address system suddenly erupted with "SHAZAM!" and Jackson Bostwick emerged in full costume. Back in the 70s, Bostwick was the man who brought Captain Marvel to life on TV. The crowd, of course, erupted at the surprise of having the costumed superhero suddenly appear.

Moments later, the PA sang out again - "Look! Up In The Sky! It's A Bird! It's A Plane!" and from the wings a fully costumed Kirk Alyn appeared - the first man to play Superman in the movies. The crowd at this non-comics convention were treated to a legendary comics encounter that has yet to be repeated (though that may soon change) - the meeting of Superman & Captain Marvel -

Somehow, this odd encounter has been forgotten, it seems, and lost to modern memory. But not, i'd wager, forgotten by those who were there for this legendary meet.

Kirk Alyn & Jackson  Bostwick getting their hero on at Dallas (1978)

Another notable figure to come out of the SFCA (Science Fiction and Comics Association, publisher of Rocket's Blast Comic Collector) was Don Newton.

If his name is not familiar to you, that's because Don got his big break in comics back in 1975, and he's another of those artists we lost too young, only nine years later. Before we touch on his professional career, let's look at some of his work in early 70s comic fandom from the above mentioned RBCC and Ronn Foss's Golden Age zine.

I think these are two of the earliest illustrations we have here today, from the first year he started to submit to the fanzine -

 

If Newton's artwork looks remarkably polished for his first months of submitting artwork, that's because Don is another who proves the foolishness of the notion that "those who can't, teach - those who can, do" notion. By this time he had been teaching art at Arizona State for a decade and a half. When his love of comics was re-ignited, he went and did.

Here's he recreation of a scene from Master Comics #27

Personally, i like Don's version better than the original. Most of you are probably too young to make the comparison, so here's some reference for you:

Let's take a gander at some of his zine covers, shall we?

It's not hard to see how it didn't take too long for Don to find professional work once he decided he was ready. He wasn't just doing covers and illustrations, he was also working on his story telling skills with his The Savage Earth series in RBCC:

Hopefully, i'll run some of this later. But currently i haven't been able to dig out two consecutive chapters from my scattered collection. (A similar hunt has been underway for sequential chapters of the series by John Adkins Richardson, our previous teacher. Having a bit more luck with the hunt for Maxor Of Cirod)

I skipped a few significant covers along the way. Here are the first two -

You may recall that one of Don's first submissions featured the classic Captain Marvel. He obviously had great love for the character, and for RBCC Special #8 he also provided this 2 page retelling of the World's Mightiest Mortal's origin story:

...as well as this lovely shot of Dr. Sivana...

The Captain Marvel portrait appearing above the covers was used to announce that Don Newton would be working on DC's new Captain Marvel revival with Cap's original creator, C.C. Beck. That's a helluva good way to get your career going, wouldn't you think?

Here's another cover we skipped:

I always loved the concept of The Phantom as a multi-generational superhero maintaining the illusion of an Immortal. So it came as a rather rude surprise to me when Groovy enlightened me, via a 10 year old post, of his Charlton issues of The Phantom that i somehow missed completely. Right from the first issues we get his cover paintings...

...and Don drawing the lead feature...

By the time he left, barely over a half dozen issues later, he had taken over completely -

There's a great cover for that issue shown on Groovy's post linked above.

I may have missed Don Newton's short tenure on The Phantom, but others did not. We'll let Don tell it from this profile featured in World's Finest Comics #272 -

all art except Master Comics #27 by Don Newton for Golden Age, RBCC, and The Phantom (1968-1972)

Captain Marvel Jr art by Mac Raboy for Master Comics #27 (1942)