One more from the lucky numbered Haunted Thrills #13 (Jan. '54.) Most of the stories from Farrell Comics seem to wallow in the ugly and grim, but this tale, refreshingly enough, actually makes a few attempts at some laughs too.
More about →
Người đăng: Unknown
Number 1097
We love Lucey
Harry Lucey was one of the best Archie artists. While Bob Montana was THE artist of the Archie newspaper comic strip, Lucey was the main artist for years on the comic books. He could tell a lot with an expression or a pose.
Sam Hill, Private Eye was another short-lived attempt by the publishers of Archie to supplement their teenage line with other comic book fare. Sam Hill lasted for seven issues in 1950-51, which is about par for Archie. Other comics, such as The Dover Boys, which I showed in Pappy's #870, also drawn by Lucey, had an even shorter run, only two issues. Since this issue of Sam Hill is the only one I have I can't tell you if it's typical of the series, but there really isn't anything in this comic, except for Harry Lucey's artwork, which makes it stand out for me from the run-of-the-mill private eye stories in popular fiction, comic books, radio or television.
Sam Hill seems especially tame when compared to Lucey's earlier work. Consider this Hangman story from Pappy's #572 or the first story in the first issue of Crime Does Not Pay in Pappy's #786.
From Sam Hill, Private Eye #4, 1951:
And On the Third Issue, He Arose Again...
Người đăng: Unknown on Chủ Nhật, 29 tháng 1, 2012
I have talked a little bit about death and resurrection in the past. Lightning Lad was one of the first major instances of it involving a hero in the DC universe, at least where the resurrection was not immediate.
But in the Silver Age, Marvel seemed to be the place where corpses got up and walked on a regular basis (especially villains), and so I thought I would try to catalog all of their examples. Of course, an undertaking like this is going to require the assistance of my readers. Although I have read virtually all of the Silver Age Marvel line, my memory's nowhere near as good as it used to be.
First up is Doctor Doom. The Lord of Latveria apparently succumbed at the end of several of his early adventures. For example:
Or:
And:
Let me point out here that there's actually a pretty good reason for the "death" ending; it saves the writers the necessity of explaining how the villain got out of jail. And Doctor Doom was, in a way copying an earlier DC villain in meeting his apparent demise at the end of many of his early meetings:
And:
This last bit, with the villain falling into water, has become something of a cliche for comic writers. It has the advantage of giving the appearance of death, combined with the uncertainty. Plus, conveniently, it doesn't really have to be explained much in the subsequent resurrection. See there was this pipe/cave nearby with a convenient air pocket....
Anyway, Dr Doom had more than his share of deaths in the early Marvel Age, so we'll skip over him. The next major villain to "die" in the FF was the Puppet Master:
He returned in FF #14 and, although he apparently bit the bullet at the end of that issue, many more times as well. One of the interesting things about that initial resurrection, though, was that Stan didn't bother to explain it. Never mind that (as shown above), we'd seen him fall out of a skyscraper. This would become the rule, rather than the exception.
I'm not sure if there are any other "deaths" in the Silver Age Fantastic Four, so let's move on to the Amazing Spiderman. The only real death and resurrection I'm aware of there involves the Vulture:
_048_03.jpg)
The original Vulture apparently shuffles off the mortal coil shortly after that scene, although he returns in ASM #63 to battle both Spidey and Blackie Drago, his chosen successor. I'm again not aware of any other deaths and resurrections in the Silver Age involving Spiderman, although there are some (Silvermane, for example) who died in the SA but didn't respawn until much later.
The only example of a major Marvel hero dying and not coming back for a couple of issues (a la Lightning Lad) involved Captain America. Death here from CA #111:
Note the "falling into water" bit I mentioned earlier. Cap's resurrection came in the first issue of his magazine that I ever bought:
I'm struggling now to think of resurrections involving other Marvel villains. About the only one that's coming to mind is the Rhino's passing from Hulk #104:
The Rhino would return along with the Leader to bedevil Bruce Banner's wedding in Hulk #124 as I covered awhile ago. Oh, the Leader, that's right, he died in Tales to Astonish #74:
And both the Leader and the Rhino appear to die at the end of Hulk #124, but we know better. The Black Widow had a couple of brushes with the Grim Reaper, as I have covered in the past. And I know the Unicorn appeared to die in Iron Man #4. Any more examples? I'm mostly interested in cases where the resurrection happened by the end of the Silver Age, simply because there are so many examples after that.
Updates: Some good suggestions in the comments section: The Mandarin's castle was hit by an ICBM in ToS #86:
But he returned with a reasonable explanation:
Multi-dimensional teleportation device. Don't leave home without it! The Mandarin also shuffled off the mortal coil in Avengers Annual #1:
And, as my anonymous commenter noted, he returned in the Hulk #107 with no particular explanation. MDTD, I suppose?
Titanium Man learned the fate of Silver medalists in the old Soviet Union:
But he returned ten issues later, this time apparently supported by the Red Chinese. The Red Skull drowned at the end of ToS #81, weighed down by a suit of golden armor:
He returned in ToS #89 with the explanation that the Cosmic Cube's power kept him alive. Hat tip to Nick Caputo on that one. The Red Skull biffed it again in ToS #91:
The explosion death was also popular, because it can be argued that we missed seeing something due to the flash. The Skull returned in Cap #101:
The Stilt Man shriveled up like Dr Doom up above in DD #8:
When the Leap-Frog asked him about his apparent death, Stilty was rather terse, replying, "You seem to have an uncanny knack for being wrong."
Another commenter pointed out that Magneto died in X-Men #53 and returned in X-Men #62; I can't find those issues at the moment to post panels.
Observations: One thing seems apparent; the villains who "die" on multiple occasions but return just as often tend to be Marvel's top antagonists; Dr Doom, the Mandarin, the Red Skull and the Leader are all on the short list of major baddies.
Update II: Diablo took a dirt nap thanks to his android, the Dragon Man, in FF #35:
He returned in Avengers #41, with the explanation that he owed his survival to alchemy.
More about →
But in the Silver Age, Marvel seemed to be the place where corpses got up and walked on a regular basis (especially villains), and so I thought I would try to catalog all of their examples. Of course, an undertaking like this is going to require the assistance of my readers. Although I have read virtually all of the Silver Age Marvel line, my memory's nowhere near as good as it used to be.
First up is Doctor Doom. The Lord of Latveria apparently succumbed at the end of several of his early adventures. For example:
Anyway, Dr Doom had more than his share of deaths in the early Marvel Age, so we'll skip over him. The next major villain to "die" in the FF was the Puppet Master:
I'm not sure if there are any other "deaths" in the Silver Age Fantastic Four, so let's move on to the Amazing Spiderman. The only real death and resurrection I'm aware of there involves the Vulture:
_048_03.jpg)
The only example of a major Marvel hero dying and not coming back for a couple of issues (a la Lightning Lad) involved Captain America. Death here from CA #111:
Note the "falling into water" bit I mentioned earlier. Cap's resurrection came in the first issue of his magazine that I ever bought:
I'm struggling now to think of resurrections involving other Marvel villains. About the only one that's coming to mind is the Rhino's passing from Hulk #104:
Updates: Some good suggestions in the comments section: The Mandarin's castle was hit by an ICBM in ToS #86:
Titanium Man learned the fate of Silver medalists in the old Soviet Union:
Another commenter pointed out that Magneto died in X-Men #53 and returned in X-Men #62; I can't find those issues at the moment to post panels.
Observations: One thing seems apparent; the villains who "die" on multiple occasions but return just as often tend to be Marvel's top antagonists; Dr Doom, the Mandarin, the Red Skull and the Leader are all on the short list of major baddies.
Update II: Diablo took a dirt nap thanks to his android, the Dragon Man, in FF #35:
Người đăng: Unknown
Number 1096
"You may be a lover, but you ain't no dancer..."
April Dancer (catchy name) was the "Girl" from The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., an NBC television series that was a spin-off of the popular Man From U.N.C.L.E.. Stephanie Powers, in all her youthful pulchritude, played April. The show lasted 29 episodes in 1966-'67. The comic wasn't much more successful, going for five issues. This issue, #2, was illustrated by Phantom artist Bill Lignante, who drew three of the five.
As a reviewer observed, April got into messes and was rescued by her coworker, Mark Slate, played by Noel Harrison. Harrison had a career that included this series and a couple of hit songs, including the outrageously campy "A Young Girl."*
In this comic notice the character, Miss Harshley. This was the 1960s, and a manlike woman wouldn't be a caricature of a sexual stereotype, especially not in cleancut Gold Key comics...not overtly, of course, but inferences can be drawn.
*I recall my girlfriend at the time loved this song. I, being Pappy, just in a younger body, made fun of it whenever I could. I thought the song was stupid, but I was also jealous of modish and handsome Noel Harrison.
