BB-Gun

BZ, I think you have provided several examples that explain Superman's origin. The Gladiator story is a good example but the other stories by Siegel, such as the Slam Bradley Scifi stories, indicate that Siegels' mind was nurtured by science fiction magazine stories. His letters to the editor are proof of that. Shuster seems to be influenced by Raymond but who wouldn't be? Those full page Flash Gordon strips are just amazing and would stick in the mind or a young artist. This isn't a negative thing. Shuster provided his own special touch on the early Superman art and could only have been improved by Foster or Raymond, especially his style of 1937. I think there also must have been an influence by Noel Sickles who provided a simple style to visualize complex action. Thanks again for the info. bb

SPB, Thanks for the information about the teeth. You don't quite make the strange category. I knew a dealer that collected comics and coffins. He was strange but, as you said, I also thought he was interesting. bb

SPB, I was just wondering why the link you listed sent me to a list of dental equipment for sale on ebay. Perhaps that wasn't your stuff but it made me wonder. I didn't say you were strange. I was saying that it was a strange coincidence that two dentists collect comics in the NYC area. Dr. V is usually a contributer to the Atlas/Timely thread but I haven't been on their mailing list in a long time and lost contact. bb

Here is one of the photos of Matt Baker from AE 47. I recommend that everyone buy a copy, find all of his stories listed in AE and then we can start discussing his career again. bb

Yet it's such a bizarre idea, contrary to everyone's common experience. Except for glazed brick, which is rarely if ever used on skyscrapers, who's ever seen a suction cup stick to a brick building? But people fly and run at the speed of light. Why should I let a suction cup get in the way of my suspension of disbelief? The author gets extra points for "Something squdged" though. Jack Before Spiderman, there were several sticky characters that climbed walls. The creators of Batman used a lot of the gimmicks that were found in the pulps. He was probably more mystery oriented and Superman was more Sci Fi. Not my scans, just using illos to make a point.

I believe that is part of the Train Scam series which was printed around 1908.

There have been a lot of these on ebay lately. Do they require a certificate of authenticity? bb

Those Nationals are great and undervalued I think. bb

I like the WW 45 too, but I have tried to replace my Batman 47 for the past few years and I am always outbid. And you have your choice of two separate WW Origin issues. bb

From the interior of the first Mutt and Jeff book (1910)

I wonder if the badge that I purchased a while back, fits with this ad from popular? Has the blue paint been removed or is this another radio premium?

Quality was abundant in the Fawcett publications.

Many years ago, probably when I was in Grammar School I took out a succession of books from our county library that reprinted classic comic strips. There seemed to have been a bit of a publishing flurry of these books in the early seventies. Anyway, I got to read some great stuff, Popeye, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon Little Orphan Annie,, the Toonerville Trolley and this odd little collection called the Gumps. For those of you who are not aware of this strip, it was quite a phenomenon in its day and in fact was the first comic strip to ever kill off a major character. The strip was pretty amazing in its depiction of the ordinary, probably the reason it was so popular with so many. Most of those old books are hard to come by these days, but if you ever get a chance to read a collection of the Gumps, give it a go! Father Gump seemed to live an ordinary life ... but Chester was out there fighting mad scientists and dinosaurs. Scans from Popular 22 and Gump 2. Cover signed by Gus Edson.

I liked Mutt & Jeff when I was a kid. I collected the comic and still have almost a complete run from #1-94. Oowah! The boys are finally getting some credit. I saw some original art at the Wizard Convention in Philadelphia several years ago. Each panel was extra large size and sold seperately. Perhaps this was the missing link between cartoons and sequential art. bb

How about Dotty Comics? I didn't know Kurtzman had worked for Ace. I like that there's a door leading into the robot. (thumbs u Dotty would count as Ace I guess. There were several pre-code horror titles too. Kurtzman worked for Ace in 1943 according to the Who's Who. ACE PERIODICALS BUCKSKIN (wr/pen/ink/) 1943 > 43 LASH LIGHTNING (wr/pen/ink/) 1943 > 43 MAGNO (pen/ink/) 1943 > 43 MR. RISK (pen/ink/) 1943 > 43 PAUL REVERE JR. (pen/ink/) 1943 > 43 UNKNOWN SOLDIER, THE (pen/ink/) 1943 > 43 Cole also did some nifty splash pages for Ace.

BZ, have you shown any Ace publications? I don't remember seeing any but that doesn't mean you don't have a stack in one of those bookcases. I noticed this new scan from GA.UK had a Kurtzman cover. His style reminds me of Oksner. I haven't seen a lot of his covers (mostly remember his Hey Look series) and I like this one with the nifty robot. I have been a fan of Four Favorites and Super-Mystery since I read an article about them in Masquerader #6 published by Vosburg. bb

In case you wondered about the black and white scan, the tusk-men should be painted blue. bb

And don't forget Jungle Jim by Raymond. He just got the top of the page but it looked pretty good. How many movies did Weissmuller make as this character? Were there more JJ than FG movies? Weissmuller also had polio. His rehab was exceptional Weissmuller starred in 12 Tarzan films and one more than that as JJ.

And a few more panels. I think his work from 1936 was better than his work from 1940.

I think you can see Raymond's work a little better on the black and white copies. This one almost fit the scanner but had to be trimmed.

By the way, the Chuck Jones special was really nice. He also had a cute story about his cat. The early Bugs Bunny cartoon reminded me of the Presto cartoon that comes with Wally. CGI helps a lot with the perspectives and gives the animator another tool to tell the story. No dialogue necessary. bb

Interesting Popeye stuff BZ. Did you also have the Disney issue of Mechanics Illustrated? I have seen the Disney version before but not the Popeye cartoon illos. I will have to keep an eye out. What does the cover look like? I had some early pictures of Segar but have lost them in the files. Fortunately I found some more Flash Gordon Sunday pages while searching. bb

Sadowski's book is primarily quality reprints of golden age stories by a variety of creators. He provides about 180 pages of stories followed by a review of each character and artist that created them. Details are provided about the artists careers and how their characters related to the times and what was being produced by other companies. It was an interesting perspective on the pre-war era and the new heroes that appeared after Superman. But the book is primarily for enjoying the old stories which are sometimes bizarre and sometimes odd but since they were breaking new ground, most were very creative. Check it out. Price is a little less than a dozen modern comics or one or two comics in a quality format. bb I can provide scans of some of the stories but none of my scans would show the detail that Greg needed to produce a quality reproduction.

I love the covers on those Spicy pulps. I don't remember ever seeing that one before. H.J. Ward? I think you are right. Most of those covers were attributed to H.J. Ward. Spooky eyes! Batman would have looked a little more formidable if he had a costume like that. But hard to draw I imagine. Facial expressions might not work with those strange fangs.