MrBedrock Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 3 minutes ago, Straw-Man said: the eyeful tower. eye've been there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamstrange Posted January 2, 2019 Share Posted January 2, 2019 Guy de Maupassant, French writer, hated the Eiffel Tower and was annoyed that he saw it wherever he went in the city. He did go to lunch every day at the tower once it was built because “inside the restaurant was one of the few places where I could sit and not actually see the Tower!” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straw-Man Posted January 2, 2019 Author Share Posted January 2, 2019 i liked his short-stories 'til i learned his name was pronounced like a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Robot Man Posted January 5, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted January 5, 2019 My first purchase of the year. Had a file copy once but in a stupid moment of weakness, sold it. This one will have to do for the time being. One of my favorite Marvel Family issues. zosocane, mustang33guy, podboy66 and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 A couple of books back from reslabberation. This one started life as a 9.4 White, so the result isn't too bad. Mr.TawkyTawny and Marty Mann 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sqeggs Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 This one was previously a 9.2 OW-W, so it's a bit more of an ouchie. To add insult to injury it arrived with the slab badly cracked. Mr.TawkyTawny and Marty Mann 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straw-Man Posted January 18, 2019 Author Share Posted January 18, 2019 purr-dee macs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Scrooge Posted January 29, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted January 29, 2019 (edited) Marc Swayze took over the penciling duties for The Phantom Eagle in Wow starting with issue # 30 in October 1944, working from Otto Binder scripts. Swayze was to keep the assignment for the duration of the Wow run. That is, he drew the feature from # 30 to # 69, from 1944 to August 1948. In that time span, he displayed fantastic cartooning, a mix of clear line and Roy Crane. The fun part is that his first story assignment, The Black Mace, started a serial of sorts whereby The Phantom Eagle, Mickey for short, travels the globe in search of the Golden Mace, an artifact holding the secret to eternal peace (the Black Mace holding the power to eternal war). Let's visit these issues - Wow 30 – First Swayze – The Black Mace The initial story takes us to Netherlands with Hendrik to find alas only the Black Mace, not the Golden Mace. The Golden Mace “has been lost for centuries. On this mace are words inscribed by Merlin the magician of King Arthur’s court. These words are the secret formula for international peace and unity. Meanwhile, this is the Black Mace, containing the formula to make eternal war! Wow #31 – The Hills of Araby After saving an old man in London, Pierre and Mickey fly to Arabia to find a bracelet with potential location of the Golden Mace only to thwart a Japanese plot to make Arabian tribes disappear and blame it on each others. Wow # 32 – The cave of the Vikings Still searching for the Golden Mace, Sven and Mickey go to Norway to rescue Admiral Freddell, the master-mind of naval operations whose cruiser is under attack off the Norwegian coast. While he finds a casket where Olaf was said to hold the mace, Olaf never had the mace. WOW 33 - The Phantom Eagle with Commando Yank against The Iron Gate! It’s a cross-over inside the issue. While Swayze gets the art for Phantom Eagle, Carl Pfeufer does the art for Commando Yank. The Allies advance is stopped by The Iron Gate! It can repel all attacks and holds up barges loaded with dynamite. Phantom and Commando team-up to take it down. Here's Carl Pfeufer on the Commando Yank story - Notice the mention of Captain Marvel. Wow # 34 – Untitled Jerry and Mickey follow a scientist’s lead that a remote island hosts the Golden Mace and pitch-blend ore containing radium. Once on the island, they are dogged by a Nazi and a Japanese spy trying to get at the mace and deposits. The mace was never there but both are foiled and the source of the important ore is secured. Wow 35 – The Hawk In 1931 China, Mei-Ling’s father, a Chinese spy in Japan is captured & tortured. Mei-Ling promises to enact revenge on Japan. Fast forward to 1945, Mei-Ling is now The Hawk, Japan’s Ace of Aces. She shoots down Colonel Langley as he had captured Japanese invasion plan into China. However, she is about to enact her revenge. She knows the plans are fake and she wants the allies to know exactly where the offensive will take place. She defends the Colonel and the Phantom Eagle with a life during their escape to avenge her father. Mei-Ling's key moments: Wow # 35 is the best issue of the bunch since, in addition to one of the better Phantom Eagle stories, the issue also contains Commando Yank by Dan Barry (see splash) AND Mr. Scarlet and Pinky by Harry Anderson. Wow # 36 – The Jap guerilla plot! Probably the weakest to date since the story relies on giant props, namely oversized giant boomerang, arrows and sling-shots! While in R&R in Australia, Mickey and the gang are attacked by Japanese guerillas who use old-time weapons since without factories (this is published June 1945), Japanese cannot produce modern weapons. This was the brainchild of Baron von Tuchu whose father was Prussian and mother Japanese, bringing together the genius of both races. The gang wins the day since the enemy does not realize Mickey is carrying an open walkie-talkie so the gang comes to the rescue. Still, the artistry of Swayze remains on display in such panels as below: Check out the relaxed and natural body postures, esp. for Jerry. Neat use of the landscape too for framing the “action” in these two panels. Wow 37 – Floodtide NOTE: it’s now been a few months that the Golden Mace no longer is a point of the story. With victory on the European front and Japan collapsing, there is less need for the story device and the mood is certainly more upbeat in the story. Neat to see the evolution of the narratives. However, fret not, the Golden Mace shows back up in the next issue! We’re back in China with the allies advancing, hoping to send the Japanese back but they prevent the aerial surveillance on the next valley. After recon by air, Mickey goes with the troops on boat up-river only to be squeeze by the Japanese. Mickey escapes only to return to blow the Dam and flood the region, turning the tide against the Japanese and ensuring one more victory for the allies. Panel below not picked out for the caricature but for the example of the ease with which Swayze uses few lines for the folds and make the jacket stretch exactly how it should given the position of the character with his arms extended in front of him, including the bunching up at the back of the neck. That’s confident skill. Wow 38 – The Traitor in the Phoenix Squadron The Japanese are trying to sow sedition inside the Phoenix Squadron! While in their new secret base in Burma, the crew receives a message hinting that a traitor is willing to sell information to the Japanese about the squadron, Phantom Eagle, the Golden Mace and the allies plans. This is fake in order to make the crew suspicious of each other while a native mechanic is the true mole. After using a ruse, Mickey proves his deceit and all is back to normal among the Squadron. Love the panels above of the resolute Mickey (above) and the always concerned and genuine Jerry (below). Wow 39 – Untitled No images as the copy at the DCM is from a fiche so the repro quality is fairly poor. The story is straight outta G-8 where ammunition transports in Burma are attacked by a giant flying whale and crimping the allies’ plans. Mickey jumps onto the next cargo plane and runs smack onto the whale … in reality, a giant dirigible. After creating havoc inside, the Japanese soldiers escape on hot-air balloons but again are foiled as Mickey called it in to the Squadron that takes care of the mop up. Just one image but from the Mr. Scarlet and Pinky story where the Phantom Eagle makes a cameo appearance as a wax figure with the rest of the cast of characters. Wow 40 – Tokyo Takeoff This was published January 1946 and is probably the first published story post victory in the Pacific. This prompts the tag of: “Now it can be told … a war story”. Similarly, in the Commando Yank splash page, one can now read: “From the official war archives. Confidential information disclosed!” to use the inventory. At this point, I am waiting to see when war stories disappear and “civilian” stories take over. We’ll see. No Golden Mace here. The story is simply but is the most fun to date. A flying fortress with hidden plans (why hide plans in it is beyond understanding but whatever) has been captured by the Japanese and is on display in a stadium in Tokyo. Flying a captured Japanese plane himself, Mickey and the Squadron fly to Tokyo but crash upon arrival. They commandeer a truck and rush to the stadium to finish the mission: dead for dead, they are going for it. Eventually they get there, manage to get on board, load fuel and fly back to Burma … Yes, it can be done! This entire page is shown to show the romp through town the Squadron goes through with large echoes of Captain Easy by Roy Crane. It’s a fun page, never boring, clean and well orchestrated. Check out the next image for a single panel reflective of the style. Fun story. Wow # 41 – It’s official!! The War is over! So, no more pretense / subtle alterations as in the previous issue. There is now an announcement to “liquidate” prior inventory stories I would assume. Let’s see how long the war themed stories carry on. Oh, AND! He finds the golden mace! The Phantom Eagle finds the golden mace Not quite the story I expected once the golden mace is found. Accidentally a captured Japanese soldier drops a map of a mace-shaped island with instructions to abandon efforts to capture it and let the American give it a try. Phantom Eagle and Jerry rush to the island protected by the mace’s ray which destroys a Japanese plane but does not arm our heroes since they harbor no evil thoughts. Once on the island, a forgotten people recounts that they found the mace on the island once they were marooned there. No further explanation – falls really flat. Then out of the blue a Japanese steals the mace (since the effect of the peaceful mace worn off) and tries to escape with it to Japan. The ring of flames around the island catch up with him and the mace sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Not a ringing endorsement of hope on the morrow of victory on both fronts! Now the question is: was the ending altered on an inventory story or was this a rushed job to meet the printing schedule? Either way, this is fairly anti-climactic for a story where the golden mace is found. Plus, the rise of the Funny Animals and potential other genres already crowd out our heroes (though Funny Animal had already been running for a couple years, since issue # 1 is dated December 1942). Wow # 42 – The book ups page count from 36 to 52 leaving more room for inventory to be liquidated. The Official War Archives makes another appearance and we are treating to a double dose of both The Phantom Eagle and Commando Yank. The Phantom Eagle shows up in 1 5-page story and 1 6-page story: The Phantom Eagle and The Menace of the Doom Cloud and The Phantom Eagle Catapults his Punches. Wow # 43 – Same as in # 42, a double feature in the Official War Archives: The Phantom Eagle Sweetens the Enemy and The Phantom Eagle in The Iron Tiger of Nippon. The Official War Archives even gets a mention on the cover of the issue. Wow # 44 – Same as in # 42 & # 43, a double feature in the Official War Archives: The Phantom Eagle in Mission Accomplished and The Phantom Eagle in The Fighting Spad. Wow # 45 - The Official War Archives is over and we are back down to one Phantom Eagle and 2 Mr. Scarlet and Pinky instead. This also marks the final Wartime story of The Phantom Eagle: China Mission, still tagged as an Official War Archives story but just on the splash page, nowhere else in the issue. By issue # 46, The Phantom Eagle and The Jesse James of the Air! We fight a One Man Crime Wave by The Rocket!, your garden variety crook. Below if the final wartime story panel (from # 45), an appropriate thanks and farewell to the wartime hero - "We are grateful for your deeds. My father will be as proud as I when I tell him the mechanic he aided was the PHANTOM EAGLE!" while Mickey says: "Goodby … and good-luck" to the people he has helped these past few years. Edited January 29, 2019 by Scrooge Sqeggs, MrBedrock, jpepx78 and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri-Color Brian Posted March 12, 2019 Share Posted March 12, 2019 In the mail yesterday. Talk about politically incorrect... Marty Mann and sagii 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post goldenacase Posted March 18, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted March 18, 2019 My first Fawcett zosocane, Tri-Color Brian, Randall Dowling and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Dowling Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 16 minutes ago, goldenacase said: My first Fawcett What a great issue to start with! Years ago, clink had the Church copy for sale (and a few others). One of my greater regrets is not grabbing this one. Love that cover, classic Raboy! goldenacase 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straw-Man Posted March 19, 2019 Author Share Posted March 19, 2019 master 25 'bout as good as it gets. nicely done, bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Robot Man Posted March 19, 2019 Popular Post Share Posted March 19, 2019 Sadly, not much love for this Fawcett title. Friction House rules the roost for jungle girl covers but the stories are usually kinda boring. Other than the first few issues, this run has a lot of pretty crappy photo covers but the interiors are full of real fun cliff hanger stories and usually has her tied up in all kind of interesting ways. Kind of like the Wonder Woman stuff. This is my favorite one of the run. Beautiful, lush, green, leggy bondage cover. You can just feel the tension of what is about to happen. Does she survive? And how? Not to mention the wonderful back cover featuring all the cool Fawcett premiums you could send away for. Haven’t read it yet in a long time but I suspect I won’t be disappointed. Many thanks to boardie Dreamtoreal1 for bringing it out to the flea market for me. A beautiful upgrade for my favorite Nyoka! Dreamtoreal1, Marty Mann, path4play and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamtoreal1 Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 On 3/19/2019 at 8:56 AM, Robot Man said: Sadly, not much love for this Fawcett title. Friction House rules the roost for jungle girl covers but the stories are usually kinda boring. Other than the first few issues, this run has a lot of pretty crappy photo covers but the interiors are full of real fun cliff hanger stories and usually has her tied up in all kind of interesting ways. Kind of like the Wonder Woman stuff. This is my favorite one of the run. Beautiful, lush, green, leggy bondage cover. You can just feel the tension of what is about to happen. Does she survive? And how? Not to mention the wonderful back cover featuring all the cool Fawcett premiums you could send away for. Haven’t read it yet in a long time but I suspect I won’t be disappointed. Many thanks to boardie Dreamtoreal1 for bringing it out to the flea market for me. A beautiful upgrade for my favorite Nyoka! beautiful book Bob Robot Man 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straw-Man Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 i've never owned a book from this title; there are some cool covers, tho'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zosocane Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Guys, check out the new Shazam! movie. Look for the name of Billy's high school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nearmint Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Just picked this up from a Heritage weekly auction... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buttock Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 14 minutes ago, nearmint said: Just picked this up from a Heritage weekly auction... The missing piece should be included in the book. Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nearmint Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 9 minutes ago, buttock said: The missing piece should be included in the book. Congrats! Dan, are you serious? Are you familiar with the book and is it really in there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Man Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 Got another cool Fawcett today. Never noticed it before it came up for sale. Can’t wait to read it... Mr.TawkyTawny and path4play 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...