Jayman Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 There were lots of diabolical fiends at work in the pulps. WOW, that's a stunner! Happy Birthday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50YrsCollctngCmcs Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Some fairly recent Don Glut stories from the LA area. I don't know Don but my wife actually ended up attending a number of gatherings at his house in Hollywood about five years back. After that we ran into him at a couple of events at the Beverly Hills Hotel hosted by the New Zealand film organization in LA. Since I was actually an old Captain America and Invaders fan I menitoned reading his work on those books to him at that party but he didn't want to talk about that. Either Don gets around or we do!! He seems to always be actively soliciting investors for producing his movies. Not my cup of tea but I have to hand it to the guy for keeping at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theagenes Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Happy Birthday BZ ! Even though it is a day late. Happy Birthday BZ! Even though it's two days late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 I liked some of these early pulps. I don't know what the scientists were doing but they had some complex toys. I liked this secret formula cover. Threatening with an evil formulation in a test tube worked sometimes. Sometimes they used a complicated device to hack someone up. And sometimes the old reliable poisonous snake was used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 i think my other favorite theme is space opera Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingDonut Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 By far the coolest thing here is the date stamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Don't recall this being mentioned and certainly this is new info to me. Before Superman was published, Mandrake, Popeye and The Phantom were in the papers and at some point some have claimed that each were the first super-hero. In my mind, The Phantom would have the best claim but nothing was super about him (Mandrake was magically powered and Popeye is ... well Popeye). I only recently heard of The Phantom Magician drawn by Mel Graff in 1935 in The Adventures of Patsy's strip. Here's a relevant excerpt from the Toonopedia: "But the strip [Adventures of Patsy] has one distinction that gets it at least a footnote in the history books. Of all the masked, costumed, super-powered mystery men who stride, fly, stretch, swim or teleport through the comics medium today, the very first was an early supporting character in The Adventures of Patsy. Depending on how you define the term, Patsy's recurring rescuer, The Phantom Magician, may have been the first superhero in comics. During most of its existence The Adventures of Patsy was about a young actress in Hollywood, but it was very different at the beginning. It started on March 11, 1935, when young Patsy, an ordinary girl of about 4-6, was carried away on a kite. Next thing she knew, she was in the magical kingdom of Ods Bodkins, and getting caught up in stories reminiscent of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland. She wasn't the first juvenile star of an Associated Press comic to enter the world of the imagination — Milton Caniff's Dickie Dare had been running for more than a year. But Dickie's adventures all took place in books he'd read, whereas Mel Graff, the cartoonist who created Patsy, had no such limits on the things that could happen to Patsy, or the characters she could meet. At the end of the strip's fifth week, a big carnival was announced in honor of Patsy and her friend, a younger boy named Thimble, and she wished she had something nice to wear to it. On Monday, April 15, a tall, handsome man in swashbuckling clothes appeared in a puff of smoke, introduced himself as The Phantom Magician, and conjured up regal outfits for both. From that point on, he was her constant companion. Some people say Mandrake the Magician, who started in 1934, was comics' first superhero — but if he wasn't, this guy, not Superman, was." More at Adventures of Patsy Of course, since the Phantom Magician is as magically powered as Mandrake, it doesn't have the uniqueness of S&S's creation but it's still interesting. Here are 2 dailies and an enlarged panel with the Phantom Magician. Notice the mask and the cape Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selegue Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Don't recall this being mentioned and certainly this is new info to me. Before Superman was published, Mandrake, Popeye and The Phantom were in the papers and at some point some have claimed that each were the first super-hero. In my mind, The Phantom would have the best claim but nothing was super about him (Mandrake was magically powered and Popeye is ... well Popeye). I only recently heard of The Phantom Magician drawn by Mel Graff in 1935 in The Adventures of Patsy's strip. Here's a relevant excerpt from the Toonopedia: "But the strip [Adventures of Patsy] has one distinction that gets it at least a footnote in the history books. Of all the masked, costumed, super-powered mystery men who stride, fly, stretch, swim or teleport through the comics medium today, the very first was an early supporting character in The Adventures of Patsy. Depending on how you define the term, Patsy's recurring rescuer, The Phantom Magician, may have been the first superhero in comics. .... Troublemaker Everybody knows that Obadiah Oldbuck could fly. Jack ...and his little dog, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Troublemaker Nah ... not in a troublemaking mood, just in a forensics mood. I had never really looked for the original knee-high sandals Superman was originally slated to wear even though they are prominent in his first story, ... even on the cover. Should be of interest to Theagenes even though I suspect he already knew - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Also, since Shuster stated that Superman's physique was based on Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.'s, it was time to generate some side-by-side comparison shots. First one is from Action 6 and the second from Action 7 - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forbush-Man Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Happy Birthday BZ ! Even though it is a day late. Happy Birthday BZ! Even though it's two days late. Can a guy give a Happy Birthday if it's 3 days late?!? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Bangzoom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman_Comics Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 I liked some of these early pulps. I don't know what the scientists were doing but they had some complex toys. Sometimes they used a complicated device to hack someone up. This has got to be the most ridiculous "death/torture" machine I have ever seen. Talk about Rube Goldberg inventions . . . . Oh, and a belated HBD to BZ - a whole extra day late here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theagenes Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Don't recall this being mentioned and certainly this is new info to me. Before Superman was published, Mandrake, Popeye and The Phantom were in the papers and at some point some have claimed that each were the first super-hero. In my mind, The Phantom would have the best claim but nothing was super about him (Mandrake was magically powered and Popeye is ... well Popeye). I only recently heard of The Phantom Magician drawn by Mel Graff in 1935 in The Adventures of Patsy's strip. Here's a relevant excerpt from the Toonopedia: "But the strip [Adventures of Patsy] has one distinction that gets it at least a footnote in the history books. Of all the masked, costumed, super-powered mystery men who stride, fly, stretch, swim or teleport through the comics medium today, the very first was an early supporting character in The Adventures of Patsy. Depending on how you define the term, Patsy's recurring rescuer, The Phantom Magician, may have been the first superhero in comics. During most of its existence The Adventures of Patsy was about a young actress in Hollywood, but it was very different at the beginning. It started on March 11, 1935, when young Patsy, an ordinary girl of about 4-6, was carried away on a kite. Next thing she knew, she was in the magical kingdom of Ods Bodkins, and getting caught up in stories reminiscent of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland. She wasn't the first juvenile star of an Associated Press comic to enter the world of the imagination — Milton Caniff's Dickie Dare had been running for more than a year. But Dickie's adventures all took place in books he'd read, whereas Mel Graff, the cartoonist who created Patsy, had no such limits on the things that could happen to Patsy, or the characters she could meet. At the end of the strip's fifth week, a big carnival was announced in honor of Patsy and her friend, a younger boy named Thimble, and she wished she had something nice to wear to it. On Monday, April 15, a tall, handsome man in swashbuckling clothes appeared in a puff of smoke, introduced himself as The Phantom Magician, and conjured up regal outfits for both. From that point on, he was her constant companion. Some people say Mandrake the Magician, who started in 1934, was comics' first superhero — but if he wasn't, this guy, not Superman, was." More at Adventures of Patsy Of course, since the Phantom Magician is as magically powered as Mandrake, it doesn't have the uniqueness of S&S's creation but it's still interesting. Here are 2 dailies and an enlarged panel with the Phantom Magician. Notice the mask and the cape That's pretty cool. Certailnly he seems to look the part, with the cape, fold-top boots and mask, but it sounds the "cape" is a magic cloak he's wearing for this one story. Was this a normal part of his costume? If not, then he's really no different than Mandrake. Personally, I also like the Phantom as the first superhero in the broadest sense of the term. He is the first crimefighter that has the look that would come to be associated with superheroes - the tights and mask. Batman has no powers either, but most people on the street would consider him a "superhero." If you want to get technical, then yeah, Superman is the first. All of the elements that make up Superman were already out there - S&S just put them all together for the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 BZ, How do you find all of those nice copies of pulps? Most of those that I see are yellowed and beat up. I still like some of them though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 And did you ever dig out those old Big Little Books that are stored in the garage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 Thanks. Great image. How did you get that photo...the press in attendance promised me there would be no photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 And sometimes the old reliable poisonous snake was used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 Don't recall this being mentioned and certainly this is new info to me. Before Superman was published, Mandrake, Popeye and The Phantom were in the papers and at some point some have claimed that each were the first super-hero. In my mind, The Phantom would have the best claim but nothing was super about him (Mandrake was magically powered and Popeye is ... well Popeye). I only recently heard of The Phantom Magician drawn by Mel Graff in 1935 in The Adventures of Patsy's strip. Here's a relevant excerpt from the Toonopedia: "But the strip [Adventures of Patsy] has one distinction that gets it at least a footnote in the history books. Of all the masked, costumed, super-powered mystery men who stride, fly, stretch, swim or teleport through the comics medium today, the very first was an early supporting character in The Adventures of Patsy. Depending on how you define the term, Patsy's recurring rescuer, The Phantom Magician, may have been the first superhero in comics. During most of its existence The Adventures of Patsy was about a young actress in Hollywood, but it was very different at the beginning. It started on March 11, 1935, when young Patsy, an ordinary girl of about 4-6, was carried away on a kite. Next thing she knew, she was in the magical kingdom of Ods Bodkins, and getting caught up in stories reminiscent of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland. She wasn't the first juvenile star of an Associated Press comic to enter the world of the imagination — Milton Caniff's Dickie Dare had been running for more than a year. But Dickie's adventures all took place in books he'd read, whereas Mel Graff, the cartoonist who created Patsy, had no such limits on the things that could happen to Patsy, or the characters she could meet. At the end of the strip's fifth week, a big carnival was announced in honor of Patsy and her friend, a younger boy named Thimble, and she wished she had something nice to wear to it. On Monday, April 15, a tall, handsome man in swashbuckling clothes appeared in a puff of smoke, introduced himself as The Phantom Magician, and conjured up regal outfits for both. From that point on, he was her constant companion. Some people say Mandrake the Magician, who started in 1934, was comics' first superhero — but if he wasn't, this guy, not Superman, was." Interesting revelation. (thumbs u I've read some Patsy comic strips that were reprinted in Famous Funnies but I don't remember the Phantom Magician. Here are a couple of pages that were published in Famous Funnies #29. From your description above, I assume these strips are the from the first two weeks of the series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 Happy Birthday BZ ! Even though it is a day late. Happy Birthday BZ! Even though it's two days late. Can a guy give a Happy Birthday if it's 3 days late?!? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Bangzoom! Thanks, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 And did you ever dig out those old Big Little Books that are stored in the garage? I posted this photo a couple of years ago. Maybe I should organize a search party and go looking for more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
