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| To my surprise there is a THOR superhero, 1940
well before Marvel comics started theirs.
Then there is a superhero who flies with wings.
Reminiscent of X-man 'The Angel'.
....makes me wonder if these were seen & inspired Stan Lee...? who knows. |
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| Thanks to my lord emperor golddalek for picking this one – I was of course immediately drawn to the distressed blonde in red dress cover – not to mention the redhead in a steel bikini.
Thor has been out of copyright since about 721AD, so no surprise to find a version predating the Marvel version – there were even earlier versions, see the Eddas, Adam of Bremen, Wagner etc. I like this Wright Lincoln version if only because he has a badly-drawn girlfriend called Glenda (aforementioned damsel in distress).
Equally badly drawn is Sorceress Zoom (is it really Joe Simon?) This time, blonde Sally has a green dress to provide some variety. Her boyfriend is turned into a snake – can things ever be the same between them – will they hiss and make up?
Pencil standards are maintained in Blast Bennett where spacer Blast loses his sidekick, Red. Most would leave it at that, but Blast feels the need to find Red thus encountering midgets, giants and cavemen in a tale that would embarrass the pen of a six-year-old.
Much like the editor, the mad Dr Mortal is intent on creating a monster. Bert Whitman’s pencils are a small step up and the story entices with a couple of interesting plot twists.
Voodooman also earns brownie points with a real sense of menace, an interesting plot that involves hypnotic drugs, good facial work and some nice painted panels. The talking tree is a bit of a let-down but we can overlook that because – you guessed it – there’s a distressed blonde in a red dress.
Birdman is a bit high in the sky but the introduction of Nava, the Queen of Jarvaak, at the end of Typhon holds out some promise for the next issue. There’s also an advert for a comicscope – I always wanted one of them. |
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| Additional Information |
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| Publication | July 1940 | Price: 0.10 USD | Pages: 1 | Frequency: monthly |
| Notes | Swiped from a pulp cover. |
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| Content | Genre: Fantasy | Characters: Sorceress of Zoom |
| Notes | Swiped from a pulp cover. |
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| Synopsis | Grant must stop the bandit thief Wong and his men from securing the vast gold hoard of Buddha. |
| Content | Genre: Fantasy | Characters: Thor (ancient god); Grant Farrel [also as a Mongol traveller]; Glenda; The Grand Llama; General Wong (villain); Wong's Army (villains) |
| Notes | Script credit suggested by the Who's Who.
Wright Lincoln was a House name at Fiction House in 1939.
Art credits from Ron Goulart via Will Murray and the GCD Error List (21 March 2006), with the original indexer crediting both pencils and inks to Pierce Rice (who did the strip sometime in 1940, but not this story).
Note from Craig Delich: I don't believe Gormley is the artist here. The Who's Who and other sources lists him as doing "Dynamite Thor", which appeared in Weird Comics #6-8, and featured the hero in costume. Thor, God of Thunder, found in Weird Comics #1-5, was set in Valhalla. I've added a ? to Gormley's art credits.
Grant Farrel was given the powers and image of Thor whenever Thor threw his mighty hammer striking Grant. |
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| Comic Story | Zoro the Wizard (8 pages) |
| Content | Characters: Zoro |
| Notes | Sorceress back to being a villainess again |
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| Comic Story | Search for Red (8 pages) |
| Content | Characters: Roro; savages |
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| Comic Story | Banquet of Monsters (8 pages) |
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| Text Story | The Little Earth (2 pages) |
| Credits | Script: Sid L. Sidney | Letters: typeset |
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| Comic Story | Plague of Jacmel (8 pages) |
| Credits | Pencils:? [as Allan Spectre] |
| Content | Characters: Rev. Williams; Lydia Williams; Manda; Voodoo Man; Grand Zombie; Grand Zombie's mistress |
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| Comic Story | The Tekite Terror (8 pages) |
| Credits | Pencils:? [as Arnold Mazos] |
| Content | Characters: Bird Man; Dr. Exton |
| Notes | last appearance |
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| Synopsis | Features Irish terrorists, buried crosses, Maori, and the beliefs of natives of the Belgian Congo. |
| Credits | Pencils:? [as Ferguson] | Inks:? [as Ferguson] |
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| Comic Story | The Land of Javaark (8 pages) |
| Credits | Pencils:? [as Phillips Judge] |
| Content | Characters: Queen Nava |
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| The data in the additional content section is courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a
Creative Commons Attribution License.
More details about this comic may be available in their page here |
