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.
Link to the book:
Weird Comics 04 (fiche)