Comic Book Plus Forum
Comic And Book Related => Comic Book Plus Reading Group => Topic started by: K1ngcat on March 06, 2023, 01:04:26 AM
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Hi readers
Something different for you this time. A few examples of art & stories by Basil Wolverton, some with a sci-fi theme and some more humorous. I've included three comics, by all means feel free to comment on the other contents as well as (or instead of) Wolverton's.
1) Weird Tales #3 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=40515
2} Mister Mystery #7 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21322
3} Ibis the Invincible #3 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=59127
Hope you find something to whet your whistle!
All the best
K1ngcat
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Kingcat,
well done! "Nobody expects the inquisition! Basil Wolverton!"
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Interesting selections, K1ngcat. Just the sort of books that fans of Judge Parker would read ;)
I look forward to being educated.
Cheers
QQ
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Yes. Basil Wolverton.
The cover for WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE should have been in SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT, and I hope it was, along with other stuff Wolverton could have hacked off the good doctor with. NIGHTMARE WORLD would have been great start.
The assistant in Mortellaro story reminds me of Smithers from THE SIMPSONS. And in the advanced age of 1995.
MISTER MYSTERY has one of the best set ups ever with the hair saver ad right beside THE BRAIN BATS FROM VENUS. BiffBangPow was right, reading that story in and of itself would have been a crazy ride in 1952, but those two images together side by side would have been the perfect touch. Hey, any chance that the story in THE MAN WHO BEAT THE CHAIR is true?
The JUMPIN’ JUPITER and MYSTIC MOOT stories were actually funny and are fine representatives of Wolverton’s humour line.
All in all a great overview of the artists stuff. Only thing missing is his End-of-the-World stuff he did for Herbert W Armstrong at The Plain Truth. Wolverton was a very religious guy and was very proud the way it came out. Dark Horse put out some.
But great selections for what you had, King’. The issue of WEIRD TALES OF FUTURE is a total classic, front to back. I think my favourite ad besides the hair restoring juxtapose was for the love letter book.
And of course, we must recognize that the artists put up the money to publish the comic line themselves for six issues. Just like others tried in the 80’s. And JUST LIKE THE 80’S there was a comic glut and WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE didn’t make it.
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Yes. Basil Wolverton.
The cover for WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE should have been in SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT, and I hope it was, along with other stuff Wolverton could have hacked off the good doctor with. NIGHTMARE WORLD would have been great start.
MISTER MYSTERY has one of the best set ups ever with the hair saver ad right beside THE BRAIN BATS FROM VENUS.
I think my favourite ad besides the hair restoring juxtapose was for the love letter book.
Morgus, the monster on that cover would have been great for 'Seduction of the Innocent', though I didn't think the girl looked all that terrified. She seems to be thinking, 'Sheesh' :D
And yes, great ad placement with the hair saver. I wonder how many lovelorn teens would have bought the book on love letters? Probably not as big a hit as the Bullworker.
My favourite ad was for the mail-order records in Weird Tales. I love the fact that the only choices you have are hit parade tunes, hill billy hits, or most loved hymns. I could have sworn there were more genres than that, even in 1952! I love looking at old ads in comics and magazines. Sometimes as much fun as the stories.
Cheers
QQ
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True that, Q.Q. The ads are sometimes the best things in the comics. And very often, the most important.
The other good one that made me laugh was that Captain Marvel buzz bomb they were selling. What could go wrong??
Hey, what do you want to bet the book on love letters dated back to the '20's or '30's? I'd bet a burrito the records were made by studio guys just trying to sell records on their own and the records got sold off when they broke up. (There are no NAMES connected to the songs, and I'm betting they were a country and western outfit that did the gospel and hit parade to cover their bets.)
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Hey, what do you want to bet the book on love letters dated back to the '20's or '30's? I'd bet a burrito the records were made by studio guys just trying to sell records on their own and the records got sold off when they broke up. (There are no NAMES connected to the songs, and I'm betting they were a country and western outfit that did the gospel and hit parade to cover their bets.)
I've long been fascinated by these comic-book record offers. Given how ubiquitous they were it's surprising how little seems to have been written about them. I've never seen one of these discs, even in photos, but a few people online reported having heard them back in the day.
What follows is a bunch of speculation based on what little I've dug up through research. Maybe someone who actually produced records (I'm thinking of you, Robb) can blow it all out of the water and tell the real story. If so, I welcome the clarification.
From what I've pieced together there seem to have been one or more companies (perhaps record-pressing plants?) who mass-produced these things for next to nothing, then sold them in bulk to resellers at a few pennies per disc. I've found ads in the tiny-print classified section of 1950s music trade papers offering wholesale lots of hit-song and country-western compilations. These are likely the ones advertised in comics.
Most 78 RPM records ran about three minutes on a side. In the latter days when 78s switched from shellac to vinyl they figured out how to squeeze a little extra music onto each side. Prolific cover-version label "Tops" managed to put two more-or-less complete songs on each side of a 78. But I never understood how they could put three songs on a side.
According to people who saw the records, they did it by chopping each song down to a minute-plus. The anonymous performers would bang out a verse and a chorus and then it was out the back door for lunch. The players were no doubt session musicians, newcomers, and fading old-timers slumming for a few bucks to pay the rent. I'm willing to bet there were more than a few customers who felt cheated when they received their amazing hit parade collections.
Of course the production companies didn't bother with the niceties of licensing, union contracts, or royalties. Apparently it was much easier to get away with that sort of thing back in the day. I've found a few late-1950s legal cases in which rights holders successfully sued companies like Woolworth's for selling what they called "pirated" recordings. It's not clear if these records were actual pirate copies of commercial recordings or unauthorized new recordings of copyrighted songs. The latter seems more likely. In the mid-50s Tops Music Enterprises, the outfit I mentioned above, lost to music publisher Harms, Inc., over an unauthorized recording of one particular song. The case is cited as precedent in other actions but the judgement couldn't have been too bad because Tops wasn't sued out of existence. It rolled along for several more years and died only when the surviving founding partner retired and sold the label to a guy who went broke.
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Hey, what do you want to bet the book on love letters dated back to the '20's or '30's?
By the way, I found this in a blog entry about the love letter book. It was written in the 1940s and originally aimed at lonely servicemen, of which, thanks to the War, there was an ample supply. It was reprinted several times into the 1950s.
“How To Write Love Letters” was written by Walter S. Keating. Keating (sources indicate this was a pen name for Henrietta Rosenberg) wrote numerous “sex” books, including “The Pleasure Primer,” “The Sex-in-Scene from Freud to Kinsey and After” (possibly an updating of his/her earlier “Freud to Kinsey”), “Paradise for Males,” “Love Fever,” and “Marriage Mischief,” as well as ... “How to Get Along With Girls” and “How to Get Along With Boys.” He (she) occasionally branched out with self-help books on other topics, such as “How To Get a Job In New York.” [And under the Rosenberg name, she apparently wrote fiction as well, assuming it’s the same Henrietta.]
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Weird Tales of the Future #1
The Monster on Mars
Okay. Although I couldn't help but think how the story would go if Teba was a giant hand creature making him think she was a beautiful woman.
The Slave Pits of Uranus
Is Kazmar a relative of Ming the Merciless? They seem to look similar. The editor didn't do a very good job reading the text before printing.
Jumpin' Jupiter
Zany.
Frontiers of Tomorrow
Interesting analysis of the trouble of space travel.
The Desert Castle
The year 1995... I wonder what things will be like then? ;) If the life generating fluid turns dirt & a suit of armor into living things why hasn't it turned the glass bottle it is in to life? The artist doesn't seem to know the proper proportion of heads to bodies.
Nightmare World
The dangers of LSD. ;)
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Okay, guys, good to see so many responses already. I know Wolverton's a Marmite kind of figure but he certainly had a style all his own. And yes, I don't doubt that those multiple title recordings were any thing more than rip off, recorded by unknown artistes who were glad to have the gig. There was a similar thing going on in the UK in the sixties where you could get several hit songs on a cheapie label, but none were the original recordings. AHH, what a poor muso will lower himself to for a buck or two...
Keep reading, people, good to have your input! :D
All the best
K1ngcat
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Wow, 'Crash, get detective work. I get the feeling it all would have made a great book, like that coffee table volume that came out about the comic book ads from our youth.
Sort of reminds me of that 'set your songs to music' racket that used to be around. YOU sent in the poetry to be 'set to music', and paid for the result. THEY sent back a demo tape of finished songs. Good luck! Someone even collected a cassette of some of the more outrageous finished product that was supposed to be hilarious.
Yeah, I remember the HOW TO GET ALONG WITH GIRLS/BOYS volumes in other comic books. None other than Ed Wood tried the same gig with a how-to book on breaking into Hollywood between his porn volumes. But you're right Kingcat, you do what you can to survive. Remember the coloring books Steve Ditko did?
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Kingcat said,
a Marmite kind of figure
? You can spread him on toast? Or make a hot drink out of him? !
AHH, what a poor muso will lower himself to for a buck or two...
As you probably know from people you are acquainted with, at least you are getting paid to do music and hopefully are getting in some practice time.
Not much different from artists doing advertising or book covers. Neal Adams as I recall, was sometimes featured in those one-page comic ads. Then there was 'Captain Tootsie. And Steranko did some book covers. Excellent, of course.
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Kingcat said, a Marmite kind of figure
? You can spread him on toast? Or make a hot drink out of him? !
Perhaps it doesn't translate from the British vernacular. I'm sure if I said he was a Vegemite kind of character, it wouldn't mean the same. It's a phrase over here that means either you love him or hate him. ;D
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One of my Uncle Lens’ lines;
"Mar-might. Mar-won’t. Mar-could be talked into it.”
Then it would be “Mars Needs Women.” and the pun-fest would be on. That could last ten minutes and clear the breakfast table.
Got to the point where gramma would pause before putting the jar on the table and do a quick assessment as to if he had the urge to put the whole show on the road that morning.
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Yes. Basil Wolverton.
The cover for WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE should have been in SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT, and I hope it was, along with other stuff Wolverton could have hacked off the good doctor with. NIGHTMARE WORLD would have been great start.
The assistant in Mortellaro story reminds me of Smithers from THE SIMPSONS. And in the advanced age of 1995.
MISTER MYSTERY has one of the best set ups ever with the hair saver ad right beside THE BRAIN BATS FROM VENUS. BiffBangPow was right, reading that story in and of itself would have been a crazy ride in 1952, but those two images together side by side would have been the perfect touch. Hey, any chance that the story in THE MAN WHO BEAT THE CHAIR is true?
The JUMPIN’ JUPITER and MYSTIC MOOT stories were actually funny and are fine representatives of Wolverton’s humour line.
All in all a great overview of the artists stuff. Only thing missing is his End-of-the-World stuff he did for Herbert W Armstrong at The Plain Truth. Wolverton was a very religious guy and was very proud the way it came out. Dark Horse put out some.
But great selections for what you had, King’. The issue of WEIRD TALES OF FUTURE is a total classic, front to back. I think my favourite ad besides the hair restoring juxtapose was for the love letter book.
And of course, we must recognize that the artists put up the money to publish the comic line themselves for six issues. Just like others tried in the 80’s. And JUST LIKE THE 80’S there was a comic glut and WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE didn’t make it.
Reading these book choices in a revelation to me, because my main 70 years' impression of Basil Wolverton's work has been that he was an ironical, tongue-in-cheek writer/artist, who was a tortured, deep thinker, who got therapeutic relief from his struggles with life, by poking fun at it. Having read only Wolverton's comedic stories and comic strips(appearing inside exclusively comedy-oriented comic books), as I was interested almost exclusively, in comedy-oriented stories, and very cartoony art styles(as opposed to realistic), I was shocked to learn that Wolverton drew semi-realisticly in totally serious stories. I had only ever seen his totally comedic science fiction and "bizarre World" stories, all making the obvious statement that he seemed to prefer to NOT take The World and this life, seriously.
I am definitely going to enjoy reading these Wolverton stories which were inside books I've never read, nor, at which, never even taken a passing glance.
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Yes. Basil Wolverton.
The cover for WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE should have been in SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT, and I hope it was, along with other stuff Wolverton could have hacked off the good doctor with. NIGHTMARE WORLD would have been great start.
MISTER MYSTERY has one of the best set ups ever with the hair saver ad right beside THE BRAIN BATS FROM VENUS.
I think my favourite ad besides the hair restoring juxtapose was for the love letter book.
Morgus, the monster on that cover would have been great for 'Seduction of the Innocent', though I didn't think the girl looked all that terrified. She seems to be thinking, 'Sheesh' :D
And yes, great ad placement with the hair saver. I wonder how many lovelorn teens would have bought the book on love letters? Probably not as big a hit as the Bullworker.
My favourite ad was for the mail-order records in Weird Tales. I love the fact that the only choices you have are hit parade tunes, hill billy hits, or most loved hymns. I could have sworn there were more genres than that, even in 1952! I love looking at old ads in comics and magazines. Sometimes as much fun as the stories.
Cheers
QQ
It's no surprise to me that European "Classical Music", Blues, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, "Easy Listening" ("Elevator Music"), and Ethnic Music (Polkas, etc) (other than the Scottish/Irish-influenced "Hill Billy Music" were not aimed at by the ersatz budget popular music purveyors, as they needed to concentrate their efforts on the widest markets possible, because of the extremely low profit margins of that market situation. The comic books in which these adverts appeared, were aimed at young boys between ages 7 and 12 or 13. Most of those boys were from so-called "Caucasian", and middle, lower middle and working-class families, who were reasonably well-behaved rather than violent trouble-makers, and in 1952, were listening to general American Pop Music, Country & Western, or religious(Gospel & Spiritual) Music radio programmes. So the new companies who jumped into the record production industry after World War II, were bound to concentrate on marketing to those 3 markets.
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One of my Uncle Lens’ lines;
"Mar-might. Mar-won’t. Mar-could be talked into it.”
Then it would be “Mars Needs Women.” and the pun-fest would be on. That could last ten minutes and clear the breakfast table.
Got to the point where gramma would pause before putting the jar on the table and do a quick assessment as to if he had the urge to put the whole show on the road that morning.
Okay, Morgus, all I can take way from this is that there's a whole side of you that I know nothing about!
Feel free to elucidate or not! ;D
All the best
K1ngcat
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Yes. Basil Wolverton.
The cover for WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE should have been in SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT, and I hope it was, along with other stuff Wolverton could have hacked off the good doctor with. NIGHTMARE WORLD would have been great start.
The assistant in Mortellaro story reminds me of Smithers from THE SIMPSONS. And in the advanced age of 1995.
MISTER MYSTERY has one of the best set ups ever with the hair saver ad right beside THE BRAIN BATS FROM VENUS. BiffBangPow was right, reading that story in and of itself would have been a crazy ride in 1952, but those two images together side by side would have been the perfect touch. Hey, any chance that the story in THE MAN WHO BEAT THE CHAIR is true?
The JUMPIN’ JUPITER and MYSTIC MOOT stories were actually funny and are fine representatives of Wolverton’s humour line.
All in all a great overview of the artists stuff. Only thing missing is his End-of-the-World stuff he did for Herbert W Armstrong at The Plain Truth. Wolverton was a very religious guy and was very proud the way it came out. Dark Horse put out some.
But great selections for what you had, King’. The issue of WEIRD TALES OF FUTURE is a total classic, front to back. I think my favourite ad besides the hair restoring juxtapose was for the love letter book.
And of course, we must recognize that the artists put up the money to publish the comic line themselves for six issues. Just like others tried in the 80’s. And JUST LIKE THE 80’S there was a comic glut and WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE didn’t make it.
Reading these book choices in a revelation to me, because my main 70 years' impression of Basil Wolverton's work has been that he was an ironical, tongue-in-cheek writer/artist, who was a tortured, deep thinker, who got therapeutic relief from his struggles with life, by poking fun at it. Having read only Wolverton's comedic stories and comic strips(appearing inside exclusively comedy-oriented comic books), as I was interested almost exclusively, in comedy-oriented stories, and very cartoony art styles(as opposed to realistic), I was shocked to learn that Wolverton drew semi-realisticly in totally serious stories. I had only ever seen his totally comedic science fiction and "bizarre World" stories, all making the obvious statement that he seemed to prefer to NOT take The World and this life, seriously.
I am definitely going to enjoy reading these Wolverton stories which were inside books I've never read, nor, at which, never even taken a passing glance.
Wow, Robb, I am flabbergasted to have discovered something that you seem to be unaware of. Your knowledge of comics history is usually something I've been totally in awe of. Hope you find the thread interesting.
All the best
K1ngcat
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Mister Mystery #7
So he's basically an amateur? If he'd been Dr. Mystery or Captain Mystery it would imply a professionalism about the mystery business. ;)
The Brain-Bats of Venus
Interesting, if simple sci-fi horror.
The Killer!
I did like the fact that they didn't reverse the guy's pacifism. Too often writers will just have characters kill because it fits the writer's story rather than being true to the character's persona. Other than that the story was just okay.
What's in a Name
The writer clearly didn't do much research before writing this story.
Don't banks require identification before creating accounts?
Insanity is a pretty vague term. Psychiatrists would usually try to narrow it down to a specific condition.
There are a number of real life stories of people going into mental institutions and having a lot of trouble coming out because it's a lot easier "proving" someone has a mental problem than doesn't have a mental problem.
The Man Who Beat the Chair!
Not a bad crime story. Although I thought this book was more a supernatural/horror type series. This story would have been better in a crime series.
Hide-A-Waist ad
Nice bit of cheesecake. ;)
The Wedding Eve!
Some interesting ideas, but I don't think it works as well as it could have worked. The ending wasn't foreshadowed in any way that I noticed.
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Well, King', I grew up in a family that had ties to the UK...we were kicked out of Scotland because sheep were easier to raise than people. Settled in Ontario, Canada just under 200 years ago. Gramp went over to fight in WWI. Gramma had a haggis recipe, and loads of other back home tastes. So the Marmite was no stranger to the table. There were also Harry Lauder records, those old year end collections of British kids mags, and lots of CARRY ON movies, DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE, BENNY HILL and MONTY PYTHON on the tube. Dad’s 2 fave horror films were ACE OF SPADES and DEAD OF NIGHT.
Uncle Len was from the states and loved word play. Got me into comedy records and old time radio like Abbott and Costello. Would set up shop at gramma’s at meal time and just let the puns and jokes rip. The marmite was a fave of gramma but pretty much had the family split in half. Newbies to the table would be warned and then try it.
Trial by ordeal.
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Reading these book choices in a revelation to me, because my main 70 years' impression of Basil Wolverton's work has been that he was an ironical, tongue-in-cheek writer/artist, who was a tortured, deep thinker, who got therapeutic relief from his struggles with life, by poking fun at it. ...I was shocked to learn that Wolverton drew semi-realisticly in totally serious stories.
I am definitely going to enjoy reading these Wolverton stories which were inside books I've never read, nor, at which, never even taken a passing glance.
Hi Robb,
Oh boy, you've got lots to see if you want to dig into Wolverton.
His magnum opus was 'The Bible Story' or 'The Wolverton Bible' which you can read a review of HERE. (https://boingboing.net/2009/05/29/last-month-i-discov.html)
If that makes you curious you can buy the book or read the free pdf files HERE. (http://herbert-w-armstrong.com/bible_story.html)
He was very serious about his religious beliefs from what I gather reading the first two Greg Sadowski bios which he wrote with access to Basil's diaries. He made very detailed entries. What I saw was how hard Wolverton worked at trying to find new ways to make money for his family in any way he could think up. He got a LOT of rejection letters which are in the bios. Living on the west coast sure didn't help his comics career either.
There are a few Wolverton archives shared on CB+ that I'd recommend as well -
BingBang Buster by Wolverton Collection - https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=28921
Culture Corner by Basil Wolverton, The Complete (Fawcett) - https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=29448
The Complete Mystic Moot And His Magic Snoot by Basil Wolverton - https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=59572
The Complete Spacehawk - Click here. (https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=78643) - Extras Only (larger version Click here.) (https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=33947)
This last collection I'm especially proud to have helped play a part in creating.
-Yoc
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Hey, what do you want to bet the book on love letters dated back to the '20's or '30's? I'd bet a burrito the records were made by studio guys just trying to sell records on their own and the records got sold off when they broke up. (There are no NAMES connected to the songs, and I'm betting they were a country and western outfit that did the gospel and hit parade to cover their bets.)
I've long been fascinated by these comic-book record offers. Given how ubiquitous they were it's surprising how little seems to have been written about them. I've never seen one of these discs, even in photos, but a few people online reported having heard them back in the day.
What follows is a bunch of speculation based on what little I've dug up through research. Maybe someone who actually produced records (I'm thinking of you, Robb) can blow it all out of the water and tell the real story. If so, I welcome the clarification.
From what I've pieced together there seem to have been (1) one or more companies (perhaps record-pressing plants?) who mass-produced these things for next to nothing, then sold them in bulk to resellers at a few pennies per disc. I've found ads in the tiny-print classified section of 1950s music trade papers offering wholesale lots of hit-song and country-western compilations. These are likely the ones advertised in comics.
Most 78 RPM records ran about three minutes on a side. In the latter days when 78s switched from shellac to vinyl they figured out how to squeeze a little extra music onto each side. Prolific cover-version label "Tops" managed to put two more-or-less complete songs on each side of a 78. (2) But I never understood how they could put three songs on a side.
According to people who saw the records, they did it by chopping each song down to a minute-plus.
(3) The anonymous performers would bang out a verse and a chorus and then it was out the back door for lunch. The players were no doubt session musicians, newcomers, and fading old-timers slumming for a few bucks to pay the rent. I'm willing to bet there were more than a few customers who felt cheated when they received their amazing hit parade collections.
Of course the production companies didn't bother with the niceties of licensing, union contracts, or royalties. Apparently it was much easier to get away with that sort of thing back in the day. I've found a few late-1950s legal cases in which rights holders successfully sued companies like Woolworth's for selling what they called "pirated" recordings. (4) It's not clear if these records were actual pirate copies of commercial recordings or unauthorized new recordings of copyrighted songs. The latter seems more likely. In the mid-50s Tops Music Enterprises, the outfit I mentioned above, lost to music publisher Harms, Inc., over an unauthorized recording of one particular song. The case is cited as precedent in other actions but the judgement couldn't have been too bad because Tops wasn't sued out of existence. It rolled along for several more years and died only when the surviving founding partner retired and sold the label to a guy who went broke.
Crash, you have raised come great questions, and made very impressively accurate guesses of their answers.
As record collecting was, in a way, more near and dear to my heart than comic book collecting, this topic is very interesting to me. As a young comic book reader in the late 1940s and early 1950s, I saw those adverts but usually ignored most of them, except the funny novelty ads, just to see what strange things were available. By 1954, when I had been introduced to junk stores, thrift stores, bargain bins in record shops, and used record shelves in book and furniture stores, I was introduced to "budget record labels", which contained recordings of the Pop and C&W hit songs of the day, or very popular traditional folk(including older Hill Billy songs) and Spiritual songs. I saw issues of the two main national U.S. budget record labels, "Tops Records" and "Hit Records". There were also several smaller, regional companies in that field.
(1) I think it is possible that one or a few of the biggest budget record companies were owned by owners who also owned record pressing plants. Promenade Records was a late 1950s budget "knock-off" label that was owned by Synthetic Plastics Company, who obviously operated their own record pressing plant, and likely their own record mastering service and had at least a small recording studio. Here is one of their 45 RPM EP records with 2 cuts on each side: (https://i.ibb.co/hmrX1gm/Promenade-Budget-EP.jpg)
You can listen to this uncredited Rock-A-Billy singer singing Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" here (on YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qArfUgnXV8c
Here is a Tops 45 RPM EP with 2 cuts on each side. "Come Go With Me" by Maurice Washington and The Toppers is noteworthy because it was sung likely by a talented group that had some later (or earlier) success on the R&B charts. "The Toppers" was the company house band name, which was mainly a "whitebread" milquetoast studio group, but once in a great while Tops actually got quality professional groups and singers in to record "ethnic" music. Personally, despite the lead singer singing in falsetto, I like it better than The Dell Vikings' original. The group is tight, and The band is quite good and very professional. I really love the sax solo in the break. It's in a group of about 8 to 10 recordings out of several thousand that I've heard on budget labels, that I deem worth a listen:
(https://i.ibb.co/4pLTQWF/Tops-Record-Maurice-Wahington-Toppers.jpg)
It can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtYMwfvW0w8
I also know of several pressing plants in Detroit, Chicago, and New York Metro Areas, whose owners also operated record producing companies, (which also had record mastering facilities and had their own in-house recording studios, which were, at the very least, adequate enough for recording demo records, and they had acetate record producing capability (all of which was high-level enough for producing "budget records" / hit songs sung by unknown, uncredited artists (or credited to people or groups using false names)). Shelley Plastic Products of Huntington Station (Long Island) New York, ran a large record pressing plant, whose owners also owned Crest Records (1954-58) and Golden Crest Records (1959-65). They also had a small, in-house, recording studio for demos. But, I don't know of any connection to a budget record label. USA Records, a large national record distributing company headquartered in Chicago, also had their own record label (of the same name), and was affiliated with a Chicago pressing plant. But, I don't know of any budget label associated with them. I doubt that RCA, or Columbia Records, both of whom operated major pressing plants on The East Coast, in The Midwest, and in California, had their own budget labels. I don't know of any connection between the owners of Monarch Pressing Plant in Los Angeles to any budget label (although some of Tops' late 1950s and early '60s records seemed to have been pressed in their plant). Like Shelley in New York, and Columbia Midwest pressing plant (Terre Haute, Indiana), L.A.'s Monarch plant was one of the few that pressed mainly polystyrene records. The only other plant in L.A. that likely pressed Tops Records was Allied Metal Products.
The "Weird Tales" record advert listed "Hit Tunes Co.", of Newark, New Jersey, as the address to send the payment coupon. There was a major record pressing plant in Newark, and another major pressing plant in northern New Jersey during the 1950s. The plant most likely used to press East Coast budget records during the 1950s was Abbey Record MFG. Co, also in Newark. But, I've never heard of any ownership connection between them and a budget label.
I never saw any of the budget records for sale at retail prices in record shops (although, a few of them found their way into bargain bins there). So, the budget labels had to market their records through discount (5 and dime, and dime stores) and chain discount stores (like Woolworth's and Walgreen's), and the direct market from the producer, through ads in comic books and magazines.
(2) As I remember, extended play records (EPs) (2+ songs per side), usually were restricted to only 1 song
until 1949, when RCA introduced its microgroove process. That immediately ushered in the 45 RPM era. So, starting in 1949, Tops Records and Hit Records could issue 78 RPM EP records with 2 songs per side, and 45 RPM records EP with 3 per side. I think that Tops Records also sold 10 inch, and later, 12 inch LP albums with 5 (and later 6) songs per side (starting from 1954 or 1955). The budget labels DID try to keep the length of their versions down to from about 1:50 to about 2:15 or so, to be able to fit their desired 3 cuts to a side. on singles, 5 to a side on 10 inch LPs, and 6 to a side on 12 inch LPs.
Related to QQ's comment that all different music genres weren't represented, Tops produced other genres in several more subsidiary labels (Gilmar, Mayfair(StereoLPs), Melody(C&W), and Tops "Kiddie Series", and Tops "Organ All-Time Hit Series". They even covered Blues R&B, and Jazz in their "Harlem Hit Parade" series. But in many years of combing Ghetto thrift, junk stores, and record shop bargain bins, I've only seen a handful of issues of that label. So, I doubt that budget records sold much, at all, in that market.
Tops Records was located in Los Angeles, and ran from 1947-1962 (when they were bought out by Pickwick, International (who were later bought out by Capitol Records (who were later bought out by E.M.I.). The larger "Hit Records" budget label was located in Nashville, and actually used a few singing artists who had later careers with regular commercial record labels, and some even had charted "hits". But most of their singers were totally unknowns or marginal to that industry. Hit operated from 1962-1965. Herbert Hunter, who sang one of the most iconic Northern Soul hits, was one of the most prolific artists for Hit Records. There was an earlier, much smaller, "Hit Records" budget label operating in the early-to-mid 1950s operating somewhere on The East Coast, which could possibly have been affiliated with the "Hit Tunes Co. of the comic book advert. I'd be curious to know whether or not it was, but have not been able to discover any connection, so far.
Most of the singers for budget labels were young singer wannabees, who would make some cash to buy food and pay the rent when just starting out in the business, to get recording experience, and free demo tapes of themselves, to shop themselves to the "legitimate" record companies' producers. Others were has been single artists, or groups, who had made it in the business years before, and whose popularity had long faded, and needed the money just to survive.
Some very famous singers and groups recorded for budget labels, like The Ink Spots, "Scatman" Crothers, Dave Burgess, Lawrence Welk, and Country Pop singer, Ronny Deauville. There were several others, but I can't remember their names. But a few of those were early 1960s Pop and Soul singers, who sang for another (newer) L.A.-based budget company (Monogram Records), and also a Chicago-based company (Seeburg Records) who supplied records especially made for juke boxes, which were new recordings of hit tunes, but also original material. That Chicago-based company had 2 different recording studios and offices, one in Chicago, and one in Nashville, and, unlike most of the budget record labels, used some successful current popular Chicago and Nashville -based singing and instrumental artists and bands, as well as high-level recording equipment and highly-skilled, successful musicians.
(3) Budget label's singers were not contracted, but usually just "piece workers", paid by the session. Musicians were mostly regular, albeit marginal, union session players, but working on these non-union sessions "off the books" often paid in cash, just to make extra money between major extended gigs.
(4) No, these were never "pirated" (e.g. stolen) copies of recordings of singers singing under contract for other record companies. They were always new recordings made of other singers sing that hit song in a style as close to the hit version as they could make it in one take, with a non-contract singer, paying less than union wages to union musicians, and often using cheap, low-quality recording equipment. Although, a few pressing plant owners actually operated standard commercial record companies which used union artists and musicians, and also normal record distributors, and the records were played on the radio, but also marketed budget lines, a few didn't even bother to separate the two different genres into different label series.
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Reading these book choices in a revelation to me, because my main 70 years' impression of Basil Wolverton's work has been that he was an ironical, tongue-in-cheek writer/artist, who was a tortured, deep thinker, who got therapeutic relief from his struggles with life, by poking fun at it. ...I was shocked to learn that Wolverton drew semi-realisticly in totally serious stories.
I am definitely going to enjoy reading these Wolverton stories which were inside books I've never read, nor, at which, never even taken a passing glance.
Hi Robb,
Oh boy, you've got lots to see if you want to dig into Wolverton.
His magnum opus was 'The Bible Story' or 'The Wolverton Bible' which you can read a review of HERE. (https://boingboing.net/2009/05/29/last-month-i-discov.html)
If that makes you curious you can buy the book or read the free pdf files HERE. (http://herbert-w-armstrong.com/bible_story.html)
He was very serious about his religious beliefs from what I gather reading the first two Greg Sadowski bios which he wrote with access to Basil's diaries. He made very detailed entries. What I saw was how hard Wolverton worked at trying to find new ways to make money for his family in any way he could think up. He got a LOT of rejection letters which are in the bios. Living on the west coast sure didn't help his comics career either.
There are a few Wolverton archives shared on CB+ that I'd recommend as well -
BingBang Buster by Wolverton Collection - https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=28921
Culture Corner by Basil Wolverton, The Complete (Fawcett) - https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=29448
The Complete Mystic Moot And His Magic Snoot by Basil Wolverton - https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=59572
The Complete Spacehawk - Click here. (https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=78643) - Extras Only (larger version Click here.) (https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=33947)
This last collection I'm especially proud to have helped play a part in creating.
-Yoc
Thanks for the referrals, Yoc,
Looking at The Wolverton Bible was interesting. I have already long known about "Powerhouse Pepper", Mystic Moot, and "Culture Corner" from Fawcett's "Comic Comics", and Timely comedic comic book series. I wouldn't have looked for him elsewhere than cartoony style comedy comic book series, especially in my youthful days as a comic book collector, as I don't like his art style at all, and absolutely hated it back then. So, I also missed out on his Bing,Bang Buster Western comedy series as a youth, but I already know of it from that series collection here on CB+. But, the wryness and irony of his humour, and bizarreness of the action, and mood he creates is interesting, for at least, a one-time look, now that I'm a comic book historian (of sorts).
I can see by the Science Fiction stories he drew in which he draws semi-realistic Human figures and yet still draws his comedic, cartoony-styled alien monsters, that his heart is in creating a bizarre world, and poking fun at it, pointing out its irony. I have several totally cartoony and totally comedic Sci-Fi stories of his, in which the Humans are very cartoony. I like that much better than trying to mix realistic figures with totally silly-looking monsters. They just aren't scary in the slightest. I dislike "Bone" for the same reason. For me, realistic figures don't belong in a cartoony World. On the other hand, I DO accept cartoony figures in a reasonably real-looking environment (like Carl Barks' Disney Ducks in front of his semi-realistic backgrounds. They are still 2-dimensional lines on flat paper, as are the characters. IF the backgrounds had been drawn in a very detailed illustrator's style, with shading, to create a very 3-dimensional feel, I probably wouldn't have liked that.
It's clear to me that The American Underground Comics style from the very late 1960s into the 1980s (spearheaded by Robert Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, Art Spiegelman, and others) must have come directly from its artists loving, and emulating Basil Wolverton's drawing style. It has the same feel as Wolverton's, which is why I don't like it.
However, I DO like serious Science Fiction stories (I'm writing a 10-book Sci-Fi series of my own), so I will definitely read Wolverton's more "serious" Sci-Fi stories.
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Perhaps it doesn't translate from the British vernacular. I'm sure if I said he was a Vegemite kind of character, it wouldn't mean the same. It's a phrase over here that means either you love him or hate him. ;D
Thanks K1ngcat. You're right that it probably wouldn't work in Australia. We all love Vegemite! If you don't believe me, here's 30 sec of nostalgia that proves it :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5r3HAJh8es
Cheers
QQ
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One of my Uncle Lens’ lines;
"Mar-might. Mar-won’t. Mar-could be talked into it.”
Then it would be “Mars Needs Women.” and the pun-fest would be on. That could last ten minutes and clear the breakfast table.
Got to the point where gramma would pause before putting the jar on the table and do a quick assessment as to if he had the urge to put the whole show on the road that morning.
Morgus, that must have made for some Mar-vellous family times, sipping Mar-tinis and Mar-guaritas while waiting for the Mar-tian Mar-auders to land amongst the Mari-golds in Mar-seilles. :D
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It's no surprise to me that European "Classical Music", Blues, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, "Easy Listening" ("Elevator Music"), and Ethnic Music (Polkas, etc) (other than the Scottish/Irish-influenced "Hill Billy Music" were not aimed at by the ersatz budget popular music purveyors, as they needed to concentrate their efforts on the widest markets possible, because of the extremely low profit margins of that market situation.
Since the aim is to make as much money as possible, I have always thought that the companies that made those cheap copy records looked at the sales stats and concentrated on the genres that had the most sales.
So, "Classical Music", Blues, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, "Easy Listening" ("Elevator Music"), and Ethnic Music (Polkas, etc)
and, in Australia anyway, Country music, were the genres of choice. And not much serious jazz.
Incidentally, country music is not just Scottish/Irish-influenced
It's a bit more eclectic than that. Also, as you no doubt know, the influence of Klezmer music in US popular music and Jazz is greater than most are aware of.
In Klezmer Music, The Whole World Is Jewish.
https://odessareview.com/klezmer-music-whole-world-jewish/
Another example of a successful multi-genre band is Gogol Bordello, which calls itself a gypsy punk band. In fact, if Ukrainian-born lead singer Eugene Hutz didn’t declare the band gypsy, it would be difficult to pinpoint any one element in this eclectic fruit salad of Eastern European and Mediterranean musical traditions. But klezmer music has undoubtedly influenced Gogol Bordello.
Take Only What You Can Carry - Gogol Bordello feat. KAZKA (UKR Version)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT_cdXEW8tE
Teroborona - Gogol Bordello (feat. The Cossacks)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkPRZGi4-MA
cheers!
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Q.Q. you would have been a howling menace at the breakfast table with your wit. We’d never be able to get him to finish then.
Yoc thanks for the PDF’s of his World Wide Church of God stuff. They were were amazing.
Robb K; the whole thing reminds me of the business model for Charlton comics...ways to keep the presses (in this case record pressing plants) running. Fascinating stuff.
'Panther, I think I’ll stick with Benny Goodman, where I’m hearing the same sort of influence. But you also get Harry James and Gene Krupa.
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Let me just at this point drop in to offer thanks: to Yoc for posting the PDFs of the Wolverton Bible ( totally awesome !) to Robb for his detailed account of the rip-off recording industry ( I quite enjoyed "Don't Be Cruel" even without The King ) and to Morgus for revealing the details of his lineage, (golly, didn't you guys get around!) It's all good stuff.
SS, I wasn't particularly sold on most of Mister Mystery either, but Wolverton's Brain Bats is evidently considered such a classic example of his Sci-Fi style that I couldn't leave it out.
Thanks to everyone for their contributions, please keep 'em coming.
All the best
K1ngcat
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Ibis the Invincible #3
Captain Marvel Club
I wonder what some of these toys were really like? The Buzz Bomb sounds potentially dangerous with the whole trailing flame of fire although I doubt it would have been a real fire.
Menace of the Jaguar Men!
Jaguars live in lower North America and South America, but the Jaguar Men are dressed like Arabs. Huh?
Ibis and Taia seem remarkably modern day for people who are from 4000 years ago.
If two of the Jaguar Men returned to human form when they died, why didn't the Jaguar Man that Clark Fenimore shot before the story began revert to human form as well?
What do the police think of all the dead bodies who follow in Ibis' wake think of this man's actions? You'd think that the police might want to investigate this guy? For all they know he could just be a killer who pretends to be a good guy fighting evil.
Bagdad
Cute.
Don't Use Your Whip!
Not bad.
Hard To Stomach This
Old joke, but otherwise okay.
Music Madness
That's... odd. Otherwise okay, but with an anthropomorphic musical note as a villain it makes it a little silly.
Mystic Moot and His Magic Snoot
Cute. I've never read this story before, but some parts seemed familiar like maybe someone else had "borrowed" some of the jokes for something I did read. *shrug*
Karlan, the Last of the Sorcerers!
Bobby Jordan... I'm surprised Roy Thomas didn't make him a relative of Hal Jordan. ;)
How could Ibis have been part of the council that sentenced Karlan to death 3000 years ago when he went into suspended animation 4000 years ago?
And after this story Bobby became an expert at catching mice. ;)
Mechanix Illustrated promo
So Mary likes Photo Kinks? :o Moving along...
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SS, I wasn't particularly sold on most of Mister Mystery either, but Wolverton's Brain Bats is evidently considered such a classic example of his Sci-Fi style that I couldn't leave it out.
No problem. I'd heard a bit about the story so was curious to read it. I think the horror elements are what impress people here. The sci-fi serves mostly as an explanation for it rather than magic.
The mix of story types in Mister Mystery just seems to be more of the publisher not having a clear idea for what type of stories this book should cover and made it a catch-all, which can make it hard to find an audience.
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SuperScrounge, the Captain Marvel Buzz Bomb was (in my opinion) a ripoff. The aircraft was a punch-out cardboard piece. You folded the fuselage in half, taped a penny in the nose for balance, and pushed the wing through a slot in the fuselage. The 'flame' was a piece of red tissue attached to the engine. It fluttered in the wind and enchanted the buyer, who exclaimed "What a gyp!" I'm not sure if this will work, but below I've tried to link to pictures of the thing from ebay.
https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images2/1/0507/25/captain-marvel-buzz-bomb-1940s-paper-toy-free_1_f6492f7e32b1d6602b7dc5d5668deb19.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/h~MAAOSwOS5jsGYd/s-l1600.png
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Damn, ‘crash. I had high hopes for that one as an old time, pre-child-safety-laws Engine of Destruction. Cast iron for multiple use. You know, pour in gas, ignite with, say, a CAPTAIN MARVEL BUTANE LIGHTER (sold separately, remember boys and girls, don’t smoke) and toss hand grenade style at something.
The first link came up in ’the forbidden zone’, but I got the heart breaking details in the envelope on the second link.
It saddens me that the good Captain allowed his sterling name to be linked to such a gyp. Now they sell the envelope alone on the ‘Bay for bucks. And the hucksters never saw it coming.
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I've always been a huge Basil Wolverton fan since I read his Rockman stories (featured in U.S.A. Comics #1-#2, published by Timely). I've always preferred his sci-fi/supernatural stories rather than his gotesque/comedic bits.
Both The Monster on Mars and The Brain-Bats of Venus reminded me of his Starhawk adventures, and I've enjoyed them both very much. I've always liked when these sci-fi stories get a more mature and tragic tone like in the Brain-Bats one.
I found the Brain-Bats story's tragic ending similar to the ending of one of my favourite Basil Wolverton stories, which is featured in the same issue as the Monster of Mars one: Nightmare World. I had already read this story multiple times before, and I've always found it fascinating.
Now, speaking about the comedic bits: Jumpin' Jupiter and Mystic Moot. They were both pretty funny; what I enjoyed the most was the little easter egg with the sign upside-down in the JJ story, and for MM the banker yelling about the necessity of a law against bank robbery!
Overall, reading Wolverton is always a pleasure: his art is astounding.
Great choices, Kingcat!
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Thanks, Crash! I guess this was before those pesky truth in advertising laws. ;)
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I've always been a huge Basil Wolverton fan since I read his Rockman stories (featured in U.S.A. Comics #1-#2, published by Timely). I've always preferred his sci-fi/supernatural stories rather than his gotesque/comedic bits.
Both The Monster on Mars and The Brain-Bats of Venus reminded me of his Starhawk adventures, and I've enjoyed them both very much. I've always liked when these sci-fi stories get a more mature and tragic tone like in the Brain-Bats one.
I found the Brain-Bats story's tragic ending similar to the ending of one of my favourite Basil Wolverton stories, which is featured in the same issue as the Monster of Mars one: Nightmare World. I had already read this story multiple times before, and I've always found it fascinating.
Now, speaking about the comedic bits: Jumpin' Jupiter and Mystic Moot. They were both pretty funny; what I enjoyed the most was the little easter egg with the sign upside-down in the JJ story, and for MM the banker yelling about the necessity of a law against bank robbery!
Overall, reading Wolverton is always a pleasure: his art is astounding.
Great choices, Kingcat!
Glad you enjoyed them FraBig and thanks for all the work you've put in to creating your comic collections, they're greatly appreciated.
All the best
K1ngcat
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Weird Tales 3
(1) The Monster On Mars by Basil Wolverton
Immediately, I was struck by the unexpected cleanliness of panels (sparing amount of shading and texture lines showing detail) and the attempted realism of Wolverton's Human characters, as I have only been used to the very distorted and cartoony characters in his comedy comic book stories and strips. This is a typical Science Fantasy of the 1930s-40s type, with almost no real science. Did people really think that the atmospheres on planets close enough for Human space vehicles to reach would bebreathable for Earth creatures? By the end of The 1940s, I, myself, as a child. knew that Humans would need to wear a space suit and helmet with an oxygen mask and source inside, or would die of asphyxiation. I also knew that their innards (organs) would be crushed or torn apart by too much, or too little pressure.
I like the design of the Mercurian aliens, and The "Grud". Could creatures really live on super hot and super cold, Mercury. They would have to live just on the very edge of the all dark and all light hemispheres. It would seem extremely unlikely that whatever atmospheres that could develop on the two very different sides of that planet, so close to its star, could support life that could become complex enough to evolve sentient beings. The living Hand, with eyes, and keratin fingernails is an interesting (although ridiculous) idea. And this story also includes the universal problem of the truism that languages developing in distant places, must, by definition, be very different an unintelligible to speakers of the other (combined with the fact that readers can't possibly understand a new language invented by an author). I suppose we have to assume the long-used Science-Fiction tradition that most intelligent beings alien to Earth can communicate with all other sentient beings in our Universe, by mental telepathy. So the dialogues between The Earthmen and aliens in this book are translations of those thoughts into 1940s American jargon.
The story, itself, about the stranded Earthman, is interesting. It also seems to be a first segment of a longer story, with our, unnamed hero, leaving his planet, and travelling with Princess Teba, to her country on Venus. Was this story continued in Weird Tales 4? - Or another series from Stanley Morse/Key Publications?
(2) The Slave Pits of Uranus by Ed Smalle
The artwork in this story is more to my taste for semi-realistic and realistic depiction. The story has some holes. At least, I'm glad to see that the characters ware not being slowly murdered, are wearing protective space suits and helmets with breathable air pumped in. But the unprotected slaves would freeze to death after after probably a minute or less, exposed to the extremely cold temperature on the REAL Uranus. The end of the evil Kazmar, would be Dictator of The Universe is a fitting turnaround. The action scenes with the combat between the space vehicles was eye-catching.
(3) Jumpin' Jupiter by Basil Wolverton
Now we come to the side of Wolverton of which I am well conversant, his totally bizarre cartoony style in tongue-in-cheek, zany comedy vignettes, with grotesque-looking characters, poking ironic jabs at life and The Human condition (complete with signs containing utter silliness, in pun, or rhyming form). I love the predatory female character, who has unbelievably weird taste in men, and the really ugly male character she was chasing.
(4) Frontiers of Tomorrow - Text article
Good information, given the times. You see, we DID know, even back in the late 1940s and beginning of The '50s that so much depicted in Sci-Fi comic book stories could not be possible! :D
(5) The Desert Castle - by Tony Mortellaro
Ah.... The old Frankenstein theme of creating life from inert matter! Mortellaro drew this story well. I like the atmosphere he developed, especially in the laboratory, and of course, the storm scenes. I always enjoy stories in which a millionaire hermit-type has bought a Gothic-looking, medieval European castle, disassembled it brick by brick, shipped it across The Atlantic to USA, and re-assembled it somewhere in the West (usually in a desert), often in Nevada. This presaged the purchase and disassembling, shipping, and reassembling of The London Bridge to span The Colorado River between Arizona and California, a few years after this book was published. This story has an obvious flaw that could have been avoided. It shows the results of the scientist's first success at creating living cells directly from inert matter creating a being that can direct its own movement as a very complex unit. It certainly can't be a one-celled or few-celled "being" (animal-like creature). In reality, a scientist trying to change the physical (atomic) structure of an inert grouping of molecules, would need to start with something very simple (one cell or a few cells). So the scientist should have mentioned that he finally has succeeded, after many years of hard work, in bringing a large group of inert cells or molecules to life as a complex unit that can act in coordination as a newly-formed being. He could add that he is finally ready to reveal to The World that he has brought inert matter to life, after years of having already done that with single cells and small amounts of molecules, which having done so way back then, might have lost continuation of the experimentation to others, who'd have been more well funded by their governments, and he'd be quickly forgotten, and wouldn't go on to great fame.
Also, it seems unbelievable that ALL the scientist's work on this project will be lost, just because he dropped the bottle containing the newly-living cells, and it broke, and the ectoplasmic and endoplasmic living matter (seems to be a thick liquid) is lost to posterity (e.g. he won't be able to re-create it). What kind of a scientist doesn't take notes??? (That's the theme of a Donald Duck story written and drawn by a colleague of mine at Dutch Disney Comics(Volker Reiche) in 1980, titled "The Soul of Science", in which Donald, as an aspiring chemist, takes a job as janitor in a top-lever chemistry lab, and changes the professor's experiment at night, when everyone is gone, creates a new substance, but when ready to show the big-wigs his results, drops the beaker holding it, it spills all over the floor, and cannot prove he made anything worthwhile because he forgot to take notes on what he did.
It's rather illogical that a metal suit of armour comes alive as a unit, because a small beaker of the liquid breaks on its breastplate. A few minutes later, the ENTIRE suit of armour comes to life (without getting charged with lightning from the storm!) The spilled living cells that came alive from the lightning bolt (apparently changing the molecular structure of the chemicals Professor Cowles mixed together), seeped into the metal of the breastplate, and made the entire suit of armour come alive! And not only THAT, but also "has the urge to KILL!"There is a brain that was formed from metal molecules that changed to biological structures and changed the separate pieces of metal into a single operating unit, complete with a brain complex enough to provide it a "WILL" to want to kill living organisms (at least, humans (animals)). To "kill" the demonic living suit of armour, Cowles' assistant tosses some VERY strong acid on the back and front of its breastplate. The outer shell (metallic armour) melts, and a Human skeleton is left. The story ends with The Scientist screaming: "What have we done?" He laments that they killed a Human that he "made" from metal! Clearly there are places where Mankind should not dare to go! It's a DEEP, DEEP story idea, but not well thought out, and thus, has too many illogical story elements (many of which could be avoided).
(6) Nightmare World - by Basil Wolverton
Having known only Wolverton's comedic stories and strips, I could see by the bizarreness of his characters' actions, and their ugliness, and the basic ugliness of his cartoony World, that he was a DEEP, DEEP thinker, and a tortured one, at that. And this story proves that theory, to me. Herman Lasher (and perhaps Mr. Wolverton, had they known about it) might have been tempted to take doses of LSD. After all, it was found to have psychedelic effects on users in 1943. This truly nightmarish story looks like an advertisement or public welfare message, warning against taking illicit drugs for recreational purposes or to satisfy curiosity. It has a similar warning feel to that of "Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde". Don't look too deeply into Man's nature, or you might see things that you won't want to see (like the fact that the capability of deciding to kill another Human, or do cruel things to others) lies deeply inside ALL of us, and can be brought up to the surface IF the right trigger arises in the right situation. And like I'm guessing about Wolverton, and other authors who show evidence of possible major struggling with life, I, too, share that trait. But instead of perhaps experiencing catharsis, by getting that out of my system by drawing it and writing about it, I choose to "hide" or "escape" from the "seemier" or uglier side of life by burying myself in comedy for entertainment. Although, my futuristic Robot stories are a mixture of lighthearted comedy and ironic black comedy.
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Weird Tales 3
The Monster On Mars by Basil Wolverton
Immediately, I was struck by the unexpected cleanliness of panels (sparing amount of shading and texture lines showing detail) and the attempted realism of Wolverton's Human characters, as I have only been used to the very distorted and cartoony characters in his comedy comic book stories and strips. This is a typical Science Fantasy of the 1930s-40s type, with almost no real science. Did people really think that the atmospheres on planets close enough for Human space vehicles to reach would bebreathable for Earth creatures? By the end of The 1940s, I, myself, as a child. knew that Humans would need to wear a space suit and helmet with an oxygen mask and source inside, or would die of asphyxiation. I also knew that their innards (organs) would be crushed or torn apart by too much, or too little pressure.
I like the design of the Mercurian aliens, and The "Grud". Could creatures really live on super hot and super cold, Mercury. They would have to live just on the very edge of the all dark and all light hemispheres. It would seem extremely unlikely that whatever atmospheres that could develop on the two very different sides of that planet, so close to its star, could support life that could become complex enough to evolve sentient beings. The living Hand, with eyes, and keratin fingernails is an interesting (although ridiculous) idea. And this story also includes the universal problem of the truism that languages developing in distant places, must, by definition, be very different an unintelligible to speakers of the other (combined with the fact that readers can't possibly understand a new language invented by an author). I suppose we have to assume the long-used Science-Fiction tradition that most intelligent beings alien to Earth can communicate with all other sentient beings in our Universe, by mental telepathy. So the dialogues between The Earthmen and aliens in this book are translations of those thoughts into 1940s American jargon.
The story, itself, about the stranded Earthman, is interesting. It also seems to be a first segment of a longer story, with our, unnamed hero, leaving his planet, and travelling with Princess Teba, to her country on Venus. Was this story continued in Weird Tales 4? - Or another series from Stanley Morse/Key Publications?
The Slave Pits of Uranus by Ed Smalle
The artwork in this story is more to my taste for semi-realistic and realistic depiction. The story has some holes. At least, I'm glad to see that the characters ware not being slowly murdered, are wearing protective space suits and helmets with breathable air pumped in. But the unprotected slaves would freeze to death after after probably a minute or less, exposed to the extremely cold temperature on the REAL Uranus. The end of the evil Kazmar, would be Dictator of The Universe is a fitting turnaround. The action scenes with the combat between the space vehicles was eye-catching.
Jumpin' Jupiter by Basil Wolverton
Now we come to the side of Wolverton of which I am well conversant, his totally bizarre cartoony style in tongue-in-cheek, zany comedy vignettes, with grotesque-looking characters, poking ironic jabs at life and The Human condition (complete with signs containing utter silliness, in pun, or rhyming form). I love the predatory female character, who has unbelievably weird taste in men, and the really ugly male character she was chasing.
Frontiers of Tomorrow - Text article
Thanks for all your comments Robb. Of course what you say is true, it would be highly unlikely for humanoid creatures to be able to survive on Mercury, or to speak any language that an Earth dweller would understand. But equally, as you say, without such conveniences, the story itself would be impossible.
However, I think that your upbringing and education must have differed considerably from mine, because in my childhood, the practical circumstances under which humans could survive in space was of a far lesser consideration to me than whether I found the art enticing or the adventure exciting! So thanks for putting up with the unrealities of Wolverton's tale, I hope you found his art interesting. Sorry to say I can't find a follow up to this story anywhere, so Princess Teba is never seen again. I'm glad to see Jumpin' Jupiter offered some amusement, and I look forward to your observations as they continue.
For anyone less conversant with Wolverton's career in comics, here's a link to the Lambiek article, which you might find enlightening:
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/w/wolverton.htm
All the best
K1ngcat
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Mister Mystery 7
I can't help wondering why Wolverton's Poe-like psychological horror drama "The Brain Bats of Venus" was tossed in with Mr. Mystery's reasonably-realistic crime mystery stories, in a Mister Mystery book. It doesn't fit at all. It should have been in "Weird Tales", or a Horror genre book. And "The Wedding Eve would also fit much better in "Weird Tales". Overall, it was a weird book, with 2 stories that didn't belong - one in the wrong genre, and the other, a terribly inadequate script.
(1) The Brain-Bats of Venus
Yet another deep, very dark story by Basil. Great scary atmosphere. Some of his best semi-realistic artwork I've seen. Good suspense, all the way until the end. I can see why it is referred to as a classic.
(2) The Killer! by John Bulthuis
What a weird fantasy story. I'm surprised it is in the same book as the extremely dark Wolverton lead story.
(3) What's in a Name - Text Story
$50,000 US is nothing now, compared to what it was in 1950. It certainly wouldn't be worth spending 5 years in prison, and forever after not being trusted by potential employers (and so, doomed to a life of crime, just to make ends meet). A wasted story that telegraphed the ending from the beginning. No point in reading it.
(4) The Man Who Beat The Chair (Narrated by Mr. Mystery) - by Ed Smalle
Realistic fiction about The US criminal justice system, and how organised crime operated. Fairly predictable but not worthless reading.
(5) The Wedding Eve (Narrated by Mr. Mystery) - by Ed Smalle
A typical "door to the past", or "door to the alternate World, or other dimension" story. Did The Keltic Druids really sacrifice adults to their War God? "Sigrid" is a Germanic, rather than Keltic name. Would Kelts have used it? Or if she had been a Germanic prisoner of a Keltic tribe, why would she WANT to be sacrificed to THEIR war god (who was the same being as her war god??? The author forgot Sigrid had said she was being sacrificed to the war god, then she mentioned wanting to be sacrificed to Hurth, the REAL god of fire, rather than the false one they thought Al (the story's hero) was. Very disjointed storyline. When Al fell back into his own dimension (where he left in 1922), it was now 1952. He had lost 32 years. And although she was only likely in her late 50s, his betrothed, Joan, unexpectedly dies in his arms. Perhaps she had been slowly dying of cancer, and had only hung on hoping against hope that he'd somehow return to her, to say goodbye to him. This author probably banged out this story in less than hour, and didn't even re-read it before submitting it to his editor, who likely approved it only after skimming through it, because of a pending deadline, and just handed it to the artist, immediately.
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Glad you enjoyed them FraBig and thanks for all the work you've put in to creating your comic collections, they're greatly appreciated.
All the best
K1ngcat
Thanks, it's always fun to make those. I'm glad you appreciate them!
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Weird Tales 3
Nightmare World - by Basil Wolverton
Having known only Wolverton's comedic stories and strips, I could see by the bizarreness of his characters' actions, and their ugliness, and the basic ugliness of his cartoony World, that he was a DEEP, DEEP thinker, and a tortured one, at that. And this story proves that theory, to me. Herman Lasher (and perhaps Mr. Wolverton, had they known about it) might have been tempted to take doses of LSD. After all, it was found to have psychedelic effects on users in 1943. This truly nightmarish story looks like an advertisement or public welfare message, warning against taking illicit drugs for recreational purposes or to satisfy curiosity. It has a similar warning feel to that of "Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde". Don't look too deeply into Man's nature, or you might see things that you won't want to see (like the fact that the capability of deciding to kill another Human, or do cruel things to others) lies deeply inside ALL of us, and can be brought up to the surface IF the right trigger arises in the right situation. And like I'm guessing about Wolverton, and other authors who show evidence of possible major struggling with life, I, too, share that trait. But instead of perhaps experiencing catharsis, by getting that out of my system by drawing it and writing about it, I choose to "hide" or "escape" from the "seemier" or uglier side of life by burying myself in comedy for entertainment. Although, mu futuristic Robot stories are a mixture of lighthearted comedy and ironic black comedy.
I don't mind admitting that, as a child of the mid-sixties, feeling part of the "Summer of Love", I did my own "experimenting" with LSD and a few other mind-altering drugs. And trust me, those experiences were quite unpredictable and could be as unsettling as they could be enjoyable. But irrespective of whether Wolverton may have done anything similar, he was, as you say, a deep thinker, with strong religious convictions. In spite of those, he lost his faith for fourteen years after his parents' divorce, and didn't embrace it again until later in life when he became involved in his Bible illustrations, which are quite impressive and worthy of more than a passing glance.
All I would say is, that like anyone capable of reason, he would have been aware of what a thin line there is between the loving and nurturing side of human nature, and the hateful and destructive side which lives within all of us. But unlike many others, he had the artistic ability to tap into that and wasn't afraid to show the world as it can sometimes be, strange and terrifying.
Sweet dreams, everyone! ;)
All the best
K1ngcat
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Ibis The invincible 3
This book will be interesting to me as I've never liked stories dealing with magic (e.g. things that happen against what is known from scientific study, that, therefore, seem impossible).
(1) Ibis 1 - Menace of The Jaguar Men - by Gus Ricca
The Black Panther of India is a misnomer. It is actually a species of Asian Leopard. THAT must be the animal portrayed in this story. Jaguars live in the wild only in South and mainly Central America and tropical Mexico. The Indian panthers range in weight from about 100 to 200 lbs. The panthers pictured look to be about 7 feet long. So they would weigh about 190-200 lbs. At that weight, they should be about 6-9 times stronger than a 180 lb muscular man. With their superstrong jaws, they can lift and drag an over 1200 ib carcass. Ibis doesn't look overly muscular. I really doubt that he could have uplifted and flung the panther off of himself, and to that distance of what looks to be more than 10 feet away. And his magic wand was knocked away. So the author seems to be implying that Ibis was NOT using magic in saving himself with that acrobatic move.
The Jaguar (Panther) Men apparently use black magic to change into panthers. Their bite changed Ibis into a panther. But Ibis' female sidekick, Taia, used his Ibstick (magic wand) to change him back to human. Ibis declines to use his magic to fight the last Panther/Jaguar Man, and defeats him, killed in a fall from a high window. The story has a really weak, cheap, disappointing ending, in which Ibis uses magic to drain all the evil out of the hunting trophy Panther head on hunter, Fenimore's wall.
(2) Bagdad - 1 Page Gag - by Victor Pazmiño
Boring, obvious gag. And I never liked VEP's drawing style.
(3) Don't Use Your Whip! - Text Story - by Carl G. Hodges
Okay story, but, the ending was obvious most of the way.
(4) Little Albert - 1-Page Gag
A little funny, but expected as a possible ending.
(5) Ibis 2 - Music Madness - by Gus Ricca
An interesting idea for a story - an enchanted music box with an evil curse on it, that unleashes evil musical notes that commit evil deeds. They are cries of anguish from sinners suffering in Hell. The leader of the notes is an evil G-Clef (The Master of Discord)! Ibis defeats the Clef by playing a happy melody on his harmonica. Taia is so relieved to be free of the torturous noise that after burning the evil music box she relents, and agrees to listen to Ibis' horrible harmonica playing. A chuckle at the end, when Ibis admits that his playing is horrible, and vows to never pick it up again, finishes off an unusual, lighthearted story.
(6) Mystic Moot & His Magic Snoot - by Basil Wolverton
I know this series well from Fawcett's "Comic Comics". I didn't remember that Moot was from East Walla Walla, Washington! A joke in itself, if you know Walla Walla! ;D.
Like Pinocchio holds his conscience in his nose, Mystic Moot holds his potent magical Powers in his nose. He literally has "A nose for Magic"! This seems to be the Introduction to the series. And there were no Mystic Moot "stories" in "Ibis1" and "Ibis2". Actually, I know this story from somewhere (maybe "The Basil Wolverton Collection"?
An amusing ride through the bizarre comedic World of Wolverton's comedy genre stories. The joke ideas are more Vaudeville and Burlesque style than clever but Basil's artwork is very funny. And this story is particulary "clean", with very little, or none of the hashed detail lines he usually used, even in his comedy stories.
(7) Ibis 3 - Battles Karlan, Last of The Sorcerers - by Gus Ricca
Ibis fights one of his old nemises, Karlan The Sorceror, who escaped The Egyptian Pharaoh's judgement of death sentence 3000 years ago. To escape Ibis' magic, Karlan returns to Purgatory, but takes a hostage with him, the young boy who found a book of his old Black Magic spells. Ibis follows Karlan to Purgatory to save Bobby (who had been changed into an evil black cat, who forgot who he had been). Up to the climax, it is an interesting and entertaining story. Then, in the typical letdown of many, if not most stories depending upon magic, the author ruins the story by reaching the solution cheaply, by the Magician/Sorceror waving a magic wand and saying magic words, and the evil vanishes instantly, or villain is defeated instantly, and THIS reader (as should ALL reader be) is left, terribly disappointed (having been cheated out of a clever, or, at least, an earned conclusion and resolution to the story's problem).
That is the essence of why I strongly dislike stories depending mainly upon the use of magic. The only way to bring even SOME worth to such stories would be to build up a strong background of skill in knowledge of magical tools, including magic spells, potions, and developing magical settings that support completing a task to work a magic action, and honing the skills in their use, by the protagonist Magician or Sorcerer/Sorceress. Then, the hero/protagonist could become "Human", in that he or she has the possibility of failing in attempted tasks (actions) at any given time. That is basically, the same problem I have with Superheroes and their stories. And it is also why stories in which the author has not developed the character of the protagonist enough, are not interesting, because that character can't "come alive" for the reader or viewer, and so, cannot identify with the humanness/humanity of that character through having at least one(but mostly more than one) similar traits to him or her.
If this series would have shown Ibis studying his ancient books of spells, potions, and magical rituals, and becoming evermore skilled, and sometimes showing him fail due to Human foibles, we might identify with him as an honest, hard-working person, who is dedicated to his career, and pull for him as a man worthy of praise, instead of thinking of him as an automaton - "policeman", who, ALWAYS, with virtually no effort, waves a stick and stops people from committing crimes and other anti-social behaviour. And all is again good with The World.
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Ibis The invincible 3
This book will be interesting to me as I've never liked stories dealing with magic (e.g. things that happen against what is known from scientific study, that, therefore, seem impossible).
(1) Ibis 1 - Menace of The Jaguar Men - by Gus Ricca
The Black Panther of India is a misnomer. It is actually a species of Asian Leopard. THAT must be the animal portrayed in this story. Jaguars live in the wild only in South and mainly Central America and tropical Mexico. The Indian panthers range in weight from about 100 to 200 lbs. The panthers pictured look to be about 7 feet long. So they would weigh about 190-200 lbs. At that weight, they should be about 6-9 times stronger than a 180 lb muscular man. With their superstrong jaws, they can lift and drag an over 1200 ib carcass. Ibis doesn't look overly muscular. I really doubt that he could have uplifted and flung the panther off of himself, and to that distance of what looks to be more than 10 feet away. And his magic wand was knocked away. So the author seems to be implying that Ibis was NOT using magic in saving himself with that acrobatic move.
The Jaguar (Panther) Men apparently use black magic to change into panthers. Their bite changed Ibis into a panther. But Ibis' female sidekick, Taia, used his Ibstick (magic wand) to change him back to human. Ibis declines to use his magic to fight the last Panther/Jaguar Man, and defeats him, killed in a fall from a high window. The story has a really weak, cheap, disappointing ending, in which Ibis uses magic to drain all the evil out of the hunting trophy Panther head on hunter, Fenimore's wall.
(2) Bagdad - 1 Page Gag - by Victor Pazmiño
Boring, obvious gag. And I never liked VEP's drawing style.
(3) Don't Use Your Whip! - Text Story - by Carl G. Hodges
Okay story, but, the ending was obvious most of the way.
(4) Little Albert - 1-Page Gag
A little funny, but expected as a possible ending.
(5) Ibis 2 - Music Madness - by Gus Ricca
An interesting idea for a story - an enchanted music box with an evil curse on it, that unleashes evil musical notes that commit evil deeds. They are cries of anguish from sinners suffering in Hell. The leader of the notes is an evil G-Clef (The Master of Discord)! Ibis defeats the Clef by playing a happy melody on his harmonica. Taia is so relieved to be free of the torturous noise that after burning the evil music box she relents, and agrees to listen to Ibis' horrible harmonica playing. A chuckle at the end, when Ibis admits that his playing is horrible, and vows to never pick it up again, finishes off an unusual, lighthearted story.
(6) Mystic Moot & His Magic Snoot - by Basil Wolverton
I know this series well from Fawcett's "Comic Comics". I didn't remember that Moot was from East Walla Walla, Washington! A joke in itself, if you know Walla Walla! ;D.
Like Pinocchio holds his conscience in his nose, Mystic Moot holds his potent magical Powers in his nose. He literally has "A nose for Magic"! This seems to be the Introduction to the series. And there were no Mystic Moot "stories" in "Ibis1" and "Ibis2". Actually, I know this story from somewhere (maybe "The Basil Wolverton Collection"?
An amusing ride through the bizarre comedic World of Wolverton's comedy genre stories. The joke ideas are more Vaudeville and Burlesque style than clever but Basil's artwork is very funny. And this story is particulary "clean", with very little, or none of the hashed detail lines he usually used, even in his comedy stories.
(7) Ibis 3 - Battles Karlan, Last of The Sorcerers - by Gus Ricca
Ibis fights one of his old nemises, Karlan The Sorceror, who escaped The Egyptian Pharaoh's judgement of death sentence 3000 years ago. To escape Ibis' magic, Karlan returns to Purgatory, but takes a hostage with him, the young boy who found a book of his old Black Magic spells. Ibis follows Karlan to Purgatory to save Bobby (who had been changed into an evil black cat, who forgot who he had been). Up to the climax, it is an interesting and entertaining story. Then, in the typical letdown of many, if not most stories depending upon magic, the author ruins the story by reaching the solution cheaply, by the Magician/Sorceror waving a magic wand and saying magic words, and the evil vanishes instantly, or villain is defeated instantly, and THIS reader (as should ALL reader be) is left, terribly disappointed (having been cheated out of a clever, or, at least, an earned conclusion and resolution to the story's problem).
That is the essence of why I strongly dislike stories depending mainly upon the use of magic. The only way to bring even SOME worth to such stories would be to build up a strong background of skill in knowledge of magical tools, including magic spells, potions, and developing magical settings that support completing a task to work a magic action, and honing the skills in their use, by the protagonist Magician or Sorcerer/Sorceress. Then, the hero/protagonist could become "Human", in that he or she has the possibility of failing in attempted tasks (actions) at any given time. That is basically, the same problem I have with Superheroes and their stories. And it is also why stories in which the author has not developed the character of the protagonist enough, are not interesting, because that character can't "come alive" for the reader or viewer, and so, cannot identify with the humanness/humanity of that character through having at least one(but mostly more than one) similar traits to him or her.
If this series would have shown Ibis studying his ancient books of spells, potions, and magical rituals, and becoming evermore skilled, and sometimes showing him fail due to Human foibles, we might identify with him as an honest, hard-working person, who is dedicated to his career, and pull for him as a man worthy of praise, instead of thinking of him as an automaton - "policeman", who, ALWAYS, with virtually no effort, waves a stick and stops people from committing crimes and other anti-social behaviour. And all is again good with The World.
I'm in complete agreement with you Robb. There is no suggestion that Ibis has spent countless nights poring over ancient tomes, trying to increase his knowledge and hone his craft. He doesn't need to because that damn stick fixes everything. I'm sure it could end famine, war, and even global warming if he wanted it to, but instead he mucks about with minor problems like a local policeman. And he doesn't even speak his spells backwards or gesture hypnotically like some wizards I could think of. For my money, Mystic Moot is the most genuinely creative piece in the whole comic, all praise to Basil Wolverton. But thanks for your observations as always, it's good to to hear from you.
All the best
K1ngcat
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Sorry I wasn't around much this time. It's been one of those weeks. But I've appreciated all the discussions. Thanks to everyone who commented on the music ad. I was thinking it was just like one of those record clubs they used to advertise. I was a member of one of those for a while, back in the day when they would send you vinyl through the mail. I hadn't noticed that the artists weren't listed in the ad and I wasn't aware of all the behind-the-scenes machinations of musos trying to earn a living and record presses beating copyright. Interesting discussion.
Thanks everyone
QQ
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Sorry I wasn't around much this time. It's been one of those weeks. But I've appreciated all the discussions. Thanks to everyone who commented on the music ad. I was thinking it was just like one of those record clubs they used to advertise. I was a member of one of those for a while, back in the day when they would send you vinyl through the mail. I hadn't noticed that the artists weren't listed in the ad and I wasn't aware of all the behind-the-scenes machinations of musos trying to earn a living and record presses beating copyright. Interesting discussion.
Thanks everyone
QQ
No need to apologise, QQ, I'm sure we all have lives that take precedence over the forum. I appreciate all the time that you put into your observations, it's good to have you on "the team."
All the best
K1ngcat
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OK! My dirty little secret comes out. I have never been a fan of Basil Wolverton!
I don't have any particular negative feelings about him, just have never been attracted to his visual style.
So here I go, dipping my feet into the water.
1) Weird Tales #3 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=40515
CoverConsidering how grotesque that monster is, she doesn't seen very preturbed.
The monster on Mars. I quite like this. Basically a fairy tale motif, - Main character is kind to a hideous monster and is later rewared when said monster turns out to be a beautiful prince or princess.
The Slave Pits of Uranus (6 pages)
The villain is drawn as a Ming clone. There were a lot of those. Physicall details on the planets totally wrong of coursee - we know bettter now.
Jumpin' Jupiter
Well, this is like early Mad Magazine. I suspect Basil W. had a bit of an infulence on Mad magazine and it's clones. What's a 'cosmic book'? Sounds like something i'd like to read!
Frontiers of Tomorrow.
The thought then was, if we get to the moon we can just keep going and regularly send people up there.
What actually happened was that We hadn't figured out how to make the trip economically and be able to come back and do multiple trips in the same vessel, so we have explored the Solar System virtually with Satelites and Telescopes.
The Desert Castle
What is a castle doing in the Nevada desert?
The art is grotesque, but in a different way to Basil W's art. And I think the artist has deliberately made it grortesque. Weird ending.
Nightmare World
Some of this environment is reminiscent of Steve Ditko.
Ok, this is quite a good book, starting to like it.
Don't know which scanner did the very last page but it's quite funny.
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2} Mister Mystery #7 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21322
The Brain Bats of Venus
A Space Ship has a rudder?
This narrative is like an EC Science Fiction book.
Do you mind?
Mind your own business.
Mind out!
The Killer! (6 pages)
A 1952 'Green' hero? What year did Bambi come out?
The Man Who Beat the Chair!
Nice little ethics twist, which you could see coming, actually!
The Wedding Eve!
Nothing special.
Brain Bats of Venus is clearly the outstanding story here!
Cheers!
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Ibis the Invincible #3 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=59127
Menace of the Jaguar Men
Well done, just the right level of creepy. The creators of the story don't show much sympathy for the hunter, which is as it should be.
Little Albert
Not funny, but amusing.
Music Madness
Clever, original and funny!
'From now on, I'll listen to you play."
You'll be spared that too, TAIA. I've concluded that I'll never be an Harmonica player!'
Mystic Moot and his Magic Snoot.
After the preceeding stories, this hits you between the eyes. Stands out!
Great fun!
IBIS - to my knowledge DC has never used this character? Am I right?
Perhaps they thought they already had Dr Fate?
Kingcat - good choices!
QQ will be here tomorrow!
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IBIS - to my knowledge DC has never used this character? Am I right?
They have, but not a lot and usually in group settings.
The first big use was as part of the Earth-S heroes fighting alongside the JLA & JSA in Justice League of America 135 to 137.
Pretty sure he could be seen amongst the bands of magic users in some of the Crisis On Infinite Earth stories.
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Yeah, DC never used him that much. They introduced a version of him in their mainstream universe in 1996, and then gave him a modern times successor in 2007. Both characters have less than 20 appearances, though.
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2} Mister Mystery #7 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=21322
A 1952 'Green' hero? What year did Bambi come out?
Cheers!
I believe Bambi was made between 1939 and 1941, and was first released to theatres in 1942.
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Panther is not the only one who's not a fan of Mr. Wolverton's art. I don't like it at all. As I've had a lot on my plate recently - a bereavement - I've not read the books but as it was Wolverton I flicked through some pages. Nope. Don't get it. At all. The illustrations always look ugly to me.
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Sometimes that's exactly what Wolverton is looking for: depicting grotesque uglyness and exaggerated features in characters is one of his trademarks. As I'm not really a fan of that comedic art style (which can be seen in Mystic Moot or Jumpin' Jupiter), I can understand. But I always found his more realistic stuff lovely (especially his sci-fi bits). Always loved his geometric style and the way he's able to give three-dimensionality to shapes.
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Sometimes that's exactly what Wolverton is looking for: depicting grotesque uglyness and exaggerated features in characters is one of his trademarks. As I'm not really a fan of that comedic art style (which can be seen in Mystic Moot or Jumpin' Jupiter), I can understand. But I always found his more realistic stuff lovely (especially his sci-fi bits). Always loved his geometric style and the way he's able to give three-dimensionality to shapes.
I have always felt the same about ALL of Wolverton's work. It is not only artwork depicting ugliness. To me, it is also "ugly artwork", which looks too dark, cluttered, and distorted, for my taste. That is why I never liked the US Underground comics of the 1970s and '80s, which seem to have been partly inspired by Wolverton's work.
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I see. I've always considered Robert Crumb's art a bit similar to comedic/grotesque Wolverton, and I'm not a fan of Crumb. But I still feel like Wolverton's more grounded and realistic stuff is enjoyable, as far as to say he's probably one of my favourite Golden Age artists when it comes to sci-fi. Spacehawk is a great example of that side of Wolverton's art.
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Panther is not the only one who's not a fan of Mr. Wolverton's art. I don't like it at all. As I've had a lot on my plate recently - a bereavement - I've not read the books but as it was Wolverton I flicked through some pages. Nope. Don't get it. At all. The illustrations always look ugly to me.
I must admit that I wasn't crazy about the art either, though I can appreciate the skill of the artist. They have a bit of a horror element, and I'm not into horror because it creeps me out and I tend to dwell on it. Even though the horror element wasn't too strong in these, I did find some of the art tending to the horror/creepy side (such as the hand with the eye). But maybe that's just me. Even as a kid, I couldn't watch 'Jack and the Beanstalk' because the giant was too scary. I read a book on classic American comic books a while ago that had a chapter on each different genre. I got halfway through the horror chapter and had to skip to the next chapter because the images were creeping me out - LOL I love suspense and thriller as long as it doesn't tip into horror.
Sorry to hear above your bereavement. Take care
QQ
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Well guys, I've always known that Wolverton was what they call a "polarising figure" so I'm not surprised to find some negative reviews for his work, but I appreciate all the time and thought you've given to your postings, it's been good to hear from you.
And paw, sorry to hear of your loss, as QQ says, take care.
Best wishes to all
K1ngcat
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Even though I've spent a lot of time indoors thanks to unending rain, enough day-to-day nonsense popped up to keep me from staying current with the Reading Group. Let's see if I can catch up.
Weird Tales of the Future #3
In the like-him-or-dislike-him debate over Basil Wolverton, I come down slightly on the "dislike" side of center. I've always liked his space stuff more than his horror or humor. His fusion of 20's s-f magazine drawing and streamline deco design appeals to me. The likes of Spacehawk and Stratosphere Patrol are my favorite Wolverton.
"Monster on Mars" has more of that vibe than the rest of these stories. Wolverton had a heck of an imagination. No one else would dream up a giant talking hand to disguise the beautiful princess. The lightly-dressed figures call attention to the fact that Wolverton wasn't the world's best figure artist. His guys look better encased in their iron spacesuits.
There's no way I can think of "The Slave Pits of Uranus" without thinking it's a proctologist's nightmare. This is unremarkable typical 50s comic-book s-f. It's funny that the artist swiped Ming for the bad guy but didn't swipe Flash Gordon and Dale for the protagonists. It makes me think using Ming was Smalle's joke rather than a copout. The ending is a little off. The slaves are still going to die of radiation poisoning in the pits, but supposedly that's okay since Ming will rot along with them.
I've never quite been able to get into Wolverton's humor strips. I'm not sure why not, because his love for word play is right up my alley. The alliteration, puns, and silly signs are like those in "Smokey Stover." But Bill Holman cracks me up and Basil Wolverton seems flat. Why? Ask my therapist. I have to agree with Robb that the underground-style rendering looks clunky. "Jupiter Jones" isn't terrible, but not my cuppa.
Tony Mortellaro's art on "The Desert Castle" fits right into the book's title: weird. The characters' heads get bigger and bigger until they look like Supermarionation puppets. Adding to the impression is the way that Cowles' face is drawn the same in every panel, as if Mortellaro was afraid he'd lose the likeness if he changed the expression. The story makes no sense. "Live cells," even sentient ones animating a suit of armor, don't need to generate a human skeleton. Whatever. But then the story title doesn't make much sense either. Is this some comics author's first script?
"Nightmare World:" trippy, unsettling, darkly imaginative. Hard to forget, hard to like.
Mister Mystery #7
Of all the weird-story comic book hosts, Mister Mystery is the least impressive. He's just some middle-aged guy wearing a top hat and--heh, heh--a dime store carnival mask.
"The Brain Bats of Venus:" I'll confess, this story hits some deep nerve. It genuinely creeps me out. I must not be the only one, considering how widely-known it is. I like the s-f aspect of the art but the brain bats--ugh.
"The Killer" tries hard to be fairy-tale like but it misses the point. Why did the forest folk need Ernest to "free" them from Hackman if they had the toothy giant? The big guy could have sneaked up behind the hunter whenever he was alone in the woods. The forest folks' original plan--to get Ernest to murder Hackman--cost them my sympathy. I half expected that it'd be Ernest who suffered an awful fate at their hands. At least Ernest gets to hang out with the fairies after he goes nuts instead of being locked in an institution.
"The Man Who Beat the Chair" belongs in a second-rate crime comic. It's only six pages long and seems to last forever.
I can't figure out if we're supposed to empathize Al in "The Wedding Eve." He comes off as a jerk on page one, seems to be dragged into the other world by accident rather than design on page two, and can't seem to make up his mind what to do when confronted with the warring tribes. Except smoke his pipe. Come on! You expect me to believe that even a "man of meditation," faced with a horde of furious vikings threatening him with "a thousand terrible deaths," would light up his pipe "to comfort him in times of stress"? Gimme a break! The one thing he seems sure of is that he wants to save Sigurd, the other-world Joan. Which he almost does until she dumps him. It seems like the real-world Joan gets the short end of the stick in this one. If he'd got Sigurd through the door would she have stayed young? It's all too confusing.
By the way, Mister Mystery somehow looks even further over the hill in this story than in the earlier ones. I feel sorry for the guy. A faded trouper, living on memories of treading the boards in vaudeville days, now eking out a pittance narrating second-rate weird stories.
Ibis the Invincible #3
I guess I'm in a hard-to-please mood tonight. Ibis the Invincible is one of two Fawcett superheroes that strike me as irredeemably stupid. The other is Kid Eternity. Though KE's total lack of internal consistency makes him hard to take, I do find some things to like in his stories. Ibis, on the other hand, is just a bore.
That damned Ibistick can do anything, but for the stories to work Ibis must use it only when it serves the plot and he must use only enough power to meet the immediate challenge. At any point he could say, "Ibistick, find all the Jaguar Men and render them permanently powerless!" Problem solved. The only way Ibis can't solve a problem is when he doesn't have the stick. So time after time he loses the blooming Ibistick. He trips. He's bopped from behind. He drops it in a fight. You'd think he'd have attached it to a wrist strap by now.
"Music Madness" is the one story that's real fun, because of the wacky concept of a world of living musical notes. Gus Ricca's designs are wonderful.
Gus Ricca deserves special note. Like Bud Thompson, he was a solid artist with a hint of Mac Raboy influence who drew many fine pages yet is basically forgotten. His art's the high point of the issue.
"Mystic Moot" gets the same reaction as "Jupiter Jones." It's clever in places, but it just doesn't raise a laugh.
"Karlan the Sorceror" is a typical Ibis story. You'd think, though, that after taking up so much time establishing Bobby and turning him into a black cat that the writer would have given him a bigger part in the action beyond making Ibis lose his $%#$%! stick. Again. The ending was a surprise, though. I didn't realize the Ibistick couldn't be used against Ibis. But in the Jaguar Men story, Talia uses the stick against Ibis--at Ibis' urging--and it doesn't blow him up, it cures him of jaguarism. What's a little inconsistency between friends?
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Sometimes that's exactly what Wolverton is looking for: depicting grotesque uglyness and exaggerated features in characters is one of his trademarks. As I'm not really a fan of that comedic art style (which can be seen in Mystic Moot or Jumpin' Jupiter), I can understand. But I always found his more realistic stuff lovely (especially his sci-fi bits). Always loved his geometric style and the way he's able to give three-dimensionality to shapes.
You beat me to it. "Weid Tales" is clearly a grotesque mindset in artistic terms and for that reason I can completely understand why this artist is/was considered Marmite, "Ibis the Invincible" however, looks far more conventional to me and I don't mean this negatively. In fact I'd say the quality is above average for its time and would certainly be better than the vast majority of modern comics.
Thank you for this thread, K1ngcat, I learned something.
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Yeah, guys, I have no problems with Gus Ricca's art on Ibis, I think he's pretty good - it's the dependence on that goldarn stick that winds me up! Spacehawk is definitely my favourite Wolverton, and we've got such a lovely collection of it, but I didn't know how to choose just one or two episodes, so for better or worse, I avoided it completely. Still appreciate everyone sharing their thoughts, whichever side of the Wolverton fence you come down on!
All the best
K1ngcat
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The reading group is good for me as I read and comment on every choice and as many of the choices are not ones I would have made, I get to read and think about in detail, books that I otherwise would not have read.
So thanks Kingcat, for putting me in a position to look more closely at Basil Wolverton. Normally, his art is such that I don't have a strong inlcination to read on, but this time I did. Good selections, I quite enjoyed tham and have a better appreciation of Basil as a story-teller.