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Week 189 - All Top Comics #8

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topic icon Author Topic: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8  (Read 3185 times)

MarkWarner

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Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« on: March 07, 2018, 07:38:32 PM »

Although it received a general thumbs up from the Reading Group I don't believe that any of us would claim that last week's M.F. Enterprises Captain Marvel was a "quality book". However, I guess that this week's book may well fall into that category.

I have just found a recommendation which I received a few months ago. It reads:


Quote


"... a beautiful scan of All Top Comics 8 by Snardermann  (Rulah, Blue Beetle, Phantom Lady, Jojo what's not to like?!) and it is Bakerliscious"



I went to the book and saw the WONDERFUL cover. Surely this has to be a real gem? To see if I am right, go here: https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=69134. And of course report back!

Happy Reading!

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lyons

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2018, 12:35:42 AM »

When I saw the girl on the cover, I immediately thought of Betty Page, minus the short, dark bangs; and what a fine cover to have graced the comic racks of the 1940's.  Good story, too.  The ending jarred me, though, when the pilot declared himself clueless to the ways of the jungle after having witnessed Rulah miraculously save the entire tribe and risk death once again to save the chief's wife.  Criticism aside, I would read another Rulah story.  Blue Beetle?  A story about 'nothing'.  Why bring back Blackbeard, Crippen and the Ripper when only the Ripper had any sort of role?  I liked the Phantom Lady.  She's 40's chic, and miraculously unrecognizable in costume.  The Jo-Jo story was weak, and it didn't gain my interest until Jo-Jo's ally, Kono, and his powerful gorilla tribe entered the picture.  Overall, a pretty good comic for a dime.             
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SuperScrounge

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2018, 05:59:55 AM »

Tumult On The Exploding Island! - Not bad, although what kind of rope burn would Rulah have grabbing onto  a rope dragged by a plane?  ;)

The Treacherous Trio! - "Office of the Daily Planet" Wha???  :o If this wasn't a ripoff of a Superman story, it was either written by a Superman writer, or someone who read a lot of Superman stories. Not a bad story, but the similarities to Superman was a distraction.

The Treasure Map Mystery - Okay.

Satan's Cargo! - Not so much cargo as passengers. Good story.

Deadly Diamond Diety! - Jo-Jo strikes me as a not-too-bright guy surrounded by idiots. It's not really a bad story, but Tarzan would have solved it much, much quicker.  ;)

Ladies Of The Law - Interesting little tidbit.

Advertisement - Flying Helmets - Didn't Bulletman have a flying helmet?  ;) Oh, the helmets themselves don't fly? Tsk, tsk, tsk...  ;)
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crashryan

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2018, 10:32:31 PM »

To begin with, this is a strange cover. The longer you look at it the stranger it gets. Is this supposed to be a symbolic cover or a "real" scene? Rulah winks at us while dangling two Africans (12-inch pygmies or symbolic adults?) from ropes while sitting astride a log floating in mid-air. WTF?

The Rulah story is kind of a shambles, though it's refreshing that no one is the villain and things work out in the end. Odd that the queen of the tribe is white, but her husband is not. I presume Fox wanted to give readers sexy white chicks to ogle, but in doing so he created an inter-racial marriage! Not cool in 1947. The GCD credits suggest Matt Baker for the art. It could be, I suppose, but the secondary figures and the layouts don't seem like his. Maybe Baker drew only the women (I hear that happened sometimes) or the artist was simply imitating him. Whoever it was knew what the publisher wanted: when the fog closes in all that remains visible is Rulah's bosom. Maybe this is some kind of super power.

Fox artwork may often have been pathetic, but Fox scripts almost always were. The Blue Beetle story is stupid. Why does Sneer want to kill a bunch of random people in the first place? And what is this bit about importing villains to do his dirty work because he has spindly legs? Is this a negative body image thing? I do like Joan freeing BB by shooting his bonds. That is good shooting! And BB admits he screwed up, something few Golden Age heroes would do. The Golden Age Beetle's biggest problem is that his civilian identity is a cop on the beat. When a crime happens he always has to ditch his partner and run away to change. You'd think either (a) his partner would figure out his identity or (b) he'd be fired for constantly fleeing the scene of a crime.

The Phantom Lady story definitely looks like Baker, making me more sure that he didn't pencil the Rulah story. Typical PL silliness. How the heck is it that Dick doesn't recognize Sandra as the Phantom Lady? Does she vibrate her face molecules like the Golden Age Flash? Judging by the dialogue I think the tool locker on page 21 was supposed to be much smaller. In that case I'd happily take Dick's place. Panel 2 on page 22 caught my eye. Though it's a cop-out, having a central balloon with pinwheel tails pointing to floating heads is rather clever. I've never seen this stunt before.

The Jo-Jo story is a mess. The only good part is the apes. Dale Arden's petulant jealousy pales in comparison with Tanee's. The blonde doesn't even come on to Jo-Jo--and he shows no interest in her--yet Tanee knowingly sends the woman and her father to possible death. Then later she brings Jo-Jo an enormous fruit gummi and whines, "Are you still angry at me?" I found myself wondering how many arrows Jo-Jo had to carry to mark the escape route...and where he kept them. Does it bother anyone that Jo-Jo doesn't carry a knife? It magically appears when he needs it. I guess between panels he mumbles, "Raeppa ylneddus efink!"

I was so enchanted by the exquisite True Lovers' Bridal Set that I almost missed "Ladies of the Law." So female NYPD detectives carry six-shooters? How many people actually bought a wedding ring out of a comic book?

Wish I had one of those surplus flying helmets. I own one that my uncle wore during the War, but over the years, probably because I did nothing to preserve it, the thing shrank to child size and the leather split.

I'm probably having too much snarky fun at this comic's expense. It's not very good but it certainly is entertaining. But why is Rulah winking?
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POWPUCK

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2018, 11:51:56 PM »

Jungle folk must be extra tough to shrug off volcanic ash as "fog." I'm sure I'd be doubled over and profusely coughing up blood.

Wouldn't have figured history's villains to be so obsequious and manageable. I guess a typical goon just wasn't as practical.

Also, some nose on that guy to smell burning rope over his own lit cigar.
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The Australian Panther

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2018, 06:54:31 AM »

This is a beautiful cover, but! I don
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K1ngcat

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2018, 11:51:00 PM »

I'm sorry to admit that I'm so easily swayed by a pretty face and a well-turned ankle but crappy scripts or not, Rulah and Phantom Lady can do no wrong for me, even though almost all the girls in Rulah stories are white, and everyone ought to recognise PL as Sandra Knight.  BTW anyone know which came first, the comics heroine or the Cornell Woolrich novel of the same name? His Phantom Lady was I think published in 1942 under the pen-name William Irish.

Still all that aside, the Blue Beetle doesn't fare so well, who is this odd geezer with the bad legs who resurrects dead villains to polish people off? And how come they're all such pantywaists and pushovers? But I never really got how the BB was so popular in the first place. He's got no powers, his costume's frightful, and having his alter ego being a copper is hardly original. The Jo-Jo story is a mess, Tanee's jealousy is inexplicable and how come the brown kid has blue hair? Sentimental me, I'd still buy it for the Rulah and PL stories alone.
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Morgus

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #7 on: March 13, 2018, 03:54:06 AM »

No getting around it. That is one disturbing cover. I'd love Sneer's time machine to go back and see how folks in '47 took it. Did they think it was funny or never even looked past the lovely lady?

With these, I always have a sort of competition; how long can I enjoy the Matt Baker art before the script makes me stop reading it? Made it all the way to Jo-Jo. Australian Panther, I wonder if  this comic even came to the attention of the folks at ERB. I get the idea they had bigger fish to fry, or just thought it wasn't worth the bother...

Wait a minute, Crashryan...you mean Rulah's bosom being the only thing visible is NOT a superpower?

A lot of fun even with the weird scripts.



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bowers

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #8 on: March 14, 2018, 12:06:31 AM »

I would like to add an opinion as to why ERB didn't pursue a copyright claim against this (or many other publishers). May I remind all that ERB started out as a hack pulp writer and it was a rather common practice in this field to "borrow" character-types, venues,plots, etc. ERB himself wasn't above "borrowing"- his John Carter character was heavily inspired by "Lt. Gullivar Jones-His Vacation" written by Edwin Arnold in 1905! And both he and Kline "borrowed" freely from each other. I agree that eventually he did, indeed, have more important things to deal with such as hardbacks, movie rights, etc. I think he knew the knockoffs would never be any threat to his sales. Also, maybe he remembered where he came from. Still one of my favorite authors. Cheers, Bowers
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POWPUCK

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2018, 02:01:01 AM »

Not to mention Tarzan owes more than a little to Kipling's Mowgli.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2018, 10:45:26 PM by POWPUCK »
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bowers

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2018, 06:16:50 AM »

Excellent point, POWPUCK. Cheers, Bowers
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paw broon

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #11 on: March 14, 2018, 08:12:08 PM »

Oh dear, jungle comics.  Not for me, unless The Phantom is in the jungle ;D
I really don't like jungle heroes/heroines and only skimmed through these stories.  Actually, I hoped the presence of 2 MM(W)M would lift the book for me, but no.  I agree with what's been written about Blue Beetle. The villain is using a version of Kid Eternity's thing, isn't he?  Also, it seems to me that BB's powers or the lack of them have been footered about with throughout his history.  I always think of BB being different heroes or different incarnations, with the same name and a similar costume. Phantom Lady is quite enjoyable but I always baulk at no-one recognising her as Sandra.
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hasan459

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #12 on: August 10, 2018, 06:31:35 AM »

i thought its similar like galivers travel
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Captain Audio

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Re: Week 189 - All Top Comics #8
« Reply #13 on: August 11, 2018, 07:18:50 PM »

Did anyone else notice the wardrobe malfunction on page 22?
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