Auro, Lord of Jupiter (Fiction House; 1940)

Two different characters using the name Auro, Lord of Jupiter appeared in Fiction House classic, golden age series, Planet Comics. The first version of Auro appeared in most issues between #1-29, and was essentially an outer space version of Tarzan, where the son of the doomed Prof. and Mrs, Hardwich was befriended by a saber-tooth tiger, after being stranded on Jupiter, where the higher gravitational pull of the planet gave him muscles as strong as steel. The artwork from today's origin story is credited to Malcolm Kildale, under a spiffy cover by Lou Fine, which is included at no extra charge from Planet Comics #1 (Jan. 1940). Auro's second incarnation started eleven issues after his first strip ended, in issue #41, when a young scientist named Chester Edson crashed on Jupiter and subsequently had his spirit transferred into the body of the original Auro, who was then resurrected as a Flash Gordon-style hero. I'll eventually get around to posting that version too.

The Catacombs is grateful to Don "Zu-Gogo" Falkos for providing the scans for this story. Note: The copyright for this issue, its contents and artwork belong to the original publisher and/or creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes.

Enjoy!

"Gal" Friday! Olivia Munn

Help!

It's the "Attack of the Show" hostess, Olivia Munn (aka every fan boy's wet dream). Since 2006, Munn has been one of the most popular faces of the G4 cable network, hosting a number of shows, most prominently "Attack of the Show", which is devoted to the world of video games and the video game lifestyle (with a liberal dash of other media stuff, including comic books). Photos copyright Playboy magazine.

Munn has also been a successful model for Nike, Pepsi and Neutrogena and has appeared in magazines such as Men's Health, Vanity Fair, Playboy and Maxim. Additionally, the lovely Olivia has acted in minor horror, teen & comedy films, but is set to appear in the big budget sequel, Iron Man 2 in 2010.

She really does have that "girl next door" quality that geeks & nerds respond to and then effectively channels an engaging and bubbly form of sexuality, all the while dressed up as Princess Leia, Wonder Woman or other female genre icons. Now that's what I'm talking about!

10 Best Comic Books (2000-2009)

After reading the various AICN comic geeks extol their personal picks for the ten best comic books of the opening decade of the twenty-first century, it became painfully obvious to me that these guys were all cut from the same cloth. Little to nothing represented mainstream comics on their lists, indicating that routinely dominating the Diamond top 100 sales charts earns little coin with these guys. Apparently their sole cup of tea is graphically mature books originating in either DC Vertigo, DC Wildstorm, Oni Press of Top Shelf (with a smattering of other publishers peppered in).

Look, everyone has an opinion and debating the perceived virtues of their own personal favorites notwithstanding, they collectively came across as highbrow, artsy-fartsy and snobby in their selections. Considering how large a swath "Ain't It Cool News" cuts, it didn't seem to me that those guys really tried to think outside of their own narrow box. Stuff like Scooter Girl, Owly, Teenagers From Mars and Blankets may resonate with a limited crowd, but I believe that those types of books would have been far more appropriately listed as alternate, small press or indie picks for the same decade.

At least reading their choices forced me to actually think about what would constitute my own ten best list, culled only from mainstream publishers, and honestly I either didn't buy or only cherry-picked an odd issue or two out of many of the titles that I finally did settle on. Am I right about these? You decide, but fair warning, I do plan on listing a different ten best list of titles from alternate, small press or other publishers in a few days. Perhaps that's simply hedging my bets, but I'm happier separating the groups. In no particular order, here are the Catacombs 10 Best Comic Books 2000-2009:

Captain America (Marvel) by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Mike Perkins & Luke Ross
The Walking Dead (Image) by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard & Tony Moore
Promethea (ABC/Wildstorm) by Alan Moore, J. H. Williams III & Mick Gray

Green Lantern: Rebirth (DC) by Geoff Johns & Ethan Van Sciver
Booster Gold (DC) by Dan Jurgens, Geoff Johns, Jeff Katz & Norm Rapmund
Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel) by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Paul Pelletier & Rick Magyar
Negation (Crossgen) by Tony Bedard & Paul Pelletier
Hellboy (Dark Horse) by Mike Mignola & Duncan Fegredo
The Goon (Dark Horse) by Eric Powell
Bone (Cartoon Books) by Jeff Smith

After Marvel launched their latest Capt. America series, Brubaker and company turned it into a gritty, cutting edge action yarn, before doing the impossible and reviving Bucky Barnes, and then followed that landmark effort up by killing off Steve Rogers - with Bucky replacing his old mentor in the role of the Star-Spangled Avenger. The best single character series that Marvel publishes by far.

Robert Kirkman seemingly never sleeps with scripting chores on his heavy slate of comic book series for a variety of publishers, but when Image Comics introduced readers to The Walking Dead, not only was it informed by the very best of the zombie-genre films and other sources; it was a kick-ass ride of a book that had fans salivating for more of the carnage from month-to-month.

Alan Moore's deconstruction of the comics medium, combined with the visual experimentation of J.H. Williams III, gave Promethea, a visual style that was truly unique in its depiction of magic, mysticism, superhero mythology and spirituality. Williams wide-ranging experimentation with visual styles and art, featured ornate designs that accentuated either the emotional experiences of the characters or the themes of the passage at hand. Furthermore, Promethea often experimented with the fundamental element of comics storytelling—the panel. Sideways issues, Möbius strip layouts, completely panel-less issues, backwards or circular flow and other experiments occurred on a regular basis. The final issue is a complex document which can be read in a number of different sequences, including a double-sided poster when the pages are detached and placed together, which summarizes Moore's view on magic and fiction.

Perhaps no other single character dominated DC's fictional universe over the last decade than Hal Jordan and it all began with Green Lantern: Rebirth, which returned the slain hero to the land of the living and kicked off a run of popular mini-events that have culminated in the current, highly successful Blackest Night crossover series.

Booster Gold was a dud of a hero, everybody says so. However, creator Jurgens found an effective way to honor the classic periods in which crossover, mini-series events have become dominant by casting Michael Carter as the protector of the multiverse, taking cues from so many of these mega-events to string together an intricate series that continually toys with readers expectations and leaves poor Booster as "the greatest hero you've never heard of" and that's a shame, because this books rocks it out of the park each and every month.

The "original" Guardians of the Galaxy had their day in the sun during the 1970's, but following their Annihilation mini-series, writers Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning pieced together an entirely new team comprised of several cosmic heroes that had languished in Marvel limbo for far too long and demonstrated that at least somebody working under the House of Ideas purview, remembered what it was like to actually create an unapologetic "Marvel-style comic book", and then rode the ensuing sales chart success to the top of the heap, amidst wide critical acclaim for their efforts.

Crossgen the publisher is sadly gone, but among an impressive run of titles geared towards readers of all genres, Negation stood out as one of the best blends of super-heroics, high adventure and space fantasy of all time. The culmination of the metaplots of nearly all of CrossGen's other titles was set to play out in a crossover event called Negation War, which ran for two issues in Spring 2004, before the company declared bankruptcy and ended production on all their titles. It would have answered many, if not all, of the questions surrounding CrossGen's various metaplots, but the uncompleted mini-series ended with a cliffhanger.

Mike Mignola's Hellboy has spawned two popular motion pictures, but nothing captures the eerie mood and harrowing atmosphere like the series of one-shots and minis that comprise the Hellboy universe over at Dark Horse Comics, and it is also fun knowing that this cool demonic hero made his first comic book appearance in an issue of John Byrne's Next Men. Byrne initially wrote Hellboy for Mignola.

Dark Horse is also the home of Eric Powell's The Goon, a muscle-bound brawler who tackles evil zombie gangs, ghosts, ghouls, skunk-apes, aliens, and mad scientists. Powell has meta-fictionally hinted that the context of The Goon is a creation of pure fiction, taking place in a comic reality instead of implying that it is occurring in the "real" world. Who'd a thunk it?

Jeff Smith's charming ode to Pogo, Bone ended its fifty-five issue run during this decade and absorbed fans lamented the passing of this light-hearted comedy and dark-fantasy epic for all-ages. Smith moved on to his re-imagining of Shazam's Monster Society of Evil for DC.

White Panther, The Winged Phantom (Fiction House; 1940)

I ran the introduction and origin of Käanga from the first issue of Jungle Comics (Jan. 1940) by the golden age publisher Fiction House, on the previous weekend, and today I'm posting another odd little tale from the same issue. The White Panther's untitled introduction and origin is signed by "Taylor Martin" and since several of the artists involved in producing this issue did actually sign their names to their features, we'll assume that this information is correct.

The White Panther received a costume redesign and a new name by the following issue. He was called "The Red Panther" for the duration of his lengthy run, which continued until Jungle Comics #25. I will eventually post those adventures here for a comparison basis.

The Catacombs is grateful to Don "Zu-Gogo" Falkos for providing the scans for this story. Note: The copyright for this issue, its contents and artwork belong to the original publisher and/or creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes.

Enjoy!

Retro-View: Anus Clenching Adventure With Harold Hedd

I was recently presented with a nice stack of cast-off underground comix by my younger brother, who is a quiet connoisseur of such things. One title immediately grabbed my attention, Harold Hedd, by the late Rand Holmes. Holmes apparently taught himself to draw as a teenager by copying stories drawn by Wally Wood (Mad & E.C. comics) and Will Eisner (The Spirit). That influence served Homes well, because while his artistic skills sharpened over the years, even his early stuff is nice to look at. Rand Holmes' first cartoons were originally published in Harvey Kurtzman's Help Magazine. In 1969 Holmes started working for the Georgia Straight, a weekly underground tabloid based in Vancouver. There, he began to develop the adventures of Harold Hedd, one of the underground world's most popular characters. A collection of Hedd stories were published in an over-sized comic in 1972, with a second volume released in 1973.

In addition to various 'Harold Hedd' comics, Holmes' work appeared in other underground comix like White Lunch, Slow Death, Snarf and Fog City. During the 1980's, Holmes staged a comeback with the two-part comic 'Hitler's Cocaine' and other stories for Death Rattle and Snarf (for Kitchen Sink Press), Alien Worlds and Twisted Tales (for Pacific Comics). He eventually left Vancouver, and devoted his creative energy into painting oils until his death in 2002.

My brother has been putting together a large assortment of high grade undergrounds over the last few years, and it constantly amazes me that this type of truly small press material, which often was issued in limited print runs by admittedly avante garde, antidisestablishmentarian, counter-culture individuals, doesn't fetch the premium pricing that the latest "gimmicked-up, alternate-covered, piece of mundane dreck does - once the CGC gets its grubby mitts on it.

Granted this type of comic will offend lots of people, but books like this were created as labors of love by some extremely creative folks. Undergrounds - back in the day - were the very essence of "indie", but perhaps due to their sexually explicit nature and their routine portrayal of drugs, and/or violence they've simply had their day in the sun, and perhaps ultimately become little more than Tijuana Bible knock-offs in most fanboys minds.

That's too bad, but if you are of a mind to see what lies just under the carpet, you could do worse than seek out a few underground comix like Harold Hedd (Harold Hedd #2; Sept. 1973, pictured above; left). Guaranteed to laugh your ass off, ain't a bad way to spend an afternoon!

Princess Pantha Returns (Better/Standard; 1946)

At least for the time being, I've decided to attempt a classic jungle comic post every week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while holding onto the possibility of running more of them on the weekends as a bonus. Today's selection is from Thrilling Comics #57 (Dec. 1946), originally published by Better/Standard/Nedor and featuring artwork by Art Saaf.

The missing animal trainer Princess Pantha has finally been located by white hunter, Dane Hunter (although that doesn't explain why he's also running around in a loin cloth). Pantha at least has the excuse of having survived on her own in the jungle for many months, but what do I know. The pair encounter a tribe of gorilla worshippers and discover that Pantha's search for a mystical ape actually does have some basis in reality. Look out for the treacherous medicine priest (those guys are always the jealous type), but with Pantha's innate cunning and handy jungle talents the twosome needn't worry for long. I've also included this issues cover by Alex Schomburg, which features the second to last cover appearance of Doc Strange in Thrilling. The Catacombs is grateful to Don "Zu-Gogo" Falkos for providing the scans for this story. Note: The copyright for this issue, its contents and artwork belong to the original publisher and/or creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes.

Enjoy!

From the Dust Bin: Ribit!

Ribit! was a four-issue 1989 mini-series created, written, and illustrated by comics legend Frank Thorne for defunct comic book publisher Comico. Ribit was actually a lizard who was created by a female sorcerer named Sahtee, as a pet for Thong (who was Sahtee’s aide). Thong was a good-natured fat man who constantly wished for a woman to love. Sahtee later became engaged in battle with an evil army to win back control over her kingdom. One night, Sahtee prepared a magical brew that was intended to create a warrior-woman. Sahtee believed that a female warrior would prove less conspicuous to her enemies and could therefore easily infiltrate the opposing force’s base camp. Moments before the ceremony, Ribit jumped into the brew and then emerged as a green warrior who loved Thong. And as it turned out, Ribit did prove to be more than a match for her enemies. You can easily find these four issues for cheap, and if you are a fan of Frank Thorne's work on Red Sonja, Ghita of Alizarr or Lann, then these issues will also entertain you.

Käanga in "Prey of the Slavers" (Fiction House; 1940)

It's January 2010, a new year has gotten underway and since time's a-wasting, let us all jump back into some good old-fashioned, golden age jungle comics from January 1940. That's seventy years ago!

This story is taken from the first issue of perennial Fiction House series, Jungle Comics and features the origin and first appearance of Käanga, mysterious white man of the jungle and his female companion, Ann Mason. The art is credited to "Alex Boon", who is in reality Alex Blum (go figure) and the cover (which is included) is by the legendary Lou Fine. Käanga appeared previously in Fiction House's JUNGLE STORIES pulp magazine; This story's' title is taken from the cover blurb.

The Catacombs is grateful to Don "Zu-Gogo" Falkos for providing the scans for this story. Note: The copyright for this issue, its contents and artwork belong to the original publisher and/or creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes. I intend to ramp up the jungle comics posts this year, since Don has kindly provided so many of these old gems, but I'm still trying to decide on a specific frequency. I mean I wouldn't want to deprive anybody of their regular "Gal" Friday fix or anything. That would be too harsh!

Enjoy!

Rayboy's Review: Fall Of The Hulks - Alpha

Fall of the Hulks: Alpha focuses on a gathering of some of the greatest minds in the Marvel Universe. This set up issue for the “Fall of the Hulks” event reveals that this auspicious grouping of super-brains has been quietly pulling strings behind the scenes for many years, and nobody has been aware that they even existed. If you are thinking of the Civil War-related pairing of Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, Black Bolt, Namor and Charles Xavier as the Illuminati, you would be dead wrong. This group is comprised of super-villains like The Leader, Doctor Doom, Egghead, The Red Ghost, The Wizard, M.O.D.O.K. and The Mad Thinker who are collectively known as the Intelligencia (or ‘Intel’ for short).

This nefarious brain trust has been secretly carrying out clandestine missions to acquire arcane knowledge, weapons and technology to utilize against their arch-rivals and to facilitate their devious ends. Together their powerful minds have allowed them to use a temporal shifter to gain access to a hidden Antarctic base of the Eternals. There they abscond with most of the contents of the ancient library of Alexandria, which the Eternals had originally salvaged from Caesars fire. Throughout this issue, the Intelligencia ransack troves of knowledge from locations as diverse as Atlantis and Wakanda in their quest to rule the world.

The narrative of this issue is told from the perspective of classic Hulk foe, The Leader, who serves as the groups’ primary voice. Before the issue runs its course, readers are shown how the Intel have orchestrated the rise of the Red Hulk (or ‘Rulk”, as he has come to be known) and been behind numerous super villain resurrections over the years in order to stymie their heroic counterparts. Other Marvel Universe developments in which they’ve had a hand include inadvertently luring the Beyonder to Earth and also unleashing the Venom-symbiote upon the world.

This chapter is nicely written by Jeff Parker and illustrated by Paul Pelletier & Vicente Cifuentes. Pelletier is one of the very few artists working at Marvel whose work evokes the classic style of the House of Ideas without seeming "too retro" to alienate those fanboy posers who prefer more ‘grim & gritty-style’ stuff. I do miss having Pelletier’s usual inking partner, Rick Magyar onboard, but Cifuentes finishing work here doesn’t drop the ball at all. He quite effectively brings out the same level of excellence in Pelletier that fans are accustomed to by the penciller of the recent War of Kings mini-series.

I can’t stress just how cool it is to see this group of classic Marvel villains thrown together as a team (this dynamic works even better than what was done with the Illuminati), and what they have perpetrated behind the scenes, albeit unknown to us until now. There is still much to be revealed and even more stuff that I haven’t touched upon from this inaugural issue. Pop on in to the shops and see if they have any copies left, because this one is apparently selling out fast.

"Gal" Friday! Sandra Bullock

Welcome to 2010, that's twenty-ten people, don't do the "two-thousand and ten" thing. 2010. Twenty. Ten.

Okay, let's kick off the new year with a new "Gal" Friday that also helps me redress an old wrong, since this lovely chick should have been included long ago.

Sandra Bullock is well-known for her many comedic or light romantic film roles in stuff like While You Were Sleeping, Hope Floats, Practical Magic, Miss Congeniality (and its sequel), Two Weeks Notice, The Lake House, The Proposal and All About Steve. Sandra has also made popular thrillers like Speed (but forget its sequel), The Net, A Time to Kill, Murder By Numbers and Premonition. She managed to earn acclaim as part of the ensemble cast of the Oscar winning film Crash and she has even posted a couple of gonzo genre roles that belatedly earn her a space in the Catacombs, with Demolition Man and Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, from way back in 1989.

At the age of 45, Sandra Bullock is still scoring hit movies like her recent sports drama, The Blind Side and so what if critics savage too many of her films. Most of them have gone on to be big box office successes, and she is a mega-hottie to the nth degree. Sandra is married to Monster Garage host Jesse James. That's all that I had better say about that!

Rayboy's Year End Recap!

It is the final day of calendar year 2009, so let's take a brief look back at just a few of the momentous events, losses and highlights that we experienced here in the Catacombs.

One of the sad facts of life is that it eventually comes to an end. This year the world of comics lost legendary artists Frank Springer (age 79), Ric Estrada (age 81), George Tuska (age 93), Irving Tripp (age 88), Frank Borth (age 91) and Dave Simons (age 54). Hollywood celebrities that passed away include Patrick McGoohan (80), Ricardo Montalban (88), Lost in Space robot Bob May (69), David Carradine (72), Shek Kin (96), Farrah Fawcett (62), Marilyn Chambers (56), Edward Woodward (79), Gene Barry (90), Dan O’Bannon (63), Brittany Murphy (32), Dr. No Joseph Wiseman (91), Tarzan's Jane Brenda Joyce (92) and Swamp Thing actor Dick Durock (72).

Genre fans lost a few extras this year when the brilliantly re-imagined Syfy channel version of Battlestar: Galactica ended its four season run on television. The long-running print edition of Starlog magazine left newsstands and went online only this year. Here in the Catacombs, I completed my "1970’s Flashback’s" and rolled over that frequent feature into 1980's coverage and for the sake of argument, Disney bought Marvel Comics, which didn't really look like its old self anyway, and who knows what this corporate merger will bring forth down the road?

Moviegoers got some terrific genre fare this year, and in some ways it truly was a banner year for big-budget effects extravaganzas like Avatar, 2012, Paranormal Activity, Zombieland, 9, Knowing, Watchmen, Star Trek and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I know that some of these may not have been to everyone's taste, and that there are major omissions from this list. I enjoyed most of the films listed here, and comics movies that aren't here simply didn't pull me into the theater.

I am very grateful to those comic book creators who agreed to my profile/interview requests this year, even more of these profiles are coming at you in 2010, but let's thank the following fine folks who visited the Catacombs in 2009: Axel Medellin, Michael T. Gilbert, Danielle Corsetto, Guy Davis, Philip Dean Gray, Rachel Freire and James Ritchey.

I am very appreciative of Don "Zu-Gogo" Falkos for providing me with the fruits of his golden age jungle comics stories. These scans allow all of us the opportunity to read stuff that may otherwise never be seen, unless you have serious disposable income to purchase the originals off of eBay or some hoity-poloity auction house.

Thanks also to my regular followers and those anonymous readers who only stop by occasionally. I do appreciate your patronage and hope to continue to amuse you for some time to come.

Happy New Year!

Retro-View: Hi-School Romance #68

Harvey Comics released a wide variety of material during their long publishing career. Today's Retro-View focuses on Hi-School Romance #68, which was originally published in October 1957. This comic is chock full of extras such as ads for free photos of your favorite movie stars, flashing simulated diamond rings at fabulous savings, there are pages devoted to developing fuller calves, shapely thighs, hips and ankles, instructions on how to quickly & safely remove blackheads, the requisite text story and a snippet about strange romantic customs.

The first of the four featured interior stories, "Odd Girl Out" is illustrated by Al Avison & Warren Kremer (this tale was originally titled "3 on an Island" and the splash page was redrawn from the original story page). Avison artwork is used again on "My Sister's Husband", where the original art shows some Comics Code-mandated story and dialogue changes. John Sink provides art chores on "My Answer!", and artist Tom Hickey's "Not Good Enough - for me!" also has Comics Code-mandated story and dialogue changes.

Of course Warren Kremer went on to his greatest fame on Harvey's line of all-ages comics material including Casper the Friendly Ghost, Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost, Wendy the Good Little Witch and Richie Rich, among many others.

The artwork on this issue is really not bad at all and if you've never had any interest in this type of material, you are missing out on some great entertainment by giving these classic romance comics a pass. Books like this populated the stands for at least a couple of decades, and most of them featured artists who became widely acclaimed for adventure material. I'm talking about greats like Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, John Romita, Nick Cardy and many more.

In this issue, Al Avison's lead story somewhat threw me at the outset, when I initially thought that the splash page was drawn by Milt Caniff, but learning the truth didn't detract from my enjoyment of this story about Enid, the school's champion swimmer (who has always liked Brad), but he is going steady with Sally. During a school outing on a boat, a freak accident leaves the threesome stranded on an island. After Sally sprains her ankle, Enid takes charge, providing food and shelter for the trio until handsome Steve Bruckner arrives in his river patrol boat to rescue them. As they board the rescue boat, Brad professes his love for Sally, however Enid isn't left out in the cold, as she turns her eyes to the strong and heroic Steve (who appears to be equally excited to be with her).

You won't find any new stuff like this on the specialty comics store racks ever again, and that's too bad, but follow my example and occasionally troll the offerings on eBay. You might find an affordable issue now and again. I picked this one up for two bucks, and it sure beats the hell out of the fourteenth iteration of Wolverine or Superman's origin any day.