In Memorium: Howie Post

Howie Post died on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at the age of 83. His career ran from the golden age until at least the 1980's. Post wrote and drew tons of stories for Harvey Comics, where he was credited with creating Spooky and Little Hot Stuff; plus contributing to Richie Rich and Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Post was best known for his funny animal comics, on books like DC's More Fun Comics and Marvel's The Monkey and the Bear. He also worked in animation, for Famous Studios and he was the creative head of Paramount's cartoon studio in the early '60s. Howie's syndicated strip The Dropouts ran between 1968 and 1981. His other credits include Strawberry Shortcake, Madballs, Wally the Wizard and Heathcliff for Marvel's Star Comics line and one of my favorites, Anthro, a short-run comic book series that he wrote and drew in the late sixties.

Anthro was the first Cro-Magnon boy born into the Stone Age. His father, Neanderthal caveman Ne-Ahn was the chief of his tribe, his mother was a captive member of another tribe. Anthro took two competing cave girls as his wives, Embra and Nima, and began the human race, when Embra bore his first child.

The Catacombs extends its sincerest condolences to Mr. Post's family, friends and fans.

Greenville Comic Book and Sports Card Show: May 22, 2010

Today I spent some time thumbing through long boxes of discounted comics at the Greenville Comic Book and Sports Card Show, which was held at the Clarion Inn and Suites, located at 50 Orchard Park Drive in Greenville, SC.; literally within walking distance of my domicile!

It's always great to have one of these one day weekend shows pop up unexpectedly. I had been unaware of it until just a couple of days ago and it proved to be a nice way to warm up for the massive Heroes Convention which will be held in two short weeks on June 4-6, 2010 in Charlotte, NC. I must admit that I dipped into the funds for that larger con at today's event.

Look at the bronze age treasures that I found for very reasonable, if not downright cheap prices. Classic issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Daredevil, Justice League of America, Ghost Rider #1 (a grail book for me), fill in issues to complete collections of Fantastic Four, Warlock, Supernatural Thrillers (a NM+ gem), Werewolf By Night, Marvel Team-Up Annual #1, Uncanny X-Men and a long run of Green Lantern from the mid-1980's by Len Wein & Dave Gibbons. Plus, the lovely 2004 Adam Hughes sketch book. Not a bad haul for a lazy Saturday!

"Gal" Friday! Wendy4

The weekend is knocking at the door and tomorrow I plan on attending a one day comic show in my neighborhood, which is a great way to warm up for the bigger comic book convention that hits in just two weeks (more on that later); plus, I'm finally gonna have the time to see "Iron Man II" on Sunday.

Whew! That's a good plan.

Now, lest you poor nerds suffer a moment longer, let me introduce you to this weeks "Gal" Friday selection. Wendy Combattente, aka Wendy Fiore, aka Wendy4 is a twenty-five year old model who hails from Chicago. As you can see, she is really busting out all over the place, and in more ways than one. If a picture is truly worth a thousand words, then all props are certainly due to sportsbybrooks.com for the phenomenal photo at left, and you can view even more eye-popping photos of Wendy by heading on over to sportsbybrooks.com and performing a quick search. Wendy4 (as she currently bills herself) has also recently started her own website and trust me on this, you definitely wanna pay her a visit. The rest of her magnificent figure lives up to the promise of this super-fine image (in case you were curious).

Frankly, this picture made me cry when I first saw it, and if I were forced to be totally honest - right now - I would have to admit to being a little misty as I type this missive.

There just aren't any words to describe how I feel about somebody else having this awesome young lady on their arm. Damn it!

Nyoka the Jungle Girl in "The Mystery of Boo Pah Boo" (Fawcett; 1944)

As promised, Nyoka the Jungle Girl returns in the fourth chapter of her Golden Age serial adventure, "The Death Rug". Once again Rod Reed is credited as writer and Jack Sparling is the artist for "The Mystery of Boo Pah Boo" from Master Comics #53 (Aug. 1944); originally published by Fawcett Comics.

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!

Saturn Girl!!!

This is an alternate cover for the upcoming relaunch of DC Comics, Legion of Super-Heroes by Jim Lee. The character depicted is, of course, founding Legion member Saturn Girl and she is sporting her classic 1970's costume, which was designed by the late, great Dave Cockrum.

You have no idea how badly I wish that DC would return the Legionnaires to their 70's vintage uniforms. Doesn't this look ... AWESOME!

I think that this could work, and I know that there are lots of LoS-H fans out there that agree with me.

Right?

Perils of Nyoka: "The Death of A Thousand Needles" (Fawcett; 1944)

Nyoka the Jungle Girl returns to the Catacombs for Part 3 of the golden age serial, "The Death Rug", from Master Comics #52 (July 1944); originally published by Fawcett Comics.

The writer of this strip is Rod Reed and the artwork is by Jack Sparling. I like the name of the bad guy in this adventure, Hamid El Ratt. It just nicely sums up his overall charm, don't ya think?

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 the creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes.

Nyoka will also be visiting the Catacombs again on Thursday of this week, so hurry on back and until then - Enjoy!

Rayboy's Review: FCBD 2010 - "Top 10 List"

I finished reading through all of the free comic books that I picked up on "Free Comic Book Day" this past weekend and I have to admit that I enjoyed the diversity of product that was generously made available in 2010 by the publishers, creators, distributors and comic shop owners. Very well done and much appreciation to each and every one of you fine folks.

Thirty-three titles is alot of reading, and now that I've slogged through them all, I thought that I would offer my top ten list for this years stash. The following ten freebies were my favorites out of this years bunch (in no particular order): Archie Comics Summer Splash!#1(Archie Comics), Fractured Fables (Image Comics, ), Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock (Archaia Studios Press), YOW! The John Stanley Library “Grab Bag” (Drawn & Quarterly), War of the Supermen #0 (DC Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics), Bongo Comics Free-For-All (Bongo Comics), The Sixth Gun #1 (Oni Press), Love and Capes #13 (Maerkle Press) and DC Kids Mega Sampler (DC Comics).

All ten of these terrific comics were fun to read, entertaining as heck and pretty easy on the eyes for a general audience to appreciate. I also have to applaud those publishers who released more than one title for free comic book day, because that's a great way to show the love for your fans, while showcasing more than a single series.

Of course, ten books was only the tip of the iceberg that was actually available on the first weekend in May, so I would also like to single out a few "honorable mentions" which narrowly missed the cut for my top ten list: Iron Man/Thor (Marvel Comics, ), Irredeemable #1 (Boom! Studios), Oni Press Free-For-All (Oni press), The Stuff of Legend (Th3rd World Studios) and Weathercraft (Fantagraphics). These books were equally entertaining, highly eclectic and although they didn't make it all the way through the elimination round, let's just say they merely got axed after the initial swimsuit competition.

Many other books that were released on FCBD 2010 were okay, and I appreciated what they tried to do, but some publishers opted to issue titles that sampled several different series within the pages of a single comic and for me this just didn't work. I either liked a lone story out of a mixed volume or I was left confused by what the publisher was all about in the first place. "Artifacts" from Top Cow was so confusing that I didn't even try to finish reading it, and "Worlds of Aspen" hit me the same way. "The Green Hornet" from Dynamite would have been far better if it had focused on a single Hornet, instead of a couple of pages from several series about four different characters. None of the all-ages titles that I've failed to single out failed me as a reader (Shrek, Toy Story, Iron Man/Nova, Owly, etc.), I liked those books too, but as an older reader, it's unlikely that I would continue to follow those books on the stands based on the material offered, but I'm glad this stuff is out there.

Each of my top ten picks made me want to see more and for me, that's what Free Comic Book Day is all about. Since next year is the tenth anniversary of FCBD, I can't wait to see what they come up with in 2011. I mean, how can they top "33" awesome free comics??

1980's Flashback: Cloak and Dagger

Tyrone "Ty" Johnson and Tandy Bowen aka Cloak and Dagger first appeared in the Marvel Comics series, Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982). The characters were created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Ed Hannigan.

The pair were teenage runaways who were manipulated by the demonic entity, D'Spayre, into accepting an offer of shelter from some strange men. The two teens were then forcibly delivered to a criminal chemist who was developing a new form of synthetic heroin for Silvermane and the Maggia, and testing it on runaway teens, often with fatal results. Johnson and Bowen somehow survived injections of the drug, and they fled. During their escape, the drug turned them into superpowered beings (they were later revealed to be mutants, and the drug had simply awakened their latent abilities). Tyrone found himself engulfed in darkness and seized by a strange hunger which eased in the presence of Tandy, who was glowing with a brilliant light. Trying to hide his newly shadowy appearance in a makeshift cloak, Tyrone began absorbing the chemists thugs into his darkness while Tandy struck them down with daggers of light. The two teens dubbed themselves "Cloak & Dagger" and declared war on crime, combating drug-dealers and helping other runaway children.

There have been a numerous attempts to launch ongoing Cloak and Dagger series, but none have survived past 19 issues, usually due to low sales. The pair have made appearances as guest stars, in a wide variety of titles, such as Runaways, New Mutants, Marvel Knights, the "Maximum Carnage" story arc in Spider-Man and the miniseries House of M. Cloak and Dagger illustration by Chris Samnee.

Retro-View: Worldwatch

Hot off the heels of controversial work for both Marvel Comics (X-Men, She-Hulk) and DC Comics (Action Comics), in 2004 Chuck Austen created the independently published title WorldWatch, which featured explicit depictions of superhero sex and violence. The series also included back-up stories and features that played up additional aspects of the books mature nature and perhaps intentionally tweaked the noses of fan boys and industry pundits who had grown increasingly hostile towards Austen.

The last page of Worldwatch #2 featured a tongue-in-cheek announcement from the publisher stating that Austen had been fired, and that he would be replaced by notable writer Sam Clemens (the real name of legendary American writer Mark Twain). However, as creator and owner, Austen could not actually be fired from Worldwatch. Austen later admitted that it was intended as a joke, and that he was disappointed that readers had not understood that

Wild and Wooly Press only released three (out of seven) issues before folding, and so the dilemma of how the series protagonists personal relationships and inherent corruption led to the team’s self-destruction remains a mystery. Despite the volume of criticism directed towards Austen, I didn’t find anything repulsive in the two issues that I recently purchased (#2 & 3). Readers of diverse fare such as classic issues of Heavy Metal, Penthouse Comix, Star*Reach or even current stuff from Fantagraphics (for instance) would not be put off by anything shown within the pages of Worldwatch.

Artists Tom Derenick and Norm Rapmund are terrific on this series. Their women are bold, beautiful and very sexy. The male characters are equally appealing, and for once, a featured gay character isn’t drawn like a milksop. Despite his in-story antics, Ramrod is illustrated in a truly classic heroic manner. Every character is easily differentiated from each other and I agree with other critics who’ve interpreted the various team members of Worldwatch as analogous to a blended JLA/Avengers. The pencilled art by Derenick is some of his best ever, and it was for this reason that I picked up these issues.

["Nekkid Bottoms, USA", a XXX back-up series set in a nudist colony and drawn in a recognizable Archie Comics style, is really quite funny.]

I don’t believe that either Austen or Derenick participated on this book solely to gratify dark personal desires or to traffic in sleaze. I am willing to bet, given the public outcry over Austen’s earlier mainstream work, and his occasionally poor reaction to his most vocal critics, that he may have tried to craft a series using some familiar tropes that stretched the limits of what could be done with sex within a traditional superhero setting, and what certain shifts in current mainstream titles that – let’s face it – mimic very similar premises, suggest about modern publishing mindsets.

We live in a world that has become increasingly crass, venal and ugly. There is no consensus on what is or should be considered appropriate for mainstream comic books. The Comics Code Authority has run its course! It is a world of grey areas and reality TV series that make celebrities out of complete idiots, rich debutantes and fringe people who are full of themselves.

War Woman, Sergeant Mercury, Doc Gulliver and the other team members seem uncomfortably familiar and readers were teased with some interesting questions about sexual identity, criminal behavior, egotism, arrogance and real world politics. How this series would have ended is anybody's guess, but if you can get past some “R” rated dialogue, intense depictions of sex (including a graphic depiction of an attempted rape of the series lead female character in the midst of a major battle) or if stuff like this titillates you, you might want to track down Worldwatch and give it a look. I'm not sure how Blogger would feel about the nudity depicted within the pages of this series, but you can find examples online with a simple search.

"Gal" Friday! Jolynn Carpenter

Jolynn Carpenter is a model and actress living in New York City. A little over a year ago, she received an unexpected email from Alexander Maleev, the illustrator for Marvel Comics' Spider-Woman series. Alexander was searching for a model for Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew, and felt that Jolynn "fit the description perfectly", and asked her to consider helping him out.

Jolynn jumped at the chance, and became the current face of Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew and the rest is history! She says that it's pretty cool to be a super heroine!

I've become an instant admirer, and I also have to add that Jolynn really seems to be cut out for the role. Thankfully, she also agreed to my "humble" request to feature her as this weeks official "Gal" Friday, and while I think it's cool to have Spider-Woman hanging around the Catacombs, it's made even more terrific to know that Jolynn brings her to life online regularly for Marvel (see example; left).

What a looker!

Frank Frazetta Tribute: Thun'da, King of the Congo in "King of the Lost Lands" (ME;1952)

The final Frazetta tribute post almost logically circles back to the very first tale of Thun'da from Thun'da, King of the Congo #1 (published in 1952 by Magazine Enterprises). Lovingly illustrated by the late, great Mr. Frazetta and terrifically written by the equally great Gardner Fox, who went on to pen so many classic Silver Age stories for DC Comics and others, this initial story details how aviator Roger Drum became the man known as Thun'da. The wonderful cover is added today to close out this impromptu tribute to the master in style.

Of course, comics weren't his only legacy. There are tons of genre paintings representing every kind of high adventure, science fiction, fantasy and many other types of fiction all underneath classic Frazetta artwork. The stories were often diverse and fun to read, no matter what the subject matter, but the tremendous eye appeal of those iconic Frazetta paintings on the covers had to have pulled lots of fans into those stories. I know that in some cases, that's what got me to pick them up.

Gone, but not forgotten, only barely begins to cover the loss of Frank Frazetta. I hope that you all had a thrill reading through the full issue of Thun'da that I've presented over the last few days and to Frank's family let me say; May he rest in peace.

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 the creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes.

Come on back tomorrow for my regular "Gal" Friday feature and have sweet dreams tonight. Enjoy!

Frank Frazetta Tribute: Thun'da in "The Monsters From the Mists!" (ME;1952)

"The Monsters From the Mists!" is the second story from Thun'da #1(Magazine Enterprises; 1952), and as you can see for yourselves, the fact that Frazetta didn't continue on the remaining five issues of this title is just sad. He and writer, Gardner Fox, certainly combine for a neat adventure strip.

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 the creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes.

One more story to go and it's coming up next. Enjoy!!