Kazanda in "Queen of the Lost Continent" (Fiction House;1945)

Here is a spiffy golden age debut from Rangers Comics #23 (Jun.1945); published by Fiction House, but actually repackaged from a series that first appeared in Australia where it was called "Kazanda the Wild Girl and the Forbidden Kingdom". It was drawn by Ted Brodie-Mack from New Zealand and written by Peter Amos (a pseudonym of Australian, Archie E. Mart)

Kazanda was a jungle queen who lived on an unnamed “Lost Continent” (which may have been Atlantis) populated by strange civilizations and weird monsters, which was discovered by a trio of marooned explorers with ensuing adventure and mayhem. Along with the usual set of skills and abilities possessed by most jungle queens, Kazanda also had psychic powers allowing her to cause plants to grow more quickly than normal, and speed healing of herself and others. While she cannot control the animals of the jungle, they do trust her enough so that she is even able to calm the more ferocious ones. The evil Sylf is her ongoing nemesis.

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!

Tor in “Isle of Fire” (St. John;1954)

Industry legend Joe Kubert is best known for his classic work on DC Comics war series like Sgt. Rock and for reintroducing silver age fans to Hawkman, but he started out in the golden age on strips like the Seven Soldiers of Victory in Leading Comics.

In 1953, Kubert as managing editor for St. John, along with writer Norman Maurer, created the enduring character Tor, a prehistoric-human who debuted in the comic 1,000,000 Years Ago #1 (Sept. 1953). Tor went on to star in 3-D Comics #2 (Oct.-Nov. 1953), followed by a traditional monthly comic series, continued exclusively by Joe Kubert, that premiered with this exciting tale called "Isle of Fire" from Tor #3 (May 1954). The characters adventures have been reprinted in books from Eclipse Comics, Marvel Comics' Epic imprint, and DC Comics through the 1990s. Kubert had tried unsuccessfully to sell Tor as a newspaper comic strip in the 1950's.

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.

Enjoy!

Rayboy's Review: Lady Mechanika #0 (Aspen)

This issue is cover dated October 2010, but it was just passed along to me as a casual read this week (thanks, David) and I realized that this issue closely sums up my opinion of too many modern comics. Joe Benitez's Lady Mechanika #0 is a nice book to look at, he is a talented artist after all, but that would be the only reason to give this series a cursory look.

Comic book artists are often seasoned visual storytellers, but when it comes to crafting a decent backstory or plot, the writing end often suffers. I understand that a "zero" issue is meant to introduce a new character or concept to potential readers and there is the bare bones of a plot present in this book, but with only fourteen story pages; one of which is the inside front cover, reading won't actually take very long with this introductory issue. There is a single page with only four words on it. Four! There is also an entire two page combat spread that has only about a dozen words on it. Here the intention was apparently to make a pretty package, with the least semblance of a plot to drive it, and then have a neat stack of cool-looking art pages for sale to willing fans afterwards. Aspen would have served their fans better by hiring an actual scripter to write this book. Joe was so jazzed about this "exciting" concept that he, or Aspen rather, offered seven different cover variations for this issue. For fourteen story pages. Really! Are those people that stupid? Is it just the fans who bought all those copies of this book? I sure don't know. There are seven additional pages devoted to design work for the lead character and hawking the next issue (again with more cover variations), plus a page with special cookie recipes. Oh joy!

The series premise is built around a steampunk genre setting with the title character being a partially mechanical amnesiac, who begins a new life as a private detective and bounty hunter. She takes on cases that ordinary law enforcement can't or won't, all while searching for clues to her past.

There are lots of fans who flock to drivel like this, and I understand that certain art-styles drive the modern comic book industry. As a publisher, Aspen has a massive back stock of ridiculously similar fluff. All sound and fury, signifying nothing. Don't get me wrong, Lady Mechanika #0 looks good, but this is a serious waste of time, even for a cover price of only $2.50. Save your dollars and avoid this one like the plague!

Science Fiction/Double Feature Presents: "The Red Hills of Uganda" (Ziff-Davis;1951)

This is the last strip from Amazing Adventures #5 (Nov.1951); originally published by Ziff-Davis and nicely illustrated by Ray Bailey. Since I'm feeling generous today, I'm going to toss in not one, but two extra features for no additional charge. "What the Atom Can Do for Peace" is an interesting little science-fact page and "Yuff-Yuff" is a single page humor filler that features early work by Bronze Age Marvel guy, Don Perlin (Werewolf By Night, The Defenders, Ghost Rider). One last issue remains in this classic late golden age run, so hustle on back next Saturday for more sci-fi goodness from the 1950's.

Enjoy!

"Gal" Friday! Sarah White, Naked Therapist

In recent days the unconventional methods used by this sexy therapist from New York have not only led to much controversy, but also landed her in virtually every media outlet that you can name.

Twenty-four year old psychology buff Sarah White is a proponent of Naked Therapy. By blending elements from psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, and positive psychology, Miss White attempts to help her patients access their unconscious and inner drives. As a bonus, and admittedly for $150 an hour, Sarah slowly peels off all of her clothing during her web cam sessions. Trading on her genuine physical beauty, and truthfully utilizing a high degree of arousal and desire in the process, the unaccredited young lady trips the light fantastic to the delight of her predominantly male clientele by stripping away their inhibitions. Literally!

Apparently Sarah White does offer "enhanced" private therapy sessions for three times her normal going rate. The devil knows what additional amount of mental healing may actually be acquired from that level of her practice, but seeing as how Marvin Gaye sang about sexual healing more than twenty years ago, I would think that most high end call girls have already been providing that level of service for many centuries now.

Agree or disagree with her methods, Sarah White earns a spot in the Catacombs as this weeks "Gal" Friday selection.

Zudo the Jungle Boy in "Bloodthirst!" (Standard;1944)

Better/Standard/Nedor had a nice stable of characters during the golden age and you've got to give them credit for thinking outside of the box for the issue in which this classic story first appeared. America’s Biggest Comics Book #1 was a 1944 one-shot that was priced at $.50. Of course, the book was larger than average (even for back then) and for the extra cost, you got a much thicker comic with more story content. Other publishers offered similar issues, but apparently a dime was all most readers were willing to cough up on a monthly basis.

I have no credits for the scripting chores, but the artwork is by Ken Battefield . After the loss of his parents, a Prof. and Mrs. Knight, their unnamed young son grew up orphaned in the jungle and eventually became known as Zudo the Jungle Boy. This adventure had no official title, so I've chosen one for it.

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!

Jungle Jo in "The Evil Eyes of Death" (Star Publ.;1953)

Jungle Jo makes his Catacombs debut in a tale entitled "The Evil Eyes of Death" from Terrors of the Jungle #21 (Feb. 1953); originally published by Star Publications, although this was a reprint from an earlier 1950 Fox series.

Jungle Jo is rather lame, all things considered, and the GCD doesn't even list any creator credits for this story. Maybe they feel the same way? 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!