Nyoka the Jungle Girl in "The Sinister Jungle Myth" (Charlton;1955)

Nyoka the Jungle Girl is often described as having been created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but although the 1941 movie serial starring Frances Gifford as Nyoka was officially based on Burroughs' story "Jungle Girl" (which first appeared in the pulp magazine Blue Book and later was expanded into a novel) there is no character named Nyoka and no Nyoka-like character in that original story.

Fawcett Comics used the film version of Nyoka as the basis for a one-shot Jungle Girl Comics #1 (1942); and she continued to appear in her own self-titled series irregularly until 1953, when Fawcett ceased publication. Nyoka was subsequently sold to Charlton by Fawcett after the National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications lawsuit. Her first Charlton appearance occurred in Nyoka, Jungle Girl #14 (November 1955), in this full-issue tale called "The Sinister Jungle Myth". No creative team credits are available.

 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!

Top 10 Defunct Comic Book Publishers: Warren Publishing



Blazing Combat #3 (Apr.1966)

After first introducing what he called "Monster Comics" in Monster World, James Warren expanded his magazine line in 1964 with horror-comics stories in the magazines Creepy and Eerie. Offered in a larger black-and-white magazine format, rather than standard comic-book size, and selling for 35 cents as opposed to the regular comic-book price of 12 cents. This format allowed Warren to avoid the restrictions of the comic-book industry's self-censorship body, The Comics Code Authority. By publishing graphic adult stories in a magazine format to which the Code did not apply, Warren paved the way for such later graphic-story magazines as the American version of Heavy Metal; Marvel Comics' Epic Illustrated; Psycho and other Skywald Publications.

Russ Jones was the founding editor of Creepy in 1964, but a year later, Archie Goodwin succeeded him, with Joe Orlando acting as a behind-the-scenes story editor. Goodwin, who would become one of comics' foremost and most influential writers, helped to establish the company as a major force in its field. From 1965 to 1966, Warren published the highly controversial four-issue series, Blazing Combat, a war-comics magazine with anti-war themes.

Originally based in Philadelphia, the company relocated to New York City in 1965 and experienced a slate of difficulties. Editor Goodwin resigned, plus a change in distributors combined with a downturn in the market imposed a real cash flow problem on Warren resulting in the loss of many of their established artists. Things started picking back up over the next two-and-a-half years, aided by the premiere of its third horror magazine, Vampirella, and the return of many of their original artists; even Goodwin returned later on. An infusion of Spanish and international artists such as Esteban Maroto, José Ortiz, Alex Niño, Rudy Nebres, Alfredo Alcala, Gonzalo Mayo, Pablo Marcos and Leo Duranona, would also dominate the magazines roster during these years.

New editor Bill DuBay transformed Warren's magazines to create a uniform style and he also increased the frequency of Warren's magazines to nine issues a year. Warrens many innovative magazines included Creepy, Eerie, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Help, The Spirit, The Rook and Vampirella.

Their regular stable of top artists included Orlando, Neal Adams, Gene Colan, Frank Frazetta, Angelo Torres, Roy G. Krenkel, Gray Morrow, Al Williamson, Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Alex Toth, John Severin, Russ Heath, Wally Wood, plus emerging talents like Dan Adkins, Frank Brunner, Rich Buckler, Dave Cockrum, Nicola Cuti, Richard Corben, Ken Kelly, Pepe Moreno, Mike Royer, Tom Sutton and Bernie Wrightson. Writers whose byline figured prominently at Warren included Goodwin, Cuti, Dubay, Bruce Jones, Doug Moench, Budd Lewis, Don McGregor and Steve Skeates.

 James Warren's declining health and personal business problems eventually led to internal conflict and personnel turnover. Sadly, Warren Communications suspended publishing in late 1981 and declared bankruptcy in 1983.

Famous Monsters of Filmland #110

Cave Girl in "Prey of the Headhunters" (Mag.Ent.;1953)

Cave Girl hasn't visited the Catacombs for quite some time, and that's a damn shame since I've got several excellent stories remaining from her golden age repertoire. I'm thinking that she might just end up as the featured jungle girl over the next few Tuesdays, so if you like today's exciting adventure tale called "Prey of the Headhunters!" from Cave Girl #12 (1953); originally published by Magazine Enterprises, written by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Bob Powell, then please come see us again.

For now pay close attention as Pierre Lamond (a jewel thief acting as a jungle guide) unknowingly steals a strange chemical from Alfred Randolph that could kill anyone within a mile radius. Knowing that her animals would be endangered, the lovely Cave Girl goes after the fiend and shows him the error of his ways.

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: Fantastic Comics #24 (Image)

On the surface this comic may not appear to have collected enough dust to qualify as "retro", but looking past its fairly recent publication will reveal a clear sheen of 1940's magic.

In February 2008, Image Comics released the first one-shot in a proposed anthology series known as “The Next Issue Project”, spearheaded by Images own Erik Larsen. The premise being that Image would take established golden age comic book characters that had fallen into the public domain and continue their original series with the same numbering as the last time they had been seen decades earlier.

First out of the gate was Fantastic Comics #24, originally published by Fox Feature Syndicate, and featuring the work of Larsen himself on the lead story starring Samson; plus Flip Falcon by Joe Casey and Bill Sienkiewicz, Golden Knight by Thomas Yates and Bryan Rutherford, Yank Wilson by Andy Kuhn, Space Smith by Tom Scioli, Captain Kidd by Jim Rugg, Professor Fiend by Fred Hembeck, Sub Saunders illustrated by Ashley Wood, Stardust the Super Wizard by Joe Keatinge and Mike Allred, and an original prose piece featuring Carlton Riggs by B. Clayton Moore with Jason Latour.

Beyond simply continuing the name and numbering of each classic golden age title used, Fantastic Comics #24 adopted a similar physical size and page count that mirrored the original books era, both larger than a currently published comic.

I didn’t purchase this book when it came out a few years ago, but I really enjoyed it when I picked it up recently off of eBay. The only strip that “felt” out of sync with the original golden age era was Ashley Wood’s offering. A second “Next Issue Project” one-shot continuing from Lev Gleason Publications' Silver Streak Comics, was released in December, 2009, and a third volume is still pending. If you want something that’s a bit out of the norm, but steeped in good comics of old, then seek this book out.

"Gal" Friday! Carly Foulkes

Carly Foulkes has been described as a "picture-perfect brunette", a statement with which I find absolutely no fault. An up and coming ad icon, Foulkes has recently been the new "face" of T-Mobile in a popular series of 2010 and 2011 myTouch 4G television commercials, in which she wears a pink and white dress. The native Canadian was recently cast as "Retro Girl" for an upcoming TV pilot based on the comic book series Powers, by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming.

The series follows the lives of two homicide detectives assigned to investigate cases involving people with superhuman abilities, who are referred to colloquially as "powers". Foulkes is set to play the first victim that is investigated by the detectives, so her appearance will be short and sweet. Hopefully this will lead to additional work for the budding actress who just celebrated her 22nd birthday.

Foulkes is very engaging in her T-Mobile commercials, primarily due to a high degree of femininity, and that smoking slender frame. She's been in my radar for quite a while now and I'm really pleased to add her to the Catacombs archives as this weeks official "gal" Friday selection. Yummy!

Ty-Gor, Son of the Tiger in "Trap For Ty-Gor's Uncle" (MLJ;1940)

Taken as a baby, Tyrone Gorman was offered as a living sacrifice to tigers in the jungles of Malaysia. Instead, the tigress Malma raised him. "Ty-Gor" was unknowingly an heir to a vast fortune back home while he roamed the jungle accompanied by Malma. In this story from Blue Ribbon Comics #6 (Sept.1940); originally published by MLJ/Archie Comics, Ty-Gor is completely unaware that he has been found by his own benevolent uncle, who has inadvertently brought along a turncoat named Hartley as guide (both making their first appearance). This exciting story has a nice bittersweet element to it, as the language barrier prevents the two family members from completely bonding. The writer of "Trap For Ty-Gor's Uncle" is Joe Blair and the artist is Mort Meskin.

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!

Top 10 Defunct Comic Book Publishers: Dell Comics

Dell Comics originally got its start in pulp magazines, but published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, Dell was the most successful American company in the medium. By 1953, Dell claimed to be the world's largest comic publisher, selling 26 million copies each month.

Its first title to feature original material was The Funnies, but since it was published in a larger tabloid format, it is not recognized as such. In 1938 the company formed a partnership with Western Publishing, with Dell being responsible for financing and distributing publications that Western produced. While this diverged from the standard practice within the industry, it was a highly successful enterprise with many titles selling in the millions.

Dell Comics was best known for licensed material, particularly animated characters from Walt Disney Productions, Warner Bros., MGM and the Walter Lantz Studios, such as the Lone Ranger, Tarzan, Howdy Doody, Yogi Bear and other Hanna-Barbera characters. From 1939 to 1962, Dell's most prolific title was the anthology Four Color. Often published several times a month, the series had more than 1,300 issues published during in its 23-year history. It regularly served as a try-out title and thus became the launching pad for many long-running series.

Dell opted not to join the Association of Comics Magazine Publishers, which had been formed to pre-empt government intervention in the face of mounting public criticism of comic books, and not wanting their less controversial offerings to serve as an umbrella for other comic publishers, when the Comics Code Authority was formed later in 1954 in reaction to Dr. Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, Dell again refused to join.

The end of Four Color in 1962 coincided with the ending of the business partnership with Western, which then took most of its licensed properties and original material and created its own imprint, Gold Key Comics. Dell Comics continued for another eleven years with licensed television and movie adaptations including Mission: Impossible, Ben Casey, Burke's Law, Doctor Kildare, Beach Blanket Bingo and a few original series. Dell Comics ceased publication in 1973, but the company continued with mainstream magazines only.

While Walt Kelly and Carl Barks are the most recognized talents associated with Dell, other writers and artists who worked there include Gaylord DuBois, Paul S. Newman, Don "Arr" Christensen, John Stanley, Alex Toth, Russ Manning, Alberto Giolitti, Dick Moores, Jack Bradbury, Dan Spiegle, Paul Norris, Frank Bolle, Art Saaf, Sam Glanzman and John Buscema.

Jo-Jo, Congo King in "Gladiators of Gore" (Star Publ.;1953)

Today's exciting jungle thriller starring Jo-Jo, Congo King and his lovely mate, Tanee was originally presented in Jo-Jo #19 (Fox, Sept 1948), but this version is from the later Star Publications series, Terrifying Tales #12 (Apr.1953), which reprinted earlier jungle comics. "Gladiators of Gore" (great title, by the way) pits Jo-Jo against a grim ringmaster of death in a lost arena.

The GCD credits are attributed to the Iger Shop and are described as being "Bakerish", so we'll just have to guess whether this one appears more like the work of Matt Baker or Jack Kamen. 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 publishers and/or the creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes.

Enjoy!