Wambi the Jungle Boy in "Enter the Sultans Dungeon" (Fiction House; 1941)

Today's exciting golden age adventure is from Jungle Comics #17 (May 1941); originally published by Fiction House. Henry Kiefer is the artist on a previously untitled story that I’m calling "Enter the Sultans Dungeon" starring Wambi the Jungle Boy. Wambi had an innate talent to communicate with the lower animals, and his best friend was an Indian-variety elephant named Tawn. 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 belongs to the original publisher and/or creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes. Enjoy!

Salute to our Nations Veterans: Blackhawk in "The Bubbles of Doom" (Quality; 1955)

Veterans Day is an official United States holiday honoring all armed service veterans. As a salute to my fellow military vets, the Catacombs offers “The Bubbles of Doom” from Blackhawk #90 (July 1955); originally published by Quality Comics, written by Dick Wood and illustrated by Dick Dillin (future Justice League of America artist) & Chuck Cuidera. The Blackhawk Squadron, usually just called the Blackhawks, were a small team of World War II-era ace pilots of varied nationalities, each typically known under a single name (either their given name or their surname). Their long-running comic book series was created by Will Eisner, Chuck Cuidera, and Bob Powell, but the artist most associated with the feature is Reed Crandall. In other words, Blackhawk was one of the most consistently beautiful adventure comics ever produced. During its heyday, the series spawned a film serial, a radio series and a novel. A recent revisionist reboot was, to put it mildly, “fugly” (look it up). The Catacombs acknowledges "The Digital Comic Museum", as the source of this classic comic 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!

Jo-Jo, Congo King in "The Slave Traders of Death" (Fox; 1949)

This classic golden age adventure tale is from Jo-Jo, Congo King #27 (May 1949); originally published by Fox. In celebration of TwoMorrows new publication “Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour” the Catacombs is proud to present "The Slave Traders of Death" which is of course illustrated by Mr. Baker. 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 belongs to the original publishers and/or creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes. Enjoy!

"Gal" Friday! Anna Torv

Genre fans will soon lose another ongoing sci-fi series as “Fringe” is currently winding down its five season run on television. Before all of the mind control, teleportation, extra-dimensional shenanigans with a twist goes the way of the dodo, let’s take a moment to celebrate Agent Olivia Dunham as played by Australian actress, Anna Torv. Along with series regulars John Noble (Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) and Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek), the "Fringe Division" team under the supervision of Homeland Security used scientific and FBI investigative techniques to combat a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences related to a parallel universe. The series combined elements from procedural dramas as well as those found in old-style movie serials in a "mystery of the week" format. Despite a lukewarm early critical reception, Fringe developed a strong cult following among fans and survived its move to the "Friday night death slot" and low ratings to complete its overarching story-line over the final thirteen episodes. Now, if only they had allowed Anna to speak in her sexy, Aussie dialect, but I guess you can’t have everything.

Camilla, Queen of the Jungle Empire in "The Lion Cult" (Fiction House; 1942)

Camilla, Queen of the Jungle Empire, stars in a story from Jungle Comics #34 (Oct. 1942); originally published by Fiction House, and illustrated by “Nick Viscardi” a name more familiar to Silver Age DC Comics fans as Nick Cardy (Aquaman, Bat Lash, etc.). Despite the presence of killer crocodiles and a talking ape, I’m dubbing this previously untitled golden age classic “The Lion Cult.” 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 belongs to the original publisher and/or creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes. Enjoy!

Happy N7 Day!!

Today Bioware/EA Games is celebrating the past 5 years of their popular Mass Effect gaming franchise with their fans. Over the last 5 years Commander Shepard’s tale has unfolded across three best selling science fiction role playing games on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 and it’s been nothing but one hell of a journey. N7 Day is an opportunity to unite Bioware and its fans in a global celebration of everything Mass Effect.

Checkout their web site over at the Bioware Social Network or see their Facebook page for new fan kits with wallpapers, Facebook covers & more, they are launching a new Pinterest page, premiering a special multi-player bonuses (including an ultra-rare item), a new "behind-the-scenes" look at the upcoming Omega DLC streaming later today, a chance to win awesome prizes for submitting your own fan images, a new Blasto the Hanar Spectre comic from Dark Horse Comics and much, much more!

Ka'a'nga in "Caveman Killers" (Fiction House; 1941)

After his parents were killed by wild beasts, the boy who would eventually come to be known as Ka'a'nga was saved from death and raised by a she-ape to become master of the jungle. Ka'a'nga stars today in a story from Jungle Comics #16 (Apr.1941); originally published by Fiction House. The issues cover designates the title as "Caveman Killers" which was written by Frank Riddell and illustrated by John Celardo. 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 belongs to the original publisher and/or creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes. Enjoy!

Nyoka the Jungle Girl in "The Talking Tiger" (Fawcett; 1946)

Nyoka the Jungle Girl stars in “The Talking Tiger” from Master Comics #71 (Aug.1946); originally published by Fawcett Comics. This classic golden age story was written by Rod Reed and illustrated by Harry Anderson. 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 belongs to the original publisher and/or creators and is reproduced here solely for entertainment purposes. Enjoy!

"Gal" Friday! Tara Long

Destructoid.com is one of the most popular gaming sites on the web, and as a result in 2010 they launched a weekday live channel. I couldn’t really tell you much about them other than that. Same goes for their lovely co-host Tara Long. I will be honest with you, I didn’t actually find the time to fit in every single post that I had mulled for the month of October (I’m looking at you 2012 Halloween Film Fest), but since I specifically loaded last month with luscious brunettes, I always had this young lady waiting in the wings to kick off November, and really, isn’t it past time that we featured a few stunning redheads here in the Catacombs?  Oh well, sexy gamer girl aficionados will certainly join me in appreciating her obvious charms. 

Rayboy's Review: Haunted Horror #1 (IDW/Yoe Books)

Pre-code horror is the province of fellow blogger Karswell over at “The Horrors of It All” blog (see my links section) and his efforts extend beyond posting classic comics too. Check out the recent collection from IDW / Yoe Books’ to see what Steve Banes and Craig Yoe have culled from those not necessarily gentler, but oh so fun years in Haunted Horrors #1, which came out this very month. Six topnotch tales of terror from various early anthology series drawn by the likes of Jack Cole, C.A. Winter, Bernard Baily, Mike Sekowsky, Jay Disbrow and Jack Kirby & Joe Simon. Trust me on this, folks!  Forty-five, full-color pages of vintage horror from the pre-code era by truly talented masters of the comic art form is a "terror-ific" way to treat yourself to some quality reading material on Halloween, of all days. In other good news, this is the first issue of an ongoing title, so subsequent volumes will be more than welcome, and at a measly $3.99 a copy - pardon my French - but this is a hell of a better way to spend your hard earned sheckles than on the puerile drivel that the big two keep turning out on a quarterly cycle that reboots everything two to three times a year. I mean, c’mon! How many Spider-Men, Batmen, and X-Teams does your average comic reader actually need?  I highly (or is that “horror-ly”) recommend this fine book on any day (not just Halloween). Buy this!!