Thursday, March 31, 2011

"Nyoka the Jungle Girl and the Human Leopards" (Charlton;1954)



















This is a complete, three chapter adventure from Zoo Funnies #8 (Oct-Nov. 1954); originally published by Charlton Comics. The front cover was illustrated by Dick Giordano, but there are no credits for the writer or artist.

Nyoka the Jungle Girl and her new friend, Bucko the Jungle Boy, are on a mission to find the elusive Black Orchid, when Bucko's associate, Whiting, shoots and kills what he believes to be a leopard, but is in actuality a member of the Leopard Men secret society. Whiting is subsequently killed in revenge, forcing Nyoka to expose the group to the local Judge, unaware that the Judge is secretly the chief of the Leopard Men. Of course, he marks her for death. As Nyoka and Bucko continue the quest for the Black Orchid, which is sacred to the Human Leopard clan, a fortune teller predicts death for Nyoka, even as danger arrives in the form of an attack by a Leopard Man. Bucko saves Nyoka from the Leopard Man attack and this later allows Nyoka to use the defeated Leopard Man's costume to infiltrate their secret meeting place where she unveils the Judge as their leader. The Judge confesses on his death bed.

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!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

1980's Flashback: The Omega Men (DC Comics)


The Omega Men first appeared in Green Lantern #141 (June 1981), and went on to star in their own Baxter format series beginning in April 1983. They were created by Marv Wolfman and Joe Staton. The Omegans hail from the Vegan star system, with its twenty-five habitable planets, which had been ruled for millennia by the Citadelians, a race of warriors cloned from the First Citadelian - the demi-godlike son of X'Hal. The Citadelians established a tyrannical regime based in a fortress moon known as the Citadel. The citadel then set about to conquer the younger races of Vega. Originally there were only two races in the Vegan system, the primitive Branx and the pacifistic Okaarans, but the Psions used Okaaran DNA to create the other twenty-three races of Vega such as the Tamaraneans, Euphorixians, Aelloans, Karnans, and the Changralyns. The Omega Men were assembled as a group of renegades and representatives of conquered Vegan worlds to fight Citadelian aggression. Pre-Infinite Crisis, the team was based on the planet Kuraq. The Omega Men were important peacekeepers in their sector because the Green Lantern Corps is not allowed into Vegan space, due to a long standing agreement with the Psions.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Rulah Jungle Goddess in "The Ravishing Rustler" (Fox;1948)










All right!


Rulah Jungle Goddess returns to the Catacombs in a fine golden age tale from All Top Comics #13 (Sept.1948); originally published by Fox. [Alec Hope] is credited on the splash page for "The Ravishing Rustler" - same as always - but whether these pencils actually stem more from Jack Kamen or Matt Baker is anyones guess.


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!

Monday, March 28, 2011

Rayboy's Review: Weird Worlds (DC Comics)



I’m going to do you folks a favor and encourage you to forget “Endless Events of the Green Lanterns”, forget “Flashpoint”, forget the politically correct character rebooting and forget about how sad most of the mainstream titles have become. Stop by your local comics shop and pick up DC’s revival of Weird Worlds before it runs its six issue course. Creators Kevin Vanhook & Jerry Ordway, Aaron Lopresti & Matt Ryan and Kevin Maguire are turning in a wild and truly fun ride on this mini-series. The anthology format book features a trio of strips starring established “bastich” Lobo, and two new characters Garbage Man and Tanga. These talented guys are pulling out all stops to showcase three very diverse characters within the pages of a single title. While Lobo hasn’t lost his touch when it comes to unleashing carnage on a grand scale; thematically Garbage Man hearkens back to Bronze Age books like Swamp Thing or Man-Thing, and that’s not a bad comparison. Tanga appears to be a cute cosmic chick on the surface, but appearances can be deceiving and you don’t want to get on her bad side. Visually all three features mesh well and give the book an odd kind of cohesion. I’m uncertain if any of the strips could support an ongoing monthly in and of themselves, so it is very nice to see DC give them this particular format as a tryout. Whether that is the intention or not, I’ve enjoyed reading this series quite a bit, and hey, if endless head-spinning bullshit is more to your liking just stick with any one of those persistent event series that I disparaged above. You’ve currently got about four dozen of those to choose from, more if you also get any of the hundreds of tie-in mini-series, specials and one-shots that generally accompany stuff that never made sense in the first place. *After he originally purchased these issues, my brother David passed them along to me to enjoy. Thanks, Brother Man, your generosity is appreciated as always. As for the rest of you, c’mon now, give Weird Worlds a try. Recommended!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Meet the Most Dangerous Twin Girls in the Universe!



Shocking! Disgusting!


NBM is releasing a darkly subversive collection of cynical comics gags that is sweeping Europe. "Kinky & Cosy" are two young girls who are so bad that you’ll be snickering uncontrollably. Their record of wrong doings, whether on purpose or not, will simply raise your hair on end. Nothing is sacred for these two little monsters! South Park meets Monty Python from the mind of creator Nix. For those who like a good does of humor, the full-color hardcover format at ninety-six pages will cost a mere $14.99.


I've included one of the strips (above) to whet your appetite. Enjoy!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Science Fiction/Double Feature Presents: "The City of Light" (Ziff-Davis;1952)









Sadly, this is the penultimate story from the final issue of Amazing Adventures #6 (Fall 1952); originally published by Ziff-Davis. Equally frustrating for me personally is the lack of creator credits for this story. "The City of Light" is a typical 1950's-style space opera, but it looks good and is a fun read too. The only credit listed for this fine tale in the Grand Comics Database is one for letterer Ben Oda. Great job, Ben!

The second feature today is a single page fact filler called "Station in Space". That leaves just one more time at bat next weekend, and the Catacombs will finally close the doors on this cool series of posts.

Enjoy!

Friday, March 25, 2011

"Gal" Friday! Claire Robinson



Claire Robinson combines her passions for food and television in "5 Ingredient Fix", a Food Network series featuring delicious eclectic recipes made with five ingredients or less. Claire also currently appears on the Food Network’s prime time lineup as the host of Food Network Challenge.

Claire was born in Jacksonville, Fla., and spent time in St. Augustine, Fla.; Houston; and New Orleans, before she ultimately settled in Memphis, Tenn. She graduated from the University of Memphis with a B.A. in Communications. Before she stepped in front of the camera, she spent time working on culinary production teams for several cooking series, including Food Network’s Easy Entertaining With Michael Chiarello and PBS’s Everyday Baking for Everyday Food. Aside from cooking, Claire enjoys a variety of unique sports including skydiving, boxing and slalom water skiing. She currently lives in New York City with a husband that I admittedly have ill feelings towards, and now she earns a spot in the Catacombs as this weeks "Gal" Friday selection. A sexy brunette who can cook, with a sultry come and get me voice. This is painful!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Tiger Girl in "Quest of Blood" (Fiction House;1946)









Tiger Girl (aka Princess Vishnu) returns to the Catacombs in "Quest of Blood" from Fight Comics #47 (Dec.1946); originally published by Fiction House. Written by "Allan O'Hara" and illustrated by Matt Baker (assisted by the Iger Shop gang), today's story has Tiger Girl facing off against a bloodthirsty horde of raiders who've been handpicked to exact revenge upon Princess Vishnu for her past successes in stymieing these swarthy villains. Her regular sidekicks Abdola and Benzali leap to her aide, and almost pay the ultimate price for their loyalty. Loyalty is apparently the theme of this fine golden age tale as an unexpected betrayal proves quite handy at story's end. 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!