“Greetings, creep culturists! For my debut issue, I, the CRYPTOLOGIST (with the help of FROM THE TOMB editor PETER NORMANTON), have exhumed the worst Horror Comics excesses of the 1950s, Killer “B” movies to die for, and the creepiest, kookiest toys that crossed your boney little fingers as a child! But wait... do you dare enter the House of Usher, or choose sides in the skirmish between the Addams Family and The Munsters?! Can you stand to gaze at Warren magazine frontispieces by this issue’s cover artist BERNIE WRIGHTSON, or spend some Hammer Time with that studio’s most frightening films? And if Atlas pre-Code covers or terrifying science-fiction are more than you can take, stay away! All this, and more, is lurching toward you in TwoMorrows Publishing’s latest, and most decrepit, magazine—just for retro horror fans, and featuring my henchmen WILL MURRAY, MARK VOGER, BARRY FORSHAW, TIM LEESE, PETE VON SHOLLY, and STEVE and MICHAEL KRONENBERG!”
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 #1 is Now Shipping!
CRYPTOLOGY #2
The Cryptologist and his ghastly little band have cooked up more grisly morsels, including: ROGER HILL’s conversation with our diabolical cover artist DON HECK, severed hand films, pre-Code comic book terrors, the otherworldly horrors of Hammer’s Quatermass, another Killer “B” movie classic, plus spooky old radio shows, and the horror-inspired covers of the Shadow’s own comic book. Start the ghoul-year with retro-horror done right by FORSHAW, the KRONENBERGS, LEESE, RICHARD HAND, VON SHOLLY, and editor PETER NORMANTON
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95
(Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships January 2025
CRYPTOLOGY #3
This third wretched issue inflicts the dread of MARS ATTACKS upon you—the banned cards, the model kits, the despicable comics, and a few words from the film’s deranged storyboard artist PETE VON SHOLLY! The chilling poster art of REYNOLD BROWN gets brought up from the Cryptologist’s vault, along with a host of terrifying puppets from film, and more comic books they’d prefer you forget! Plus, more Hammer Time, JUSTIN MARRIOT on obscure ’70s fear-filled paperbacks, another Killer “B” film, and more to satiate your sinister side!
Our fourth putrid tome treats you to ALEX ROSS’ gory lowdown on his Universal Monsters paintings! Hammer Time brings you face-to-face with the “Brides of Dracula”, and the Cryptologist resurrects 3-D horror movies and comics of the 1950s! Learn the origins of slasher films, and chill to the pre-Code artwork of Atlas’ BILL EVERETT and ACG’s 3-D maestro HARRY LAZARUS. Plus, another Killer “B” movie and more awaits retro horror fans, by NORMANTON, the KRONENBERGS, LEESE, VOGER, and VON SHOLLY!
This issue is dedicated to the memory of Trina Robbins, Richard Ashford, Liz Berube, Paul Coker, Jr., Ron Fradkin— & Elvis Presley
Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck
World’s Mightiest Boy—And The King Of Rock’n’Roll
Captain Marvel Jr. & Elvis Presley—in real life, reel life, & comics— by Carl Lani’Keha Shinyama.
“…And I Was The Hero Of The Comic Book”
Author Elaine Dundy (& a couple of others) on the connection between Elvis and Freddy Freeman’s awesome alter ego—as per Roy Thomas.
Breakfast Of Champions
When Captain Marvel went from serial—to cereal!—by PCH.
Mr . Monster’s Comic Crypt! The 1966 New York Comicon
Michael T. Gilbert introduces a first-hand account by attendee Alan Jadro. Tributes to Liz Berube, Paul Coker Jr ., Ron Fradkin, Richard Ashford, & Trina Robbins
“It’s A Jungle Comic Out There!” – Part II (Sections A To D)
Jaguar Of The Jungle
Will Murray on The Jaguar—Archie’s Silver Age quasi-jungle super-hero.
Thomas Yeates presents beautiful Tarzanic art from the Golden & Silver Ages.
Jean-Marc Lofficier salutes Gallic jungle heroes—and a few others, to boot.
Last Kiss In The Jungle
John Lustig’s online gag-a-day feature—showcasing vintage jungle-comics art.
Alter Ego TM issue 191, January 2025 (ISSN 1932-6890) is published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Alter Ego, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices:
IThe World’s Mightiest Boy— And The King Of Rock’n’Roll
CAPTAIN MARVEL JR . & ELVIS PRESLEY— In Real Life, Reel Life, & Comics
by Carl Lani’Keha Shinyama
“You know, I believe there’s a superboy inside me, just waiting to bust out.”
—Elvis Presley to his cousin Earl
t’s widely acknowledged that Elvis Presley was inspired by Captain Marvel Jr., simply from Elvis’ on-stage attire… but I feel the character of Freddy Freeman was the model which Elvis would use to shape his entire persona as an entertainer.
Before watching the 2022 film Elvis, I contemplated the Elvis/ Captain Marvel Jr./Freddy Freeman connection. On Robby Reed’s now-defunct Dial B For Blog website, which I had read more than a decade prior, he reported which years that Elvis most likely first encountered Captain Marvel Jr. (September 1949 through January 1953), as well as which specific issues Elvis could’ve read (likely Captain Marvel Jr. #77-119).
I also called to mind that, as a child, Elvis lived in what was seemingly abject poverty (which wasn’t uncommon for many in those days, as the Great Depression was still impacting America), and that his father had been sent to prison for forging a check. Taking into account just these factors alone, it’s easy to understand why Elvis gravitated to Captain Marvel Jr.; Freddy Freeman lived in relative squalor and lost the only father figure he had (his grandfather). Elvis did the same in his days as a young boy, though his father would come to live with him and his mother again after a short time in prison. Elvis likely saw a lot of himself in Freddy Freeman.
In my first viewing of the film, I was impressed by director Baz Luhrmann’s brisk pace, moving from beat to beat without wasting a single scene, and keeping only what was essential to the movie. I was also elated by the relatively extensive references to Freddy Freeman/Captain Marvel Jr.
When the opening credits of the movie begin, it is to a beautiful kaleidoscopic montage of gold and diamonds resembling Elvis’ jewelry. In fact, the first thing we see is a diamond-encrusted gold object adorned with Elvis’ famous “TCB” logo—which is said to have been designed by Elvis’ wife, Priscilla—with the lightning bolt, surrounded by yet more golden lightning bolts. Elvis’ motto was “Taking Care of Business in a Flash.” He has been said to have had a strong work ethic and often believed in handling business in an urgent fashion. Obviously, “TCB” stood for “Taking care of business” while the lightning bolt represented, “in a flash.” Many comicbook fans think the lightning bolt of the “TCB” logo was inspired by Captain Marvel Jr. There are no definitive sources that confirm that outright, and there are contradicting accounts. [A/E EDITOR’S NOTE: But please see p. 24 for what Ye Editor considers the “definitive source.”]
Marty Lacker, a member of Elvis’ Memphis Mafia, believed that Elvis liked the fact that the West Coast Mafia had a lightning bolt as their logo, so he used it as well.
Meanwhile, Billy Smith, Elvis’ cousin and lifelong friend,
believes the reason for the lightning bolt may have been one of two things: The first was that it may have been inspired by Elvis’ Army days, where the insignia of his battalion was a lightning bolt. The other reason is that it may have been inspired by Freddy Freeman.
Elvis biographer Elaine Dundy thought so, too. “The lightning bolt emblem Captain Marvel Jr. wore on his chest became Elvis’ logo, his signature,” she said. [FCA EDITOR’S NOTE: For considerably more on Dundy’s research, and even that lightning bolt logo, see our next article in this issue.]
Throughout the 24-second opening credits, we see different lightning bolts in different shapes, including some that more closely resemble Captain Marvel Jr.’s. Unable to resist the temptation to read into it, I felt that it certainly seemed as if director Luhrmann leaned more towards Captain Marvel Jr. as the inspiration for the TCB lightning bolt.
Either way, the TCB logo symbolizes Elvis. Not only did he get diamond-encrusted gold rings made with the logo (and gave them to his inner circle), it was even the logo of his plane, the Lisa Marie
In the movie’s third minute, we see the Elvis cape worn by actor Austin Butler duplicating one of Elvis’ Las Vegas
A Bolt Of Magic Lightning
performances. Like with the lightning bolt and the cape, both Billy Smith and Elaine Dundy believe that Captain Marvel Jr. is where Elvis got the idea. Unfortunately, neither Bill Belew, Elvis’ costume designer who designed his jumpsuits, nor Elvis himself ever stated outright that Captain Marvel Jr. was the inspiration for the cape. Bill Belew has only ever said that he was asked to do a full-length cape, but because Elvis had a hard time moving in it, changed the cape to a short one—a length which just happened to resemble that of Captain Marvel Jr.’s (and Captan Marvel’s) capes.
Interestingly, the movie is narrated by Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who was born Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk in Breda, Netherlands, in 1909. Kuijk changed his name to Tom Parker when he was 18 after he left for America and joined the U.S. Army. Just as Captain Marvel was not a real captain, Tom Parker was not a real colonel; he was given an honorary title by the governor of Louisiana at the time, one-time singer/composer (“You Are My Sunshine”) Jimmie Davis. Parker (portrayed by Tom Hanks), giving narration from his deathbed, provided a unique perspective from one of Elvis’ inner circle.
The first one-third of the film contains the heaviest amount of Captain Marvel Jr. references, and it was there that it was worth the price of admission, so to speak, for Fawcett fans.
In the movie’s ninth minute, as Colonel Tom Parker is narrating what were essentially the Cliff Notes of Elvis’ childhood, we are treated to a marvelous animated sequence of comic panels depicting Elvis’ childhood, rendered in Golden Age (but not really Mac Raboy) art style.
In one panel, we see Elvis (Chaydon Jay) as a young blond boy in overalls, wearing a lightning bolt made of cardboard around his neck, transform into a faithfully illustrated Captain Marvel Jr. to break his dad out of prison and take him to the Rock of Eternity— imagery of how Elvis may have fantasized about being his hero.
Seeing this sequence made my heart leap, and should cause any other Fawcett fan to rejoice. It was a respectful recognition of the classic Fawcett-era Marvel Family that none of the Shazam! movies, nor the Dwayne Johnson-featured Black Adam movie, paid. Better yet, it was sheer delight seeing the name “Captain Marvel” in a speech balloon and “spoken aloud” by Captain Marvel Jr.— especially in a Warner Bros. film!
(Sure, the second Shazam! movie made a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Captain Marvel name, but that struck me as being quite blithely backhanded, as if they were doing us a favor. In the Elvis movie, the name was treated as something of reverence by Elvis himself in a matter-of-fact manner and with no jesting irony. That contrast in treatment made all of the difference in the world!)
Next, in the film’s tenth minute, the comicbook sequence
slight possibility that Captain Marvel himself might have, too!
The next comicbook reference in the film came when Elvis talked about Captain Marvel Jr. in what would be a life-changing and defining moment as he discussed his future with Colonel Parker. With both men seated in a ferris wheel, the Colonel revealed to Elvis that one of his other musicians, Hank Snow, wanted him to remove Elvis from his music tour, but the Colonel had other plans, namely that he wanted to bank his future on Elvis’ rather than Snow’s. Recording contracts, television, and even Hollywood, Parker prophesied, were in Elvis’ future, but only so long as he represented Elvis exclusively, meaning that he’d have to cut ties with Snow.
After their conversation about what would need to happen next, such as getting national radio distribution, controlling Elvis’ PR as a single man without a girlfriend, and getting his parents to agree to their business ventures in writing, Elvis confided to the Colonel that he had always wanted to fly, seemingly in both the metaphorical and literal sense in his desire to attain success, because his favorite hero, Captain Marvel Jr., could.
Elvis: “... I’ve always wanted to fly. Fast. Faster than the speed of light to the Rock of Eternity.”
Colonel: “What? To the Rock of Eternity?”
Elvis: “Captain Marvel Jr. He’s my favorite comicbook hero. He flies.”
Colonel: “Well… what about you, Mr. Presley? Are you ready to fly?”
Elvis: “Yes, sir, I’m ready. Ready to fly.”
In this pivotal life-moment fantasy, it was magnificent to see Elvis cite Captain Marvel Jr. as something of an inspiration for how he wanted to achieve success. More than that, there was some Fawcett comic lore invoked.
In a concept created by Otto Binder during the Golden Age, The Marvel Family, if they wanted to reach the Rock of Eternity, had to fly faster than the speed of light to get there. By doing so, they entered a dimension outside of time and space, where the Rock of Eternity resided. The film recurrently constructs Elvis as a fan who actually read the comics.
At the one hour and 59-minute mark, we are at the stage of Elvis’ career where he begins wearing the short cape (along with other elements, like the scarf, which is something that Freddy Freeman often wore in his non-Marvel form). As mentioned above, Elvis’ costume designer intended for Elvis to wear a longer cape, but due how much it limited his mobility, they opted for a shorter one. Neither Elvis nor his costume designer credit Junior for the inspiration, but seeing Elvis in the various capes that he wore, it’s hard to imagine there not being at least some influence, especially
From a 1949 publication by King Features Syndicate, Inc., for which the artist was then drawing the comic strip Flash Gordon.
“...And I Was The Hero Of The Comic Book”
On ELVIS, CAPTAIN MARVEL JR .—& ELAINE DUNDY (Plus A Very Surprising Postscript)
by Roy Thomas
(featuring excerpts from the biography Elvis and Gladys by Elaine Dundy)
Chances are, there’s no one who knows me (even just by reputation), and who heard that an upcoming FCA-heavy issue of Alter Ego would deal with the rumored links between legendary entertainer Elvis Presley and the iconic comicbook hero Captain Marvel Jr., who didn’t figure A/E’s editor would have to get in on that action.
Actually, though, I’d have been content to leave the accounting of the Elvis/CMJr connection to FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck and his chosen writer, Carl Lani’Keha Shinyama—if not for the “Elaine Dundy” factor.
Three To Get Ready…
Backing up a bit: My wife Dann likes me to read to her for a little while most evenings, usually from a novel or biography. And one book she chose a few years back— which I’ll admit I had never heard of—was Elaine Dundy’s acclaimed 1958 novel The Dud Avocado. During that serialized reading, we learned
that in 1985 she had written a book I had heard of but had never read: Elvis and Gladys, an account of the rock’n’roll star’s early life and his relationship with his mother, who had died when he was 23 and in the U.S. Army. We agreed I’d read that one as a follow-up.
It turned out to be, in several unexpected ways, a revelation.
Elvis and Gladys is a remarkable book, one that in its more limited way vies for importance with Peter Guralnick’s definitive two-volume Presley biography (Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley [1994] and Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley [1999]). As research for her own dual-centered bio, Dundy had lived for five months in 1981 in the singer’s small-town birthplace, Tupelo, Mississippi. Naturally, she also did considerable research in the Presleys’ later dwelling-place of Memphis, Tennessee. As a result, she was able to interview at length numerous friends, neighbors, and relatives of Elvis and his parents, less than half a decade after the star’s untimely death at age 42.
One of her many discoveries—to which others, particularly Buz Luhrmann (director of the 2022 film bio Elvis), are indebted to her—was the powerful link between the young Presley and Fawcett’s popular feature “Captain Marvel Jr.,” which, it can be argued, played out over the remainder of Elvis’ life. After discussing matters with P.C. Hamerlinck, it was decided I would examine that connection as an adjunct to Carl’s piece.
My aim—though I may have missed a passing reference or two in the book’s more than 300 pages—has been to chronicle, and every so often to comment on, everything Dundy wrote about what she felt was a symbiotic connection between two larger-than-life figures: one whose primary existence was in the pages of Fawcett comics from 1941-53 (although, commencing in the early ’70s, his new adventures were published by DC Comics, which had first licensed, then purchased outright, Captain Marvel and all his descendants)… and another, very real human being who lived from 1935 to 1977, but whose name and influence still loom large nearly half a century after his passing.
Elaine Dundy’s first mention of the intersectionality between the pair occurs early in the very first chapter of Elvis and Gladys, which in fact she titled: “Captain Marvel, Jr.” (Note: That name as written by Fawcett never contained a comma, but that’s a point we’ll leave for grammarians to argue over.) She begins that chapter—and her book—by establishing young Elvis Aron Presley’s bona fides as a 6- or 7-year-old comicbook reader:
By the time Elvis was in first grade, he and his schoolmate Wayne Earnest had evolved a system that would both double their money and their reading pleasure. They swapped comic books—Elvis sometimes walking the mile over to Wayne’s place on Saturday afternoon to complete the transaction.
Elvis was already immersed in the adventures of the Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, Tarzan, Batman, and Superman when his secret life suddenly took a dramatic new turn. He discovered Freddy Freeman in the comic book series Captain Marvel’s Adventures. There, on page 267, young Freddy made his entrance—and very nearly his exit— fishing off a boat with his grandpa.
Roy here, reluctantly interrupting so soon. We need to clarify a couple of things up front:
First, while Dundy doesn’t quite state it in so many words, we have to assume that Elvis’ childhood chum Wayne Earnest (and perhaps other boyhood acquaintances) specifically mentioned Captain Marvel Jr. to her as a character whose adventures young Elvis enjoyed reading. Elaine Dundy in all likelihood had never heard of the World’s Mightiest Boy before, and would’ve had no reason to dwell on that Fawcett super-hero if she hadn’t learned of the connection from someone who’d known Elvis as a fellow comicbook enthusiast. We do know, from her introduction, that she personally interviewed Wayne sometime after she arrived in Tupelo in April of 1981.
Next: The four-color debut of Captain Marvel Jr. did indeed occur in a “Captain Marvel” story—one starring the red-costumed World’s Mightiest Mortal after whom Junior would soon be named—but not in an issue of Captain Marvel Adventures (which, by the way, lacked an “apostrophe-‘s’” after the elder hero’s name). Cap Jr.’s origin actually took place in the “Captain Marvel” lead tale in Whiz Comics #25 (Dec. 1941), as described below by Dundy.
Oh, and the “page 267” reference confused me, too… still does. In real time, Freddy Freeman first appeared on the 11th page of the “CM” yarn in Whiz #25 in 1941, and I looked in vain for a “p. 267” reprinting of that page in a collection such as, say, Crown/
Harmony’s 1977 Shazam! From the 40’s to the 70’s, which is by far Dundy’s most likely source—besides in an actual old comicbook— for the untitled tale that introduced both Freddy and Cap Jr.
(Well, actually, as FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck reminds me, in 1974 Alan Light’s DynaPubs put out the humongous black-&white Special Edition Series, Vol. 1, which reprinted all the “Captain Marvel” stories from Whiz Comics #7 through 28, so that might have been Dundy’s source. I think I have a copy of that small-press tome squirreled away somewhere, but I couldn’t locate it by deadline time. Maybe it has a “p. 267” which introduced Freddy Freeman.)
Now, as Ms. Dundy was saying before I interrupted her account of that part of the story, Freddy shouts:
“Look, Grandpa! Somebody fell in the water over there!”
“Put about and we’ll rescue him,” says Grandpa.
In fact they have rescued the diabolical Captain Nazi who repays their softheartedness by socking old Grandpa overboard and then, grabbing the oar out of Freddy’s hand, whacks him into the briny deep as well.
By the time Captain Marvel flies to the rescue, Grandpa has drowned and Freddy is no more than a symbolic hand stretching up from the sea.
Swooping down and sweeping up Freddy’s almost lifeless form in his arms, Captain Marvel says, “You’re in bad shape, youngster. I’d better get you to a hospital right away.”
Easier flown to than entered. Unimpressed by the astounding figure cut by the Captain and the desperate condition of his charge, an officious hospital attendant bars their way. “This is highly irregular,” he sputters. “This is a private institution. You can’t come in.”
Responding with a simple “Nuts,” Captain Marvel walks through a wall and into an operating room where he curtly orders a surprised doctor to “get to work” on the young boy. Then, uttering the magic word “Shazam!” the Captain is transformed into plain, everyday Billy Batson sitting in the waiting room anxiously asking a nurse, “How is he? Will he live?”
“The doctors say there’s no hope. Even if he lived, he’d be a cripple for life. We’re doing all we can, but we don’t expect him to last the night out.”
Billy waits till midnight to sneak into Room 15, hoists Freddy in a fireman’s haul, carries him downstairs and out and…
Spellbound, six-year-old Elvis read on as Billy walked down the “long ancient underground hall where he first met the sorcerer Shazam” and stared with interest at the panel depicted Billy carrying the dying Freddy on his shoulder through a tunnel lined with gargoyles labeled Pride, Envy, Greed, and Hatred. Billy laid Freddy before an empty, dust-covered throne. He lit a long-extinguished torch and as the flames flared up there was a rumbling sound, a lightning bolt, a crash of thunder, and the ghost of the dead wizard appeared.
“Who calls Shazam from his thousand years of sleep?” asks the wizard.
“I, Billy Batson, call you. There is a man loose above—a man called Captain Nazi who is destroying everything. I’ve brought you a boy who is dying as a result of Captain Nazi’s cruelty. You must help him as once you helped me!”
Rising from his throne, the wizard pronounces, “What has already come to pass cannot be changed by any power of mine. But you, as Captain Marvel, can, if you will, pass on to this boy some of the mighty powers I once gave you. Billy Batson, speak my name!”
Billy complies. “Shazam!”
And the last panel of the page is filled with black clouds and yet another lightning bolt.
Elvis turned the page and read on:
“The wraith of Shazam vanished and in his place stands the familiar red-clad figure, Captain Marvel.” The dying boy lies at this feet.
In the second panel Freedy springs miraculously back to life exclaiming simply: “Why, it—it’s Captain Marvel!”
And the third panel on that page gives itself over to a third lightning bolt.
The next panel stretches clear across the page. Captain Marvel stands astride in his familiar snappy red body suit trimmed with the yellow arm bracelets and his familiar yellow boots and belt, and sporting his familiar yellow lightning bolt emblem on his chest. His flowing white cape flares rakishly on one shoulder. An enormous
Book of Knowledge rests on the wizard’s throne, and the brazier is still aflame.
In the foreground, profiled in an aura of light, stands Freddy— whole, healed, and triumphant. His hair is shining black; a lock falls over his forehead. He is wearing sideburns and his hair grows down to the base of his neck. Although his body suit is blue, and his cape red, his outfit is otherwise an exact replica of the Captain’s in every detail including the yellow lightning bolt emblem.
“I’m all well again! I—I’m like you!” he exclaims in wonder.
Looking at them standing together—the Captain and his junior— we are instantly struck by the differing techniques used in the drawing of Freddy/Captain Marvel, Jr., from that of Billy/Captain Marvel. Billy/ Captain Marvel is drawn in the stylized cartoon strip tradition. As the Captain, he is beetle-browed, pin-eyed, muscle-bound, and lockjawed, while as Billy, his features suggest that a child of eight has delineated them on the blank oval of his face. Freddy/Marvel, Jr., on the other hand, has been obviously and sensitively copied from a most appealing adolescent life-model.
He looks in fact exactly as Elvis, from adolescence to the end of
editor let it slip by, not because magic lightning shouldn’t have struck at that moment.)
Oh, and one correction to Dundy’s research: It was Captain Marvel, not the evil Dr. Sivana, who was sometimes referred to as “The Big Red Cheese”—by a contemptuous Sivana, actually.
Another, more tenuous but still intriguing mention of Cap Jr. is made by Dundy on p. 137:
[Elvis’] favorite actor then [fall of 1950] was a dead ringer for Captain Marvel, Jr.—glistening black hairstyle and all—the handsome young Tony Curtis, who was making a series of wonderfully funny junior swashbuckling epics with titles like The Prince Who Was a Thief and brandishing his Bronx accent as triumphantly as his sword.
I wouldn’t call Tony Curtis exactly a “dead ringer” for Marvel Junior—but there was certainly at least a cursory resemblance— and it seems well-documented that the teenage Elvis, at least to some extent, patterned himself after the look of Hollywood’s young heartthrob.
Dundy’s next mention of the Fawcett heroes occurs on p. 159, with a reference to the discontinuance of the company’s entire comicbook line:
The death of two of Elvis’ heroes the previous winter [of 1953-54] might be seen as the passing of the old order making way for the new. [Country singer/composer Hank Williams died.] And the Captain Marvel/ Captain Marvel, Jr., comic books had folded as a result of a long, drawn-out and losing battle over a lawsuit with Superman and were no longer on the newsstands.
Of course, neither Elvis as he turned 18 (even assuming he still regularly read comics), nor I at age twelve, was aware in 1953
Breakfast Of Champions When Captain Marvel Went From Serial—To Cereal!
by P. C. Hamerlinck
One of the best American comicbook promotions of the Golden Age came from General Mills—and their widely known, normally-associated-with-sports “Breakfast of Champions” cereal, Wheaties.
What made this particular series of giveaway comics so significant? The advertisement for the books that appeared in Sunday newspapers across the country on May 11, 1947, let consumers know why these comics were so unique:
Adventure! Excitement! Fun! Famous Comic Books! Any book YOURS with 2 boxes of Wheaties.
REAL comic books. It’s True! You get special editions of your regular newsstand favorites. You choose from four best-selling titles. Same famous characters! Same dramatic writers! Same skilled artists! But all-new, action-packed stories.
THRILLS! Excitement! Laughs galore—in these sensational comic magazines. Thirty-Two pages! 6 1/2 by 8 1/4 inches big! Every page in full color! Every page loaded with action.
HURRY! Get your book right away! Supplies are limited to quantities now available on your
grocer’s shelves. So don’t delay. Don’t miss out on this unusual gift offer of a real comic book. GET YOUR BOOK! AT YOUR GROCER’S! NOW!
Indeed, the fact that the contents within these four comics were original and exclusive to Wheaties was their greatest appeal. Usually, giveaway comics consisted of previously published material, and sometimes just in black-&-white, but neither of those things was the case with this set of comics. Another appealing factor for purchasers who wanted the comics was that there was no need to collect box tops or to mail coins to General Mills. They just conveniently obtained their comic of choice from their local grocers.
The set of comics offered by Wheaties was comprised of two National (DC) titles—Flash Comics and Funny Stuff—and two Fawcett titles—Captain Marvel Adventures and Whiz Comics. That is fascinating because, at the time these books were released (5-1147), National and Fawcett were deep in the middle of a fierce and prolonged copyright infringement lawsuit battle… and here they were, both publishers collaborating with General Mills on the same promotional project… with Captain Marvel a big part of it, no less.
(This wasn’t the only time that the two publishers had collided within a manufacturer’s comicbook project, however. It would also happen in the second issue of the Daisy Handbook, a 140-page digest-sized comic in mid-1948. The Daisy Company produced the popular Red Ryder BB-gun rifles of the era, which were advertised in comicbooks. DC reprints within the Handbook would include “Robotman,” “The Boy Commandos,” and Mickey “Bat Man” Morgan (and Leonardo da Vinci) from Real Fact Comics… while Fawcett’s reprint representation would include “Captain Marvel,” “Ibis the Invincible,” and five fun installments of Basil Wolverton’s “Culture Corner” from Whiz Comics.)
In the aforementioned Wheaties ad for the comics, it’s a bit surreal to see DC and Fawcett properties intermixed within a circle listing “these famous characters”: Hawkman, Blackie the Bear, Captain Marvel, Ibis the Invincible, Taia, Golden Arrow, J. Rufus Lion, The Flash, the Ghost Patrol, Crime Smasher, Hawkgirl, Johnny Thunder, the Dodo and the Frog, and the Three Mouseketeers.
When eager customers arrived at the grocery store to grab their two boxes of Wheaties and select the comic of their choosing, they found that General Mills had affixed them to the cereal boxes with tape on all four corners—meaning all copies in existence
have suffered either tape damage, torn corners, or both. (The one exception I’m aware of is an untaped, very-fine-condition Fawcett file copy of Wheaties’ Captain Marvel Adventures that surfaced in 2015.)
The Funny Stuff edition, starring Blackie Bear, appears to be standard Golden Age funny animal fare. Writers and artists of the book are unknown. Perhaps DC believed Wheaties’ buyers would appreciate a little variety in choosing between young-reader humor or the super-hero/adventure genre.
The Flash Comics edition sports an Irwin Hasen-drawn cover depicting The Flash taking a swing at a villain from the future, Dmane, which ties into the lead story, ‘The Criminal from Tomorrow!” written by Gardner Fox and with art by Hasen. Next up is a John Wentworth-scripted “Johnny Thunder” adventure, “Farewell to Crime!” (also drawn by Hasen), followed by “The Ghost Patrol,” also written by Wentworth, with art by Frank Harry. The book’s finale, scripted by Fox and illustrated by Joe Kubert, “The Scavenger from the Skies!” has Hawkman and Hawkgirl up against a new foe, The Raven.
Now let’s open up the two Fawcett titles. In the Whiz Comics
ust barely catching the bus to New York City at the Upper Saddle River stop was the least of my problems at about 7:30 AM on July 23rd. During the ride to Port Authority, many assorted thoughts coursed through my eager brain. Had I brought too many comics? Too few?! Had I forgotten anything? None of these questions would be answered for at least two and a half hours, so I sat back and enjoyed the ride. It was noisy. The bus terminal, that is. People running all around the place. After collecting myself, I took the down escalator to the information booth where I was to meet Louis Black.
I held a few copies of the Comic Vendor in my hands so that he would know me (we had never seen each other before). In about fifteen minutes he found me, and we set out for the Park-Sheraton Hotel, where the con was going to be held. Upon reaching the towering skyscraper, we inquired as to what floor the Comicon was on, and then went up a flight of stairs to the second floor.
We were early. There were only about five other fans there at 9:30 AM. At about 10:30 AM, we found out that the con was not going to commence until 1:00 PM!
Even though the con was an hour and a half off, Louis and I walked into the Liberty Suite and saw at least 300 chairs, a movie screen, podium, and table. At about 11:00 there were about 50 fans there. Then the dealers arrived. They took up two suites, the Freedom Suite, and the Gotham Suite (there’s a coincidence for you!). Among the dealers present were Phil Seuling, Howard Rogofsky, and Jim Steranko. Mr. Steranko showed us some of his Strange Tales Nick Fury original art, which will be published in a month or two. Jim is one of Marvel’s new artists. [MTG NOTE: So new, in fact, that Alan misspelled Jim’s name as “Sturanko” throughout. Hey, it was 1966, and who knew who “Sturanko” was? We’ve corrected Al’s phonetic spelling for this reprint. Onward!]
Then everyone bought their tickets. The fee was $4.00 for both days. As I walked around the hall and through the suites, I saw such fans as Don Foote, Margaret Gemignani, Roy Thomas, Ted White, and Mike Ulsan.
At about 12:00 or 12:30, Louis suggested we go out for lunch so that we could be back in time for the start of the con. To begin the program, a representative from the Comics Code Authority [MTG NOTE: General counsel Leonard Darvin] was sitting at the table up front. When his name was announced, the booing echoed like Captain Marvel’s thunder from the four walls. When everyone finally quieted down, he said that he was happy to hear us boo, because people outside of fandom complained that the Code was not strict enough!
After some moderate discussion, the fireworks really began!
Ted White started blasting away at the Code, asking them to defend their position with EC comics. Ted was shouting at them, asking their defense on the point that the Code put pressure on EC’s distributors, thus forcing them out of business. As most of you know, EC published some of the best horror comics ever during the forties and fifties. Can you imagine how the Code, with its rules on abuses, etc., would destroy horror mags like these? Well, Ted kept the battle going and never let down. The Code representative was practically speechless. Once, though, he claimed that the Code did not pressure
Some Faces In The Crowd
EC’s distributor. Ted White answered with a thrashing, “That, is a pile of crap, sir!”
Then the point was brought up about a panel of Thunder Agents [sic] artwork done by Wally Wood. This panel depicted a robot socking a policeman, and sending him flying head over heels. This panel was rejected by the Code because police aren’t supposed to get punched like that!
Then the topic came to sex—in relation to artwork. In the pre-Code days, many artists drew overly full-breasted women—or so the Code claims. “This is not allowed now,“ says the Code. Kiddies shouldn’t look, or be allowed to look upon such pictures. But the women shouldn’t be drawn flat-chested, either, states the Code meekly.
At about 2:00, this discussion ended and an auction was held. Sold at the auction was some original art. From about 2:30 to 3:00 there was a break and a chance for exchanges of old comics. Never had I ever seen so many rare and almost forgotten issues of old titles. At 3:00 a discussion (by a panel) was held. Three fans, among them Ted White, discussed the comics of the fifties. Mostly they talked about EC. There were some fiery testimonies, and then Ted White told the story of EC’s downfall.
He told about the pressure put on EC’s distributors, about how the Code would not allow an illustration with flying snakes because it was a picture that mocked angels (you know, the wings on the snakes!). Ted also mentioned how, in the end, EC was forced out of business along with 40 other comic publishing companies. Not titles, but 40 companies. Then there was some good mocking on, ugh, you guessed it, Dr. Wertham.
At about 4:30, Roy Thomas began pointing out some of the pros who had graced the Comicon with their presence. There was Jack
Attendees at the con included Comics Code counsel Leonard Darvin (middle left, facing left), “Rascally” Roy Thomas from Marvel (top), counterculture guru Paul Krassner (right), and probably “Magnificent” Maggie Thompson (bottom left).
JAGUAR Of The Jungle
A Silver Age Super-Hero Spawned In South America
by Will Murray
Not all jungle heroes wore loincloths like Tarzan of the Apes.
Some wore pith helmets: Alex Raymond’s Jungle Jim and his poor cousins, DC’s Congo Bill and TV’s Ramar of the Jungle, belonged to that select group of great white hunters.
Still others are not ones we would normally think of as jungle heroes.
One such was Ralph Hardy, worldtraveling zoologist, who was secretly The Jaguar. He got his start in the Peruvian jungles in 1961 and, at least as far as his first cycle of adventures was concerned, his career culminated in that same locale.
Hardy was the hero of Radio Comics’ (a.k.a. Archie Comics’) Adventures of The Jaguar. In his origin story, “Menace of the Inca Serpent!”—written by Robert Bernstein and drawn by John Rosenberger—he discovers a magical jaguar belt that transforms him into the scarlet-clad master of the animal kingdom.
Hardy seems to have been based––at least in part––on hunter Frank Buck of “Bring ‘Em Back Alive” fame, who also sported a pencil mustache. Buck was a big-game hunter who had captured animals alive for exhibition in zoos back in the 1920s and ’30s. [EDITOR’S NOTE: See previous issue for more about Frank Buck and his appearance in comics.]
In the Peruvian jungles, Archie Comics version, Hardy lassos a drowning jaguar from a rushing river, thereby establishing his love for all animals, even the savage ones.
In short order, the expedition spies a rare white jaguar. But, before they can capture it, an earthquake intervenes. From a crevice in the Earth merges a kind of savage dinosaur-serpent hybrid.
Seeking shelter, they follow the white jaguar to the ruins of an Incan temple. Spotting the feline’s paw prints in the temple corridors, Hardy splits off from the group and enters a chamber that appears to be otherworldly.
John Rosenberger drew nearly all the 1960s “Jaguar” stories, and many romance stories as well.
Robert Bernstein
Sometime “Superman” writer who would also script a number of early Marvel stories in the next couple of years. Thanks to Jim Kealy for the ID.
Hanging from a wall is a jaguar-pelt belt. Its buckle displays a winged jaguar. Hardy is able to read a wall inscription, which says that only he who is loved by the animal kingdom may wear this belt; if he speaks the words “The Jaguar,” he will be transformed into a human jaguar. Furthermore, he’ll gain the power to communicate with any beast over great distances, and will acquire any ability associated with the animal kingdom, but multiplied thousands of times.
The ancient Inca priests who left the message apparently
anticipated the serpentine dinosaur re-emerging from hibernation and left the belt so that a champion could be there to defeat it. This suggests an earlier Incan incarnation of The Jaguar. But never mind.
Speaking the words “The Jaguar!” Hardy transforms into the scarlet-suited hero and captures the beast, whose crushing jaws cannot overcome his invulnerability. Then he commands an army of armadillos to burrow a great hole, into which he deposits the creature. (No kidding—he really does!)
Speaking his own name, The Jaguar goes back to being Ralph Hardy, and the expedition members cluelessly and excitedly tell him about the new super-hero they witnessed. The rare white
Encountering the first of many alien invasions he would thwart, The Jaguar pounds his chest, summoning every gorilla in the neighborhood. Telepathically he commands them to beat the stuffing out of the aliens, which they obediently do.
But the foe is not finished. The Jaguar and his gorilla army are next encased in icy blocks. Because he’s like “a-hundredpolar-bears-in-one,” The Jaguar can survive being frozen alive. His nucleon-energy belt jet’s thrust melts the ice while a herd of telepathically summoned elephants break the gorillas free. The aliens skedaddle.
The Jaguar’s weaknesses are few. Gas can overcome him. Fire saps his strength. Radiation is a problem, as he discovers in his third exploit, when he encounters a giant irradiated white mouse. Summoning an ordinary feral cat is sufficient to spook the rampaging super-rodent, which shrinks back to normal size, ending the monster mouse menace.
The magical jaguar belt transformation causes Hardy’s mustache to vanish… a peculiar touch. And, as in the case of Clark Kent’s glasses, apparently its disappearance fools his assistant, Jill Ross, into not recognizing the mustached face of her boss in the clean-shaven countenance of the heroic Jaguar.
Comicbooks in 1961 were quite different than they are now…..
As a zoologist, Hardy roamed all over the world, ranging from South America to Africa. Often he encountered enemy aliens, and I don’t mean of the terrestrial type. Surviving dinosaurs were another threat bumped into more often than not when seeking live specimens.
In his second issue, Ralph Hardy goes to the Kenyan jungle in a story called “The Gulliver of the Jungle,” wherein tiny aliens from a dying world land to take over the Earth. As The Jaguar, Hardy comes up with a novel way to defeat them. He telepathically orders every animal in the jungle to set up a racket. The resulting bestial cacophony is so loud that it cracks and shatters the aliens’ space helmets. Since they can’t breathe our atmosphere, they hastily depart without further violence.
They don’t write comics like that anymore!
jaguar is seemingly forgotten.
The Jaguar’s abilities are carefully calculated to replicate Superman‘s basic powers—but with animal rationales. His skin is a thousand times tougher than rhinoceros hide, rendering him virtually invulnerable (not that the Incas would have been familiar with the rhino, but never mind). He can run many times faster than an antelope. Like his namesake, The Jaguar can see in the dark. His “ultra-animal cunning” is also mentioned. In one story, he transforms his head into that of a real jaguar.
One peculiarity of the character’s transformation into The Jaguar is that the belt sprouts what scripter Robert Bernstein called “nucleon energy” jets. These are two yellow pods attached to either side of the belt, which provide The Jaguar with jet-powered propulsion, enabling him to fly. How the Incas acquired such technology is never explained.
In the follow-up story, “The Invaders from Kordu!,” Hardy finds himself in Africa. Seeking refuge from a rainstorm, he stumbles into a den of leopards, who attack him. Becoming The Jaguar thanks to his “animal telepathy,” he soon has them purring.
Evidently, “animal magnetism” was one of The Jaguar’s powers. Early on, in conscious emulation of Superman’s complicated love life, the Jaguar began attracting exotic girlfriends.
The first was Kree-Nal, the green-skinned Sea Circe from Space, who is apparently a stand-in for Superman’s mermaid love, Lori Lemaris. She falls hopelessly in love with The Jaguar.
As does Cat Girl, the immortal inspiration for the Sphinx, who was first introduced in the Radio/Archie companion title Adventures of The Fly, and segued into becoming a Jaguar regular. After a first brush as an enemy, she decides that she has the hots for The Jaguar and becomes determined to marry him.
When Ralph Hardy’s secretary Jill Ross shows up in issue #6, Cat Girl flies into a jealous rage, and the struggle for The Jaguar’s affections among this trio of lovely ladies commences in earnest. Soon, they form the Jaguar Rescue Team, in case our hero is ever knocked out of action.
Jill Ross is cut from the same cliché cloth as Lois Lane. Blackhaired and sporting a short-cut professional hairdo, she is in love with The Jaguar and strongly suspects her boss of being him.
The plot parallels with the Man of Steel were no coincidence.
Still More Tarzanic Art From The Golden & Silver Ages
by Thomas Yeates
EDITOR’S NOTE: While graciously responding some months back to our call for scans of artwork related to jungle comics, Thomas Yeates— former artist of the Tarzan newspaper comic strip and nowadays of the legendary Prince Valiant—sent in his own remembrances of the jungle genre, along with some art that stretched somewhat the boundaries of our original intent—but that’s okay; boundaries are meant to be stretched. Because we’ve featured them so prominently elsewhere in this issue and the previous one, we’ve concentrated below not on “Sheena,” “Rulah,” and the usual sub-tropical suspects, but on the awesome outliers sent by Mr. Y.
rowing up in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s in America, we were all steeped in the popular media of the time. Horror was cool, but the focus in horror was usually on the monster. The heroes of that era were Western characters, film noir tough guys, war heroes, soldiers, detectives, swashbucklers, explorers, the occasional knights in armor, a few science-fiction heroes, and jungle heroes.
There didn’t seem to be a lot of opportunity for heroics in
the daily life of middle America, unless your area had a big crime problem. A lot of our vicarious thrills hung on those fictional heroes, men and women. This includes fictional stories about real people: Daniel Boone and Captain Kidd, for example.
All of these stories were an escape. For me it was escape from a life that was too stable, for others escape from a life that was too unstable. Of all those places to escape to, The Jungle was the most fascinating, the most exotic, the most dangerous, the most beautiful, the most exciting.
The biggest driver of all this was the fictional character Tarzan. Edgar Rice Burroughs’ pulp-magazine-story hero, a white British lord who was orphaned and raised by fictional apes in a fictional Africa, he was incredibly strong and lived wild and free. These novels, comics, and especially movies brought foreign lands and cultures into our lives. They were not accurate pictures of other lands and peoples, but they strongly suggested that there was a fascinating world out there beyond our daily routines.
With the success of Tarzan, other characters and stories were quick to try and capitalize on his popularity. Not all jungle stories were inspired by Burroughs’ ape-man, of course. Many focused on explorers, hunters, life on romantic tropical islands, the dregs of society hiding in dreary outposts, etc.
As the jungle story sub-genre grew, one of the biggest successes in comicbooks was the Jungle Girl. Burroughs’ stories were full of them, but in comicbooks the theme was refined
into a well-oiled machine. My guess is there were far more Jungle Girls in the comic books than Jungle Guys, at least during the 1940s and early ’50s. It’s hot in the tropics, so men and women could wear scanty outfits, which undoubtedly was a big attraction for the readers. With soldiers away from home during World War II, the Jungle Girl was a morale-booster.
One of the earlier comicbook jungle girls, Camilla of the Lost Empire, was actually mostly inspired by H. Rider Haggard’s novel She. Camilla’s early stories were quite interesting to me, because they were rather unique; the genre had yet to be as formularized as it would become later. Rulah was another one I enjoyed, as was Cave Girl by Bob Powell. Other female forest-dwellers of the era include Taanda, White Princess of the Jungle, from Avon, and Lorna the Jungle Queen and Jann of the Jungle, both published by Atlas. These were fierce characters. Women in Comics historian Trina Robbins raised both fists over her head and exclaimed “Rulah!” when I told her I was reading the Rulah collection—her
“It’s A JUNGLE COMIC Out There!”
Four French Tarzanides
by Jean-Marc Lofficier
The term “tarzanide” (pronounced tar-zan-eedz) was invented by French comics scholar Francis Lacassin to describe comics characters inspired by Tarzan. Such characters, be they male or female, resemble Tarzan in their physical resourcefulness, often have the gift of understanding and being understood by animals, and have a wide range of jungle adventures, including contact with lost civilizations. The creation of such characters followed the success of Tarzan both in pulp magazines (starting in 1912) and comic strips (starting in 1929).
There are too many such characters in French, Italian, and Spanish comics to list them all here; instead we have chosen to focus on four French tarzanides that have withstood the test of time and the vagaries of the world of comics publishing. So, in chronological order:
Durga Rani
Durga Rani was created by writer Martial Cendres and artist Pellos.
Martial Cendres was one of the pseudonyms of renowned French science-fiction writer René Thévenin (?-1967), who wrote two classic genre novels, Les Chasseurs d’Hommes [The Manhunters] (1930), the story of two super-powered mutants who keep men as pets or hunt them to feed on their life force, and Sur l’Autre Face du Monde [The Other Side of the World] (1935) (written under the pseudonym André Valérie). Thévenin eventually retired from writing fiction after joining the staff of the Museum of Natural History in Paris.
Pellos was the pseudonym of artist René Pellarin (1900-1998). After a prolific career as a sports cartoonist in the 1930s, he began drawing comics. In 1937, he co-created Futuropolis for the magazine Junior. Pellos remained extremely prolific, both during and after World War II. He took over Les Pieds Nickelés in 1948 and continued the series until 1981. His other credits include Electropolis (1940), Durga Rani (1946), and a remarkable adaptation of J.H. Rosny Aîné’s 1909 prehistoric novel La Guerre du Feu [Quest for Fire], drawn in 1951. Pellos received the prestigious Grand Prize of Angoulême in 1977.
It is unclear whether Durga Rani takes place in the ancient past, the far future, or on another planet altogether. Her world is an India or Asia that has no connection to any historical reality. Durga Rani, the so-called “queen of the jungle,” lives in peace with all the animals of the jungle. Her companions include Hanuman the ape and Hogh the elephant. She is the daughter of a secret race of mystics who live on a hidden isle, the Island of Silence, located in the middle of a great lake in a lost valley in the fearsome Black Mountains. That Shangri-La is ruled by a wise and ancient Master, who dispatches Durga Rani to help the less civilized people of the world.
Durga Rani was originally serialized in 1946 in a popular girls’ comic magazine entitled Fillette. The 126-page saga was later collected as three graphic novels by Société Parisienne d’Edition, La Reine des Jungles (two volumes) [The Queen of the Jungle] in 1948 and L’Appel du Maître [The Call of the Master] in 1949. [See art on next page.]
Tarou
Tarou was created by writer/artist Bob Dan, a pseudonym of Robert Dansler (1900-1973), a prolific comics creator since 1935 and the author of many adventure heroes, such as Jim Mystère, Bill Tornade, Jack Sport, etc. His best-remembered creation, however, remains Tarou.
Tarou is the son of a French engineer and a native woman who died in a monstrous Pacific storm. Young Tarou is rescued and raised by tigers. Later, he inherits a fortune from a wealthy Canadian uncle, but chooses to continue to live among his friends, the animals. His companions are blonde girl-friend Denise, trusted bushmaster Gerard, Salvator the lion, and Bali the monkey. Tarou also owns a boat, the Maori, which he uses to travel around the world.
