The Nightmare-Hank Chapman/Wayne Boring-1951

I saw this story mentioned on Wikipedia and had to track it down and run it in spite of the fact that it's a fiche copy. It's a short, creepy little tale that lives up to its title, written by the prolific Hank Chapman and drawn oddly enough by the definitive 1950's SUPERMAN artist, Wayne Boring! Note that Chapman and his editor, Stan Lee, actually appear in the strip in the manner that William M. Gaines and Al Feldstein sometimes did at EC.

Love Thief-Lee Elias (?)-1951

Ever wonder what a romance comic story might look like drawn by STEVE CANYON's Milton Caniff? Well this Harvey story may be the closest you'll ever see to that possibility. I went out on a limb once before and presumed that a Harvey story with Caniff-style art was by Lee Elias who worked for Harvey drawing BLACK CAT for ages and yet it turned out to possibly be by Ray Bailey. Not quite so sure here. Parts of it look like Elias, parts like Bob Powell imitating Caniff with Will Eisner layouts on the splash page. Bottom line though is that whoever it is was working that Caniff style. The blond boyfriend even looks like Steve Canyon!

The Silicon Monsters From Galaxy X-Space Action-1952

Here's some nifty space opera with a most definite FLASH GORDON influence. I couldn't find any info on who actually did the art but there is so much Raymond influence it looks all so familiar.

The Phantom of Disaster-This Magazine is Haunted-1953

Fawcett comics weren't selling as well by the early fifties so, slowly but surely, much of the Captain Marvel content gave way to Doctor Death as the company jumped on the horror comics bandwagon. Although a bit long in my opinion, this particular tale, from a 1953 issue of THIS MAGAZINE IS HAUNTED, reminds me vaguely of the FINAL DESTINATION concept.

Mightymite-Ernie Hart-1946

Here's a fun tale from Quality's ALL-HUMOR COMICS from 1946, drawn and most likely written by the prolific Ernie Hart. Hart worked mostly for Timely and later Marvel, at various times an artist, editor, writer or all three at once. He is credited with creating SUPER RABBIT in the forties as well as doing art on some of the PUSSYCAT stories for Martin Goodman's men's mags of the sixties and writing credits as diverse as ANT-MAN and NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Two-Gun Kid-Joe Maneely-1958

Before the Two-Gun Kid became a Lone Ranger clone, he was...a singing cowboy! Here, in this early Tw0-Gun Kid story, we see him singing at two different points when he's not busy trying to catch his crooked double. The art here is late period, more simplified than normal work by the ill-fated Joe Maneely, said to have been the favorite artist of Stan Lee, who wrote this script.

Millie the Model-Stan Lee/Stan G-1962

This 1962 MILLIE THE MODEL flashback story deals with Millie's teenage obsession with fashion which makes it a de facto origin story for Millie! Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Stan Goldberg in a style somewhat between the early humor style and the mid-sixties soap opera seriousness of the title, it shows how the character was a lot more fun than just the "girls' comic" to which Marvel relegated it at the company's peak. Lee, of course, went on to be a beloved pop culture icon and Mr. Goldberg continues to turn out some wonderfully fun stories for Archie Comics. Millie ran from the mid-forties to the early seventies and has recently been revived as a part of the Marvel Universe.

Frightful Frankenstein Friday!- Frankenstein Meets Boris Karload, Master of Horror-Dick Briefer-1947

For our contribution to FRIGHTFUL FRANKENSTEIN FRIDAY, here's one of Dick Briefer's FRANKENSTEIN stories from the silly period. It's an extra, not included in the new book DICK BRIEFER'S FRANKENSTEIN edited by Craig Yoe but it's a longtime favorite of mine in which the lovable version of the monster meets a caricatured Boris Karloff, the actor most associated with the role OF the monster! Interesting to note that as late as 1947, that was, in fact, the case since he had not actually appeared in a film as the creature since SON OF FRANKENSTEIN seven years earlier. In the meantime, Lugosi, Chaney and Glenn Strange had each played the role onscreen but it was still Karloff the public remembered. In this story the Karload character is mild-mannered, just as the real Boris had been in spite of his Hollywood image. GCD credits Archie writer Ed Goggin as co-writing this story with Briefer. If it looks familiar to you comics blog surfers, it may be that you saw it on COMICRAZYS at one time. Go there today and you can read yet another story featuring Dick Briefer's FRANKENSTEIN! See the full list of participating blogs below!

And Everything Else Too

Blog of Frankenstein

Cartoon Snap!

Comicrazys

Four-Color Shadows

Frankensteinia: The Frankenstein Blog

Magic Carpet Burn

Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine

Random Acts of Geekery

Sekvenskonst

Sequential Crush

Stephen Bissette’s Myrant

The Big Blog of Kids Comics

The Comic Book Bin

The Fabuleous Fifties

The Horrors of It All

The ITCH Blog

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