Betty Page Day!

Dave Stevens was born on this date in 1955. Stevens was the best "Good Girl" artist of his generation. Stevens had a career in animation and only dabbled in comics in those early years. He never concocted a more intoxicating image than when he was inspired to draw Betty in the pages of his iconic The Rocketeer stories. Betty was a true bombshell, a gorgeous gal with a body to die for, which Cliff Secord the Rocketeer himself was all too ready to do. 

Of course, most everyone knows nowadays that Stevens was inspired to create Betty and in fact based her bodacious form on the real-life bombshell Bettie Page. Page has herself become an icon of an era when celebration of the female form was still regarded as an artform, albeit a somewhat shoddy one. In these modern days of instant access to internet porn, the pictures of Bettie Page, both clad and unclad seem rather quaint. But what was provocative, illicit, and even at times illegal once upon a time is now the merely quaint in the rosy glow of nostalgia. 

And Dave Stevens evoked nostalgia in its finest form in his Rocketeer pages, hearkening back to the adventurous times of bygone decades when airplanes were still fresh and exciting and not merely transportation. Stevens gave all of his worlds and the people in them a happy glistening touch which made them ideals and not just people. Here is a time with simple virtues when bravery was enough to win the day. It was good guys and bad guys and always beautiful dames.

Stevens rocked the comic book world in the early 80's when in the back pages of Pacific Comics Starslayer #2 he unleashed The Rocketeer. Immediately it was a hit and zoomed out of the back pages into cover status. Stevens blew us all away with his delectable depiction of the Rocketeer's number one damsel -- the always vivacious Betty. This is the one page I'd say had the same level of impact as the Silver Age debut of Mary Jane Watson. Stevens went on to become the go-to artist for good girl art across the comic book world, while at the same time continuing his main career in animation. In lieu of the holiday I'm offering up a few more examples of the vintage Stevens covers, quite simply because I could not choose among these love ladies -- so why do it.

(Inks over Wally Wood pencils)

(Inks over Jack Kirby pencils)

If I've forgotten one let me know. Dave Stevens was a special artist. 

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The Sound Of Thun'da!

Thun'da King of the Congo #1 has the distinction of apparently being the only full-length comic book illustrated by Frank Frazetta. He is credited with creating Thun'da though the scripts are by Gardner Fox. Frazetta left the comic after a single issue because editorial demanded he move Thun'da from a savage "Lost World" filled with prehistoric beasts to the relatively mundane jungle of the then modern Congo. Instead of a Burroughsian fantasy hero in the mold of David Innes, they wanted yet another Tarzan knock-off. The debut cover is a classic. 

They got what they wanted in subsequent five issues illustrated by reliable comics journeyman Bob Powell. 

Thun'da King of the Congo even went on to become a movie serial starring Buster Crabbe. But there was this one issue by Frazetta. 

The first story by writer Gardner Fox and artist Frazetta is titled "King of the Lost Lands", and it tells of how during WWII Roger Drum an aviator crashes his supply plane inside the mysterious regions of Africa. 

(Thun'da Model Sheet)

He finds a "lost world" filled with beast men and dinosaurs. He battles furiously to survive but eventually goes native and is soon dubbed "Thun'da" by the Valley People and the beautiful Phra. Presumably the name is a result of the boom his gun made as he fired his last bullets to kill a giant snake. This is a rugged story told at a rapid clip and features some fantastic Frazetta imagery. To read "King of the Lost Lands" go here. 

Here are the three remaining Frazetta Thun'da stories with links so you can read the entire thing. 

The second story is titled "The Monsters from the Mists!" and this yarn finds Thun'da fighting monkeymen who have tamed shaggy mammoths. Protecting the lovely Phra Thun'da battles against the apemen, killing thier leader and escaping their lair to lead a counterattack using fire against the enemy by uniting the tribes of the valley. To enjoy "The Monsters from the Mists" check out this link. 

The third story titled "When the Earth Shook" pits Thun'da and Phra alongside a sabretooth tiger named Sabre. Thun'da killed its parent and raises the beast as his companion. An earthquake opens the lost land up and a white hunter and his black bearers find their way into the valley. They take Thun'da captive and threaten him to help them find gold. But he escapes, raises the natives and fights back. The outsiders try to take their gold, but another earthquake buries them and closes off the lost world.  To read "When the Earth Shook" visit this link. 

The fourth and final story "Gods of the Jungle" finds Thun'da operating in the Congo as yet another jungle hero. He battles against natives and white hunters, particularly two Soviet spies who use native superstition to build up a false monster-god. Thun'da reveals the deception and puts down this threat of the agitated and decived natives and the spies are turned over to the authorities. The last scene shows Thun'da, Phra and Sabre heading out into the veldt. To read "Gods of the Jungle" go here. 

(Dave Stevens Bettie Page cover evokes the Frazetta classic.)

(Austrian Reprint 1983)

(Dark Horse Reprint 2010)

(Fantagraphics Books Reprint 1987)

Outstanding stuff. It's a pity Frazetta couldn't do more and it's a pity his vision was snuffed out. I've read some of the Powell Thun'da stories in an AC reprint and they are fine but predictable and bland. Frazetta's Thun'da is dynamic and grim, if not always logical. Like the best of ERB, the Thun'da stories by Frazetta and Fox don't always makes complete sense, but they always carry you away.

In 2012 Dynamite Comics got their mitts on Thun'da and attempted to retell the story. We meet Thun'd all over again, this time he's a conflicted man with an unsavory past and he's plunked down into a world brimming with dinosaurs. The covers are by Jae Lee and they are handsome enough, with issue three having some real power. The series ran for five issues and was collected along with a complete reprint of the Frazetta classic. 

These subsequent Thun'da tales lack the potency of the Frazetta classics, but we already knew that. I imagine there might be Thun'da stories out there I'm ignorant of. Please let me know. 

More Frazetta tomorrow. 

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