Doctor Cyclops Goes To Riverdale!

Dr. Cyclops is an intriguingly titled move from the 1940's. I'd long wanted to see it when I found it included with some Universal monster flicks from the 1950's which I dearly adore such as The Monolith Monsters and The Tarantula. The flicker features a mad scientist isolated in the Amazon jungle who is experimenting with making things small and considers the arrival of a party of strangers a good fortune for his research. Albert Dekker comes across as properly mad in this one. 

Here's a surprising and also delightful 1960's sci-fi cover by John Giunta for the seventh and final issue of Archie's Tales Calculated to Drive You Bats. It offers up a slightly more serious run-in between a trio of explorers and a calculating and cruel three-eyed scientist. Below is the splash page.

And here's a link to read the compete story with art by Archie mainstay Dan DeCarlo.

The story is clearly an unofficial adaptation of sorts of the classic sci-fi movie Doctor Cyclops which also pits a gang of explorers against a mad scientist who wants to shrink them down for his own purposes. His name is the result of his giant status as well as his exceedingly limited eyesight which makes his domination of his tiny victims all the more difficult.

This story, clearly inspired by Homer's The Odyssey was written by Henry Kuttner for inclusion in a 40's issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Kuttner adapted the story from the film script. The movie was directed by Ernest B. Shoedsack, who had in years previous directed King Kong. The movie has the distinction of being the first American horror film produced in full Technicolor. All in all, a nice diversion. 

That story proved popular enough to end up eventually in this 60's paperback anthology, which thought enough of the story to headline it, but not feature it in the cover art. A strange choice, I think. 

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Thunder Agents Classics Volume Two!

The second volume of THUNDER Agents Classics from IDW is chock full of vintage Silver Age goodness. With artwork by a who's who of the time, the reader can feast on some of the core stories which created the myth of this Tower Comics phenomenon. Wally Wood continues on the lead feature, but finds more help from Reed Crandall, Mike Sekowsky, George Tuska, Gil Kane, John Giunta, and especially Steve Ditko and Dan Adkins. Many of the stories are credited to Steve Skeates, something of a surprise to me.

The real surprise is the key story in this collection which includes THUNDER Agents #5, 6, and 7 along with the debut issue of Dyanamo is a blockbuster tale titled "A Matter of Life and Death" written and designed by Dan Adkins, drawn by Steve Ditko and inked by Adkins and Wood.  This is the story upon which much of the Agents reputation sits, the story which changed the game. Early in the series Egghead,  a member of the THUNDER Squad died with little fanfare, but in this story one of the headline members of the agents meets his maker as Menthor is killed in action.

Unlike the ballyhooed and bombastically hyped "deaths" in modern comics which seem to occur on nearly a monthly basis, this demise was a true surprise. Heroes didn't die in the Silver Age, at least not mainstays like Menthor seemed to be. He was one of the original three THUNDER Agents before the advent of Lightning. Raven would hop onto the scene soon after, filling the void somewhat, but there was no denying the death of Menthor was a big deal in the Silver Age of comics.

Here are the covers of the issues included in the second volume.

Upcoming is the third volume of IDW's reprint series which debuts the weirdness of Manny Stallman and the end of the the threat of the Warlords and their minions. 

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Along Came A S.P.I.D.E.R.!

THUNDER Agents Classics Volume 3 is a rock solid collection of Silver Age superhero action with a vintage espionage flavor. At this point the agents are firmly developed. The sometimes dim-witted Len Brown as Dynamo continues to succeed, sometimes in spite of his efforts in classic tales by Wally Wood. NoMan, the android able to switch bodies on a whim continues to use his invisibility cloak to good effect in stories drawn exceedingly well by John Giunta. Lightning, a capable agent and former leader of the THUNDER Squad uses the life-destroying speed suit and fights a wide variety of unusual threats in wacky stories by Mike Sekowsky. With the death of Menthor, a new agent is introduced. Raven joins the team, though after the initial story drawn by George Tuska he seems to be operating in a whole other world than the other agents thanks to some wild stories and wilder artwork by Manny Stallmann.

The threat of the Subterraneans, the threat which has motivated THUNDER since the first issue is finally laid to rest after the eighth issue, though echoes of the struggle keep popping up here and there, especially in stories featuring the superhuman Subterranean creation Andor. But that aside, the new menace is S.P.I.D.E.R. This super-organization of human criminals stands as the opposite of THUNDER in many respects as reflected in their name Secret People's International Directorate for Extra-legal Revenue. The switch is not immediately apparent in the tone of the stories since many of the villains formerly associated with the defeated Subterraneans switch over to SPIDER such as Demo, Dr.Sparta, and even the Iron Maiden. New baddies do emerge such as Tarantula and Mayven.

There are some real gems in this particular collection, my favorite story being "The Black Box of Doom" which has the whole team (minus Raven) trying to keep the enemy world powers from getting their mitts on a mysterious but deadly box from space. Other offbeat highlights are some lighter-toned stories by George Tuska in a broader style featuring Weed of the THUNDER Squad which give the books some needed laughs.

Solid entertainment! Here are the covers of the issues in this third volume. 

And of course the early stories are still available in these handsome editions.

And here's a peek at the fourth volume due out later this summer.

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A Matter Of Life And Death!

The second volume of THUNDER Agents Classics from IDW is chock full of vintage Silver Age goodness. With artwork by a who's who of the time, the reader can feast on some of the core stories which created the myth of this Tower Comics phenomenon. Wally Wood continues on the lead feature, but finds more help from Reed Crandall, Mike Sekowsky, George Tuska, Gil Kane, John Giunta, and especially Steve Ditko and Dan Adkins. Many of the stories are credited to Steve Skeates, something of a surprise to me.

The real surprise is the key story in this collection which includes THUNDER Agents #5, 6, and 7 along with the debut issue of Dyanamo is a blockbuster tale titled "A Matter of Life and Death" written and designed by Dan Adkins, drawn by Steve Ditko and inked by Adkins and Wood.  This is the story upon which much of the Agents reputation sits, the story which changed the game. Early in the series Egghead,  a member of the THUNDER Squad died, but in this story one of the headline members of the agents meets his maker as Menthor is killed in action.

Unlike the ballyhooed and bombastically hyped "deaths" in modern comics which seem to occur on nearly a monthly basis, this demise was surprise. Heroes didn't die in the Silver Age, at least not mainstays like Menthor seemed to be. He was one of the original three THUNDER Agents before the advent of Lightning. Raven would hop onto the scene soon after, filling the void somewhat, but there was no denying the death of Menthor was a big deal in the Silver Age of comics.

Here are the covers of the issues included in the second volume.

And if you haven't yet picked up the first volume and want to read some wonderfully vivid Silver Age comics, I heartily recommend it.

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Doctor Triclops!

Here's a surprising and also delightful sci-fi cover by John Giunta for the seventh and final issue of Archie's Tales Calculated to Drive You Bats. It offers up a slightly more serious run-in between a trio of explorers and a calculating and cruel three-eyed scientist. Below is the splash page.

And here's a link to read the compete story with art by Archie mainstay Dan DeCarlo.

The story is clearly an unofficial adaptation of sorts of the classic sci-fi movie Doctor Cyclops which also pits a gang of explorers against a mad scientist who wants to shrink them down for his own purposes. His name is the result of his giant status as well as  his exceedingly limited eyesight.

This story, clearly inspired by Homer's The Odyssey was adapted by Henry Kuttner for inclusion in a 40's issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories. Kuttner adpated the story from the film script.

That story proved popular enough to end up eventually in this 60's paperback collection, which thought enough of the story to headl line it, but not feature it in the cover art. Strange.

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