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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The Rocketeer - The Great Race And More!

It had been more than a few years since a new Rocketeer story had emerged from IDW when in 2022 on the 40th anniversary of the debut of The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens in the back pages of Starslayer at Pacific Comics a new story was released. It's a four-part tale by writer and artist Stephen Mooney. He's an unknown to me, so I went into this story with no expectations, save that Rocketeer stories are supposed to be above average. The Great Race is well above average. 

The story seems to pick up right after the events in Cliff Secord's adventure in New York City where he and Betty made amends. Everything we've learned about the Rocketeer since feels like it doesn't matter or haven't happened yet. Mooney clearly wants to keep the story grounded and that's hard to do when your hero has been flying all over God's green Earth saving folks of all kinds. So, think of this story as a soft reboot -- not an official rejection of other continuities but just allowing memory of them to fade. That proves to be a good strategy. Cliff is hired to fly an experimental racing plane built by an eccentric and exceedingly wealthy inventor. But his motives seem suspect from the start. The Nazis are involved when Cliff finds a gang of them operating in a remote California camp and later when one of them becomes a dastardly flyer in the race. Betty has a logical role to play and flies to Paris where the finish line is to await Cliff's arrival. The race is dangerous and before it's over as you no doubt guess the Rocketeer has a big part to play. 

It's really great stuff. Mooney's artwork is excellent with colors by Len O'Grady. It captures the era and the characters without aping the Stevens style. Mooney is able to bring his own approach to the characters, keep them on model for the most part and deliver a story which works. It's not as fantastical as many previous attempts at Rocketeer stories, and it's not without flaws, but it does take you back to those precarious days quite effectively. 

Here are the covers for the four-issue run. 

I give this story a big thumbs up. The book also features "Dave Stevens - An Oral History of the Rocketeer" by Kelvin Mao which gives the reader the story of how the character came to be. From the earliest days at Pacific to the final moments of we follow the saga of Stevens as he fashions his comics with amazing attention to detail. The saga is related largely by quotes from a myriad of associates of Stevens including his former editors, his colleagues and even his former wife and model for Betty, Brinke Stevens. The Rocketeer was at once one of the most successful and most elusive products of the early Indy comic era, and was recognized from the very beginning as something quite special. 

This book is highly recommended, and now for a few other things of Rocketeer interest. 

The first is The Rocketeer One-Shot comic from IDW. It sports several handsome covers, the one above by Adam Hughes. I wasn't lucky enough to land that one, but still it's a fun little comic, though like many modern comics it takes very little time to read. It's made up of three small tales. The first is "Amelia" written by Danny Bilson and Paul De Meo who also happened to have written the well-remembered Rocketeer movie from so many years ago. In this tale drawn by Adam Hughes we discover the connection between Cliff and a certain famous aviatrix who mysteriously vanished. The second tale by writer Kelvin Mao and artist Craig Cermak has Cliff try to stop the theft of an ancient South American artifact during a lecture by a famous archeologist, and he is helped by a nameless man who is excellent with a bullwhip. The final tale is tiny one written by Robert Windom and drawn by Jae Lee and features the Rocketeer in furious action while all the time remembering his girl is the most important thing in his life. There are several pin-ups in the back as well. Fun stuff if you can find a copy. 

The second is a new limited series by Stephen Mooney in the Rocketeer universe titled "Den of Thieves". This one is coming out currently in comic book form. I'll wait for the trade to add this yarn to my stack of Rocketeer stories, which even after four decades is still pretty slender all things considered. 

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Bram Stoker's Dracula!

I'm reading Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.

Dracula is one of those stories that is so familiar from film, comics, and other sources that it's worthwhile once and again to return to the original source to find out what's really true about the characters.

I've been getting some Dracula adaptations on film, and I want refresh my understanding of Stoker's original intent before I launch into these other versions. Dracula is a character who is so startling and compelling and one which has been transformed and reimagined so many ways that I think Stoker's original gets lost a bit.

I've also become aware recently that Dracula falls into a minor wave of Victorian fiction that foreshadows the fall of the British Empire by wondering what an invader on its shores would be like. Apparently several fanciful novels of the time fall into this vein of thought, War of the Worlds not being the least.

What got me started again was finding for very cheap The Illustrated Dracula featuirng the artwork of Jae Lee. I'm not a gigantic fan of Lee, nor do I think he quite captures the Count, but it's a handsome volume overall and reads very comfortably.

More Dracula-thoughts later.

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