Captain Cosmos Day!

Nicola "Nick" Cuti was born on this date in 1944.  Cuti was an important writer and editor at Charlton, Warren, and DC among others. He created Moonchild the Starbabe, and he co-created with Joe Staton my favorite superhero E-Man. He is a winner of the Bill Finger award. Today's focus is the hero he created and actually played in self-produced little TV episodes -- Captain Cosmos! 

Nick Cuti (writer, artist, editor, and all-around nice guy) had a TV show he'd been trying to get off the ground for years now. It's titled Captain Cosmos -- The Last Starveyor and it starred Nick himself in the title role.  Later a pilot did get made, but it was with a different cast, and a second comic came out featuring some of those alterations. Again, the great Joe Staton was on the artwork. I got the comic, but I'd never seen the pilot episode. Cuti painted the cover. 

 

There was a pilot planned but scrapped. but it spawned a comic from Hamilton Comics in 1997 by Nick and his longtime E-Man partner Joe Staton. It was numbered zero. The story was titled "Never Leave Me..." and had the good Captain and company transport an alien woman with strange powers over nature to a distant planet. 

Later a pilot did get made, but it was with a different cast, and a second comic came out featuring some of those alterations. Again, Staton was on the artwork. I got the comic, but I'd not yet seen the pilot episode. The story in this 1998 story is titled "The Beast from Hyperspace". (That's artist Jim Janes under the mask as the villain "Gon" from the episode and not the story inside by the way.)

In an e-mail exchange with Nick many years ago, I commented on these comics, and he very graciously sent me the graphic novel version which includes the stories and contents of the first two issues (numbered #0 and #1) and a new story too. This "graphic novel" is identified as issue #2 of Captain Cosmos. There's also a new story titled "Lost in Transit" and sees the daughter of Captain Cosmos get misplaced during a teleporting accident. Another Cuti painting graces the cover. 

The ashcan contains the first two Captain Cosmos stories. 

And there is a #4 issue of the comic (Nick skipped #3 considering the #0 issue to count as the real #1 -- even now you can't escape that wacky Charlton numbering -- it must get in the bloodstream somehow). I've not got it, but it seems to be another story titled "The Black Hole Headache" that previously appeared in abbreviated form in Even More Fund Comics, but it does sport a new Cuti cover. There's also a fumetti version of the first Captain Cosmos TV show. A third Cuti painting serves as the cover of this final comic book outing. 

I found a DVD version of the existing shows titled "The Gray Ghosts" and ordered it lickety-split. It was charming. The DVD contained the pilot and two additional shows which use the character in a more kid-friendly mentoring role called "Cosmic Theater" are blended together in a story that points back to the series origins and the old space operas of TV from the 50's. Space Patrol, Rocky Jones Space Ranger and Tom Corbet are clear inspirations for these shows. The DVD offers a new episode beyond the "Gray Ghosts" storyline, though it could be linked in quite easily. There is even in one episode a segment of Space Patrol and a cartoon called Lunar Luger, both vintage items.

 

I'm not going to tell you these are great shows. They're not. The lack of funds shows up all over. There's an alien planet that looks just like the park the humans start from, with fences and roads and everything. There's some very tepid acting. The main set, the command cabin was apparently set up in Nick's dining room. But there's also some pretty decent acting, and some of the better stuff is from Nick himself. This ain't Shakespeare, but it is charming and it's fun. The storyline that formed the original pilot is clearly the best of the bunch and more of that would've really made this pretty good. The sound on the DVD is pretty spotty, but you'll find the virtual backgrounds pretty good at times. The funniest thing about the whole deal is that one character named Zen-Ya is played by at least four different actresses (maybe five) and that's explained by making her a shapeshifter of sorts who changes bodies like we change fashion. It's a clever solution to a hilarious problem. Also, each issue of the comics features material on the old TV shows that inspired the character. There are tons of photos from old 50's TV to feast on as well as a couple of essays on Space Patrol and the like. 

Captain Cosmos looks a lot like Nick Cuti and that's no accident as Nick plays the good Captain in the several homespun episodes of the "show" he has self-produced. Low budget but charming, they speak eloquently of a love for old-fashioned ideals, something I can certainly identify with.

In the novel Spin a Web of Death we get a thorough back story for Captain Cosmos, an older yet still eager space explorer who like so many folks anywhere and anytime is making a living in the real world while still hoping for adventure. As a young man he was part of an ill-fated program call the "Starveyers" which sought to accurately chart the space ways. Now he's a man of heart and failed farmer and family man who hauls cargo for men he has limited respect for.  Adventure drops into his lap when he is asked help evacuate a planet which is about to destroy itself. He finds a few strange alien races and perhaps even romance, but certainly danger as the mission becomes more about courage and even foolhardiness.

The book begins a bit slowly as we learn about the world of Cosmos, his history and his sense of duty. We learn of his fascination with old-fashioned TV shows, and this detail actually becomes quite important in a story which takes us into his mind in some odd and at times fascinating ways. I wish this story had ended before it did, as we are given a portrait of a man who does what he wants, what he needs to do despite the consequences, and those choices can reap a bitter harvest. But that's not the story here. This is romance, pure and simple in all the senses of that word.  

And now there's a second Captain Cosmos novel titles Halloween Hollow. I never knew about this 2018 novel featuring the Starveyer as he confronts Halloween. but snatched it up eagerly when I learned of its existence. This is a weaker novel than its predecessor with a plot that reads more like a video game than a true novel. Cosmos and his crew are tasked with taking new life-sustaining batteries to a planet which celebrates Halloween all the time and is in fact a place filled with strange habitats that appear to be Halloween carnivals and various other such things. We presented with wide array of classic monster images, most explained by way of alien races. Perhaps the weirdest thing is that one of the crew is an alien who resembles and behaves like a clown. It's a strange and chaotic ride, perhaps an attempt by Cuti to evoke the feel of a Halloween carnival event, but its uneven at best. It is a swift read though. 

Nick Cuti was an unabashed fan of those old space shows which once upon a time populated the TV screens. He made his own version, a memorial of sorts to those vintage shows and now a memorial to Nick himself.

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Captain Cosmos - The Last Starveyer!

Nick Cuti (writer, artist, editor, and all-around nice guy) has a TV show he's been trying to get off the ground for years now. It's titled Captain Cosmos -- The Last Starveyor and it stars Nick himself in the title role.  Later a pilot did get made, but it was with a different cast and a second comic came out featuring some of those alterations. Again, Staton was on the artwork. I got the comic, but I'd never seen the pilot episode.

There was a pilot planned but scrapped but it spawned a comic from Hamilton Coimcs in 1997 by Nick and his longtime E-Man partner Joe Staton. It was numbered zero. 

Later a pilot did get made, but it was with a different cast and a second comic came out featuring some of those alterations. Again, Staton was on the artwork. I got the comic, but I'd never seen the pilot episode.

In an e-mail exchange with Nick many years ago, I commented on these comics, and he very graciously sent the graphic novel version which includes the stories and contents of the first two issues (numbered #0 and #1) and a new story too. This "graphic novel" is identified as issue #2 of Captain Cosmos. 

Apparently, there also an "aschcan" version of the comic and a #4 issue of the comic (Nick skipped #3 considering the #0 issue to count as the real #1 -- even now you can't escape that wacky Charlton numbering -- it must get in the bloodstream somehow). I've not got it, but it seems to be another story that previously appeared in Even More Fund Comics, but it does sport a new Cuti cover. I need to get hold of this too. 

I found a DVD version of the existing shows titled "The Gray Ghosts" on Amazon and ordered it lickety-split. It was charming. The DVD contained the pilot and two additional shows which use the character in a more kid-friendly mentoring role called "Cosmic Theater" are blended together in a story that points back to the series origins and the old space operas of TV from the 50's. Space Patrol and Tom Corbet are clear inspirations for these shows. The DVD offers a new episode beyond the "Gray Ghosts" storyline, though it could be linked in quite easily. There is even in one episode a segment of Space Patrol and a cartoon called Lunar Luger, both vintage items.

 

I'm not going to tell you these are great shows. They're not. The lack of funds shows up all over. There's an alien planet that looks just like the park the humans start from, with fences and roads and everything. There's some very tepid acting. The main set, the command cabin was apparently set up in Nick's dining room. But there's also some pretty decent acting, and some of the better stuff is from Nick himself. This ain't Shakespeare, but it is charming and fun. The storyline that formed the original pilot is clearly the best of the bunch and more of that would've really made this pretty good. The sound on the DVD is pretty spotty, but you'll find the virtual backgrounds pretty good at times. The funniest thing about the whole deal is that one character named Zen-Ya is played by at least four different actresses (maybe five) and that's explained by making her a shapeshifter of sorts who changes bodies like we change fashion. It's a clever solution to a hilarious problem. Also, each issue of the comics features material on the old TV shows that inspired the character. There are tons of photos from old 50's TV to feast on as well as a couple of essays on Space Patrol and the like. 

Captain Cosmos looks a lot like Nick Cuti and that's no accident as Nick plays the good Captain in the several homespun episodes of the "show" he has self-produced. Low budget but charming, they speak eloquently of a love for old-fashioned ideals, something I can certainly identify with.

In the novel Spin a Web of Death we get a thorough back story for Captain Cosmos, an older yet still eager space explorer who like so many folks anywhere and anytime is making a living in the real world while still hoping for adventure. As a young man he was part of an ill-fated program call the "Starveyers" which sought to accurately chart the spaceways. Now he's a man of heart and failed farmer and family man who hauls cargo for men he has limited respect for.  Adventure drops into his lap when he is asked help evacuate a planet which is about to destroy itself. He finds a few strange alien races and perhaps even romance, but certainly danger as the mission becomes more about courage and even foolhardiness.

The book begins a bit slowly as we learn about the world of Cosmos, his history and his sense of duty. We learn of his fascination  with old-fashioned TV shows, and this detail actually becomes quite important in a story which takes us into his mind in some odd and at times fascinating ways. I wish this story had ended before it did, as we are given a portrait of a man who does what he wants, what he needs to do despite the consequences and those choices can reap a bitter harvest. But that's not the story here. This is romance, pure and simple in all the senses of that word. 

Nick Cuti was an unabashed fan of those old space shows which once upon a time populated the TV screens. He made his own version, a memorial of sorts to those vintage shows and now a memorial to Nick himself. 

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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Moonchild Comics!

I've been aware of Moonchild, The late Nicola Cuti's peculiarly nubile creation for many years, running across the character in The History of Underground Comics. I've never read any full-blown story until I got this collection. I ordered up Walt Wentz's collection of Moonchild stories. He's collected the Moonchild stories from the early fanzines and underground comics and put them together in a slim but intriguing magazine-sized B&W comics package. At eight bucks counting shipping this curiosity is worth the price of admission. 

If you're a Nick Cuti fan like me, it falls into the must-have category. You see a very young Cuti at work here, with much of the work raw and at times amateurish. But there's an undercurrent which makes it hang together some way. Moonchild is a Starbaby, a space-based fairy, and like Little Annie Fanny or Barbarella is naive and innocent while possessed of a healthy female body. There is actually little sexual content here, but there is lots of suggestion and nudity. Mostly this is light-hearted and weird cartooning. There are also some Pussywillow strips, a more purely underground version of Moonchild. This collection ain't for everyone. I'm not sure I get it all, but it's a very good look at a solid comics talent's early formative work. And Nick's a heck of a nice guy to boot.

I found this Nicola Cuti gem hidden away in a comics shop I get to infrequently. It's a place that I can count on to have all sorts of strange items, and the folks there didn't let me down. I've wanted a copy of this since I caught sight of it on the internet. Moonie is the renamed "Moonchild" a character Nicola Cuti created way back in the 60's, a psycho blend of a childlike face with sex bomb characteristics. It's a staple of Manga and Anime today, but then still quite unsettling. Here's a link for more details. Of all his creations, Cuti says that his mentor Wally Wood told him that Moonchild had potential. Moonchild has been changed into "Moonie" now, a somewhat more adult version of the character, more in the tradition of Little Annie Fanny and suchlike. I talked on this blog about getting my first collection of Moonchild stories here.

 

Moonie and the Spider Queen adapts a three-issue limited series from MU from around 2004. The introduction suggests that the novel form has more pure sex in it, and my random sampling suggests this is likely true. The story is amply decorated with drawings from the comics series by Cuti with inks by the late Dave Simons.

 

I can't say the novel is especially erotic, but it is offbeat and the shifting from narrative points of view between Moonie and Perry, the two protagonists of the story gives is a wacky neo-Burroughsian feel.

 

It's a weird item, but I'm a sucker tor the work of Nicola Cuti. It's not always my cup of tea, but it's always an interesting brew. 

NOTE: This is a Dojo Revised Classic Post. 

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Pow! The Last Squeeze Play!

Wally Wood was always it seemed a roving agent, always looking for opportunities and his mastery of his craft made him a desirable partner for folks, both those up and coming and looking for a mentor and those like James Warren looking for a talent to help him expand his magazine empire. He'd found partners in Forry Ackerman for Famous Monsters of Filmland and Archie Goodwin for Creepy and Eerie among others. He looked to Wally Wood for that special somewhat naughty flair that Wood had delivered on some independent and underground projects and which simmered just under the garments of many a well-rendered damsel in countless above ground comics pages. He wanted Woody to give him a comic magazine that was a little more frank about sexual matters. The magazine was dubbed Pow! and work was begun by Wood and Nick Cuti among others such as the artist of the page above Ernie Colon. (Note: That's Nick Cuti with the muttonchops in the first panel.) "I Wonder Who's Squeezing Her Now?" is a downbeat story of life in post-modern United States and how downtrodden people can become and what measures they can resort to when times get tough and love and expectations falter. Read the story here. 

But Pow! did not develop and the story was all that was produced aside from some logo designs and such. It became yet one more what-if project in the career of one of comic's most talented creators.

The story has been published twice t my knowledge, once over a decade after its creation in the Warren magazine 1984 and later in a Renegade Press publication named Murder. It's a rough and tumble story and show's what might have been if Pow! had become a reality. 

Note: This post originally appeared at Rip Jagger's Other Dojo. I will be transferring some of those posts over here as the month goes on. 

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Girl Fridays - Nova!

I have a various times reported that E-Man by Joe Staton and the late great Nick Cuti is my favorite superhero. I latched onto the Charlton project in the middle of its brief Bronze Age run but it filled me with glee to read the issues over and over and to fill in the few I was missing. Then E-Man was revived at First Comics, then again at Comico, then again at Apple, then again and again and yet again here and there over the decades. The last E-Man story was published a few years back and with the passing of Cuti there will be no more I guess. I'm both sad about that, but happy I got to enjoy them while they lasted. 

No small part of that enjoyment was Nova Kane, the college student slash exotic dancer who welcomes the alien Alec Tronn to our Earth and then falls in love with the dopey shapeshifter. She herself undergoes changes, becoming his powered-up partner. But at first she was a mere Earth woman as if that were a mere thing at all. I recently came across this bit of vintage Staton artwork. 

It's not the first time I've seen Nova rendered by her co-creator sans clothing, but it might well be the first time he drew her that way. She's produced in that delightful "bubbly" style (that's what I call it anyway) Staton had when he first started at Charlton. His figures were rounder and less angular. And "roundness" is the perfect way to draw a lovely like the alluring Nova. 

I miss having new E-Man stories but I will always have the old ones. Here are the original Charlton covers that featured Nova. 

Expect more ravishing "Girl Fridays" features in the weeks ahead. 

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