Production on these Media in Comics showcases must sadly slow down now, for I have worked my way through my backlog. As evidence of this, today we are showcasing some magical books, which are genrally unique items that fall under nobody’s definition of mass media but which I want to include anyway, for fun’s sake. Books of Magic: You all remember the fabled Black Book of Sorcery that the wicked Egyptologist Ford committed all those murders for, well here it…
It it the nature of comic books that we will always be doing Problematic Updates. Dr Finkle: Dr Finkle himself is nothing special: he’s a psuedo-Nazi teamed up with the pseudo-Japanese Matsui in a scheme to steal securities belonging to Axis-conquered countries that are held in America. The real issue lies with Finkle’s primary agents, who you may notice being referred to as “Indian Monsters” in the final panel above. These “Indian Monsters” are straight out of something like Bone…
These guys use science for crime and evil, for which we excoriate them, but they also make entertaining villains, for which we celebrate them. Dr Stone: Dr Elijah Stone has a calling and it is in creating and disseminating deadly plagues upon mankind. This, however, is the kind of passion that society frowns upon and Stone is locked away in the State Mental Hospital. Unfortunately for mankind, the State Mental Hospital seems to be one of those places that contracts…
Aliens are just like us if you think about it, man. Atlanteans: First things first: these are not actually Atlanteans, at least not yet. As far as I can tell, the word “Atlantis” is not employed in any Namor appearance from 1939-1941, and his people are collectively referred to as “Sub-Mariners” just like their prince. We are left with one of our signature Vexing Conundrums: just when do the Sub-Mariners become Atlanteans? Will we find out before we learn the…
Comics love to have media in them, and I love telling you about those media. Music: Though the radio debut Roger Midas and His Melodeers is a hopeful sign for the relationship between former absentee workaholic father and snob Harvey Midas and his progeny, one can’t help but be a little cynical about the sudden success of a rich man’s passion project. (Detective Comics v1 047, 1941) When I detailed the musical output of the Murder Maestro in the last…
Everyone likes a good monster now and then. Horned Cat: With every one of these round-ups I accrue more evidence that the Slightly Different Big Cat is one of the classic monster types, as seen here when Congo Jack is confronted with this horned green feline in the mystical Valley of Vango in the Congolese jungle. As a bonus, a few steps later he has to deal with another classic: the carnivorous plant, or in this case flesh-eating bush. (Lightning…