Saturday, July 21, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The Rats: Delta 99
Based on the cover The Rats appears to be another regular Gredown horror/sorcery issue, but it is in fact a dedicated Delta 99 issue.
Delta 99 were also featured in Strange Mission of the Weird Brain (see cover image here). Check out Kevin Patrick’s blog for more information on Gredown features such as Delta 99 and 5 and the Infinite, including details of some interesting local editions and their publishing origins.
I showed this issue to Kevin a week ago and he says the cover looks like the work of Phil Belbin. So many of the Gredown horror covers featured generic ‘adult horror’ images but in this case it certainly appears to be specially commissioned as it is based on images appearing in the first story.
Delta 99 were also featured in Strange Mission of the Weird Brain (see cover image here). Check out Kevin Patrick’s blog for more information on Gredown features such as Delta 99 and 5 and the Infinite, including details of some interesting local editions and their publishing origins.
I showed this issue to Kevin a week ago and he says the cover looks like the work of Phil Belbin. So many of the Gredown horror covers featured generic ‘adult horror’ images but in this case it certainly appears to be specially commissioned as it is based on images appearing in the first story.
“The Rats” is the name of the first 24-page installment, and the second is titled “Super-Delta”.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Ditko Alert - Haunted Tales #31
A heads-up on an otherwise regulation Haunted Tales issue featuring “A Demon and his Boy”, a Steve Ditko tale originally published in House of Mystery #258, May-June 1978.
Also of note in this issue is a reprint of “We Battled the Storm Creature”, originally from My Greatest Adventure #40, February 1960 and reprinted in Five-Score Comic Monthly #25, c. June 1960. I’m unaware of any subsequent US reprint of this story, so this may be another of those K.G. Murray oddities in which a story is pulled from the archives to fill out an issue.
Also of note in this issue is a reprint of “We Battled the Storm Creature”, originally from My Greatest Adventure #40, February 1960 and reprinted in Five-Score Comic Monthly #25, c. June 1960. I’m unaware of any subsequent US reprint of this story, so this may be another of those K.G. Murray oddities in which a story is pulled from the archives to fill out an issue.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Alex Toth Reprint Stocktake Part 6
I hear from one of my fellow K.G. Murray Toth-watchers that the Robert Kanigher/Alex Toth story "White Devil... Yellow Devil!" which originally appeared in Star Spangled War Stories #164, 1972, is reprinted in Army at War, a 96 page $0.95 cover price Murray Comics one-shot circa 1980.
I don’t have a copy of this issue but I recommend checking out this review with accompanying page scans. I’m sure this Toth piece is as compelling in its black and white incarnation as I’ve come to expect from Toth reprints, but looking at these scans I’m also reminded just how well his art comes up when coloured appropriately - I know not everyone is enamoured of the 'muddy muted tones' approach to colouring, but in the right hands it can be just the subtle touch required. Not sure how often this story has been reprinted, but I’m willing to bet it looks best on an old tanned comics page - at least that's what I expect based on these scans.
I don’t have a copy of this issue but I recommend checking out this review with accompanying page scans. I’m sure this Toth piece is as compelling in its black and white incarnation as I’ve come to expect from Toth reprints, but looking at these scans I’m also reminded just how well his art comes up when coloured appropriately - I know not everyone is enamoured of the 'muddy muted tones' approach to colouring, but in the right hands it can be just the subtle touch required. Not sure how often this story has been reprinted, but I’m willing to bet it looks best on an old tanned comics page - at least that's what I expect based on these scans.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Tip Top Comic Monthly: The Complete Collection
Very happy to report that the junkyard is now the proud custodian of a complete collection of all 127 issues of Superman Presents Tip Top Comic Monthly.
No photocopies. No coverless rebound copies. No US edition placeholders. No United Features funny animal Tip Top Comics, Sky Hawk Extra, or any other variety. Not even the whitebread! Just The Real Thing! 100%!
No photocopies. No coverless rebound copies. No US edition placeholders. No United Features funny animal Tip Top Comics, Sky Hawk Extra, or any other variety. Not even the whitebread! Just The Real Thing! 100%!
And it only took 10 years or so... about as long as the series ran!
So expect to see a few choice Tip Tops featured in the near future.
Monday, June 18, 2007
a short break
now, i know you all enjoy your regular daily fix of the junkyard's notes and miscellanium... so don't take it too hard when i say i'll be taking a short break in my communiques... only a couple of weeks or so... lots of things to take care of... places to travel to... scenarios to play out... games to fix... crimes to conduct... and of course, trinkets to arrange in the junkyard... a bit of dusting and cleaning... a bit of dried blood in the horror section... some ice cream stains in the hart amos wing... a few stray syllables in the krazy korner... by all means keep the comments coming... whether it's online or offline... i promise to attend to all of them eventually... and see you all back here around the first week of july... until then... to the brave and the bold... as above, so below...
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Colossal Comic # 8: ...and the Hart Amos reproductions just keep on comin'...
The cover for Colossal Comic #8 is another Hart Amos adaptation, this time from World’s Finest Comics #41, July-August 1949 (see comparison on the AusReprints site). The figures have been rearranged slightly, and Batman is kneeling on one knee rather than just bending forward, but it is basically the same image.
It supports the working theory that the Amos template was indebted to the World’s Finest Comics model. To my eye the Superman face looks like Amos even though the bodies do not look like his regular soft and puffy bodies. It appears he followed the source material quite closely even as he adapted it.
Again it begs the question: why adapt the cover image rather than use the original? In the discussion on Century The 100 Page Comic Monthly #9 it was suggested that the colouring may have been the reason. I can certainly see that being the case for Century #9, but it doesn’t apply in the case of Colossal #8 and World’s Finest Comics #41.
It supports the working theory that the Amos template was indebted to the World’s Finest Comics model. To my eye the Superman face looks like Amos even though the bodies do not look like his regular soft and puffy bodies. It appears he followed the source material quite closely even as he adapted it.
Again it begs the question: why adapt the cover image rather than use the original? In the discussion on Century The 100 Page Comic Monthly #9 it was suggested that the colouring may have been the reason. I can certainly see that being the case for Century #9, but it doesn’t apply in the case of Colossal #8 and World’s Finest Comics #41.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The Hundred Comic Monthly # 16: Another Hart Amos Reproduction
I’ve presented The Hundred Comic Monthly #16 before, but I wish to bring it up again briefly in the context of recent discussion on the Hart Amos covers.
This cover is a bit of an anomaly in the Amos repertoire for K. G. Murray. For one thing the box layout is atypical of Amos. As discussed previously, Amos typically contrived a montage or group scene for the anthologies. There are a couple of occasions in which Amos employed the box format, for example Giant Superman Album #1 and Colossal Comic #24, but each of these is an exceptional case.
The other notable fact about this cover is that, similarly to “The Girl in the Bottle”, it’s an instance of Amos reproducing an existing image for the lead feature, in this case for “The Eagle Who Caged People!” from Wonder Woman #91, July 1957. I suspect this may have been originally intended as the sole image for this issue’s cover, and it was later decided to opt for an ‘all-star’ anthology-type cover, hence its prominence in the final layout. This scenario would also explain why it is the only ‘content-‘ or ‘plot-based’ image on the cover.
This cover is a bit of an anomaly in the Amos repertoire for K. G. Murray. For one thing the box layout is atypical of Amos. As discussed previously, Amos typically contrived a montage or group scene for the anthologies. There are a couple of occasions in which Amos employed the box format, for example Giant Superman Album #1 and Colossal Comic #24, but each of these is an exceptional case.
The other notable fact about this cover is that, similarly to “The Girl in the Bottle”, it’s an instance of Amos reproducing an existing image for the lead feature, in this case for “The Eagle Who Caged People!” from Wonder Woman #91, July 1957. I suspect this may have been originally intended as the sole image for this issue’s cover, and it was later decided to opt for an ‘all-star’ anthology-type cover, hence its prominence in the final layout. This scenario would also explain why it is the only ‘content-‘ or ‘plot-based’ image on the cover.
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