Number 922


The Ancient Ape!


Consider this your April Fool's posting from Pappy, even if I'm not trying to fool you. (Heh-heh! When I clapped you on the back I planted a Kick Me sign! Har-har-har!)

But enough of that nonsense. It's time for some comic book nonsense. It's said that despite success of superheroes for other comic publishers, ACG editor Richard E. Hughes resisted putting superheroes into his titles. He finally gave in and created some: Nemesis in Adventures Into the Unknown, and Magicman in Forbidden Worlds. Neither of them was successful, although according to the letter columns they had some fans. Personally, I think ACG's stories, screwball to begin with, didn't lose much with the superheroes, which were cut from the same template as the supernatural stories, or even--dare I say it?--Herbie.

Magicman was a Vietnam vet, Tom Cargill. He lived with his former sergeant, Kilkenny, who nagged him about his lack of ambition. It was kind of like how Lois Lane nagged Clark Kent. How kinky is that? Well, it was another era, and people didn't think anything about guys being roommates or even sharing the same bedroom. (In separate beds, of course...there was the Comics Code to deal with.)

The artwork is by Pete Costanza, who had a history drawing adventures of Captain Marvel in the 1940s. Zev Zimmer is yet another pen-name for editor Hughes, who wrote the contents of each ACG book in those days. It's from Forbidden Worlds #132, 1965, and I picked this particular story because as longtime Pappy's readers know, I've got a thing about gorillas in comic books.