The Happy Dead / The Terrible Trident!

Continuing with our look at Red Circle Comic Group's very short lived 70's MADHOUSE horror series, here are two from the Sept '74 issue of Madhouse #95. Starting off with "The Happy Dead" (no nods to The Grateful Dead necessary), this is a hilarious story that Doug Wildey may or may not have used Barbara Steele photos for as reference in a few panels-- but it's most certain that German "El Vampiro" Robles pops in for whatever reason in the middle of page 5! And then, "The Terrible Trident!" picks up where we left off in our last post with yet another devil story, and one very familiar, almost monotonous punchline ending! I was saving this one for Halloween, but here ya go anyway, typically cool art from Vicente Alcazar-- and how about that creepy Gray Morrow cover!

German Robles 

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Number 1408: Loch Ness...dragon?

It’s the fourth and last entry for our “What pours out of a Fawcett” theme week, and begins with a question from me: was the Loch Ness monster ever called the Loch Ness dragon? That’s how it’s referred to in this story from Ibis the Invincible #5 (1946). I don’t remember ever hearing it called that.

The story has Ibis involved in a contest between two men who are fighting over a woman, which he intends to see is conducted fair and square. Yet earlier Ibis didn’t feel a bit bad about abruptly ending an afternoon of fishing with his squeeze, Princess Taia, by using his magical powers to have a fish bite on Taia’s hook. I guess fair play in macho doings is one thing, boredom in the middle of a lake with your girlfriend is another.

The art on the story is credited to Gus Ricca. It’s the first story I’ve ever shown by Ricca, who had some famous covers, including the one above, which was used for Craig Yoe’s great book, Comics About Cartoonists. As far as I know it’s still available, and you don’t need Ibis’ famous Ibistick to get it. Just wiggle your fingers over your keyboard and type in www.yoebooks.com, which will magically take you to a wonderful place where you get it the old-fashioned way, by buying it.

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It’s been fun since Number One!

Today is the seventh anniversary of Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine. I usually don’t make anything of this anniversary because every year I usually forget.

You can find old Number One, the first posting from this date in 2006 by clicking on the picture of the stairway corpse above.

I began this blog with the notion that if I could find enough of interest to scan and write about I might do 300 postings. As you can see I’ve done more than 1400, and #1500 will be January 2, 2014, unless, of course, I’m hit by a meteor or otherwise incapacitated.

I want to say how much I’ve appreciated the readers who have stuck with this blog over the years, who have even used it for inspiration to do their own blogs. This is more than a hobby to me. Since 2009 I have had the luxury of retirement from the daily toil of 45 years at various jobs. Now I consider Pappy’s to be my job...and it’s a lot more fun than I’ve had on any other job.

Will I make it another seven years? We’ll take it one post at a time, and hopefully I’ll see you next July 26 on the eighth anniversary.

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Demon Kiss / The Devil's Matchmaker

Having survived the madhouse that is San Diego Comic Con 2013, I return with a demonic Double Feature, both tales from the November 1974 issue of Red Circle Comics Group MADHOUSE #96, the first story written and illustrated by the great Bruce Jones, (it certainly doesn't  get much better than bikinis and blasphemy for this blogger!), and the second atmospheric story illustrated by Sal Amendola. I'll have more from this scary, short-lived silver age horror series in the next few posts too.

(cover art by
Gray Morrow) 

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Number 1407: The five-cent superhero

This is the third entry of our “What pours out of a Fawcett” theme week, featuring comics from that publisher.

Nickel Comics was short-lived. It was the idea of the publisher to beat the competition by putting out a cheaper product (it was half the page-length of the usual 64-page comics costing 10¢), and it came out every two weeks, which meant it was the equivalent of a monthly comic with a normal page count. But according to lore the magazine distributors didn't like it because they had to find rack space for it just like the dime books, and yet they got less of a return. If someone in that era had opined, “What this country needs is a good 5¢ comic book,” at least the idea was given a chance.

This Bulletman story, credited to writer Bill Parker and artist Jon Small by the Grand Comics Database, is the second Bulletman story published, and is fairly typical superhero fare for 1940. It is burdened by Parker’s use of captions, describing action we have already seen in the panel. Parker is credited with writing the original Captain Marvel stories, also. The captions stop the action cold. I suggest you do as I do; don’t read them.

I understand that Small was from the UK and worked in the American comics industry from the mid-thirties to the mid-fifties. He was the first artist to do Bulletman.

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In 2010 I showed this elegantly illustrated story by Small for Fairy Tale Parade. Click on the picture to read it.

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