The Phantom Creeps-Movie Comics-1939

 
MOVIE COMICS was a bizarre series that tool actual movie stills and heavily retouched them to become comics panels in adaptations of then-current films. Bela Lugosi had started his downward slide by this point but was still not at his lowest point. This movie--and thus this story--has one of the ugliest robots ever.

The Red Skull Strikes Again-Captain America's Weird Tales-1949

What we have here is the very last Captain America story from the Golden Age of Comics. With this issue the title became CAPTAIN AMERICA'S WEIRD TALES and withe the next (and final) issue, even Cap would be missing but for the title. Fitting that he goes out with the Red Skull in a tale presumably written by Stan Lee although the artist is unidentified at GCD. In just a few short years there would be the stillborn fifties revival with commie-smasher Cap but it would be a full decade and a half before Sub-Mariner found our hero frozen in ice. 

The Brady Bunch-Jose Delbo-1969

Unlike many other comics adapted from TV shows, Dell's BRADY BUNCH was made up of more than just the same old lightboxed stills of the actors used over and over. The art here is by Jose Delbo and if it's not an exact likeness of all the characters, it's enough for the reader's recognition. An unsung artist responsible for many uncredited sixties and seventies comics, I got to watch Delbo thoroughly enjoying himself at last year's Cincinnati Comic Expo, drawing and dancing and with a huge smile all the while..  

The Private World of Negative Man-Arnold Drake and Bruno Premiani-1966

Today, March 1st, was the birthday of the late comic book scribe, Arnold Drake. Drake created a number of my childhood favorites including STANLEY & HIS MONSTER, DEADMAN and THE DOOM PATROL. He also wrote this story, illustrated by regular DP artist Bruno Premiani, which really creeped me out as a kid with its skeletal faces!

The Blue Beetle and Spunky-Phil Bard-1942

The first BLUE BEETLE comic I ever bought--as a nickel back issue at Osborn's grocery store in 1966--was the 1965 Charlton issue in which he fights the Red Knight. Little did I know until yesterday that there had been a Golden Age Red Knight who bedeviled the Golden Age Blue Beetle and his spunky young pal...well...Spunky. Often saddled with less than first string artists, this outing by Phil Bard (signing as Oliver Ashford) is no exception. It's got some good layouts and that nifty splash  but...note that Phil's Spunky looks like a midget even out of costume!

Zip-Jet-Al Plastino-1953

Apparently this guy was retooled from Rocketman to be Zip-Jet, "Supersonic Enemy of Evil."Bet those costumes were hard to keep clean. GCD says this is Al Plastino who would go on to be an important utility player for DC and the man who alternated with Murphy Anderson on redrawing Jack Kirby's Superman figures.