Raja, The Arabian Knight-Big Shot-1942

This early nicely drawn Elseworlds story attempts to show what things might have been like if Kal-El's rocket had landed in a desert on the other side of the world...or something like that, anyway.

Rex Dexter of Mars-Dick Briefer-1941

Somewhere between the studied oddness of Basil Wolverton's serious works and the out and out lunacy of Fletcher Hanks, stories and characters, one finds Dick Briefer. Best known for his schizophrenic versions of Frankenstein, here we find him on Rex Dexter of Mars!

Marvelo, Monarch of Magicians-Fred Guardineer

Artist Fred Guardineer was probably THE Golden Age specialist when it came to drawing guys with facial hair gesturing mystically. Here he is again with the first appearance of yet another magic act. Seriously, in the lead-up to the Dr. Strange movie, someone really needs to write a book about these "Sons of Mandrake."

Minimidget-John F. Kolb-1940

As the husband of the co-creator of MS. MOLECLE, I found myself drawn to stories of pint-sized super guys lately. Here's one I'm not familiar with.

Abbott and Costello-Film Fun-1949

There really isn't much as UNfunny as vintage British comic strips based on real people. Whoever was writing and drawing these things seemed to have very little understanding of humor in general, let alone the unique humor of particular comedic performers. And it wasn't just something lost in the translation. Old Mother Riley and George Formby regularly appeared--at least in name--in these same issues, baring little resemblance to their crowd-pleasing real life selves. Still, perhaps due to the just plain consistency of the unfunniness of these kinds of strips, they have an odd appeal and charm all their own. 

Dick Shamus-Mel Crawford-1966

In 1966, Jewish humor was in vogue and thus came KOSHER COMICS which featured ethnically-themed (and thus now politically incorrect. Sorry if you're squeamish about that.) parodies of famous characters including, as seen here, DICK TRACY. The mustache actually presaged TRACY creator Chester Gould giving the real Dick one for a while a few years later. The artist here is the great Mel Crawford, who died in February of 2015. 

R.I.P. 

Tiger man-John Celardo-1946

Is it just me or does this strip play like a combination of Tarzan in the big city mixed with the pulp version of The Shadow? Even kind of looks like Tarzan courtesy of artist John Celardo, who was drawing Tarzan in the newspapers around this time or soon afterwards.