Pop Futura

In my browsing for all things Futura I came across an early 1960s jazz album by Bernie Green bearing the same name as the Planet Comics heroine from the Golden Age of comic books. While Bernie Green had a prolific career in television as a musical director and spent decades at rather generic task work he was also a surprising musical innovator. Comic book fans may be familiar with his work if not his name for Mad Magazine as the force behind Musically Mad from 1959.

But it was with Futura as part of the RCA Action series that Bernie Green was breaking ground as he helped introduce Space Age Pop to the listening world and gave me what I am going to call the unofficial theme song for the Planet Comics serial.

Often in these kinds of searches for related items the results have little to do with each other and are unconnected. Yet in this incidence there is a nice crossover between the comic book character from the 1940s and a jazz album from 1960s. Futura the musical arrangement is early Space Age Pop and Futura the comic book character is a space lost science heroine. Both entries in their respective genres have the trappings of, yet do not really embody, a science fiction theme and are experiments in what it was imagined the future might be like but would never evolve to exist.

For your listening pleasure here is a link to the title track of Futura, by Bernie Green and his Orchestra (1961).

The Mystery of the Time Chamber!

Before I continue with the Futura Saga I am going to take a break to present a special request appearance of Mysta of the Moon.

Mysta of the Moon was long-running science fiction adventure serial that ran in Planet Comics from 1945 to 1949. Mysta is perhaps the most consistent serial in regards to art and story quality to have been published by Fiction House. Mysta originally appeared as a young girl in issue #35 of Planet Comics as a victim of the machinations of Mars, the God of War, the star of an early and very popular Planet Comics serial. In those stories, the evil Mars would travel the galaxy and possess different people, forcing them to commit horrific acts and spread terror and strife all in the name of conflict.

Having survived an attempt to destroy her at the end of issue #35 an adult Mysta began her own feature with issue #36, effectively replacing the Mars series with her own. Like many superheroes Mysta, who was now the repository of all knowledge, maintained a secret identity so the public at large would not know she was acting as their savior and defender. In her guise as an older and unappealing librarian, Mysta fought criminals, mutant zombies and solved mysteries with the aid of a deadly, unstoppable robot with which she shared a telepathic link. Mysta eventually abandoned the pretense of a civilian disguise.

Out of all the female characters featured in Planet Comics it is Mysta of the Moon that was the strongest in terms of characterization. Unlike many other contemporary characters Mysta largely stood on her own in her adventures. Typically in almost any comic book tale, while a female would often act as the lead in a story it was not unusual to have a man show up near the end of the tale and take charge, wrapping things up as the female character shed angst-filled thought balloons expressing gratitude and unrequited love. Among the Planet Comics entries this was most common among the Gale Allen serial. Mysta, being the most intelligent person in the Universe, would have none of that. Anyone interested in researching a good example of early female empowerment in comic books could do worse than reading the Mysta of the Moon series.

Planet Comics #52 (January 1948) features Mysta using time travel to defeat the menace of brain-sucking plants. The story also gives a nice recap of her origin with only an oblique reference to the original Mars story.

Enjoy!

Working the long con

The Con Man (1960).

Make Steam Not War

From the London Bell, page #5 (May 12, 1887).

Futura - Chapter 11

Superficially, Science Fiction is about life in the future. But the idea behind the genre is more complex. In spite of the trappings of things to come science fiction is almost always about the present and it is often, even unintentionally, used to enlighten or warn the present day reader. The alien threats to a society from without typically represent the greater fear of a threat from within. There are exceptions of course. Sometimes there is no deeper meaning and the story is about nothing more than cowboys in outer space.

One of the many ideas that the science fiction creator attempts to relate to an audience is that often messiahs are hazardous to your health. It is a recurring theme in all types of fiction and as human history has so repeatedly proven, it has more than a bit of truth to it. This is painfully evident to the slaves of Pan-Cosmos in the eleventh chapter of the Futura Saga from Planet Comics #53 (March 1948) as they learn the road to Cymradia is paved with good intentions. This story not only marks the finale to the mediocre "Magic Sword" story arc but also some elements of the original settings as well. The teaser on the final page of this installment promises a new direction for Futura though it really is more of a return to the original idea to be found at the beginning of the series.


Note: If you want to be all Wold-Newton about it, the next time the Cymradians show up is in Marvel Spotlight #7 (July 1980). An encyclopedic knowledge of comic books is not only a great power but a curse as well.

Born with nothing and raised on lots more of the same

One of my favorite used book stores closed down a few weeks ago. There are two other good used book outlets remaining in San Diego but the one that closed had the greatest selection and the highest turnover in stock. The remaining store closest to me is kind of stuffy and the one downtown is run by a couple of sharp operators who know the real value of books and have an internet presence to exploit sales, something the one that closed and the other remaining store did not take advantage of. I blame all of you for not reading enough books in print to support it. Shame on you.

The upside to the store closing was being able to snag lots of books that I otherwise thought were too pricey on previous visits at substantial discounts. The W. B. Huie paperbook below, in spite of the visible wear, was still out of my sane price range until the day of the closing sale. Unaware the store was shutting down I had made my usual pilgrimage there and had gathered up a bunch of books and pulp magazines. I was fully prepared to pay full price for them. Instead the proprietor quoted me a cost of seven dollars for the pile. I felt like I was ripping him off and protested, offering more but he declined. I suspect he wanted to avoid the cost of shipping and storing leftover stock and knew the collectibles were going to a good home.

Yay for me!
So represented here are the front and back covers featuring the classic and perhaps most famous cover art by Robert A. Maguire for the novel The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956 re-issue). The book was re-released in conjunction with the movie of the same name featuring Jane Russell. The book is a good read and far more honest about Mamie than the rather sanitized film. The Maguire image on the cover is one of the inspirations for the pulp noir character of Diamond Bomb.

Futura - Chapter 10

This installment of the Futura Saga from Planet Comics #52 (January 1948) continues the "Magic Sword" story. The cover is another fine example of the Good Girl Art school of marketing so common to the pulps and other popular printed media of the time. The inclusion of the penis-dentata monster and the coloring detail highlighting the "fun zones" of the distressed damsel make the cover noteworthy above and beyond the usual Fiction House covers.

While the Futura story delves however superficially into the complex aspect of the character as being the Resurrection and Savior of the Pan-Cosmos slaves the art is reduced to simple and uninspired 6 panel layouts. The demon-like Cymridians and their leader, Mentor are more comical than dangerous, appearing as troublesome gremlins underfoot that no one knows how to eradicate. The "Magic Sword" story arc effectively ruined the Brain-Men of Pan-Cosmos as villains and the threat and plot impetus they once posed is left behind soon enough. After this arc concludes the early fantastical "Scientifiction" aspects of the serial changes to become reminiscent of a more mature mix of Robert A. Heinlein and Alex Raymond. Out of all the features in this issue of Planet Comics it is Futura that is the most disappointing and this is due mainly to the comparisons to the far more intricate story and line work of the previous and later chapters.

Risque Business

Note the bit of leg showing above the stockings. This was considered mature reading material back in the 1930s.
Follies Magazine (Winter 1933).

Futura - Chapter 9

Chapter 9 is where I go on record stating that the Futura Saga goes off the rails for a a few chapters before finding its way again. The art becomes far more simplistic and more in line with a standard comic book style of the era. Readers of Futura can readily observe a gradual decrease in the complexity of the line art over the length of the series up to this point and it is in this chapter starting in Planet Comics #51 (November 1947) where it adopts the most obvious economical style.

The story also veers into a more magical, dream-like episode that continues for several more chapters. There are still elements of the original space opera to be found but they give way to more fantastic ideas as Futura becomes the central figure in a magical prophecy. I am not a fan of the prophecy driven story as it has long since become a predictable and lazy part of any hero's journey on the part of the creator. The idea of destiny replacing motivation is something of a tired trope and easy plot device.

The ensuing couple of chapters are also what may be perceived as a serious creative misstep, something that would prove disappointing if included in any hardbound collection. The Futura Saga would not be complete without it but would the most jarring part of the overall story. It is these chapters that make Futura more of a comic book curiosity than a true classic.

Interestingly, the creative team may have not thought much of this particular story arc, either. The first installment after the "Magic Sword" story ends finds Futura in a spaceship hurtling through space and in much the same circumstances as the end of Chapter 8. The prophecy story line only lasts a few chapters and this allows readers to effectively ignore it and continue with the original and far more interesting space opera theme of the Futura Saga if they so choose.

Look out! A Redhead!

While Redheads don't always carry guns, they are always dangerous. And much like guns, should always be treated as if they are fully loaded and have a hair-trigger.

Inside Detective (July 1946).

Archy Butts was his name

The Case of the Nameless Corpse (1958).

Card #42

Show your work.

Kodansha Lace Knitting Cards #42 (v2, 1963).

Your dog saved my baby

It is the heart-warming story that sells it for me.

Western Life Romances (December 1949).

The Futura is Now!

It has been quite a while since I posted a chapter of the late-1940s Planet Comics serial, Futura. The reasons for not continuing her saga are partly exhaustion, partly the odd change of direction in the story and partly due to the fact that the original resources for the images were of such poor quality that posting the images would be a disappointment if not to a reader than to myself. The work involved in cleaning up the images would be an exercise in diminishing returns.

But I really like the story and when revisiting it recently I decided to continue posting the series. For those of you not familiar with Futura here is a quick summary:

Futura is the story of a secretary kidnapped by aliens in order to provide superior genetic material for their dying race. Futura, however, rebels and escapes her captors, vowing to make her way in the cosmos while fighting to bring down the evil masters of the galaxy.

The story of Futura is part John Carter of Mars and part Buck Rogers all framed within what may or may not be an elaborate dream. For the most part the Futura Saga does not use the typical cliches of the dream scenario to cheat a reader out of the story experience. The creators also forego the usual attempts to exploit cheesecake imagery common to popular culture of the time though there are plenty of examples of "Good Girl Art" in the series. Futura joins such creations as Mysta and Gale Allen as strong leading women characters of the era not dependent upon a male to move the story along. Various Fiction House creators worked on the series during the decade long run in Planet Comics.

Here are the first eight chapters of the Futura Saga so you can get all caught up:

Futura - Chapter 1

Futura - Chapter 2

Futura - Chapter 3

Futura - Chapter 4

Futura - Chapter 5

Futura - Chapter 6

Futura - Chapter 7

Futura - Chapter 8

And for background here is everything else Futura-related, including the exploitative and short-lived 1980s revival of the character: Everything Futura on Lady, That's My Skull.

Chapter 9 coming soon!

Murder in a Hurry

Cover artist unknown. Published 1950.

Darwin Re-Do

I was reading one of my favorite websites today and an entry about the stupidifying of science caught my attention. Apparently, Creationists are removing sections of the paradigm shifting work of Charles Darwin, thereby changing the overall content and prefacing it with their own brand of wingnuttery that fulfills their own agenda. Doublethinking works of art or science that are in the public domain in order to make them a part of a cherry-picked revised history is a heinous idea that is being being utilized only for their vulnerability to abuse and to fill an agenda. Several years from now when the the legitimate copies of the Darwin book are out of print or unavailable online due to a possible future non-neutrality of the internet, the wingnut versions will undoubtedly still be widely available as publishing loss-leaders supported by the wacky fringe as part of their general warrgarbhl background noise.

Then I had a thought. Mash-ups of different literary genres are making money hand over fist these days and I felt like a sucker for not jumping on board that particular lucre-train sooner. The novelty text-mixes of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is filling the coffers of the authors quite nicely, I understand. Well, except for that of Ms. Austen, that is.

So much like the Creationists I came up with my own special house mix of science and fantasy of mankind's most famous work. Look for it on the shelves of your favorite book store just in time for the War on Christmas.

BONUS SNEAK PEEK PREVIEW EXCLUSIVE TO LTMS READERS!

Check below for the special preview excerpted from the thrilling 4th chapter of The Origin of the Species and Zombies by Charles Darwin and myself. Originally published 1859 with the revised edition copyright 2009.

Extinction Caused By Natural Selection

Furthermore, the species which are most numerous in individuals will have the best chance of producing within any given period favourable variations. We have evidence of this, in the facts given in the second chapter, showing that it is the common species which afford the greatest number of recorded varieties, or incipient species. Hence, rare species will be less quickly modified or improved within any given period, and they will consequently be beaten in the race for life by the modified descendants of the commoner species. The exception being Zombies that will, however, multiply exponentially within the current generation and exterminate in short order all other competing species within any given geographical area.

From these several considerations I think it inevitably follows, that as new species in the course of time are formed through natural selection or plague of virulent walking dead, others will become rarer and rarer, and finally extinct. Upon examination many extinct forms will be discovered to be missing their brains. The forms which stand in closest competition with those undergoing modification and improvement, will naturally suffer most, such as humanity. And we have seen in the chapter on the Struggle for Existence that it is the most closely-allied forms, varieties of the same species, and species of the same genus or of related genera, which, from having nearly the same structure, constitution, and habits, generally come into the severest competition with each other. Zombies exploit this in fascinating yet horrible ways. While they are bereft of speed and higher cognitive functions, Zombies practice an unconscious cooperative pack behavior and sheer numbers will eventually bring down even the swiftest prey.

Consequently, each new variety or species, during the progress of its formation, will generally press hardest on its nearest kindred, and tend to exterminate them through natural predation or brain eating. We see the same process of extermination amongst our domesticated productions, through the selection of improved forms by man. Many curious instances could be given showing how quickly new breeds of cattle, sheep, and other animals, and varieties of flowers, take the place of older and inferior kinds. In Yorkshire, it is historically known that the ancient black cattle were displaced by the long-horns, and that these 'were swept away by the short-horns' (I quote the words of an agricultural writer) 'as if by some murderous pestilence of ravenous, walking undead.'

She is dead to me

Along with The Proposal and Drag Me To Hell the spouse picked up the Land of the Lost DVD which, as expected, was released with no fanfare and less advertising in under four months after the theatrical release. Additionally, the DVD showed up on store shelves on a Saturday and not the usual Tuesday that most retail outlets schedule for their weekly movie release dates.

When I asked the wife why she spent money on the disappointing Will Ferrell feature she shrugged and said she knew I liked Land of the Lost. It is like the last 20 years of marriage never existed.

Since the wife is deaf she typically enjoys visual humor and the awkward slapstick that Ferrell and company attempted kept her interested until the end of the film. The DVD also satisfies my completist urges for anything associated with Land of the Lost, but just barely. I doubt I will ever watch it again unless it is to compare it to some future and far superior treatment to the 2009 version, much like people who watch both the original The Day the Earth Stood Still and the stultifying Keanu Reeves release in one sitting. Really, though, I would have been less annoyed if she had purchased two copies of The Proposal.

Happy Halloween

Drive safe! Lots of children and teens out there on the streets. Tonight of all nights don't be in such a hurry to get to the house/liquor store/bacchanal. For pity's sake, put down the bong long enough to get to your destination in one piece and without leaving a trail of destruction in your wake. I live and work in a college area so I know of what I speak.

Calling All Girls (October 1960).

No Halloween is complete without Hayley Mills!

It's hard to imagine someone so adorable as Hayley Mills being effective in suspense films but word has it that Hello Kitty is a harbinger of all evil, so what do I know? It's a credit to her WILD TALENT that Hayley is versatile enough to totally own any role.

So click the wide, witnessing eyes in the adorable picture above to check out The Horrors of Haley Mills at Horror-Wood!

What is really scary

Monsters and demons are not the real terrors in this world. What is really scary is having fire trucks, police cars and ambulances tear past your car at high speed down your street as you approach your final turn before arriving home.