Mysta of the Moon - Chapter 4

Planet Comics #38 (Sept 1945) still has the character of Mysta being fleshed out and finding a direction. In this tale Mysta intervenes in a hostile takeover of the known planets by evil shape-shifters and the end is expectantly genocidal in nature. Mysta also displays a new power that being the repository of all knowledge has bestowed upon her. It is kind of a "utility-belt" of a trick but most comic book stories fall back on pulling a gadget or new power out of nowhere to further the story and escape a death trap or two.

The cover to this issue is notable because while it features a female in peril she is not being being rescued by a male but rather another female. While Fiction House and Planet Comics was the leader in female protagonists and antagonists they still could not for the most part break away from the "good girl" imagery. Still, baby steps. Unfortunately, that baby still hasn't learned to toddle by 2010 and perhaps never will.

As usual per Flickr making what was once fun a chore for everyone, click the image, go to another site, click around until you can find the section to view all sizes and then click on the bigger size to read the story better. Sigh.

Bonus: DJ Mix Masterbot

Man, I don't even know

Frogs into Princes (1979). Art by Elizabeth Malczynski.

What if...Elwood P. Dowd had taken Serum #977?

Frazetta after Brando as Frankie the Biker

As part of SallyP's Beefcake Week here is the late Frank Frazetta as Frankie the Biker, a Wild One Marlon Brando parody for the L'il Abner comic strip for which he did ghost-art duties for several years. Frazetta drew himself into the strip for one storyline.

Unlike some artists that put themselves into their creations Frazetta did not exaggerate his looks and physique. From the photos I've seen of him from the period he was quite the good-looking man.

Game over, Man!

Mission Mars (1968) was a low-budget tale of the first manned expedition to Mars. Is that a great poster or what? Bikini babes, a scene evoking From Here to Eternity and the contrast of realistic human figures to the abstract aliens reminiscent of the puzzling, eerie work of Jack Gaughan.

One of the recurring themes of science fiction was the rejection of manifest destiny. Typically, the mysterious native residents of wherever the plucky astronauts (read, Americans) planted their flag would generally kill, torture and screw with the crew before sending them off with a final warning not to come back or at least not return until they learn to behave themselves. The 2010 series of novels by Arthur C. Clarke explored this theme most famously and successfully.

Mission Mars was a bit cheesy and cheap. The idea of suspension of disbelief may have been created just for this film. In particular the astronaut helmets exposed to atmosphere and the notion that an historic inter-planetary expedition could be managed by a mission control staff of two people at the teacher's desk of an unused high-school science classroom. Yet for all the economical short-cuts of the film it still managed to produce a few minutes of really terrifying classic Sci-Fi horror that has been tragically forgotten for years. Until now, that is. I saw this for the first time on local Saturday morning television back in the 1970s and a few scenes stayed with me for decades.

Take a few minutes to check out this meeting between men and aliens. Caution, it just may scar you for life.

Yeah, that's effed up, man.

Mysta of the Moon - Chapter 3

At this point the third chapter of the Mysta of the Moon serial from Planet Comics, Mysta has not yet joined the ranks of the secret identity set. Like many of the heroes of the era she remains detached from the rest of humanity choosing to watch over and protect people from afar.

Planet Comics #37 (July 1945) is another one-off entry in deformed villains with a beautiful slave assistant to be vanquished by Mysta. There is not much to differentiate this Mysta tale from any other entry among similar comic books of the era except for the progressive character of Mysta herself.

Like much of her series as a whole this chapter is a good example of early female empowerment in comic books. After Fiction House ceased publication it was rare to see
a woman character being able to fend for themselves successfully. Even the most accomplished popular female character was often defined by the mystery man she appeared with. Rarely did a man show up to save the day in a Mysta tale and if they did they were more often than not following her plan and the male in question was usually in the form of her unnamed, transparent, brainless, nigh-indestructible robot servant.

Newer every day

Today's my birthday so I'm taking it easy and hanging out with the family.

I'll tally up my loot and make a list. I always carefully analyze what I get so I can later destroy those who gave me stuff by bestowing them with amazing, impossible gifts on their birthday or holiday.

Mysta Mondays and the next chapter of early female empowerment in comic books will post sometime tonight after I take my nap and chase those kids off my lawn.

Adorable Science

Cutest baby bathing in a dinosaur footprint picture you will see all day.

National Geographic (May 1954).

Dangerous Flowers

aka, "Chai Lai's Angels".

Yeah, I'm getting this on my birthday. You had me at "sexy towel fight on escalator."

Magic Skarf

Hey, Look! It's Magic Skarf!

Magic Skarf can be worn as:

• A scarf!
• Surgical cap!
  
• A stylish top!
• A scrunchie!
  
• A stylish skirt!
• A 55cm x 23cm trash can!
  
• A stylish mask for use during plane hijackings!
  

What else can Magic Skarf be used for?

An MRI!Blowing it up, damn you!
So versatile! The possibilities are endless!

From a market in San Diego.

Shock the Keko

Uh...

Dying is easy, it's math that's hard

This just might be my first tattoo. Unless I do that thing with my fingers like Robert Mitchum.

Story title from Nightmare #13 (August 1954). Art by George Tuska.

Mysta of the Moon - Chapter 2

Planet Comics #36 (May 1945) marks the second appearance of Mysta. As a character she is still not fully fleshed out though she is comfortably housed in an interplanetary fortress by this issue all the better to watch the universe and scan for evil. Being a super science hero was pretty common for tales of this age and it would take some time for her to settle into a role similar to contemporary comic book characters.

Mars, the troublesome God of War makes only a cameo appearance and is likely present only because his name is on the cover and to ease the transition from his adventures to Mysta. New stories featuring Mars would be discarded entirely and the character would appear only as reprinted tales in a few future issues and fanzines.

For more about Mars, go to Pappy's Golden Age Comics Blogzine. He posted a great Mars story back in 2009 from Planet Comics #69. There is a reason that serial is much sought after by collectors.

In this issue Mysta goes up against slime-fungus, mind-controlled zombies and the evil, twisted despot Superbrain. It ends pretty much as grisly as expected.

Space Conquerors: Kurt and Primo

Here is a fondly remembered chapter from the nearly forgotten and criminally-uncollected Space Conquerors from Boy's Life (March 1971). This was a long-running strip that changed in sophistication from Space Race Atom-Age exploration of Manifest Destiny to Space Opera over the decades as reader tastes and expectations changed. Space Conquerors was usually credited to Al Stenzel with art duties being typically uncredited. The artists varied over the years and it would take someone with greater familiarity with the illustrators of the era than I to identify them.

I read with fascination this strip in the 1970s and I had a subscription to Boy's Life just for this version of the Space Conquerors. For some reason this chapter really stuck in my memory. It doesn't have much action but I think the willingness of Primo to eat the local fare first to test it for safety and Kurt's refusal to have his friend take the risk alone stuck with me.

Then there is this chapter from June 1971. Yikes.

All this in a magazine aimed at young boys? Then again the market was for Boy Scouts, who were presumably more mature and able-bodied than the precious little snowflakes of today.

Don't Shop Blindfolded

Ladie's Home Journal (Oct 1957).

Cowboy Sahib - Chapter 1

Here's an updated link to the first appearance of Leonard Starr's almost-forgotten gem, Cowboy Sahib!

For those not familiar with Cowboy Sahib it is the tale of a garsh-shucks modern American cowboy transplanted via war to India. Once there he fights despots and Cossacks and all manners of vile sorts and along the way manages to win the hand of a beautiful princess.

There are quite a few awesome images from comic books that are eternal, usually featuring Batman, but the drawing of a cowboy firing off his six-shooters while riding a tiger into battle is one for the ages.

What to the Up

Okay, had enough sleep! Coming soon...

Mondays are going to be Mysta Mondays for a while.

Updating Cowboy Sahib. Had to clean up the scans. Probably Fridays.

The Dreaded ORANGE NUT ROLL.

Satan lives! In your old toys.

Books, books, books. And magazines.

My First Big Book of Noir. Featuring the Namesake Killer!

Let Me Tell You About My Flair. Mmm-hmm, yeah.

Realms Apart. A story about the dark side of sunny San Diego.

5 Fingers

Been watching a lot of noir lately and came across this poster for the movie 5 Fingers (1952).

Poster art seems to be a lost skill these days as research shows that big giant, recognizable heads heads on a display is what sells tickets and DVDs. Compare the original 5 Fingers poster with the DVD packaging for the 2006 remake Five Fingers, loosely-based upon the original.

But it isn't the evolution of movie art that moves me today. Fashion is. The original 5 Fingers poster inspired me to make a proof-of-concept glove inspired by the poster.

I could totally see some hot, dangerous, billiards-playing woman wearing a glove with LUST, GREED, PASSION, DESIRE and SIN embroidered on the fingers in heavy, silver metallic thread. Any wolf that got fresh with her would end up having those words bruise-embossed into his forehead.

Hmm. This idea will probably be ripped off and for sale in a Hot Topic or an Etsy store within the month.

Mysta of the Moon - Chapter 1

Mysta of the Moon is a science fiction adventure serial that ran in Planet Comics from 1945 to 1952. Mysta is one of the most consistent serials in regards to art and story quality to have been published by Fiction House. Mysta originally appeared as a young woman in issue #35 of Planet Comics (March 1945) as a victim of the machinations of Mars, the God of War. Mysta, as the repository of the sum of all knowledge, takes it upon herself to fight Mars and assist humanity out of the ruins of civilization.

Mars was the featured character of an earlier and respected 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. What made this serial different is that often Mars would emerge victorious being defeated only after spreading widespread chaos.

In Planet Comics #35 Mars is waging a war against science and intellectualism when he crosses paths with Mysta and her brother. While this story details Mars' greatest success, effectively destroying human civilization, it also marks the marginalization of the Mars character as the far more visually appealing Mysta is brought to the forefront as the protector and savior of humanity. By the following issue Mysta headlined her own series and Mars was delegated to only a final cameo.

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 of the era, where 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 even though the creative team in the beginning used the "Diana Prince" trope and there is a greater than average amount of gratuitous cheesecake in the stories. 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.

Like many superheroes Mysta, who was 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 or technician, Mysta fought criminals, mutant zombies and solved mysteries with the aid of a lab assistant and an unstoppable robot with which she shared a telepathic link.

Handyman's Book

Binder and loose-leaf pages found complete at a dollar book sale. Loaded with useful repair tips, diagrams and detailed how-to instructions. Still basically useful except for the parts about vacuum tubes and cloth-insulated wiring.

Nice retro cover illustration featuring the swooning, enamored housewife proud of, and presumably wanting to copulate with, her man George.

I don't know about this living room. An aquamarine color scheme with the chair camouflaged to disappear into the carpeting. I never knew the Camelot era was so tacky.

Better Homes and Gardens Handyman's Book (1957 cover binder, updated to 1966 interior loose-leaf pages).