Mysta of the Moon - Chapter 17

Planet Comics #51 (November 1947) brings new dimension to Mysta's personality. In her origin, Mysta and her brother were experimented as adolescents upon, having the entirety of knowledge transferred to their minds. Not having the opportunity to mature naturally Mysta's brother became insane ofter the treatment. Forced to kill her brother, Mysta may have been too traumatized to process events rationally. She withdrew, perhaps into a different insanity and used her knowledge to build a fortress on a moon. From that remote location she toiled for years doling out knowledge in pieces and guiding humanity as they recovered from the devastation fomented by the alien entity, the so-called Mars, God of War.

In this issue which takes place in the far future of 1997, Mysta for the first time displays an emotional tie to her assistant Bron (though typically for Mysta less emotion for a victim killed directly through her actions). Also, a telling embrace Mysta does not recoil from on-panel reveals that a long-repressed sexuality or brother-complex is emerging. Hopefully future issues will reveal that misplaced feelings of guilt for her brother are not being transferred to Bron and that she is becoming instead a whole person. Whatever is happening between Mysta and Bron it is sure to be further complicated by the fact that Bron is not Bron, he was a spy sent to impersonate the real lab assistant to Mysta. Even though Faux-Bron has earned his redemption this complication is something that Mysta oddly, for all her intelligence, has chosen to repress or use in some plan of hers.

Oh, and in this chapter there is a big prison break.

They told me a fairy story

Variously described by its creators as a song bemoaning the commercialization of Christmas or the loss of innocence, I Believe In Father Christmas by Greg Lake and Peter Sinfield has been a popular entry of the holiday season since 1974. Careful compilers of packaged Christmas tunes for CDs and shopping mall background music may take pains not to include this song among the collections as it has been often received as having an anti-religion theme. I myself am usually surprised to hear it in a mall because of its reputation. Then again, stores seem to have no compunction against playing during all the other months of the year the song Turning Japanese, a racially insensitive tune some claim to be referencing masturbation.

The official video I Believe In Father Christmas contains Vietnam War era imagery and received criticism for including such topics. This lends credence to the proposal that most people really misunderstood the meaning of the song, even if it is open to some interpretation. I included the lyrics so one may judge for themselves.

I Believe In Father Christmas has been covered by a number of artists. Greg Lake brought it over from his solo effort to the band Emerson, Lake and Palmer with which he was a member of but its most recent success was the cover performed by the band U2.

They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the Virgin's birth

I remember one Christmas morning
A winters light and a distant choir
And the peal of a bell and that Christmas Tree smell
And their eyes full of tinsel and fire

They sold me a dream of Christmas
They sold me a Silent Night
And they told me a fairy story
'Till I believed in the Israelite

And I believed in Father Christmas
And I looked at the sky with excited eyes
'Till I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him and through his disguise

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave New Year
All anguish pain and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear

They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on Earth
Hallelujah Noel be it Heaven or Hell
The Christmas you get you deserve.

Better watch out, now!

Shortly after Thanksgiving is when the song by the lovely and still very much active Kay Starr, The Man With the Bag begins to play on the radio, in malls and stores all over the nation. A big hit for Miss Starr in the 1950s, it nonetheless in this day and age has no quality videos representative of it. Many, like myself, enjoy the vintage acts as a part of music history and become all frowny when we receive hear of archives being destroyed through neglect, mishap or because they were not considered important enough at the time to save for the future. Considering how popular The Man With the Bag was I'm surprised Kay Starr did not sing it for film or television. I would have expected a Scopitone at the least. If she ever had recorded the tune in any other media of the era then I can't find it or sadly there is no publicly available or archived footage of that particular performance.

As much as I generally dislike a static image used for a music video there is not a lot of suitable footage of Starr that I could artfully apply to this song. Many of the fan-made videos while heart-felt include images or scenes that kind of bug me, only because I'm old. So I put together a fake-ish LP cover to accompany the tune. I also included the lyrics because while this is a song which nearly everyone is familiar with very few know all the the words to it. Sing along and Enjoy!

Oh, Mr. Kringle, is soon gonna jingle,
The bells that’ll tinkle all your troubles away
Everybody’s waitin’ for the man with the bag,
‘Cause Christmas is comin’ again.

He’s got a sleigh full, it’s not gonna stay-full
He’s got stuff to drop at every stop on the way
Everybody’s waitin’ for the man with the bag,
‘Cause Christmas is comin’ again.

He’ll be here,
With the answers to the prayers that you made through the year
You’ll get yours
If you’ve done everything you should, extra-special good.

He’ll make this December, the one you’ll remember,
The best and the merriest you ever did have
Everybody’s waitin’ for the man with the bag
Christmas is here again!

Oh Mr. Kringle, is soon gonna jingle,
All the bells that’ll tinkle all your troubles away
Everybody’s waitin’ for the man with the bag,
Christmas is here again.

He’s got a sleigh full, and it’s not gonna stay-full
Got stuff that he’s dropping every stop on the way
Everybody’s waitin’ for the man with the bag,
Christmas is here again.

He’ll be here,
With the answer to the prayers that you made through the year.
You’ll get yours
If you’ve done everything you should, extra-special good.

He’ll make this December, the one you’ll remember,
The best and the merriest you ever did have
Everybody’s waitin’
They’re all congregatin’
Waitin’ for the man with the bag!

Better watch out now!

A lazy, pre-Holiday Sunday post.

Are we sure it's tobacco she's smoking?

Not making the news the other day is that the Old Gold Tobacco-Lovin' USO Hostess also had her day before a judge, appearing in court immediately after Julian Assange made his famous showing. Since cameras were not allowed in the courtroom a sketch artist was present to record the events. While Julian was sketched variously as being dignified or about to power-up and beat an invading alien superman to death, Old Goldie should have requested a different artist. Based on the art provided that faithfully carried over her advertising persona she is clearly in for a rough time convincing a jury of her peers she hasn't done anything wrong.

Do Not Tease the Golem

Top Secrets #2 (1949).

You're the architect!

At two pages covering three different sizes, the assembly instructions for the retail floor cardboard display stand of the DVD movie Inception is more complicated than the film itself.

Mysta of the Moon - Chapter 16

Planet Comics #50 (September 1947) reveals a second attempt to infiltrate and raid Mysta's fortress in as many chapters. This time Bat-Men of Jupiter are able to circumvent Mysta's security measures by pretending to be a ship in distress. The robot is superfluous in this entry and Bron reveals a little more of one of the  reasons Mysta keeps him around. When he worriedly cautions the Smartest Woman in the Universe against fiddling with some controls Mysta condescendingly lectures him. Obviously, Bron is kept in the fortress not for his brains but for his brawn. I promise that's the last time I'll make that onomatopoeic reference.  

The aliens of the Mystaverse may also reveal more of what the pre-Mars society was like. The aliens may be alien only because they are different from the accepted norm, not because they evolved independently. Given that the majority of the aliens thus far revealed are variations of the humanoid form it may be that they are basic human stock, modified to work in different environments. After civilization fell they were basically abandoned and left to fend for themselves and it is now, an unknown amount of time later that the various races are large enough in number or advanced enough to exercise a certain independence from their previous employers/masters. It may be that the criminal, subterranean and centaur creatures of the previous chapters are emerging as a force who want the advantages the rest of the populated planets further along in their recovery are enjoying. 

Between a ROK and a hard place

Korea has been in the news lately and appears it will be for some time as the North and South are up to their usual saber-rattling, possibly abetted by their allies though that may change in the future as the usual supporters are becoming irritated with each other and their shenanigans. The Korean War is officially still going even though there has been a cease-fire since 1953. The armistice has been broken on occasion by posturing and squabbling that has led to violence. The region has a special interest to my spouse as she is Korean, has family in that country and she watches the goings-on between Northside and Southside with concern.

Here is a scene from the Korean War drama Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005). It is 3:43 in duration and worth it for the cinematography.

A lazy Sunday learning post.

Mysta of the Moon - Chapter 15

Mysta of the Moon from Planet Comics #49 (July 1947) is a one-off tale of corporate greed and environmentalism and except for reinforcing the trend toward genocide from the Fiction House heroes one does not learn much about the Mystaverse in this issue.

When the Science Council declares that Energo Limited, an energy company, must stop drilling for a rare type of Geo-thermal energy it is up to Mysta to step in when the company defy the ban and continues their exploitation in private. To make matters worse subterranean natives take advantage of Energo's explorations and use the harnessed volcanic activity to threaten the surface world by destroying cities and returning the Earth to a natural state.

The Robot makes an appearance but Bron is nowhere to be seen. Being made of sinew and without the benefit of Mysta's super-science, the human 'assistant' doesn't have much to do in this chapter due to the hostile environment of the underworld. Presumably left behind in safety on Mysta's extraterrestrial science-fortress the homo-phonically named Bron, nearly a prisoner, must wait for his mistress to return.

It often becomes necessary for the reader, particularly with the format of the Golden Age comic book, to fill in the desired details that the decompressed style of telling a story will skip or leave out. Politics and greed are fine plot devices but no one reading these stories really cared about the day-today details of running a large metropolitan city and government. Seven pages does not leave a lot of room for characterization when action fighting deformed criminals and bug-eyed monsters is required to bring a reader back the following month.  So it is the relationship between Mysta, the robot, and Bron is one that would be understandably complex and mature and if published today would require years to tell. Subtext of the Golden Age far outpaced even Silver Age DC or 1970s Marvel for allowing a reader to imagine their own deeper meanings to a tale.

In Millennium author John Varley cast the robot/android assistant to the futuristic heroine as an all-purpose aide that not only acted as lab equipment, secretary and confidant but as a sex companion as well (something that did not make the transition to the film). Coincidentally,  there are more than a few parallels between Varley's work and Mysta. Isolated, futuristic science-heroine with difficulty relating to people, a demolished civilization and people on the brink of extinction, even a somewhat self-sabotaging Science Council that creates as many problems as they solve. Another aspect of Mysta that mirrors Varley is the emotional abandonment of the robot once the brawny meat-puppet makes an appearance. Yet as far as Mysta goes expounding on her relationship with her lab assistant can veer dangerously into fan-fiction. So barring Image Comics publishing a chapter of Mysta of the Moon for their Next Issue Project it is best that anyone wanting a greater depth to her story just pick up or download a copy of Millennium and where ever the names Louise Baltimore or Bill Smith appear just mentally edit them in their place to Mysta and Bron.

A long, long talk with the hands of time

There have been a number of bands with the name of Jesters and info is hard to find on this particular early-1960s iteration of the band that claimed that name. I discovered the song Hands of Time on a compilation of obscure 60s garage bands a few months ago and decided to include it on a Lazy Sunday post.

The bridge is a bit jarring as the tone swings from bubblegum to moaning teen age depression over the span of a few lines but I like it anyways. Since the world is bereft of any real video of the band performing or information about them I tossed a bunch of random photos to accompany the tune. The photos are a bit more interesting than a 3 minute static image of a .45 record anyways.

I shared the video with a few women I know and they got all teary-eyed, cheered up at the one funny image and then got all weepy again. Go figure. Though I think the video that took all of five minutes to create is kind of High School-ish and MySpacey here it is anyways.

Advantage: Me

I'm standing at a gas station trying to get my dad to answer his cell phone. After filling up the gas tank of my car I realized the car key had broken off in the ignition. I've been fruitlessly attempting to connect with my Dad and I need him to drive over and bring the spare key. While I'm on the phone a homeless man walks up...

Hobo: Excuse me, can you spare...
Me: Oh, hey. Can I borrow 60 bucks?
Hobo: Uh...I don't...
Me: That's what a locksmith is going to cost to get my car running. Can I have some money?
Hobo:  Sir...I don't have...
Me:  But you're wearing a nicer coat than I am.

Homeless man turns and walks away.

Me: Yeah, right! How do you like it, dude?

From the sterile Blogging Room deep within the Earth below the HMCC

No time for blogging today! The long hours preparing for the Operational Readiness Inspection of the Hayley Mills Celebratory Complex has left us all sleepy so it is now nap time at the HMCC! Also, I have to replace the leaking faucets in the shower. 

Soon...TROPOS!

I don't understand why this is even happening

Photo taken in San Diego, 11-9-10

Mysta of the Moon - Chapter 14

Politics as usual play a large part of this chapter of Mysta of the Moon from Planet Comics #48 (May 1947) as Mysta takes an active hand in public policy. Those following the Mysta story may be surprised by events in this installment as rival political groups comprising members of the Science Council and the Humanist Party clash for control of human civilization. Lies, distortions, back-stabbing, betrayal, terror attacks, manipulation of the media and preying upon the fears of the populace in order to advance their goals are all applied in a power-grab by a certain group of power-hungry insiders.

Mysta, with a little help from Faux-Bron and the Robot eventually figure out the plot and expose the manipulators and change the course of history. By endorsing one party over the other Mysta engages in a little propaganda coup of her own. Mysta sends a clear message that effectively renders one faction ineffective and superfluous, perhaps existing from then on forward only via her tacit approval and support, acting only on her whim or per her agenda.

You think it's going wrong again but you're wrong and I know it

Progressive early-80s band After The Fire is one of those musical groups where if you go by what is played on radio or linked to on the internet one would think they have only produced one song. Examples of this would be from performer Annie Lennox and the song Walking on Broken Glass, the Xian band Mercy Me with Goodbye To Self, The Corrs with Summer Sunshine and Duffy with Mercy. This is a bit different than the One Hit Wonder syndrome (though it certainly overlaps) that many bands are categorized with in that regardless of the extent of the catalog the performer holds from the play each song receives in stores, restaurants and the radio someone new to the names would tend to believe the tunes were just extended play ring tones and just as disposable albeit extremely lucrative.

ATF is most popular via their international video hit Der Kommissar but they had other tunes that were enjoyable enough and got some international play way back when. They have a loyal following on a few streaming video sites. Yet one pop tune I appreciate in particular seems to be missing and whenever I break out the cassette tapes the ATF compilation album released in the United States is one I always give a listen to. When friends and innocent strangers hear other tunes from ATF they are always polite if not pleasantly surprised, like when I keep insisting how awesome are the Scottish band Texas and lead Sharleen Spiteri.
   
Music videos from the early days of ATF (with the exception of the over-played Der Kommissar) are rare so I put together the audio for Love Will Always Make You Cry with some other video for this song. It doesn't really sync up but it isn't too far off most other videos of the era using concert footage for their MTV entries. I really like that one line from the chorus used for the title of this post and I keep it in the brain file for use whenever I can work it into conversation.

I know there are some ATF fans out there so here you are. Enjoy!

Lazy, rainy Sunday post.

Happy Thanksgiving in 2010

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #15 (December 1941). Art credit Al Taliaferro.


Since a few people asked what the deal was with the cover because the gag had little context, here is the original cartoon that inspired it as reprinted from the daily newspaper comic strip for Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #12 (September 1941).

Mysta of the Moon - Chapter 13

From March 1947 Planet Comics #47 brings a tale of a space pirate, political intrigue and science-zombies. Much of the action concerns things being personal. Mysta reveals more emotion for Bron and the villain of the piece has something of a personal grudge against Mysta. Powerful forces seem to be allying themselves against Mysta as petty criminals and despots gather considerable resources against her. A member of the the Science Council also makes a short-lived appearance and Bron ends up in need of rescue. 

In reading these stories I have come to speculate that many of the crooks and pirate leaders may have been people of considerable influence before the fall of civilization. Robber barons of the future with strangleholds on various systems and economies, reduced to being small organized crime families, yet with access to large infrastructure of horded supplies and equipment from better times.

It seems unlikely that some minor space pirate would nonetheless have a giant hidden underground base unless they were long established and with resources that remained relatively untouched while humanity dragged themselves back up from the ruins of their civilization.

They have no shield, nothing must be revealed

The Go Go's version always impressed me as a catchy bubblegum song about high school gossips. The song as interpreted by Fun Boy Three has a scarier, darker appeal that hints at a deeper story than the more energetic grrrl-power version.

Lazy, rainy Sunday post.

Don't Be Slutty, Girls!

Love Letters #10 (1951).

Dangerous...Active!

By amazing coincidence, my home office cabinet has a rather thick file within it with the same name.

From Girl Comics #12 (January 1952).

You can't be too careful

Following with interest the news that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been issued a warrant for his arrest by Swedish authorities. I'm not ready to state whether he has been framed, set up, or is guilty but I am going to pay attention to the story. There are only a few people who know what really happened and we have to wait for the evidence to determine who is guilty and who is innocent.

This story has international implications. Assange is notoriously difficult to locate as he is reported to never stay in the same place more than one night. Dangerous men have dangerous enemies and I'm sure the various threats against Assange are very real. There is no telling what region he may visit in his travels. He is a ghost. He could very well be hiding in a motel in New York, Britain, Berlin, Hong Kong or even San Diego.

So just to be on the safe side I'm going to wear a t-shirt with the slogan NOT JULIAN ASSANGE on it whenever I venture out of my home. I'd hate to get tasered by cops when on the way to the mall mistakenly identifying me as Mr. Assange. This is something everyone should be concerned about. Furthermore, my wife is visiting relatives in hated Maryland soon so I have to be ready when I go to the airport to see her off. The t-shirt will divert suspicion from me being Mr. Assange and ensure that there will not occur a case of mistaken identity when I escort my wife to the TSA checkpoint. Look what happened to Frank Morris. If he was wearing one of these T-shirts he'd still be a free man today.

Like it doesn't bother you

Remaining calm in restaurants is  particularly difficult and can be quite a challenge for the average, normal person. This is because the cutlery is often magnetized through handling, cleaning, jostling and scraping in the storage racks. Trust me, it's science.

The main problem that occurs from cutlery being magnetized is that it makes lining up the flatware perfectly parallel on the napkin with even spaces on each side and without touching the implements next to it AS IT SHOULD BE extremely difficult for the average restaurant patron. Too close to the  neighboring implement and the fork is subsequently attracted to the adjacent piece of cutlery and then shifts off center and it TOUCHES the knife or spoon. I will not stand for that. No way. If the cutlery is not close enough to the other then the entire setting is NOT LINED UP RIGHT and then they won't be perfectly even on the napkin AS THEY SHOULD BE and then I get upset and nervous and then that tremble in my chest returns and it won't go away until I fix the problem.

Oh, man. Just looking at this image is making me want to photoshop them parallel.

Meet Russell Stamm

Click to render visible. Creator profile from Harvey Comic Hits #59 (1952).