Friday, July 10, 2015
The Creature from the Green Lagoon
From one kind of killer bat story, to yet another! Yeah, what the hell, it's San Diego Comic Con weekend so why not post a superhero story that fits THOIA in theme? We did it before HERE with Sub-Mariner, and again HERE with Plastic Man in the past, so why not thrice? Todays story originally appeared in the February 1958 issue of Detective Comics #252, and despite the green scaly creature and the lagoony title, it's actually more a nod to King Kong, --and this of course makes it twice the monsterama fun! I love these colorful, goofy old Dynamic Duo stories, much more so than the grim "realism" of the modern Dark Knight. Yes, in these classic stories anything can happen! Why, it's a comic book that actually remembers that it's a comic book (unlike the "comic" con that's happening in SD this weekend, where maybe 1/3rd of it is actually dedicated to comics.) Ah, well...
Awesome, Robin saves the day!
ReplyDeleteY'know, I never really read these as a kid. I remember reading a lot of Harvey Comics, and whatever Heavy Metal, Warren, and National Lampoon issues were to be found laying around the dens of my parents' hippy acquaintances. When I did read superhero stuff, it was always Marvel--Fantastic Four, Wandering Hulk, my man Spider-Man. Soon enough it was the mid eighties and I was a teenager and everything was different anyway. That's a long introduction to the fact that I've rarely read any Batman from the late Golden Age / early Silver Age, and I do appreciate the opportunity. I don't really love it, certainly not enough to track down whatever other internet resources there surely are, but I do find it charming, and I do like seeing it when it has been curated to my tastes like this. Thanks!
Must be hard to swim in a cape. That shows some real dedication to the role-play right there.
Your website has really gone downhill.
ReplyDeleteAnd your website never produced a single thing even worth mentioning. Go the fuck away if you don't like my website. Please.
DeleteNo no, my man. Karswell's site is fine.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, "gone downhill" means that it was ON TOP of the fuckin'hill for some time, right?
So, you agree that the archive, at least, is top notch, prim'ordine, excelente calidad, creme de la creme, wunderschon. Nuff said for me.
As for the story:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiji_Tsuburaya
:-)
Ripley, like thumper, if you don't have anything good to say, then don't say anything at all -- or better yet -- like Bambi's mom, please die and then burn in a forest fire! :)
ReplyDeleteOK, i'm going to be the guy to say this -- a fun crazy silver age Batman story -- but it just KILLS me to see Kane's name slapped on this. It's a Moldoff job ghosting for Kane, and, of course, 99.9% of comic readers will probably never know this. The crap Kane got away with is probably one of the worst things in comics, hell, and at some times, there was blacklisting, stolen characters, and mob involvement, so that says a lot!
Next time you publish one of these (and please do, they are fun!) cross out Kane's name and put in the real credits!
That monster suit at the beginning (what little you see of it) looks like a cross between the Cyclops of SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and the Abomination in the Incredible Hulk comics.
ReplyDeleteThere's a whole category of weird story where a character invents something very elaborate to get hold of a fortune, making you wonder why the thing he does doesn't COST him a fortune, or why he doesn't SELL it for one. I mention that because it seems like that elaborate monster suit would be worth at least as much as those pearls. But of course, it's an escapist story, so never mind.
How do you know a blog is still A #1?
ReplyDeleteWhen the never do well trolls (and never did a damn thing with their worthless lives type trolls) come out of the woodwork to trash the best blogs.
Did a quick look on regator.com, The Horrors of It All is STILL listed as best of the best, meanwhile on regator.com - Lanford Ripley turns up nothing, that pretty much sums it all up.
Now a comment on the comic posted, while Batman Comics were never my first choice, this was a fun read with the feel of the 60's campy TV show that would be produced a few years later.
Godzilla was released in 1954 so the giant lizard monster craze was still in its heyday when this comic was published, so a nice tie in between Batman and Monster movies.
Somewhere in my collection is a tattered and worn copy of Detective Comics #252...I used to buy them off the stands, since at the tender age of 11, my favorite character was Batman.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, I was not only a Batman fan, but loved anything with dinosaurs...and was also a fan of Godzilla.
I agree with Brian about Bob Kane's name. Even at that young age I could tell that different artists handled the stories. I could tell the difference between Sheldon Moldoff and Dick Sprang, even if I didn't know their names. Occasionally Jim Mooney would do a story and I noticed another artist's hand. I think Moldoff's style was probably closer to what Bob Kane would have done, except nowadays I wonder what artwork Kane did, if anything, or if the only thing he drew was a paycheck from DC. I remember once reading that Charles Paris was the resident inker for Batman stories, to "keep the look consistent." Whut? There was no more inconsistent presentation of a character than Batman's art. Well, except for nowadays. I think the names of artists who have drawn Batman since I stopped buying Batman comics in the late seventies would fill a phone book.
For those that enjoyed this Bat Man story and commented, thanks! I just posted a Frank Robbins MAN-BAT tale over at my other blog too, fyi, go here to check it out:
ReplyDeletehttp://andeverythingelsetoo.blogspot.com/2015/07/man-bat-madness.html
More horror coming right up :)