(not my cat)
my cat:
Saturday, January 5, 2019
Werewolf Hunter vs. Cat Women
I have a friend on facebook who likes to turn social media Saturdays into "Caturdays" and thus post nothing but pictures of cats. Our mutual FB friends seem to really eat it up, so hey, let's do the same at THOIA today with a picture of my cat, PLUS a couple of Golden Age Professor Broussard (aka The Werewolf Hunter) brushings with feline ferocity, shall we? Our first terror tail is from the April 1944 issue of Rangers Comics #16, followed by a frighteningly furry fang-tasy from the December 1944 issue of Rangers Comics #20. Art on both is by Lily Renee. And for those unfamiliar, the Prof was basically a Jules deGradin type old time occult detective who stumbled onto supernatural shenanigans no matter where he was, or what he was doing. Sometimes people came to him for assistance from these menacing monsters, but usually he was just a magnet for the macabre without even trying, always keeping a detailed, handwritten diary of his adventures, which adds a nice visual touch to the narrative, btw. These are fun, briskly paced adventures into the eerie unknown, and if you enjoy them enough, let me know in the comments, maybe we'll do a few more next week too.
(not my cat)
my cat:
(not my cat)
my cat:
There was a part of me thinking "Were the kittens in that first one demons or ordinary kittens enchanted? Without Shaitan's influence they might have been socialized and adopted, not drowned!"
ReplyDeleteI've always loved the Werewolf Hunter series. These are two great examples. Thanks, and I'd love to see more.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me, the "Cat-Women" in these tales are essentially innocent... manipulated by the demonic will of others. If done today, they'd certainly be allowed to live.... maybe fall in love with a Bat-Man or something...
ReplyDeleteDoes the " Werewolf Hunter" ever hunt werewolves?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFascinating link, thanks Mestiere! And yes, there's definitely a werewolf story-- coming up!
ReplyDeleteWerewolf Hunter, Dr. Drew from Fiction House, Dr. Graves of Charlton, Dr. Spektor of Gold Key- it seems supernatural investigators have a long history in the comics.
ReplyDeleteI would like to see more Werewolf Hunter or feline stories, I guess there are a few (possibly very few) Were-feline stories out there.
I'm surprised no on mentioned Shaitan giving the Vulcan greeting/good bye sign on page 2 bottom right panel, Shaitan an early Trekker?
I love how both stories have supernatural elements that are never quite explained. Why does Senor Shaitan own these cats if at the same time he's afraid of being scratched by one? Why is he training them to steal, murder and commit arson? Why do the poor kittens have to be drowned in the end of the story? With the main evil gone,surely the kittens are free from his influence. There's no longer anyone to turn them into women and teach them those things.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love how when the kittens turn into women, their boots become gloves of the same color.
As for the second tale,I feel sorry for Magna's daughter and wonder what exactly entailed her curse to become a cat whenever someone played a particular song on the violin...
Also, your cat is adorable!
A nice pair. Wonderful noirror stories. The quick tales are aided by the narrative as you said. Some fine good girl art too. Thank you Mr.K.
ReplyDeleteI just watched that bloody cat movie in November. I think it's pretty great.
ReplyDeleteI've always liked Lily Renée's work from Fight Comics, but I'm mostly unfamiliar with this title. It's nice to get acquainted with it, though, because she is at the top of her game here. I just love the splash image on the first story, with the color-coded gloves (werecatburglar sure is a heapin' helpin' of portmanteauing). I even more love that transformation scene on page two of the second story (holy cow, she literally regresses backward around some kind of atavistic dial. That's just magical! What a great idea!). The work is lovely, stylish, and very formalized, and reminds me of my favorite Steranko stuff. I think she would have really brought something really special to silver age superhero comics.
Lily Renée was an interesting artist, aside from her life story. She had a thing for women's fashions, and you can see in these stories how she steered them so she could draw full body images of gowns, and some pretty great stuff.
ReplyDeleteEach of the cat women had a different fashionable outfit, and certainly the splash on the second story.
I'd say the prof stumbled into mayhem and then barely stumbled out, in the second story he actually does nothing; he doesn't change the outcome in any manner!