Werewolf Wednesdays return! And I'm guessing a few of you may have picked up on my hint about a "super September" in the previous post intro last month, and that's 100% spot on, because we will be looking at Super Hero Horror occasionally this month, just as we've done a few times in the past. Yep, you may hate supes now, but just wait until Mr. Karswell gets done with you! Annnd another few of you may start reading today's post and have a massive wave of deja vu hit ya over the noggin'. That's because this Lash Lightning and Lightning Girl tale from the November 1945 issue of Four Favorites #20 is an almost direct story swipe of the Gail Porter "Werewolf of Woonsocket" yarn that I posted HERE back in January. Don't believe me? Compare 'em! The Gail Porter story may have been published first (and maybe even have a more uniquely illustrated werwolf), but she's definitely no lovely Lightning Girl, who just so happens to also be illustrated by the ever impeccable, THOIA fan fave, Nina Albright. And for another great Lightning duo story located in our archive-- CLICK HERE!
9 comments:
My basic problem with the whole concept of the werewolf is that single wolves aren't....very tough? They're timid and stay out of the path of humans. Even a pit bull is much more of a threat than a timber wolf four times its size. Now, a were *tiger* or leopard or even a were hyena, that's something worth being frightened of!
I actually liked how idiotic this story was. It went so far to the silly side it became awesome again.
BOY BANDS! Is lash going to electrocute The Backstreet Boys? Or is that another Karswell photoshop special?
One thing I adore about 1940s super hero comics is how the genre is still working out the kinks; Lash has lightning powers, but he just punches the guy out. Also note that he has super strength, that guy's werewolf mask and head should have flown a couple of yards away from his body!
This is just fun; there's not a lot to the story (there's only really one character that could possible be disguised as a werewolf) but the banter is actually really good; Lash just has about had enough of Porter!
Lots of good girl art, 3 pages before the nylon and legs shot (that shows restraint!) and the action is good and the fighting dynamic, all you'd want. And it plays somewhat fair (not counting the splash which is no suit) by only showing the paw most of the time.
It just cracks me up a bit that Lash has super strength, super durability, can throw lighting, and he's stuck fighting idiots in werewolf costumes!
I kind of see the similarities between this story and the Gail Porter one but aside from a phony werewolf story, a rival newspaper reporter trying to beat the female lead over getting the scoop on it and said rival reporter actually being the one behind the phony story and werewolf in the first place (along with both lady reporters dressed in red), the stories end differently. Gail’s rival is a sympathetic one who gets a second chance. Weber just comes across as a jerk, even assaulting someone to prevent his cover being blown. I do love the second panel on the fifth page of the professor about to get smacked by the werewolf. The shadow is real neat there.
This tale is a pre-Scooby-Doo story with only Fred and Daphne, who happen to have super powers, but don't use them in this issue. Superheroes not using their super powers is disappointing for comics buyers, though if it were mentioned they had to conserve their super powers due to sun spots or something it would have been acceptable to readers back then or now.
Lash Lightning and Lightning Girl don't seem to be interested in hiding their secret identities, even Superman wears glasses to keep people from guessing the truth. Anyone seeing the two superheroes in person or in the papers and then seeing Lash and Isobel in civilian clothes would put two and two together, though in comics logic seems to be missing.
It is interesting to see these superheroes that have been forgotten by time, and any superhero tale that has a run in with the supernatural or horror is always a fun read.
I guess I didn't know that, but I know that almost everything about them gets exaggerated.
I've sat through literally hundreds of stories about easily provoked snakes, and even most venomous snakes are very hard to provoke. And who knows how many other "vicious" animals.
I know he doesn't have anything like a phone booth around, but Lash changing as Isobel turns away for just a second can give you real "Bicycle Repairman" on Monty Python vibes!
I don't really know this series - is that any kind of running joke, where one of them changes almost right in front of the other, or other people? If it were, it would definitely make all those clueless people when it comes to Clark and Superman seem a little LESS clueless.
>BOY BANDS! Is that another Karswell photoshop special?
I can not tell a lie-- I prefer boy bands over buying bonds! But of course, my idea of REAL boy bands goes way back to The Monkees and The Sweet etc, --so lash 'n electrocute me anyway!
The best boy band for THOIA- Dracula, Werewolf, Mummy, Frankenstein's creation and The Creature form the Black Lagoon, The original Crypt Kicker Five. A real Killer band in more ways than one.
So she runs around wearing her hero costume, a red dress, under her street clothes, a different red dress? I Guess those knee-high sandals were in that wee clutch the whole time.
I like Albright's slick comic art and the way she lets any face besides the dynamo duo get a little bit funky. But I think I like the Gail Porter story better, if for no other reason than because Gail has actual agency and solves the plot herself. Isobel, on the other hand, pluckily prepares to meet a werewolf in the dark wood, then sees and pursues it, only to freak out when she catches it. Once she's rescued, her partner then patiently explains everything to us all. I get that it's his book, but still. Maybe she should have left both dresses on after all.
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