Captain Marvel Versus Superman

Superman Fan covers the oversized comic from the 1970s featuring the battle between the Big Red Cheese and the Man of Steel. But before that matchup ever took place (indeed before DC began publishing Shazam!), there was another tumultuous pairing between Supes and somebody who quite clearly was inspired by Captain Marvel:



In the splash page to Action #351, we learned what his name stood for:



And in Whiz Comics #2, we found out what Shazam stood for:


(Image lifted from the late, lamented Comic Coverage)

Except for Solomon and Atlas, the names are the same, although some of the locations and attributes are different.

In the story, the United Crime Syndicates needs a new boss, their old one having been jailed by Superman. A newcomer appears offering to lead them:



No surprise, the gangsters accept Zha-Vam's leadership eagerly. And apparently believing in the dictum to "Never steal anything small", they attack Fort Knox. Superman arrives and finds himself in quite a tussle:



In the middle section, Zha-Vam delights in forcing Superman to press one of the buttons on his belt, which turns him into still different gods of the past. For example, the "G" button transforms Zha-Vam into Gorgon, in which guise he turns Superman to stone. Supes recovers when he manages to attract lightning to himself. Later, Superman presses the "P" button, and turns out all the light in the word, as Pluto replaces Zha-Vam. Superman must grovel:



Superman's computer reveals a possible way to defeat Zha-Vam; his Achille's heel. But it turns out that the Greek God has planned ahead for this eventuality:



In the final issue, Superman returns from space to discover that Zha-Vam has placed the Shield of Orion around the Earth, and that he cannot get past it. He decides to go backwards in time to evade the shield and while he's at it, he takes a sidetrip to ancient Greece, and Mount Olympus. There he learns that the gods are angry that modern folks no longer worship them:



In response, they come up with Zha-Vam and send him to the future to humiliate Superman and remind people of their awesome powers. Meanwhile, Superman talks to the Oracle and learns there's another set of gods who are rivals with the Olympians. They even the score by giving Superman his own belt, leading to the climactic battle:



In the end Zha-Vam loses his cool and decides to simply use his Kryptonite sock to kill Superman. But Supes uses his belt to call Atlas (for once he's not changed into the hero himself) who opens a can of whoop-ass on Zha-Vam, getting rid of the sock in the process. And Supes uses his belt again, as a whip on Zha-Vam's exposed heel:



This takes the fight out of Zha-Vam, and Supes deposits him back in time to Mount Olympus. The gods, realizing their folly, turn Zha-Vam back into clay, and Superman indulges himself in a little side trip to Mount Olympus of modern times:



Yep, only one god on DC's green Earth in the Silver Age. Comments: Entertaining story and Boring's art works perfectly for Zha-Vam; he's really got it going here. The concept of the old gods being upset that Superman has replaced them is a clever but creepy motivation, although of course thinking it through would reveal that the Greek Gods had been dead for millennia before the Man of Steel came along.

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Hansi, the Girl Who Loved The Swastika

This one's a little outside my normal bailiwick, having been published in 1976, but it's such a wild issue that I couldn't resist sharing some parts with you. First, imagine being Jewish, walking past the local Christian bookstore, and seeing the cover of that comic through the window. You'd likely think that the local Christians were a bunch of skinheads.

The comic tells the story of Hansi, a young Czech girl who becomes enamored of the Nazis and the new opportunities for her to advance her education. She wins a scholarship:



As you can see, her mother (far right) is a little less thrilled about that prospect, and urges her to never forget Jesus. She arrives at her new school and learns about the Jewish Question:



Although Hansi never expresses anti-semitic thoughts in the book, she does become gung-ho about the Third Reich and discards her religion:



But as the war turns against the Germans and the Russians take Czechoslovakia, Hansi is imprisoned in a labor camp:



Deciding to break out, she tells her friend that they will go to West Germany, where the Americans are:



She makes it across the no-man's land into the American territory. At first she's suspicious of the young GIs:



But they win her trust and respect. In the postwar era she becomes a teacher in West Germany, and is eventually reunited with her childhood sweetheart. But something is missing in their lives, and eventually her husband finds it:



Well, you know Hansi, she never does anything half-hearted, and so her faith and her family increase over the years. Finally they emigrate to the USA:



Of course that's a bit of comic art license, as Hansi, a young woman during WWII, would be unlikely to have small children in the mid-1970s, when that kind of scene would be taking place. Hansi becomes a teacher in the United States, but she feels a calling to open up her home to young people who are in trouble and convert them to Jesus. She also takes her ministry to the local prison, where she gives a very inspiring speech:



Oddly, the speech is all about America, not about God, perhaps indicating that she's ready to put some faith in her country as well as in her religion. She does muse a bit earlier about how wrong she'd been to place faith in Nazism, so perhaps this is a turning point for her.

Comments: Hansi is certainly a very interesting and strong character, and Al Hartley draws her superbly. The story is based on the actual life of Maria Anne Hirshmann, originally with the same title, but apparently at some point changed to the less likely to mislead title of Hansi, the Girl Who Left the Swastika. Although obviously Christians would be most likely to enjoy this comic, it's quite entertaining just from a story-telling standpoint.

The cover still strikes me as crazy.

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#257. TV Tornado 64

According to Deepwoods, 88 TV Tornado softcover & 2 hardcover annuals were published only.

This time #64 from e-collection.

TV Tornado 64 City Magazines (UK)



All credits to unknown Scanner & original Uploader only.


While you are downloading comics, may be like to watch this clip.

I was searching some videos, this one forced me to watch several times. It's a short video about special effects' evolution from beginning.

Enjoy!

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#256. The Phantom - Law of the Jungle (Moonstone)

Every society has its laws: some written, some un-written - for some are forbidden to be even spoken aloud. The penalty for breaking these laws is often swift and uncompromising. Combine the lack of this knowledge with the unhinged mind of a deadly assassin who is calling out the Phantom and you get nothing but fire. Bang the drum for Paul Guinan's (Chronos) painted art, which has an eerie cinematic quality that ignites a wanton rhythm into the night of the Bangalla jungle. You want to see him the way others see him in his world? This is your one chance... if the law allows...

The Phantom: Law of the Jungle (2006)

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Scanned by Foyle-DCP and uploaded by BENNY31 & MMDSX. All thanks & credits go to them.

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Single Issue Review: Life With Archie #44

By 1965, even Archie was hopping on the superhero bandwagon, as Pureheart the Powerful. In the opening story Scents of Justice, Archie, Betty, Veronica and Reggie are spending the weekend at Mr Lodge's lakeside cabin. To keep Archie and Reggie from fighting, the gals send the boys off on a hike in the woods. But when they return to the cabin, they get a nasty surprise:

The hobos are robbing the cabin, and when the gals threaten to call the police:

It's a little odd to see Betty and Veronica in that kind of peril, although the hobos assure the gals that they will be freed once they get a ways down the river. Eventually the hobos get stuck on their raft with a skunk, and the river police are summoned to take them into custody.

The second story is the one highlighted on the cover, with Pureheart the Powerful versus the Bloodshot Eye. The story doesn't make a whole lot of sense; Archie is attacked by the villain (disguised as Reggie) who has some interesting plans for Betty:

Must... resist... temptation....

But when they encounter the real Reggie, Betty realizes that she's been fooled. Still, she does have the one method of defeating the Bloodshot Eye:

Comments: Archie did superhero about as well as Harvey and Dell, which is to say not well at all. Of course, the next year would see even stronger pressures for superhero comics, as the Batman series debuted in January of 1966.

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Three Extremely Lame Bits About Kid Flash

I have mentioned in the past that I really like the Kid Flash stories from the Silver Age; they were mostly "moral" stories, where Wally West (and the reader) learn a life lesson.

But I must note that there were three extremely lame points about Kid Flash that have to be covered in any detailed examination of Wally, who went on to become a long-term, significant character in the DC universe.

First, the origin. Now given that DC had decided to go with the youthful sidekick to the adult hero, the origin posed a bit of a problem. Remember, that Barry Allen had gained his super-speed via a freak accident. A bolt of lightning had hit some chemicals in his laboratory, and the combination had given him the "Fastest man alive" abilities. It's a million-to-one shot, but you know how it is, every bolt of lightning has to hit somewhere, right?

But hitting twice in the same spot? Lame:



Okay, so now they've accomplished what they wanted, which was to generate a sidekick for the Flash. But after awhile they realize that Kid Flash would be more effective (and distinctive) as a character if he had his own uniform. But do they just have him put something together himself? Not on your life:



In the story, Barry had been thinking about designing a new uniform for Wally, but before he could actually get out a needle and some thread, an alien weapon had automatically turned his thoughts into reality. No, I'm not kidding:



I seem to recall that Kid Flash later came up with some method of making his hair look brown instead of that rather distinctive carrot-top, as a secret identity bit of protection.

Now the last lame bit affects the Flash as well. Yep, I'm going there, to the story that undeniably ranks as the worst Flash story of the Silver Age. Now, when contemplating the awesome awfulness, remember that comics of the 1960s were still thought of as throwaway entertainment. The idea that adults 40+ years later would be be analyzing these stories would have seemed laughable to the people producing these comic books.

In Flash #167, we learned that the odds against the lightning bolt that gave the Flash his super-speed were even higher than we had thought:



And in fact, Barry apparently gained his superpowers from Mopee:



Leaving one obvious question for the readers:


But anybody logically looking at it would say that not only were the odds high against the lightning bolt that hit Kid Flash being random, but that the odds of it happening in front of the only other person in the world with super-speed were, well, about 3 billion to one. Which means that we have to assume that Mopee, or another one of the, gag, "Heavenly Helpmates", gave Wally West his Kid Flash powers.

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#255. The Phantom - The Ghost Killer (Moonstone)

The Ghost Killer is one of the stand-alone editions, and showcases elements of the Phantom which have been successfully adapted to a present-day setting, as well as fundamental elements which remain troublesome.

Successful weapons-dealer, Solomon Bishop, has a problem: The Ghost Who Walks! The Phantom is the only thing stopping a multi-million dollar sale of rifles equipped with "re-positioning" technology. So what's a rich and evil businessman to do? Why, hire an exotic raven-haired killing machine to do your dirty work for you, of course! The dealer hires a female assassin from Spain to kill the Phantom.

The Phantom: The Ghost Killer (2002)

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Scanned by Foyle-DCP and uploaded by BENNY31 & MMDSX. All thanks & credits go to them.

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