#261. Lucky Luke - Ghost Town

Ghost Town (by Morris and Goscinny)

This work presents the adventures of the world's greatest cowboy, the comic strip character who can shoot faster than his own shadow. As he roams with his horse Jolly Jumper, always seeking new adventures, Lucky Luke meets two suspicious characters, Denver Miles and Colorado Bill. Together they arrive on the outskirts of a deserted city, Gold Hill, which counts only one inhabitant. The old man, Powell, is the sole survivor of a gold rush that he has not given up on, despite years without success. He continues to work his mine, which Denver and Colorado soon try to take over any way they can. But Lucky Luke, who has taken a liking to the old man, is looking out for him and will save him from many troubles...

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This comics is sent to me by Ajnaabi & scanned by Minutemen-DTs. All thanks & credits go to original scanners, uploaders & Ajnaabi.

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Catwoman's Return in Lois Lane

As I have discussed in the past, the Catwoman disappeared immediately after the Comics Code Authority arrived. It seems obvious that her sex appeal, glamorous lifestyle and her habit of getting away at the end of the story with occasional assistance from Batman would surely have been slapped down by the Code. So she joined many other Batman villains from the Golden Age and disappeared.

In Batman #155, the Penguin returned for the first time in seven years, and in Batman #171, the Riddler made only his third appearance ever. And then the Batman TV show hit the screens and the entire country experienced Batmania. As I recall, the first two episodes featured the Riddler. And the second week (Batman was shown on both Wednesday and Thursday) featured the Catwoman.

Now the Batman TV series always featured some lovely woman, usually the featured villain of the week's "moll". But here was a gal willing to match wits with Batman herself. The choice of actress was inspired. Julie Newmar could vamp it with the best of them, as she showed in an early 1960s movie called "Marriage-Go-Round" as a brilliant young graduate student who has decided that she wants to have a baby with an also-brilliant (and happily married and actually faithful) college professor played by James Mason.

And yet, despite this obvious lead-in and even though DC had reprinted several Catwoman stories from the Golden Age, somehow Julius Schwartz resisted the siren call of Batman fans for a new Catwoman story. Indeed, shortly after the Batman TV show started he brought in a new villainess who was clearly inspired by the Feline Felon: Poison Ivy.

Around the same time, Mort Weisinger, whose Superman had ruled the circulation roost at DC forever, thanks to the long-running and successful radio and TV series, suddenly found his numbers declining pretty drastically. He knew the culprit and he knew the answer: Bring back the Catwoman to face Lois Lane.

At the beginning of the story, we see perhaps the fate of journalism writ large 43 years ago. How do the Daily Planet reporters get their news?



Well, it's not hard to see how having inmates provide entertainment at a party for the guards' children might go awry; whose brilliant idea was that?

Lois realizes that the Penguin might be attracted to the exhibition of rare birds on display at the Metropolis Bird Sanctuary, so she goes there. The exhibit has not yet opened, but the intrepid reporter sneaks past a dozing security guard and sure enough, excitement ensues:



But when Lois comes to, she's not being held captive by old Pengy, but:



Very, very cool. Rajah had been featured in several Golden Age Catwoman stories and in CW's final appearance in Detective #211's The Jungle Cat-Queen, she was shown riding off atop Rajah's back towards her plane as Batman and Robin look on, helpless to stop her from escaping. Kudos to Leo Dorfman (credited with writing the story at the GCD) for making sure that he got a little detail like that right.

Some other characterizations seem to be have been obtained from the show, like the constant punning on the "cat" theme. Lois accuses the Catwoman of "pussy-footing", while the Catwoman is amused that Lois is "Purr-plexed" and later:



I'd have to look, but I don't remember a lot of that punning in the Golden Age Catwoman stories. Lois passes her final test, proving she can control the wild cats that Catwoman keeps, and she's given her first assignment:



Dorfman's script takes a little hit in my book. The Catwoman was never a murderer, even using proxies, not in the comics and not in the TV show. Indeed, in Detective #211, Batman notes in the final panel:

"Murder isn't in the Catwoman's heart. Sentiment is her weakness and sooner or later that's why we'll catch her the next time."

And what of the Penguin himself? Why did he pass up an obvious bird crime? Well, apparently because he had other "Birds" on his mind:



Yep, that's LBJ's wife and daughters in the float. But in actuality the Penguin was after the rare birds at the exhibition, he was just hiding underneath the eagle's wing on the float as a way of getting through Metropolis without being observed. Because the easiest way to avoid being detected is in the middle of a float which the Secret Service is protecting, right?

The Penguin finally arrives at the museum where the exhibit has already been robbed, and encounters the Catwoman (actually Lois). Realizing that he's been beaten, he decides to try a little romance:



Big bonus points to Dorfman there; it strikes me as exactly the type of ruse the Penguin would use to keep within range of the exhibit. And another big bonus to artist Kurt Schaffenberger, who presents it perfectly framed. But remember, Lois is programmed to kill and so she sends a "cat-arang" towards the Penguin and he falls backwards, but is saved by:



That is beautiful. Another perfect panel in another perfect sequence. Unfortunately for the Penguin, that is the second to last sequence he appears in; in the next he is captured by Superman, and carted off to prison by Batman and Robin. Superman changes into his Clark Kent identity to gather news information that will "explain his absence", but he runs into the Catwoman. Realizing that she's really Lois Lane hypnotized, he's not quite as concerned as he might otherwise be, when her cats rip his reporter clothes to shreds:



The Catwoman arrives shortly later and sees that while Superman removes the wild cats to a zoo, he leaves Lois alone, telling her he'll be back shortly to help her recover from the idea that she's the Catwoman. She changes places with Lois and:



Of course that "poor, deluded," bit is an obvious nod to the TV show, which often featured Batman hectoring a supervillain's moll with those adjectives.

The story continued in Lois Lane #71. We learn that using guile, the Catwoman had tricked Superman into flying her to the catacombs, her lair. She used a magic wand there to change him into a cat, and imprisoned him in a Krytonite cage. And if you think that's pretty diabolical, get a load of what she does to Lois:



Well, you can imagine the next step, Lois the mouse is dropped into the cage with Superman the cat, who suddenly seems to have forgotten his code against killing. It's pretty fortunate that turns out to be a little nightmare Lois had, and in fact Batman and Robin have captured the Catwoman. But the part about Superman turning into a cat was not a dream, and the wand doesn't work any more, and the Catwoman isn't telling how to make it work. Super-Cat remains optimistic:



But still a little embarrassed by his problem:



What, J. Edgar turning the investigation over to LBJ? Unlikely indeed! So Lois goes to the White House with her cat-carrier. At this point I can't help noticing that the basic plot of the story--Lois and the Catwoman--has been over for pages and that Dorfman is only keeping the tale alive by this ridiculous subplot of Superman turned into a cat for several pages. Anyway Superman eats lunch with the president's dogs, while Lois finds out that animals the space program sent to the moon are doomed unless Supes saves them. She tells Super-Cat who flies to the moon but they have a camera, and it turns out that the animals on the moon are mice. Will Super-Cat eat them instead? No he saves them and then Lois takes Super-Cat over to Lana Lang's place and whaddya know, Lana Lang's dad just found the only monkey's paw that grants one wish and Lana does the right thing, but that doesn't work out all that great for Lois:



Comments: The ending is still entertaining because of Schaffenberger's art, but the story is so padded it makes Megan Fox look natural. Some out-of-character bits also ding Dorfman's script. Still, the tale hangs together despite those problems, and who can resist that panel with Super-Cat writing a message to Lois?

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Magnus, Robot Fighter #2

If there was one thing that the Silver Age had in abundance, it was covers that featured the hero and his double. But this one is painted and really stands out.

I enjoyed reading the reprint of Magnus, Robot Fighter #1 in #22 so much that I decided to try the next issue of Magnus. I don't remember reading a lot of Gold Key comics as a kid; it is my recollection that they had a somewhat different distribution system than Marvel and DC, and you'd come across them in oddball places like Woolworth's and WT Grant's. I had a couple issues of Turok, and one of Korak, Son of Tarzan.

This issue doesn't waste any time getting to the action. Leeja is being kidnapped by robots when Magnus lends a fist:



The seductive poses of the former continue, and check out the outstanding composition of this panel:



Our eyes are drawn to the woman, whose gaze encourages us to look at the fleeing air-car, which leads us to the dialog bubbles. That is perfectly done.

Magnus and Leeja are curious why the robots attacked her; since H8 was defeated in the last issue, she's no longer wanted, and those weren't pol-robs at any rate.

Via scene change, we learn that the robots were created by Mekman, a robot who has learned how to create human-looking and sounding robots, starting with a mechanical version of Magnus:



The robot Magnus lures Leeja to the Mekman's headquarters. With her as a hostage, Magnus himself has no choice but to surrender to the Mekman himself. Meanwhile the evil robot has created duplicates for North Am's governing council. After the substitution is made, the council makes an announcement:



When Magnus learns that Senator Clane has been arrested and is facing execution, he realizes it's time to kick a little robot butt:



He learns Mekman's startling secret:



Magnus realizes that Mekman's pores still need to breathe, so he coats him with mercury, forcing the secret from his enemy before saving him for the good of humanity:



Magnus and Leeja arrive back at the capitol just in time to save Senator Clane, who is about to be executed. Magnus tells the humans nearby that the President and his council are all robots, as is the fake Magnus. They have an obvious test for him:



And in the end:



Comments: The story is solid, the artwork terrific. What's not to like? I do hope that in future issues we get a little more depth to the characters but so far this series is turning out to be a real gem.

There is a backup feature in this issue called the Aliens, which I see started in Magnus #1. I may get around to reading that series but for now I'm going to stick with the robot fighter stories.

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Trivia Quiz #32

1. Who failed in his first effort to join the Mystery Analysts of Gotham City?

Private Detective Hugh Rankin was blackballed by Batman in his first attempt to join the Mystery Analysts, although he was later inducted.

2. Who was the first person to graduate at the top of Gotham City Police Academy in all four categories of training: Academic, Physical, Firearms and Overall?

Patrolwoman Patricia Powell was the police academy's finest graduate ever, startling Batman:

In an oddball pair of stories from the very early New Look, Patricia was introduced as a new love interest for Bruce Wayne. She confided in Batman shortly after the awards ceremony, puzzling the Caped Crusader, who could not remember meeting her, but it turned out that they had encountered each other several times, but were always wearing masks at the time: a diving mask and a domino mask at a costume party. But like all of Batman's love interests, she eventually just faded out of the picture.

3. Who did not first re-appear in the Silver Age after a long absence during the New Look period: the Riddler, the Penguin, the Scarecrow or the Catwoman?

I worded this poorly, what I meant to say was that three of those villains returned for the first time in the Silver Age during the New Look period, and one did not. The answer is the Penguin, who first returned in Batman #155, a year before the New Look debuted.

4. According to the Riddler, why do inmates refer to the state penitentiary as "Fiddler's Hotel"?

Because it's a "vile inn" (violin).

5. It is not uncommon for crooks to "die" at the end of a story, but what Batman villain was declared dead three times in the same story?

Deathman died three times in Batman #180; the first two were hoaxes, but the last one was for real as he was electrocuted by a lightning bolt while trying to shoot Batman and Robin.

Michael Rebain got #1, #2, #3 and #5. Ed O'Toole got #2, #3 and #5. And Darkmark90 correctly answered #4. Great job, all!

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#260. The Mask of Zorro - Dell #538

Dear friends, this comics I received in January 2009 & only today able to post. Very thankful to contributor 'Srikanth' for understanding my situation without any explanation & waiting so long.

The Mask of Zorro # 538 (1954) Dell
(New scans)

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P.S. This one & earlier Zorro was bought by Srikanth at cost of 50+ USD each. There are 11 more such rare issues in his collection.

Do you wish to read those?

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#259. Tarzan - Mitabu Nakab Ka Dhap (Hindi)

One of the most popular comics character 'Tarzan', was created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1911. First appeared in the novel 'Tarzan of the Apes'. which was published in 1912. The very same book was adapted as first Tarzan comics strip in early 1929.

Like the Phantom, Tarzan also lives in the jungles of Africa. Sadly, both never meet in any comics.

This time read : Tarzan #34 (Hindi)

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Contributed by Anurag Dixit.

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Batman And the Feminists

Or something. As the 1960s ended, Batman sales collapsed. After selling better than 800,000 copies per issue in 1967, the title crashed to 350,000 two years later. Nothing is less hip to youngsters than last year's fad. So it was necessary to make Batman more relevant, and seizing on the then-novel phenomenon of Women's Liberation seemed a natural. Of course, that writer Frank Robbins and editor Julius Schwartz knew nothing about feminism comes through loud and clear.

As the story begins, a beauty pageant winner is crowned. Her prize? A night on the town with Gotham's most eligible bat-chelor, all televised by a local station. And is Robin going to handle the crime-fighting duties?



So the crooks have a field day, even to the point of robbing discos and other nightspots where Batman has recently been with his date (since they had a big haul with the celebrity attraction).

It is, after all, just one night and so the crooks begin to realize that perhaps tying Batman down with a woman would be just the thing gangland needs to improve the bottom line. So:



She goes to a local ad agency, which is intrigued at the prospect:



Well, never underestimate the ability of Madison Avenue to sell a product:



Batman bails out on the scene, but it seems he will be trapped between two adoring mobs of women, when suddenly:



But when Batman tries to thank her, she blows him off. Will he be intrigued by the only woman in town who isn't panting after him? You betcha:



In the finale, Batman and Robin are observing a car theft ring when they spot the mystery woman's vehicle being stolen. They wade in but it's a trap. Fortunately a third fighter joins them:



The crooks were double-crossing Cleo; her intention was only to entice Batman into marriage, while the gangsters figured they'd just bump him off. Batman learns that Cleo was part of the gang all along:



Batgirl helps out in the nick of time there. It turns out that she only joined WEB (Women to End Batchelorhood) to find out what the plan was. Cleo goes to jail with the rest of the crooks (although we have seen her break no law in the story) and Batman resumes his romance-free ways:



Comments: The story itself isn't terrible by any means; it's the juxtaposition with the then-new Women's Liberation Movement that makes this comic seem sillier than it really is. It is completely believable that Batman would find it difficult to operate if he married.

Irv Novick had settled in as the main Batman artist by this time, and his work supplemented by Joe Giella's inks definitely sets a nice tone for the story.

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