Tag Archives: space
The Secret Lives of Villains #273
The Secret Lives of Villains #269
Golden Age Showcase: Stardust the Super Wizard.
You know what I really like about comics? The scope and scale of the medium.
Sure, in any artistic medium you can tell big stories, but in comics? Comics are the new mythology, giving us larger than life characters that serve as brightly colored allegories for the larger world.
The Golden Age of Comics had their myths and legends but let’s be honest with ourselves…they were somewhat limited.
It makes sense I guess. After all, a lot of people were pressuring creators to churn out new superheroes as quickly as possible and there are only so many ways you can copy heroes like Superman or Batman. Plus, our country was faced with an actual larger than life event known as World War 2 so those heroes were tasked with winning the war, but surely there had to be some way to inject a little grandiosity into the comic book scene.
Where’s the magic? Where’s the ridiculousness? Where’s the cosmic scale of it all?
Oh, this’ll be interesting.
Origin and Career
Stardust the Super Wizard, a giant space magician with super strength and a tiny head,
was first published in Fantastic Comics #1 in December of 1939.
The title was published by Fox Features Syndicate, who published the first Blue Beetle, and created by writer and artist Fletcher Hanks.
Hanks is also responsible for creating one of the first female characters in comics, a woman named Fantomah.
Hanks was something of an elder statesman for a comic book industry that was dominated by teenagers. He specialized in creating supernatural characters who had no qualms about wrecking terrible revenge against their antagonists and Stardust was no exception.
His origins are simple. He’s a mysterious super being who descends from the stars to wreck terrible retribution on criminals everywhere. Everyone knows this this due to a strange radio broadcast that tells them everything.
What’s his backstory? Where does he come from? Nobody knows.
What we do know is that his powers are seemingly limitless, and he demonstrates his power against two thugs who are just about to assassinate the President.
It’s pretty clear that our hero is a giant and has more powers than Superman did at his height.
It’s worth mentioning that Stardust also partakes in one of the hallmarks of the Golden Age of comics: the hero murdering hoards of criminals and evil doers in brutal fashion.
The first story sets the tone for most of the Stardust stories as the hero defeats a series of increasingly over the top and surprisingly well equipped enemies with unimaginable violence. While he would only last for 16 issues, each one of them is pretty epic and worth checking out.
It’s worth mentioning that Stardust didn’t just police Earth, he dedicated his life to busting crime all across the solar system from his private star base.
He had enemies with creative names like Kaos of Venus, the Brain Men of Mars, and Yew Bee.
My personal favorite is the story where our hero faces the evil machinations of an arch criminal named De Structo, who plans to use an oxygen destroying ray to suffocate the political leadership of the United States.
No I’m not making any of that up.
Stardust captures De Structo and punishes him by removing the villain’s head, keeping it alive, and throwing it to an alien beast known as a “giant headhunter”.
Funny how the headhunter alien looks suspiciously human. Also, that is not a good way to go.
So what happened?
As I stated above, Stardust only lasted for 16 issues. I have no idea why he didn’t last longer and can only assume that people were allergic to fun and epicness.
Thankfully, all was not lost and it turned out that Fletcher Hanks had developed something of a cult following. All of his Golden Age stories were collected into anthologies and are currently published by Fantagraphics Books.
Also, it turns out that Stardust is a superhero that has greatly benefited from being in the public domain since he has actually appeared in a lot of other independent projects.
Some of his more notable appearances have been in Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,
He also had a cameo in Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon #141.
He’s also been used in a genre that we don’t talk a lot about on this blog: table top games. His name was used as an example of how power corrupts in The Super Villain Handbook by Fainting Goat Games.
Stardust the Super Wizard may have had a short career in the Golden Age, but it was a career filled with memorable events and villains. He’s remembered fondly today and his reputation is well deserved.
Crowdfunded Comics that deserve more attention: Through the Cognitive Rift
Today we’re talking about Through the Cognitive Rift, a graphic novel project currently seeking funding on Kickstarter.
The project is about the human mind and hypothesizes that the universe we know and love is simply the thoughts and dreams of a single individual. The story takes place in a universe experiencing the apocalypse because its creator has severe mental problems and is contemplating suicide. The plot is about the one person in this universe that has been given the opportunity to connect with its creator and attempt to save the creators life and, by extension, all of existence.
The project was created by Natalie McKean and is seeking to raise $3,200 by August 9th.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nataliemckean/through-the-cognitive-rift-graphic-novel?ref=category_newest
Why I like it
The first reason I like this project is because I have a tremendous amount of respect for the creator.
Now, I never knew Mrs. McKean before I saw her project but when I learned that she is doing all of the writing, art, and production work by herself I couldn’t help but take my hat off to her.
Trust me when I say that creating comics takes a lot of work. Heck, all I do is write mine and I’m still frazzled.
The second reason that I like this project is its subject matter.
When I saw that this book was about the internal workings of people’s minds and thoughts my mind immediately thought of this:
Now, Inception is one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s deep, thoughtful, and trippy as all hell.
Now, it looks like Through the Cognitive Rift promises to be trippy as well, just in a different way.
But I think this book promises to be more than Inception, in fact I think it has the potential to be more.
Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but respect for Christopher Nolan and the cast of the film, but as a director he’s more of a robot than a human.
Don’t believe me? Go back to any of his films and try to find a character that conveys emotion and feeling through something that isn’t exposition or dialogue that doesn’t move the plot forward or reveal some sort of great theme or world shaking plot point.
I like this project because it looks like a more human and thoughtful version of Inception and while I don’t know if that was the creator’s intention, I write this with nothing but the highest praise and excitement.
Why you should donate
Take everything I said about Inception,
throw in the awesome artwork,
AND add the fact that this is probably one of the most creative and interesting stories that you will ever see dealing with depression, suicidal thoughts, and mental health,
and you have a recipe for a book that is engaging, thoughtful, and gorgeous to both read and look at.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nataliemckean/through-the-cognitive-rift-graphic-novel?ref=category_newest
Crowdfunded Comics that deserve more attention: After the Gold Rush
Today we’re talking about a Kickstarter comic called “After the Gold Rush”.
The book is about a scientist coming back to Earth after some mass exodus and seeks to bring back “optimistic sci fi and show that there is better living through science”.
The campaign is run by Miles Greb and has already passed its goal of $4,500 with 26 days left in the campaign.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/919052445/after-the-gold-rush-1-3-a-return-to-optimistic-sci?ref=category_newest
Why I like it
In order to understand why I like this project there are two things you have to understand about me.
First, I’m a sucker for cool artwork and this book has some really good art.
The comic is primarily drawn by a gentleman named Issac La Russa and while it’s difficult for me to describe, I like to think that his art style would be perfect in everything from lighthearted kid’s books to grim and gritty superhero work.
The cover art is done by a guy named Barry Blakenship,
This is high caliber work that would be at home with Marvel or DC. Instead we’re lucky enough to have this on a creator owned project.
The second reason I like this project is because I’m a massive history nerd.
Now, it would seem strange for a science fiction book to have ties to the past, but hear me out.
A lot of people think that history is about single individuals or events but the reality is different. Take something like the California Gold Rush of 1849,
It wasn’t an event driven by a single individual within a set period of time. It was a mass migration of ordinary people looking for a better life and wound up changing the future of California forever.
“After the Gold Rush” takes this idea and uses it to tell a fantastic story.
I don’t know much about the plot, but it appears that the story takes place after some sort of human mass migration into space, most likely done by people who were looking for a better life. This book takes a look at what happens after the people have left and what’s become of Earth.
It’s a book that understands that history isn’t just made up of individuals, it’s made up of masses of people who are trying to better themselves and that’s something special.
Why you should donate
The headline for the campaign states that this comic is “a return to optimistic sci fi”. That alone should be something to celebrate.
The reason I say this is because it’s probably safe to say that science fiction has gotten pretty grim and gritty these days.
If science fiction is how we view the future, than I would have to say that we’re being incredibly pessimistic. Don’t get me wrong, I like grim and gritty stories, and there have been some pretty good ones over the years,
but we live in an age where the greatest work of optimistic science fiction of our time,
isn’t immune to being run through a couple of filters in an effort to provide a more realistic and morally questionable story.
(holy crap, references to two beloved science fiction franchises in an article!)
Again, I have no problem with making science fiction more realistic, but at some point you just have to say “Enough with grim and depressing reality, give us something happy for once!”.
That’s the void that “After the Gold Rush” looks to fill and by God, I think it can actually pull it off.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/919052445/after-the-gold-rush-1-3-a-return-to-optimistic-sci?ref=category_newest
Golden Age Showcase: Doiby Dickles
Let’s talk about sidekicks.
The sidekick’s job is to watch the main hero’s back and help in any way possible. Sometimes this means providing support and help from afar and sometimes it means getting their hands dirty and joining the hero in his/her adventures.
More often than not, comic book publishers use sidekicks as a way to fill a need in the comic that the hero can’t fill. In the case of Robin the Boy Wonder, it was a way for DC Comics to make one of their most popular heroes more kid friendly and accessible in a time where comic book superheroes were facing a lot of scrutiny.
Over the course of comic book history there have been plenty of other sidekicks. Some have worked,
and some have not.
Today we’re talking about a Golden Age super sidekick that belongs in the “did not work” category, although if you ask me it’s a crying shame.
Today we’re going to talk about Doiby Dickles.
Origin and Career
The Green Lantern of the 1940’s was radically different from the Green Lantern we know today.
Instead of being an interstellar cop who got his powers from an advanced piece of alien technology, the Golden Age Green Lantern was a railroad engineer named Alan Scott who used a ring powered by magic.
When popular heroes like Batman and Superman experienced a sales boost by adopting sidekicks, National Comics turned to legendary comic book creator Bill Finger to create a sidekick for Alan.
I know I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: Bill Finger wasn’t just a big name for the Green Lantern, he also helped create a huge chunk of the Batman mythos we know and love today.
Doiby made his first appearance in All American Comics #27 in June of 1941.
The man was a Brooklyn taxi driver who drove Alan Scott around as needed.
He spoke with a thick Brooklyn accent, always wore a derby hat, and wasn’t afraid to get into a fight when he needed to.
He had something of a temper as well and could swing a wrench with enough power to make him a force to be reckoned with.
Also, he was incredibly attached to his cab, who he named “Goitrude”.
In short, Doiby Dickles was an ill tempered, foul mouthed cab driver who was quick in a fight and wanted to do everything he could to help.
He was magnificent.
So what happened?
The Golden Age of superheroes ended and the ensuing Silver Age took more of a science fiction bent.
This included a dramatic revamping of the Green Lantern series which shifted from the magic wielder Alan Scott to the galactic space cop Hal Jordan that we know and love today.
Sadly, this meant that the new age of comics didn’t have time and room for a hard talking fast punching maniac like Doiby,
so DC decided to ship him off into space and marry an alien princess named Ramia from the planet Myrg after saving her from a forced marriage to a man named Prince Peril.
Doiby and Ramia would return to Myrg where Doiby would become it’s king. The people of Myrg would go on to adopt Brooklyn accents and recreate the baseball field where the Brooklyn Dodgers played.
God, the Silver Age was weird.
While Doiby was no longer a member of the main supporting cast he did manage the odd guest appearance where he actually helped the Green Lanterns defeat Sinestro.
Sadly, Goitrude was destroyed in the battle. It’s one of the most heartbreaking deaths in all of comics.
While that was the extent of his Silver Age career, Doiby was nowhere near done as a character. He would continue to have revival after unlikely revival, even into the modern age.
He made an appearance with a superhero group known as “Old Justice”.
It was a joke group of old superheroes who made it their mission to keep the younger generation of superheroes in check and make sure they didn’t mess things up too much,
Naturally they became a thorn in the side of the more famous “Young Justice” superhero team, although in the end they did manage to put aside their differences and let the young ones do their jobs.
If you want to read more stories with Doiby in them, I recommend the Young Justice “Sins of Youth” story line.
Doiby’s next adventure would be with Young Justice again, when they agreed to help him travel back to Myrg and defeat an alien race known as the Slag by playing a game of baseball.
It’s worth mentioning that the team was only able to win by blatantly cheating.
Sadly, the baseball game was the last major appearance for Doiby Dickles. The rest of his appearances are guest spots and flashbacks with Alan Scott.
So, according to DC continuity, Doiby is still out there on an alien planet and is enjoying a long and happy life with an alien queen while ruling a race of Brooklyn accented extra terrestrials.
Shine on you crazy bastard, you deserve it.
Crowdfunded Comics that deserve more attention: Enough Space for Everybody
Boy, it’s been waaay to long since I’ve done one of these.
For anyone who might not know, I run a blog series where I talk about cool crowdfunded comic books I like and try to help them out for free. Unfortunately, silly things like work and sleep tend to get in the way so I don’t get to do this as often as I like.
However, today I was feeling especially awake and I decided to browse the projects on Kickstarter and I found this!
The project is a science fiction comic book anthology with a really intriguing twist: it’s a collection of sci fi stories without any military or imperialism themes, tones, or stories.
The project is headed by J.N Monk and needs to raise $30,000 to pay for artists, editing, printing, and shipping.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1638576966/enough-space-for-everyone-else-an-anthology?ref=home_featured
Why I like it
I’ll be honest, when I first read the project description I was a tad confused.
You see, I am a guy who likes comic books and science fiction. This means that, for most of my life, this is the kind of sci fi I’ve been raised on:
As you can see it’s big, brash, loud, and awesome, but “Enough Space for Everyone” is trying to do science fiction without all the guns, fighting, and violence and that intrigues me.
For me, and I would assume almost everyone else who likes science fiction, the genre is at its best when it creates timeless stories that speak to some particular part of the human condition
By setting stories in the distant future authors allow their stories to become timeless. After all, we won’t have to worry about a sci fi story being dated because we’ll be long dead by the year 10191
and the wondrous technology that sci fi is known for allows its creator to physically show the reader everything from the meaning of humanity,
To the dangers of our hubris.
The reason why I think conflict is so prevalent in science fiction is because it makes a story easy to understand.
War and violence are one of the few constants in human history and it is something that everyone understands at some level.
Sci fi often uses conflict to set up two opposing sides and use each side to explain the point he/she is trying to make. One side is good, the other is bad, here’s why, and this is what happens when one side wins.
But if science fiction is a way to explore the human condition, why do we have to always limit ourselves to conflict? Aren’t there other emotions and ideas that humans have been coping with for thousands of years? Why can’t science fiction tell those kinds of stories?
The creators of “Enough Space for Everyone” want to write sci fi stories like that and claim that “there is enough space for friendship, for art competitions, for understanding, for magical nights at the theater, for creativity, for vacations, for new beginnings.”
I like this project because I have spent a LOT of time with violent military sci fi and I want to see what stories from other perspectives look like.
Why you should donate
Another interesting thing about science fiction is that a lot of its art tends to rely on a very specific, very detail oriented, very realistic style.
But “Enough Space for Everyone Else” takes a very different approach, preferring to promote artwork that is much less realistic and almost childlike.
I’m not advocating one style of art over another, I’m simply saying that this comic anthology is different from what a lot of people normally associate with science fiction and that’s a good thing.
Which brings me to the biggest reason why I think more people should support this project: it’s different from so many other stories out there.
Whether you like it or not, the past forty years of science fiction has been dominated by two pop culture behemoths,
Almost every work of mainstream science fiction has tried to emulate these two franchises in theme, tone, and visual aesthetic from the idea of a giant galactic war that threatens to tear entire galaxies apart,
to re purposed colonization and exploration stories that used to be about the Wild West but now take place in outer space.
Personally, I think it’s time that science fiction tries to break away from these two narratives and tries something new. It’s time for a change and “Enough Space for Everyone Else” is a great start.
So if you’re interested in promoting and encouraging science fiction that seeks to bring a new diversity of ideas and stories back to a genre that we all know and love, consider donating to this campaign.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1638576966/enough-space-for-everyone-else-an-anthology?ref=home_featured
Cambrian Comics 