John Giunta

Hallowe’en Countdown VI, Day 22

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« A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere. » — Groucho Marx

Linda Turner, a.k.a. the Black Cat, made her debut in Pocket Comics no. 1 (Aug. 1941). She was first drawn (and probably written) by Al Gabriele. After passing through the hands of a few other artists (Pierce Rice, Arturo Cazeneuve, Jill Elgin…), she landed in Lee Elias‘ lap in the post-war years.

She was a stunt woman, and combined physical prowess with mental agility gleaned from her father, an amateur detective…. and fought crime in a glamorous and revealing black bodysuit.

A perfectly Hallowe’en-themed cover, this is Black Cat no. 14 (Nov. 1948, Harvey); cover (bearing his signature and everything!) by Lee Elias. Read this issue here!

Why waste a good title? As fashions changed in the comic book field, and superheroes — and heroines — lost ground to all manner of horrors, Black Cat, clearly a versatile and catchy moniker, switched hats and mission statements on a slew of occasions over the course of its healthy run. To wit:

BLACK CAT COMICS 1-15, 17-29
BLACK CAT WESTERN COMICS 16, 55-56
BLACK CAT MYSTERY COMICS 30-53, 57
BLACK CAT WESTERN MYSTERY 54
BLACK CAT MYSTIC 58-62
BLACK CAT 63-65

A man’s got to have a hobby. This is Black Cat Mystery no. 34 (Apr. 1952, Harvey). Cover artist regrettably unknown.

This issue happened to contain a lovely little Halloween tale:
Halloween Nightmare was pencilled by our pal Manny Stallman and (likely) inked by John Giunta. Scripter unknown, wouldn’t you know it?
The series, whatever title it bore, featured scads of great covers. This is Black Cat Mystery no. 37 (July 1952, Harvey); cover art by Harvey art director and resident genius Warren Kremer. Read this issue here!
« Dear Lord, someone’s coming to rescue me! At long last… oh, it’s YOU. » Working from a Kremer layout, Mr. Elias brings us the darker flip side of the old desert island fantasy. This is Black Cat Mystery no. 48 (Feb. 1954, Harvey). Read it here!
And since we’re on the topic of black cats, meet our resident King o’ the Cats, Barnabas!

-RG (with a kind assist from ds)

Tentacle Tuesday: If You’ve Lived Through the Sixties, You’ll Recall… the Tentacles!

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« Let’s just say you weren’t born to be an octopus… only a poor fish! »

Salutations on this most diverting day of the week, Tentacle Tuesday! Today, we take a little trip to the 60s… but perhaps not the 60s as you remember them, those who were around back then.

Rip Hunter… Time Master no. 3 (July-August 1961); pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Mike Esposito.

Rip Hunter was created by Jack Miller and Ruben Moreira – the “Time Master” part is explained by Hunter’s invention, the Time-Sphere, that allows him (obviously) to travel through time. Other characters in Rip’s world include his girlfriend, Bonnie Baxter, and Bonnie’s kid brother Corky (who’s being grabbed by a tentacle on this cover). Maybe Corky was spotted as an imposter because he’s wearing jeans instead of yellow pantaloons? Fashion can be quite goofy in some of these far-away, long-long-ago kingdoms…

Page from The Duke with the Creature Powers, scripted by Jack Miller, pencilled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito.

When The Jaguar gets into trouble with The Human Octopus, you know the Jag is going to come up trumps, mostly due to the fact that he has all powers of the animal kingdom at his disposal, whereas the Octopus has to make do with some unconvincing tentacles and an evil stare. The Jaguar (or zoologist Ralph Hardy, in his everyday life) was created by Robert Bernstein and John Rosenberger as part of Archie’s “Archie Adventure Series”.

This is the last issue of this series: Adventures of the Jaguar no. 15 (November 1963, Archie), with a cover by John Giunta.

Some fodder for your nightmares? Of course!

Who wouldn’t want to become a HUMAN OCTOPUS!…? The Jaguar versus the Human Octopus! was scripted by Robert Bernstein and illustrated by John Giunta.

I believe Hawkman needs no introduction (although I will mention that he was created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville!), and we don’t have time for one, anyway, seeing as he’s currently stuck between a dragon and some tentacled nest-creature.

Hawkman no. 12 (Febuary-March 1966, DC), cover by Murphy Anderson with letters by Ira Schnapp.
The Million-Year-Long War! was scripted by Gardner Fox and illustrated by Murphy Anderson.

Speaking of Murphy Anderson, he’s a bit of a WOT favourite, so head over to Happy birthday to Mr. Murphy Anderson (though it’s quite far from July).

~ ds