AJD Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 4 hours ago, Hepcat said: Actually I think the cover is kind of cool! To each his own Hep. I do like the strong red colour, but I'm underwhelmed by the composition, especially with the two bears visually overpowering the stars of the show. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hepcat Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 (edited) On 2015-08-02 at 12:04 AM, AJD said: **Warning - aviation nerdiness ahead ** Continuing on the aviation theme here, I promised to come back to the subject of the Soviet fighter on the cover of this Australian Fight comic (which shares its cover with Wings 121): It's interesting because there was no Soviet fighter that looked like that in service. While that mightn't mean much - after all, there are a few imaginary aeroplanes on comic covers and Wings 112 even has a flying saucer - but in this case I think there's a bit more to it. The same plane appears on Wings 118 here (the aircraft in the foreground is a US Navy F9F Panther, quite well rendered): And again on Wings 119 (the unlikely looking American aircraft is actually a quite accurately drawn F7U Cutlass - an exotic bird to be sure). I thought I had this sorted out, because the appearance of this 'non plane' is the same as this model kit, first released in 1953: My first thought was that the artists used the model as a... err... model. But that can't be right, because the Wings appeared in 1952. So it's more likely both of them used some other source material. But what source material? The aircraft they drew/modelled isn't a MiG-19, which looks very different, but was actually a one-off Soviet protype that first flew in 1949 or 50, the MiG I-340: I can't find any western source reference for that aircraft as early as 1952, but there must have been. (Air Trail magazine in June 1953 has an article.) The I-340 never entered service, and would have been nothing but a footnote in Cold War aviation history, except that it somehow got immortalised on comic books and in model form (with two wrong designations, Yak-25 and MiG-19)! You can read some more about these aircraft, model kits and the mystery that was Soviet aviation in the early 1950s here. I'd say you're largely but not entirely correct. The Soviet plane on the cover of Fight Comics and at the bottom of the cover of Wings Comics 118 look like MiG 15s although the nose is off: The Soviet plane on the top right of the cover of Wings Comics 118 and on the cover of Wings Comics 119 do indeed resemble the non-existent Soviet plane that Aurora modelled. I noticed that the Aurora kit modelled a plane that wasn't at all like a MiG 19 back in 2011 when I was photographing my own Aurora "MiG 19". Edited January 15, 2018 by Hepcat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 4 minutes ago, Hepcat said: I'd say you're largely but not entirely correct. The Soviet plane on the cover of Fight Comics and at the bottom of the cover of Wings Comics 118 look like MiG 15s although the nose is off: The Soviet plane on the top right of the cover of Wings Comics 118 and on the cover of Wings Comics 119 do indeed resemble the non-existent Soviet plane that Aurora modelled. I noticed that the Aurora kit modelled a plane that wasn't at all like a MiG 19 back in 2011 when I was photographing my own Aurora "MiG 19". Not seeing a MiG-15 on those covers Hep. Look at the cockpit placement (much further back than on the -15) and the 'stepped' fuselage, with the exhaust mid-fuselage, not at the rear, on all but the Fight. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Anyhoo, back to the funny books... This is the 90th addition to my WDC&S 1-100 folly. With this one I have all of the 20s now. I'm lacking 1-5, 10, 11, 14, 18 and 35. I'm not actively seeking 1-5 (don't think that's likely to happen) but am definitely in the market for the others. The 'Duane Mrohs' stamp sent me on a little Google hunt. You can see the results in the ducks thread in the GA forum. Here's the UTC for this one. Thankfully Duane didn't cut this out. I wanted to try it though, so I printed a copy of the scan and made it up (This is a primitive from of phenakistoscope. You can see an animated version of a similar disc on Wikipedia.) It works OK, but I wouldn't write home about it. Maybe it was a bigger deal in 1942.) Here's back cover. The cover figure from WDC&S 20 repurposed into a war bonds/subscription ad. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted January 26, 2018 Author Share Posted January 26, 2018 My latest precious. An Australian book that sits very nicely with my other GGA books. In this story our hero and his client (the CC is a private investigator in his alter ego) face the menace of 4" tall Neptunian invaders. "Can't they just step on them?" I hear you ask. Well, no, the crafty little blighters bring you down to their level... 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman_Comics Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 "Closer observation told me that it must be a product of a model aircraft fan" Between you and Hepcat I know where to direct my enquiries. It should also be mentioned that the Crimson Comet aka Ralph Rivers was the world's only private detective suffering from scoliosis a hunchback. The wings wouldn't fit properly under his civvies, so he pretended to suffer from the condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted February 2, 2018 Author Share Posted February 2, 2018 This just in... Interestingly, the cover shows that the local colourist went the extra yards to make the cat in the foreground spotted. Here's the American edition: For the UTC this issue I've picked out this page with the signature of the original owner (maybe?), M. Bogdanovic: And this page, with honest to goodness MiG-15s (and some F-84 Thunderjets) for @Hepcat And this ad for the 'knickers' (cue Benny Hill music) that @Duffman_Comics probably wore to school. (Pretty sure mine were King Gee a few years later.) 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hepcat Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 2 hours ago, AJD said: This just in... I've always loved the feral look Maurice Whitman imparted to the faces of the women he drew! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hepcat Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 17 hours ago, AJD said: And this page, with honest to goodness MiG-15s (and some F-84 Thunderjets) for @Hepcat Great looking little plane! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffman_Comics Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 On 2/2/2018 at 11:04 PM, AJD said: This just in... And this ad for the 'knickers' (cue Benny Hill music) that @Duffman_Comics probably wore to school. (Pretty sure mine were King Gee a few years later.) I did not have the "knickers" back in the day (and neither I nor anyone I knew referred to underdaks as such) but the Stamina group had a marketing gimmick that involved issuing sets of "collector cards" with their school pants. They were black and white pictures of heroes/heroines like Joan of Arc, Charlemagne etc and I know I still have a set around here somewhere. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Would love to see those cards @Duffman_Comics! Meanwhile, my "not collecting" of Shock SuspenStories continues with this #1. So far I have managed to accumulate - but not collect - six of the 18. Some interesting work with facial expressions from Feldstein here. I say "not collect" because there are a few in this series that don't especially appeal from a cover presentation point of view. And, not least, I'm wondering if I really want to stump up for the #6 at current silly prices. Get Marwood & I and 1950's war comics 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 6 hours ago, AJD said: And, not least, I'm wondering if I really want to stump up for the #6 at current silly prices. Yes, yes you do. My guess is you'll still want it just as much a year from now, and the price may well be even sillier. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Get Marwood & I Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 8 hours ago, AJD said: Some interesting work with facial expressions from Feldstein here. Poooaaar! Who did that?! Gulp! Aw, man! Oh my! Jeeezus! Irrrr! That's Disgusting! Oops. Now, if I can just edge out the door, no one will... Mmmm. I rather like it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted February 8, 2018 Author Share Posted February 8, 2018 Just got this in. I found it on eBay UK listed as a "British edition", which I knew it wasn't. Here's today's UTC pic. Some interesting jungle facts about "fuzzy wuzzies'. The people in question are the Hadendoa from north-eastern Africa, a distinguishing feature of whom is the elaborately styled hair-do. The descriptive (and frankly offensive) name was given by English Soldiers and immortalised by Rudyard Kipling. You have just enjoyed a teachable moment with Prof AJD. 1950's war comics and Get Marwood & I 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Point Five Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 18 hours ago, AJD said: Just got this in. I found it on eBay UK listed as a "British edition", which I knew it wasn't. Cool cover! 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted February 10, 2018 Author Share Posted February 10, 2018 19 hours ago, Point Five said: Cool cover! Yeah, it's a beaut. It seems to be an Australian local production since it doesn't seem to appear in the galleries of US FH books. I suspect that some of those were taken from interior panels, but I'm not sure where this one might hail from. In any case, I like it. Here's another "British edition" that isn't. At least it's now back in its place of origin. This cover is from Jungle #156 (credits uncertain). An excellently posed rearing lion - but again it's pentadactyl. Will nobody think of the comparative anatomists? The UTC selection is from the military history story up the back. The Battle for Mobile Bay during the Civil War ensured that the British wouldn't be able to resupply the Confederacy by sea. It was the scene of Admiral Farragut's famous (and maybe apocryphal) "damn the torpedoes!". (BTW, 'torpedoes' in 1864 were what we would call mines today.) If nothing else, it gave a name to my favourite Tom Petty album. 1950's war comics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1950's war comics Posted February 10, 2018 Share Posted February 10, 2018 Those different Australian "Fight" covers are way colorful and cool ComicConnoisseur and FoggyNelson 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Did you have any luck with the Jungles I spotted from my bungalow, Andrew? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Get Marwood & I Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 What a view. If he's not pretending to be asleep, I'm a Dutch man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJD Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 2 hours ago, Harry Lime said: Did you have any luck with the Jungles I spotted from my bungalow, Andrew? Hi Harry - as it happened I had one of them and the other wasn't worth the 15 quid postage cost. BUT... while I was trolling UK listings for Jungles I found the two "British" Australian editions above, so I do owe you a shout out! creaturefan95 and 1950's war comics 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
