Yuku free message boards

Jack Schiff's sci-fi titles may not have possessed the polish of Julie Schwartz's stable, but what they lacked in sophistication they made up for in surrealism.

Take for example the story "The Three Who Changed" in HoM #117, with art by George "Inky" Roussos. It chronicled the bizarre tale of a trio of strange transformations... a man becomes a human acetlyne torch... another becomes a human grasshopper... but the topper is when an electrician becomes... well, see for yourself:



Hmmm... so maybe that's what Timothy Leary meant by "turning on"!


Next: A romance smackdown?


.

I try not to be too hasty in judging behavior out of the context of the times, but sometimes I run across things that just seem too outrageous even for the period it was published.

Case in point - this bizarre sequence in Superboy #93's "Lana Lang's Secret Identity Detection Kit" (Story by Jerry Siegel, Art by George Papp):







I mean, there's a lot to chew on here... from Professor Lang's calling his daughter an idiot, to hovering over her backside with a hair brush (!!), to systematically squashing every ounce of enjoyment out of her life.

This just strikes me as wrong... even by 1961's standards. I kept waiting for Mort to tell us that the Professor was really an alien in disguise, or he was under the influence of an evil mastermind... anything!

I'm curious to hear the reaction from those of you who first read this story back then - did it strike a sour note, or am I being too judgmental here?



Still to come: A love story 2 years in the making!


.

1961 was the year the concept of the “imaginary story” really blossomed throughout the Weisinger fiefdom. Earlier in the year, a series of imaginary tales had run in Lois Lane, relating the trials and tribulations of the married Mr. & Mrs. Clark Kent. This was followed by the grand-daddy of all imaginary novels “The Death of Superman” in September.

The first imaginary Jimmy Olsen story was in JO #56 and it was called “The Son of Jimmy Olsen”. This story followed the adventures of Jimmy Olsen, Jr., the offspring of Jimmy & Lucy Lane. But I think it’s interesting that this tale began with the couple already middle-aged with a grown-up son (as if relating the actual fruition of a Jimmy & Lucy romance was too unbelievable even for an “imaginary” story ) and it ended on a semi-tragic note.

Ironically, the very next issue would see a very different brand of “imaginary” storytelling, with a far different outcome:



Many years ago, I wrote a series of reviews about the charming series of appearances that Supergirl made in Jimmy
Olsen over a period of 2 years, culminating in this imaginary story. I thought that they had been lost in the ether, but apparently they still can be read over here if anyone's interested:
http://superman.nu/smf/in...cc8f521&topic=356.0;wap2

I don't think I could wrap it up any better than what I said back then:

It’s easy to see why JO readers loved this story. Their hero gets the girl of his dreams, who adores him – the fact that his love happens to be the most powerful woman on the planet is just icing on the cake! And Supergirl, for her part? Well, let’s look at Jimmy’s competition at the time – Dick Malverne? Jerro the Mer-boy? And I won’t even mention the rather disturbing relationship she had with Biron, the centaur who was transformed into Comet the Super-Horse!

In reading this as a series of stories, this final tale brought the Jimmy/Supergirl relationship to its most satisfying conclusion for both, and as I stated earlier, would not have worked IMO as a stand-alone story. And perhaps they had to leave it there, having said all there was to say. The pair would never encounter each other romantically again. Yes, there would be other sporadic appearances, but Supergirl would go on to be revealed to the world 2 months later, and perhaps knowing her to be his pal’s cousin would subsequently serve as a deterrent to any romantic advances from young Olsen.

It’s tantalizing to imagine what could have been. But there’ll always be this story to memorialize the path not taken.





Next: An Un-Hip Hope?




.

As the 60s wore on, Bob Hope became increasingly more un-hip to the younger generation. Not just in the real world, but in his own comic book.

Case in point, this scene from BH #72 where he encounters a group of beatniks:





Coming up: The Blackhawks in a hot spot!