Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Kalora! It's MARVELO, Monarch of Magicians!!

Marvelo, Monarch of Magicians was...well, a magician! He had the power to do just about anything that the story required by shouting "Kalora!"

Created by Fred Guardineer (who also created Zatara Master Magician for DC Comics and Tor the Magic Master for Quality, anyone else sense a pattern...?), Marvelo appeared in BIG SHOT COMICS #1-20 (May 1940-Dec 1941), and THE FACE #1 (1941).

from
BIG SHOT COMICS #8 (December 1940)
story by Gardner Fox?; art by Fred Guardineer

Sunday, December 12, 2010

YOUNG ROBINHOOD Calls it Quits!!

There's very little info online for Young Robinhood (often misspelled "Young Robin Hood"). Here's what Public Domian Super Heroes has:
Billy Lackington, son of one New York City's wealthiest men, decides to use his archery skills to fight against the criminals who preyed on the poor. He used his fascination with Robin Hood as his costumed theme. He soon shifted his scope to fighting the Axis powers and crime in general. He recruited a group of local street kids - "Fatso," "Shorty," and "Freckles" - to serve as his "Merry Men." On their second adventure, the Merry Men got codenames, becoming Friar Tucker, Little John, and Big Doc. Doc was killed in action early on, but Friar Tucker and Little John continued to assist Young Robin Hood until their feature was canceled.

Young Robin Hood and his allies operated out of a secret base hidden in Central Park which they built using the money they managed to pool together. They fought villains such as The Crow King and the Veiled Lady.
Young Robinhood debuted in BOY COMICS #3 (April 1942) and ran through issue #32 (February 1947), never to be heard from again...

from
BOY COMICS #9 (April 1943)
story by ?; art by Alan Mandel

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

SERGEANT SPOOK vs King Tut!

Sergeant Spook (which apparently was his real name before he died) has a very short and simple secret origin...and it contains a message: Smoking is bad for your health!

One night while working in the police crime laboratory, Sergeant Spook absent-mindedly laid his pipe next to a rack of chemicals. The chemicals exploded, killing the sergeant. Thus began his career as a ghostly crime fighter.

No real super powers (like, say, the Spectre), but although he was invisible to humans, he could still make physical contact with them. He also spent a lot of time hanging with his fellow ghosts in Ghost Town.

Sergeant Spook debuted in BLUE BOLT COMICS v1 #1 (June 1940) and held a regular spot through v7 #7 (Dec 1946). There were 27 more issues of BLUE BOLT COMICS, and Sergeant Spook made it into 17 of them (v7 #10-v10 #1, Mar 1947-Jul/Aug 1949). He also appeared in DICK COLE #1 (Dec/Jan 1948/49).

from
BLUE BOLT COMICS v1 #10 (March 1941)
story & art by Malcolm Kildale