Friday, September 28, 2012

HONEY WEST "Underwater Raiders" Conclusion

Millionare Lewis Trent hires Honey West to guard the valuables aboard his yacht during a costume party thrown for his friend, aircraft designer Jack Bynner to celebrate his $200,000,000 contract with the US Air Force.
Armed frogmen board the yacht and steal the model of the prototype aircraft Bynner had on display, igoring the party guests' valuables!
When Honey and the police attempt to stop the pirates, the sinister scuba divers sink the police cruiser with a magnetic mine and make their getaway underwater with the model.
Unknown to the felons, Honey managed to plant a tracer on one of them...
Story for this never-reprinted, one-shot from Gold Key Comics (1966) by Paul S. Newman, art by Jack Sparling.
Anne Francis took instruction in Okinawa Te under Sensei Gordon Doversola for a couple of months before shooting began.
The TV series the comic is based on ran only one year and Anne Francis won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy.
The Executive Producer of the show was Aaron Spelling, who later created Charlie's Angels.
The complete series is available on DVD in the US from VCI.
The British Region 2 DVD set from Delta Entertainment also contains the Burke's Law episode "Who Killed the Jackpot?" which served as a "backdoor pilot" for the character.
Most of the novels have been reprinted, and a new comic series is available from Moonstone Comics.
There's been talk of a feature film based on the novels, but it's currently in Development Hell.

Friday, September 21, 2012

HONEY WEST "Underwater Raiders" Part 1

Based on a paperback series by "GG Fickling" (Gloria and Forest Fickling)...
 ...Honey West was the first solo heroine to have her own TV series (after appearing in an episode of the popular crime drama Burke's Law)!
For what, indeed?
Has Honey West failed?
You'll find the answers HERE, next week...
Same Honey time!
Same Honey blog!
Story for this one-shot from Gold Key Comics (1966) by Paul S. Newman, art by Jack Sparling.

Friday, September 14, 2012

BLACK VENUS "Agent X"

No, not Black Angel, but this is another World War II aviatrix-heroine...
...but in an even skimpier outfit!
(Like you're complaining?)
Holyoke's Contact Comics was one of the numerous titles in the popular Golden Age war comics subgenre known as "aviation comics".
Other titles included Fiction House's Flight Comics, Hillman's Air Fighters Comics, and Four Stars' Captain Flight, and the most famous of all...Quality's Blackhawk.
Black Venus appeared in every issue of Contact's 12-issue run, except the final issue which featured a new lineup of civilian fliers and science fiction stories.
This particular tale from Contact Comics #2 (1944) was artist Rudy Palais' only contribution to the series, which never used the same artist two issues in a row.
The writer is unknown.
Curiously, as of the next issue, Black Venus would adopt a new costume almost exactly like Black Angel's, except for the Captain America-style wings on the forehead!
Be here next week, when we present another tale of classic comic grrl power!

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Friday, September 7, 2012

GHOST AND THE SHADOW Conclusion

Art by Matt Haley & Tom Simmons
(Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. The first chapter of this tale is on our "brother" blog Crime & Punishment™!)
The monks guarding a jade statue in a Tibetan monastery are slaughtered by a high-tech hit squad which steals the sculpture.
In New York City, an elderly Harry Vincent releases Lamont Cranston from a cryogenic tube and passes a cryptic message to him; "Tulpa Arcadia", sending Cranston, now The Shadow, on a mission to the city of Arcadia, where he finds and defeats the hit squad, but not before they manage to send the crated statue to it's destination.
Meanwhile, another hit squad attempts, and fails, to capture Ghost, a heroine, who, though deceased, still protects Arcadia with her spectral powers and a pair of .45 automatics.
Following a clue left behind by the squad, Ghost is drawn to Club Hell, where more high-tech criminals try to capture her.
Only The Shadow's intervention saves the heroine from a fate worse than death.
But, what is the connection between Ghost and the statue?
Read on...
Like many cross-over stories featuring licensed characters, this Dark Horse Comics one-shot from 1995 has never been reprinted.
Written by Doug Moench (who had previously scripted the acclaimed b/w Doc Savage magazine for Marvel in the 1970s), penciled by HM Baker, and inked by Bernard Kolle, this book was the final appearance for Dark Horse's version of the Shadow after the 1994 feature film starring Alec Baldwin tanked.
Ghost proved to be one of the most popular of Dark Horse's Comics Greatest World characters, with two fairly-long running series, numerous mini-series and one-shots (like this one).
Now the character is being revived and rebooted for a new generation.
Starting a couple of months ago in Dark Horse Presents #13, then transferring to her own ongoing series this month, this revamped version is set in Chicago, with a new supporting cast and a new mission.
The Shadow can be found in his own title from Dynamite Entertainment!
Details HERE!
Ghost has been appearing in the anthology Dark Horse Presents, and returns in her own title later this month!
Details HERE!
Buy them at your local comic shop!

Be here next week, when we present another tale of classic comic grrrl power!