THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF Z

Super-Vixens: Lilith

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 21:37:29 -0800

When the Teen Titans began in 1966, it was a comic geared towards kids with a supposed “hip” slant to it, but with scripts that seemed decidedly UN-Hip (Mad Mod, anyone?) and it wasn’t until Dick Giordano came aboard and re-tooled it with the likes of Neal Adams and Marv Wolfman did it actually come across as a cool, timely strip.

Stories were introduced that more accurately reflected the times of the late-sixties with Race Riots, Love and Peace, and College Protest Marches, and along with these tales we were introduced new characters that reflected the times as well…

Among these new characters was the gorgeous if not slightly aloof red-haired temptress named Lilith- though she was Clairvoyant Telepath, she was less like a super-heroine than that Annie Golden character in HAIR, and when she wasn’t helping out the Teen Titans with their various dilemmas, she was rocking out in the Go-Go dancing cage and/or rocking out the coolest and sexiest dresses and outfits!

And by outfits, I mean CLOTHES outfits…A funny thing about Lilith is that she (along with fellow new character, African-American Mal Duncan) never ever did get a costume proper and spent the entire series in civilian clothing. Each episode I would wonder just when the heck she was going to get a costume, but before I realized it, I was used to and quite happy to see her in her swinging’ sixties dresses, and didn’t WANT her to wear a costume!

When Marv Wolfman and George Perez revamped the Titans in the 1984 series “The NEW Teen Titans”, I was disappointed to not see Lilith among the ranks (but satisfied myself with the knowledge that at LEAST Donna Troy made it, and even MORE comforting was the exclusion of those characters from the mid- seventies East/West Teen Titans whom I’ve NEVER really taken a shine to like Harlequin, etc.). And though I’ve read that they DID eventually bring Lilith back in some capacity, by that point I’d stopped collecting the New Teen Titans, and missed out on it completely. Ah well, chances are I woulda been disappointed anyway- nothing can compare to the vibrant sixties era Lilith, a true product of her times!

Lilith Clay

First Appearance: Teen Titans #25

By Bob Kanigher

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Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries presents: Jean Rasey!

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:45:54 -0800

Jean Rasey and Pamela Sue Martin

Back in the days when The New Mickey Mouse Club was consuming most of my life, I also had a mild passing interest in the Sunday night Crime-drama Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries, the show based on the best selling juvenile fiction novels and starring teenage heartthrobs Shaun Cassidy, Parker Stevenson and Pamela Sue Martin.

Nancy-and-George

Pamela Sue Martin! Like most guys my age, most of the main reason to tune in to the show was to see the pretty sleuth go through the motions, and so when a friend of mine told me he’d picked up the Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries DVD Box Set of the first season, I couldn’t wait to borrow it and take a step back to those childhood crushes of yesteryear!

Jean Rasey and Pamela Sue Martin

The show itself was about as much as I’d remembered (the stories themselves were your basic TV mystery drama yarns like Quincy and Charlie’s Angels) and Pamela Sue was as charismatic and pretty as I’d remembered…but there was one person I hadn’t recalled at all, and that was the character of Nancy’s tomboy friend George Fayne.

Nancy-and-George-2

As all readers of the original Nancy Drew novels know, best friends George Fayne and Bess Marvin usually accompanied Nancy as she went about uncovering clues and solving mysteries, and though I don’t know what became of Bess, it was nice to see (along with “sort-of” boyfriend Ned) some of the other regular book characters making appearances in the show!

Pamela-Sue-Martin-and-Jean-Rasey

The show was paired up with the Hardy Boys show, and so maybe the producers wanted to give Nancy a “partner” in the TV series, and they surely found one in George Fayne! As played by pretty actress Jean Rasey, I found myself loving every scene that George was in, and I think it’s safe to say that (at least at THIS time in my life) she really MADE the show for me!

Jean-Rasey

Jean Rasey! How in the world did I forget about her? This gal was so much fun, and I think she really brought the George character to life! I’d always thought having a girl named “George” was funny reading the books, but to see it attached to this beautiful, sunny girl just made it all the more ironic!

Nancy-Drew-and-George-Fayne

And the thing I loved most about Jean Rasey’s portrayal of George is that she managed to capture the character’s tomboyishness while still managing to look cute as heck! One of the great joys of re-watching the series after all these years is watching George’s stuttering “scaredy-cat” shtick that would give Shaggy a run for his money performed with such cute and spunky gusto!

George andNancy

I was so intrigued by my discovery of Jean Rasey, that I went right to Wikipedia to find out more about this wonderful actress…only to find no page exists for her! Man, that is really sad. IMDB still had a bit about her, though it was disheartening to read that she’d only done a few more television show appearances (all between 1975-79) and nary a show since! Sigh. Oh Well, I'll always have my Nancy Drew reruns to satisfy me!

Jean-Rasey

BTW...While searching for information, I came across a "Facebook" page featuring a pretty lady named "Jean Rasey"... is this the Jean Rasey?! :)

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Super-Vixens: Ms. Marvel

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:13:40 -0800

Ms. Marvel

When I was first introduced to Ms. Marvel, I have to confess I didn’t find her very interesting, and as a matter of fact, thought that the Red and Blue Captain Marvel costume looked absolutely ridiculous cut into a bad one-piece swimsuit. But I had a friend who absolutely loved her, (and I mean LOVED her!) and insisted on sharing, so I was exposed to her comic whether I liked it or not! This actually worked out to my benefit as I was able to filter through the stuff I didn’t like and appreciate the stuff I did, and eventually I came around and started picking up some of those issues myself!

The biggest part of what turned me around from a non-believer to a general fan of the comic was, of course, THE NEW COSTUME! Now THIS was what I liked! Rendered by a master of sexy super-heroine costumes was the mighty DAVE COCKRUM, and YES, the new outfit looked EXACTLY like a variation of Jean Grey’s revamped PHOENIX costume, but HEY, when you’ve got a winning formula, you don’t mess with it…

So, anyway, gone was the horrendous red and blue outfit, in was the sleek ‘n’ sexy blue outfit with the lightning bolt and golden sash , and just in time for a return slugfest against super baddie Deathbird (who would go on to give Hawkeye a run for his money in AVENGERS #189) then onward to my favorite arcs of the series, where Carol dukes it out with a civilization of super Lizard Men! Ah, trust me, it’s cooler than it sounds. And THEN…

Then the Comic got cancelled. Yep. GEEZ! All that coaxing and convincing me to get onboard the Ms. Marvel Fan Ship, and then the voyage was abruptly ended! But the best was yet to come with the aforementioned AVENGERS stint, all lovingly rendered by John Byrne, who was TOTALLY in his PRIME at this time!

At this time we started trying to buy all the back issues of old Avengers stories, and when we got our hands of the epic KREE-WARS stories, got to see exactly where Carol Danvers had come from in the first place! It was kind of nest to realize she actually had a bit of “history” within the pages of those old Silver Age Marvels!

So yeah, I was a fan there…but after that surrealistic ( and highly controversial) AVENGERS issue (196?) where she gets pregnant in some convoluted cosmic drama, I kind of lost interest and drifted away again. Next time I checked, for some reason the character named “Ms Marvel” was a big female version of the Thing! I didn’t know if this was supposed to be Carol Danvers or some OTHER character, and I DIDN’T WANT TO KNOW! (Okay, I found out later it was some OTHER gal, but still, the shock…!)

In fact, it was only with the arrival of Frank Cho’s cool and sexy MS MARVEL revival did I breathe a sigh of RELIEF, for here once again was that awesome dynamic costume, proving it could stand the test of time! The Ms Marvel of Old was back! ( and MAN, let’s hope she STAYS that way!)

A funny side-story that always makes me smile is remembering when my friend picked up a new issue of Ms Marvel and saw that Carol was dating some dude with a beard, he mock- angrily declared war against all bearded men, and set about cutting up every picture of a bearded man in the daily newspaper. I sat on the couch howling with laughter as he jokingly destroyed all the pictures, until he got into trouble when his father scolded him and said “What are you DOING to the Newspaper? I haven’t even READ it yet!”

Ahahahahahaha!!!

Ms. Marvel / Carol Danvers

First Appearance: Marevel Super-Heroes #13

By Roy Thomas and Gene Colan

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Super-Vixens: Arathaza

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:55:03 -0800

Arathaza

Ah, another one in the category of “salacious one-shot characters” that seem to spring forth effortlessly from the pen of comic maestro John Byrne, Arathaza is at once both awe-inspiring and utterly disposable!

Issue# 585 of Superman’s ACTION COMICS begins with a bang not so unlike the explosive opening teasers of the great JAMES BOND movies of yesteryear where we come in not at the beginning but rather the end of the last mission, and so we see Superman already engaged in battle with a new (and after, never again seen) villainess who is slowly draining the life force out of Supes.

Through their dialog we learn that the majestic (and slightly Tina Louise a la Ginger Grant looking) Arathaza was once only a mild mannered secretary named Barb Kowaleski until she found the means of transferring Superman’s powers to herself. It is here that he turns the tables on her, rendering himself completely passive so that there is no power to draw from!

At that point, he grabs her staff, which he rightly figures is the source of her powers, and she’s turned back into the frumpy looking mortal that she was. Supes sweeps her up, saving the day and delivering the coupe de grace to the latest would-be world dominator!

And then and ONLY then did the actual story featuring the Phantom Stranger start!

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Fave Jughead Jones Stories: "Oceans Of Love"

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:41:18 -0700

Jughead-Oceans-of-Love-1

This has always been one of my many, many favorite Jughead Jones stories, simply because of the free-form FUN and zaniness of it’s script! I’ve always thought that most of my fave Jughead stories seemed like could have been skits on The Carol Burnett Show, and JUGHEAD story “Oceans of Love” surely fits that bill!

Jughead-Oceans-of-Love-2

When I first began researching information about the people behind the scenes at Archie Comics (in an attempt to figure out who drew the stories I loves so much), one writer whose name kept popping up in association with fun, zany stories was writer Frank Doyle. Descibing his stories and witty, fast paced and sharp, my IMMEDIATE reaction was, “Why, that sounds EXACTLY like those Jughead Jones comics!”

Jughead-Oceans-of-Love-3

And just as Harry Lucey will always be THE Betty Cooper artist, Artist Schwartz is, my MY EYES, the perennial Jughead Jones illustrator, and it was his depicitions that I grew up with and always recognized as “the REAL Jughead”. It seemed like almost every Jughead story I loved and constantly re-read was drawn my this fantastic artist.

Jughead-Oceans-of-Love-4

Now, though I’m fairly certain Schwartz drew this one, I’m still not sure if this one is written by Frank Doyle, (and If anyone out there knows for sure, PLEASE let me know!) but knowing that he was a regular writer of Jughead and was usually teamed up with Schwartz, I think there is a very good chance that it is! But WHATEVER the case, its one of my fave stories and an absolute JOY to read!

Jughead-Oceans-of-Love-5

The story at first seems like nothing more than a Jughead take on the “Pet Rock” fad, but once the supporting characters begin interacting with him and his pet clam, the funnier it gets! And I love how everybody gets into it except grouchy old Veronica, who becomes more and more incensed the more the crowd encourages Jughead’s eccentric actions!

Jughead-Oceans-of-Love-6

Going to the beach they meet up with other regulars, and it’s clear that everybody likes Jughead, for they ALL go along with the gag, truly treating this clam like it’s Jug’s beloved pet. Things get more and more hilariously melodramatic when Jug’s clam finds a mate, and as the crowd dramatically comforts brokenhearted Jug, Ronnie sums it up nicely with “Weirdness must be contagious! They’ve ALL got it!”

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The Beatles Remastered!

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:48:44 -0700

Beatles Remastered Collection

While I patiently awaiting my CoCo DVD Box Set, I’m happy to announce the arrival of ANOTHER Box Set that has been a LONG LONG time coming, and that would be the glorious BEATLES REMASTERED CD COLLECTION, a beautiful box set that features all 13 albums and singles from England’s premiere band!

Besides a digital remastering that FAR surpasses the original mid-eighties releases, each album comes in a glossy gatefold digipak and a slick color booklet full of pictures from each album's corrosponding timeframe. Plus, they’ve included these short little quicktime movie documentaries on each disc featuring the words of the Beatles themselves and (of course) George Martin, talking about each specific album voiced over video performances of songs from the album! They even collected them onto a single bonus DVD for those who want to just sit down and watch all the movies at once!

I first found out about this wonderful box set through Japanese site CD JAPAN of all places, and at the time, figured it to be a japan-only release. I really wanted it, but that 300 dollar price tag gave me pause, I must say! So I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out that they’d be releasing the Box Set in the states as well, and with a decent price of $179.00 at Amazon, IMMEDIATELY sent in my order, this time without hesistation!

I remember back when the Beatles first four albums (Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles For Sale) were to come out on CD, the big argument was why release an album on CD if you’re gonna release it in Mono. But since that’s how the albums were originally presented, that’s how they were done on CD.

Though I understood this logic, it really bummed me out because I grew up listening to the stereo mixes of most of these songs from the Capitol records, especially THE BEATLES SECOND ALBUM and the awesome SOMETHING NEW, and though I bought all the mono CDs and enjoyed them dearly, in the back of my mind I always missed the kick that the stereo version had, especially in songs like the thundering drumroll at the end of “Tell Me Why” !

But now we’ve come full circle, and each and every album has been given the remastered treatment, and though I’ve only listened to about half of them so far, what I’ve been blastin’ out over my stereo speakers has just been heaven!! From Rubber Soul to Revolver on down through the White Album and Abbey Road, the songs have just sounded stupendous!

I know my next few days will be filled with serious Beatles-listening, and it's exciting to know I've still got so many albums to check out and hear all over again as if for the first time! I can't WAIT to hear how som eof these other songs will sound, especially the upcoming MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR CD with I AM THE WALRUS , STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER and PENNY LANE! Ah, nostalgic days are here again! If anyone needs me, I'll be holed up in my room with my headphones on!

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Favorite Albums: Fleetwood Mac / Mirage

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:03:26 -0700

Fleetwood Mac Mirage

Around Mid- 1983, I was insanely in love with singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks, and was voraciously devouring anything and everything to do with her. Though I’d always loved her Fleetwood Mac songs and was even a fan of her Bella Donna solo album (especially the rocking Edge Of Seventeen), it wasn’t until her second album The Wild Heart came out that I totally flipped for her and began worshipping her as the rock-goddess she was!

Back then, out video station of choice was Night Tracks on WTBS, and me and my friends tuned in every weekend to check out the latest videos before heading out for the night’s activities. At that time, my favorite videos were Stevie’s "If Anyone Falls" as well as "Stand Back", but I was curious about another Stevie video that Night Tracks routinely played, and that was the dreamy and mystical Gypsy, which credits told me was off of Fleetwood Mac’s latest album Mirage, which had just come out a few months earlier.

Mirage? What was that album? I’d heard of Rumours, of course, as well as the big (at that time) album Tusk, but didn’t know anything about this one, nor did I know anyone who’d picked it up. But I really wanted the Gypsy Track, and when my friend Herb informed me that it also had the fun song “Hold Me” on it, I was convinced!

We went down to Tower Records, and as I waited in line looking over the George Hurell-shot cover, I remember the first thing that shocked me was getting used to Lindsey Buckingham without his trademark afro and goatee! The cover was kind of a wraparound thing, with Lindsey and the girls on the front, and the Fleetwood and Mac group namesakes on the back, looking very much like the wards of the ‘Mac Estate!

Mirage Back

We took the album home and immediately dove in. While my friend Herb showed only passing interest in the tracks, I was immediately smitten and would go on to not only repeatedly play that album over and over, but make all my FRIENDS listen to it, too!

One great thing about having three prolific songwriters in the group is a LOT of diversity, and Mirage is another great showcase of the members’ talents. Christine, Lindsey and Stevie each take turns with their compositions, giving the album a decidedly “White Album” feel to it as they build up a musical “quilt” of song genres!

With Lindsey Buckingham, It’s funny, that in the first two ‘Mac albums he and Stevie were in, his songs were carefully crafted pop/rock tunes, but by the time TUSK came out, his songwriting (to ME at least) started to sound like that Dana Carvey songwriting character who makes up songs as he goes along, and songs like “Not That Funny!” and “What Makes you think You’re The One” sounded more like jam sessions with nonsensical lyrics than actual singles. The songs he penned for Mirage still have this loose free-form feel to them (as in songs like "Book of Love", "Diane" and "Can’t Go Back”, but they are fun and catchy as hell! There’s this one goofy song called “Eyes of the World”, and with its refrain of “eyes…eyes…eyes” as its chorus, my friend James once exclaimed “What the heck is this crap?!” before dancing around, pointing at his eyes in tune with the song. AHAHAHA! But the one masterpiece Lindsey DID lay down for this album was the cool, rocking song EMPIRE STATE, about his experiences in the Big Apple (as opposed to Sunny California). MAN, I love to blast this one!

Stevie is the one who’s experimented the most with her songwriting, and though “Gypsy” sounds most like her previous work (almost like a sequel of sorts to “Rhiannon”), her other two songs sound more like the stuff she was writing for her solo albums. “That’s Alright” is a country-tinged kicker that almost seems like a precursor for her later “Enchanted” song, but it’s her third track “Straight Back!” that sounds the most like the “solo” Stevie Nicks songs, a slow rocker driven by some awesome keyboards by Christine. The song fades out too soon; I really wish this song could have been a bit longer for how good it is!

Of the three, Christine McVie is the most reliable here, and she exudes the same romantic pop stylings that gave us songs like “You Make Loving Fun”, “Warm Ways” and “Songbird”. Opening the album with the awesome toe-tapping sunshine-y song “Love In Store”, she runs the gamut through tunes like “Out Of My Mind” and the fun aforementioned song “Hold Me” before closing the album with the beautifully melancholy “Wish You Were Here”, one of her BEST ballads, ever!

High on the album, that Christmas I was THRILLED to find that they’d released a Videodisc concert of their MIRAGE tour, and after I bought it (at the local RCA dealership), it quickly became the most played movie that season! Songs form Mirage like Love In Store”, “Gypsy” and “Eyes Of The World”(!) were all featured here, and the show even had one of the coolest openings ever with “The Chain”, and one of the sweetest closing songs with “Songbird”!

Although I know that albums like Rumours and the eponymous titled Fleetwood Mac albums are probably greater albums overall, I’ve really come to embrace MIRAGE as my own, because while most Fleetwood Mac fans either love the “Bare Trees” era, the Rumours era, or the “Tango in The Night” comeback era, I have never, NEVER met another fan who owns, much less loves MIRAGE as much as me. Which is strange, because it was a bestseller when it came out…where did all those purchasers get to?

Check out some of my favorite tunes from MIRAGE!

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

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Joni Mitchell / The Seeding of Summer Lawns

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:16:51 -0700

The Seeding of Summer Lawns

While hunting online for some of the more obscure Joni Mitchell tracks that seem to be floating all over the internet, I came across an interesting little curio- an unauthorized “Companion” to Joni’s incredible (and one of my very, very favorite) 1975 album The Hissing of Summer Lawns.

The Hissing of Summer Lawns

This collection, humorously entitled The Seeding of Summer Lawns, (and featuring a decidedly autumn-themed variation of the real cover) consisted of demoes and work-in-progress versions of songs that would eventually make it onto the actual album, and it was quite a thrill to experience the bare bones takes of songs like In France They Kiss on Main Street, Shades of Scarlett Conquering, and The Boho Dance, all before they would get transformed into the wonderful lite-jazz masterpieces that we know and love.

Songs like In France They Kiss on Main Street are interesting in how "textbook" the demos sound, where Joni is clearly mapping out harmonies and chords, a far cry from the cheery and bouncy completed version that she would record with the full band behind her!

In France They Kiss on Main Street

Joni Mitchell

One thing thing that I thought was pretty neat was that in these original demoes, Joni sings parts that would eventually be played by horns, and there’s no place more evident than in the demo of Edith and The Kingpin, where each verse is punctuated by an echo-ey chorus harmonizing to simulate the horns to come!

Edith and the Kingpin

Joni Mitchell

One song that was prepared and demoed for this album was a song called Dreamland, and while the song didn’t make it to the final stages of Hissing, a polished and very world-beat influenced version would later appear on the epic Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter.

Now, I’ve always liked Dreamland (though I was never a big fan of the percussion laden Tenth World track that was connected to it) and I was excited to hear how this tune sounded in its original state… but WOW! NOTHING could have prepared me for what I heard upon clicking on that track- Just the most FUN, swingin’ and shufflin’ tune all set to the VERY “George of the Jungle”-esque bopping beat!

Dreamland

Joni Mitchell

The collection concludes with a cool piano-and-guitar take of the pretty “Sweet Bird”, a song that would have fit perfectly with most of Joni’s earlier folk catalog (especially Court and Spark!) , and a version of “Shadows and Light” that sounds just about identical to the album version (at least to MY unprofessional ears), a perfect little sampling of a GREAT album in progress!

Sweet Bird

Joni Mitchell

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Super-Vixens: Golden Girl

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:24:27 -0700

Golden_Girl

Invaders #28 is one issue that I’ve always been aware of after seeing it my friends’ huge Marvel collection back in the late seventies because it featured the first appearance of Bucky’s fellow sidekick-aged counterparts in an interesting group called the KID COMMANDOS.

That particular issue’s cover made an impression on me because of two things: One, there was a cute oriental gal in the group, and Two, there was a black kid wearing what I considered to be one of the ugliest costumes to come out of the Bronze Age! I remember thinking, wow, that girl’s got that oriental kimono thing down good, but that dude looks like he just broke out of prison!

INVADERS 28

Well, it wasn’t until years later that I actually got down to buying that issue of the Invaders, and reading it I was even more amazed to find that the costumes the kids wore weren’t even made for them- they were “just some old theatre costumes that had been left behind”(!) Funny how they found ones that fit their powers/codenames so nicely- then again, maybe it was just luck that Gwenny Sabuki got to choose her costume before David Mitchell, otherwise, who knows? SHE might have been stuck with that green striped shirt! AHAHAHAHAHA!

Finding Costumes

But as we know, she got her hands on the Golden Kimono first, and thus was born the blazing GOLDEN GIRL, possessor of energy light powers and cheerful disposition!

I was hoping to read lots more stories featuring Gwen and the rest of the commandos, but after their battle against Agent Axis (who turned out to be that tricky Namor) I was disappointed to find they were largely regaled to “supporting cast”, at least in the issues I managed to get ahold of.

One thing that surprised me reading those issues was how YOUNG Gwen was… all those years staring at the cover of Invader #28, she always seemed to be eighteen or nineteen years old. But reading the stories as penciled by veteran artist Frank Robbins, she looked decidedly underage- more like 11 years old…(well, they WERE called the KID Commandos, after all…not the TEEN Commandos!)

I’ve always thought that Gwen’s GOLDEN GIRL character would have been a great one to revive somehow, though I wasn’t sure just how they would bring “up-to-date” a character that was a teen in World War Two… so I was very interested to find that they HAD brought her back (in a way) in the pages of THUNDERBOLTS, as part of the V-Battalion. Not that I have any inkling what that was all about, except for what Wikipedia tells me-

"Gwenny Sue later helped found the post-war organization the V-Battalion. Gwenny eventually changed her superhero name to Golden Woman, before she died in 1961. Her daughter and her granddaughter became the superheroines Golden Sun and Goldfire, respectively, though Golden Sun died when her own daughter was five years old."

Not bad for a sidelined secondary support character, eh?

Gwenny Lou Sabuki

First appearance: Invaders #26

Created by: Roy Thomas and Frank Robbins

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GODZILLA: The Comic That Started it All For Me!

nobody@vox.com(zinkognito) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:31:49 -0700

Godzilla #12

Though there always seemed to be comics in our house growing up, it was of the Archie / Richie Rich variety and it wasn’t until my friend Jas living across the street introduced me to all the comics he was collecting that I finally got to see what all the hubbub was with those mysterious MARVEL and DC comics lining the racks at our corner candy store.

Up until then, Marvel and DC comics were strictly for “big Kids”, and whenever I’d take a glance inside one of the books, I was confused and overwhelmed by the pages of seemingly never-ending dialog and utterly incomprehensible storylines. I mean, sure, I’d heard of Spider-Man and Superman, but somehow the stuff I saw in cartoons and television seemed so easy to understand, reading the actual comic seemed like reading an encyclopedia!

He laid out some of his comics and explained to me that the comics were part of an ongoing storyline that continued from issue to issue, and that even though it might seem confusing at first, once you’d read a couple, the story would start to make sense!

I understood. It made sense, and looking at Jas’ monthly purchases, (among them HULK and CAPTAIN AMERICA as well as BATMAN and his all time favorite, GREEN LANTERN) I thought it might be interesting to try and begin collecting a title myself! But where to start? To be truthful, I didn’t much care for costumed heroes at that point in my life. I was more won over by my friend’s enthusiasm more that any actual comic hero…but then my eyes spied a comic featuring Godzilla. GODZILLA? The famous Japanese monster whose movies I stayed up many nights and endured many “Monster Weekends” to catch? Now THAT sounded cool!

GODZILLA #12

The Godzilla issue that I picked up that fateful afternoon was issue #12, and as luck would have it, happened to be the first chapter of a new story! The story was a tale of Godzilla being abducted and asked to battle on the behalf of an alien race against three deadly creatures called the Mega-Monsters who were due to arrive on Earth! WOW! This story was everything I’d HOPED it would be- big kaiju monsters slugging it out and even one of those giant transformer robots (a la MAZINGER Z) that I loved so much- what more could a kid ask for?! And this time, when I got to the end of the comic and it said “TO BE CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE”, I knowingly nodded, feeling very mature now that I was reading BIG KID comics, and even showed it to my mother, saying, ‘You See, unlike Richie Rich and Archie Comics, THESE comics are an ongoing series, and so they continue from issue to issue…!”

But my Mom dismissed it with a wave of her hand, saying, “Ahhh, they’re only trying to get you kids to buy more comics!” D’oh!

Godzilla #13

GODZILLA #13

Three or four weeks later, I happened to be in the candy store to buy some snacks after school, and was JOLTED when I absent-mindedly glanced at the comic spinner and saw the new GODZILLA issue on the rack! Honestly, I had forgotten all about Godzilla and collecting comics, but taking one look at the cover of Godzilla fighting the Mega-Monsters and the story and excitement came rushing back to me in a flash!

The previous issue was merely a setup for the confrontation ahead. THIS issue was the BATTLE ITSELF and oh how it delivered! A city-leveling slugfest began with Godzilla versus the three Mega Monsters all culminating in a devastating end where Godzilla’s giant robot partner Red Ronin is beheaded by one of the alien Beasts! This time when the comic went to “To Be Continued”, I FINALLY understood what a “cliffhanger” was, and I was simply BESIDE myself with desire to read what happened next!!!

GODZILLA #14

I couldn’t contain my excitement when I saw the NEW issue on the stands! There on the cover stood Godzilla bravely trudging on solo against the Mega Monsters, as Red Ronin’s severed head smoked in the foreground!

There was something special I felt seeing this cover. In a way, it was like the first time I really knew that I was actually passionately collecting this story, not because I wanted to be like my friend or because it seemed cool, but because I truly loved the strip. There was a sort of sense of pride I felt looking at that cover and already knowing EXACTLY what was going on, I felt proud to say to my cousin, ‘Look, Godzilla is fighting Krollar from the planet Mega- and that head is Red Ronin- he got his head sliced off by Triax!!!”

Well, I ran home with THAT one, and it concluded with a big bang, with Godzilla systematically destroying all three Mega-Monsters and winning the praise of the dying Alien race who now knew their home planet would be forever safe from the evil Megs-Monsters! WOW! What a story!

It was here that comic collecting firmly took ahold of me and has never let go!

Godzilla #15-#16

GODZILLA #15-16

Back in these days, I wasn’t really COLLECTING comics so much as readin’ them for enjoyment, so after I’d read the new issue, I’d just toss it wherever happened to be convenient. Then, whenever a new issue would come in, I’d have to hunt around the house and dig out the old issues.

One might be under the bed. One might be behind the television. One might be in the entertainment center stuffed in the drawer with the ‘45’s! When issue #15 came out, I was able to find all three of them, but I wasn’t so lucky when issue #16 came out. Try as I might, only issue #12 and #13 turned up. After weeks of searching, I realized my mother had probably thrown the tattered issue #14 out! After that sobering lesson, I made a special place for my Godzilla comics- I cleared out a space on the middle shelf right next to our encyclopedias, made a little stack, and there each new issue would go, and be returned to!

Though issues #15 and 16 (story where Godzilla heads out to cattle country and gets involved with rustlers!) weren’t as interesting as the Mega Monsters arc, by then reading the latest Godzilla Comic was like stepping into a pair of comfortable shows- a regular part of my life…little did I know my favorite storyline of them all was coming up next!

Godzilla #17

GODZILLA #17

When I first laid eyes on the awesome cover to issue#17, I didn’t give it too much thought. I simply thought the cover was being symbolic, about how S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Dum Dum Dugan was forever hounding Godzilla like an ominous presence lording over his life.

But when I read the issue and they ACTUALLY SHRUNK GODZILLA, you could have knocked me over with a feather! Holy Cow, Who came up with such a NEAT story?! (Well, that would be writer Doug Moench and artist Herb Trimpe, but you know how kids are…they think comic stories grow on trees!)

But when this issue concluded, Godzilla was INDEED shrunken, about the size of a small chicken, and BOY! My mind raced with all the possibilities that could happen in subsequent issues! So off they were to New York, with a little Godzilla in tow!

Godzilla 18

GODZILLA #18

HOLY CRAP, when I saw this cover, I just about flipped! While waiting that long, agonizing month for the next installment, my mind raced at what the next issue’s cover would look like. All I knew was that Godzy was shrunken and going to the Big City. Then Issue #18 came out, and right off, that cover just ROCKED MY WORLD!

I remember taking this issue to Jason’s house to show it off, I loved it so much. I remember babbling to him, “OF COURSE Godzilla would be in the sewers fighting Rats! Now that he was reduced to their level, Rats are the “monster” equivalents of the city right?!” Bonus was the fact that it was “Battle Beneath Eight Avenue”…the name of the street that I lived on! Why, I could imagine this going on right beneath me…!

Well, reading it we find out that Godzilla’s friend Rob Takiguchi (the boy who’d controlled the robot Red Ronin before its’ demise) had fiddled with the latch on the cage containing Godzilla, and when the cage was accidentally dropped, the box sprung open and Godzilla had escaped into the bay!

He'd made his way into the sewers and battled off the rodent vermin as the desperate crew split up and tried to recapture him before he could get into more mischief. Attracted by the familiar voice of Rob Takiguchi, Godzilla emerged from the sewers, but just as Rob was about to approach him, the gas stated to wear off, and Godzilla suddenly shot up to a human-sized 7 feet!

GODZILLA #19

I remember when I saw this issue on the stands, I reached into my pockets and came up with about 18¢, a far cry from the 37¢ needed to buy the comic! Luckily for me, I lived right next to this empty lot where people would toss their beer cans and trash, and I kicked up two 10¢ deposit bottles and ran back to the store, turned in the bottles, got my dimes, and with my grand total of 38¢ was able to purchase my GODZILLA comic!

After all that work, I took a well-deserved break to delve into that new comic- and it didn’t disappoint! With Godzilla now a big 7 feet tall, Rob tries to quietly get him back aboard the ship, but when Dum Dum and the others see him, they panic and rush at him, and before you know it, the lot of them are trading fists and kicks, before Godzilla gives a final solid punch and runs off again.

GODZILLA #20

I think I made it clear above that at this time, I really didn’t care much for costumed heroes, and was waiting for more villains like the Mega-Monsters to show up. Instead, I got…The Fantastic Four?!

Yes, since Godzilla was loose in New York, somebody called in the good guys, and so it was that the Fantastic Four came to crash S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Godzilla hunting Party. I just didn’t like this invasion of my favorite comic… it took the cat-and-mouse relationship between Godzilla and Dum Dum out of their hands and basically turned it into the hot-headed Thing wrestling and irritating Godzilla against the advice of everyone! Finally someone has the good idea to use Doctor Doom’s time machine to send Godzilla back where he came from, and I hoped that would be the end of the superheroes for awhile!!

Godzilla 21-22

GODZILLA #21-22

Sent back in time, Godzilla teams up with Jack Kirby’s Devil Dinosaur. This comic obviously meant to tie up loose ends of Devil Dinosaur’s canceled strip, and I felt like I had come in halfway through a movie with all these new characters and pre-existing storylines! Not only that, I didn’t care for Moon Boy taking Rob Takiguchi’s place. I thought there was only ONE BOY who could befriend Godzilla that way.

And it didn’t matter anyway, for once the task was done (and all loose ends were tied up) Godzilla was bounced back to present time, (an effect I NEVER saw happen in any of the prior (or Subsequent) “Doc Doom Time Machine” stories) once again giving Dum Dum and gang the problem of what to do with him.

Funny thing about issue #22- when I went up and paid for it, I placed 37¢ on the counter, grabbed my comic, and started to leave, when the lady behind the register stopped me and said, “That’s not enough. Your total is 42¢!” HUH? I hadn’t noticed that the price had finally gone up. Comics were no longer 35¢, they were 40¢!! So I had to borrow the rest of the money from my cousin, who insisted I pay her back that nickel later!

GODZILLA #23

Yag! More Marvel Heroes, this time Yellowjacket and the rest of the freaking Avengers. Funny how much I loved Costumed Heroes later, at this time I just couldn’t STAND them being in the Godzilla comic! But there they all were, like gnats bothering an ox!

After being sent back to the Stone Age, you would have thought we’d be through with New York super-beings, but it was not to be. Pretty soon it seemed like all the heroes in the city showed up for the punch-out. Using all their powers together, they use brute force to herd him to the oceanfront, but all they end up doing is pissing him the hell off!

GODZILLA #24

And then in the summer of ’79, Godzilla came to a close, though I did not know it.

Issue #24 was the final chapter in the “Godzilla Shrinks” storyline, ending when young Rob Takiguchi finally gets the Avengers to buzz off, and gently persuades Godzilla to return to the Sea. Rob gives a tearful goodbye as Godzilla walks out to the ocean, and as the sun sets, the heroes stand by silently as Godzilla growls a final farewell before departing for good.

And for the first time, the comic didn’t say “To Be Continued”…all it said was “Fin.”

“WOW!” I thought at the time. “What an Awesome ending!” I wonder how they’ll top that in the NEXT issue! But there was to be no “Next Issue”. Because of Toho’s hefty licensing fee and lukewarm sales, Marvel had decided to cancel the book. But I didn’t know about any of this, and after this, spent MONTHS waiting at the candy store for a next issue that never came! It seemed ironic timing that just as I was about to get into more “older” comics, my beloved Godzilla was coming to a close.

When school began again that September, I ran across one of my classmates from Elementary School. We got to talking about what we were up to, and he said he was collecting comics, too! When I told him I collected GODZILLA, he nodded, “The Marvel one? Yeah, I read some of those. Hey, I can give you my old issues!” COOL! We made plans to go to his house after school, and walking home that afternoon, I asked, “Say, Godzilla is my favorite comic, but what ‘s yours?” “Ah, it’s this really cool comic called X-MEN! I gotta let you see some of those!” And he did, but THAT’S a story for another time!

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One thing we’d always loved back then were the HEMBECK strips that appeared at the back of all the DC Comics in the “Daily Planet” section, and what better way to celebrate my comic-reading childhood than to have Fred Hembeck himself recreate one of my favorite Godzilla covers?! When commissioning this piece from Mr. Hembeck, I was happy to find that HE was a big fan of Godzilla, too, AND in particular, that same “Shrinking Godzilla” that I loved!!! FANTASTIC!

Hembeck Godzilla 17 Commission!

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