DCnU Quality Watch 5: Phantom Lady!

DC is finally putting the horse in front of the cart by showcasing one of their most fan-favorite properties—Phantom Lady! (Go ahead and Google her; there's some kind of untapped potential there.)

Phantom Lady #1, will be written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti. The cover art is by a personal favorite, Amanda Conner, though sadly she does not illustrate the interiors. That's being done by Cat Staggs and Rich Perotta. Out August 29.

What's more, "joining her will be her partner-in-crimefighting, the diminutive dynamo known as Doll Man."

I'm a tad disappointed—but not surprised—that there's no real homage to the look of the Quality heroes here. Will these be Stormy or Sandra Knight? And is that Darrel Dane or Lester Colt? (Their Ray did not recycle any previous alter egos.) But hopefully this will sell well enough to warrant what seems to be in the works: another Freedom Fighters revival. 

As DC puts it:

“Phantom Lady and Doll Man is an exciting return to the roots of the characters as pulpy, street level crime fighters with a few new twists and some heavy sci-fi overtones,” Justin Gray told THE SOURCE. “We took the best of their original core concepts and updated them with no relation to our previous work on Phantom Lady and Doll Man in the Freedom Fighters. You're getting in on the ground floor of the origin story of two people whose lives intersect and a common threat that transforms them into pretty amazing and engaging superheroes.”

“I have to say I am really enjoying what Jimmy and Justin have created,” said Cat Staggs. “It is a wonderful take on a classic character. The story itself leans towards a gritty crime noir, which is something I am a huge fan of. Getting to draw this on a daily basis is a dream! I can’t wait for fans to see it!”

It all started with Matt Baker's original
reinterpretation of the heroine in 1947.

Gray and Palmiotti are rather becoming veterans at reimagining the body Quality. They most recently reinvented the Ray, and updated the Freedom Fighters within the last decade. This mini-series will also follow the relaunch of Kid Eternity in National Comics #1, out July 25.

Phantom Lady gained fans and notoriety in the late '40s/mid-'50s when Jerry Iger (she was created in his studio for Quality) took her to Fox then Ajax. Her original Quality adventures were short-lived. They ran from Police Comics #1-23 (August 1941–October 1943).

READ MORE at Cosmic Teams!

• Phantom Lady
• Doll Man
• The Ray
• Freedom Fighters
• Kid Eternity

Arnold Magazines: Man's Exploits #1

After publishing Quality Comics, Busy Arnold began Arnold Magazines in late 1956. I'm in the process of writing up a larger article on this subject, but wanted to share some spicy scans from one of his mens' adventure magazines, Man's Exploits. These images are from issue #1 (June 1957), and the cartoons are by Bill Ward (signed "McCartney"). 

As I was finishing the Quality Companion, I was just learning more about this endeavor and it is covered briefly. My work online seeks to catalog the entire operation, which was edited by Quality’s Al Grenet and Dick Arnold. Jim Amash spoke with both of these men for Alter Ego #34 (March 2004). George Hagenauer also wrote a sidebar in that issue, “Busy Arnold’s Other Magazines,” which summarizes the genres of this era nicely. All were published either bimonthly or quarterly.

This issue was part of the largest category of magazines,  the men's adventure magazines, or "sweats": Rage for Men, Man's Exploits, Gusto, and Courage. Each of these also contained spreads with ladies posed in various states of dress on beaches, in nature, and in the boudoir.

I have to abundantly thank Frank Motler (a men’s magazine indexer) and Phil Stephensen-Payne (who runs Galactic Central). They selflessly offered their knowledge and data to me during this process. Galactic Central compiles information from many sources and includes checklists and cover images. 

[ spicy images after the break! ]

Read the work-in-progress at Cosmic Teams: Arnold Magazines: The Sweats

DCnU Quality Watch 4: Eternity! and more

ITEM #1: National Comics!

Wired has broken the news that DC Comics will publish a new title, National Comics! This was the name of the classic Quality Comics title which ran for 75 issues, from July 1940–Nov. 1949.

The original comic book is known for it's anchor character, Uncle Sam, who was relieved of cover duty by the Barker. The characters mentioned in relation to this new title include one called "Eternity" (DC's own solicitations mention the name "Kid Eternity"). The cover image confirms that this is indeed a revival of Kid Eternity. Originally, the character had no alter ego. He was named "Christopher Freeman" by E. Nelson Bridwell at DC Comics, when he was reintroduced in 1977's Shazam! #27 (Jan-Feb 1977).

The official solicitation reads:

NATIONAL COMICS: ETERNITY #1
Written by JEFF LEMIRE Art and cover by CULLY HAMNER
On sale JULY 25 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
An exciting new series of stand-alone comics that feature unique takes on classic characters! JEFF LEMIRE (ANIMAL MAN) and CULLY HAMNER (RED) bring a contemporary approach to the hero we used to know as KID ETERNITY! Can introverted medical examiner Kid Eternity solve a deadly crime in just 24 hours?

These creators are top notch! I'm looking forward to it very much. And wondering what they'll do with the cover logo ;)

ITEM #2: The Ray #3-4

This four-issue mini-series has concluded with an intriguing Quality-related teaser! Read the profile at Cosmic Teams to see how Lucien Gates came to meet this tall, commanding government agent...

ITEM #3: Blackhawks #6-7

This series is one issue from its demise, but it's doing so at breakneck speed! I'm sad this one never had a chance. It has action galore. Try to keep up by reading the profile at Cosmic Teams!

Blackhawk: The Movie Serial (1952)

It's refreshing to find one thing related to Quality Comics that is so thoroughly covered that I have nothing to add!

I recently won this issue of Serial World #11 (Summer 1977), which was all about the Blackhawk Movie Serial made in 1952, starring Kirk Alyn. The article even includes an interview with Alyn, plus a full summary of every episode.

I contacted its former publisher, Norman Kietzer, and he was so kind as to permit me to reprint it for fans online! Please visit Norman's web site at the Westerns and Serials fan club!

The article itself was pretty cleanly scanned and contained a number of great photo stills from the serial, too. I've included all of that in the online version, and uploaded the images for your perusal below.

See the photos after the jump... 

>> Read it at Cosmic Teams! BLACKHAWK: A SERIAL WORLD FILMBOOK by Eric Hoffman

Quality Comics Hero Profiles

Captain Triumph is created!
From Crack Comics #29 (1943).
Art by Alfred Andriola.

As I've mentioned before, with the Quality Companion still in print, I'm afraid that I have taken a lot of my original content offline, for now. Once the book goes out of print, I may repost it.

BUT I have just posted all of the Quality Character Profiles, albeit in truncated form. The listings of each character's stats, powers and special notes are largely intact, though. That said, there's plenty of things in my online profiles not found in the book, such as new character updates for Blackhawks, the Ray, Madam Fatal, and Von Hammer.

I also plan to continue fleshing out things like Blackhawk and the Spirit in ways that the book did not allow. For updates on these, always check back here.

(By the way, if you purchase it from TwoMorrows, you'll get a digital copy, too.)

The Barker 2000? Who Knew?

Well it's a glad day when I find out I've missed something, really!

A cover by Jack Cole.

Did you know that Quality's "The Barker" made a brief reappearance in 2005 at DC? (Thanks to James Robinson for the tip, BTW.) When I was writing the Quality Companion, I poo-pooed this feature initially, probably because I knew I'd have to read a lot of it and it wasn't a "super-hero" feature, per se. But once I dug in, I was hooked. Only the first two stories were written by Jack Cole, but Klaus Nordling eclipsed those stories and crafted a little world that I couldn't wait to revisit each time. Nordling's "Barker" was a fantastic mix of strange that bordered on super-hero. Many of the characters appeared to have super-powers but were revealed as shysters in the end. Fans clearly liked it too, because it lasted for over five years in National Comics #42–75 (May 1944–Dec. 1949) and The Barker #1-15 (Autumn 1945–Dec. 1949).

This wonderful four-part story by Mike Carey and John Lucas involved a new band of circus freaks led by another Irishman, Kitt Calahan. This was a four-part backup in Detective Comics #801-804, and some of the cast members were familiar.

The scene opened on Colonel Brand's Traditional Family Carnival, with Kieran "Kitt" Calahan (a new first name for the character), Midge, Painted Rose the tattooed contortionist, and Firestone the strong man. Kitt was about to drown his sorrows over the death of their friend, Mitchell Tomjohn the dog-faced boy, who was found dead that day. The police ruled his death an accident and the circus folk were angered when the local authorities refused to investigate further, so they decided to find justice themselves. (Detective #801)

The second Barker, Kitt Calahan ushers his doomed friend, Tomjohn, in to the tent. From Detective Comics #801 (2005). Art by John Lucas.

Stormy Foster in Lost Art from The Shade

A post at Bleeding Cool draws attention to this interesting anomaly from the (non-)pages of James Robinson's The Shade #4. It seems that these three Golden Age heroes—the Flash, Stormy Foster, and the Gay Ghost (identified by Robinson for me)—were removed from the story. The art was recently sold as part of the whole issue's set.

No doubt this has everything to do with DC's reconstruction of its universe to omit the original Justice Society. What's more, their new Earth-2 apparently has little to do with the classic Justice Society's premise or history. One wonders if the page would have remained in the book had Jay Garrick (the Flash) not appeared in it. Only time will tell whether their wartime history has a place on any sort of parallel world.

Art by Darwyn Cooke and J. Bone.

Incidentally, The Shade features a character named Von Hammer who is the great-grandson of Stormy Foster.