The GREEN KNIGHT vs the Vampire! -plus- The Rebirth of FRANKENSTEIN's Monster!

Today were doing a double again. Partially because the first story is kinda cheese-tastic, and partially because the second story has nothing even resembling a super hero in it. But, dang, you can't have Halloween without Frankenstein!!

From the cut and color-scheme of his costume to his bow-and-arrow motif, Green Knight looks like a Green Arrow rip-off. But he debuted just one month after Ollie Queen premiered in MORE FUN COMICS #73 (November 1941)!

Green Knight got his start in DYNAMIC COMICS #2 (December 1941) and wrapped up his career in DYNAMIC COMICS #3 (February 1942).

from
BULLS EYE COMICS #11 (1944)
[reprinted from DYNAMIC COMICS #2 (December 1941)]
story by ?; art by Charles Sultan?

Those last couple panels are all kinds of "what th- huh?" He says "We'll fire the old trap!" Which to me seems barely English. Then, the panel where he's "firing the old trap" hardly looks like anything; whether it's the art of the coloring...I just don't see a trap being fired. Finally, in the last panel, Dale says "Gosh, they did'nt [sic] even let me thank them!" Meanwhile, Green Knight is barely two feet away talking to her!!! Oh my...

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Frankenstein's Monster has a checkered past -- made more interesting by the fact that all of his appearances published by Prize were from the same creator; Dick Briefer. He debuted as, well, a monster in PRIZE COMICS #7 (December 1940). By 1944 he was battling Nazis, as all good comic heroes were doing at the time. Before the year was out, his adventures were played strictly for laughs, sharing wacky adventures with vampires and ghouls. The comedy carried over into his own series; FRANKENSTEIN #1-17
(Summer 1945-January 1949). He continued to appear in PRIZE COMICS through the final issue, #68 (February 1948).

In the early 1950s, horror comics were getting huge. Prize decided to go for a piece of the pie and Dick Briefer brought back Frankenstein's Monster as, well, a monster. The new, original monster's adventures ran in FRANKENSTEIN #18-33 (March 1952-October 1954).

from
FRANKENSTEIN #18 (March 1952)
story and art by Dick Briefer

DYNAMIC MAN battles the Yellow Spot!

The catastrophic conjury continues!!

This time around not only do we have a super hero battling supernatural forces...but it's also a first appearance and a secret origin all rolled into one!! How cool is that!?

Dynamic Man appeared in every issue of DYNAMIC COMICS #1-3, 8-24 (October 1941-March 1948) (There were no issues 4-7).

from
DYNAMIC COMICS #1 (October 1941)
story & art by ?
[cover to DYNAMIC COMICS #3 by Charles Sultan]

Doesn't the name The Yellow Spot just inspire terror!? I know I was shaking! Thank goodness Dynamic Man was able to rub him out!!

You can download DYNAMIC COMICS #1
and just about every other comic on this blog
from Golden Age Comics Downloads!

Friday Frightfest: MOTHER HUBBARD & DR FUNG!

Today I'm making it a double. Partially because neither story really meets the requirements, as they don't really feature a super hero. But they do both have supernatural/Halloween-y elements.

In our first tale we meet Mother Hubbard and she's a witch! That's some Halloween-y super-naturalism for ya! But she's still not technically a super hero, and although she is battling evil, it's not of the supernatural variety. But, c'mon, she's a witch! If that doesn't scream "Halloween" I sure don't know what does!

Mother Hubbard made 5 appearances: SCOOP COMICS #1-3 (November 1941-March 1942), BULLS EYE COMICS #11 (1944) and SPOTLIGHT COMICS #3 (March 1945). And having only ever seen this one story, I can't say that the latter appearances weren't reprints of the first three. But she's still a cool character, using the evil power of witchcraft for good and all...

from
BULLS EYE COMICS #11 (1944)
story and art by ?

Our second tale stars Dr. Fung, who's basically just a detective. Well okay, "Master Sleuth of the Orient." Still a detective. But in this tale he's dealing with a vampire!! Another great Halloween staple!!

Dr. Fung had a fairly lengthy career; debuting in WONDER COMICS #1 (May 1939) and surviving the name change to appear in every issue of the series concluding with WONDERWORLD COMICS #33 (January 1942)! He had 3 appearances outside WONDERWORLD, but they were all reprints, so pffft.

from
WONDERWORLD COMICS #4 (August 1939)
story and art by Bob Powell (as Arthur Dean)