Further Fiendish Plots of Ah Ku, Princess of Crime (Part 1 of 3)

[strannik01]

When we last saw Princess Ah Ku, she fell into the bottomless pit. But, as psychopathicus_rex rightfully pointed out, villains do this sort of thing all the time, and it rarely stops them from coming back. And, sure enough, our hero, the fearless Bob Phantom, finds himself facing off against Ah Ku in the very next issue. And this time, the Princess of Crime is after something else.

The following story as originally printed in Top-Notch Comics #5. Writing by Harry Shorten, art by somebody credited as "Gerry Thorpe"










Will Bob Phantom ever capture the fiendish Ah Ku? Will the Princess of Crime ever come up with a plan that doesn't involve overly elaborate death traps? Tune in next time, only at SCANS_DAILY!

Comments

[mullon]

I don't care if she is an Asian mad scientist lady in a totally different story, I still can't stop reading her with Mako's voice.

[sherkahn]

Dammit, now I can't do it.

"Silence, Fool!"

[blake_reitz]

I just want to say that Bob Phantom is one of my favorite names ever.

[grazzt]

It's never just you.

[his_spiffynesss]

Bob Phantom needs to make a return. Maybe he and Axe Cop can join a team.

[strannik01]

Don't be silly. If anything, she should sound like Azula.

Obviously :D

[his_spiffynesss]

Thinking of "It's never just you" doesn't Bob seem very well endowed in several of those scenes, especially the second panel of the fourth page?

[grazzt]

Throw in Stardust the Super Wizard for good measure.

[grazzt]

"Bob Phantom" would eventually retire from crime-fighting to become "Smilin' Bob", the Enzyte shill.

[the_engineer]

Say, has anyone ever seen Walt Whitney and Bob Phantom together? Hmm....

[his_spiffynesss]

As long as it's Stardust with a tiny head.

[mullon]

Well, everyone should sound like Azula. But the name Ah Ku is too distracting.

[strannik01]

Oh. right. Good point.

[strannik01]

He should. Archie Comics barely used him in any of the later-day revivals. But it's a good thing that the Archie never renewed the copyright to any of his original appearances, so he's one of the MLJ characters that anyone should be able to revive without legal problems.

[miramira]

"Lions! Shoot 'em!" just doesn't have the same ring as "Get in the car!", does it?

[psychopathicus_rex]

So is it ever actually said that Walt Whitney and Bob Phantom are the same man, or are we just supposed to infer it? It's not surprising that BP hasn't been used much lately if the former's the case - Walt Whitney is so obvious a pseudonym for Walter Winchell that it loses quite a bit in a world where a good deal of your potential audience has never even HEARD of Winchell, let alone read his column.
I definitely prefer Princess Ah-Ku in her slinky dragon lady persona, rather than the gender-bending doctor getup she wears here - but it's all cool! It proves she's versatile. Thanks!

[strannik01]

So is it ever actually said that Walt Whitney and Bob Phantom are the same man,

That's actually a very interesting question. His first appearance very obviously hints at it (Walt is seen with Bob Phantom's trademark cloud of yellow smoke forming behind him), but it is never said outright. In fact, I don't think that it was until Top-Notch Comics #15 that we get Walt saying anything along the lines of "looks like this is a job for Bob Phantom."

Walt Whitney is so obvious a pseudonym for Walter Winchell that it loses quite a bit in a world where a good deal of your potential audience has never even HEARD of Winchell, let alone read his column.

This is the first time I heard of Walter Winchell. *wiki-searches* Very interesting. But, having read that, I don't think the readers necessarily need to know who Walter Winchell was to appreciate stories about a gossip columnist who occasionally became a teleporting superhero.

It proves she's versatile.

Oh, she is - as the next two stories will show. In fact, reading them makes me wonder why nobody ever used her - she was a surprisingly interesting villain.

[sadoeuphemist]

So if his real name is Walt Whitney, how the hell did he come up with the name "Bob Phantom"? I was hoping Bob was his actual name, because really, why else would you call yourself that?

[sadoeuphemist]

She puts on a surgical mask and she looks Caucasian, she takes it off and turns yellow. Versatile indeed!

Its's called "getting around trademark laws"

[strannik01]

If you look at the very first story he appeared in, it seems obvious that he was originally supposed to be called "Phantom," until somebody realized that there is already a character by that name and tacked on "Bob" in a hurry. The words are oddly spaced, the word balloons look a little too small and, in some text captions outright refer to him as "Phantom."

Re: Its's called "getting around trademark laws"

[sadoeuphemist]

Hahahaha that's awesome. Brb, gonna create Bob Superman, man of aluminum!

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, no, they don't HAVE to, but that particular variety of gossip columnist is one that has more or less passed from the scene. Winchell and those like him were something like the 'People Magazine' of his day - if you got mentioned in his column, you were either somebody worth watching or stood a good chance of BECOMING somebody worth watching. There was even a song written about him! The readers of the time would have known all this, and understood instinctively just how influential a person this Walt Whiney was - a modern audience probably wouldn't get all that.
Hmm... Any chance Archie would be interested in cutting a deal...?

[psychopathicus_rex]

It's a MAGICAL surgical mask!

[strannik01]

She did the same thing in her initial appearance. I think it might be a mutant power :)

[strannik01]

The readers of the time would have known all this, and understood instinctively just how influential a person this Walt Whiney was - a modern audience probably wouldn't get all that.

Well, if you are going to go the modern day revamp route, you can make him a blogger and achieve a similar effect.

Hmm... Any chance Archie would be interested in cutting a deal...?

I don't think it would need to. All of Bob Phantom's original Golden Age appearances are in public domain. Archie still owns the Mighty Comics/Red Circle/Archie Weird Mysteries version, but any version of the character based on his original appearances should be free and clear.

Re: Its's called "getting around trademark laws"

[strannik01]

"Superman" is too specific of a trademark. Now, if you wanted to create Bob Beetle...

[badficwriter]

Isn't 'Ah Ku' the name of Samurai Jack's demon archenemy?

[psychopathicus_rex]

I suppose so, but it wouldn't really be the same - I don't know of any bloggers that have songs written about them, do you? Still, you're right, he WOULD be well-known.
Ooh - nifty! Next time I need a Dragon Lady-type villain, maybe I'll work her in somehow.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Perhaps his middle name is 'Robert'?

[psychopathicus_rex]

Yes, but spelled differently, I think - the SJ version is, I'm pretty sure, 'Aku'.

[badficwriter]

Good enough! I am now convinced Princess Ah Ku is part demon.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Well, this IS the Golden Age; maybe she's the Claw's cousin - HE'S part demon.

[strannik01]

I suppose so, but it wouldn't really be the same - I don't know of any bloggers that have songs written about them, do you? Still, you're right, he WOULD be well-known.

I'm not saying it's a perfect fit - just the best fit in the modern context.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I suppose he could be a sort of very influential super-blogger, like Ariana Huffington, only for celebrity gossip...

[kamino_neko]

Funny, I was thinking just the opposite.... He's generally got a bit of a 'Ken doll' thing going on...