Scans_Daily

In which the Mystery Woman of the Jungle faces off against the deranged anarcho-primitivist wannabe, Mark Lord (presumably no relation to Maxwell).

( 'You have reached the end of your mad career, you fiend!' )

Assinoff has used his mighty donkey strength to flee Novoslavia, taking Dr. Hormone's granddaughter Jane as hostage. His objective? Enticing him into entering Eurasia's service.

( Yeah, kidnapping the grandkid is a great way to do that, harem hotties notwithstanding )

Master of understatement, that premier

Doctor Hormone, he of upstanding medical ethics, has chemically transformed boys into an army of full-grown Novoslavian men. But will that be enough to withstand the Soviet Eurasian "Urasian" invasion, and the waning patience of Novoslavia's top general?

( Let's find out )

Early last year, I posted the debut adventure of the unsung, cracky Golden Age heroic duo Nightmare and Sleepy. Ready for some more?


( 'First you get sleepy, see?' 'Then you get a nightmare!' )

Gather 'round, folks, and come with me back to the sixties and seventies, a time when people still made comics primarily for kids. When comics had yet to compete with video games, specialized summer camps and obsessive helicopter parenting for kids' attention. When no one expected comics to make profound literary statements, nor shock readers with nonstop mutilation and gore, nor follow the laws of physics, biology or basic logic.



This was the heyday of Harvey Comics, and its flagship character, Richie Rich. Today remembered, if at all, for the flop 1994 Macaulay Culkin movie, or deconstructed and mocked as the face of greedy, heartless capitalism, the (not so) Poor Little Rich Boy was in fact much more than that. He was the linchpin of a bizarre, often mad universe in which anything could happen. Multi-billionaires were altruistic and generous, and their kids socialized with and dated the 99 per cent. Money didn't solve everything, but it sure solved a lot. (Ridiculously multi-talented English butlers, zeerusty A.I.s, or sheer dumb luck solved the rest.) Plus-sized girls who loved food were also athletic and popular. Snobs and bullies were neither. Other girls with eccentric but harmless obsessions were allowed to be themselves, not disciplined or medicated into conformity. Crime was rampant but never involved drugs or human trafficking, and never maimed or killed anyone. This was Richie Rich's world.

( Yes, the comics were silly; that's why I love them )

Master of understatement, that premier

Doctor Hormone, he of upstanding medical ethics, has chemically transformed boys into an army of full-grown Novoslavian men. But will that be enough to withstand the Soviet Eurasian "Urasian" invasion, and the waning patience of Novoslavia's top general?

( Let's find out )

The Silver Age title Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen was full of cracktastic scenarios, but perhaps none as bizarre as this, from #79 (Sept 1964; writer Leo Dorfman, artist George Papp):





( Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! )