Best Of
Re: Episode 1718 Talkback - Spotlight on Namor the Sub-Mariner
Yet another fabulously entertaining Spotlight episode from podcasting's most genial and deferential duo (you guys remind me a bit of Mac & Tosh from the old Looney Tunes shorts)!
Namor is a special and enduring character, and I thank you for covering so much of his vast history. However, due to the limitations of your audio format (and no video version of the podcast), I thought I'd contribute a little visual addendum to your coverage.
THE MANY FACES OF NAMOR: Subby's loyalties weren't the only thing to shift over the years. More than any other superhero, the Sub-Mariner's physical appearance has varied so dramatically, has been so consistently INconsistent (or, as we say in the biz, "off-model"), it truly has to be seen to be believed....which is where I come in.
First of all, here's Subby as those of us here in the so-called "modern era" know him. Taken from two of my favorite covers, we've got Namor's green Speedo look alongside the regal dark-blue jumpsuit he often wears. Both looks are consistent in their general look (wrist bands, ankle wings, arrogant body language), yet there is enough variation in his eyebrow arch, hairline and head shape to hint at the eye-popping permutations of earlier times.
In this snippet from his first cover appearance (Marvel Mystery Comics #4, 1940), Namor's facial features and head shape look fairly normal, with his pointed ears and angular eyebrows the only sign of his exotic heritage. Ah...but check out that funky light brown hair...an odd look for a character better known for a steely-black head of hair.
By 1941, Namor's face begins to take on a much more exaggerated, almost elvish appearance, as seen here on the cover of the second issue of All-Winners Comics. Topping it off (literally) is a crop of fiery red hair (must have been from all those fights with the Human Torch)!
Four years later, on the cover of All-Winners Comics #17, Namor's face had become so elongated...so harshly angled, that it looked more like an African Fang Mask than the regal undersea scion we met back in 1939.
Incredibly, like some sort of Golden Age Michael Jackson, Subby's already bizarre face became even more crazy and extreme by 1946. As you can see in these excerpts from All-Winners Comics #19, Namor's head became an eerie, utterly inhuman abstraction.
Forget about his human/Atlantean heritage...by this point, Namor looked like a cross between an alien, Dick Tracy villain Flattop, and Charles Burns' Big Baby character!
Mercifully, the post-WWII collapse of the superhero genre yanked this rather demented version of Namor off stage. After a several year hiatus, the Sub-Mariner briefly resurfaced during the mid 1950's...this time with a much less cartoonish cranium and a major league hatred for Commies.
Following this brief return, Namor once again vanished from the newsstands... and wouldn't return until Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reintroduced him in Fantastic Four #4 (1962). So...with his transition to the more refined Silver Age of comics, Namor's bizarre facial distortions became a thing of the past, right? Eh....not quite.
Oh, and before I wrap things up, I wanted to post an excerpt from FF #9 showing Namor as a Hollywood mogul. Murd mentioned that he'd never seen this story, so BEHOLD! The Avenging Son sporting an ascot and cigarette holder!
Namor is a special and enduring character, and I thank you for covering so much of his vast history. However, due to the limitations of your audio format (and no video version of the podcast), I thought I'd contribute a little visual addendum to your coverage.
THE MANY FACES OF NAMOR: Subby's loyalties weren't the only thing to shift over the years. More than any other superhero, the Sub-Mariner's physical appearance has varied so dramatically, has been so consistently INconsistent (or, as we say in the biz, "off-model"), it truly has to be seen to be believed....which is where I come in.
First of all, here's Subby as those of us here in the so-called "modern era" know him. Taken from two of my favorite covers, we've got Namor's green Speedo look alongside the regal dark-blue jumpsuit he often wears. Both looks are consistent in their general look (wrist bands, ankle wings, arrogant body language), yet there is enough variation in his eyebrow arch, hairline and head shape to hint at the eye-popping permutations of earlier times.
In this snippet from his first cover appearance (Marvel Mystery Comics #4, 1940), Namor's facial features and head shape look fairly normal, with his pointed ears and angular eyebrows the only sign of his exotic heritage. Ah...but check out that funky light brown hair...an odd look for a character better known for a steely-black head of hair.
By 1941, Namor's face begins to take on a much more exaggerated, almost elvish appearance, as seen here on the cover of the second issue of All-Winners Comics. Topping it off (literally) is a crop of fiery red hair (must have been from all those fights with the Human Torch)!
Four years later, on the cover of All-Winners Comics #17, Namor's face had become so elongated...so harshly angled, that it looked more like an African Fang Mask than the regal undersea scion we met back in 1939.
Incredibly, like some sort of Golden Age Michael Jackson, Subby's already bizarre face became even more crazy and extreme by 1946. As you can see in these excerpts from All-Winners Comics #19, Namor's head became an eerie, utterly inhuman abstraction.
Forget about his human/Atlantean heritage...by this point, Namor looked like a cross between an alien, Dick Tracy villain Flattop, and Charles Burns' Big Baby character!
Mercifully, the post-WWII collapse of the superhero genre yanked this rather demented version of Namor off stage. After a several year hiatus, the Sub-Mariner briefly resurfaced during the mid 1950's...this time with a much less cartoonish cranium and a major league hatred for Commies.
Following this brief return, Namor once again vanished from the newsstands... and wouldn't return until Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reintroduced him in Fantastic Four #4 (1962). So...with his transition to the more refined Silver Age of comics, Namor's bizarre facial distortions became a thing of the past, right? Eh....not quite.
Oh, and before I wrap things up, I wanted to post an excerpt from FF #9 showing Namor as a Hollywood mogul. Murd mentioned that he'd never seen this story, so BEHOLD! The Avenging Son sporting an ascot and cigarette holder!
Episode 1713 Talkback - Top 5 Reads While Stranded on a Desert Island
Imagine that you're about to be marooned on a remote desert island for days, weeks, or longer. Which comics (series, runs, collections, etc.; anything goes!) would you want to have with you to pass the time? We Geeks reveal what we'd throw into the lifeboat in this episode. Comics Ahoy! (2:03:37)
Listen here.
Listen here.
Re: Random Bits Not Worthy of their Own Thread...
I bought a chicken and an egg from Amazon.
I'll let you know.
I'll let you know.
Episode 1714 Talkback - November 2018 Previews
Mama's little Geeks love Previews, Previews, Mama's little Geeks love Previews shows! We go through the November 2018 catalog for items shipping to stores beginning in January 2019. (1:46:28)
Listen here.
Listen here.
Re: Random Bits Not Worthy of their Own Thread...
Well boys it is mid morning here we are all safe and the house has no real damage. I've spent my morning cleaning the to the farm shop. It has a well with a 7000 gallon tank and thought I might need some extra water for the next few days and Access to the small tractor will be nice.
It's pretty bad here with lot of trees down no fatalities reported in Decatur county, but a little girl died in the county next to us.
Anyway we are safe and now it's time to clean up and wait for the power company.
I'm sending the wife and kids to North ga in the am.
It's pretty bad here with lot of trees down no fatalities reported in Decatur county, but a little girl died in the county next to us.
Anyway we are safe and now it's time to clean up and wait for the power company.
I'm sending the wife and kids to North ga in the am.
Re: A Comic Cover A Day (is awesome)
Everyone fights a shark at some point in the late ’70s, even guys with flaming heads. Pencils (or maybe just layouts) by Ed Hannigan, inks (or maybe finishes) by Dave Cockrum.
Episode 1706 Talkback - Spotlight on the Hulk in the Silver Age
We're turning green (well, first gray, then green) with excitement to bring you this look at the beginnings of the greatest 'man vs. self' conflict dynamic in all of comics: scientist Bruce Banner... and the Incredible Hulk! It's a rampage through the first seven years of the Hulk's adventures, introducing his supporting cast, his most significant foes, his nigh-limitless might, and his increasingly fractured psyche, brought to you by comics scholar Gamma Cum Laude Chris Eberle and lowly lab-tech Adam Murdough. Go Go Go HULK! (2:05:58)
Listen here, puny humans!
Listen here, puny humans!
Episode 1699 Talkback - Spotlight on SHAZAM! in the Atomic Age
The original era of the Original Captain Marvel came to a sad end in 1953... so what DID happen to the Marvel Family? How did they survive the rise of King Kull the Beastman, the baleful influence of the horror genre, and shameless attempts at Cold War/Korean War exploitationism, only to fall victim to a fate far more subtle and insidious, and to vanish into limbo for 20 years? Murd and Chris have some answers in this Spotlight episode covering the comics of the final fling of Fawcett Publications in the Fabulous Fifties (1950-53). (2:50:03)
Listen here.
Listen here.