Gene Phillips's Blog, page 9

RAR #79: THE TOTEM

Issues 74 and 75 of STRANGE TALES contained a two-part story by Steve Ditko, beginning when a stone statue called The Totem comes to life to attack a couple of convicts who menace an Indian tribe.

The second part then shows the Totem relentlessly turning on its own people, at which point the old shaman who summoned the demon banishes it.

MONSTER MASHUPS #111

 Found this cover online but haven't read the actual story referenced.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

 This blogpost mentions at least two literary characters, Scott's Rob Roy and Fielding's Jonathan Wild, showing up in an 1884 dime novel called THE BLUE DWARF.

MONSTER MASHUPS #110

 I only came across this mashup by chance, in which an episode of YOGI'S TREASURE HUNT dragged out yet another hoary cliche from Hanna-Barbera's own moldy treasure-chest. Features a spoofy Drac, a Franky, and a lady vamp.

MONSTER MASHUPS #109

  Tom Sutton, under the name "Sean Todd," did four installments of a series called "Frankenstein Book II," appearing in issues #3-6 of Skywald's PSYCHO b&w magazine. It's very incoherent, mixing monsters of different eras, and doesn't have an ending, but the artist puts a lot of moxie in his pencils.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

 In WOW #14, Mary Marvel meets both the folklore-character Jack Frost and an approximation of the Greek dawn-goddess Eos, under her Roman name Aurora.

CROSSOVER MADNESS

 The Egyptian wizard Ibis encounters both Celtic and Greek boogiemen in IBIS #4 when he squares off against both Morgan LeFay and Cerberus.

MONSTER MASHUPS #108

 I've now reviewed both the 1995 and 1997 narrative incarnations of the DARKSTALKERS franchise here.

In addition, two episodes of the 1995 TV show sustain a crossover-vibe. In "Donovan's Bane," the episode that introduces the monster-hunter Donovan Baine, the spirits of both Merlin and Morgan Le Fay briefly appear to lend aid to their respective descendants, Harry Grimore and Morrigan the Succubus. And in "Darkest Before the Dawn," regular vampire Dimitri is revealed to have been in contact with ...

THE WEIRDIE FILES

 JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #14 did its own version of "the Trenchcoat Brigade," even though most of the characters aren't wearing trenchcoats. This version includes Deadman (occupying the body of Wonder Woman in this scene), Doctor Fate, Doctor Occult, Zauriel, Zatanna and Etrigan the Demon. These weirdie-heroes get the lion's share of action while the regular JLU heroes sit things out.

RAR #78: LI'L CHIEF BUGABOO

 Scene from the debut story of the Little Chief in PEP #40. At least he makes his bones by punching out a mountain lion.