Be Kind To Lawyers Day

Today is International Be Kind To Lawyers Day...and you really should be.

You never know how hairy their day is...as evidenced by "The Amazing Trial Of John (Gorilla) Doe!" by John Broome, Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. 

Strange Adventures #100 (January, 1959), under a cover by Gil Kane and Joe Giella, features a story of a gorilla who steals school books, records and radium....then shows up to turn himself in to the law, requesting a trial.  At the trial, the gorilla tells how he was taken by the gorilla like beings from Agmoran, who advanced his intelligence, and taught him to speak their language...and he also learned they planned to invade Earth in two years.  Learning how to pilot their spaceship, he came back to Earth, but needed to learn English to tell humans of the alien plot, and the radium to build a weapon to defeat them.  

The humans were successful, yet the gorilla paid the price, shortening his own life to do the exposure to radium, just wanting to go back to Africa and live life in peace.

This story was reprinted in Strange Adventures #239 (November-December, 1972), this time, with a cover by Nick Cardy showing how great the American legal system is, where everyone accused is allowed a lawyer, and a swift and speedy resolution to their legal woes.

Gorilla Warfare

World War II.  A time of epic battles, where the world took sides, with countries all across the world being a part of the Allies or the Axis.

This even extended to the animal kingdom, as gorillas joined in with the U.S soldiers, and the Nazi forces as well.

Here are their stories.

You Can't Pin A Medal On A Gorilla

First up, the Allies, with Star Spangled War Stories #126 (April-May, 1966) by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert, under a Kubert cover, where Charlie, the simian friend of Sgt. Pinky Donovan, gets unintentionally enlisted in war in the Pacific Theater.  

How did this unlikely scenario happen?

Donovan was an entertainer, working with his gorilla, Charlie, to entertain the troops in the Pacific, when he got called back into duty.  Unfortunately, that meant Charlie had to be locked up in the ship's hold as he headed to his assignment.  But, an attack beached the ship, and set Charlie free.  The enemy attacked the soldiers, with Charlie going into action to save the day.  It worked, much to the surprise of Donovan's C.O....who kept demoting Donovan, even with Charlie's successes!  Charlie even helped them take on their original mission, and lead to them flying the American flag in victory, but ending with the tagline that was the title of the story!

This lighter war story was also felt very real thanks to the stylings of artist Joe Kibert, who usually did more realistic war stories with Sgt. Rock (but still great to see him flex his abilities here!).

Primate Patrol

Hearing from the Axis side, is Weird War Tales #89 (July, 1980) by George Kashdan, Ken Landgraf and Dave Simons, under a cover by Jim Starlin, with a whole group of intelligent gorillas working on behalf of the Nazi forces in Africa.

Here's how that happened!

Willy, Jake and the rest of their troop of American soldiers were taken captive by the Nazis, and given to their new jailers...gorillas dressed in Nazi uniforms.  The gorillas were intelligent, and could speak!  They were found by the Germans, and trained to do simple tasks (as they were natural imitators), with those who resisted punished.  But, they didn't take into account animal nature, as they still imitated, and learned from their American prisoners to fight the Nazis, then going to hide better in the jungle after freeing the American soldiers.

Now, whether or not these gorillas were a part of Grodd's Gorilla City, we'll never know.

The results speak for themselves, as to which sides the simians worked with, but one still has to wonder what would have happened had these apes crossed paths on the battlefield?

Jimmy Olsen's Gorilla Transformation

 

Looking back to the past, at a time when bow ties were cool, and covers with gorillas were even cooler.

So. of course, Jimmy Olsen would take advantage of that (not to mention his ability to find his way into secret labs and drink unknown formulas).....and turn himself into a gorilla!

Don't go ape....but, read on as we see how this happened in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #24 (October, 1957) under a cover by Curt Swan and Stan Kaye (and, later, the secret behind the second cover).

The Gorilla Reporter

In a story by Otto Binder, Curt Swan and Ray Burnley, Jimmy Olsen was helping Professor Thorne out with his telepathizer machine (a machine which was to allow man to communicate with animals) when the gorilla, Bonzo, pushed some buttons as Jimmy was using his signal watch to call Superman...and Jimmy and Bonzo switched minds!  

After a little confusion, Superman took the ape-minded Jimmy's body to a retreat to be safe, while the new simian Olsen got use to his new life as a gorilla!  With some precautions, Jimmy took to the beat, covering a wrestling match (of Golden George vs the Gorilla), helped out at a movie premiere (getting the gorilla star of the movie to put his paw print in cement), and even patrolling with Superman (who was having no luck finding a way to switch Jimmy and Bonzo back).  

Meanwhile, Jimmy's body got loose, and headed to Metropolis (where, luckily, Jimmy caught him after saving Clark Kent from being locked in a bank vault).  Superman suggested having the ape-minded Jimmy push the buttons on the machine again....and, while he was busy, activated Jimmy's signal watch.  It was the signal watch that provided the extra power, which switched their minds again, leaving the professor and Superman to deal with a happy Jimmy, and poor Perry White to deal with his new, now fully simian reporter!

But, what about Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #116 (December, 1968), with its cover by Curt Swan and Mike Esposito?

Well, that was just a reprint of the original tale, likely brought about by the realization of how cool the original one was (or, just a deadline doom leaving one third of the mag in need of a story...

..and maybe just give a gorilla cover one more try...

...this time to cash in on the popularity of the Planet of the Apes movie....released that year!).

 

Of course, Jimmy had a few other strange transformations, as well as a few other primate encounters, but those are strange tales better off covered later....or maybe what Jimmy does in the jungle should stay in the jungle! 

 

 

 

   

Happy National School Librarian Day 2017

Some days, it's just harder to work in the library...


...especially when a gorilla wants a book! 


We learn the "Secret Of The Man-Ape!" in Strange Adventures #75 (December, 1956) by writer Otto Binder, penciller Carmine Infantino and inker Joe Giella, all under this stunner of a cover by Gil Kane and Bernard Sachs.

Hint...aliens are involved.

Not to be outdone, the story found its way into From Beyond the Unknown #23 (July-August, 1973) with a cover by Nick Cardy.


Now, how could Robinson Crusoe, Moby Dick and Treasure Island allow you to take over the world?

Flash Facts: The Early Days of Gorilla Grodd

Gorilla Grodd was a telepathic gorilla from Gorilla City in Africa, bend on taking the "force of mind" power from the leader of that peaceful city, Solovar....and only the Flash stood in his way.

A little different than the experimented animal shown on CW's Flash....so, let's stop monkeying around and take a look at the comic history of Gorilla Grodd!

Menace Of The Super-Gorilla

Flash #106 (April-May, 1959) was Grodd's first appearance, and this story by John Broome and Carmine Infantino introduced the readers to Grodd and Solovar, as well as the rest of the intelligent apes of Gorilla City, as Flash followed around a strange vehicle speeding around Central City, and tried to help an actor friend of his (Fred Pearson, who thought he was wandering the streets at night in a gorilla costume!).



Such were the simple beginnings of Gorilla Grodd...and it seems odd that he wasn't featured on any of his earliest covers, as gorillas on comic covers were all the rage at this time.

Return Of The Super-Gorilla

Flash #107 (June-July, 1959, also by John Broome and Carmine Infantino) has Solovar contacting Flash from Gorilla City (that we learn is hidden behind a vibrational field), letting Barry know that Grodd retained some of his "force of mind", and that the evil ape was hiding in the underground land of bird-people (whom Grodd has under his control).


Grodd is also developing a "devolutionizer ray" which he plans to use against his foes; this is one of many super devices that Grodd has come up with over the years...

...and change seems to be a constant theme in Grodd's stories as well. 

The Super-Gorilla's Secret Identity

Flash #108 (August-September, 1959, again by John Broome and Carmine Infantino) is the third of the original Grodd trilogy, where Grodd escapes Gorilla City thanks to his quadromobile, and uses his technology on himself to become a normal looking human (with a super-evolved brain).


Soon after, back in Central City, Flash is up for the man of the year award, with only new millionaire, Drew Drowden, to compete against him.  Drowden made a fortune from stocks and set up a laboratory (that he is secretly using to develop the powers of mind over matter for himself).


Flash investigates and finds out that Drowden is Grodd! 

The Day Flash Weighed 1000 Pounds

Flash #115 (September, 1960, by Broome and Infantino) deals with the death of Grodd, or at least that's what Solovar believes when he tells the Flash that he's discovered Grodd's dead body in a Gorilla City prison cell.  Grodd has really developed a pill that allows his mind to leave his body, and Grodd has taken over the body of William Dawson, who gets a job training chimps (who he uses to steal for him).


Flash catches the chimps and looks for Dawson, who bombards Flash in a ray that expands his size, and gives Flash amnesia, so that he ends up in Dawson's sideshow!


Flash figures out who he is and captures Dawson, but doesn't know of his simian beginnings.  

The Reign Of The Super-Gorilla

Flash #127 (March, 1962, by John Broome and Carmine Infantino) finds Grodd on his first cover in gorilla form...as William Dawson is released from prison, transforms to gorilla form, and returns to his lab in Africa with a new plan...to marry his love, female gorilla Boka.


So, Grodd creates a machine that makes everyone love him, marries Boka and takes over Gorilla City.




Grodd then heads to Central City, where his new power makes Flash endorse his foe for governor!  Flash finds out the limit to Grodd's new power and stops Grodd. 

The Gauntlet Of Super-Villains

Flash #155 (September, 1965 by John Broome and Carmine Infantino) is an issue that keeps Flash running around...as his foes (Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Pied Piper, Captain Boomerang, the Top and Heat Wave; the original Rogue's Gallery) escape prison via teleportation and team up to battle against him!

Flash also finds his powers failing at this time...tracking down his power failure to the gorilla cage at the Central City zoo.


Flash figures Grodd's behind this, heads to Africa for proof, then back to Central City to defeat all the bad guys as well as Grodd!


And you think you've had a busy day! 

Grodd Puts The Squeeze On Flash

Flash #172 (August, 1967) is the last story about Grodd that John Broome and Carmine Infantino do together, but it's a winner, with all of Central City getting super-speed and being cut off from the rest of the world under a dome...

...with the Flash the only solution to the problem!


Grodd contacts Flash telepathically to claim responsibility for this....but Barry should be wary of his simian foe.


Flash figures out what's really going on, and is able to sock it to Grodd, with a little super-speed trickery of his own!

 

Beyond The Speed Of Life

Flash #209 (September, 1971) finds Grodd's fate in new hands (that of writer Cary Bates and artist Irv Novick), involved in a fight where Trickster and Captain Boomerang think they've killed the Flash, and the Flash's spirit has to save the universe from the Devourer!



Quite a lot going on in this issue for Barry Allen, but not as much focus on Gorilla Grodd, and Grodd wasn't happy about that at all.


Things seems to have worked out well, but Grodd grew tired of monkeying around with the Flash and decided to take a vacation from the speedster with his next appearance.  

Gorilla Grodd's Grandstand Play

Action Comics #424 (June, 1973, by Elliot S! Maggin and Curt Swan) finds Grodd monkeying around in near Metropolis...

...switching bodies with Solovar to address the United Nations on behalf of Gorilla City, and battling the man of steel, Superman.


Superman, who is use to simian foes (like Titano, who is much more like King Kong than Grodd, though Grodd does do his best Kong impersonation on this cover by Nick Cardy) does have some problems with Flash's foe...


...but is eventually able to win the day.

Grodd Teams Up

Action Comics #443 (January, 1975) by Elliot S! Maggin and Curt Swan sees Grodd work as a member of a team (that includes other individual JLA foes, like Brainiac, Clayface/Matt Hagen, Ocean Master, Sinestro, Merlyn, Chronos and the Harpy) all under the leadership of Zazzala the Queen Bee...and then Grodd reverts Hawkman into an ape in Super-Team Family #3 (February-March, 1976 by Steve Skeates, Rick Estrada and Wally Wood, covered more here).

All this monkeying around with others must have had an effect on Grodd, as he next appeared as a main member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains in Secret Society of Super-Villains #1 (May-June, 1976), where he was a constant menace to the whole JLA and Captain Comet for 11 issues and one SSOSV special (and a good enough place to end our individual coverage on Grodd...but check back for more on the Secret Society of Super-Villains after more of the individual villains are introduced).

DC Goes Ape For Grodd

"Grodd Lives" proclaims the May 5th, 2015 episode of CW's The Flash....

....and he's been around for quite some time, as have a few of DC's other simians, just monkeying around.

Swinging Seventies

With the popularity of the Planet of the Apes (a movie that came out in the 1960s, not unlike the Batman TV Show, and a surge in its popularity with sequels and a TV show in the 1970s), DC took advantage and gathered a few of its gorillas themed stories in a couple of reprint books, first in DC Special #16 (Spring, 1975), and then in Super-Heroes Battle Super-Gorillas #1 (Winter, 1976).

DC Special

This issue contained 4 tales of primate power...

...starting with Batman and Robin's battle with Karmak the Gorilla in "Batman Battles The Living Beast-Bomb!" by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino from Detective Comics #339 (May, 1965).


Well, at least it was Karmak's body, but it was possessed by the mind of criminal scientist Walter Hewitt, who the dynamic duo defeat, but Hewitt comes up with a plan involving a bomb to try to mind-switch with Batman, but Batman defeats his dastardly plans!

The second story is that of Wonder Woman and an alien threat to Paradise Island...

...that story originally appeared in Wonder Woman #170 (May, 1967) by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru, entitled "Wonder Woman -- Gorilla!".

This story had Wonder Woman and her mother, Queen Hippolyta, facing off against invading aliens that had plans on taking over Paradise Island...and making Wonder Woman their queen!  That idea didn't work so well for the Amazing Amazon (especially after they changed her into a gorilla!!!), so she used powers and wit to defeat the aliens and send them packing.

The third story in this issue of reprints is the one with Flash vs. his simian super-villain, the evil Gorilla Grodd!

Grodd had faced the Flash before, but Flash #127 (March, 1962) was his first appearance on a cover, in "The Reign of the Super-Gorilla" by John Broome and Carmine Infantino!

Grodd, disguised as human William Dawson, gets out of prison, then returns to Grodd form, heading to Gorilla City to plot revenge against the Flash.  Along the way, he falls in love with female gorilla, Boka, and exposes himself to a radiation that makes everyone like him, so much so that the Flash can't even fight him, and Grodd plans to run for governor.  Flash figures out the range of Grodd's new power, and how to make a monkey out of that gorilla!

The last reprint in the DC Special is just super, as it features Superman, and his giant ape foe, the Titano, the giant ape with Kryptonite vision!

The story is "Titano, the Super-Ape!" from Superman #138 (July, 1960) by Otto Binder and Wayne Boring, and is Titano's second appearance (but don't worry, they recap his origin).

In this issue, Titano accidentally is returned from the past, takes Lois Lane hostage, and even tries climbing the Daily Planet building!  (Holy King Kong!).  The Man of Steel figures out a way to stop the big guy, and returns him to the past after freeing Lois!

Super-Heroes Battle Super-Gorillas

The second of DC's seventies collection of gorilla stories starts with a Superman story, but this time, the Man of Steel faces off against King Krypton!

Action Comics #238 (March, 1958) features the story of "The Super-Gorilla From Krypton" (that being, King Krypton) by Otto Binder and Wayne Boring.

Jimmy Olsen discovers King Krypton in Africa, and uses his signal watch to summon Superman, who sends Jimmy to look for Kryptonite to help defeat the ape.  Jimmy gets captured by an African tribe who have Kryptonite spearheads, which result in Superman and King Krypton to be captured as well, and the tribe has the two fight for freedom.  Superman eventually wins and learns that King Krypton was a devolved Kryptonian scientist, who then dies from exposure to Kryptonite.

Grodd makes a return to face the Fastest Man Alive in the second story in this collection...

The scheming simian returns, so that "Grodd Puts The Squeeze On Flash" from Flash #172 (August, 1967) by John Broome and Carmine Infantino.

This tale has Flash dealing with a Central City enclosed under a dome, and its citizens all now possessing super speed!  Grodd takes credit for this, and blackmails the Flash into freeing him from his Gorilla City cell.  After freeing his foe, Flash finds out the real cause of the problem, and faces off against Grodd to return him to his prison.



Last, but not least, Batman and Robin face off against a new type of crimelord, that of a gorilla!

In Batman #75 (February-March, 1953) with "The Gorilla Boss of Gotham City" by David Vern Reed and Lew Sayre Schwartz, Gotham sees crime boss George Dyke executed.  Dyke's body was taken by Doc Willard, a crazed scientist, who revives the crimelord and puts his brain into a gorilla's body!

The Gorilla Boss goes on a crime spree, but decides he doesn't want to live in a gorilla's body, but instead wants Batman's body.  Batman prevents this from happening, and the Gorilla Boss body gets crushed, with the Doc going mad in the process...(though that doesn't stop the Doc and Gorilla Boss from returning).

All in all, these stories will make you go ape and are great reading during baseball season!



 

Baseball's Silver Age

No, not talking about Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Al Kaline, Pete Rose, Kirk Gibson, Reggie Jackson, or even A-Rod, but instead, a little bit on how comic books used some of their tried and true storylines with baseball players instead of super-heroes!



A great way to kick off the All-Star game and get a little of some the stranger parts of the Silver Age, where anything could happen….and often did!

Baseball Uniforms

First up, a story from Brave & the Bold #45 (January 1963), wherein the baseball uniforms were animated to battle against a team of regular players in “The Challenge of the Headless Baseball Team” in a cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson (and interior story written by Gardner Fox, with art by Infantino...).


This kicked off a run of Strange Sports Stories...and boy were these sports stories strange!

This theme of either the hero becoming a bodiless uniform, or fighting a bodiless uniform was used a few times, once in Action Comics #383-384 (Dec-Jan 1969, 1970) with Superman (and a little later in issue #299 of his own title when one of Superman‘s foes made him only his uniform!), Green Lantern foe - the Invisible Destroyer from Showcase #23 (November-December, 1959), a little bit in Flash (there was slight of hand involved with Abra Kadabra in his first appearance in #128 in May, 1962), and later on wherein the Justice League of America (in #35, May 1965) where the team faced off against the animated uniforms of a few of their fiercest foes like Pied Piper, Killer Moth and Dr. Polaris in the “Battle of the Bodiless Uniforms”!

Monkeying Around On The Field

Then, another Strange Sports Story happened in Brave & the Bold #49 (September 1963, with another cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson), wherein the baseball team faced off against simians, monkeying around on the infield in the “Gorilla Wonders of the Diamond!”, written by Gardner Fox!


This was also the last of the strange sports stories for Brave and the Bold, as they switched to super-hero team-ups with the next issue (starring Green Arrow and the Manhunter from Mars to start!)

For those that don’t know, back in the Silver Age, it had been “proven” that putting an ape on a cover would increase sales of comics.  Superman had Titano (a monkey enlarged to King Kong size, with Kryptonite vision, first appearance Superman #127, February 1959), Flash had Gorilla Grodd (a super-intelligent beast with mental powers who first faced the speedster in Flash #106, April-May 1959, but he didn't make a cover until Flash #127), the Doom Patrol had Monseiur Mallah (an experiment and more with the Brain of the Brotherhood of Evil starting with Doom Patrol #86, March 1964), Congo Bill added Congorilla (a golden ape whom the great white hunter switched minds with thanks to a mystic ring) in Action Comics #248, January 1959, and even Rex the Wonder Dog had the Detective Chimp (a monkey who solved crimes starting with Rex, the Wonder Dog #4, July-August  1952)!

The simian fascination in comics is explained a little more in Secret Origins #40, featuring 3 of these characters (but still missing a few, like the Gorilla Boss of Gotham City (first appeared Batman #75, February-March 1953), the Mod Gorilla Boss foe of Animal Man from Strange Adventures #201, June 1967, Mogo the Bat-Ape from Batman #114, March 1958, even Sam Simeon of Angel & the Ape who started in Showcase #77, September 1968).

So, not only did your favorite costumed heroes fight some odd things back in the day, but so did the boys of summer!  Baseball sure was interesting back then.


You have to wonder who would have won, the empty uniforms or the gorillas?


Grodd thinks he has the answer....