Remembering Artist Bob Oksner

Remembering artist Bob Oksner on his birthday (October 14, 1915 - February 18, 2007) with a couple of his covers featuring a Mummy....and, though Bob worked on both the Adventures of Bob Hope and the Adventures of Jerry Lewis comics, it seems a shame Bob and Jerry never had a cross over!

Covers from Adventures of Bob Hope #98 (April-May, 1966) and Adventures of Jerry Lewis #94 (May-June, 1966).

Marvel Family Versus The Mad Mummy

With Billy Batson getting his amazing powers as Captain Marvel after he said "Shazam" (the name of an ancient Egyptian wizard, and Billy's mentor), you'd figure that the Marvel Family would face a mummy at some point!

They did, in Marvel Family #79 (January, 1953) when "The Marvel Family Battles The Dynasty Of Horror" by Otto Bender, C.C. Beck and Pete Costanza, including the Mad Mummy (who, after his pyramid was found on the bottom of the ocean, and brought to the surface by Cap, Mary and Junior, who then had to face the monster, freed from his prison of a thousand years, and his gathering of monsters as well....).

The family even got advice from Shazam, as the old Wizard had faced him as well 5000 years ago (or so Shazam said....).

This attempt at cashing in on the horror craze didn't save Shazam or the Marvel Family, as their issues at Fawcett ended 10 later with Marvel Family #89 (January, 1954)...


....but the Marvel Family survived, ending up at DC years later!


Holy Moley!

Wonder Woman Versus The Mummy

Think Wonder Woman would have trouble with a mummy?

Think again, as Wonder Woman #161 (April, 1966) by Robert Kanigher, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito has Wonder Woman fighting "The Curse Of Cleopatra"!

Studio executive Magnum Magnus wanted Wonder Woman's help with his mummy movie, as his stars fell under the curse of the tomb, so Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman headed out to play Antony and Cleopatra!

While at the pyramid, it is found out that Countess Draska Nishki is really the mummy, and is defeated by Wonder Woman.

So, in a battle between Wonder Woman and a mummy, we'd know who would win!

Don't Hurt My Mummy

One of the stories of House of Secrets #108 (June, 1973) was the story host Abel told (with the help of Maxene Fabe and Rico Rival, with Jack Sparling on the cover) was that of "A New Kid On The Block", not a member of the boy band, but a young Egyptian man who was trying to impress his friends with an ancient dagger he has (that his uncle says is cursed).  The boy's friends convince him to sell it to a crooked pawn broker, but later a friend goes to take it back....finding a mummy attacking the pawn broker, enacting the curse by killing the pawn broker.  Taking the dagger while the mummy was otherwise occupied, the lad sees the mummy going to his Egyptian friend's house, and goes inside, killing the mummy to save his friend.  This starts the Egyptian boy crying...as his friend has killed his mommy (who was a mummy)!

This wraps up our mummy coverage!

Holy Mummy Wrappings Batman!

Seems like Batman and Robin got all wrapped up in the case they were involved in!

In Detective Comics #320 (October, 1963), it was "Batman and Robin -- The Mummy Crime-Fighters" in Gotham (by Dave Wood, Sheldon Moldoff and Charles Paris, with Moldoff providing the cover). 

The dynamic duo weren't ancient Egyptians, but instead, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were exposed to rays from an alien space capsule, turning their skin green, and to protect their secret identities (especially from prying reporter, Vicki Vale), they had to go into action covered from head to toe, so as not to lose their dual identities (claiming exposure to radiation caused their super-hero selves to be bandaged for a time).  This allowed them to capture the criminal, Eddie Crow.

Ah, for the simplistic time when this was the most logical solution to a problem!

Universal Monsters Cavalcade of Horror

Reprinting old stories is nothing new, and sometimes the stories even come from a long time ago...

...so, take a look at this collection of classic Universal Monsters from Dark Horse, with the Universal Monsters: Cavalcade of Horror from January, 2006, with a cover by Eric Powell.

These stories all originated from their movies, and from a run of comics by Dark Horse in 1993.

Frankenstein

First up was the adaptation of Frankenstein in June, 1993, by Den Beauvais, which is an airbrushed piece, harkening back to the birth of Frankstein's Monster...


...reading this will make you feel "it's alive!"....



...or make you run out to see the original movie.

Creature From The Black Lagoon

Truly, the best of the Dark Horse adaptations, with adapted story by Steve Moncuse and art by Art Adams and Terry Austin, this tale came out in August, 1993...


...with action so real, you'll get wet when reading it....


...so remember to bring along your scuba gear so you can catch a breath reading of the Creature From the Black Lagoon!

Dracula

Straight from the wilds of Transylvania, the Count was adapted by writer Dan Vado and artist Jonathan D. Smith who painted the story of the world's most famous bloodsucker...

..giving deeply rich backgrounds to look at...

...making you feel like Dracula and want a drink of something as well after you read this adaptation from October, 1993!

The Mummy

Deep in the heart of a tomb in Egypt, the Mummy's movie was brought to life in November, 1993 by writer Dan Jolley and artist Tony Harris...

...this tale with keep you wrapped up in suspense...

...at least long enough to finish the tale.  

Sadly, the planned volume for the Wolfman never saw the light of the moon.

Return of the Universal Monsters Action Figures

The classic Universal Monsters have been reincarnated in Mego-style, with series two release of Count Dracula and the Mummy called Imhotep for EMCE Toys Retro Cloth line. 

Eight inches with 14 points of articulation for all your classic Universal monster needs!

Following the success of series one, which had Frankenstein's Monster and the Wolfman...

here are two more creatures that go bump in the night!

Dracula

Dracula, premiered in the movies in 1931, with Bela Lugosi as the titular monster.  A vampire lord of some power who plans on expanding his evil influence past his small castle onto the greater society, he is undone by the end of this movie. 

The Dracula idea continues with Dracula’s Daughter in 1936 (with no Dracula), Son of Dracula in 1943 with Lon Chaney Jr. as Count Alucard (aka Dracula!), House of Frankenstein in 1944, House of Dracula in 1945 (in both Houses, John Carradine was Dracula), and Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948, only the second time Bela Lugosi played Dracula, and the last of Dracula before the Hammer Films of the 1950s and 1960s, which took advantage of color in films, especially the color red! 

Each of those later movies were deep in blood red...

The Mummy

The Mummy, premiered in the movies in 1932, played by Boris Karloff, and was an ancient Egyptian priest named Imhotep who was revived, and tried to bring back his Princess.  He wasn’t successful. 

This movie franchise did not have direct sequels, but instead spawned remakes early on…starting with The Mummy’s Hand in 1940, The Mummy’s Tomb in 1942, The Mummy’s Ghost in 1944 and The Mummy’s Curse in 1944 (all with Lon Chaney Jr as the Mummy, Kharis). 

Kharis returns in Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy in 1950, with Eddie Parker being the Mummy for this feature, which would be the last appearance of a classic, Universal Monster Mummy.

Future releases would be incredible, just to have versions of the Phantom of the Opera, the Invisible Man, the Bride of Frankenstein and even Dr. Jekyll’s alter-ego Mr. Hyde and the Creature from the Black Lagoon as well!