The Most Sinister Six!

There's no doubt at Marvel that Spider-Man has the best villains, and that is proved very quickly in his very first annual by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where "The Sinister Six" make their debut. The six are villains who have previously battled the Web-Spinner and were beaten, and so desire a measure of revenge against their upstart opponent. "The Sinister Six" at that time were Doctor Octopus, The Vulture, Sandman, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, and Electro!

The artwork in this story is amazing, arguably the finest single effort by Steve Ditko on the hero he helped make a sensation. The extra-long story is made extra-special because of the decision to give each of the six villains a splash page. In addition to the splash which opens the story we are treated to six more glorious full-page poster-style shots of mayhem.  Here are those glorious images from decades gone by, which still bristle in my memory.

It's only in this final encounter with Doc Ock in which Spidey seems under threat, in the others he appears to have the enemy in hand. On another point, notice how many Spidey villains of that time were draped in green.

I first saw this  awesome story when it was reprinted in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #6  under a well-crafted and dramatic cover by John Romita. I've bought it many times since in one format or another. It wows me each and every time I read it.

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And Hellgrammite Is His Name!

I think I got this comic book from my cousin. He was a bit younger than me, but being an only child had access to more toys and comics than did his poor country cousins. But to my good fortune he lost interest in comics and some of his bounty ended up in my grubby mitts. Brave and Bold #80 was one of those and the story written by Bob Haney and drawn by Neal Adams, on only his second outing on a full Bat-story I believe, delivered an awesome villain -- The Hellgrammite!

He was one of those countless "mad" scientist types who end up transforming themselves to prove their superiority or to feed their greed or perhaps more obscure motives. He became an armored monstrous man-grasshopper type of critter and drawn by Adams was a scary damn beast indeed. My research indicates he ended up in Superman's rogues' gallery eventually, though to my sense he will always be a Bat-baddie.

He put me in the mind then and now of less dramatically named "Praying Mantis-Man" from the pages of Charlton's Blue Beetle. This scientist-turned villain also transformed himself, though his look was more mechanical device than biological alteration.

Ah, those were the days my friend.

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Fight The Machine!

Just wanted to take a few moments to let folks know that there have been a few small changes in comments here at the Dojo. I have resisted putting any limits on comments here for as long as the blog as existed, but alas I have been forced to moderate comments going forward due to some outrageous spam which was spreading itself throughout the blog. I've clamped down a bit and hopefully pruned out all of the offending claptrap. Sorry for any minor inconvenience this might cause, but we do what we have to do sometimes.  My love-hate relationship with technology continues.

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The Phantom Blot!

I've always enjoyed The Phantom Blot when I've chanced upon his dark inky form. Created by Floyd Gottfredson for the Mickey Mouse comic strip, the elegantly designed Blot proved quite popular as villains go and returned again and again. And as we see here was even awarded his own comic book series from Gold Key when they held the Disney license and just about anything Disney found purchase in the marketplace. His series lasted seven issues alas. Only the conniving Beagle Boys from the Duckverse were more successful with their own series which lasted forty-seven issues. Wouldn't you love to read these comics. They need to be collected.

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The Octopus!

Warren's The Spirit was one of those magazines which was a watershed for me as a reader, my first real introduction to the lush work of Will Eisner. Central City was inhabited by all manner of of folks, many recognizable and some not so much. But one denizen of its criminal depths and doughty nemesis of Denny Colt was the mucho mysterious Octupus. A master of disguise, his presence was often only revealed by the appearance of his notorious gloves, the one with three dramatic stripes.

When Harvey Comics revived The Spirit in the 60's they got Will Eisner to produce a few new stories to freshen the tales from earlier decades. One such tale purported to tell of how The Octopus came to be. Below is that story from the original artwork of Eisner himself. Enjoy!

And of course it wasn't.

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Son Of Dracula!

The memorable Atlas-Seaboard comics company was a flash in the pan, but an exceedingly bright flash. They came forth with comics in nearly all genres and horror was no exception. Attempting to steal a bit of Marvel's glamour, the powers at Atlas thought a comic which brought Dracula into the modern world was a grand idea, but since Marvel already had a very successful one of those, they decided to give Dracula a son and let him serve. Featuring delicious art by the expressive Frank Thorne, the book (technically titled Fright) had one single issue.

Here is one of Thorne's early attempts at a cover for the comic, showcasing his ability to capture motion in frozen frame.

And here is the art for the original cover, more dramatically posed with all eyes directed to the lovely damsels naked neck. Too bad there weren't more of these.

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The Monsters Among Us!

Who could imagine that an utterly egotistical preening megalomaniac could some day hold the fate of the world in his depraved hands? That's something that could only happen in the overheated environs of the vintage pulps and their progeny the comics. No one in the real world could imagine the entire destiny of the globe to be teetering on the whims of a self-loathing, self-absorbed madman.

But be that as it may, let this month, one dedicated in many ways to inversions, see things here at the Dojo flip and instead of valiant heroes which is the norm, let's take a closer look at evil, the villainy which makes heroics necessary.

This month is dedicated to the bad guys and to evil creatures, and any resemblance to current chief executives of major western powers is merely coincidental.

Also this month I am taking a fresh gander at the delightful television show full of the most civil and polite monsters you'll ever run across -- The Munsters.

If time permits I might also tear into The Addams Family. I have not visited 1313 Mockingbird Lane or 0001 Cemetery Lane in far too many years. So look for references to those vintage shows from time to time perhaps, from a time when the monsters on our TV screens were entirely fictional.

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