Showing posts with label supernatural comicbooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supernatural comicbooks. Show all posts

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Even More (Really) Weird Heroes: Tigra

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Greer Nelson. She became a super-heroine called the Cat, and performed very hazardous duties. But the Cat People took her away from all that. Now, she's a furry female. Her name is Tigra!

...rolls on with yet another Weird Hero, this time the fabulous femme formerly known as the Cat, none other than Greer Nelson, aka, Tigra the Were-Woman (yeah, we all know that really means "man-woman", but as a nameless armadillo explained in the letters page of Giant-Size Creatures #1 (April, 1974), "Yes, we know that the Germanic word 'were' actually means 'man'...However, in everyday parlance, people have come to attach the prefix 'were-' to something when they want to indicated an element of lycanthropy--so we've no real fear of being misunderstood. But, for those linguistic experts out there in Marvelland, we just had to let you know that we do read things besides comic-mags." If they can live with it, so can Ol' Groove). Anywho, Tigra began her four color life as Greer Nelson, star of the short-lived Claws of the Cat mag (August, 1972-March, 1973) created by Roy Thomas, Linda Fite, Marie Severin, and Wally Wood (among others). The mag about a superheroic Women's Libber was a flop (that's what Tony Isabella called it in his article in G.S. Creatures #1), and the Cat was doomed to limbo.

But not for long. Tony Isabella, again, according to his article in G.S. Creatures #1, was trying to come up with a new super-heroine. He brainstormed first with Roy Thomas, then with Duffy Vohland and Gil Kane, came up with the idea for a character called "Hellcat", decided that character would be Greer Nelson's new identity, went back to Thomas who renamed the character "Tigra, the Were-Woman", teamed up with Werewolf By Night penciler Don Perlin, and viola! They dreamed up a team-up between werewolf and were-woman that would introduce Tigra to a waiting world.

The world must've not been ready, though, 'cause Tigra didn't appear again for another seven months. This time, plotted by Isabella, scripted by Chris Claremont, and drawn by Tony DeZuniga, Tigra was to be a regular star of Monsters Unleashed.

Then that mag was cancelled. One full year later, Isabella got another shot at making Tigra a star, this time beginning with the third issue of Marvel Chillers (November, 1975).

That lasted five issues. One issue more than her Cat mag, so I guess that's an improvement. During that time, she also teamed with the Thing in Marvel Two-In-One #19 (July, 1976). I suppose she and Blue Eyed Benjy made a bit of a connection, because her next appearance (post-Marvel Chillers) was in the pages of the Fantastic Four (issues 179-183, February, 1977-June, 1977). After that, Tigra teamed up with Spider-Man (Marvel Team-Up #67, December, 1977) and got another solo-shot in Marvel Premiere #42 (March, 1978). And that was it for Tigra during the Groovy Age.


She did become a regular member of the Avengers, and then Avengers West Coast during the 80s and 90s.

But why didn't a strip about a furry chick with cat-like powers, mixed up with a mystical secret society work? The world may never know. For my part, if Marvel had been able to keep artist Will Meugnoit on as regular artist (instead of grabbing whoever was walking by for three of those five issues), Tigra would probably still have her own mag today. That dude could draw the ladies, man! You don't have to take my word for it, check out the origin of Tigra by Isabella and Muegnoit from Marvel Chillers #3:

Ain't that art the cat's meow?

Monday, October 13, 2008

(Really) Weird Heroes: the Scarecrow

During the Groovy Age, we got some really weird heroes, y'know. Yeah, you probably know all about the Thing, the Hulk, Swamp Thing, Man-Thing, Ghost Rider, and probably even Man-Bat and the Demon. But there are a few only the most hard-core groove-ophiles remember. This week, we're gonna shine the spotlight on those nigh-forgotten stalwarts of the supernatural as we continue our...Sure, you've heard of the Scarecrow. But not this Scarecrow. We're not talking about the Batman's psychotic sparring partner, here. We're talking about a magical entity. One of the "Fear Lords" who is also known as the Straw Man, guardian of a mysterious painting that serves as the portal between earth and another unearthly dimension.

Created by writer/editor Scott Edelman, the Scarecrow was originally to have been a continuing feature (drawn by fresh-from-Charlton John Byrne) in Monsters Unleashed. Unfortunately, MU was cancelled before work could begin in earnest. Next the feature was scheduled to appear as a back-up in Giant-Size Werewolf by Night, but that mag was cancelled, too. There were actually plans to just give the feature its own comic, but that never happened. Finally, it was decided that the Scarecrow would star in one of Marvel's color supernatural comics, a reprint title called Dead of Night. The strip finally appeared in issue #11 (May, 1975) of D.O.N., with art by Rico Rival (along with that truly far-out Gil Kane/Bernie Wrightson cover). The Straw Man's luck kept running true, as that was also the final issue of D.O.N.

Marvel rarely gave up on a concept back in the Groovy Age, though! They gave the Scarecrow another shot, this time in Marvel Spotlight #26 (December, 1975). No dice. Still, Marvel gave it one more shot, teaming the Scarecrow with the ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing in Marvel Two-In-One #18 (May, 1976--exactly one year after the Scarecrow's debut). Didn't set the world on fire that time, either, so it was hasta lumbego to the Straw Man for the rest of the Groovy Age. Too bad, 'cause he really was kinda cool. Sort of a straw-Spectre.

But shed not one tear, Groovesters! Thanks to the scanning skills and generosity of my pal and blogger par excellence, Joe Bloke, of Grantbridge Street and other misadventures fame, here for your enjoyment is that second-chance story from Marvel Spotlight #26, complete with art by Ruben Yandoc and cover by the unlikely team of Howard Chaykin and Al Milgrom. Thanks again, Joe (and read his blog! It's great!)! Enjoy!

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Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.

All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.

As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!