ALIENS AND SO FORTH ROUND-UP 032

Aliens (and So Forth) abound!

Birdmen:

The Birdmen inhabit Sunev, which is either a planet that orbits perilously close to Earth or a second moon of Earth, and which was supposedly formed out of a piece of our planet which broke away in the distant past. Sunev has never been discovered because of some pseudoscientific gibberish about light rays, but space explorer Zephyr Jones and his assistant Corky Grogan make landfall there while testing out Jones' experimental rocket ship.

The Birdmen of Sunev have one of those advanced and peaceful societies that function with the rigidity and ruthlessness of a military dictatorship populated by political naifs. As such, the ambitious Birdman Roudo is able to frame Zephyr and Corky and have them sentenced to death for supposedly collaborating with...

Parrotmen:

The Parrotmen! These ancestral enemies of the Birdmen are just kind of caveman versions of them - they don't even have colourful plumage to justify the name (I know that these images are from a recoloured version but I checked and the original is like this too). Despite the fact that the Birdmen have a roughly Medieval level of technology (castles, steel, swords) they have not yet been able to come up with a way to contend with a bunch of big guys with clubs, and it's up to Zephyr and Corky to blow them away with the tommy gun that they very sensibly thought to bring along on their space adventure. (Daring Mystery Comics 002, 1940)

Center People:

The Center People are one of the many intelligent species that populate the far-off Asteroid Djung. Their king, Goro, has allied with the Djunga King Leon against space heroes Captain Venture and the Planet Princess Zyra. Despite being depicted as spear-wielding ape-men who perform human sacrifice to a pool of lava, they are also armed with a selection of high-tech devices such as Goro's Mind-Ray Projector, which he uses to briefly compel Captain Venture into his service. This dichotomy is not explored before the Center Person society is devastated by a volcanic eruption. (Master Comics 019, 1941)

Core Creatures:

The adventures of sci-fi hero Blaze Barton take place on an Earth ravaged by a freak orbital shift that brought it too close to the Sun in the year 50029 CE (or sometimes 3000 CE or 5029 CE). Blaze and a small human population survived this event by sheltering in a specially-built heat-proof city, and now must rebuild civilization on a radically altered world. 

One of the first and greatest challenges faced by Blaze et al is the emergence of the underground-dwelling Core Creatures from the great cracks that have developed in the planet thanks to the rapid changes in temperature it has experienced. 

The Core Creatures, and their king in particular, have an implacable hostility toward the human population, but also indulge in that hoary old trope of being super hot for human women. I do appreciate the fact that they appear to choose their king based on who has the most creepy skull face. (Hit Comics 001, 1940)

I try and I try to keep these entries at a reasonable four species length, but I am vexed at every turn. Two issues after the Core Creatures breach the surface, Blaze & Co turn the tables and explore the subterranean world, where they encounter:

Mud Monsters and Rock Men:

While the Rock Men act as supplementary antagonists to the Core Creatures over the next couple of issues, the Mud Monsters only appear in this single panel. This is a shame, because they are by far the more visually interesting of the two groups. At least the fact that they live in such close proximity to the Rock Men allows us to speculate that they might be related species? That's kind of fun. (Hit Comics 003, 1940)

Like so many nonhuman societies, the Rock Men have a monarchy. There are better ways to live, guys!

Pretty People of the Jewelled Caves: 

The Pretty People are a bunch of foppish hotties who live in a state perpetual danger between the nations of the Core Creatures and Rock Men, and who survive by playing the two groups off of one another. They are also monarchists. As the most human-looking and least hostile group, these are the ones who the surface humans end up allying with.

Speaking of alliances, the Core Creature and Rock Man Kings forge one in order to attack the Pretty People and are only driven off thanks to the intervention of the humans and their ray guns. Blaze Barton personally kills the Core Creature king here, ending the Core threat for good. (Hit Comics 003, 1940)

Crustmen:

In one final addendum, I reckon that these Crustmen, who attack the surface as part of a coordinated strike on humanity with a group of hostile Martians, are meant to be the Core Creatures. Given the differences in name and appearance I choose to believe that they are a related but distinct species of hostile sub-Earth humanoid.  (Hit Comics 007, 1941)

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There is a never-ending supply of aliens (and so forth) in comics, and here are some of them. 

Giants: 

When Doctor Voodoo is flung into the past by an old wizard, his only instruction is to find something called the Golden Flask, located somewhere called the Valley of Giants. Astonishingly, it only takes him about two issues worth of privation to get there, whereupon he and his pal Nero are immediately taken captive and frogmarched to the castle of the Queen of the Giants.

As can be seen in the above panel, these are the less extreme kind of giant, being only ten or so feet tall (based on their sizes compared to Doctor Voodoo - probably a standard length of hero at six feet - and Nero - extra big and tall so at least seven). Hardly as dramatic as a forty-foot titan might be but at least you don't spend the whole time wondering how their bodies hold together under the strain.

The Queen of the Giants (Anita to her friends), by contrast, is a regular-sized lady who comes across as quite nice until Doctor Voodoo rejects her romantic advances and she has him thrown to Achilles, who turns out to be a giant python. Despite this, when the Valley of the Giants is depopulated by pirate raids, Docotr Voodoo rescues her and takes her along on the remainder of his adventures in the past. And since he never actually makes it back to the present on-panel, perhaps romance does eventually blossom, who knows? (Whiz Comics 020, 1941)

Camurians: 

Space hero Captain Venture and his companion Zyra, aka the Planet Princess, spend a lot of their early adventures just wandering around space and seeing what the cosmos has to offer. On one of these jaunts, they land on Planet Camur, where they find the native Camurians enslaved by another species called the Valhoes, and being righteous hero types they resolve to liberate them from bondage. 

After being captured and enslaved themselves, Venture and Zyra lead an uprising and free the Camurians from the tyranny of the Valhoes, who were unprepared to face any resistance from their seemingly cowed slaves.

Just where the Valhoes come from is not expanded upon in the story but just by looking at them we must reasonably assume that they also come from Camur, right? Millions of years ago some sleepy-eyed alien ape species' population split along nerd/jock lines and the Camuriand and Valhoes were the end results. Nature is grand, really. (Nickel Comics 006, 1940)

Catskill Dwarfs: 

Thanks to a plane crash in the Catskill Mountains, super magician El Carim and his assistant/ love interest Gladys find themselves in the underground realm of the Catskill Dwarfs, aka the Little Men of the Mountain of Rip van Winkle fame.  

It's all pretty goofy until Galdys swats the Dwarfs' Scared Flea, at which point the Little Men of the Mountain try to murder both her and El Carim in a fit of righteous ire. All is forgiven, however, by the time they return to the comic two issues later - I suppose sacred fleas are easy to come by. (Master Comics 020, 1941)

Djungas: 

Captain Venture and the Planet Princess' wandering ways come to an end eventually when they crash on the far-off Asteroid Djung and are captured by the local Djunga people on behalf of their tyrannical leader King Leon. 

The Djungas are that ever-popular combination of a high-tech society with medieval trappings, and Leon is very much a medieval tyrant figure who spends much of his time attempting to wed Zyra against her will while pitting Venture and his Djunga companion Tazon up against a series of deadly situations. These often involve the wide array of other intelligent species endemic to Asteroid Djung and its local system, so more on them later.

The series eventually had to end, and King Leon with it, with the flick of a giant's finger. Tazon is installed as the new King of Djung, and peace presumably reigns among the Djungas. (Master Comics 009, 1940)

DIVINE ROUND-UP 021

Just scads of gods.

Yum Chac: 

These Mayan priests have tied a recent drought to some archaeological excavations in the Yucatan and have decided that the only thing for it is to revive the practice of human sacrifice to Yum Chac, aka just Chac, god of rain. They of course do this just in time for Zambini the Miracle Man to show up and wreck their whole operation.

The really interesting thing about this whole episode is that it takes place at a site called "Hichen-Citza" and let me tell you that it's this sort of thing that really shakes my confidence with regard to my knowledge of just when and why Golden Age comic book creators did these cute little place name substitutions. Surely there was no concern that an ancient or present-day Mayan might get upset by this depiction of their city but not, say their god? Or maybe I should just look back on the whole Egyptasia thing and conclude that "Zambini" scribe Joe Blair just really liked making up silly names for real places.

(also the high priest is named "Macchu Pacchu," which again seems to just be Blair having fun with names)

El Castillo, the temple of Kukulcan also features, and evidently drawn from an old reference photo from back when the sides were still covered in vegetation. 

God Style: Idol (Real Pantheon) (Zip Comics 008, 1940) 

the Moon Orchid:

I frequently like to point out when Golden Age explorers are just blithely waltzing into religious sites and stealing their sacred relics even in the face of stiff and reasonable resistance from the faithful, but this one is pretty beyond the pale. While most of the others at least attempt to adopt a pretense of respectability by claiming to be thieving for anthropological or other scientific reasons, Congo Bill and his pal Professor Kent are explicitly heading into the jungle to steal the Mesabi tribe's sacred Moon Orchid so that they can sell it for big bucks.

And steal it they do! And what's worse: they blow up the entire Mesabi village in the process, so it's not just sacrilege but mass murder. Worth it for that sweet orchid money, I guess.

God Style: Animist (More Fun Comics 066, 1941) 

Ozaz: 

Adventurer Steve Conrad is on vacation in Egypt when he stumbles upon a weird cult looking to do a blood transfusion from a living woman into a mummy queen in order to bring her back to life and usher in a new age of the Pharaohs. Presumably this bunch worship all of your standard Ancient Egyptian gods, but they don't name-drop any specific ones, until Steve fumbles his rescue attempt and is slated to be sacrificed to... 

OZAZ THE FIRE GOD! Possessed of a pretty good name and nothing else, Ozaz is a made-up god who seems to have the head of a bird and whose statue is perfectly placed to topple over and kill the cultists when Steve's assistant Chang opens the trap door underneath it. Too bad for Ozaz (no sacrifice today) and the Pharaoh cult (crushed to death).

God Style: Idol (Real Pantheon) (Adventure Comics 063, 1941)

Pyro:

Worshipped by the Center People of Asteroid Djung, Pyro is a simple god: he hungers for sacrifice and he wants it via his sacred lava pit. 

God Style: Invoked (Master Comics 019, 1941) 

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Idols, idols, idols! 

the Great God Khwass: 

Khwass, Great God of Vengeance, is a comparatively rare villain's god who actually follows through on his promises. He is invoked vs Dr Fung by the daughter of a former foe and not only replies to her prayers but deploys sleeping gas and a weird monster to aid her in her quest for vengeance. 

God Style: Real (Wonderworld Comics 016, 1940)

Ice God Emul:

Captain Venture and the Planet Princess Zyra's great enemy, King Leon of Asteroid Djung, loves to subcontract out his villainy, and to that end he has engaged the services of Frigo, King of the Ice Planet. Frigo is to kill Captain Venture and deliver Zyra to King Leon for marriage but of course betrays him and slates all three for sacrifice to the Ice God Emul.

The idol of Emul is destroyed in the subsequent battle and escape, and what's interesting here is that Emul is explicitly just the idol. As Frigo states, "the god Emul is no more." Wild.

God Style: Idol (Master Comics 015, 1941)

Bubastis & Isis:

In an early adventure in Egypt, Zatara comes across a member of a lost archaeological expedition who is on the verge of death, and who is magically revealed to have found a lost temple to Bubastis. Travelling there in hopes of finding the rest of the expedition, Zatara encounters the ancient priest Amen-Hotep, who is part of one of those weird remnant Ancient Egyptian populations that exist under the sands of Egypt in adventure fiction, and whose priestly magics are comparable to Zatara's own.

The temple of Bubastis also turns out to be a temple to Isis, as Zatara discovers when he meets a less-powerful but still magically potent priestess of Isis and is almost sacrificed by her. Amen-Hotep seems to be an Isis worshipper as well, as he animates a statue of the goddess to smite Zatara with - it's possible that the two goddesses are being conflated here.

Zatara ends up melting the statue of Isis and disintegrating Amen-Hotep. The priestess is "sent away," presumably with the rest of her people in tow, and the temple is turned over to the archaeologists to plunder.

God Style: Real (Action Comics 005, 1938) 

Khor: 

Khor is known as the Blind God because the magical diamond that was the eye of his idol was stolen long ago, and since that diamond subsequently became the source of super-heroic adventurer Diamond Jack's power, the priesthood of Khor is out for his blood.

The high priest animates the idol of Khor and sends it to destroy Diamond Jack and recover the eye. This is impressive but not innovative - we just saw the Amen-Hotep do the same with a statue of Isis, after all - but what is is the custom roadster-cum-juggernaut that the thing rides around in. Was ever aan evil god so sporty?

The whole thing ends back at the temple, as Diamond Jack disrupts the ritual that keeps Khor animated and the high priest ends up being crushed under the falling idol. So long, Khor. 

God Style: Idol (Real?) (Slam-Bang Comics 004, 1940)