Let's check in on the second issue of the Golden Age Green Lantern. Or rather, Green Lantern with Doiby Dickles.
I'm kind of lukewarm on Doiby, but it was some sort of rule that if you didn't have an annoying child sidekick, you had to have an adult with an undiagnosed developmental disability following you around.
And they took it seriously. Check this out:
So, we have Doiby kicking exactly as much ass as Green Lantern here. The shots of him ascending and descending don't count because... well, it's just him ascending and descending. And frankly, Doiby is much more accomplished because he's slugging someone like a man while GL is kicking at someone like a four year-old child who didn't get the kickball at recess.
But then things get weirder:
I was a little concerned when GL "bended over the unconscious thugs," and it turns out I was totally justified.
But first, this tickled me:
Bill Finger wrote "launches," and Mart Nodel drew him bobbing around like a Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloon. I'm not saying I could do any better, but it's got to be frustrating when the picture you get isn't nearly what you envision in your own noggin.
Anyway, back to the other thing:
Egad! Instant colored tattoos!
And what is the point, exactly? Is this some sort of "Mark of Cain" or is it simply "street-level" marketing? Green Lantern... He'll Knock You Unconscious and Tattoo Your Face. (tm!)
This gimmick would eventually disappear, only to reappear very briefly in the 1970's via the Marvel Character "Thunderbolt" :
He'd put a lighting bolt tattoo on your forehead after he beat you silly. Of course, a lightning bolt on one's forehead actually sounds kinda cool, so I'm not sure how much of a deterrent that was.
Anyway, back to Green Lantern:
Yes, he's an angel! Disfiguring suspects without Due Process! Fly, my angel! Fly!
It's even better if you read the scene while playing this:
Enough of that. So, Alan Scott expands his line of work from just being a radio engineer to on-air announcing, because engineers just kind of hang out at the station and Finger probably realized he was painting himself into a corner. Being on-air talent, Alan was free to go out and meddle in other people's affairs like Angela Lansbury.
Not that strange things weren't going to happen at the station:
I'm not even slightly Italian, but this sure seems racist to me. And it's not just this particular guy. Thusly:
I'ma pretty sure-a the Italian-a Antidefamation-a League-a is-a gonna boycott-a DC Comics-a!
Okay, I'm not meaning to get all lawyerly on you, but what good is non-legal evidence going to do anyone? I mean, you can't get it admitted into court and.... FOCUS, Alan! FOCUS!
Eeesh. More Golden Age Green Lantern fun tomorrow!
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5 comments:
Well that's a pretty blatant Phantom ripoff.
THAT'S RIGHT! I *totally* forgot about the Phantom!
Those "Italian" guys have such specific features that I get-a the feeling they're supposed to be caricatures of real people. Were there any movie/radio comedians who looked like this? The cross-eyed guy reminded me of Ben Turpin, but his day had passed by the time GL appeared. Or maybe the crossed eyes were just bad drawing?
Not only are Italians stereotyped, but there is the use of "Gyp" which, of course, is derived from the idea that Gypsies are thieves and swindlers. The Oxford English Dictionary deleted the word for that reason
The mark on the face probably derives from the pulp crime fighter The Spider, who marked defeated (and usually dead) enemies with his spider ring.
It didn't give him any powers, it just did the insta-tattoo thing.
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