Not A Dream! Not a Hoax! Someone DIES!

Had an interesting situation come up:  I didn't have access to Pep Comics #17, so I used the image at comics.org as I often do because this was the first appearance of the Hangman character and I wanted to at least see what the issue looked like.

Well, imagine my surprise when I open up Pep #19 and learn that I had missed the final fate of the Comet!

I begged and cashed in some favors to get some images.  Sorry they're in black and white, but think of them as being all tragic and Sin City-esque.

Why is it that I all the holes in my collection are when something huge like that happens?  Am I right?  Am I right?

Anyway, we segue right into the origin of the Hangman:

Criminals are a suspicious, cowardly lot... I mean, criminals are all cowards!  I am not a Batman rip-off in any way, shape or form!

All kinds of scary... except the "gallows" are those that come about by the legal system after he catches them.  He doesn't actually throw a noose over a tree limb and save the taxpayers a lengthy trial and appeals process.

Two issues later, readers got a direct response for the change:

Of course, the Comet killed the officer while he was under the hypnotic control of Doc Zader so he really didn't have any retribution coming to him, neither legally nor morally, but the Shield isn't exactly Matt Murdock in any sense of the word.  Basically, the Comet is dead, kids.  Get over it.

Until the character was revived 25 years later, and then again in the Impact comic line back in the 1990s.

So... dare we say that the Comet is only visible about every 20 years?

Get it?  A little Astronomy humor there.  No extra charge.

See you tomorrow!

Strange yet Manly Garment Tuesday!

Hercules has had maybe one good outfit, from that mini-series back in the 1980's. I'll see if I can dig it up. Other than that, he's always bordered on "fashion challenged." Case in point:



What is with that weird metal bra-like thing? Goliath wore that back in the Silver Age, and it looked goofy on him as well:


Then again, after Goliath ditched that outfit, he came back as Hawkeye without pants, so I guess a little metal chest harness is the least of his worries.

Things you should never see:


Namor laughing. Granted, his head is shaped better than it was in yesterday's post, but he's one of those folks that should only go so far as a smirk. My grandmother used to say the same thing about Raymond Burr.

Hey! It's a Second-String Pickoff!(tm!):


That's what we're going to call any slaughterings of minor characters who never really amounted to anything. This was when the Melter got taken out by Scourge. Not that anyone cared. Which is why it was.... A Second-String Pickoff!(tm!)

And while we're at it, how about some Fun with Out of Context Dialogue!(tm!):


What makes this special is that it's a two-stager:



Yeah! Good stuff! See you tomorrow!