Kirby Analyzes Your Dreams

 

The Strange World of Your Dreams is a short-lived companion to Black Magic from Prize; Simon & Kirby are doing romance and crime comics for the company at this time as well. Dream analysis is an esoteric subject indeed (and in my opinion, the longer pieces here that use it in story plots work better than the short analysis-only ones.)

Jack Kirby's distinctive writing style is a little subtler than it will be twenty years in the future, but there's no mistaking him on most of these stories. There are few quoted words, but there are some. He emphasizes words that other writers probably would not, but at this point in his career most notably he emphasize entire sentences—generally final ones in long captions.

In the tiers comparing "Send Us Your Dreams [Julie Pendleton]" (SWOYD 1) and "X-Pit" (Mister Miracle 2, May-June/71, DC), note the triples: It was strange! Unexpected! Humiliating!; Explosion! Shock! Flame! Those were what made me take these as examples, but then I noticed these commas after conjunctions: "And, I thought I liked her!"; Then, the panic of aftermath!

 

If other writers submitted scripts rewritten by Kirby, or coplotted, I don't see any way of telling. Jack Oleck had some scripts published without rewriting at Prize (easier to find in Black Magic); Kirby doesn't script all the S&K stories, just the great majority—other artists' as well as the ones he draws. I'll emphasize that I'm IDing only the final script as used in the comic book.

On the art side, it would take a better eye than mine to point out specifics of Joe Simon's work, if any, here. I'm not very sure of the inks on Kirby's pencils or on Mort Meskin's, but I wonder if George Roussos inks a number of stories.

“The Dreaming Tower” in #1 takes H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Outsider” (uncredited) and makes a rather different story out of it; Lovecraft’s shock ending becomes a throwaway plot point on the comic book story’s second-to-last page.

The Strange World of Your Dreams

Aug/52	#1	I Talked with My Dead Wife	w: Jack Kirby  p: Kirby
		You Sent Us This Dream [unnamed]	w: Kirby  p: Mort Meskin
		Don't Wake the Sleeper	w: Kirby  a: Bill Draut
		Send Us Your Dreams [Julie Pendleton]	w: Kirby  p: Kirby
		The Dreaming Tower	w: Kirby  p: Meskin
S-O/	#2	The Girl in the Grave	w: Kirby  p: Kirby
		You Sent Us This Dream [Betty L.]	w: Kirby  a: Bob McCarty
		You Sent Us This Dream [Ellen K.]	w: Kirby  p: Kirby
		I Lived 200 Years Ago	w: Kirby  p: Meskin
		Send Us Your Dreams [Walter W.]	w: Kirby  p: Kirby
		A Dream Saved His Life	w: Kirby  a: ?
N-D/	#3	The Woman in the Tower	w: Kirby  p: Kirby
		Send Us Your Dreams [Edith Beck]	w: Kirby  a: Draut
		Edge of Madness	w: Kirby  p: Meskin
		You Sent Us This Dream [Patricia S.]	w: Kirby  a: George Roussos
		You Sent Us This Dream [Thomas R.]	w: Kirby  p: Kirby  i: Roussos?
		You Sent Us This Dream [John W.]	w: Kirby  a: McCarty
J-F/53	#4	Show Us Your Face	w: Kirby  p: Meskin
		The Moon and You *	w: Jack Oleck?  a: McCarty
		Romance in the Stars *	w: ? a: McCarty
		Send Us Your Dreams [many readers]	w: Kirby  a: ?
		The Skeleton in Your Closet *	w: ? a: McCarty
		You Sent Us This Dream [Paul R.]	w: Kirby?  a: ?
		4L-523	w: Oleck?  a: ?
		* Special Horoscope Featurette

Woolfolk Records 1948/08

William Woolfolk's publishers this month: Orbit, Fawcett, and Quality.

There are two 2-page features indexed in Wanted 18 (I haven't seen the issue)—which of the two is Woolfolk's is anybody's guess.

UPDATE: see darkmark's comment—he found the Monte Hale

August 1948 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

15 pg	Death Rides the Silver Trail
14	as Wild Bill Pecos	"Death Rides the Silver Trail" The Westerner 18, Feb/49
7	Ibis	Gog and Magog at peace conference
		"The Menace of Gog and Magog" Whiz 108, Apr/49
11	Doll Man	Darrel Dane gets amnesia
		"The Doll Man Loses His Identity" Feature 132, Mar/49
9	Monte Hale	man who hated Indians
		"The Man Who Hated Indians" MH Western 35, Apr/49
9	Captain Marvel	god of chance intervenes against Marvel
		"CM's Long Chance" CM Advs 95, Apr/49
13	Kid Eternity	man gets tomorrow's newspaper
		"Tomorrow's Crimes Today" Hit 59, July/49
15	Dead Man's Street	14 pg "Dead Man's Street" Wanted 18, Feb/49
2	Wanted feature	Wanted 18, Feb/49

Tales of the Greene Freighter

Although in the real world, unlike in Watchmen, superhero comics were not completely replaced by pirate comics, a few publishers did test those waters. Quality's Buccaneers took over the numbering of Kid Eternity with issue 19 and lasted to 27.

Some of Sid Greene's work at Quality has been noted—the Inspector Denver story in Police 104, a romance story here and there—but his only series here that I know of is the second half of Eric Falcon's run in Buccaneers. Falcon was a soldier of fortune in Colonial times; not every adventure involved pirates.

Other artists work on the series in Buccaneers 19-23 before Greene comes aboard. He most likely inks himself in 25 and 26; I didn't even recognize the story in 24 as his until I looked over the series again before writing this post.

Eric Falcon stories drawn by Sid Greene in Buccaneers

Nov/50	#24	An Empire of Pirates	w: ?
Jan/51	#25	The Surrender of Eric Falcon	w: ?
Mar/	#26	Bloody Fingers of Fate	w: Joe Millard
May/	#27	The Code of Treachery	w: ?

Woolfolk Records 1948/07

 

Quality, Fawcett, and Orbit are the publishers, as usual. William Woolfolk is assigned Lance O'Casey scripts in fits and starts; the last time he submitted some was in August 1946.

Woolfolk usually notes text pieces as "fiction"; the Wanted "feature" is a short comics story.

July 1948 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

11 pg	Doll Man	man can open any lock
		"Tom Thumb, Miniature Master of Menace" DM 22, May/49
9	Lance O'Casey	pygmy king who hates pygmies
		"LO'C Meets Longo of the Congo" Whiz 105, Dec/48
7	Captain Marvel Jr.	the singing donkey
		"The Singing Donkey" CMJ 71, Mar/49
9	Lance O'Casey	the festival of pirates
		"LO'C and the Pirate's Festival" Whiz 109, May/49
11	Blackhawk	the sunken atoll
		"Kauno . . . Atoll of Mystery" BH 26, Aug/49
11	Doll Man	meets the Minstrel
		"The Minstrel" DM 23, July/49
8	Monte Hale	under a peace bond
		"MH and His Peace Bond" Western Hero 76, Mar/49
15	The Shotgun Kid	"The Shotgun Kid" Wanted 17, Jan/49
11	Kid Eternity	Master Man with similar powers to Kid E
		"Master Man" KE 15, May/49
2	Wanted feature	"Wanted: Heber Ayers" Wanted 17, Jan/49
7	Captain Marvel	the hypochondria epidemic
		"The Phantom Plague" CM Advs 94, Mar/49
11	Plastic Man	last man on Earth
		"The Last Man on Earth" PM 17, May/49

Swipe While the Iron Is Hot

Tying together the previous two posts: Blackhawk 24 (Apr/49) with two William Woolfolk stories, and Ken Shannon, here in Police 104 (Feb/51).

A few Reed Crandall Blackhawk covers were recycled into later Blackhawk ones, as I recall was pointed out in Alter Ego. This Police cover artist is so far unidentified, but probably the editors instigated this swipe so soon after publishing the original.

Woolfolk Records 1948/06

Continuing my transcriptions of William Woolfolk's script sales records, scanned by Marc Svensson through the good graces of Donna Woolfolk; my additions of publication data are in bold.

Quality, Fawcett, and Orbit are still the steady buyers.

UPDATE: I assumed "The Fighting Cabbie" fitted into Wanted 16; but now that I've seen the issue, I find no cabbies.

If the Monte Hale stories are being published in roughly the order received, the only issue of Real Western Hero available for either of these is the unindexed issue 75; the stories in 74 and (the slightly changed title) Western Hero 76-78 are Woolfolk's, written in other months. With more slots to fill in each Monte Hale Western, that would be the better possibility. UPDATE: darkmark found the tournament story in the February MHW.

June 1948 Comic Book Scripts by William Woolfolk

11 pg	Blackhawk	crime conspiracy to take over the U.S.
		"Criminal Number One" BH 24, Apr/49
9	Ibis	Taia becomes an enchanted maiden at King Arthur's Court
		"The Enchanted Maiden" Whiz 106, Feb/49
7	The Fighting Cabbie
7	Captain Marvel	world's greatest lawyer
		"The World's Greatest Lawyer" CM Advs 93, Feb/49
10	Doll Man	Darrel Dane's double
		"Darrel Dane's Double" Feature 133, Apr/49
7	Monte Hale	gun runners
		MH Western or Real Western Hero c. Feb/49
9	Captain Marvel	book that contains all knowledge
		"The Book of All Knowledge" CM Advs 93, Feb/49
11	Blackhawk	the phantom bombers
		"Captain Suicide" BH 24, Apr/49
9	Monte Hale	tournament for marksmen
		"The Killers' Tournament" MH Western 33, Feb/49
15	The Pony Express
14	as Wild Bill Pecos	"The Pony Express" The Westerner 17, Dec/48
7	Ibis	the gorgon's sisters
		"Labyrinth of the Lost" Whiz 107, Mar/49

Ken Shannon and the Aquaman Artist

Private eye Ken Shannon took over Plastic Man's lead slot in Police Comics at the end of 1950 and within the year received his own title as well. I index Ken Shannon in this post; I haven't seen a complete run of the post-Plas Police.

Shannon's main penciller was Reed Crandall. Sam Burlockoff has said he inked Crandall on the feature; Burlockoff's major credit that I know of is early war stuff at DC, but I'm not familiar enough with his style to credit him with particular stories here. Chuck Cuidera has been linked to Crandall here in much the way George Klein was once credited with inking every Superman story Curt Swan ever pencilled, be they inked by Kaye, Moldoff, or Forte if not Klein. I'll just put aside the question of Ken Shannon inkers altogether on this list.

I believe two stories are pencilled by W.G. Hargis, who got to sign a number of his Inspector Denver stories in Police. One story's penciller I can't figure at all.

The penciller just behind Crandall in terms of quantity (counting the appearances of the strip in both Police and KS) has been a mystery. The inking obscured his style as seen earlier at other companies.

I see the work of John Daly. The young man shaking Shannon's hand is the best example of Daly's style in faces, showing through the inking; Ken Shannon himself is inked heavily to match Crandall's face for the character. The next panel's rather stodgy staging of the figures comes closest to the staging on the Aquaman page, the staging that typefies Daly to me.

All ten covers were pencilled, if not inked as well, by Crandall.

The William Woolfolk credits are a sneak preview into his script records for 1951-52. In brief: Woolfolk and Joe Millard share use of the scream "Eeeahhh," but Millard uses his standby "Owoooff" that Woolfolk never does. "Q," a Quality writer of the Fifties I can't yet name, opts for variations of "Urghh" and "Iiieee." UPDATE: "Q" is Robert Bernstein

Ken Shannon 1-10 Writers and Pencillers

Oct/51	#1	The Evil Eye of Count Ducrie	w: Joe Millard p: Reed Crandall
		The Playful Pickpocket	w: Millard  p: Crandall
		The Carrier Pigeon Case	w: Robert Bernstein  p: W.G. Hargis?
Dec/	#2	Cut-Rate Corpses	w: Millard  p: Crandall
		Invitation to a Murder	w: Millard  p: Crandall
		Front Man for Murder	w: Millard  p: Crandall
Feb/52	#3	The Corpse That Wouldn't Sleep	w: Millard  p: Crandall
		The Case of the Butchered Butcher	w: Millard  p: Crandall
		One Day I'll Kill You	w: Millard  p: Crandall
Apr/	#4	Stone Hatchet Murder	w: Millard  p: Crandall
		Stand-In for Murder	w: William Woolfolk p: Crandall
		The Case of the All-Seeing Eye	w: Millard  p: Hargis?
June/	#5	The Case of the Carny KiIler	w: Millard  p: Crandall
		The Man from Nowhere	w: Woolfolk  p: ?
		Doctor of Death	w: Woolfolk  p: John Daly
Aug/	#6	The Vampire Mob	w: Millard  p: Crandall
		Dead Man's Alley	w: Millard  p: Daly
		Dee Dee Can't Be Dead	w: Bernstein  p: Daly
Oct/	#7	The Ugliest Man in the World	w: Bernstein  p: Daly
		Murder on Account	w: Bernstein p: Daly
		Too Many Killers	w: Bernstein p: Daly
Dec/	#8	Mansion of Mangled Men	w: Woolfolk  p: Daly
		The Chinatown Murders	w: Bernstein  p: Daly
		The Doom Express	w: Bernstein  p: Daly
Feb/53	#9	The Flame of Doom	w: Millard  p: Daly
		Necklace of Blood	w: Woolfolk  p: Daly
		Day It Rained Money	w: Millard  p: Daly
Apr/	#10	In the Shadow of the Chair	w: Millard  p: Daly
		Your Money or Your Blood	w: Millard  p: Daly
		[untitled]	w: Bernstein  p: Daly

The back-up feature in 1-9 is Angles O'Day (Not-So-Special Investigator), not only wriiten and drawn but lettered by Jack Cole, and 10 presents a Flatfoot Burns by Al Stahl, the last of that series from Police and The Spirit.