The Intelligent, Sensational Destroyer

That photo is the Destroyer (Dick Beyer) vs. Victor the wrestling bear in California (probably Los Angeles at the Olympic Auditorium in 1965).

In my Tumblr misadventures (more on these eventually), I stumbled across a phrase that I am still having trouble parsing. The writer referred to the Destroyer as "a rare American masked wrestler." Huh? I know lucha libre is trendy and all, but I'd say there have been hundreds of American masked wrestlers over the years. In fact, the first masked wrestler ever was allegedly American Mort Henderson, who donned a mask as the Masked Marvel in 1915. That's right, 1915.

I think it was a perfectly innocent remark, but the only way it reconciles with fact is that the Destroyer was the rare American masked wrestler who "got over" outside of the States. Other than the Zebra Kid (George Bollas), I can't think of another American masked man to have such success away from U.S. soil. The Destroyer is probably even more legendary in Japan than he is here. Heck, the man is a bona fide TV star in that country!

The Destroyer's story is a fascinating one, and you can learn more about it (including info on his book) at www.thedestroyer.com.

Old L.A. Restaurants

Mark Evanier doesn't need any plugs from me, as he has more readers than I can even imagine. However, I'd like to point up one of my favorite parts of his website. Old L.A. Restaurants is an informal survey of now-defunct eateries in the Southern California area. I was a fan of the old version of this sub-site, and I'm kind of jazzed by this new Wordpress incarnation. There are new entries to go alongside the old ones which are being added, and there are even comments!

I'm hopeful for some reader submissions, which Mark has solicited for this project. I love his writing, but I'd like to read even more of these anecdotes. Fascinating stuff! Well, at least to me. The only downside is that I always get hungry while I'm perusing these tales.

Surely I Am Not The First Person To Notice This There

Spotted on the customer comment bulletin board at my local Five Guys. If you don't know what this means, just move along. You'll be happier that way.

Dig Dug: The New Adventures!

DIG DUG vector art by *DaneRot on deviantART

I'm not a huge video game fan, but I have a fondness for those 1970s/80s ones that I was so bad at when it mattered to me. I was really taken in by this "realistic" interpretation of the game Dig Dug by comic book artist Brian Denham. It makes me want to go tunneling again!

"The Intercollegiate Dark Secret"

$20 Pinup: Sailor Asteroid by =kabukikatze on deviantART

Some of you out there might know that "Intercollegiate Dark Secret" was a masked identity used by wrestler George Bollas, better known as the Zebra Kid. I'm sorry, but this entry is not about George Bollas. "Intercollegiate Dark Secret" was the codename I choose for a very special commission project to disguise my true intentions.

As we saw last month, our friend Kabuki Katze was running a sale for $20 commissions. The sale is over now, but before all the slots filled up, I snagged a second one. For myself? No, I elected instead to pay for a commission for Nickyflamingo, since her new job wasn't starting until this month. I thought a little giftart for a sweet and generous person was in order.

I came to Kabuki with my plan, and "Intercollegiate Dark Secret" was placed on her list as the mysterious name of my new commission. In reality, I asked her to pick a character for Nicky (she knows her better than I) and put something together for her. Kabuki's choice was Nicky's Sailor Moon OC Sailor Asteroid, and you can see the results of this commission above.

I'm really pleased with how everything turned out. I got to do something nice for two different people, and a great piece of artwork was the result. Drinks all around!

The Phantom Rogue's Ten Dollar Heist

I've been a bit lax in doing things with my Owariverse characters the last couple of months, but they are never far from my mind. Here's an example: a sketch commission of the Phantom Rogue created by Sean Moore! Isn't it a beauty? I love the perspective on it, and those guns are pure awesome. I feel like he really captured the movie serial villain thing I have going on for the Rogue.

Sean's dA page for this piece is here. If you'd like to get your own sketch commission for a measly $10, here are the details.

The Fickle Finger Of Doctor Fate, Part 2

(Since it's been something like 2 months, Part 1 can be found here.)

When Roy Thomas' All-Star Squadron premiered in 1981, I can tell you that at least one aspect rankled fans right from the outset. I distinctly remember the letter page complaints about Dr. Fate's half-helmet in the book. And you know, I didn't like it either, though I gradually came to accept it as a novelty. Still, I was glad that the full-helmeted Dr. Fate was still running around in contemporary times.

Roy Thomas didn't invent the half-helmet; he merely utilized it in All-Star Squadron because that was what Fate was wearing during WWII. Jim Steranko in his History of Comics theorized the half-helmet came about to allow the artists to depict Dr. Fate's facial expressions. Maybe that was the thinking, but chopping his helmet in half coincided with cutting off Dr. Fate at the knees.

More Fun Comics #72 heralds the arrival of half-helmet Dr. Fate by plastering him on the cover tackling the crew of a Nazi U-boat, in a scene that does not occur in the interiors. The copy trumpets him as "Startling!" and "Different!", which is irony in advertising if I ever saw it. This issue marks the point where everything that made the character "startling" and "different" is jettisoned, and we're left with something that is neither.

One gets the idea Gardner Fox and Howard Sherman knew and set out to make it plain that everything was different. The story has Inza journeying to the farmhouse of previously unmentioned rural relatives and Dr. Fate having his hands full with a gang of ordinary crooks. It's a far cry from the mysterious and urban tales that had previously been characteristic of the feature. Suddenly, Wotan and Ian Karkull seem out of place. It's almost as if this story takes place in another world altogether from the previous ones.

Things settled into a comfortable rut at this point. Mr. Who, Dr. Fate's new arch-nemesis, debuted in #73, and brought with him some degree of the fantastic. There were other weird criminals, and even a story that recalled the early days of the strip with a world within a painting. However, there was no escaping that there was absolutely nothing special about Dr. Fate. In fact, he had even surrendered the cover slot he had usurped from the Spectre. Green Arrow had replaced him, and while GA didn't keep the spot to himself for very long, Dr. Fate would never again get the spotlight in the magazine that birthed him.

Whether it was an attempt to counteract this perceived staleness or just a weird brainstorm, readers were promised in the blurb at the end of #84's installment the chance to "meet a new Doctor Fate!" in the next issue. What, another one? While I had hoped to keep this review at two parts, this seems like the point where I should stop in the interest of actually finishing this entry. In our concluding chapter, we'll look at how Dr. Fate's journey through the Golden Age ended.