Columbia Comics, definitely one of the more obscure comic-book companies of the 1940s, was the home of Skyman. I kinda like his costume, though I'm curious to know what he shoots out of that water pistol he's holding in his hand.Skyman first appeared in 1940's BIG SHOT COMICS, but apparently didn't get an origin story until he debuted in his own title. From SKYMAN #1, this splash is (I believe) by writer Gardner Fox and artist Ogden Whitney. Both men went on to long careers in the comics business; Fox as the longtime scripter of DC's JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA (among a myriad of titles) and Whitney at Richard E. Hughes' American Comics Group, where he created the cult classic Herbie the Fat Fury.
I just read an early Skyman story in Fantagraphics' SUPERMEN collection. He fights an enemy bomber fleet somehow based in Canada for a sneak attack on the US. With his super plane, "the Wing," he slaughters the air armada, throws people out of hotel windows and gets painfully shot in the shoulder. He has quite a busy little adventure and confesses his exhaustion when it's all over. Like just about everything in this book, the story's a hoot.
ReplyDeleteCool! I just bought SUPERMEN over the weekend. Looking forward to checking it out.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about the gun. He has paralyze and kill settings on it. If I remember right it is his "stasmatic" gun, but you can confirm this via the book.
ReplyDeleteOne of the worst action heroes ever, my father have a couple of magazines of this dude.
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