Gold Nuggets: Bare Legs and Hot Coals Don't Mix

The Obscure Adventures of Comics' Greatest Generation!

What do you do when you're an expert in jiu-jitsu who also happens to be an acrobat? Well....become a costumed superhero, of course! 

Appearing in all three issues of the short-lived Whirlwind Comics (Nita Publications, 1940), Peter Blake dedicated his special abilities (and hairless bare legs) to the cause of justice as The Cyclone.

However, even with elaborate flighting and flipping skills, sometimes being a superhero involves nothing more complicated than knowing when to duck. As our hero battled a ring of spies aboard a speeding train, one of the spies flings a shovel of red-hot coals right into Cyclone's face (or "mush" in 1940's-speak)...leading to a well-timed duck and then the very definition of a "bad day" for one of the other spies...

(Click on the page for a larger view)

Serves him right for wearing that all-yellow 
suit with the matching yellow hat and shoes!

Comments

[Nimbus]

In one of those bottom panels, it looks like the Cyclone's legs aren't actually bare but instead covered by the same orange material as used for his vest. Or maybe he's been tanning his legs?

Or maybe the coloring was just inconsistent in those days?

[Dan Lietha]

My 4 year old daughter would be shocked to see a man in a yellow suit get red hot coals in the face ... as would Curious George!
:-)

[Wes C]

I dig the crazy panel layout. Very inventive!
Was the arrow for direction really necessary though?

[Chris]

I love how burly the guy looks. He's just a regular, factory-workin' jiu jitsu acrobat.

Yep. Just a regular Joe in orange leggings.

[Mark. Engblom]

"In one of those bottom panels, it looks like the Cyclone's legs aren't actually bare but instead covered by the same orange material as used for his vest. Or maybe he's been tanning his legs?

Or maybe the coloring was just inconsistent in those days?"

Yeah, I caught that, too. So many elements in these old tales change at random, sometimes within the same story (like this one).

"My 4 year old daughter would be shocked to see a man in a yellow suit get red hot coals in the face ... as would Curious George!"

LOL! I hadn't made the connection between "The Spy in the Yellow Hat" with Curious George's Man in the Yellow Hat. Maybe there's some lost Curious George book somewhere showing the Man getting a face full of red-hot coals accidentally dropped on his face by a naughty little monkey.

"I dig the crazy panel layout. Very inventive!
Was the arrow for direction really necessary though?"

See, this is what I love so much about blogging: Readers that catch stuff and bring up so many great points. You're right, Wes....those are some very dynamic panel layouts, especially for the dawning years of action/adventure comic books. Yeah, and that arrow was pretty unnecessary, since the reader's eye is lead along quite nicely without it.

"I love how burly the guy looks. He's just a regular, factory-workin' jiu jitsu acrobat.

Yep. Just a regular Joe in orange leggings.

Right, and doesn't that little coat-thing below his belt just amp up the macho?

[ShadowWing Tronix]

Darn, Dan beat me to the punch(line).

[John Nowak]

I think the arrow is sort of interesting -- we don't think it's needed, but professionals of the time thought it was. It's intriguing to watch old films sometimes to see people stretch the envelope experimentally the first time. This is the same thing, with comics.

It's a nice bit of layout, but is it easier for us to follow because we're used to that sort of layout? Might someone reading it back then have been confused by it?