Here's a Golden Age Aussie superhero, private detective Ralph Rivers, The Crimson Comet. There's not much P.I.ing done in these comics. Richards is pictured as a rather stiff guy, wearing sunglasses and holding a pipe in his mouth (not sure if he ever smokes it). He wears a raincoat that may be hiding a hunchback, but it's not -- it's to hide his golden wings. Yep. He flies. As the Crimson Comet, he is a supposed friend of Ralph Rivers. He wears a tight red bodysuit with the underwear on the outside ('natch) and some sort of swimming cap that hides his hair and ears; on the front of the cap is a cicled "C" with two wings extending from the circle. He had a wide holstered gun belt with a big circular buckle. and he wears calf-high boots. He is the epitome of a costumed superhero, even though the book is printed in black-and-white.
I have no idea of his origin story, or if he ever had one. The comic book ran for 73 issues, from 1949 to sometime in the Fifties, during its first run, then for another possible 32 issues, ending in 1958. The first issue was published by Leisure Publications, an early name for the H. John Edwards publishing company of Sydney; the second series of comics was published by Action Comics of Sydney. The Crimson Comet was created and drawn by John Dixon, who left the book after seven issues to be replaced by Albert de Vine. who drew the book well into the mid-Fifties, when Dixon returned to the fold.
In no way should this Crimson Comet be conflated with D.C.'s The Flash, sometimes refered to as the Crimson Comet.
Re: the Australian comic book. This one was stapled across the top. 2which meant it had to be turned on its side to be read. This form of formatting appears to be unique among some Australian comic books.
In issue #13, pretty young Cecily Adams crashes into Ralph Rivers outside his metropolian office. She begs Rivers to hide her from aliens who are about to invade the Earth. Turns out that eighteen months before, she was horseback riding, inspecting her property in the country, when she spotted a small, fast-moving, silver metalled craft that landed behind some nearby hills. When she went to inspect it, she discovered a flying saucer about the size of a bicycle tire. Two "men" emerged from the saucer and stabbed her in the leg with a hypodermic needle. She woke up, shrunken in size, a captive inside the saucer, which then took of at astounding speed. They travelled in space for four days before landing on what she was to learn was the planet Neput. She was forced to drink some sort of liquid which returned her to normal size, and then she was brought before the Emperor Nazikom, the ruler of Neput. (Could a villain have a more appropriate name than Nazikom, especially in the early 1950s?) Neither spoke the other's language, but Cecily was given a tour of the planet which emphasized the world's vst technological skill and advanced weapons of war. Evntually she was taught the language of the Neputians.
Brought back before Nazikom, she was told that she must teach his subjects English to better enable then to conquer Earth. (Neput had already cuered all its nearby neighboring planets.) Cecily refused, but she was placed under a machine whose rays zapped her powers of resistance. Now, with two Neputian officers, she was returned to Earth so they could pave the way for the invasion. The officers were to meet with the invading general to discuss invasion plans while Cecily was locked in a hotel room. Cecily managed to tie some bedsheets together and escape through a window. Fleeing, she bumped into Ralph Rivers, which is where we started the story.
This seems like a good place for me to carp about fashion choices and proportionality, and there's a lot to unpack about both. Cecily starts out on horseback wearing a one-piece outfit with puffy full sleeves and a very skimpy pair of shorts. She may be riding brefoot (it's hard to tell). Through her eighteen mopnths of captovity, she wear the same darned outfir, carefully shaded underneath her breast to emphasize her ta-tas (which are admirable). But now whe's wearing high heel shoes! When she and her Neputian guards go back to Earth and check into a hotel (the Ritz), she has a mid-length dress, a small skullcap-like hat (which mysteriously vanishes in the next few panels) and a pearl necklace. The Neputians outfit of choice one their planet are Speed-os, tight-fitting shirts with blousy arms, and high pointed hats, all of which makes them resemble a Frank R. Paul illustration.
As far as proportions go, the flying saucer is the size of "a bicycle wheel," yet the occupants are seven inches tall. When Cecily regains her height, they appear to be about three feet tall or so. The flying saucer has a number of compartments in it, including a room for Cecily to be imprisoned in, closets for the Crimson Comet to hide behind, a control room and more. At the hotel, the saucer is carried under one of the Neputian's arms and appeared to be the size of a 78-rpm record album.
And how many bedsheets does a hotel room at the Ritz have anyway? Enought to reach the ground from a window when tied together? And what floor was that room on anyway?
I know I'm picky. Sue me.
The artwork, except for the characters, is pretty nifty.
And, don't worry about the alien invasion. SPOILER: A single auto-piloted hydrogen bomb blew the planet Neput all to hell.
Enjoy this weird little piece of Australian comic book history.
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=86584&comicpage=&b=i
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