The
subject of this blogpost is strange… and not only in name. Her
back-story is filled with lots of strange and interesting minutia.
Madame
Strange appeared in the immodestly titled GREAT COMICS. The comic was
a product of an obscure house known as Great Comics Publications.
According to the GCD the outfit only issued 2 titles for a total
output of six comics. Seemingly the very definition of fly-by-night.
I
have no doubt that the contents were the product of one of the
packaging studios. In those early days publishers would often
sub-contract the editorial content of their comic books to firms that
specialized in producing such work. Famous examples of these were the
Eisner & Iger shop, as well as the Busy Arnold shop. Hiring these
specialists was often cheaper than hiring permanent employees.
Interestingly enough, one of the contributors to GREAT COMICS #1 was
Bob Kane.
Madame
Strange first appeared in the debut issue of the title, sans an
origin. She is shown possessing incredible strength and with her cape
she seems to be an amalgam of DC’s Superman and Wonder Woman. This
initial appearance is credited to ‘Achmed Zudella’ which was an
exotic nom de guerre for cartoonist Chuck Winter. Winter would later
render another superheroine in the Golden Age; DC’s Liberty Belle.
For
her third story she takes on a new cartoonist and an entirely
different look. The artist was Pagsilan Rey Isip, an émigré to the
US from the Philippines. Initially his work was found in pulp
magazines. Here is a cover to an issue of Street & Smith's
Unknown Fantasy Fiction.
And
here is Madame Strange’s adventure from GREAT COMICS #3. Again I
have to apologize for the racist characterizations.
Isip
continued to work in comics through 1943, before he joining the
military. Upon his return from the war, Rey abandoned comics for
illustration work. Rey lived until 1979, to the age of 68.
Pat
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