What WAS the Comic Battle of the 20th Century? Part 2 - Li'l Abner vs. Daisy Mae!

Continuing my 12-part series reviewing comic books that claim The Battle/Fight/Bout/Showdown of the Century on their covers. Today's battle---

Abner Yokum vs. Daisy Mae Scragg! First presented in Al Capp’s Li’l Abner #72, 1949.

WHY ARE THEY FIGHTING?

Funny story. Let’s start at the beginning.

As president of “The Lily-White League”, Miss Gerta Girdlebuster addresses the other Klan league members on how disgraceful boys and girls act in this day and age (1949). Her dream is to find “the one 100% Good American Boy.” After tireless hours (as a Peeping Tom) she finally succeeds.

Soon, 19 year-old Abner Yokum agrees to become the spokesperson for all-that-is-good-in-childhood. Li'l Abner's speeches are very successful and soon young’uns all over are turning their lives around!

This makes the Lily-White League so successful that when elderly philanthropists die, they leave all their money to the league! This upsets “The Sweet Innocence Society”.  The Society suddenly goes on a quest to find a “100 percent Perfect Good Girl” to compete with the League’s “100 Percent Good Yokum”.

Guess who they find! That’s right, Daisy Mae Scragg!

Suddenly, with “100 percent Perfect Good Scragg” becoming popular, millionaires are confused about where to donate their money. The solution? Have a physical battle! Duh.

Perhaps it will even be the battle of the century! 

HOW EPIC IS THE BATTLE?

The contestants come out blindfolded, because, um, well… we’ll get back to that. (Not really.)

As the bell rings, they both remove their blindfolds. Daisy Mae immediately SMACKS Li’l Abner!

By “SMACKS” I mean she kisses him. So, of course, the referee starts kissing Daisy May too!

Yeah, it’s probably some obscure boxing rule that hardly ever comes into play. Anyhoo, this is where our story ends.

WHO WINS?

In true love, there are no losers.

IS IT THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY?

No. No it is not.

Come back Friday for Part 3! Joe Palooka vs. Humphrey Pennyworth! It's a real boxing match! With hitting!

What WAS the Comic Battle of the 20th Century? Part 1

In the 20th century, there were several comic books that claimed "The Battle of the Century" on their covers. It recently occurred to me since that 100 years is now behind us, we can clearly look back to decide which truly was the Battle of the Century, and call everyone else a liar.

What constitutes the Battle of the Century? To me, it's mainly one or two things. The combatants have to both be at the top of their game, and/or the battle itself has to somehow be epic. As I did my research, I didn't limit it to only the word "battle." I also included "fight, "bout" and "showdown." It's all good. I did, however, want the extravagant claim to appear on the book's cover.

I found twelve comics that made that claim. I'll be posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until I've covered all twelve in chronological order.

Let's get started! First up, The Human Torch vs. The Sub-Marnier! Originally presented in Marvel Mystery Comics #9, 1940. Story by Bill Everett, Carl Burgos and John Compton. Art by Bill Everett and Carl Burgos.

Admittedly, I'm already breaking my own rule. This comic does not state "Battle of the Century" on its cover. It's on the splash page. However, this may be the first comic to make the claim, so I'm giving it a little grace.

WHY ARE THEY FIGHTING?
Namor, the Sub-Mariner, has vowed to destroy the human race. The Human Torch has recently joined the police department. As Namor attempts to wreck the Washington Bridge, the Human Torch arrives to stop him. I think I’m going to have to side with the Torch on this one.
 

HOW EPIC IS THE BATTLE?
Namor soon retreats to his winged submarine to grab an air tank. He immediately returns to the surface and quickly blows out the Torch’s flame.

Namor then drags the Torch underwater to his “Aerial Sub”. Namor wins in four pages!

But wait! Namor accidentally loses control of an air hose (which powers his engine) and it hits the Torch. Not only does it revive the Torch, it also surrounds him with an air bubble! And, like a fart in a bathtub, it starts to float to the surface. Namor tries to stop the bubble, but he can’t!

Ladies and Gentlemen-- The Sub-Mariner, Lord of the Seven Seas, unable to pop an air bubble.

The bubble bursts as it reaches the surface. The Torch is free, on fire, and the battle continues on land. Soon, Namor has jumped into a water reservoir for a refreshing dip. The Torch (somehow) covers the reservoir with flame, trapping Namor. Namor immediately starts to suffocate because of the water’s chlorine content. He passes out.

The Torch wins!

No wait! Unfortunately, the Torch can’t see Namor through the flames and doesn’t know his predicament. So, he contacts the Army and asks them to bomb the reservoir. (Yes, they are actually trying to kill each other.) The American Army successfully drops an American bomb on the American reservoir. This, of course, blows Namor out of the water and saves him from suffocation.

As the fight begins anew, I discover something I never knew about the Sub-Mariner— He has a Sprinkler System!

WHO WINS?
After more shenanigans, Namor eventually slips a “translate case” over the Torch. This isn’t really a win however. Every time Namor lifts the case to kill him, the Torch has enough air to burst back into flames.

Suddenly, Betty Dean appears. She is described as Namor’s “only human friend.”  I present the searing, nail-biting conclusion below--

Dispute settled! There's touching and everything. It's actually quite sweet.

They then say their pleasant goodbyes.

IS IT THE BATTLE OF THE CENTURY?
Let’s see—Both the characters were relatively well-known, there’s collateral damage, and it appears the fight lasted most of a day. Plus, in 1940, I suspect no one else had yet made the claim, so I’m going to say, “Yes!” At this point in the 20th century, it is the Battle of the Century!

Come back Wednesday for Part 2! Li'l Abner vs. Daisy Mae!

Animated Superman #1

Whenever I see Superman #1 from 1939, I remember how Superman could only jump in his first adventures, not fly. That's where we get the whole "able leap buildings in a single bound" thing. This cover would have had to been timed just right to get him in a cool looking pose!

I had the urge to animate it, so I did.

A split second later and the cover would have looked like this.

My Latest Page

I haven't posted in a while. I've been working very diligently every weekend on my comedy/horror graphic novel. Here's my latest page.

However, I think I'm going to take a break this weekend and start a new comic cover gif. I love doing them and it's been too long.

Man of Steel movie ending revisited!

As the below scenario occurred to me, I took the liberty to assemble it. Click to enlarge.

It's amazing how well the images match up! Perhaps Warner Bros. should pay Scott McCloud to add the scene to future releases of the film.

Bigfoot vs Clown

I have a new T-shirt design up for voting on Threadless!

EDIT: Voting closed.

And please, if you're a clown, for your own safety, remember to always lock-up your shoes.

Recent work

I'll say upfront, I assume most people visit my blog for the superhero parodies. I love doing them. I have plans for more. But, for now, here's other art I've been doing--

I continue to work on my 140 page monster graphic novel. Below is a one-off panel showing that there is a vampire loose in the story. I'm going with somewhat iconic looks for all the monsters, which include ghosts, zombies, and werewolves. As with my comic heroes parodies, I like applying my own logic onto iconic characters.

All things considered, I'm close to halfway finished. I constantly debate whether this would be best released as a graphic novel, a web comic, or even a monthly mini-series. We'll see.

Below is a faux comic cover for an upcoming independent film by Jørgen Pedersen. It's titled "Cook & Banks," due out in the Summer of 2015. Jørgen give me descriptions and asked for art of the title characters, with a 70's-80's hero vibe. You can find out a bit more information at Bare Bear Productions.

And finally, if you're a gamer, my "Happiness is Fleeting" zombie image is now available as an awesome playmat! Available at Inked Playmats!