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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2016 11:39:54 GMT -5
Anyone here familiar with Olga Mesmer? She was one of the early super-powered characters who appeared in pulp magazines in the mid to late 1930s. There is little about her, although she does have a wikipedia entry. I would like to read her adventures and wonder if they have ever been reprinted anywhere. She had x-ray vision due to experiments performed on her mother.
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,872
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Post by shaxper on Jan 5, 2016 12:22:54 GMT -5
Well now I'm damned curious too!
And darn if this isn't the best thread title I've ever seen.
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Post by Farrar on Jan 5, 2016 12:43:10 GMT -5
Anyone here familiar with Olga Mesmer? She was one of the early super-powered characters who appeared in pulp magazines in the mid to late 1930s. There is little about her, although she does have a wikipedia entry. I would like to read her adventures and wonder if they have ever been reprinted anywhere. She had x-ray vision due to experiments performed on her mother. Wow, mrj, talk about timing and synchronicity and whatever  ! Just LAST WEEK I bought Les Daniels' excellent book Wonder Woman: The Golden Age and there was an intriguing paragraph or two about Ms. Mesmer! To wit:  |
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Post by Hoosier X on Jan 5, 2016 12:49:18 GMT -5
I remember reading an article about comic strips in the pulps in the mid-1930s and Olga was mentioned. I think the article was in Comic Book Marketplace.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2016 12:56:54 GMT -5
 Olga Mesmer was an inspiration to Ray Milland's - Man with the X-Ray Eyes Movie that came out back in 1963. I was told of that by a dear friend that knew about her in general. However, I can't find any proof in the internet that the movie that came out in 1963 is based on the adventures of Olga Mesmer on a technicality as I speak here. Here is the Olga Mesmer Link . She occasionally appears in these pulp fiction novels back in 1937 ... Under Spicy Mystery Stories that were quite pricey back then. My Grandfather had some of these stories and unfortunately he mentioned Olga with the girl with an X-Ray Eyes and according to him she was an adventurer of her own rights and actually was one of the first superhero ever existed.  Olga Mesmer first appeared in a featured titled “The Astounding Adventures of Olga Mesmer, the Girl with the X-Ray Eyes,” in the August 1937 edition of the pulp magazine Spicy Mystery Stories published by Culture Publications. This debut predates Superman’s first appearance in Action Comics #1 (June 1937) by ten month. So not only is Olga arguably the first superheroine in comics, but also the first superhero.
In the feature, Olga wields superhuman strength and x-ray vision due to experiments performed on her mother by her mad scientist father. She eventually discovers that her mother was actually from Venus and travels to the planet and ends an interplanetary war.
It’s hard to say whether Olga is a superheroine or just a sci-fi heroine. She doesn’t wear a mask or costume, but she does have superpowers, an origin story, and she engages in heroic feats. However, if you accept that the superhero genre started with Superman, then characters that predate him can’t truly belong in the genre.Here is the Link in Red Print that contains the above text in red Two Pictures of Olga in the Internet  This is all I know and I wished my Grandfather was alive and he would tell me more about Olga. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2016 16:04:42 GMT -5
Wow, thanks for all the info. Olga is pretty cool and quite attractive! Sounds like Olga had quite the run (albeit a short one), travelling to Venus, ending an interplanetary war, having super strength, and seeing through walls!
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Post by Farrar on Jan 5, 2016 19:31:03 GMT -5
I remember reading an article about comic strips in the pulps in the mid-1930s and Olga was mentioned. I think the article was in Comic Book Marketplace. Yep, you're right--it's Will Murray's "The Superheroine Before Superman" Comic Book Marketplace. September 1997: 24-29. |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 5, 2016 19:38:52 GMT -5
Thanks for starting this thread. I've never heard of Olga before. I have no doubt that modern comic fans would find many surprises if they explored the old pulps. I've been considering getting back into collecting comics again (now all trades and digital) as well as old pulps of interest. The only pulp author's I've read so far are Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft, but I have about six of the new Clark Ashton Smith collections in my wishlist on Amazon.
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Post by Farrar on Jan 5, 2016 19:41:31 GMT -5
I would like to read her adventures and wonder if they have ever been reprinted anywhere. Abebooks seems to have a reprint version of the Feb. 1938 Spicy Mystery Stories, available from some vendors at various prices. The description says it contains an Olga Mesmer story. Description: Vol. 6, No. 4 (reprint). Cover art by Parkhurst for "Six Were Slain" by Justin Case. Includes "Pocket of Blackness" by C. A. M. Donne; "Bright Isle of Enchantment" by Lew Merrill; "Body Divided" by Hugh Speer; "Olga Mesmer" by Watt Dell; "Dealer in Death" by Robert Leslie Bellem; "Small Evil" by Ross Flynn; "The Vault" by Jenkins Carter; "Room of Dreams" by Jerome Severs Perry. Uncredited illustrations. Minor handling and shelving wear. Bookseller Inventory # PH93 here is the link www.abebooks.com/SPICY-MYSTERY-STORIES-February-Feb-1938/12274904160/bd . |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 5, 2016 21:16:19 GMT -5
I would like to read her adventures and wonder if they have ever been reprinted anywhere. Abebooks seems to have a reprint version of the Feb. 1938 Spicy Mystery Stories, available from some vendors at various prices. The description says it contains an Olga Mesmer story. Description: Vol. 6, No. 4 (reprint). Cover art by Parkhurst for "Six Were Slain" by Justin Case. Includes "Pocket of Blackness" by C. A. M. Donne; "Bright Isle of Enchantment" by Lew Merrill; "Body Divided" by Hugh Speer; "Olga Mesmer" by Watt Dell; "Dealer in Death" by Robert Leslie Bellem; "Small Evil" by Ross Flynn; "The Vault" by Jenkins Carter; "Room of Dreams" by Jerome Severs Perry. Uncredited illustrations. Minor handling and shelving wear. Bookseller Inventory # PH93 here is the link www.abebooks.com/SPICY-MYSTERY-STORIES-February-Feb-1938/12274904160/bd . Thanks Farrar and I will get myself a copy of it! |
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Post by MDG on Jan 6, 2016 8:57:08 GMT -5
Spicy Mystery had several strips which, like the stories, were borderline porn for the time. Sally the Sleuth, similar to Little Annie Fannie, seemed to be written around situations where she'd have to strip down. Olga seems to have the same editorial mandate.
Amazon offers megapacks of pulp stories (usually by lesser-known authors) on Kindle for like $5.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2016 9:09:45 GMT -5
I would like to read her adventures and wonder if they have ever been reprinted anywhere. Abebooks seems to have a reprint version of the Feb. 1938 Spicy Mystery Stories, available from some vendors at various prices. The description says it contains an Olga Mesmer story. Description: Vol. 6, No. 4 (reprint). Cover art by Parkhurst for "Six Were Slain" by Justin Case. Includes "Pocket of Blackness" by C. A. M. Donne; "Bright Isle of Enchantment" by Lew Merrill; "Body Divided" by Hugh Speer; "Olga Mesmer" by Watt Dell; "Dealer in Death" by Robert Leslie Bellem; "Small Evil" by Ross Flynn; "The Vault" by Jenkins Carter; "Room of Dreams" by Jerome Severs Perry. Uncredited illustrations. Minor handling and shelving wear. Bookseller Inventory # PH93 Here is the link www.abebooks.com/SPICY-MYSTERY-STORIES-February-Feb-1938/12274904160/bd . I will check this out. These old stories look fun and entertaining!Thanks for the link! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2016 9:11:07 GMT -5
Spicy Mystery had several strips which, like the stories, were borderline porn for the time. Sally the Sleuth, similar to Little Annie Fannie, seemed to be written around situations where she'd have to strip down. Olga seems to have the same editorial mandate. Amazon offers megapacks of pulp stories (usually by lesser-known authors) on Kindle for like $5. I will check this out on Amazon. I used to read Little Annie Fannie in Playboy. Her adventures in the 60s/early 70s were hilarious! |
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! Just LAST WEEK I bought Les Daniels' excellent book Wonder Woman: The Golden Age and there was an intriguing paragraph or two about Ms. Mesmer! To wit: 
