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Post by rberman on Jun 1, 2019 23:04:14 GMT -5
The musicians who appeared for no plot reason in this issue of Jimmy Olsen were an inside joke. Kirby had sketched several folks for the printed program at the 1971 San Diego Comic-Con and then worked them into this story.  Also Felix MacFinney, the assassin on Loch Trevor was a caricature of Scottish actor James Finlayson.  |
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Post by rberman on Jun 2, 2019 7:19:20 GMT -5
The Fourth World in Action ComicsSome key Fourth World-related moments happened in Action Comics, parallel to the stories we've been looking at. Here are the highlights: #398 (March 1971, Leo Dorfman writing): Galaxy Broadcasting purchases the Daily Planet and replaces the iconic planet on its roof with a TV transmitter. New boss Morgan Edge announces his intent to make Clark Kent a “roving TV reporter” with a satellite-equipped van. This mirrors Edge giving the Whiz Wagon to Jimmy and the Newsboy Legion in earlier issues of Jimmy Olsen. Later issues would show Clark Kent as a news anchor rather than a roving reporter.  #404 (September 1971, Cary Bates writing): Edge is shown to have evil intent.  #406 (November 1971, Leo Dorfman writing): A super-powered commune leader turns out to be a disguised Kandorian with powers boosted by a magic necklace. Morgan Edge seems a little too eager to have the power of the necklace once the dust settles. But then the necklace itself settles into dust.  #408 (January 1972, Cary Bates writing): Morgan Edge mentions his connection to Darkseid for the first time in Action Comics as he gloats about the possibility of shaming Superman into leaving Earth forever. The story is an “Altered States” type tale about an astronaut exposed to space rays that evolve him so far into the future that he circles back to a Neanderthal again.  
The Morgan Edge story would see further progress in the pages of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen.
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Post by rberman on Jun 3, 2019 7:02:45 GMT -5
Mister Miracle #6 “Funky Flashman!” (January 1972) The Story: Funky Flashman, underling of deceased millionaire Colonel Mockingbird, must retrieve his time-released salary by reaching into the mouth of a bust of his late lamented employer every week. This accomplished, he applies the toupee and beard that makes him look younger and more virile, aided by the obsequious Houseroy. Roy is eager for Funky to move on to bigger things so that Roy can assume Funky’s position.  Funky somehow gets an audience with bikini-ed Big Barda. She approves of the handgun he offers her but not his dismissive attitude toward women. She smashes his gun and stalks off. Scott is suspicious but nonetheless agrees to take Funky on as his manager.  Barda’s bath (depicted on-panel, which seems daring for the era) is interrupted by Mad Harriet, who like Barda is a Female Fury bred for war on Apokolips. Harriet teleports into the bedroom, swings a few times at Barda, and teleports away again. After Scott rehearses escape tricks involving a giant buzz saw and a giant hollow sphere, another Female Fury, bondage-themed Lashina, teleports in for another brief melee with Barda.   In all the confusion, Funky has made off with Scott’s Mother Box. Unfortunately, this causes the full squad of four Female Furies to materialize at Funky’s house, looking for Scott. Funky throws Houseroy in the way to cover his escape. Funky runs from the burning house (“A marvel of contrast!”) congratulating himself on his survival skills. Scott and Barda rescue Houseroy from the burning mansion; the Female Furies have vanished again. Scott resolves to return to Apokolips to face his enemies before more Earth civilians are harmed.  Young Scott Free: In a two page segment in Scott’s orphanage days, He’s surrounded by identical-looking drones, eating his cubical “brain drain” food when Metron appears and identifies him as “Scott Free.” Nobody else can see Metron.  Lettercol: Bridwell apologizes for a Golden Age “Coast Guard Reconnaissance” story whose reference to “Japs” struck some 70s readers as insensitive. “It won’t happen again, says ENB. Two letters express undying admiration for Big Barda. My Two Cents: Anyone with a passing familiarity with the Fourth World knows that Jack Kirby is engaging in some very on-the-nose satire about Stan Lee (Funky) and Roy Thomas (Houseroy). Kirby works in Lee’s misogyny and Hollywood aspirations and Roy’s alleged ambitions. Is anyone else surprised that DC editorial let this through? 
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 3, 2019 12:13:56 GMT -5
Oh, hell no! DC was more than happy to take a swipe at Stan, since he had been doing it to them, for years (Brand Ecch). It is a bit of a savage satire; but, bad blood and all. Stan's hairline did suddenly recover, after a long period of receding. Must have regrouped and staged a counter-attack! I know Roy said he didn't think much of it; but, thought the name "Houseroy" was pretty clever. The salary dispenser is surely a dig at being both the company man and the relative of Martin goodman, which got him on the payroll, in the first place (not that he didn't earn his keep, over the years).
Leaving aside the lampoon, this was a really, really great issue and the Female Furies breathed a lot of life into this, which provides some momentum, for a while.
Funny thing is, DC used Funky Flashman a lot more than Kirby did.
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Post by profh0011 on Jun 3, 2019 13:49:22 GMT -5
"Mad Harriet"  |
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Post by profh0011 on Jun 3, 2019 13:51:34 GMT -5
from 2011:
MISTER MIRACLE #6 / Feb’72 – “FUNKY FLASHMAN!”
Scott’s involved in another death-defying “Super Escape Artist” stunt on the cover, one where he’s manacled to a high-speed high-powered rocket-sled chair, which appears to have jumped its tracks. Oberon, clutching the edge of a high cliff in the background, watches. How will Scott escape? But this is nothing compare to what awaits within...
“In the shadow world between success and failure, there lives the DRIVEN little man who dreams of HAVING IT ALL!!! --the opportunistic SPOILER without character or values who preys on all things like a cannibal!!!” In a rundown southern mansion, a skinny, bald guy in a robe, accompanied by a short, skinny, somewhat-long-haired bespectacled butler, wait for a statue’s mouth to open and spew out the first man’s “weekly allowance”. It seems the previous, deceased owner of the mansion liked lording it over others, and there seems to be mutual hate going round among all involved. And hypocrisy.
“By the POWER and the GLORY and the PATHOS that’s Funky Flashman, it’s TRUE, Houseroy!! It’s when you LITTLE people reach out to me that my spirits SOAR!!” “To KNOW you is to LOVE you sir!! When you go on to bigger things, as you so richly deserve, --and SIGN this place over to ME, I shall carry on here, with the standards you hold so DEAR!”
It turns out “Funky Flashman” is a talent agent—one who uses others’ skills for his own benefit and without any care. “So he breaks a leg or DIES!! I’ll just sip my martini by the ocean—and wait for the NEXT fish to jump!” He puts on a toupee and false beard and admires himself in a mirror. “IMAGE is the thing, Houseroy! Why—I look almost –HOLY! I’m ready for you AGAIN—world!!” “The world will take you to its HEART, sir--- that’s if you DON’T make too many slip-ups!! I must tell you that there are times when the REAL Master Funky comes through with SHOCKING results!!” At which point Funky grabs his butler by the THROAT! “And DON’T you forget it, SWEETIE! Just keep your place and don’t bug Master Funky with advice!!” “A-a-a-s-s-s- you wish, sir!” You’d think the guy would be angry that someone suggested he wasn’t sincere. NO! He KNOWS he’s insincere—he’s just annoyed that someone working for him should rise above their place.
This seems a good point to interject. The first time I read this, apart from some very bizarre character studies and commentary about sleazy Hollywood-type agents, I had no idea what the heck Jack Kirby was doing here. I mean, “weird” is par for the course in a Kirby comic, and sometimes I just shrug and go along for the ride. But in the decades since I read this, I have run across a multitude of articles and interviews referring to this one specific story, which I had very little memory of, and the more I read, the more I looked forward to eventually plowing thru this again. Well, here it is. And man, is this thing DISTURBING. It may looks like some kind of a dark comedy, but there’s more to it than that. In truth, it’s a viscious character attack, a shockingly all-too-accurate portrayal of a SPECIFIC person, who Jack got to know far too well for his own liking. The face, the personality, the mannerisms, the deviousness, the self-serving behavior, and the excessively-flowery language, it’s all a very finely-rendered (if fictionalized) portrayal of Jack’s ex-boss—Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee.
Not only that, but Funky’s flunky—er, butler—“Houseroy” (what a great name!!) is apparently based on Stan’s right-hand man, Roy Thomas. Except, while SHIELD recruit Jasper Sitwell was at times a dead ringer for Roy (in both appearance and diction), in this story, he looks like Woody Allen.
Funky’s former boss, the late “Colonel Mockingbird” is clearly a reference to Martin Goodman. There’s some more strange things, here. On page 1, we see Funky and what appears to be a crude, ancient statue of a bust. This rather brings to mind the UNUSED splash page of the intended (unpublished) FANTASTIC FOUR #102, the story Stan REJECTED as being (supposedly) “un-dialogue-able”. The method of Funky getting money could almost be seen as a visual play on the idea of “taking food out of someone else’s mouth”. The reference to Funky hoping to move onto “bigger things” reflects Lee’s long-stated attitude that, from the beginning, he always saw comics as just a temporary thing, to be discarded as soon as he wrote “the great American novel”, or was able to go to Hollywood and get involved in the movie business. And of course, the way he keeps insulting and even physically threatening his closest companion (and employee) shows just how thin the veneer of smiles and charm really are with someone this artificial. It’s sad. I used to LIKE Stan...
Elsewhere, Scott is trying out another suicidal death trap (previously seen on the cover). It kinda makes me think of the “rocket sled” seen in Jim Steranko’s NICK FURY AGENT OF SHIELD #1, except this one’s designed to kill, not rescue. Of course, Scott escapes, and Oberon says he’s just lost another twenty years off his allotted life span.
At home, Barda, in her fabulous bikini outfit, toys with a revolver while waiting with Funky for Scott’s return. “EARTH WEAPONS!—primitive on Apokalips!!-- but EFFECTIVE here!!! --EASY to handle, too!” “Make LOVE! --NOT war, chicky!! You’re packing MORE ammo than you can put in that gun!!” Barda begins twirling the gun. “If you’ve come to see Scott Free, Mister—just keep your THOUGHTS on Scott Free!!!” “Oh, that’s GOOD, chicky! That’s GOOD! “Women’s lib” dialogue an’ Bonnie Parker talent!! Great, chicky! Great ACT!!” Does it seem like this fool is just asking for trouble, talking to her that way? “But I CAN’T use you!! Perhaps you can audition for me again, sometime! –when you acquire more—CLASS!!” “Anything hanging on a meat-hook would meet YOUR standards, MISTER WONDERFUL!” I’m suddenly reminded of how, in Stan’s comics, most women are portrayed (at least in the dialogue) as being weak, helpless, frivolous, and overly-emotional. Even initially-tough-and-independant Sharon Carter, once Stan got through with her. One suspects Stan would write Princess Diana / Wonder Woman as a helpless wimp.
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Post by profh0011 on Jun 3, 2019 13:52:07 GMT -5
Barda suddenly wonders if Funky might be another spy from her home planet, but his blank expression at the mention of a Boom Tube clears that worry. In quick succession, Funky goes from making smarmy, sleazy comments, to showing surprise and worry at how she broke a gun in her bare hand, to being excessively friendly, to blurting out angry insults when he doesn’t get his way. “AAAA!! Why don’t you go and report to your DRILL SERGEANT?!” GEEZ. Who the hell would ever wanna work for someone like that? “You’re a CLASSIC, Funky!! Ego—ignorance—and hostility!! --A REAL powerhouse!! If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go and take a BATH!!” Presumably, to wash off the stench of his company. (It bothers me that her description exactly matches someone I once knew in the engineering field—who spent three whole years trying to have me fired, because he was afraid for HIS job.)
The next 2 pages are incredible. While talking with Scott about setting up a tour around the country, Funky never shuts up, never stops spewing absurdist flowery lingo, and keeps switching posture and demeanor between overly-friendly, philosophical, and angrily threatening physical violence toward Oberon (does he just not like short people, or is it that he just likes pushing around those he has a physical advantage over? --WHY am I even asking??).
In a page apparently suggested by Mark Evanier, Barda takes a bath, THIS time wearing a LOT LESS than she did in the previous issue. I also get the strong feeling someone other than Mike Royer inked that page. The lines are much more delicate than usual. It actually reminds me a LOT of some of the Kirby-inspired work I’ve seen more than 15 years later from Keith Giffen & Al Gordon (the “good” stuff, not the wretchedly-awful stuff), but someone suggested it may have been the work of Dave Stevens, who lived in the same area as Kirby and liked to stop in from time to time. Oh yeah, page 15 also looks like it may have been done by someone else (maybe the same someone else, maybe not). It just has a very different “feel” to it than the rest of the story.
Well, things never stay quiet for long, and next thing you know, Barda’s own “Battle Unit” shows up, assigned to kill her and Scott. They include such wild-and-scary characters as “Mad Harriet”, with a nightmarishly-painted face, wild green hair and brass knuckles with 3-inch pointed spikes; “Stompa”, a heavy-duty figure whose boots can smash Barda into the floor; “Lashina”, a “bondage”-inspired terror whose belt can rip thru steel girders; and “Burnadeth”, who uses a dart-like “fahren-knife” which can “penetrate dimensionally” and barbecue someone “from the inside”!!
After driving off the first two, the following day, Scott, in costume again, shows off 2 new death-traps for Funky, who’s turned up in a “safari” outfit. When Scott foolishly shows Funky his Mother Box, Funky acts like he knows what the heck it is. “So THIS is a “Mother-Box”, eh? Heh-heh! I KNOW what they are!! It’s just that I’ve NEVER seen one this close before!” Scott clearly knows Funky’s a “transparent second-rater”, and doesn’t even react to this obvious lie. After a third attack, Scott & Barda realize they’ve been tracked via the Mother-Box—and Oberon finds it very amusing that Funky’s got it on him just now.
Funky has returned home, taking the Mother-Box with him. “If it ISN’T a musical SARDINE-CAN –what the hell is it?” Bored quickly, and totally full of his own overblown ego, Funky actually tosses it aside... moments before ALL FOUR of the hit-squad materialize, and determine that, “The death order COULD include ANY who befriend him!!” Showing the kind of loyalty to staff that has run America completely into the ground in my lifetime, Funky TOSSES Houseroy at the killers, then leaps thru a window to escape, seconds before the entire old mansion explodes in a colossal fireball!
“THERE IT GOES! –everything—up in flames! The Mockingbird Estate—and its HAPPY memories! Mint JULIPS! COTILLIONS! HAPPY slaves singing for the FAMILY!!! Looks kinda PRETTY, though—PASSION-RED flame against UNDULATING CYCLOPEAN BLACK smoke! A MARVEL of CONTRAST!” As the narrator tells us... “Whistling, with rising spirits, like all his endless kind, Funky Flashman strides with new hopes—new schemes—into the night!” “Oh, well! Got to cut AWAY from Scott Free!! LOVE the lad—but HATE his friends!! On to NEW conquests, Funky Flashman!! You WINNER, you!!!”
Scott, Barda and Oberon have arrived just in time to save the butler’s life, having seen how the man’s boss tossed him to his fate. Despite plans to travel around, Scott decides to change his tactics. “Our battle is with the forces of APOKALIPS! --and with OURSELVES!! We had the courage to break free of them! --Do we DARE to return—and FACE THEM DOWN!!” “If we dare—we DIE!! Well, I’m a soldier, Scott!! I’m trained to die!! But, you—you’re beautiful inside!! They never got to you!! And now they’ll do things to you—“ “ENOUGH, Barda! There is NO freedom is running! I’m going BACK and win it THEIR way!! --in TRIAL BY COMBAT!!” Holy cow.
Another Young Scott Free installment shows Metron, unseen by all but Scott, advising him not to eat food saturated with “Brain Drain Chemical”. In the back, there’s a Boy Commandos reprint of “SATAN WEARS A SWASTIKA” from BOY COMMANDOS #1 (Winter 1942-43). This is a real stand-out, as it features cameos by Jim Harper, The Newsboy Legion, The Sandman, and, at their office, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby!!
(8-14-2011)
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Post by profh0011 on Jun 3, 2019 14:06:34 GMT -5
Funky turned up in quite a few issues of SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS. Imagine my shock when I re-read issue #7-- " Luthor's League Of Super-Villains" The story features Superman's arch-enemy Lex Luthor, side-by-side with Mister Miracle baddie Funky Flashman.  At the end of the story, Funky YANKS off his toupee. JUST like Gene Hackman did in the 1978 SUPERMAN movie. It suddenly became painfully obvious to me that the IDIOTS who made that movie, had seen SSOSV #7 before making it-- and somehow, gotten the two villains confused! That's right-- GENE HACKMAN was really playing STAN LEE onscreen.   |
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Post by rberman on Jun 3, 2019 14:14:52 GMT -5
Surely "Lex wears a toupee" was just a concession to Gene Hackman so he didn't have to shave his head or wear a bald cap throughout the whole Superman I-II (originally all one film of course). Funky Flashman appears throughout Tom King's recent Mister Miracle series, collaborating on stories with baby "King Jack the Genius." At one point, Big Barda smashes his brains in, but he bounces back later.  |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 3, 2019 15:55:51 GMT -5
Donner knew exactly who Luthor was. Hackman refused to shave his head, which is why the toupee bit at the end. The comical stuff came from Mario Puzo, who wrote his script as camp. Tom Mankiewicz did an uncredited re-write, as a favor for Donner, aside from the rewrite by the Newmans and Robert Benton. The Writer's Guild refused credit for Mankiewicz, so he got a consultant credit. He has claimed that Puzo's stuff was thrown out. mankiewicz was no stranger to campy stuff, having worked on the Bond series (early 70s entries), with Sean Connery warning Reeve about being stuck in a series with that level of writing and to get as much money as he could for the role, as the series progressed.
Hackman didn't play it campy; flamboyant, yes. the campier elements are in Otis, with Miss Tessmacher adding a few (though mostly serving as eye candy for the older crowd). I thought Hackman's Lex was fine and more nuanced than most of Lex's contemporary comic appearances (outside of Bates & Maggin, though more Maggin), as he plays genius well, plays deadly extremely well, and has a sarcastic, superior sense of humor, which fit how Maggin wrote Lex, especially in his two novels. If Flashman has any influence, it is on the Salkinds, who were already BS artists who got their legal butts handed to them after splitting The Three Musketeers into two films and trying to pay the actors for only one. Raquel Welch went after them and the rest of the cast soon joined, leading to a settlement and the "Salkind Clause" in contracts, which guarantees payment to actors if footage is reused in a film or filmed footage is used in a separate production.
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Post by rberman on Jun 4, 2019 9:49:19 GMT -5
Lois Lane #118 “Edge of Darkness!” (January 1972) Creative Team: Kanigher, Roth, Coletta The Story: It opens with a bang. The real Morgan Edge, heretofore unknown, escapes from his imprisonment into a cool Eisneresque-cityscape. You know it's him because he wears striped pants and loafers, even during prolonged imprisonment.  Superman prevents agents of the "100" mob from kidnapping Lois Lane in Central Park (or its Metropolis equivalent). The Morgan Edge we know is revealed to have been a clone product of Mokkari and Simyan’s Evil Factory. Clone-Edge was supposed to kill his sire but was unable to bring himself to follow through.  Clone-Edge discovers the escape of Real-Edge and concocts an insanity ruse to get Superman to hunt down real-Edge. Lois escapes several near-death incidents (also cooked up by Clone-Edge), which convinces Superman that Edge has gone nuts, so when Superman tracks down real-Edge, he takes him to a “psychiatrist.” But on the way to the funny farm, real-Edge escapes for whereabouts unknown.  My Two Cents: This is a pretty big deal, an entire non-Kirby issue that deals exclusively with Fourth World issues but undermines Kirby, retconning Morgan Edge to be a dupe rather than the villain he’s been up to this point. The story has been several months in coming, ever since we saw “Morgan Edge” staring meaningfully first at a mirror in his apartment (behind which was real-Edge’s secret cell) and then at a viewscreen (watching real-Edge) in the last two issues of Lois Lane. This retcon was apparently performed at editorial insistence once they realized that the gang-connected Morgan Edge was supposed to represent how DC’s new owners at Kinney supposedly had Mafia ties. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, the idea of the clone-Edge was ditched; the real Edge was nasty all along, as he should have been. Insanity may not have been the smartest ploy. The clone-Edge ought to have trouble getting himself declared sane quickly, considering the multiple attempts on Lois’ life, including a tenement fire that endangered numerous others.  That said, “Edge of Darkness!” was a very clever issue title. Kudos to Kanigher, or whoever.
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Post by profh0011 on Jun 4, 2019 19:11:54 GMT -5
I've read a LOT of things about the 1978 SUPERMAN movie. It all just reinforced the feeling I had sitting in the theatre on opening day.
I've NEVER really liked that movie.
Hackman's Luthor is NOTHING like the Luthor I remember from the comics. NOTHING.
Quite recently, my best friend in Georgia send me a stack of DVDs containing Marvel & DC TV pilots and various episodes. There were some real surprises in there for me.
Among them, the 1980s SUPERBOY series. I was really surprised at this. To me, it FELT more like a genuine Silver Age DC comic than ANY of the Chris Reeve films ever did.
And then I saw I saw the pilot for LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. To me, that blew SUPERBOY completely out of the water.
This means, in my view, Dean Cain was TWO STEPS REMOVED far, far better than Christopher Reeve. WHOA. Never-- saw that coming!!!
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Post by Duragizer on Jun 4, 2019 21:22:04 GMT -5
Dean Cain is the definitive Clark Kent to me; no one, before or since, has topped his performance. His Superman, on the other hand, was really poor; whenever he was onscreen in the suit, all I ever saw was Dean Cain in a Halloween costume. Reeve definitely outperformed him on that front.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 4, 2019 23:07:58 GMT -5
Cain is fine; but, he is playing the revamped Clark kent. Reeve captures the Silver and Bronze Age Clark, perfectly. he also plays the dual role well, actually playing Clark differently, slouching, stumbling in his words, nervous tics; it's a great performance, which was noted when he appeared on Inside the Actor's Studio.
George Reeves played a slightly tougher version of the Silver Age Clark, with more of a newspaperman's hard edge. That performance greatly influenced Byrne's take on the character, as he noted, which sets the stage for Cain.
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Post by rberman on Jun 5, 2019 8:03:31 GMT -5
Jimmy Olsen #145 “Brigadoom!” (January 1972) The Story: Jimmy is amazed with Scotland Yard’s menagerie of unicorn, griffin, and other fantastical creatures. The bobbies use the term “Brigadoom” to describe the unknown origin of the beasts.  Most of the Newsboy Legion deem it a good idea to hop in the Whiz Wagon and antagonize Fin Fang Foom beneath the waters of Loch Trevor. They end up getting shrunk down somehow and find an underwater base of some sort. Who lives in it and controls the lake monster? (I'm trying to think how missiles of that size would fit into a vehicle of that size, but I'd better not.)  Jimmy and Scrapper are searching by land for Brigadoom. A mysterious gas shrinks them down to Ant Man size. This renders them the right size to climb beneath a rock and find a small (but big compared to their shrunken size) machine which they somehow know is Brigadoom. And they somehow also know that Brigadoom is the Evil Factory. When did they hear of the Evil Factory? Does it just look like the D.N.A. Project somehow? Anyway, soon enough they are shot down by Mokkari and Simyan, who are tiny, just like them.  The two evil scientists conduct experiments on Jimmy to turn him into a super-monster, in a move hearkening back to Jimmy Olsen transformation stories of yore.  B-story: Back at the disco in Suicide Slum (or more accurately, in a secret tunnel beneath it), Dubbilex the telekinetic mutant is keeping the mysterious rock band members floating and helpless. The musicians get free for a moment, activate a Boom Tube, and vanish. Are they from New Genesis, or Apokolips? (Answer: They are from San Diego Comic-Con.) Lettercol: E. Nelson Bridwell reports that the Newsboy Legion were not just kids Kirby knew in his youth. They were inspired more specifically by characters in a stage play which became a film: "Dead End." Other movies then followed with the “Dead End Kids.” Jack Kirby would have been around 20 at the time. My Two Cents: Anyone else find it beyond bizarre that the Evil Factory turns out to be miniaturized and hidden under a rock in Scotland? Very near where Morgan Edge sent Jimmy and the Newsboys to be executed by an Intergang assassin? Convenient! DC had a rule requiring Superman to be on the cover, though he has nothing to do with Jimmy’s encounter with Angry Charlie. He had precious little to do in this issue at all, except watch the Five String Band escape from Dubbilex, whose powers seem suspiciously like Jean Grey of the X-Men. Is that why his name is a pun on “Double X”? He has appeared in many Superman Family comics over the years. “Brigadoon” was a 1947 Lerner/Loewe play on Broadway (then a 1954 Gene Kelly film) about a magical town in Scotland that only appeared for one day every hundred years. Martin Pasko would tell a Brigadoon story in Swamp Thing Vol 2 #16 “Stopover in a Place of Secret Truths” when Swamp Thing wanders into a here-and-gone village where monsters disguise themselves as regular people using magic masks.
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