Comrade Bullski
@comradebullski
Freelance writer, editor, reviewer and (sometimes) artist. I write about comics, cartoons, pop culture and anything else that interests me. By day I work at a comic store. Resident of the land of ice and snow.
The comic ran both as a christmas album (which still comes out today) and as a regular comic (which is now defunct). The original run of the christmas albums by Moberg and Bjarre have been collected in a very luxurious omnibus-size hardcover which is a real treasure.
What didn't die was the comic strip, created by Moberg and early Swedish comics icon Torsten Bjarre. Bjarre's art was heavily inspired by American and European comics art of the time and had a dynamic edge that was perfect for the slapstick-y misadventures of Fridolf and Selma.
In total there were four Fridolf movies with the final one coming out in 1959. Douglas Håges untimely death that year halted any future plans for the series and nobody was quite willing to gamble on recasting a role he had made so fully his own. Thus the movie series died with him.
In 1956 the show led to a spin-off movie, and Moberg made sure that radio actors Douglas Håge (Fridolf) and Hjördis Petterson (Selma) reprised their roles as they were literally perfect for them, and as it turned out they had just as much dysfunctional energy on screen as behind it.
Lilla/Lille Fridolf was created by writer Rune Moberg as a radio series which debuted in 1955 and followed the misadventures of a vertically challenged office manager named Fridolf and his tall, angry and surly wife Selma. It was a huge hit at the time.
Him being a big supporter of mutant rights never fails to make me smile.
Over here we get that latter version of collections in various formats, sometimes they're big hardcovers collecting all sorts of stories and sometimes they're the Pocket editions (a format we have borrowed from Italy) which just stuff as many comics as possible in their 300-800 pages per release.
You put down your hard-earned cash for a booster pack and you get something like Hulk or Captain Marvel instead of Uncle Istvan. Truly the worst timeline.
Do you want to read an Arthurian story that doesn't just have words in interesting combinations but also pretty pictures? You should read the original run of KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Gary Erskine (with some smashing covers by Alan Davis). Dark eco-fantasy myth.
We exposed, We exalted at the Unity; prismed shone web, paths, points; as it was done the antipodean zones were retrieved round a white rushing deck, and the Acts of the Emperor took zenith from Caucasia to Carbonek.
She's an original golden age character, She was the brawny landlady of the original title character, Scribbly, and later she started going out and fighting crime as the original Red Tornado, with no more than a mean right hook and an old pot on her head.
Yup, tho I think it's still likely they had the pic on the left here in mind, which is the aforementioned edit. CBR definitely thought it was an official pic when they did this Namorita article.
Unfortunately the resulting figure is a hodge-podge and I would much rather have had an on-model Kendra figure, or even better a proper Shiera figure.
The very compact mask with the distinctive bulgy lenses on the action figure immediately struck me as probably being based on how Ed Benes drew Kendra's mask for a short period prior to Blackest Night. I think the mouth on the figure is also very close to this art.
The GA Hawkgirl outfit was also not the same as the silver and bronze age one (re)designed by Joe Kubert and here drawn by Paul Smith for the same volume of Who's Who. Note the yellow top and the hawk icon belt buckle which are both features that reappeared with Kendra's outfit.
She's never really worn predominantly red for any amount of time or gone with the bare arms look which I believe the designer for the figure arrived at by googling "Hawkgirl" and looking at the art of the GOLDEN AGE Hawkgirl by Steve Rude from Who's Who. Everything fits in except the mask.
The yellow and green top, green pants, belt with the hawk icon on the buckle, the classic "hawk boots" and the somewhat unique mask were all there from the start and are still there today, tho her mask shape and wing design have changed a lot and she often swaps the handwraps for gauntlets.
Kendra had a lot of creators but her first appearance in JSA Secret Files & Origins #1 (1999) had art by Scott Benefiel and Mark Propst but I believe her costume was designed by JSA regular penciller Stephen Sadowski, who first drew her in issue 2. And her look was already pretty well defined.
So I know what you're thinking. It's been on all of our minds and there's no point trying to suppress talking about it anymore. What in the name of the Seven Hells is going on with this Hawkgirl figure? What even IS this costume? (Pic courtesy of AlexChenNews on Insta)🧵
I picked up this issue and a couple of other Swedish 90's Marvel editions this week at a thrift store close to my job. They don't normally deal in comics but somebody donated their Marvel collection there and it was exclusively 90's Swedish stuff. Interesting. I grew up on these. 1/
@teganoneil5000.bsky.social The sacred texts have been preserved. Still missing a few.
She also received a profile in the 2010's ongoing back-up feature in the Swedish comic, written by Andreas Eriksson (current Phantom editor over here and personal friend of mine) with art by Henrik Jonsson. Frew turned this profile into a trading card. 5/
In fact the 2021 board game "Phantom: Treasures of Drakon" is based on these stories and features Princess Sin prominently on the cover, as well as including her as a playing piece. "Drakon" is the name of her private island in the south seas. Good on her. 4/
It seems we have finally arrived at a point where a Swedish Phantom story is being adapted for the US market. Röda Drakens Pirater is an iconic Swedish story from 1979 which sees the current Phantom fight against the Chinese criminal empire of Princess Sin, leader of the Red Dragons. 1/