The Invisible Monster

The Invisible Monster, a 12-chapter serial from Republic in 1950, starring Richard Webb (may be better known as TV’s Captain Midnight) as Lane, the insurance investigator for Apex Insurance, and Aline Towne, as Carol, a criminal scientific investigator assigned to assist him. The Phantom Ruler, well played by Stanley Price, has a robe and hood soaked in chemicals that under certain light make him invisible. Strangely, the mysterious Phantom Ruler reveals his identity from the very start, so there’s no real mystery about who he is. The Phantom Ruler has brought highly intelligent illegal immigrants to America to do his bidding, or he’ll notify immigrations and have them returned to their home country where they may be wanted. The plan is to build an army of invisible soldiers to take over America. It has the usual great cliffhangers that only Republic can do. In fact, I’ve seen them all before, but they’re so much fun. Tom Steele is great in the fight stunts, as always, and there are plenty of these. Spent about three hours over Saturday afternoon watching this great old serial.

The Marvel Gang

The Marvel Gang: I loved reading all the Marvel superheroes back in the day, my favorite being The Marvel Family: Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel, Jr. A shame Mary Marvel isn’t featured on this poster (sigh).

The Masked Marvel

The Masked Marvel, a 12-chapter Republic serial from 1943. I watched this one on Saturday.  Sakima, a Japanese spy, is sabotaging America’s war effort, and the World Wide Insurance Company is taking a heavy loss. When Warren Hamilton is murdered, they send out four insurance investigators while the mysterious Masked Marvel is working to capture Sakima. The spy believes one of the insurance investigators is actually The Masked Marvel, and is determined to find out who he is.  In the meantime, Hamilton’s daughter, Alice, is working with the investigators and relaying information and orders from The Masked Marvel. This is another good Republic serial, with recognizable explosions and cliffhangers from other Republic serials. The same building is used for a hospital, apartments, and other buildings, but who cares it was all a lot of fun. There are the regular fight scenes with each chapter.  Of course, Tom Steele, un-credited, is The Masked Marvel, and in most of the fights. He has to be; a couple of the investigators look more like sissies than macho athletes. In fact, the Masked Marvel is revealed at the end to be Bob Barton, one of the sissies. But, again, who cares?

Uncle Scrooge

Uncle Scrooge. I loved those Uncle Scrooge comic books, especially the fantastic covers.

The Del Mar Theater

The Del Mar Theater in San Leandro, California. Sadly the theater was torn down in the ‘70s, but what a magnificent theater. Sent to me by James Griffith, taken before they brought it down. We should always remember to protect our past and history by capturing these magnificent structures before they are gone forever, Thanks, James.

Comic Book Rack

Boy looking through a comic book rack. I remember doing this at Kress’s in Wichita Falls when I was 7 thru 10 years old. I loved comic books back then.