#jack castle

[chernobog13]

WHEN RETURNS...THE GORILLA!

From BLUE BEETLE COMICS (vol. 1) #10 (December, 1941) comes the second comic book story featuring the weirdo villain The Gorilla.

That's right: Jack Castle, former henchman to a mad scientist, is trapped with his brain inside the body of a (very anemic) gorilla, and has decided to become a menace to mankind.

"He can't do that to me!" Whattaya mean, Renard? He literally just did!

Oh brother, it seems the Gorilla still has the hots for Elsa Brock (now named Bonn), the gal who shot him in the last story.

And good grief, is that Ken Connors, at your service, in the last panel?

D'OH! First she shot him, now Elsa's set the poor Gorilla on fire! The only thing of which the Gorilla is deathly afraid!

Best line I've read today: "We ain't takin' no more orders from a monkey, see?"

Shot again???!! Twice in two stories?? And burned as well?

If it wasn't for bad luck, the Gorilla would have no luck at all! Especially since this is his last appearance anywhere. Given as he seems to be a bullet magnet, that's probably a good thing for him.

He's in the public domain now, known as The Gorilla With the Human Brain. I'd love to see someone continue his story of vengeance and mayhem. Or maybe give us a glimpse of him now (if he wasn't killed outright), living out his years in a penitentiary - or more likely a zoo.

By the way, the character who took his spot in the next issue of BLUE BEETLE COMICS was that scheme the Gladiator.

[thequiver]

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: The Twelve (Marvel) Rating: Mature Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Dick Jones/Jack Castle, Phantom Reporter/Fiery Mask Characters: Dick Jones | The Phantom Reporter, Dick Jones, Jack Castle, Jack Castle | Fiery Mask Additional Tags: the rest of the twelve are there but very background, not enough to warrant tagging, implied Dick Jones/Claire Voyant, although it's comphet and mostly just jealousy on Jack's part, mentioned Claire Voyant, mentioned Dynamic Man, Pining, Mutual Pining, Unresolved Tension, Jack Castle is a lying liar most of the time, this does not change in this fic, references to real events from the European theatre of WWII, fic is set both in the 1940s AND in 2008, major character death is in chapter 2, Internalized Homophobia, Canon Compliant, technically canon compliant, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Period-Typical Homophobia Summary:

"Where the fire cannot keep/ I will sing myself to sleep." - Sleep by Goodnight, Texas ---- Fiery Mask and The Phantom Reporter from 1943 to 2008.

[dommydraws]

ArtFight 2024 #49

Robin & Jack for @crimsonwyvern

[chernobog13]

WHEN COMES...THE GORILLA!

With the Thor-God of Thunder/Dynamite Thor feature ending in BLUE BEETLE COMICS (vol. 1) #8, Fox Publications needed something to replace it to fill pages.

Ladies and gents, I present to you said replacement, the very first tale of The Gorilla, from BLUE BEETLE COMICS (vol. 1) #9 (October, 1941).

Stupid Castle! I guess he never learned that you shouldn't threaten your boss, especially if he's a mad scientist!

And old man Brock is pretty daft if he thought Castle was going to be happy about waking up as gorilla.

But at least Brock was thoughtful enough to transplant Castle's vocal cords along with his brain.

What a night Jack Castle is having: turned down "in a sharp way" by a beautiful girl, brain and vocal cords transplanted into a gorilla, killed his boss AND his oldest friend, shot by the same woman who turned him down, a now a fugitive in the city!

Whew! Comic book stories don't get much better than this, folks! I wonder what's in store next for our loquacious primate?

[thequiver]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/2 Fandom: The Twelve (Marvel) Rating: Mature Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Dick Jones/Jack Castle, Phantom Reporter/Fiery Mask Characters: Dick Jones | The Phantom Reporter, Dick Jones, Jack Castle, Jack Castle | Fiery Mask Additional Tags: the rest of the twelve are there but very background, not enough to warrant tagging, implied Dick Jones/Claire Voyant, although it's comphet and mostly just jealousy on Jack's part, mentioned Claire Voyant, mentioned Dynamic Man, Pining, Mutual Pining, Unresolved Tension, Jack Castle is a lying liar most of the time, this does not change in this fic, references to real events from the European theatre of WWII, fic is set both in the 1940s AND in 2008, major character death is in chapter 2 Summary:

"Where the fire cannot keep/ I will sing myself to sleep." - Sleep by Goodnight, Texas ---- Fiery Mask and The Phantom Reporter from 1943 to 2008.

[dommydraws]

[hawkzeyes]

The Twelve #8 (2008)

[iklees]

Europa Journal / Jack Castle

In 2168 is Mac de commandant van de shuttle naar Jupiter's maan Europa. Daar is een archeologische opgraving aan de gang; onder het ijsoppervlak is een piramide gevonden, met daarin het lichaam van een piloot uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Het lichaam is echter al 700 jaar oud en pas korte tijd dood... Als per ongeluk een wormgat wordt geopend, heeft Joan Bort, de leider van de opgraving, nog net tijd om Mac het dagboek in handen te drukken van de piloot, Harry Reed. Mac en haar bemanning crashen op een verre planeet in een andere tijd. Daar vinden ze Harry Reed -- nog in leven. Ze zijn in gevaar, want de planeet maakt deel uit van een strijd tussen Goed en Kwaad: de Vogelzanggodin tegen haar broer Khaos.

Mac saw that the captain had taken out his journal, the original one, and had laid it on his knee. It was far less tattered then the one she carried in her coat pocket. She wondered if he was going to write about them. Suddenly, a realization hit her like a bolt of lightning. It finally dawned on here; she finally understood what Professor Bort had been trying to warn her about. Joan must have seen their names in Captain Reed's journal. That was why she was so adamant about not letting them into the pyramid; she was trying to prevent them from opening the wormhole. That was what Joan was trying to tell her before she died. Mac felt like an idiot. She'd been carrying around a crystal ball in her pocket and hadn't realized it. Not only did the journal document the past, but it also documented the future -- everything that would transpire until the time poor Captain Reed ended up in the Europa pyramid. She fought the urge to whip out the journal right there in front of him. If she knew events in advance, she might even find a way to prevent his death.

Op de een of andere manier doet het verhaal en de manier van vertellen nogal belegen aan; alsof de auteur heeft willen schrijven in de trant van wat hij zelf als jongen in de jaren '50-'60 las en zag in films en op TV. Het pleit wel voor de auteur dat hij een moderne, sterkte vrouwelijke hoofdpersoon heeft gecreëerd, niet iemand die alleen decoratieve doeleinden dient. Maar misschien vond hij het wel het toppunt van scifi om in 2168 vrouwelijke astronauten te hebben. Wie zal het zeggen... Het dagboek uit de titel speelt een minder grote rol dan je zou denken, want de auteur maakt volgens mij een denkfout: nadat Mac zich heeft gerealiseerd dat het dagboek nuttige informatie zou kunnen leveren, hebben zij en Reed nauwelijks meer gelegenheid om in het dagboek te lezen, laat staan te schrijven.