Meet Whiz Wallace, air ace. Created by Quebecois cartoonist Edmond Legault, Whiz first appeared in WOW Comics #1, published by Bell Features (aka Commercial Signs) in 1940. Whiz was something of a Flash Gordon clone, having discovered, along with his girlfriend Elaine Kenyon, the Kingdom of the Air. Located in the upper stratosphere, the Kingdom was a Ruritanian fantasyland, plentifully stocked with magical characters and terrifying creatures. In this episode, Whiz goes monster hunting only to discover another hidden kingdom and must rescue Elaine when she is captured by a coven of zombie she-devils. I’m only presenting some highlights here, mostly because my scanner is in the attic and it’s bloody hot up there this week. E.T. Legault is a wonderful oddball artist, with a unique approach to figure drawing and perspective and WOW was one of the rare early “Canadian Whites” to use colour –and what colour!
(I believe this story is from either WOW #2 or 4 –my copy is from a giant bound collection missing its cover and first 30 or so pages.)
2012-06-22
AWE-some. Nice post, thanks for putting this up. More please.
That story “Whiz Wallace and The Kingdom of Awe” would be from Wow Comics #4. Issue #2’s Whiz Wallace story was “Perils At Sea” fyi.
~ jim b.
Awk, that last comment wasn’t right – please disregard and/or delete the previous comment.
Sorry, I’m getting my “Whiz Wallace” and “Dart Daring” strips by Legault mixed up here. (I was trying to compose a comment for your Lou Skuce post at the same time as typing this)
Here’s the correct order:
“Whiz Wallace and The Kingdom of Awe” would be from Wow Comics #2 with the Dart Daring story in that issue being “Perils At Sea.” Wow Comics #4 had a Whiz Wallace tale with the title of “The Moon of Aralee.”
~ jim b.