a DIACHRONIC study of the IMAGE of the POWERFUL FEMALE in POPULAR (and maybe other) CULTURES
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
TOP 50 FEMALE/MALE FIGHTS IN COMICS: #8
Though all the physical combat-scenes in JET DREAM AND HER STUNT-GIRL COUNTERSPIES #1 are fairly short, I choose to interpret this one-and-only issue of the comic book as being one issue-long battle of the intrepid female counterspies and an all-male organization of bad spies called CIPHER.
Roughly the same time this single issue came out from Gold Key Comics, a JET DREAM backup strip began running in THE MAN FROM UNCLE comic. All of these strips featuring the counterspies were just four pages long, usually beginning *in media res* with some pulpy action threatening the girls, followed by a quick what-led-up-to-this, and then a hard-hitting wrapup. Try that, decompression scripters! Jet Dream (sounds like "jetstream? or maybe "wet dream?) and her multinational Blackhawk ripoffs were a rare return to the Golden Age style of fast action and minimal plot, and were among the few heroines to headline their own comic book during the Silver Age (1955-1970 by my lights, BTW).
I always assumed the title was playing on "jet stream" but now that you've pointed out "wet dream" I'll never be able to see it any other way!
ReplyDelete(And what about "Jet Screamer," teenage Judy's 21st Century rock star idol from The Jetsons? I'll never be able to look at him the same way either...)