Greg Clark Noir Art

  LEGENDARY HEROES #14 JANE ARDEN Created by writer Monte Barrett and artist Frank Ellis, Jane Arden was the original "girl reporter" and prototype for Lois Lane and Brenda Starr.  The comic strip was distributed by the Register & Tribune Syndicate and debuted on November 26, 1928.  Barrett wrote the stories until his death in 1949 when Walt graham took over the job.  Illustrator Ellis left in 1935 and was replaced by Russell E. Ross who did the comic strip for most of its run.  Jane Arden was the crime reporter of her big city newspaper and sought to infiltrate and expose criminal activity rather than merely report on it.  The portrayal was a departure for women characters in the comic strips.  When WWII broke out Barrett & Ross were quick to scrap their current storyline and rushed Jane Arden into the war zone, giving her an assignment in Europe to cover the war.  The comic strip ended on January 20, 1968 after a 40-year run in the newsp...

  LEGENDARY HEROES #13 JACK ARMSTRONG, THE ALL-AMERICAN BOY When the radio announcer shouted the words "Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy" and a male chorus swung into the "Hudson High Fight Song" in the background, millions of kids began to live vicariously the latest adventure of the brave and pure-of-heart Jack Armstrong.  It has been said that Jack served three purposes - to lead Hudson High to athletic glory, to overcome all villains that he encountered, and (most importantly ) to peddle Wheaties.  Jack Armstrong transformed the "Breakfast of Champions" into a major marketing phenomenon and in the process became the most memorable and enduring juvenile adventure show on radio. Jack was created by General Mills cereal and was the brainchild of the VP of Advertising Chester Gale.  Gale developed the idea of Jack as a fictitious "everyboy" whom listeners would emulate.  If Jack ate Wheaties, boys across the country would too.  The adventures...

  LEGENDARY HEROES #12 DOC SAVAGE - MAN OF BRONZE Street & Smith Publications had recently struck gold with their pulp magazine creation of The Shadow and wanted to capitalize on that success with yet another character.  Publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L. Nanovic came up with the idea of Doc Savage.  Nanovic wrote a short premise outlining the character but it was left to writer Lester Dent to fully flesh out the hero.  Of the 181 short novels that were produced on a monthly basis, Dent, under the house name Kenneth Robeson, wrote 159 of them.  Lester Dent (1904-1959) was paid $500 a month by Street & Smith and this was later increased to $750, which was damn good money during the Depression.  Dent stated that he had no illusions of being a great author and that for him Doc Savage was simply a job "churning out reams and reams of sellable" product.  But the money he earned made it possible to buy a yacht and to vacation in the Caribb...

  LEGENDARY HEROES #11 THE LONE RANGER The Lone Ranger was a creation of George Trendle, radio station manager of Detroit's WXYZ, and Fran Striker, a writer at the station.  The Lone Ranger was aired at WXYZ on the evening of January 31, 1933.  The show was an immediate success among children and adults alike.  By 1939 the show was being listened to weekly by 20 million Americans.  It became so popular that it was picked up by the Mutual Broadcasting System and on May 2, 1942, was purchased by NBC's Blue Network that eventually became ABC.  It aired at 7:30 p.m. and the show's announcer urged the audience  to "return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear' followed by "From out of the west with the speed of light and a hearty 'Hi-yo, Silver!' The Lone Ranger rides again."  The theme music has become inseparably associated with the radio series, and was the finale of Rossini's William Tell Overture.  General Mills, maker of Cheerios...