WEIRD WEDNESDAY - The Bizarre Strange Weird Saga of DOCTOR HORMONE!

Hello, Comics Fan!

I am

THE APOCOLYTE!

It's WEDNESDAY again, 

and that means one thing here...

Today I will relate to you a story so odd, 

so different, 

so incredible, 

you may find it hard to believe!

DOCTOR HORMONE appeared in the pages of Dell's POPULAR COMICS issues # 54-60, from August 1940 to February 1941. As far as who created the character, the GCD database doesn't offer credit for a writer, yet does note that the first several stories are copyrighted by R.S. Callender, so draw your own conclusions there. 

As to the artwork, the first five stories were drawn by Robert "Bob" Bugg, who worked in the comics field during the early forties. During the 50's and 60's he was a fairly prolific illustrator for magazines and advertisements, and from 1969 until 1981 Bugg drew the Sunday color DENNIS THE MENACE comic strips for Hank Ketcham. More can be read about Mr. Bugg at Leif Peng's illustration blog TODAY'S INSPIRATION here, here, and here, and Ger Apeldoorn's THE FABULEOUS FIFTIES blog here. 

DENNIS THE MENACE -art by Robert Bugg-

-examples of Robert Bugg's illustration artwork-

DOCTOR HORMONE's final two adventures were drawn by Ralph Carlson, who in the early 1930's drew interior illustrations for pulp magazines, as well as becoming a member of the communist party. In the 40's he started drawing comics, and after DOCTOR HORMONE soon began doing artwork for Fawcett's ROCKY LANE WESTERN comics (Pappy's blog has a great ROCKY LANE story by Carlson here). In 1953 Carlson was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee to testify in regards to his affiliation with the Communist Party. Refusing to cooperate, he was jailed and blacklisted, which contributed to Carlson's comic artist career ending soon afterwards. Subsequently, he became an art instructor at a correspondence school.

-examples of Ralph Carlson's pulp artwork-

Doctor Hormone was a scientist, as you may have deduced. 
His field of expertise was, oddly enough, hormones. 
What are the odds of that serendipitous matter of chance? 
Throughout his adventures he is accompanied by his grand-daughter Jane, Hormone's 10-year old wise-cracking stalwart. Here now, starting with his initial appearance from POPULAR COMICS # 54 and taking you right on through to the strange final appearance in issue #60, 
it's the bizarre, strange, weird saga of 

DOCTOR HORMONE!

______________________

______________________

When we first see the Doctor, he is dying of old age...

Wow! The Doc's a genius! He invents a heart hormone pill and rejuvenates his heart, and he invents a youth hormone pill, and...doesn't...take...it?! No, he leaves that to his grand-daughter to "force" down his dead throat. Oh, well, at least now we've met them both.

Meanwhile, WWII is happening in Europe, and in our story the country of Novoslavia (the good guys) is threatened with destruction by Eurasia (the bad guys). Novoslavia offers $25,000,000.00 (yup, $25 million, that's in 1940 dollars) to any man who can protect them from aggression.

Doc and Jane travel there to claim the money, and to save 

the pitiful country, but when they arrive, his trunk containing

 all his scientific work is stolen!

Prime Minister Smartenoff and bad guy Rassinoff...

(...yeah, there's lots of corny names like that in the story...)

Even though Doc's work was stolen, Jane mysteriously and 

for unknown reasons slips Rassinoff a hormone mickey...

The hormone pill transforms Rassinoff, and Doc is released in order to create an antidote...

Unfortunately, Rassinoff kidnaps the Doc, and Doc discovers he was behind the theft of Doc's trunk...

Yes, it is discovered that bad guy Rassinoff now has...

the proportionate strength of a...donkey...

Rassinoff manages to take off in an airplane with the trunk...

Rassinoff throws the pilot out of the plane to his death, 

and Doc takes it all in stride..."I'm okay, he missed me!"

Back at the parliament, a course of action is debated!

Doc makes his case!

Doc, despite losing all his scientific work, manages to almost instantly to create a full-blown laboratory, where he explains the deadly risks to the Prime Minister, who glibly accepts the role of guinea pig...

...Doc's experiment kills Smartenoff (oops!), while Jane uses the equipment like a jungle gym. By accident, Jane falls into the machine, activating the "angstrom ray", which revives the Prime Minister! Whew!

Now Doc is really rolling...

...his youth hormones not only rejuvenate an ancient woman, 

but also apparently stimulate her libido...

Can Doc make young people older?

...and baby just made a doody...

Realizing babies are too young to age, he gloms onto a troop of boyscouts...

..."Oboy! My childhood is gone forever in an instant, and now I can go die in a war! Oboy!"

Meanwhile, the bad guys are getting nervous...

Rassinoff's name transmogrifies and he becomes Assinoff!

Novoslavia (the good guys) is under a devastating attack...

Doctor Hormone, Jane, and Prime Minister Smartenoff are branded as traitors for getting the country into this mess, and they are almost killed by firing squad. During the bombing, they manage to escape in the confusion, and Doc has a plan...

They steal a plane...

Wheee- the fun of war!

With no logical explanation, the plane they steal has a payload of Doc's special bombs...

...the effect of the bombs...

In a wordy word balloon to rival the wordiest Al Feldstein word balloon, Doc explains why he is smarter than anyone else in the whole world...

Still in the airplane, not knowing how to land, they opt to bail out...

...Doc is such a hero, he manages to get a medal pinned on him before the airplane he jumped out of hits the ground! That's just how smart he is!

Meanwhile, the bad guys plan to drop more bombs on the good guys...

Bombs fall, and it's looking grim...

Assinoff disguises himself as Doctor Hormone and

 innoculates the innocent people with hormones!

...As they turn into animals, the people mock each other with bad jokes!

In an abrupt sequence, Doc allows Assinoff to kidnap Jane, while the horse gets all the good lines!

Eagles with men's heads carry bombs to attack the enemy!

Doc watches Jane get threatened on television...(this was before I Love Lucy...)

To save his grand-daughter, Doc agrees to give himself up...

The bad guys show Doc their plans to torture him!

They offer Doc 10 cubic acres of gold...! 10...CUBIC...ACRES...OF...GOLD!! 

Doc can't be bought, so they run up their water bill...

Meanwhile, the good guys attack the bad guys with locusts, hornets, bees, and other insects and vermin!

As the water rises, Doc (who has constantly broken every law of nature and God) remembers the Lord's prayer...

"Thanks, hideous giant talking termite-man!"

Doc explains it all again...

Doc gets contacted by the Secret Service, and heads for the good ol' U.S. of A.!

Unfortunately, Nazian's had the house bugged,

 and kidnap Doc and Jane, and Jane's flea circus...

These are no ordinary fleas...!

Like the God that he pretends to be, 

Doc offer's the flea-men some fig-leaves, 

so Jane won't get an eye-full...

The nazian guards are fabbergastigated!

The guards shoot but can't hit the jumping flea-men...

...luckily they didn't shoot at Doc and Jane, who can't jump worth diddley squat...

Soon, Doc and his flea-men commandeer the sub and head for home!

The reporters are full of smart-alecky quips...

_________________

Now, we reach the strange adventure of 
Doctor Hormone and Jane as they face off 
against the Ku Klux Klan...
in it's entirety.
Enjoy the weirdness!

-click to enlarge-

_______________________

That Janey is such a wise-cracker, I'm surprised she wasn't roasting marshmallows while hanging on her burning cross...

______________________

Now we come to the final chapter in the bizarre, strange, weird saga of Doctor Hormone...

Doc is summoned by the voice of...God?

______________________________________

Alas, Doctor Hormone's adventure did NOT continue next month...or EVER!

I wonder what would have happened next?

I am

THE APOCOLYTE!

Come back again for more great comics, artists, and comic art scans!