The time to strike is now!!
Usually my quest in Golden Age Idol--to find a public domain Golden Age hero to revive today to huge acclaim (and huge profits, of course) is nothing but a sad little pipe dream.
But now, because of Marvel's foolishness, the iron is hot. Because Henry Pym has abandoned his old costumed identity to become "The Wasp," there currently is no hero blocking us with silly trademark issues!!
I'm talking, of course, about Yellowjacket:
In typical Golden Age fashion, Yellowjacket's origin can be summed up in a few brief sentences:
Actually, it's slightly more complicated. Vince Harley was a mystery author (who was also a bee-keeper!) who liked his stories to be as realistic as possible. So he liked to poke his nose into some dangerous places. Unfortunately, some underworld types objected, and decided to kill him (and I'm not making this up) by pouring a box of yellowjackets on him.
[Let's clear this up right now. Obviously, Golden Age stories were not too good on science, or even actual facts. Throughout the series, "bee" and "yellowjacket" are used interchangeably, even though yellowjackets are actually wasps, not bees. Deal with it.]
Well, presto, as a result of this trauma, Harley somehow end up with the ability to telepathically command his bees, and alleged super strength (although you rarely saw him do anything particularly superhuman...)
Yellowjacket was definitely an odd superhero. He got perhaps a little too personal with his bees, and most of the time he fought crime not out of some sense of justice, but as a way to research new mystery stories to sell!
In fact, most of his stories ended with his out-clevering Clark Kent and Peter Parker. Those guys earned jobs by giving news coverage to their alter egos. Harley, though, wrote up fictionalized accounts of his adventures and sold them to mystery publishers!! No pesky journalist ethics or commitment to truth needed here!
What else is cool about Yellowjacket? He had a lame battle cry:
He has opportunities galore for terrible bee puns:
He never missed an opportunity to torture someone with his bees:
He carried his bees around in a waterproof box!! Take that, Aquaman!!:
He's a gentleman, but his bees aren't!!
His costume doesn't seem that tough to draw, but it varied considerably from issue to issue:
Sadly, Yellowjacket's powers do face one serious form of Kryptonite:
After a 10 issue run from 1944-46 (plus a couple of guest appearances in other Charlton mags), Yellowjacket vanished, never to be seen again, leaving him in the public domain.
But of course, who would want to revive him and make him a star, since Marvel had come up with their own Yellowjacket? But now, there's no Yellowjacket!! The field is free!!!
[OK, OK, Marvel's Yellowjacket has not laid fallow nearly long enough for them to lose the trademark. So what?!?! That's what lawyers or for!]
I'm so enthusiastic to revive Yellowjacket, and I know that Paula is, too!!
Paula?
Uh, Paula...?
Oh, dear, I really do have to pay more attention to the non-comic world...
Panels taken from Yellowjacket Comics #3-10 (1944-1946).
Usually my quest in Golden Age Idol--to find a public domain Golden Age hero to revive today to huge acclaim (and huge profits, of course) is nothing but a sad little pipe dream.
But now, because of Marvel's foolishness, the iron is hot. Because Henry Pym has abandoned his old costumed identity to become "The Wasp," there currently is no hero blocking us with silly trademark issues!!
I'm talking, of course, about Yellowjacket:
In typical Golden Age fashion, Yellowjacket's origin can be summed up in a few brief sentences:
Actually, it's slightly more complicated. Vince Harley was a mystery author (who was also a bee-keeper!) who liked his stories to be as realistic as possible. So he liked to poke his nose into some dangerous places. Unfortunately, some underworld types objected, and decided to kill him (and I'm not making this up) by pouring a box of yellowjackets on him.[Let's clear this up right now. Obviously, Golden Age stories were not too good on science, or even actual facts. Throughout the series, "bee" and "yellowjacket" are used interchangeably, even though yellowjackets are actually wasps, not bees. Deal with it.]
Well, presto, as a result of this trauma, Harley somehow end up with the ability to telepathically command his bees, and alleged super strength (although you rarely saw him do anything particularly superhuman...)
Yellowjacket was definitely an odd superhero. He got perhaps a little too personal with his bees, and most of the time he fought crime not out of some sense of justice, but as a way to research new mystery stories to sell!
In fact, most of his stories ended with his out-clevering Clark Kent and Peter Parker. Those guys earned jobs by giving news coverage to their alter egos. Harley, though, wrote up fictionalized accounts of his adventures and sold them to mystery publishers!! No pesky journalist ethics or commitment to truth needed here!
What else is cool about Yellowjacket? He had a lame battle cry:
He has opportunities galore for terrible bee puns:
He never missed an opportunity to torture someone with his bees:
He carried his bees around in a waterproof box!! Take that, Aquaman!!:
He's a gentleman, but his bees aren't!!
His costume doesn't seem that tough to draw, but it varied considerably from issue to issue:
Sadly, Yellowjacket's powers do face one serious form of Kryptonite:
After a 10 issue run from 1944-46 (plus a couple of guest appearances in other Charlton mags), Yellowjacket vanished, never to be seen again, leaving him in the public domain.But of course, who would want to revive him and make him a star, since Marvel had come up with their own Yellowjacket? But now, there's no Yellowjacket!! The field is free!!!
[OK, OK, Marvel's Yellowjacket has not laid fallow nearly long enough for them to lose the trademark. So what?!?! That's what lawyers or for!]
I'm so enthusiastic to revive Yellowjacket, and I know that Paula is, too!!
Paula?
Uh, Paula...?
Oh, dear, I really do have to pay more attention to the non-comic world...Panels taken from Yellowjacket Comics #3-10 (1944-1946).
Alex Ross needs to snap him up for Project Superpowers. "Bees! To Me!"
ReplyDeleteSo how long do you have to wait for a name to free up? I would like to bring my first childhood creation back out, but the name's been used recently on a character that is currently dead. (Unless Blackest Night has a fix on him.)
ReplyDelete