The Blonde Phantom and the Hunk in Distress

With the glut of superheroes during World War II, comic book companies were experimenting with new types of characters.  DC had Wonder Woman, so Marvel got the Blonde Phantom.

Louise Grant is the secretary to private detective Mark Mason, but he stumbles into so much trouble that she has to get him out, so she adopts the Blue Phantom persona.  She doesn't have superpowers; she is more of a masked vigilante, like Batman. 

She is romantically interested in Mark -- what secretary in 1940s fiction wasn't into her boss?  But Mark is more interested in the Blonde Phantom.

The duo first appeared in All-Select Comics in 1943, and soon spun off into their own series, which ran for 11 issues (1943-1947).  They also appeared as supporting features in Marvel Mystery Comics, Sub-Mariner Comics, and elsewhere through 1949.  Then they were forgotten.

In some 1989 issues of She-Hulk, they are retrofitted: it appears that they married in 1949, Louise retired from phantoming, and they raised a daughter, Mason, who became the second Blonde Phantom.



You're probably wondering what this overtly heterosexual relationship is doing in Boomer's Beefcake and Bonding:

1. Mark Mason as hunk-in-distress is rather gender-bending.

2. Do you want to see him with his shirt off again?

Shirtless Sports Fans

I've never been to a sports match except for a couple of baseball games, but I understand that it's customary for fans to take their shirts off and spell out their team with letters on their chests.

Looks like there's more beefcake in the stands than on the field.

They can also spell out the name of their favorite player.

Or miscellaneous sentiments.

It helps to get the letters in the right order.

Two letters on a chest isn't really fair.

More after the break.

Captain Tootsie

Captain Tootsie is one of the more interesting  superheroes of the Golden Age of Comics.  Debuting in 1943,  he sold Tootsie Rolls, those brown sugar-corn syrup concoctions, which gave him the "quick energy" to save the day.  His half-page adventures appeared in hundreds of comics, from Action Comics and Captain Marvel to A Date with Judy:

Captain Tootsie Battles Monster Man!
Captain Tootsie Tames a Tornado!
Captain Tootsie Traps Killer Bear with Invisible Light!
Captain Tootsie and the Return of Dr. Narsty!

Sometimes his adventures were a bit less urgent:

Captain Tootsie Saves School Party!
Captain Tootsie at the Winter Carnival!

 Here he saves the world from Dr. Narsty, who has stolen a kid's toy cannon (it takes an evil genius to do that?).

Captain Tootsie was drawn as a very muscular blond in a red shirt, yellow belt, and blue pants, which didn't look anything like the familiar brown-and-white tootsie roll.







I don't have the next frame in this sequence, so I'm wondering myself what Captain Tootsie intends to do next.

His most frequent sidekick was Rollo ("roll-o", get it?), a miniature version of himself with blond hair, a red shirt, and pecs.

Sometimes he also hung out with Fisty, a petite black-haired boy wearing a suit; and Fatso, who had curly orange hair and wasn't very fat by today's standards.




Two issues of a full length comic were published by Toby Press in 1950, with no tootsie rolls in the actual story.

#1: Captain Tootsie and his Secret Legion (Rollo, Fisty, and Fatso) go to Venus, where they initiate a slave revolt and overthrow the evil Nagara.

#2: They investigate "The Stone that Lives" and "The Victory Vibrator."

I'm interested in knowing more about that Victory Vibrator.

His last appearance was in an ad in 1953 ("Try these delicious Tootsie Pops!").

Forgotten for 60 years, Captain Tootsie was revived for a story in Savage Dragon #199 (2014), along with such other forgotten 1940s superheroes as Lash Lighting, Rex Dexter, and Captain Freedom.


But it's not just his corporate job and his crazy adventures that draws my interest.

Tootsie is a girl's name.

It's derived from "tootsie-wootsie,"  a childish term for "foot."

Leo Hirschfeld, who invented Tootsie Rolls in 1896, named them after his daughter Clara, nicknamed Tootsie.

The creators weren't required to name their superhero after a girl.  Lots of product mascots have a different name from their products.

 "I'll toot for Tootsie" sounds decidedly feminine.

And doesn't the secret hand-signal look rather dainty?

When you add his oral fetish....