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| "El Despertar del Mundo"("The World Awakes")Nº8, January 31, 1956. Published by Editora de Periódicos "La Prensa" of Mexico, it maintained the title of the former 4 issues, but the stuff was drastically changed. Deprived of the original source of Kubert/St.John comics, it carried instead the Spanish version of one of the American Comic Groups magazines (I still don't know exactly which one of them); the quality was also above average, despite the Comics Code, which was already in force. The cover story, "La Muñequita del Espacio" ("The Space Dollie"), an excellent example of the house style, could be placed slightly over the level of common comic stuff of the period, with an intelligent script and competent art by Kenneth Landau. (This artist later turned to the stage and the camera, and became popular as Martin Landau, of "Mission Impossible", and, more recently, with his impersonation of Bela Lugosi in the "Ed Wood" film... Curiously, not being aware of this fact until last year, I always read his signature as "Kenneth Landall", due to the peculiar shape of his final "U", which seemed like two "Ls" instead..., and persisted in the misunderstanding for over four decades...) Other fine stories in the issue: "El Ultimo de los Gnomos" ("Last of the Gnomes"), a pleasant fantasy, unsigned; and "Una Variación de la Especie" ("A Species Variation"), the best art in the magazine, by Howard Alexander. Three stories, instead of the standard four; but the first one was 12 pages long. A fully enjoyable comic book in the sunset of the Golden Age. "El Despertar del Mundo" would undergo a hiatus some months in the future; but it would be back in the late '50s, somewhat changed..., and not for the best. | ||
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