Happy Monday and welcome to Weird Comics Week!
It doesn't get much weirder than this, folks. Of course, back in the 1940s, stories like these were considered a little more serious than we look at them now.
Enter Dr. Hormone! Created by a fellow by the name of Robert "Bob" Bugg and drawn by Bugg and Ralph Carlson, Dr. Hormone was introduced in Dell's POPULAR COMICS #54 (August 1940) and the series ran for seven issues until February 1941.
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| Bob Bugg at his drawing table. [Image source: Lambiek.net]. |
Bugg began his career as a writer, magazine illustrator and cartoonist, producing work for slicks such as COSMOPOLITAN and COLLIER'S, as well as various sports magazines. His commercial art included jobs for Camel and Winston cigarettes. He also worked on comics strips and spent a stint as Hank "Dennis the Menace" Ketcham's assistant. He found his way into comics and, along with Dell, wrote and drew for Fiction House, Centaur and Western Publishing.
Ralph Carlson took over the art chores from Bugg later in the series. Carlson worked for Ace Magazines, Fawcett, Western Publishing and Charlton.
The story presented today is from POPULAR COMICS #59 (January 1941) and is the next to the last story in the series.
Dr. Homorne's nemesis was a group called the Nazians. This untitled episode starts off normal enough, but suddenly takes a bizarre turn when he finds out the Nazians are being helped out by the Ku Klux Klan. All manner of craziness ensues. Co-authors Roy Thomas and Kurt Mitchell claim the KKK still exerted their influence in high places, which might explain Dr. Hormone's sudden cancellation after issue #60.
We'll no doubt see a remastered collection of Dr. Hormone by Fantagraphics or another publisher at some point. In the meantime, here's a sample of one of the most bizarre super-heroes that ever wielded a test tube.
