It’s another typical day for Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle: Greedy criminals out to exploit a sacred jungle secret, a well-meaning – if not overly competent – boyfriend in peril, an evil twin and easily duped caricatures of African tribesmen.

And, to top it off, art by the man who steered the character through 12 years of these crazy adventures – Robert Webb!

From Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle #9 (Fiction House, 1950), here’s “Luru Temple Of The Dead.”

The Black Terror and Tim take on The Scar, a master criminal with a scar on his face!

(Hey, they can’t all be The Joker you know!)

The story originally appeared in Black Terror #8 (Better/Standard/Nedor, November 1944). The writer and artist are not credited.

As a bonus, here’s Alex Schomburg’s cover to Black Terror #8.

A portrait of John Severin by his equally renowned sister, Marie. The image is taken from the TCJ site but originally appeared in Graphic Story Magazine #13.

John Severin, who passed away earlier this week, wasn’t as celebrated by fanboys and girls as Jack Kirby, Neal Adams or Wally Wood. Yet, his work easily belongs alongside those individuals and select others as among the best oeuvres to ever grace the medium of comic books.

His easily recognizable style served gritty realism and outré humor equally well, a feat that seemed effortless in Severin’s hands but was never really equalled by his contemporaries or successors.

How many other artists can you name who could master media parodies for humor magazines like Cracked, brutal war adventures for such titles as Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos and Blazing Combat and memorable chillers for Warren’s famed Creepy and Eerie publications.

Severin also maintained a strong work ethic throughout his entire career – which spanned a good 60 years or so –  without a notable drop in quality.

You’d think an artist with such a resume would only be discussed in hushed tones, but the sad fact is the genres where Severin left indelible marks don’t quite carry the same cachet in the Direct Market as funny-books featuring mutants in long underwear.

Fortunately, the sheer amount of quality work Severin left behind coupled with the sincere expressions of appreciation found throughout the Blogosphere and Twitterverse the past few days ensure his efforts will never truly be forgotten.

From Prize Comics Western #110 (Prize, March-April 1955), American Eagle tackles “Red Slavers” in a amazingly non-stereotypical Western drawn by Severin early in his career.

Let’s jump ahead a few years for a tale about an “Abominable Snowman” from Creepy #6 (Warren, December 1965). This story was written by Bill Pearson and illustrated by Severin.

Finally, here’s a parody of Alien from the magazine where I first encountered Severin’s work, Cracked. The humor may not have aged particularly well – it was a bit of a hoot when I was 17 – but I still find the Severin’s art as captivating as ever.

“Allien And How To Watch It” originally appeared in Cracked #149 (Major Publications, November 1979).

Let’s wrap up Valentine’s Day with a classic romance comic that turns the formula on its head: This time, it’s the man who impulsively throws away a chance at true happiness while the spurned woman remains calm and resolute.

The story, entitled “Success Or Else,” is taken from Hollywood Confessions #2 (St. John, December 1949). It was drawn by a talented young buck named Joe Kubert. I wonder whatever happened to him?

Thanks to Mark Waid, the Golden Age Quicksilver found new life as a prominent supporting character in the Wally West Flash and Bart Allen Impulse titles. Of course, Marvel Comics’ tendency to repurpose the code names of defunct super-heroes forced Waid to rename the Quality Comics hero “Max Mercury.”

Although Quicksilver/Max headlines today’s tale, he doesn’t really play an integral role in bringing the villain to justice. Perhaps that is because the real star is Fred Guardineer, who lends his atypically striking art to the effort. Given his masterful depiction of an otherwise lurid murder mystery, it’s easy to see why Guardineer would become such an integral part of the wildly successful Crime Does Not Pay comic.

From National Comics #28 (Quality Comics, January 1943), here’s “At The Circus!” The art, if you haven’t already guessed, is by Guardineer.

The Golden Age Spider Woman was an unusual heroine even by the era’s standards. Helen Goddard, a beautiful shut-in who lived alone in the Ozarks, dressed up as a gigantic spider to keep intruders off her property.

Given that the character only appeared once before fading into the mists of comic-book history, it seems Ms. Goddard’s quest for solitude was a rousing success.

The following tale originally appeared in Major Victory Comics #1 (Harry A. Chesler, 1941). The story and art are uncredited.

As conceived by writer France Heron and artist Jack Kirby, Mr. Scarlet was Fawcett’s answer to Batman, one that was every bit as cold and ruthless as Bill Finger and Bob Kane’s original depiction of The Dark Knight.

The tone of the series rapidly softened, however, as the Crimson Crusader (Hey, why not?) adopted a sunnier attitude and picked up a teenage sidekick, the unfortunately named Pinky. Competent, if unexciting, adventures ensured.

Somewhere along the way, though, somebody in the Fawcett bullpen came up with a brilliant idea: What happens when a masked crime fighter succeeds beyond his wildest dreams?

In the case of Mr. Scarlet, a district attorney in his civilian life, the hero finds himself standing in the unemployment line. The character was so good at his work that illegal activities in Gotham City – believe it or not, Scarlet’s hometown was identified as such in Wow Comics # 1 – ground to a screeching halt and the good citizens no longer required the services of criminal law attorneys.

The end result effectively lampooned the concept of millionaire crime-fighters as Mr. Scarlet literally became the “poor man’s Batman.” The remainder of his adventures, which lasted until 1948, found the super-hero struggling to support himself and his ward as he continued battling the threat of the month.

Until Peter Parker came along 14 years later, I’m not sure comics saw a more hard-luck super-hero than Fawcett’s Mr. Scarlet.

From Wow Comics # 21 (Fawcett, January 1944), here’s the excellently titled “Out To Lunch – With Danger.” The art is uncredited, but the story is provided by one of the medium’s greatest writers: Otto Binder.

So … Archie comics were supposed to be wholesome alternatives to their more lurid Golden Age contemporaries? Rigghhhhhhht.

From Pep Comics # 41 (MLJ, August 1943). The house ad is signed by “Ginger.”

Buster Crabbe was the Brad Pitt or George Clooney of the ‘30s and ‘40s movie serials: the go-to actor whenever a studio wanted a suitably square-jawed heroic type to portray a space ranger or jungle lord.

(In fact, Crabbe was the only actor to ever play Tarzan, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon…)

Crabbe – an accomplished athlete who won a Bronze Medal at the 1928 Olympics for swimming the 1500-metre freestyle and a Gold medal at the 1932 Olympics for swimming the 400-metre freestyle – leveraged his fame on the silver screen to appear on television, launch successful businesses and even headline two comic-book series.

Publishers Eastern Color and Lev Gleason printed a total of 16 Buster Crabbe comics between 1951 and 1954. Although many of the issues were filled with standard western, crime or space opera tales, both series benefitted from the work of such future legends as Alex Toth, Frank Frazetta  and – in today’s tale – Al Williamson, who would later leave his own mark on the character that is arguably Crabbe’s most famous role – Flash Gordon.

From Buster Crabbe #5 (Eastern Color, July 1952), here’s “Buster Crabbe And The Maid Of Mars.” The story was drawn by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel.

As a special bonus, here’s the cover of Buster Crabbe #5 drawn by the one and only Frank Frazetta!