Here we begin a thirteen part series on the Fawcett comic stories of Ibis the Invincible. Appearing in every issue of Whiz Comics (#2-155) as well as six issues of his own comic (and a couple of others), there are a lot of them. Ibis was a major character in the occult detective/supernatural superhero sub-genre of comics. Like most magic-wielding heroes, Ibis was created in response to Mandrake the Magician who was a comic strip character. Later Ibis would be acquired by DC Comics along with Captain Marvel and other Fawcett characters.
I think we also need to acknowledge the mystical fiction of the Victorian age, two authors in particular: Arthur Conan Doyle and Henry Rider Haggard. Doyle gave us “The Ring of Thoth” (The Cornhill Magazine, January 1890) where ancient Egyptians are resurrected by the power of a ring . (Listen to a Radio version from 1947) This story was the basis of the Boris Karloff movie, The Mummy (1932). Haggard wrote “Smith and the Pharaohs” (The Strand Magazine, December 1912) in which a man is tried by the ghosts of mummies in the Cairo Museum. These tales of reincarnation from ancient Egypt were certainly the inspiration for the theme that eventually becomes this comic. Pulp offshoots include H. P. Lovecraft’s “Imprisoned With the Pharaohs” (Weird Tales, May-June-July 1924) Frank Belknap Long’s “A Visitor From Egypt” (Weird Tales, September 1930) and Thomas P. Kelley’s “The Last Pharaoh” (Weird Tales, May June July August 1937) and “I Found Cleopatra” (Weird Tales, November December 1938 January February 1939) among many others.
Ibis was created by Bob Kingett, who penciled and inked other Whiz Comics characters such as Lance O’Casey. Ibis’s story begins in ancient Egypt where he was known as Prince Amentep. He is the possessor of the Ibistick, a magical wand from the god Thoth. Amentep loses his throne to the Black Pharaoh, who also wishes to marry his gal, Taia. When she refuses, the usurper shoots her with a poison arrow. To save her, Amentep puts her in suspended animation along with himself. He wakes in our world of 1940.
Awakening, he finds his true love is not with him. As a turban-wearing man, he goes in search of Taia. All the 1940 issues were written by Bill Parker, who along with C. C. Beck created Captain Marvel at this time. The numbering of the issues is a little confusing but it works itself out. Being such an old comic, only fiche scans are available for some issues. These will be replaced with better scans when they can be found. Some of these first issues are available for free at DCM.
1940
“Ibis Lives Again” (Whiz Comics #2, February 1940) begins with a quick history lesson that tells us that Amentep will return. He does this when his mummy takes up the Ibistick and clothes him. He wants to find Taia so he takes a ship to Egypt (after helping a poor family, preventing a baby from being run over by a runaway van and stopping a torpedo from destroying his ship.) He discovers Taia’s mummy has been taken to Europe. He follows her there, placing a dome over a city that is being bombed. As he is resurrecting her, a thief sees what the Ibistick can do, and steals it. The story ends with the resurrected Taia inside a glass case and the thief running away.
“The Kidnapping of Taia” (Whiz Comics #3, March 1940) has Ibis searching for the Ibistick and its thief. He discovers gold coins falling out a window. The thief has been using the stick to create a fortune. Ibis tries to take it back but the thief decides to turn Ibis into gold. The Ibistick cannot hurt Ibis so it turns the thief into a gold statue. With stick and girl in tow, Ibis creates a new version of Thebes for the couple to live in. An Arab outlaw hears of this and sends his men to kidnap Taia. His ransom note is done with sky-writing: GIVE MAGIC STICK OR GIRL DIES. Ibis comes for Taia, turning the armed soldiers into geese. He turns the outlaw into a pig.
“The Return of King Senwosri” (Whiz Comics #4, April 1940) Using his cosmic teletype, Ibis learns a young American is lost in the tomb of King Senwosri. The couple hurry to Egypt in a speed-car that can also fly. The explorer’s partner tells them that Peter Williams was trapped in the tomb when a sandstorm buried the structure. They enter the cursed tomb. A giant bat attacks but Ibis turns it into a butterfly. Other terrors also strikes but Ibis changes all of them into something harmless. (One is a tarantula which reminds me of the Weird Tales classic, June 1926, “Spider-Bite” by Robert S. Carr.) Ibis and Taia arrive at the throne room as King Senwosri is having Williams beheaded for invading the tomb. The executioner’s axe is turned into a feather. The king agrees to let the American go if Ibis promises never to disturb his slumber again. The three run out but see the king is back in his sarcophagus and the executioner has become a statue. The tomb is reburied by sand, never to be bothered again.
“The Rescue of Boyville” (Whiz Comics #5, May 1940) starts with Ibis getting a message by pigeon that someone has taken over Boyville. He and Taia fly off in a plane and are attacked by another plane. Ibis turns it into a balloon that says HAPPY EASTER on it. At Boyville, they are confronted by a rude man. Ibis turns him into a skunk. Inside the complex he finds all the boys are being used as slave labor by a gang of crooks. Ibis, in an unusual turn, doesn’t turn them all into skunks but handcuffs them so they can be given over to the police.
“Showdown With Murder Malone” (Whiz Comics #5, June 1940) has Murder Malone kidnap Princess Taia with plans of getting the Ibistick. Ibis creates a machine that can track airplanes and follows in his own plane. He finds Taia’s plane crashed. When he parachutes out a cougar attacks him. He changes it into a deer. He tracks the people who left the plane to a guarded compound. The sentries are dealt with before he hears Malone’s plan from his own mouth. Ibis deals with Malone, who would whip a little kitten! by turning the cat into a cougar that leaps then becomes a straight jacket. The crooks get the Ibistick away from Ibis and like the last thief, Malone tries to hurt Ibis and turns himself into a frog. Ibis turns all the crooks into frogs.
“The Lost Ibistick” (Whiz Comics #6, July 1940) begins with Ibis dropping the Ibistick from a plane. A sea captain gets it then gives it to his nephew. The boy gives himself a bike and a dog before a hobo ends up with it. He uses the stick to become a millionaire then he tries to force the government into making him king. Ibis tracks him down and the hobo tries to turn Ibis into ice. The Ibistick refuses to do this and turns the hobo into ice. He melts.
“Enter Carl Brand” (Whiz Comics #7, August 1940) is a meandering episode with Ibis doing good at a carnival while Princess Taia worries about all the good looking women in the world. One of the carnival workers is named Tommy. He wants to be a movie star. Next they fly to Hollywood where they meet the producer, Carl Brand. Tommy is given a contract. The studio has an Egyptian tomb transplanted to Hollywood for a movie. But something is up, when their friend Tommy is grabbed from behind…
“The Black Pharaoh” (Whiz Comics #8, September 1940) has Ibis and Taia trying to find Tommy. Ibis turns the walls to glass but Carl Brand complains about money. Ibis turns them back. He later gets a telegram saying: WAITING FOR YOU AT SHADOW LAKE LODGE–COME ALONE OR THEY WILL KILL ME. TOMMY. He comes alone and is captured. The man behind it all is Carl Brand. He uses the Ibistick to make a giant gila monster to threaten Tommy. He has a legal document for Ibis to sign. It gives the Ibistick to him legally. Ibis gets the stick back and they get away. They take Carl to the cops but Ibis admits he is four thousand years old. The cops think he is nuts and locks Ibis and Tommy up. Later in court, Ibis gets his revenge. When Ibis and Tommy leave court, they find Taia is gone.
“The Wrath of Piang” (Whiz Comics #9, October 1940) has Carl Brand driving off with Taia to ransom her for the Ibistick. Unfortunately for Carl, a bigger villain waits in the wings, Piang. The Asian sorcerer is watching them in his crystal ball. He transports their car to his hideout. Carl Brand tries to stop Piang and is burned up in mystical flames. Exit Brand. Piang tells Taia he is after the magic of immortality so that he may use it on himself. Ibis and Tommy come running but a forest of evil trees is sent against them. (Finally, plant monsters!) Ibis turns the Ibistick into a sword and cuts the tree hands. They get to the hideout, and while Ibis and Piang have a sword fight, Taia destroys his crystal ball. Piang is stabbed and killed. Ibis turns Piang’s evil lair into the beautiful countryside once was, restoring everything to its original state. This causes the dead Piang to return to life.
“The Revenge of Piang” (Whiz Comics #10, November 1940) has Piang following behind Ibis and Taia as they do good for those suffering from the war. Piang throws a bomb but Ibis turns it into a bird. Piang drops a chandelier but Ibis catches it with a net. The villain does manage to get the Ibistick. He takes Taia and Ibis to the highest mountain in the land. Piang tries to use the stick on its owner but the wand refuses and flies from his hand. Ibis and Piang have a very ordinary fist fight. Piang falls to his death. (What more appropriate fate for a Fu Manchu clone? Will he be back?) Meanwhile an escaped prisoner, Deeters, gets the Ibistick. He uses it to send snakes after the posse chasing him. When Ibis tries to stop him, Deeters puts Ibis and Taia in a prison cell of their own.
“The Walking Sphinx” (Whiz Comics #11, December 1940) follows Deeters as he escapes to Egypt. He wishes to have Princess Taia and tries to get fresh. A sphinx appears, condemning Deeters’s behavior, Ibis is summoned but Deeters won’t return the Ibistick. Taia produces a knife and stabs the criminal to death. (Remember, these are Golden Age comics, and characters could do stuff like that!) Ibis consoles her for doing what is necessary. Ibis restores the Egyptian landscape to a paradise before the couple hear of Tommy. He has joined the military academy but has been accused of cheating on an exam. Ibis casts a spell that makes the cheat exam fly to the one who created it. The paper flies to Cadet Newlands. He tries to flee but weird shapes gather around him, accusing his of his sin. Newlands confesses and is kicked out. He throws a cigarette into an ammo dump before he leaves, blowing the school up with Ibis, Taia and Tommy inside!
Well, you’ll have to wait for 1941 to find out what happens next…
Conclusion
As we can see the Ibistick is infinitely powerful. It can do just about anything. Ibis’s enemies realize this can try very hard to obtain it. This is the crux of most of the plots. With the Ibistick, Ibis is more powerful than Mandrake, who uses stage tricks as well as real spells. Mandrake is considered by some to be the very first superhero. We will look at how Ibis was also in that class but also in the occult detective realm as bigger and creeper monsters are brought against him.
On to the next year of great comics…
