If you missed the last one….
The Silver Age did not produce the number of lost cities that we found in the Golden Age. Unless we include Tarzan. I did a separate post on the Tarzan cities, find it here. I have another one coming up soon. Still, we got some real fun pieces from the Horror comics as well as the usual jungle comics. Funny animals like Mickey Mouse appear as well along with comedians like The Three Stooges. There is no need to explain what a lost city is by this time or what you’ll find there. This is sadly, safe territory, which ruins the fun at times.
The Silver Age
“The Lost City” (Jungle Jim #7, January-March 1956) was written by Paul S. Newman. Jim and Kolu follow a line of elephants to a forgotten Buddhist temple and a lost city in the jungle. The site is being used as a rendezvous for rubber smugglers. They capture the leader of the smugglers, Anak.
“Valley of the Lost”(M-G-M’s Lassie #27, March-April 1956) has Rocky and Gerry in a plane flying over the Yucatan looking for lost ruins to photograph. They find something even better–actual ancient Mayans! They explore the city and meet the chief, Metaxa. The guide Sanchez tries to steal their gold and almost drowns. It is up to Lassie to save him. (No, Timmy didn’t fall down the well, but Sanchez did.)
“The Magic City” (Strange Tales of the Unusual #3, April 1956) was written by Carl Wessler. A movie director pressures his Indian guide to show him the forbidden city. It proves to be a vision of the world five hundred years in the future. When the films are developed later they only show ordinary things. The natives are free to get on with their rites without a lot of white people bothering them.
“Back to the Lost City!” (World of Fantasy #5, January 1957) was written by Jack Oleck. Two men, Mason and Fields, are lost in the desert and see an Incan city in a mirage. When they get back to civilization they are taken to the hospital. Mason looks in Field’s night table drawer and sees a green Incan necklace. He thinks the vision was true and returns to the desert (probably to die). Fields learns it is glass and belongs to the doctor, a gift for his wife.
“The Search For the Lost City” (Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse #54, June-July 1957) has Mickey and Goofy in South America to photograph a lost city. Their guide, Skulk, attempts to kill them by not mentioning piranhas, by cutting their rope bridge and finally pulling a gun on them when they find the city. Mickey uses a jewel from a statue’s eye to blind him with a beam of light. Skulk is arrested.
“The Idol and the Ankus” (Jungle Jim #17, July-September 1958) was written by Gaylord Du Bois. Jim, Kolu and Mr. Starbuck find an ancient temple with an idol and treasure but it is guarded by a black panther and a wild elephant. They escape but the elephant destroys the idol by throwing the ankus at it.
“Prisoner of the Power-Stone!” (House of Secrets #18, March 1959) starts with archaeologist Thaddeus Watkins discovering the sorcerer Rondell’s magic stone. With this template he has the power to do amazing things as Rondell did, like pull off mountain tops, create piles of gold, everything to build a super city. He could make himself a giant and rule with an iron hand. Watkins throws the stone away because he doesn’t want to be slave to the stone’s power. It disappears.
“The Phantom City!” (Adventures Into the Unknown #113, January 1960) was written by Richard Hughes. Two cowboys search for a city that appears like a mirage. When they finally find it, the local inhabitants arrest them and throw them in a golden prison. When the mirage disappears the two disappear as well.
“The Forbidden Stones of Zhatec” (The House of Secrets #49, October 1961) has ghosts fighting over a treasure in a lost city. These sword-fighting phantoms continue their battle in the modern city of today. It is up to the museum’s director to figure out they are fighting over a fortune in emeralds hidden inside a bird statue. He throws the figure down a hole and the ghosts follow. They are sealed up.
“Captives of the Mirage” (The Twilight Zone #6, February 1964) was written by Dick Wood. This fairly lengthy tale has soldiers crash land in the desert, find a city inside a mirage that works like a forcefield, a mystic medallion, and the military guy getting the mirage girl.
“Blueprints of Lost City” (The House of Mystery #125, August 1962) Explorers find a strange city and the blue prints for magical devices inside. They build some of the incredible machines but survivors of the lost city are watching. They plan to attack humanity. Fortunately, they get buried in an avalanche before they can do this.
“The Stooges Go Ape” (The Three Stooges #18, July 1964) is mostly a Tarzan parody but the Stooges do end up in a lost city which is fitting.
“Hot War in the Arctic” (Blue Beetle #2, September 1964) was written by Joe Gill. Modern day warfare in the Arctic leads to some pretty old cliches, lost cities, dinosaurs and frozen Vikings.
“The Lost City” (Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Korak, Son of Tarzan #5, October 1964) was written by Gaylord Du Bois. Jon and T’Kou the bushman go to a lost city in the desert. Two men show up and steal their water. The ruffians go inside the city and find gold. They later die when a wall falls on them (off stage).
“Tembo! Tembo!” (Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes #158, June 1966) was written by Gaylord Du Bois. War elephants attack a lost city. This is an episode in a continuous story.
“The Lost City” (Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan of the Apes #162, December 1966) was written by Gaylord Du Bois. Explorers find a lost city but a wall falls on them (on stage this time). Hyenas come to kill the trapped men. Leopard Girl arrives in time to save them.
“The Lost City” (Turok, Son of Stone #64, January 1969) was written by Paul S. Newman. Turok and Andar find a lost city but it is empty. A number of dinosaurs try to kill them, chasing them into a spiky maze of death. They escape when a flood carries them away safely.
“The Beast Man and the Man Beast” (Jungle Jim #27, December 1969) was written by Bhob Stewart. Jim and his friends find the lost city of Anakor. Unfortunately, it is being used as a lab by a modern day Moreau, Doctor Omar. Omar has men who behave like beasts and tigers that can talk. This is classic brain swapping from the Pulps and bad TV shows. Love the art though!
Conclusion
There really isn’t anything new here. Lost Mayans, jungle idols, even crazy scientists, we’ve seen it all before. The Silver Age uses the location of a lost city to add some mystery but there isn’t much left in the idea made so popular by H. Rider Haggard back in 1885 with King Solomon’s Mines. After decades of novels, Pulp stories and comic books, you might think it was time to put it to bed. But then there was the Bronze Age and more Tarzan. Somehow the old ape man breathes new life into it all.
Next time…return to the jungle of the Bronze Age!
