Flyby DVD commentary (or I get unexpectedly geeky)
When I received my photo for my eventual picfor1000 story, "Flyby", I was excited. I was hoping for a period picture, so I was relieved to get one Warwick Farm races in Australia in 1934, showcasing two women. I loved the idea of writing a female friendship story from the Golden Age of comics, except most heroines didn't start showing up until after WWII started. I wasn't sure how much I wanted to fudge the clothing. That striped dress could be Claudette Colbert in "It Happened One Night" albeit a different neckline. So we'll just have to hand wave the heroines being active in the early 1930s. It's not terribly implausible.
In my reading of old Golden Age scans, I discovered an early crossover where Quality Comics' Phantom Lady from Police Comics appeared in three issues of Feature Comics alongside Spider Widow and her boyfriend/partner the Raven. The crossover spanned Feature Comics #69-71 and Police Comics #20-22. Both features were written/drawn by Frank Borth. Initially Spider Widow thought Phantom Lady was a rival, but they became eventual friends. This story is set a bit after that crossover, so they're used to each other. Phantom Lady's background is fairly different from her DC incarnation; she's just the Senator's daughter here, no Knight family connections, although I did allude to a certain cousin. She did actually have a car outfitted with her black lights. She also doesn't have either of the infamous costumes, just a modest yellow bathing suit and green cape.
I have always been overly fond of zeppelins, so when I looked around for what was happening in early 1930s, I happen to remember the Graf Zeppelin's short appearance at the Chicago World's Fair on October 26, 1933. The organizers had asked Hugo Eckener if the Graf could put in an appearance at the Fair. Eckner obliged if they'd release a special set of commerative stamps. Most zeppelin flights carried mail with special postmarks, so getting the US Post Office to agree was a big deal. Eckener had the Graf circle the fairgrounds clockwise so the swastikas wouldn't be visible on the tailfins. But they'd be visible when the landed, hence the shock value. The Graf landed at the Curtiss Wright airfield, not the main fairgrounds, before heading back to Akron for refueling. I read a couple of different accounts on which order it all happened.
As an aside, if you're in DC, the National Building Museum has a lovely exhibit on the 1930s Worlds Fairs called Designing Tomorrow. I toured the exhibit on my lunch hour one day. The exhibit covers all the 1930s era World Fairs from Chicago through New York, showcasing everything from the architecture and art through to the science and transportation exhibits. I knew that Graf made an appearance, but I didn't know that Goodyear Blimp parked itself on the fairgrounds. I couldn't find anything on the animal exhibits, aside from a jungle diorama, so I imagined Dianne's disappointment at not seeing the spiders. The automakers did showcase their "cars of tomorrow", including a beautiful Packard. I also had a thoroughly unexpectedly geeky moment when the old All Star Squadron fan met Gernsback. Or rather Electro, the Westinghouse robot they'd restored. I didn't ask if Mekanique was hiding nearby.
In my reading of old Golden Age scans, I discovered an early crossover where Quality Comics' Phantom Lady from Police Comics appeared in three issues of Feature Comics alongside Spider Widow and her boyfriend/partner the Raven. The crossover spanned Feature Comics #69-71 and Police Comics #20-22. Both features were written/drawn by Frank Borth. Initially Spider Widow thought Phantom Lady was a rival, but they became eventual friends. This story is set a bit after that crossover, so they're used to each other. Phantom Lady's background is fairly different from her DC incarnation; she's just the Senator's daughter here, no Knight family connections, although I did allude to a certain cousin. She did actually have a car outfitted with her black lights. She also doesn't have either of the infamous costumes, just a modest yellow bathing suit and green cape.
I have always been overly fond of zeppelins, so when I looked around for what was happening in early 1930s, I happen to remember the Graf Zeppelin's short appearance at the Chicago World's Fair on October 26, 1933. The organizers had asked Hugo Eckener if the Graf could put in an appearance at the Fair. Eckner obliged if they'd release a special set of commerative stamps. Most zeppelin flights carried mail with special postmarks, so getting the US Post Office to agree was a big deal. Eckener had the Graf circle the fairgrounds clockwise so the swastikas wouldn't be visible on the tailfins. But they'd be visible when the landed, hence the shock value. The Graf landed at the Curtiss Wright airfield, not the main fairgrounds, before heading back to Akron for refueling. I read a couple of different accounts on which order it all happened.
As an aside, if you're in DC, the National Building Museum has a lovely exhibit on the 1930s Worlds Fairs called Designing Tomorrow. I toured the exhibit on my lunch hour one day. The exhibit covers all the 1930s era World Fairs from Chicago through New York, showcasing everything from the architecture and art through to the science and transportation exhibits. I knew that Graf made an appearance, but I didn't know that Goodyear Blimp parked itself on the fairgrounds. I couldn't find anything on the animal exhibits, aside from a jungle diorama, so I imagined Dianne's disappointment at not seeing the spiders. The automakers did showcase their "cars of tomorrow", including a beautiful Packard. I also had a thoroughly unexpectedly geeky moment when the old All Star Squadron fan met Gernsback. Or rather Electro, the Westinghouse robot they'd restored. I didn't ask if Mekanique was hiding nearby.