Friday, December 10, 2010

Gil Kane Cover of the Month: Adventures of Rex the Wonder Dog #9

You are all probably aware that Gil Kane drew a number of amazing Rex, the Wonder Dog covers. They are just so much fun, and really harkens back to another era. This is one of my absolute favourites. There are no dinosaurs, no mushroom clouds and no toppling statues, so a beautifully conceived cover. I really love underwater covers (especially those featuring non-aquatic characters), as they are quite suspenseful. In the World War Two based story, Rex and his master, Major Dennis, are trying to hide from Japanese soldiers. Near the end of the story, they must hide in a stream as the soldiers walk by. It's never really explain why Rex needs to be muzzled (would he bark? breathe involuntarily?). Who knows? All I know is that Kane captured the mood perfectly, and made it nearly impossible for a young lad or lass to pass on this book back in 1953. A true classic.

1 comment:

davidbstewart said...

He was going to bite them, of course!