Overlooked and Underrated: The Cougar, Part 2 of 2

Once upon a time, it was a fairly common practice not to reveal a character's origin in his first issue. Nowadays, it's apparently a requirement for comic books to tell the hero's origin story in his first appearance, usually making the origin the main point of the tale. I kind of like it when there's a little mystery. But then again, I enjoy reading the frequently denigrated Atlas/Seaboard line of comics from the 1970s, so what do I know? 

Anyway, picking up from where I left off last time, our overlooked and underrated hero The Cougar lasted a mere two issues before the plug was pulled. As you well know, I quite liked The Cougar #1. I found the title character to be a refreshing change of pace from the usual super hero fare. Can The Cougar #2 measure up? Will it be found wanting? Will it outstrip the excellent first issue? Let's find out!

Cougar versus Wolf!

Beginning, as comic books usually do, with the cover, everything looks to be at least on par with The Cougar #1. Take a gander at that cover! They just don't make dynamic covers like this anymore. The Cougar is fearlessly leaping down to tackle a werewolf who clings to the theater's curtain even as he shreds our hero's back with his claws. Nowadays everything is static: a hero or group of heroes standing around as though posing for a sepia-toned photograph. Yuck.

The Cougar #2 was written by Gary Friedrich, who had done some work at Marvel, and drawn by the illustrious Frank Springer, who also contributed to the first issue. The opening caption establishes that the story takes place in Hollywood in the present day (1975). Our hero Jeff Rand, alias The Cougar, is working on the set of what appears to be an adventure film set in Europe in the Middle Ages. After a performing a stunt in which he dives into a castle's moat, Jeff finds a dead body floating there. Not just dead! The man's "throat--looks like it's been ripped out!" 

 Dammit!

While everyone is flummoxed by the discovery, Jeff thinks to himself that he knows who did it. How? The next three pages are all flashbacks as Jeff reminisces about growing up in the bayou swamps of Louisiana. While he enjoyed his childhood poverty and swung about on vines playing Tarzan, he also learned from the wisdom of Black Hattie, "the area's resident witch." Jeff's older brother Rick, for no explained reason, developed a hatred for her. So naturally Black Hattie put a curse on Rick. 

 That's never good.

Two years later, Jeff comes home from a day of fishing and playing Tarzan and finds a half-man, half-wolf has ripped out his parents' throats "exactly like the man on set today." Jeff grapples with the werewolf, but is knocked unconscious. 

It occurs to Jeff that he hasn't seen Rick since that fateful day. "What if--dare I even think it?!" says his thought bubble. Jeff calls his cousin Roger to learn more about their family. As we know from last issue, being named Roger is not a good thing in The Cougar. Sure enough, after Roger hangs up the telephone, the werewolf enters through a window and rips out his throat. Jeff turns up shortly thereafter and calls the police to report his "startling shocking discovery." At the scene of the murder, Jeff and a police detective named Marcus realize someone (or something!) is eavesdropping at the bedroom window, but the werewolf scampers off upon being discovered.

 Couldn't you at least try regular bullets?

The comic book shows us the back of a man who apparently has tried to bind himself with ropes, but to no avail: "No matter how I try to restrain myself--to hold back the nightmare--I cannot!" Interestingly, the man also thinks, "I don't hate Jeff--or anyone else!" I have to admit, there's really no mystery as to the identity of the werewolf, is there? 

 Maybe try chains?

Just in case you're not certain, I'll hold off on the revelation until the comic book tells us for sure.

We cut to Jeff sitting up in bed at his apartment, where again he is reminiscing, this time about how he became The Cougar. After working in Hollywood as a stuntman for two years, Jeff was cast as the lead in a movie about a super hero called The Cougar, but the film bombed at the box office. Jeff went back to work as a stuntman and kept wearing "the corny costume left over from [his] disastrous attempt at stardom." Not much of an origin if you ask me, not to mention it contradicts the statement in The Cougar #1 that he earned his nom de guerre "due to his cat-like speed and agility" rather than any movie role, but then again he's not really a super hero so much as a guy who finds himself in weird situations and does what he can to best the supernatural menaces he faces.

Later that day, Jeff accompanies his girlfriend Janie Johnson to her gig at the L.A. Forum, which is of course where the werewolf next strikes. As The Cougar and Marcus watch Janie's performance from the wings, the werewolf assaults anyone in his way and takes to the stage, where he promptly uses Janie as a human shield against the threat of Marcus's gun. 

 Not sure why he needs a hostage!

The Cougar climbs a rope to the catwalk above the stage and taunts the werewolf. Marcus shoots the werewolf, but naturally bullets not made of silver have no effect. The werewolf rushes Marcus, but The Cougar swings down and knifes the beast before slamming into a large amplifier. I guess the knife was made of silver, as it kills the werewolf, whose dying form reverts to that of Rick Rand, Jeff's older brother. 

 Surprise, surprise!

Sadly, Jeff's act of heroism also shattered his spinal cord. He undergoes surgery, but the doctor tells Janie and Marcus that Jeff will be permanently paralyzed. 

 "Noooo!"

Quite a thing to happen to our hero in only his second outing! The "Next Issue" box at the end of the comic book reads: "A crippled Cougar--helpless in a jungle of evil?!" I read somewhere that in the next issue The Cougar was to get involved somehow in the plight of disabled veterans. Can't remember where I read that, though--maybe in Comic Book Artist #16? Unfortunately we will never know what happened to Jeff Rand, as there was no third issue of The Cougar. The title was canceled even as Atlas-Seaboard imploded upon itself, taking a fine line of comics with it.

Issue #2 doesn't succeed as a mystery, as I don't think anyone failed to guess who the werewolf would turn out to be, but it's a ripping action-adventure yarn and introduces some elements that probably would have been really good if the series had continued. Would Jeff Rand somehow recover from being paralyzed? Will The Cougar work with Marcus to help the police with supernatural cases? Can Janie and Jeff sustain a relationship while dealing with the stress of his paralysis, her burgeoning singing career, and his public heroics, not to mention his work as a stuntman?

Overlooked and Underrated: The Cougar, Part 1 of 2

In my opinion, the Atlas/Seaboard line of comics from the mid-'70s is unfairly maligned and, consequentially, overlooked. I believe many who belittle and disparage Atlas/Seaboard comics are merely repeating what they have heard or read elsewhere and have not actually read the comic books themselves. The reason I believe this is that I often hear the claim that Atlas/Seaboard was "aping Marvel" and that the characters were "Marvel knockoffs." While it may be true Martin Goodman determined that Atlas/Seaboard comics needed to look and read more like Marvel comics, that directive apparently came only after the first couple of issues of most series were already published. Initially, the Atlas/Seaboard line had a wholly different feel than concurrent Marvel or D.C. comics. They were grittier and more grounded in reality, for one thing, what with characters having very limited powers and many of them being more antihero than hero. The Brute killed a young boy in his first issue! The Destructor was only a hero because he wanted vengeance against the mob he used to work for! But today we will discuss...The Cougar!

No, not that cougar--although she is overlooked and underrated as well (I will never understand how Jennifer Aniston can be more popular than Courteney Cox).

 

This Cougar! 

The Cougar #1 was written by Steve Mitchell, who I don't know from Adam, and drawn by Dan Adkins and Frank Springer, two of the most talented artists ever to work in comics. The cover is fantastic. Just check out the acrobatic leap The Cougar is making in his effort to save the blonde damsel in distress from the clutches of a vampire! He puts Daredevil to shame! I want to read this comic based solely on the captivating cover! You don't see a lot of that anymore. The cover copy includes this caption: "A Hollywood Stuntman Turned Night Stalker!"

My understanding is that Atlas/Seaboard originally wanted to license the television series "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" for its comics line but the publisher was too frugal or felt the TV show wasn't successful enough. However, the only thing I really found similar between The Cougar and Carl Kolchak is that both get involved in supernatural occurrences. There's not much else I could put my finger on, although I've hardly seen any episodes of the TV show so maybe a more educated reader can inform me if there is anything more to it.  In any case, issue #1 is dedicated to Dan Curtis, the television show's producer, which is kind of a classy move in my book since they could just as easily have ripped off the concept without acknowledging it at all.

The story opens with our hero, stuntman Jeff Rand, working on the set of a horror movie. It's not stated, but apparently they are filming on location in a village in Eastern Europe, maybe even Transylvania. As the comic book tells us, Jeff "is known to his fellow stuntmen as The Cougar, due to his cat-like speed and agility." After the day's shooting is done, a fellow employee named Roger goes to check out the castle at which they will be filming the next day. While at the castle, Roger finds what he believes to be a prop stake stuck in a cloak in a coffin. You can surely see where this is going, right? 

 

Good move, Rog!

Ol' Rog removes the stake from the coffin, of course, and immediately afterwards pays the price when a vampire suddenly appears. The comic book cuts away before we see exactly what happens to Roger, but you can be sure it's nothing pleasant.

The vampire then takes to the village streets "to quench his ages-old thirst for blood." He comes upon a tavern where Jeff (in a super hero costume for no apparent reason) is knocking 'em back with Harve, a fellow stuntman, and an unnamed blonde makeup artist. The vampire believes the makeup artist to be "Katya...my love!" The vampire assaults Jeff and attempts to abduct "Katya," resulting in a brawl.

 

Just like this.

Poor Harve is such a wimp, the vampire knocks the fight out of him faster than you can say Jack Robinson. A policeman turns up and shoots the vampire five times, achieving nothing except the vampire apparently panics and flees. No one tries to stop him. A caption reveals that the blonde makeup artist is called Kathie...any connection with Katya?

The next day Roger, of course, doesn't show up for work and his whereabouts are unknown. Jeff determines to check the castle where Roger was last known to have gone. Roger's body is found there...drained of blood! 

 So much for Rog.

Jeff goes to an old bookstore to see if he can learn more about the castle outside of town because "it's owner was supposed to be a vampire!" With the assistance of an elderly clerk, Jeff learns that the castle was built by Baron Krolok in the 1600s, who "went off to fight the Turks and when he returned, he did so as one of the undead!" The villagers used "one of his blood-lovers...a girl named Katya" as part of a trap to destroy Baron Krolok. Jeff pieces it all together and arranges police protection for Kathie because she "must look enough like [Katya] for Krolok to think [Kathie] is [Katya]!" The vampire soon turns up at Kathie's door, where he makes short work of the policemen who stand in his way. He kicks in the door and knocks out The Cougar, then abducts Kathie.

 Baron Krolok doesn't mess around!

Twenty minutes later, The Cougar regains consciousness, commandeers an old car, and races to Baron Krolok's castle. He proceeds to get the crap beaten out of him for a two full pages.

 Vampires are tough!

Soon, though, he finally wises up and breaks a wooden table to make a stake, which he then uses to impale the vampire, thereby ending the undead menace. The end.

 You had it coming, Krolok!

I like that The Cougar has no super powers and doesn't even come off as especially bright. Nor does he have a bone to pick with criminals. He's just a really good stuntman and a guy who wants to help his friends. There's no over-the-top emoting as you would find in Marvel if, say, a friend of Peter Parker's was found dead. Unlike Peter would probably do, Jeff feels no senseless guilt over failing to prevent something he wasn't involved in. There's none of this "I'll handle it on my own!" nonsense either; Jeff's first move is to contact the police! It's refreshing. There's nothing especially Marvelesque about it, either, except perhaps the use of the banner across the front cover. And I only wish D.C. had been producing comics as good as this at the time!

Stay tuned for my review of The Cougar #2!