This 1960's Spy Hero Is Amazing. Let's Bring Him Back.
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Brain Boy was a short-lived superhero comic, created by Herb Castle and artist Gil Kane, and published by Dell Comics in 1962 and 1963. In this video, I'll tell you all about the series, as well as my attempts to revive it.
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Woah
@@explodingwolfgaming8024 Indeed
I assume you know that Dark Horse published four new issues of Brain Boy in 2013 (though that doesn't mean they own the copyrights) Also, you ought to check out Dell/Gold Key's M.A.R.S Patrol - Total War series. It's also likely PD and I think you'll find that the concept is totally up your alley -- and the central mystery was never revealed so it's open for your interpretation to give it a fantastic conclusion!
I just looked at an issue, and Dark Horse did claim a trademark on Brain Boy in 2013 -- but again, I assume you're way ahead of me on all this...
I am down for the hard cover!
Bro really made a career of looking at abandoned comic characters and realizing „wait, these are so Cool. Why is nobody using them?!“ and gave them a new life.
I think you need to make money for it to be a career
If you like stuff like forgotten characters, check out Fizz fop1! He has a great series called “forgotten characters of the golden age “. He has a bunch of great videos about that.
@@piotyrholbion youtube money/patreon
@@piotyrholbion that's the thing, he is
@718jef not yet. He just got them off the ground, right? He's on his way, but he's only started. I'm sure the youtube channel still makes most of the funds.
The idea of anybody even trying to keep 39 stolen jet liners “out of the newspapers” is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard of my life
I can’t help but think about whether this is the writing staff’s mistake or was information that obscure even back then, relatively recently? Like sure there were newspapers and early tv, but there was no internet to blow up a story into global public attention in a matter of minutes
And it sure as hell was under heavy government regulation. So controlling the narrative was much easier
You know Russia is under sanctions? That includes aircraft and aircraft parts. They have kept their airlines going with black market planes and by seizing other airlines planes that were parked in Russia when sanctions were set. Estimated number of such planes? "About 40". Heard about it in the media?
@@jackhowe6 I know about the sanctions and the black market stuff but I have never heard of the seized planes and I LIVE in Russia. This really is telling and thx for the comment. I will definitely read up on those planes
I love plot points that are so bad they're hilarious.
I could see this as a Kingsman style movie ngl. Still buzzin for Catman and Atlas
Making an animated film universe, acting on stage, and now writing a book.
Starting to feel like you had a stroke and heart surgery because a higher power was scared of how strong you were becoming (but in all seriousness I'm glad your recovering and hope you're doing well)
Not even his first book
Writer, actor, animator. Does this count as being a Triple threat?
The stroke gave him superpowerrs
He already made a book I think
He made 2
15:45 "...took a hard turn into goofy scifi somewhere along the way..." You mean it _wasn't_ when the electricity from a fallen power line gave the unborn child the potential for psychokinetic powers? It's kinda amazing this hadn't been snatched up before now for a re-imagining, or at least one on this scale of trying to take it seriously.
another comment mentioned Dark Horse comics using this character years ago for 3-ish years. This is still good addition to superzeroes universe!
This a pretty wacky 60s comic, but "cold war psychic espionage" can make for a really tense action thriller
I mean.
You can't prove dinosaurs did NOT have psychic abilities.
I loved that part, LOL!
Your right we have dont evidence that they didn't have psychic powers
Good point. After all, we only recently learned they had feathers, proving there's still so much we have yet to learn about them.
Their descendants the crows are too canny to give away their secrets.
Until you can prove the meteor had a mind of its own, that is
“So wha hoppen?” Is legitimately one of the funniest things I’ve heard in a while
A search suggests it was slang during the 50s and 60s. But apparently not widely used enough that we remember it as stereotypical slang of the era now.
Well, this is a welcome surprise. The first star in the Superzeroes universe outside the original line up and a damn good one too. Glad to know we can look forward to more rejected protagonists of yesteryear appearing in your works going forward.
Eventually, everyone will be brought back, and I'm here for it
Remember, Austin did it first, and we're here for it. Soon everyone will appreciate these forgotten characters.
@@ikazuchioniSecond.
Brain Boy came back in 2013 by Dark Horse Comics.
@GraySkull289 Third!
Brain Boy appeared, albeit as a minor character in the superhero nursing home in LOEG Vol 4: The Tempest. However, he was old and therefore was Mind Man.
@@ikazuchioni Most of the Public Domain superheroes have been used by someone else at this point.
I like how he breaks out in beads of sweat floating up stairs. It looks like it would have been easier for him to walk those stairs.
It'd also probably be very stressful thinking what if you fell and broke your jow
Please let the main villain of your book be revealed to be the dinosaur in a human mask. Im buying it to find out.
Was it
It's been done before, look up Dino squad lol
I thought that art looked familiar--it's Gil Kane, who's probably best known for his work on the Silver Age Green Lantern and the Atom, although he did lots of other stuff, too.
Argh, it looks like Kane just did the first story. Wikipedia says that Frank Springer took over the art with subsequent issues.
Love those painted covers! That was one way Dell/Gold Key stood out from other comic book publishers.
Dinosaurs, time machines, robots, AND aliens? This IS amazing!!
Also, I hope Dark Horse doesn't give you any grief over using Brain Boy. They shouldn't, what with the character being PD, but companies get weird ideas, sometimes.
Robots being immune to psychic powers is actually great
The first two would make unironically fun Indiana Jones-esque action/espionage/adventure films...
This is by far the most interesting and engaging character you’ve come across yet. Each of the original comics could easily be made into a Christopher Nolan-style blockbuster. “Telepathic 007” is instantly cool with so much potential. Excited to see what you do with the character!
2:20 This is something that actually happened, btw. The CIA had this time period where they seeked out people that had Psychic abilities to recruit them.
sought out
@@thedreadtygerwow, gottem 👉🏻👉🏻
Project Stargate, I presume?
The way you tell stories is amazing!
A mind reading spy seems like a trope that SHOULD exist!!
This isn't exactly the same thing, but I might recommend Spy x Family if you haven't read or watched it
The Lensman series.
Herbert Burkholz wrote a three book series called "The Sensitives" that did that.
I actually know about Brain Boy from a series called Project Black Sky: The Secret Files from Dark Horse Comics. I didn't know the character was from the 60s, that's pretty cool
I was going to do something... Then I saw a new video from Austin. Thought I'd watch the intro to have a look at what it's about. I am now 25 minutes further in time and have forgotten what I was going to do... But at least i have once again learned about something I would NEVER have learned about on my own.
Thanks Austin, Happy to see you well ♥
I love the art style of this particular era of comic books
Ahhhh, I knew about Brain Boy for years.
Thanks to Alan Moore and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
I think the most interesting part of this from a writing perspective is the dramatic backstory to explain the protagonist's powers that, while not common, are still held by enough other people to make it seem like something that could have developed more incidentally.
Oh snap, is Brain Boy phase 2 of the superzeroes?
This guy is DEFINITELY giving Hollywood a run for it’s money! 😊
Brain boy would be super interesting as a video game series actually, could be a 3rd person stealth-action-mystery'em up or a visual novel point and click at the least.
thanks for making me aware of this. i had never even previously heard of brain boy. this could have been a great jonny quest type 60's cartoon. in 6 short issues they covered pretty much all of the bases : spies. telekinesis. dinosaurs. robots. time travel. great video. thanks again.
It'd be a cool show
These are the kinds of reboots Hollywood should have been making; find stories that had potential, make tweaks and rerelease them
I like how everyone is getting telepathic powers, even the dinosaurs.
Austin, I have been watching and liking all of your videos. And I’m begging, pleading, show us more Six-Gun Gorilla! We got Brain Boy before we got Six-Gun Gorilla 🦍
Thumbnail looks like David Tennant
Damn it really does
Right at first I was like "wdym thats just the doctor" lol
That's literally tye first thing I thought
That’s what I thought too
16:45 Brain Boy gotta stop letting people sneak up on him, lol
I used to write down my ideas for super heroes, got a handful of unique ones, that I never seen anywhere else. Your recent videos inspired me to pick up the habit again, maybe at some point we can team up and do something with them.
You had me at psychic super-intelligent Tyrannosaurs.
Casually originating “Wha hoppen?” several decades prior to A Mighty Wind
4:05 "... an unnamed, deadly assassin." His name is clearly Anka, as it's mentioned twice in the scene where he's sneaking up on Matt, once by himself when referring to himself. 😁
My folks owned a candy store when I was a kid & I read every comic (except the romance ones) from the time I could first read until 1963 when they sold the store, so I remember Brain Boy, including the superintelligent T-Rex. After that split Gold Key published some interesting titles that impressed me back in the day: Magnus Robot Fighter, Doctor Solar Man of the Atom (that had a doomed future back-up feature, "Professor Harbinger") and Total War, about a mysterious, out-of-nowhere army invading the US. I'm sure you've come across them in your research.
There has been a recent comic reboot of Brain Boy by Fred van Lente and Freddie Williams II, published by Dark Horse. However, it seems it's been dormant since 2014.
BB reaaaally had me ready for blue bolt… great twist
I was thinking the same thing. Surprise, surprise.
YES! I've been waiting to get back to some more old comics! I can't wait for the movie and such
Looking VERY nice in your suit Austin!!😮❤
Yeah - just like Brain Boy; quite a coincidence, eh, wot?
The history of Dell is a bit more complicated then what was said in the video. However that being said I am glad more people are finding these forgotten stores that were produced. Dell basically covered everything except superheros (mostly) and horror (not including movies). There are a lot of titles to choose from!
While I've heard of this series, I've never seen any before. This actually sounds like a good series to read. A nice blend of the 60s spy craze and the superhero genre. Thanks for the intro😊
Oh man I don't know if I would have picked up the Brain Boy comic back in the day, if I saw it on a shelf, but I love just listening to you retelling these stories. This has to be my second favouite after 'The Glove of Darth Vader'
This sounds awesome! I just picked up a paperback copy of "The Spider Queen." Looks like I'll have to add another title to the Austin McConnell reading list.
Of course! How else would dinosaurs have been so powerful!
Austin reminds me of me. I have a passion for hunting down and reading public domain comics from yesteryear (especially from the golden era) and have discovered quite a few hidden gems. For some reason my favorite (so far) is Moon Girl. Not to be confused with the recent Marvel comic with the T-rex. The original Moon Girl was from E.C. Comics and was a bit of a bridge between super hero and horror comic. I really enjoyed it, even though it was very short lived. I keep thinking it'd make a great movie. But nooooo.
NOW I need to track down Brain Boy! That too could make a great movie! It really sounds like it has tremendous potential. As a 007 fan, I'd have a particular love for it.
Oh yeah, I’m for sure getting that book.
A new novel you say. Austin, you spoil us.
Has no one else noticed, at 4:36, standing behind Brain Boy is Richard Nixon!
Story and art looks so amazing. Thanks for that.😀
I honestly would love to see a new Brain Boy comic that is a teen action and romance. I feel like it could do good on Webtoon or Tapas- probably under a different name
Nah I like the name
I love how weird this is. While the Marvel Age of Comics was about to start, companies were making this.
I love the bizarre nature of old comic books from the golden and silver age! Growing up with parodies of the Adam West Batman series made me in love with that show and the silver age of comic books!
nice! good luck austin! even more lesser-known characters given new fresh life by austin!
I've got that first Brain Boy. a prized possession. Do love this guy. Dell had their hits
I love how goofy he looks floating up stairs, lol
I hope this becomes an audiobook like the Spider Queen.
Glad it wasn't just me who thought that.
I wonder what public domain heroes are closest to the green lanterns.
The original diamond Jack by fawcett but dc says the bought rights to every fawcett hero but I wasn't able to find any official confirmation and they never used him although there are several unrelated characters with the same name in dc
@@strongman5243 Apparently also absolute heck to find out more on, tried websearchin' him and so little even comes up!
That said apparently he's enemies with Captain Marvel...?
@@strongman5243 Managed to find what was apparently his only appearance if my attempt at researching is right...?
@@strongman5243If I understand the math right, Wow #1 either is public domain or will be in 2035 if it got renewaled.
Assuming no shenanigans.
@@youtubeuniversity3638 I don't think he was and even if he was I don't think DC cares cause image used phantom lady in one of the issues of savage dragon and got away with it also our boy austin is doing his own iteration of the catman so I guess if someone wants to use Jack they absolutely can without any harmful consequences
Marvel:
_Swiggity swappity, I'm about to steal your property._
I just bought the book. I'm interested to see how Austin plays in this universe.
That moment at 4:15 has always floored me. Mainly because -- well, did you notice what's missing from all the Brain Boy comics? That's right, Dell Comics never ever carried the seal of the Comics Code on their covers because everything they put out was assumed to be wholesome and fit to be read by all ages. And yet their "true life stories" material was full of historical tales of demons and torture (they actually put out a "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" comic book) and I've found LSD stories and other craziness in their licensed Twilight Zone comics, just to name a few things. Brain Boy Kevorkianing that spy against his will tops them all, though!
They felt that their own company policy eliminated all objectionable material, thus no need for the code.
Their slogan was "Dell Comics are Good Comics," a riposte to all the comics of the 1950s that were deemed juvenile delinquency incubators...read your Wertham, man!
Austin you sound and look great , hope the therapy is going great
Austin ~ good job! Blessings!💚
I hope an audiobook version is in the works. The Spider Queen audiobook was well done and enjoyable.
Either way, happy to see all the various ways the Superzeroes are expanding.
Sine it's established that physics are a known existence in this world and even recruited by governments, I'd imagine this as a Ghost in the Shell and spy/heist thriller mix. Psychic powers should generally be kept on the weaker side, with enough emphasis on clever infiltration and mind games..
Honestly can’t tell that you had a stroke. I’m sure that some of that can be attributed to editing magic. However, I’m sure that you are just getting better. And I’m so happy to see that.
I bought spider Queen. I’ll buy this!
15:55 Maria is along for the ride! Happy Spaceship Day, y'all
nice throwback, to that story from just 7 years before
Please bring all those obscured, forgotten comicbook characters
Especially Dr. ozmadaus!
I love the image of an entire town just emerging from a lake. It should be in a film.
So happy to see you doing better Austin
My favorite part is simply how they draw him flying upstairs in the stiffest manner possible.
This was the most informative and interesting coverage on the Oz books I've seen. You're a great reviewer, I'm excited to see more!
The eerown are a genuinely cool alien idea, at least for the time.
I dont know why the abrupt "okay bye" at the end made me laugh but damnit it did.
This would be a cool idea for a video game.
0:36 That looks like David Tennant as the 10th Doctor.
It totally does lol. Granted, Tennant’s incarnation was always 50s/60s inspired.
Genius T-Rexes is INSANE
Uh, maybe if we can change the moniker to Mind Man.
i was looking up Nevas Story the other day on Goodreads and had NO idea why you had another book under your name called "Brain Boy." I should've known you were up to something
This is so awesome! I've been enjoying your Superzeros universe videos, cool video Austin!
We've used Brain Boy a few times at InDELLible Comics.
Dude this sounds absolutely awesome I love the idea of a sci Fi James bond
This video is awesome! Keep doing more like this please!!!
2:05. Is Taylor Swift a time traveler?
Did you ever cover Doc Savage pulp stories?
Would be hilarious if you set up several more front organizations, each with their own (superpower) specialties. The spry sociologists, the gregarious geographers, the bustling biologists, and the chipper chemists!
*Coolcat Chemists, ch in chemists makes k sound.
Oh, stop being silly!😛
Presumably the novels are gonna become films or are the prequels thereto, right? It's interesting that Brain Boy is from a later era than our other heroes. I wonder what else the rights defaulted to from around that time
6:27 - "I think this is what the human head looks like from behind?"
I really want a Brain Boy / Cat Man crossover 🔥
That’s pretty cool. I hope the book does well!
Of course she's named Maria
The cover art looks awesome! Who did it?
Yes! Brain Boy is one of my favorites!
Holy crap! Hey man I hope the recovery is going well.
You look soo healthy. ❤
This is so cool and awesome you’re bringing back
Comic Book Four Is Like That One Time Travel Scene In The Teen Titans Go Movie Where They COMPLETELY Gloss Over The Fact They Did That, They Literally Time Traveled To Prevent Superhero Origins, Causing Numerous Superheroes To Stop Exist, Undo Their Mistake and COMPLETELY Move On And Pretend It Never Happened
Yes! Awesome choice. I had one of these as a kid (back when Silver Age comics were everywhere at yard sales and flea markets). Always loved the painted covers Dell and then Gold Key used. Who'd have thought even back then that this would get such great attention? Thanks Austin. EDIT: Whoa, just finished the video and man did I really either rememeber poorly or just had one of the milder issues because, wow, telepathic evil t-rex? Aliens? Robots? The only extraordinary think I recalled was Brain Boy's telekineses (assuming that's what his flight was) and telepathy. Definitely gonna buy the paperback. Now if only one day Brain Boy can meet Nature Boy, I'll really be on cloud nine.