Expert: Chris Brown - 4/18/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi Chris, I have been looking for some years on the internet for a comic from the sixties that had what I remember was a story or series of stories titled Adventures of the Green Cloud - the cloud is sentient, and would float around the world observing the human condition and righting wrongs by enveloping people and somehow instilling them with certain powers.  At least this is my recollection.  Any ideas?  Many thanks for your response, and your interest in comics! Tom

ANSWER: Hi Thomas

Sorry that from the details you give, I can't provide a definitive answer.  It makes me think of DC's "Dial H for Hero," but that had a gadget that was held by one person at a time, originally Robby Reed.  He would get different powers each time he used the gadget, which later was passed on to other persons to use.

Another character with a similar story is Marvel's Captain Universe, in which various people are possessed by a force that gives them superhero powers.  However, that character was from the 80s.

If you can narrow down the time frame, the likely company, or any other details, maybe I can provide some additional clues in your search.

Good luck!

Chris

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you, Chris! Thanks for trying - I will keep checking over time, and maybe I will find the story/s.  The comic would have come out between 1961 and 1968 - I thought DC, I thought "Adventure" in the title - Don't know.  Any chance you are aware of an index of comic for this time frame?  I have spent some time looking at a couple of indexes without too much luck.  

I enjoy your accessibility and willingness to talk.  Internet is an amazing tool.

Best,
Tom

Answer
Hey Thomas

There is no good index that I am aware of.  If you know the title of the comic, you can often find information on Wikipedia.  You can also find pictures and descriptions of individual issues at

www.comics.org

The main comics with Adventure in the title during that period would be as follows:

Adventure Comics (DC)
Strange Adventures (DC)
Adventures into the Unknown (ACG)
My Greatest Adventure (DC)

Adventure Comics had continuing superhero characters and seems like the least likely place for the character you mention to have appeared.  It featured Superboy throughout the 60s and also had a range of back-up features, most notably Legion of the Superheroes.

The three other titles listed above were anthology fantasy titles that occasionally had recurring characters.  Most of the stories in these titles were only 5 or 6 pages long.  If the character only appeared once in a 5 page short, it may prove hard to locate and could have been in one of these titles.

Of course, there were many other fantasy anthology titles of the time without "adventure" in the title as well.  The longest running were as follows: at DC: House of Secrets, House of Mystery; at Marvel: Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, Tales to Astonish; and at ACG: Forbidden Worlds and Unknown Worlds.

If the character was featured in a book-length story, it may have been one of the less popular superhero publishers: Dell Comics or Gold Key.  You can find articles on their comic production at Wikipedia.  I did scan the lists and did not see anything that looked likely to me, but maybe something will ring a bell for you.

Good luck.

Chris