Part of the Monstrous Antiquities conference

1. Cigars of the Pharaoh
The monstrous and ancient Egypt in comic-books and cartoons
George Richards
Monstrous Antiquities: Archaeology and the Uncanny in Popular Culture
Institute of Archaeology, University College London
3 November 2013

2. Outline
1. Main themes
2. Background to the texts
3. The dream sequence in Cigars of the Pharaoh
4. The Sphinx in Silver Age American comic-books
5. Mumm-Ra in ThunderCats
6. Conclusions
7. Questions and comments

3. Main themes
1. Magical powers
– Alien powers (superhero comics / ThunderCats)
– Unexplained forces vs. narcotic-fuelled hallucination (Tintin)
2. Unexplained sophistication of ancient Egypt
– Religious (ThunderCats) vs. alien (superhero) vs. artificial (Tintin)
– Above all, not ancient Egypt
3. Artistic interpretation of ancient Egypt for comics / cartoons
– Animal-headed gods, the visual style of hieroglyphs
– Creative interpretation of hieroglyphs: far from realistic, hieroglyphs are used
in their purely superficial form and/or invented

4. Tintin
Adventures of Tintin written and drawn by Georges Remi (nom de plume: Hergé)
Serialised comic strip in Le petit vingtième, children's supplement to Belgian
newspaper; later re-published as albums (books)
Tintin is a boy reporter, who investigates various cases accompanied by his dog, a
white terrier called Snowy
Cigars of the Pharaoh: story of Tintin investigating an organisation of narcotics
traffickers (narcotics smuggled in cigars, hence title)
First published in Le petit vingtième in black and white in 1932-1934
(re-published, colour, 1955)
Egypt sequence:
– Tintin, on holiday on a liner to India, meets an eccentric Egyptologist, Sophocles
Sarcophagus, on board.
– Wrongly suspected of smuggling narcotics and under cabin arrest, escapes when the liner
docks at Port Said.
– Encounters Sarcophagus and joins trip to discover the lost tomb of the pharaoh Kih-Oskh.

5. Tintin
Classic example of “strange”
effects of Egypt
Unexplained
Amenability of ancient Egyptian
art to comic-books / cartoon
(graphic art)
Throne of
Tutankhamun

6. Tintin
2 examples of “magical
powers” / “supernatural
forces”

8. Silver Age superhero comics
“Golden Age” of American comic-books ran from their first publication in the late
1930s (viz, Superman's debut in Action Comics #1 in 1938) until the early
1950s
“Silver Age” ran from mid-1950s (viz, first publication of a successful rebooted
superhero, Flash, in Showcase #4 in 1956) until c. 1970
American comic-books fragmented into sub-genres, especially science-fiction
In this lecture, we consider the following Silver Age comic-books:
– Mystery in Space 1:36 (1957)
– Action Comics 1:240 (1958)
– Strange Tales 1:70 (1959)
– Wonder Woman 1:113 (1960)
– Fantastic Four 1:19 (1963)

9. The Sphinx in comic-books
The Great Sphinx of Giza is still subject to speculation as to its origins:
– Limited evidence to support the conventional wisdom (Khafra /
Chephren)
Instantly recognisable as:
– ancient
– mysterious (“Riddle of the Sphinx”, unexplained origins)
– powerful (by its age, size, and lion symbolism)
Perfect for sci-fi / mystery writing
Earlier Golden Age comic-books tended to use the Sphinx merely as
part of the background, bringing a sense of antiquity / mystery /
power

10. Master Comics 1:66 (1946)

11. Green Lantern 1:14 (1945)

12. The Sphinx in comic-books
Unlike Golden Age, Silver Age American comic-books brought the Sphinx
directly into the story-line
A more sci-fi, fantastical approach
The origins of the Sphinx commonly given as:
– alien technology
– an alien life-form
“Superpowers” of the Sphinx include:
– lasers / rays
– flight
– size

13. Magical powers
Writers have long afforded magical properties to ancient
Egypt – e.g., the sorcerers of Pharaoh's court who sparred
with Moses in the Book of Exodus
In comic-books, “magical powers” have been translated into
sci-fi as “advanced forces”:

death rays

time travel

flight

14. Alien origins
Blending antiquity with aliens – similar to the “ancient
astronaut” theory associated with fringe Egyptology /
pyramidology
Sphinx is foreign and ancient:
– made by alien race
– Sphinx is itself an alien life-form

15. Strange Tales 1:70 (1959)

16. Strange Tales 1:70 (1959)
Early Silver Age comic
Less experimental / creative
Sphinx inhabited by an ancient spirit

17. Mystery in Space 1:36 (1957)

18. Action Comics 1:240 (1958)

19. Wonder Woman 1:113 (1960)

20. Fantastic Four 1:19 (1963)

21. Fantastic Four 1:19
Case study:
– special powers
– suitability of ancient Egypt for comic-book art

22. ThunderCats
ThunderCats is a television series animated in Japan that
first ran on American television between 1985 and 1989.
The ThunderCats are a race of alien humanoid cats exiled
across Space when their planet dies, and led by Lion-O,
their prince
Arriving on Third Earth, the ThunderCats encounter MummRa, high priest of the Ancient Spirits of Evil and a native of
Third Earth
Name is clear reference to mummies and the ancient
Egyptian god Ra

23. Mumm-Ra
“Black Pyramid” – Mumm-Ra's
home
Inhabits a sarcophagus in a hall
decorated with statues of
animal-headed gods

24. Mumm-Ra
“Magical” / supernatural powers
Derived from Spirits of Evil
Electromagnetic?
Transforms “mummified” MummRa into powerful villain

25. Conclusions
Little regard to accuracy (perhaps unsurprisingly)
But little need to veer too far from the imaginative /
colourful fantasy of ancient Egyptian cosmology
and art
Trend towards scientific / sci-fi explanations for
origins of complex ancient Egyptian culture
Commonality – always portrayed as evil

26. Questions