Well, Art Lortie has done it again… In his never ending quest to preserve comic ephemera for the future, he has collected all episodes of the Volto from Mars comic at the Volto Archives.
Volto was the hero of a series of advertisments for General Mills’ Grape-Nut Flakes that ran in several National Periodicals comics (and others) in the 1940’s. As Art writes :
He possessed powers far beyond those of mortal men. By raising his left arm and yelling “Voltoâ€, he could repel all objects; hoist the right and yell “Volto†and he attracts. Do it too much, and he must recharge with hearty doses of cereal.
In the 20 adventures I found, he repels menacing animals and dastardly spies, wearing standard super-hero tights and the requisite finned headgear of science fiction heroes, Luckily at some point the artists realized that his lightning bolt belt buckle would turn Volto — or any unlucky pitchman at a supermarket — into a enuch. So they moved the design onto his stomach.
Thanks, Art !
