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 John F. Kennedy |
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Monday, November 20 2006 @ 02:12 AM PST
Contributed by: Scott Shaw!
Views: 2,676
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| E-Mail | Introduction | Archives | Message Board | November, 20, 2006 Issue #1134 of 1282 | Title: John F. Kennedy
Issue: 12-378-410
Date: August – October, 1964
Publisher: Dell Publishing Co., Inc.
Cover Artist(s): none
ODDBALL COMICS observes the 43rd anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination…but here’s a sobering thought – it took JFK’s murder to provoke Dell Comics to print this issue of JOHN F. KENNEDY, penciled by UNCANNY X-MEN inker John Tartaglione and inked by BATMAN’s Dick Giordano! And to answer all those conspiracy theorists – it’s a one-shot! (Just be glad it’s not a Harvey comic!)
President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. Prior to this national tragedy, Dell didn’t publish comics like JOHN F. KENNEDY; instead, they specialized in “funnybooks” for young kids, primarily featuring licensed characters and stars from animated cartoons, children’s books, comic strips, movies and television series. But when Western Publishing Company, Inc. – which provided Dell’s content – parted ways with Dell to create their own “Gold Key” imprint – Dell was on its own regarding the creation of new comics. From that point on, a significant portion of Dell’s comics was aimed at an older audience; these titles included such Oddball classics as BRAIN BOY and KONA, MONARCH OF MONSTER ISLE. Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that Dell’s editors, in response to a still-grieving nation’s interest in their slaughtered leader, would publish an entire comic book devoted to the life story of JFK. (It’s unknown if the similar comic book titled JOHN F. KENNEDY, CHAMPION OF FREEDOM, published in 1964 by Worden & Chiles, appeared on comic racks before or after Dell’s four-color biography of JFK.) JOHN F. KENNEDY must have sold very well indeed, because soon after its appearance, Dell published other comics devoted to American political figures. These included BARRY M. GOLDWATER (No. 12-055-503; March, 1965) and LYNDON B. JOHNSON (No. 12-445-503; March, 1965), ADLAI STEVENSON (No. 12-007-612; December, 1966) and DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (No. 01-237-912; December, 1969). For that matter, JOHN F. KENNEDY sold so well that it was reprinted twice by Dell, in editions No.’s 12-378-511 (November, 1965) and 12-378-606 (June, 1966)!
Comic book writer, editor and historian Mark Evanier has said of cartoonist John Tartaglione, “He became the ‘go-to" guy when a project came along that required historical research and/or spiritual themes.” John (1/19/1921 -- 11/12/2003), grew up in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, and studied at the Pratt Institute and Manhattan’s Traphagen School Of Fashion. In 1941, John got his start in the comic book industry by working as a runner and production assistant at Harvey Comics. Later, he found work at Bernard (The Spectre”) Baily’s comic book art packager, Baily Publications. In the 1950s, Variously signing his work at “John Tartag”, “Tartag”, “Tar”, “Leone” and even “JT”, John began working for Atlas/Marvel Comics in 1954, primarily drawing romance comics -- using his family and neighbors as his models -- but also working in the suspense, adventure, sports and crime comic genres in such Atlas titles as JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY and SPELLBOUND. He also worked for DC Comics, Charlton Comics and Gilberton Comics. For this last publisher, John drew CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED adaptations of WON BY THE SWORD and TOM BROWN’S SCHOOLDAYS. For Dell’s MOVIE CLASSICS, he drew adaptations of such films as JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and BEACH BLANKET BINGO, TV show-based comics such as BURKE’S LAW and BEN CASEY, as well as the JOHN F. KENNEDY and LYNDON B. JOHNSON presidential biographies. Returning to Marvel in the mid-60s, John worked mainly as an inker, with credits on SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS (working over Dick Ayers’ pencils), THE UNCANNY X-MEN (working over Werner Roth’s and Jim Steranko’s pencils), DAREDEVIL (working over Gene Colan’s pencils) and NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (again working over Steranko’s pencils). In 1982, working with writers Steven Grant and Mieczyslaw Malinski and inker Joe Sinnott, John drew Marvel’s THE LIFE OF POPE JOHN PAUL II, which reportedly sold millions of copies in multiple languages worldwide. It was followed by 1984’s MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA, written by David Michelinie and again inked by Joe Sinnott. Other comic book gigs included George A. Pflaum’s TREASURE CHEST OF FUN AND FACT, Marvel’s adaptation of the 1981 movie DRAGONSLAYER and a variety of promotional “giveaway” comics and licensed children’s books, as well as doing work the APARTMENT 3-G (assisting creator Alex Kotzky) and THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (inking Larry Lieber’s pencils) syndicated newspaper comic strips. In John’s later years, he also executed fine art oil paintings and portraiture. Both of his adult children, Mary Beth and John, have carried on in John Tartaglione’s creative tradition and are artists themselves.
Cartoonist Richard Joseph “Dick” Giordano was born on July 20, 1932 in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. Entering the comic book business in 1951, Dick considers his primary artistic influences to Stan Drake, Alex Raymond and Hal Foster. His first job was working on Fiction House’s “Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle” for the Jerry Iger Studio. Dick worked as a penciler, inker and cover-artist primarily for Charlton Comics for many years. Dick also did a considerable amount of freelance work for Dell, such as JOHN F. KENNEDY. In the mid-1960s, Dick was promoted to the position of Charlton’s Editor-In-Chief, and as such, he brought an era of quality to Charlton’s line of “action heroes”, including CAPTAIN ATOM, BLUE BEETLE and “The Question”. When his distinctive approach to editing comics was noticed by DC’s Publisher, Carmine Infantino, Dick was hired to supervise such titles as AQUAMAN and BAT LASH. It was definitely a step up from working at Charlton -- which happened to share a building with a bowling alley and owned a press that was capable of printing cereal boxes – but DC also benefited by Dick’s innovative contributions to the rather staid and institutional company. In the late 1960s, Dick joined forces with cartoonist Neal Adams, first as his inker/collaborator on BATMAN, DETECTIVE COMICS and GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW, then, early 1970s, as his partner in forming Continuity Associates. Returning to DC as the editor of the “Batman” titles, at the behest of the company’s new publisher, Jenette Kahn, Dick soon rose to Managing Editor and eventually, Executive Editorial Director. Together with Kahn and Paul Levitz, he oversaw the re-launching of most of DC’s major superheroes, as well as the creation of DC’s “Vertigo” line of comics, as well as such funnybook milestones as CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS (which he also helped to ink, over the pencil art of George Perez), Alan Moore’s WATCHMEN and Frank Miller’s THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS. Along the way, Dick also inked the groundbreaking team-ups SUPERMAN VS. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (over Ross Andru) and SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI. (over Neal Adams). Dick also brought a lot of top talent into the comic book business as his assistants; these include Terry Austin, Klaus Janson, Bob Layton, Steve Mitchell and Mike DeCarlo. Although the award-wining artist/editor went into semi-retirement in the early 1990s, he’s still quite active in the comic book field. Dick draws the occasional comic book assignment – including material for DC, such as BATMAN: DARK KNIGHT OF THE ROUND TABLE, BATMAN: HOLLYWOOD KNIGHT and THE L.A.W. – as well as stories starring THE PHANTOM for Moonstone and private art commissions. In 2002, with partners Bob Layton and David Michelinie, Dick launched Future Comics. He also still manages his own commercial art service, Dik-Art Inc. In 2003, TwoMorrows published CHANGING COMICS ONE DAY AT A TIME, a retrospective of Dick’s life and work, written by Michael Eury, and in 2005, Impact Books published an instructional book written and drawn by Dick himself, DRAW COMICS WITH DICK GIORDANO. Dick also currently sits on the board of directors of The Hero Initiative, AKA the A.C.T.O.R. (A Commitment To Our Roots) Comic Fund, “the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need.”
Dell’s JOHN F. KENNEDY, a 32-page one-shot, penciled by John Tartaglione and inked by Dick Giordano – apparently with the aid of large stacks of photo-reference -- opens with an unusual splash-page, one that’s completely black, with the exception of a box at the page’s center! It reads:
COPY IN BOX:
As a student at Choate John Fitzgerald Kennedy was not a top student, yet his inquiring mind made up for his middling grades. His fellow students even then recognized that, although he was not a star athlete nor an honor student, he had the makings of greatness. In their senior year they voted him…THE MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED!
The first illustrated panel of this biographical comic book picks up on that thought with the image of young JFK, surrounded by his classmates, as they look over their school’s yearbook. In the next panel, the story takes a leap backwards by nearly a century, as we’re shown his great-grandfather, Patrick Kennedy, as “The Great Potato Famine” forced him to make the fateful decision to leave his home of New Ross, Ireland to emigrate to America. Arriving in Boston, Massachusetts, Patrick managed to secure employment as a cooper, making and fixing barrels. In 1862, his son, Patrick J. Kennedy, was born, and when his father died at a tragically early age, the youngster became “the man of the house”. While still a teenager, Patrick opened “Pat’s Tavern”, a popular hangout near the Boston shipyards. Within a few years, Patrick had expanded his holdings into a chain of taverns and a sizable interest in a local bank. As he gained prominence in Boston, Patrick’s original tavern became a political meeting place and its owner became a Democratic ward leader. Patrick became friends with the influential leader of the North End of Boston, John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, who eventually was elected as the mayor of the city. As a results of their parents’ friendship, Patrick’s son Joe met John Fitzgerald’s daughter Rose and began a courtship that lingered for seven years until they got married. During this time, Joe Kennedy graduated from Harvard University and became the youngest bank president in America, resolving to make his first million dollars by the time he turned 35 years old. After WWI, Joe became a member of a top brokerage house on Wall Street, with an inner drive so relentless that the neuritis-stricken financial wizard even worked from his sickbed, saving a multi-million cab company from bankruptcy in the process. As his financial empire grew, so did his family. On May 29, 1917, Joe’s second son was born and baptized John Fitzgerald Kennedy. We’re shown scenes from Jack’s childhood, including sledding with his father and older brother Joe Junior, entering Dexter (a private school near his home), playing football with Joe Junior and sisters Rosemary and Kathleen and on the swimming team at Canterbury, a Catholic boarding school. It also reveals the source of inspiration for young Jack’s future political ambitions:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
While his father represented the financial world, Jack’s grandfather, Honey Fitz, made politics some alive for him! One of his earliest memories was when he was six years old and heard his grandfather campaigning for the governorship…
At Choate, an “exclusive boarding school”, Jack operated under the shadow of his older brother, Joe Junior, and was often homesick. But things were a bit different at the Kennedy family’s new summer home at Hyannisport on Cape Cod, where Jack’s siblings turned their front yard into a baseball field. But the rivalry between Joe Junior and Jack was still an issue:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
In the absence of their father, Joe Junior took over the family reins! But his rule was not unchallenged! Again and again, the younger brothers and sisters watched Jack’s valiant struggles…
ROBERT KENNEDY:
Get him, Jack! Beat him just this ONCE!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
But their father kept the rivalry in hand! At the dinner table, he encouraged debate and discussion…
JOSEPH KENNEDY:
But remember this! Always ask yourselves two questions – what will I do about this problem? And – what will Dad say about my solution?
To break this “little brother” label, Jack applied and was accepted to Princeton University rather than Harvard. But illness forced him to drop out and in September, 1936, he began to attend – again, in the trail of Joe Junior -- his father’s alma mater, Harvard, where, again due to illness, Jack unsuccessfully tried out for the swimming team.
STUDENT (thinking):
Too bad! Third place won’t make the team! But he sure swam fast for a guy with a temperature of over a hundred!
Meanwhile, Jack’s father continued to prosper, having avoided the financial disasters of the “Great Depression”. This attracted the attention and respect of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who appointed Joe Kennedy to head the Security Exchange Commission, “the watchdog commission over the stock market”. In 1937, President Roosevelt made another surprising appointment:
PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR:
Are you really naming Joe Kennedy to be our ambassador to England? What’s an Irish Catholic going to do in St. James Court?
PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT:
If I know Joe, he’ll do quite well!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Garbed in official magnificance, (sp.) Joe Kennedy was presented to the king of England! As he handed over his credentials, he knew that his most daring hopes had come true! From humble origins, he had become America’s ranking diplomat…But he served England in troubled times! War broke out while he was ambassador! Despite the war, Jack visited his father at the embassy! While on a visit, a Nazi sub torpedoed the British liner ATHENIA, sending three hundred home-bound Americans into the sea…His father sent Jack down to help the American survivors! When he met them, he found an angry hostile crowd…
SURVIVOR:
We want a CONVOY! You can’t trust the German navy no matter what YOUR old man may say –
JOHN F. KENNEDY:
I’ll recommend to the ambassador that you all be shipped home in a convoy!
After receiving his degree from Harvard, Jack wrote his thesis in political science. In it, he attempted to explain – based on his first-hand observations – why England had “slept” while Germany “rolled over” Europe:
JOHN F. KENNEDY (writing):
“What we need is an armed guard that will wake up when the first fire starts or, better yet, one that will not permit a fire to start at all!”
Encouraged by his father, Jack submitted his thesis for publication, and before long, at the young age of twenty-three, he suddenly found himself to be the best-selling author of WHY ENGLAND SLEPT. Meanwhile, anticipating that it was only a matter of time before America would enter the war, Jack attempted to enlist in the army, but an old back injury prevented him from joining. This led to five months of back-strengthening exercises, after which, Jack was commissioned in the fall of 1941, although he was assigned to a desk job in Washington, D.C. when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese forces on December 7. The next year, while his older brother Joe Junior was winning his Navy pilot’s wings, Jack was finally assigned to sea duty in a motor torpedo boat squadron, and by March, 1943, Lieutenant (J.G.) John F. Kennedy was shipped overseas and made skipper of his own PT boat – number 109 -- in the Solomon Islands. But the future held disaster for the small vessel:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
On the night of August 2nd, 1943, as PT 109 patrolled on a routine run in Blackett Strait, a cry went up from the starboard gun turret…
SAILOR:
Skipper! Jap destroyer at two o’clock! She’s coming up fast – to RAM US!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Down the strait, the Jap destroyer AMAGIRI raced at thirty knots! Half a mile ahead, her commander saw the tempting target! Swinging slightly starboard, the Jap warship struck! It hit hard amidships! Like a surgeon’s sure scalpel, the alien bow cleaved the small craft in two…
SFX:
CRASH!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
The fuel tanks, loaded with high-octane aviation gasoline, erupted in a brilliant burst…
SFX:
BWOOOM!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Certain the trifling torpedo boat’s crew was dead, the Jap destroyer hurried on! Behind it, she left two dead and eleven survivors, some burned and some wounded, all shaken! Jack Kennedy, slammed against the cockpit, had one thought filling his mind…
JOHN F. KENNEDY (thinking):
This is how it feels to be killed –
Eleven of Jack’s crew survived the ramming, but no rescue ship appeared. As their severely damaged boat threatens to sink, Jack made the decision to swim for a small island three miles distant from their location:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
But one crewman, McMahon, was too weak from burns to swim! Now, the years of swimming team practice could pay off! Biting the leather strap from McMahon’s Mae West, Jack Kennedy started stroking for the distant island…For five hours, Jack swam! For five hours, despite the salt water that splashed through his crooked teeth and half choked him, Jack Kennedy carried along the dead weight of the wounded man! After five tortuous hours, the survivors staggered ashore…Jack did not rest long! At dusk, carrying the ship’s lantern, he went back into the water to swim toward Furguson Passage, a regularly patrolled PT Boat route…Vainly, he floated and treaded water, waiting hour after hour for a PT boat to speed his way…Finally, realizing defeat, he swam back! Coral reefs cut him, waves buffeted him, but he headed for his waiting men! He reached their island started ashore, and collapsed! A day later, Jack le the men on a three hour swim to an island nearer the PT Boat patrolled passage…On the fourth day, Jack and Ensign Ross swam to Nauru Island! There, luck changed! They found Jap supplies that had been washed ashore and soon hailed friendly natives…On a coconut, Jack Kennedy carved a desperate message…Miraculously, the message got through! An Australian coast watcher, stationed behind Jap lines, passed along the word! Soon, a friendly PT boat nosed up…
SAILOR:
Hey, Jack, we’ve got some food for you!
JOHN F. KENNEDY:
No, thanks – I just had a coconut!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Hospitalized because of his back injury, Jack Kennedy sadly realized he was out of the fighting for the duration…His heroic conduct was quickly recognized! Besides the Purple Heart, Jack Kennedy was awarded the Navy and Marine medal with a stirring citation…”His courage, endurance and excellent leadership contributed to the saving of several lives and was in keeping with the highest tradition of the United States Naval Service!”
(John F. Kennedy’s wartime experiences as a PT boat skipper provided the basis for the 1963 motion picture PT IO9, directed by Leslie Matinson and starring Cliff Robertson, Robert Culp, Ty Hardin, James Gregory, Robert Blake and Grant Williams.) Meanwhile, Jack’s older brother Joe Junior was flying missions over Europe. But while on an assignment to bomb German submarine pens:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Joe Kennedy Jr. jockeyed his plane over the channel! Its nose swung for the Belgian coast, but long before he ever neared the bail-out point, two unexplained explosions ripped apart his lethally loaded craft.
SFX:
BLAM!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
On August 2nd, 1944, one year to the day that his second son’s PT boat sent down, Joseph Kennedy Sr. faces two sad eyed callers…
PRIEST:
Your oldest son – is reported – missing!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
But tragedy had not finished with the Kennedys! A month later Kathleen’s husband, a British peer, the Marquis of Hartington, was leading his Coldstream Guards into action in France…
THE MARQUIS OF HARTINGTON:
Come on, you fellows! Buck up!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
An instant later, Jack’s favorite sister was widowed…
In 1945, Jack was discharged from the navy, and after a brief try at journalism, he decided to get involved in local politics:
JOHN F. KENNEDY (thinking):
Joe said if he ever was going to start on the road to the White House, it would begin here in Massachusetts’ Eleventh Congressional District! Well – I’m beginning HERE!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
With the announcement that the district’s congressman was vacating his seat, Jack tossed his hat into the ring! The district extended from East Boston where his father was born to the North End where his mother was born! The Fitzgerald-Kennedy name was known…Suddenly, Jack discovered he had unexpected help! He knew he could count on his family, but friends began pouring into his Boston headquarters! Friends from Choate, chums from college, shipmates from the navy…
CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER:
Jack should be able to charm the voters here! Look what he’s got me doing for him – and I’m a Republican!
Despite being pinned with the derogative label of “the poor little rich kid” (which later became the phrase much more associated with Harvey Comics star “Richie Rich”!), Jack won the election by a landslide. His grandfather, old “Honey Fitz” even danced a victory jig atop a table upon hearing the news!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
When John Fitzgerald Kennedy took his seat in the 80th Congress, it was a Republican controlled legislation! Despite the Democrat Harry Truman in the White House, Kennedy was in the minority party and as a liberal, in the minority faction of his own party! He fought for veteran’s housing and laws to prevent the lower wage centers in the south from luring business away from New England…His otherwise routine freshman term sowed one flash of courage! His congressional predecessor James Curley was in a federal prison for fraud! The Massachusetts congressmen petitioned for Curley’s pardon on grounds of health. Jack checked and felt Curley’s physical condition did not merit pardon – he alone refused to sign the petition…
In 1948 and 1950, Jack easily won the re-elections, but by now, he had his set his next goal even higher, planning to run for senator. His mother and sisters even pitched in to work for his election:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Jack was faced with a tough opponent…Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, descendant of a famous Boston family. Nationally known, Lodge was a great vote getter! Kennedy would need professional help, but instead, he amazed everyone by naming his younger brother Bobby, who had just graduated law school, as his campaign manager…Bobby was to prove an astute manager! Quickly, he helped set up Kennedy centers in over three hundred communities! Meanwhile, Jack’s mother roamed the Italian and Irish wards, speaking like any ordinary mother…
ROSE KENNEDY:
Of course I understand your problem! I had the same – with nine children! But I kept a card like this for each child to tell me when he was due at the dentist!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Jack’s sisters Eunice, Pat and Jean gave a series of Boston tea parties! They occasionally ran out of cups, but never out of potential voters, as over fifty thousand women came! If anyone missed running into a Kennedy on the street or sharing tea with them they couldn’t escape them to have ‘coffee with the Kennedys’…
In November, 1952, Jack won the senatorial election, defeating Lodge, whose grandfather had beaten Jack’s grandfather, “Honey Fitz”, two generations earlier for the same seat!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
That same year, jack met the socialite daughter of a Wall Street financier at a party! But Jacqueline Bouvier was destined to become more than just his dinner partner…On December 12th, 1953 before over a thousand invited guests, Arch-Bishop Cushing of Boston married them!
Unfortunately, the young senator’s persistent problems with his back threatened his health – and his life! Determined to recover, Jack took things easier, but used his “down time” to work on writing a book that would win him a Pulitzer Prize, PROFILES IN COURAGE. In an ironic turn of events, at the 1956 Democratic convention, Jack was even nominated to be the running mate of presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson by Texas senator Lyndon B. Johnson. (Senator Estes Kefauver actually won the position, but the Democratic ticket for the presidency lost to Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon.) In 1957, Jack and Jackie’s first child, Caroline, was born. (In 1961, Charlton Comics even published an entire CAROLYN KENNEDY comic book devoted to “America’s First Young Lady”!)
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Having come close to making the ballot in his party’s second spot, Jack was now aiming for the presidential nomination! By 1958, his face became a familiar cover photo…A carefully planned primary schedule started in 1959! Using a private plane, the Caroline, Jack flew from state to state! His close advisors, led by his brother Bobby, flew along briefing him on local leaders and helping him test his speeches…In the next eighteen months, Jack journeyed over 400,000 miles, met countless thousands, spoke hundreds of times and shook innumerable hands…At some stops, only a few local supporters were on hand, but Jack greeted them as if he faced thousands…At other stops, the stars of the screen rallied huge crowds to support Kennedy…
(Here, Jack is shown on stage with Frank Sinatra, Peter Lawford and Dean Martin.) At one public appearance, a high school student asked Jack a heretofore unspoken question that had been on many voters’ minds:
STUDENT:
Senator Kennedy, can a CATHOLIC become president?
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Suddenly, the issue was there! No Catholic had ever been president of predominately Protestant America! Old fears of divided loyalty between the church and state were waiting to be aroused by bitter bigots! John Fitzgerald Kennedy answered point blank…
JOHN F. KENNEDY:
I see no reason why, if elected, I could not fulfill the presidential oath – it’s the same oath I took on entering the navy, the House and the Senate! I believe in the SEPARATION of church and state! And may I add, no one asked my brother Joe if he had divided loyalties before he was allowed to die for his country!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
While that answer satisfied millions of hesitant Americans, it didn’t quiet what convinced them that a Catholic candidate could run successfully was the West Virginia primary! In that section of America, Jack campaigned hard – and won! But he won more than a primary – he won a telling victory against prejudice…
After a suspenseful process of selection at the 1960 Democratic convention – Johnson and Stevenson had many “loud and loyal supporters” – Jack finally gained his party’s full approval. With his brother Bobby skillfully working for him behind the scenes, Jack mounted an effective campaign against his opposition:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Lyndon Johnson was Kennedy’s choice for a running mate! Kennedy faced a top opponent, Eisenhower’s vice-president, Richard Nixon! To counter Republican Nixon’s nationwide fame, Jack maneuvered him into accepting four televised debates! Some hundred million Americans watched with fascinated interest…Election night, the family gathered at their father’s home in Hyannis! Excitement and hope mounted, as Jack took a commanding lead! Then, the Midwest vote started coming in…
BOBBY KENNEDY:
Nixon’s cutting down your lead – but you WILL make it!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
The seesaw battle was not over until noon the next day. When Kennedy won Minnesota’s electoral votes! Then, Nixon sent him a congratulatory telegram…
RICHARD M. NIXON (on television):
…You will have the united support of all Americans as you lead the nation in the cause of peace and freedom in the next four years…
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
At 1:30 that afternoon, the family went to the nearby armory! Listening to his son’s acceptance speech was the man whose dream had come true! His financial brilliance had won him a fortune! But more important, his success as a father had produced a son, in whom a nation had put its trust…
JOHN F. KENNEDY:
So now my wife and I prepare for a new administration and a new baby! Thank you!
As America’s youngest president to date and the first one to be born in the Twentieth Century, Jack delivered a historic inauguration address:
JOHN F. KENNEDY:
Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans – born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace…
Referring to his administration as “the New Frontier”, the new president got to work:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Once in office, President Kennedy plunged vigorously to work! He called his administration – the New Frontier! Perhaps, its most lasting monument will be the dedicated workers, young and old, who by the thousands journeyed to foreign lands to help wherever help was needed under the banner of Kennedy’s famed Peace Corps…Among the high points of his administration was America’s first orbiting man in space! On February 21st, 1962, Colonel John H. Glenn Jr.’s space capsule hurtled skyward and circled the Earth three times…In October, 1962, when intelligence reports showed that Cuba was being turned into a Russian missile base, Kennedy acted quickly! His naval encirclement of that island and tough confrontation with the Soviet government resulted in the missiles being shipped back to Russia…
President Kennedy’s non-political life is touched upon as well:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
There was another addition to the White House, his son John Junior…As president, he set the taste of the nation! Sharing his wife’s appreciation of the arts, John Kennedy soon filled the White House with brilliant musicians, authors, artists and scientists, making it a cultural as well as political center…
The last two pages of this story – with an inappropriately exclamation-point-filled narration --examine the assassination of President Kennedy:
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
On November 22, 1963, President Kennedy and his wife were touring Dallas, Texas! Cheering crowds lined the streets! But where the motorcade had to slow to make a turn, a lone man kneeled, a rifle clutched tightly in his hand…The telescopic sight swung onto its target and the gun blazed…the President slumped down! His wife turned in horrified disbelief! A second shot struck, as her anguished cry went out…
JACQUELINE KENNEDY:
Oh, no, no, Jack! Jack!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
For almost an hour, a stunned, shocked nation waited…Then it learned, the President was dead! The once vigorous, youthful leader lay forever still! At the Capitol in Washington for a whole day and night, over a quarter a million grieving Americans came to pay their silent respect…The world seemed to stop! From every corner of the globe to march in the funeral cortege down Washington’s streets! Kings, queens, emperors and presidents stepped to the sad beat of muffled drums…Denied the privacy of sorrow, Jackie Kennedy gave the watching nation a sense of valiant majesty! With loving care and a sense of historic tradition, she saw to every detail of that sad event…Outside the church, a tiny hand was raised in reverent respect! The President’s son stood at attention, a small soldier saluting his leader’s passing…He now lies at Arlington National Cemetery on a spot that only months before he had visited and admired! Now, long after the buglar’s (sp.) solemn taps had faded, after the mournful bagpipes’ wail has died, his own words still echo! The very words he spoke the day he took his oath as President…ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY CAN DO FOR YOU, BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR COUNTRY.
It’s rather fascinating to consider how people, events and history are presented in this comic. The Japanese were still referred to as “Japs”. There are no mentions of the mental retardation of Jack’s sister Rosemary, Cuba’s “Bay Of Pigs” (by name), Kennedy’s alleged Mafia support or his affair with Marilyn Monroe. No gunfire, violence or bloodshed is depicted. Neither Lee Harvey Oswald nor Jack Ruby are shown or mentioned, and there’s not even a whiff of conspiracy theories present.
The content of JOHN F. KENNEDY also brings up a few questions: Was this book already on Dell’s publishing schedule when JFK was assassinated? Was there any cooperation from the White House or Kennedy family in the preparation of JOHN F. KENNEDY? Were the omissions intentionally done, and if so, were they made due to political pressure, the personal politics of Dell’s publisher. George Delacorte or in the name of “good taste”? We’ll probably never know the answers, but in the 43 years that have elapsed since his assassination, this comic may be one of the last relics of the President’s optimistic – and possibly naïve – vision of America as a new “Camelot”.
Also included in this issue of JOHN F. KENNEDY are these stories, features and advertisements:
- A black-and-white, inside-front-cover timeline of John F. Kennedy’s life. It reads: “JOHN FITZGERALD KENNEDY Born – May 29, 1917 Harvard University – 1940 “Why England Slept” – 1940 Lieutenant, U.S. Navy – 1941 House Of Representatives – 1946 United States Senate – 1952 Married Jacqueline Lee Bouvier – September 12, 1953 Caroline Bouvier Kennedy – November 27, 1957 “Profiles In Courage” – 1956 (Pulitzer Prize) “Strategy For Peace” – 1960 John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. – November 25, 1960 President Of The United States – 1960 Assassinated – November 22, 1963”
- “From Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961”, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover text-feature. It reads: “We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom, symbolizing an end as well as a beginning, signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forebears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago. The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary belief for which our forebears fought is still at issue around the globe, the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans, born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage, and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world…In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe. Now the trumpet summons us again – not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, ‘rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation,’ a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself. Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort? In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility; I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it, and the glow from that fire can truly light the world. And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America can do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”
- A back-cover photo-portrait – an uncropped version of the front-cover photo -- of President John F. Kennedy.
ODDBALL Factoid – According to the OFFICIAL OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE, 35th Edition by Robert M. Overstreet (2005), the correct title of this comic is JOHN F. KENNEDY’S LIFE STORY!
Bonus ODDBALL Factoid – President John F. Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline, briefly dated cartoonist Charles Addams after her husband’s assassination!
Next Week – ODDBALL COMIC #1,149: Monday, November 27, 2006 -- We all know the Atom, Captain Atom, Atom Ant and Mighty Atom AKA Tetsuwan Atom (that’s “Astro Boy” to you)! But you’ve never seen a comic character – ODDBALL or otherwise – like Bill Danton, the Man With The Atom Head! Don’t miss “The Man In The Nuclear Trap!”, drawn by a cartoonist with the charming nickname of “Inky”! Plus, see Erector sets from the future and Alexander The Great’s favorite horse, all in this nutty issue of HOUSE OF MYSTERY!
For more from Scott Shaw!, visit his Web site at http://www.shawcartoons.com/.Just how odd is today's Oddball Comic?
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