Previous | Next

“Born in Butte, Montana on October 17, 1938, Robert Craig Knievel saw Joey Chitwood's Auto Daredevil Show at age eight, which he credits for his later career choice to become a motorcycle daredevil!

In 1965 Evel began his daredevil career when he formed a troupe called Evel Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils, a touring show in which he performed stunts such as riding through fire walls, jumping over live rattlesnakes and mountain lions and being towed at 200 miles an hour behind dragster race cars while holding on to a parachute. In 1966 he began touring alone, barnstorming the Western states. Evel did everything himself, including truck driving, ramp erecting, promoting and performing his ever longer and more dangerous motorcycle jumps. In the beginning he charged $500 for a jump over two cars parked between ramps. He steadily increased the length of the jumps and then on New Years Day 1968, he jumped 151 feet across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Successfully clearing the fountains, his landing was a disaster, and his injuries put him in the hospital in a coma for 30 days. While recovering, he decided to make it his goal to jump the Grand Canyon. In the next few years the payment for his performances increased to $1 million for his jump over 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in London and over $6 million for the Snake River Canyon jump. In the winter of 1976 Evel was seriously injured during a nationally televised performance of an attempt to motorcycle jump a tank full of live sharks in the Chicago Amphitheater. For the first time a bystander was also injured when a cameraman was struck, eventually losing an eye. Knievel, who suffered a brain concussion and two broken arms, decided to retire from major performances but continued to do smaller exhibitions around the country with his son Robbie, establishing him as his successor.

Two major motion pictures by Warner Bros. have featured Knievel; EVEL KNIEVAL, starring George Hamilton as Evel in his life story and VIVA KNIEVAL! a thriller starring Evel as himself. Viacom Productions did a made for TV movie starring Sam Elliot as Evel, plus Evel again starred as himself with Lindsey Wagner in an episode of the popular 1980's TV series ‘THE BIONIC WOMAN’.”

>Whew!< Considering that Evel was eight years old when he was supposedly inspired to become a stunt-cyclist, it’s not surprising that eight-year-olds were the target audience for this 16-page giveaway comic book promoting a line of “Evel Knievel” toys (as seen in this back-cover ad!)

The comic’s story itself -- which looks to me like it was penciled by Winslow Mortimer and inked by Mike Esposito – is titled “The Perilous Traps Of Mr. Danger!” In it, Young Dan Bradley cheers on his hero as he watches Evel Knievel ride his amazing “Stunt Cycle” ™, “just like the REPLICA you can buy where you got this comic adventure!” But during his stunt regimen, Evel has some trouble with the track, which causes him to go into a skid. But “The King Of Stuntmen” manages to regain control of his jet-propelled ‘cycle through sheer skill. Afterward, Evel notices on the track “a clear layer of a special siliconized rubber, glass-smooth, pressed into the groove”. Just then, Dan’s father Ray Bradley -- a friend and fellow stuntman of Evel’s who has recently accepted the Florida franchise for his Stunt Stadium, whatever that means -- arrives with a threatening telegram from a “Mr. Danger”! Ray is worried -- it’s not his first encounter with Mr. Danger – so he, Dan and Evel discuss the situation over refreshments in Evel’s “Scramble Van”! (“Just as this fabulous rolling workshop office lounge is INDISPENSABLE to EVEL KNIEVEL, so it is a vital addition to the ACTION ACCESSORIES for your Evel Knievel movable figure!”) Anyway, Ray relates how Mr. Danger has been attempting to sabotage their construction of the stadium for months. It seems that Mr. Danger plans to turn the park into “a very profitable industrial park”, even though the land around his stadium “has been carefully PLANNED to safeguard the ECOLOGY of the EVERGLADES!” The next day, Evel takes Dan to a “special area” set aside from the Stunt Stadium, where he has set up his fabulous “Canyon Sky Cycle” ™! (“Actually a perfectly BALANCED, streamlined, jet-powered motorcycle that runs and jumps on TWO WHEELS, it can perform feats never DREAMED OF with conventional motorcycles…and just as amazing is the DETAILED, WORKING replica you can get for your Evel Knievel ACTION FIGURE! You can even create your OWN canyon jump!) An appearance by Mr. Danger is enough to cause the stunt to go haywire, with Evel forced to splash down in an alligator-infested swamp! Fortunately, Evel uses the cycle’s rockets to blast to safety through a chain-link perimeter fence! Mr. Danger escapes, but leaves another threatening message behind. That evening, Evel discovers a team of saboteurs in his garage! When they flee, he gives chase in (you’re probably waaay ahead of me here) his “Stunt And Crash Car”™! (Believe it or not, this vehicle’s depiction isn’t accompanied by a special “hard-sell” message to young consumers!) Lured into a trap, Evel finds himself up against a truck-crane operated by Mr. Danger! But by driving his Stunt And Crash Car ™ on two wheels, he narrowly avoids being crushed. And when he crashes the stunt auto into a solid brick wall, the body pops off, but leaves Evel riding in the chassis, unharmed! Then Evel hops onto a nearby motorcycle, which is conveniently aligned with his special “Sky Hook” ramp! (Sorry, no ™ this time!) He uses it to drive the escaping saboteurs into the swamp, but Mr. Danger jumps into their car and makes his getaway. Being an “ex-Hollywood stuntman”, Ray Bailey leaps into the escaping convertible, which goes out of control, straight toward the swamp that’s teeming with savage alligators! (Boy, this story is startin’ to sound like it was written by an eight-year-old!) To rescue his friend, Evel rockets his Stunt Cycle up the ramp atop his Scramble Van, flies through the air and over the hurtling car, dragging Ray to safety! Meanwhile, Mr. Danger crashes into the swamp, were he’s about to become a new flavor of Gator Chow. But being an incurable “good guy”, Evel can’t resist saving his bacon either, pulling Danger from danger with a rope tethered to the Stunt Cycle. The black-clad saboteur is revealed to be whom Ray Bailey suspected all along -- Bernie Hutton, a local gangster! One week later, Evel Knievel performs at the grand opening of his new Stunt Stadium:

“And, of all the excited fans, there are TWO who shout LOUDER than anyone else! In fact, you’ll have a MOST DIFFICULT time determining WHICH of the TWO idolizes Evel Knievel more…FATHER or SON!”

(You’ve probably noticed that the prime editorial directive to the unknown writer of this comic was undoubtedly to feature as many of Ideal’s licensed line of “Evel Knievel” toys -- from the book’s back-cover ad -- as humanly possible!)

This giveaway comic also features an inside-back-cover “autographed” photo of Evel himself!

ODDBALL Factoid – According to Evel’s “official” on-line biography:

“In the late 1970's and early 1980's the Evel Knievel Toys produced by Ideal Toy Co. and other products such as pinball machines, bicycles, watches, radios and other accessory items sold over $300 million dollars in entertainment to America's children. Knievel was credited with re-vitalizing the poorly performing toy industry in the 70's.”

“Re-vitalizing the poorly performing toy industry in the 70's”?!? Now that’s a stunt!

For more from Scott Shaw!, visit his Web site at http://www.shawcartoons.com/.

Just how odd is today's Oddball Comic?
Cast your vote right now -- from one to five oddballs --
in the poll on the left. Then come talk about it
on the Oddball Comics' discussion board!