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Detective Comics, No 241

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:01:06 -0700

(Note: This article was originally posted on June 5, 2006.) Commentary by ODDBALL COMICS curator/creator SCOTT SHAW! � For decades, folks have speculated about the sexuality of Batman! Finally, here�s an Oddball Comic that hints at an answer to that burning question! Don�t miss this flamboyant issue of DETECTIVE COMICS, featuring "The Rainbow Batman!" (Plus, tune into "Roy Raymond, TV Detective"! And no, he�s not a cross-dressing sleuth�but this is an unintentionally television-themed issue!) It�s frankly Bat-fabulous!

[fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Detective Comics[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]No. 241[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]March, 1957[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]National Comics Publications, Inc. (DC Comics)[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Sheldon Moldoff[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]

[introtext]

[fieldinserts]

The details of Bob Kane�s supposedly solo creation of Batman are more than a bit controversial, but it is safe to say that the cartoonist drew a lot of inspiration for Batman�s design � especially his cape � from one of Leonardo Da Vinci�s sketch of a bat-like flying device. But I seriously doubt if Kane had ever envisioned Batman wearing a pink bat-suit! Considering that this comic was published only a few years after Dr. Frederic Wertham�s SEDUCTION OF THE INNOCENT (1953), which postulated that Batman and Robin were living a homosexual lifestyle, it must have been pretty risky to cover-feature a pink Batman! (I know, the cover-copy refers to Batman�s suit as being red, but it�s definitely a hot pink in color. Check out the DETECTIVE COMICS logo on the cover; now, that�s red!) And nearly fifty years later, it�s interesting to note that the rainbow has been adopted by gay people to represent sexual diversity and gay pride. Was Dr. Wertham right about the Caped Crusader�s sexuality, after all?

This issue�s 12-page "Batman -- With Robin The Boy Wonder" cover-story is "The Rainbow Batman", written by Edmond Hamilton, penciled by Sheldon Moldoff and inked by Stan Kaye (but signed simply "Bob Kane".) It opens with this [pic2]splash-page[pic2] introduction:

INTRODUCTORY CAPTION: When a dark, caped figure flashes through Gotham City, the cry always goes up, "IT�S BATMAN!" Yes, the familiar costume of the BATMAN is known to everyone�but now, after all these years, the great lawman CHANGES his uniform, time and again, from one color to another, causing a whole city to wonder which garb will next be worn by�THE RAINBOW BATMAN!"

This story actually begins as Dick (Robin The Boy Wonder) Grayson uses his circus-trained acrobatic skills to carry a little girl out of the path of a getaway car of criminals who�ve stolen a valuable camera. But not only dues Dick attract undue attention with this act of bravery -- he also accidentally sprains his arm in the process, allowing the crooks to escape with their stolen swag. Later, at stately Wayne Manor, Dick Grayson consults his guardian, Bruce Wayne, "who is really the famed Batman" after watching a televised news broadcast:

TV NEWS REPORTER: �And the thieves, who stole a valuable camera, would have run down a child but for a youthful hero, Dick Grayson! He lost the use of his left arm temporarily, but SAVED A LIFE!
DICK (ROBIN THE BOY WONDER) GRAYSON: It wasn�t as big a feat as all that! My arm will be all right in a little while!
BRUCE (BATMAN) WAYNE: But why would anyone steal a portable TV camera? They�d have no use for it � and couldn�t sell it! There must be some other motive!
DICK (ROBIN THE BOY WONDER) GRAYSON: Maybe I can spot those crooks in our crime file�

Later, the duo retreat to their secret Bat-Cave below Wayne Manor:

DICK (ROBIN THE BOY WONDER) GRAYSON: No, their pictures aren�t in our file�We haven�t any record of them!
BRUCE (BATMAN) WAYNE: I can only see one motive for stealing that camera�as preparation for some big crime, to be staged where TV crews will be working!

As they change into their crime-fighting costumes, the pair arrives at a realization:

ROBIN THE BOY WONDER: You mean � they intend to disguise themselves as TV cameramen so they can get close to something valuable?
BATMAN: That�s what I suspect � and, from now on, we�re going to watch every big event covered by television! You can identify those crooks if they turn up!

When Batman relates "a unique strategy" to Robin, the boy wonder can hardly believe his ears:

ROBIN THE BOY WONDER: But � you�ve never done anything like THAT before!

The next day, at a parade held as Gotham City�s official welcome to the visiting "king of Zoronia" (!), Batman and Robin make their appearance � but Batman�s appearance is anything but usual!

BYSTANDER #1: Look�there�s BATMAN and ROBIN! But � what�s happened to BATMAN?
BYSTANDER #2: I�ve never seen him looking like that before!
BYSTANDER #3: He�s wearing a RED COSTUME � but why?

Yep, we soon see that the Caped Crusader is now the [pic3]Crimson Crusader[pic3]! Without a single reference to his Oddball makeover, Batman and Robin leap from their Batmobile to check the local television cameras covering the event, then scan the crowds for a sign of the camera-swiping criminals. The Dynamic Duo hangs around until the parade is over, then take off. Later that day, in response to Gotham City�s police department�s special Bat-Signal, Batman and Robin show up with the World�s Greatest Detective now wearing [pic4]a powder-blue bat-suit[pic4]! (It should be noted that Robin is shown here driving the Batmobile by using only his right hand.) The emergency at hand is a truck carrying a load of explosives � and it�s on fire! Despite Commissioner Gordon�s protests, Batman climbs into the truck�s driver�s seat -- and with Robin closely covering him with the Batmobile -- aims the flaming truck down a pier and into Gotham Bay, jumping into the Batmobile at the very last possible instant. But when newspaper and television reporters arrive on the scene, the fashion-conscious journalists aren�t particularly interested in the Dynamic Duo�s latest act of heroism:

REPORTER #1: BATMAN, can you tell us why you switched to a red costume, and now to a blue one?
REPORTER #2: Yes, you�ve never done anything yet without a reason! Why these colored costumes?
BATMAN: It could be I�m just tired of the same-colored costume, you know! But I�m not giving my reasons, yet!
REPORTER #1 (to Reporter #2): I�m certain there�s some big story behind these colored costumes � but I can�t figure it out!

Later, back in the Batcave, Batman and Robin compare notes, agreeing that, since there was no sign of the camera-thieves at the pier, they will continue to cover any local event that might attract TV crews. Over the next few days, [pic5]a golden-suited Batman[pic5] is on hand to greet Marion Marley, "the famous movie star" � next, [pic6]an orange-clad Batman[pic6] makes an appearance at a big jewel and fashion show -- and then [pic7]a green Batman[pic7] shows up at the launching of the GIGANTIC, a huge new ocean liner. After the mayor�s wife christens it with a bottle of champagne, the ship starts to slide out into the water. That�s when the keenly observant green-clad Darknight Detective notices that one of the ship�s cables has been tied to the launching platform, and uses an axe to disconnect the threat before the GIGANTIC pulls down the wooden structure. Was that attached cable an accident, or an intentional attempt at sabotage? After the crowd leaves, the Dynamic Duo confer on this subject:

ROBIN THE BOY WONDER: Again, I checked every person here today � and didn�t see the thieves we�re after!
BATMAN: But they�d been here � and had fixed that hidden cable to get US! They must know, from the way we watch every event covered by TV cameras, that we�re after them�so they tried this sabotage, to put us out of the way before they strike!
ROBIN THE BOY WONDER: It looks that way � and I don�t like it! You�re planning to cover the big sharpshooting contest in GOTHAM STADIUM tomorrow! Suppose they strike at you there?
BATMAN: It could be dangerous, all right � but we�ve got to look for them there, too, and we�ll take precautions!

The next day, Batman and Robin show up at "the spectacular rifle sharpshooting contest", his costume attracts a lot of attention, not for its color, but for its absence of color. You see, the Caped Crusader has worn a bat-suit that�s entirely white � except for the [pic8]big, black bull�s-eye on his chest[pic8], right where his bat-insignia normally appears! Batman�s new outfit also attracts the attention of a sniper in a nearby skyscraper, hitting his human target with a bullet right in the bull�s-eye. Fortunately, Batman�s wearing a steel vest under his costume, so he�s only bruised by the impact. As he and Robin speed from the stadium in their Batmobile, Batman comments:

BATMAN: That�s why I wore the target-costume this time�Anyone trying a shot at me would aim at the bull�s-eye, and my protective armor is underneath that!
ROBIN THE BOY WONDER: But it shows that those gangsters will stop at nothing!

But when they finally reach to rooftops from which the sniper fired, they find their quarry long-gone:

BATMAN: Too bad � they had time to escape�but this desperate attempt to stop me proves we�re getting CLOSE to whatever big job they plan!
ROBIN THE BOY WONDER: Trouble is, BATMAN, these brilliant costumes of yours make you too easy for them to strike at!
BATMAN: Still, you know I MUST wear these costumes, ROBIN!
ROBIN THE BOY WONDER: Yes � it does seem the only way we can keep searching for those thieves! If we only knew what they plan to do with a TV camera!

Meanwhile, those camera-crooks � whose boss looks like the results of an unlikely crossbreeding experiment between Broderick Crawford and Lon Chaney, Jr. -- are ready to put their mysterious plan into action. And if Batman shows up, they predict that his latest nutty bat-suit will only serve to distract people from noticing their bold caper-in-progress! The next day, at the fabulous "Moneys Of The World" exhibit, the curators anticipate a big crowd, as well as the appearance of Batman and Robin. But when the Caped Crusader shows up in [pic9]a striped bat-suit with all the colors of the rainbow[pic9], the show�s organizers can�t help but notice:

"MONEYS OF THE WORLD" ORGANIZER #1: A RAINBOW costume! I give up � I can�t see why on Earth he�d wear such things!
"MONEYS OF THE WORLD" ORGANIZER #2: NOBODY can see why�but who cares, as long as he guards our exhibit?

A little while later, after TV newscasters have set up to cover the show, the Rainbow Batman and Robin scrutinize the crowds entering the exhibit hall. Suddenly, the boy wonder recognizes a face among them as belonging to one of the thieves � their trenchcoat-wearing leader, in fact -- who stole the TV camera. Suddenly, Batman lunges forward, "a rainbow of dazzling action" as he punches the shady-looking criminal in the jaw.

BATMAN: Whatever you�ve got in your pocket, pal. That�s where it stays!

When searched, the crime-boss is revealed to have been hiding a gas mask inside his trenchcoat. Suddenly, the camera-thieves� master plan becomes clear to the Rainbow Batman. He turns and barks out an order to the TV camera operators in attendance:

BATMAN: Don�t turn on your cameras! One of them is booby-trapped!

Then, after inspecting the TV cameras, he discovers proof of his suspicions:

BATMAN: I thought so�This one would have flooded the whole hall with tear-gas, when turned on! Then, thieves with gas-masks could have snatched that $1,000,000 in spite of the guards!

A few seconds later, the two other camera-bandits attempt to make a getaway, but the Rainbow Batman grabs them before they can escape.

BATMAN: They�ll find no pot of gold at the end of THIS rainbow�only prison!

Later, after the Gotham City police have apprehended the ring of thieves, Batman finds himself surrounded by curious members of the press:

REPORTER: BATMAN, your watchfulness prevented a crime again! But can you tell us, now, why you�ve been wearing all these colored costumes?
BATMAN: No, I can�t! This is the last one I�ll wear, but WHY I did it must remain a secret!

But later, in the depths of the Batcave, we finally learn the agenda behind Batman�s bizarre multi-colored identities:.

ALFRED PENNYWORTH: I�m glad you caught the rascals, sir � but why did you have to wear such gaudy garments?
BATMAN: You see, Alfred, ROBIN had to help me find those thieves because only he had seen their faces and could IDENTIFY them!
ROBIN THE BOY WONDER: But if anyone noticed that as ROBIN, I couldn�t use my left arm, they might remember the publicity about Dick Grayson�s injury � and suspect your identity!
BATMAN: That�s why I wore such colorful, eye-catching costumes � so everyone would look at ME and not at ROBIN!
ROBIN THE BOY WONDER: And it worked�No one noticed me and my arm, when all eyes were on BATMAN�S bright costumes!
BATMAN: But now that�s over, I can quit being a peacock and become a BATMAN again!

(This story was reprinted in DC�s BATMAN No. 182, August, 1966. One of DC�s "80 Pg. Giants", this special issue bore the blurb, "A Second Star Collection Of The Strange Lives Of Batman And Robin".

Also included in this issue of DETECTIVE COMICS are these stories, features and advertisements:

"Check The Kind Of Body You Want! Right In The Coupon Below�And I�ll Prove How Easily You Can Have It!", a black-and-white, inside-front-cover ad for mail-order bodybuilding courses from "Charles Atlas".
"100 Toy Pirates -- $1.25", an ad for a fleet of plastic toys available through mail-order from the "Josely Co."
"Buzzy�s Special Brotherhood Week Quiz (Feb. 17 � 24) Do You Know The People Of Your Country?", a public service page written by Jack Schiff and drawn by Ruben Moreira.
"Roy Raymond TV Detective" in "The Man Who Couldn't Touch Ground", drawn by Ruben Moreira. � When Roy Raymond is late for the live broadcast of his IMPOSSIBLE BUT TRUE TV series, his secretary and assistant Karen has only two minutes left to make a decision on how to handle her boss� absence. But she�s even more flustered when Roy � hovering with the aid of a one-man-helicopter gizmo strapped to his back -- finally snows up on time � but is unable to appear on the show! Even more startling is the reason why Roy can�t appear on TV: while interviewing human "oddities" for his show, exposure to an inventor�s "cosmic ray" machine imparts a glowing "over-charge" that will cause a massive explosion when Roy�s body comes in contact with the ground! Until an antidote is created, Roy is forced to wear the bizarre flying device � and now, the inventor responsible for his condition has vanished! With the help of Roy�s old friend, Police Commissioner Jameson, the TV detective is given a water tower to use as his base of operations. Later, Roy supervises a team of police sketch artists who create a huge "wanted" poster of the missing inventor on a billboard. That night, the audience of a local [pic10]drive-in theater[pic10] is distracted by Roy�s glowing form as he drops in to watch the film. (Karen and Police Commissioner Jameson wind up paying an irate theater manager for Roy�s movie ticket!) But when Karen uses a pair of binoculars to get a close-up look at Roy, she makes a startling discovery. Climbing up to Roy�s tower HQ, she approaches Roy and forces him to touch the ground � but there�s no resulting explosion. Karen reveals that this whole thing is a hoax. First off, the glowing, helicopter-hovering man is not Roy, but instead, "an amazing double of him"! After Police Commissioner Jameson grills the lookalike, he reveals that Roy is being held hostage in a shack on the outskirts of town. After the police show up and rescue Roy, the TV detective reveals the whole scheme, "These crooks knew I had knowledge of where a valuable collection of art treasures, due to be seen on my show, was stored � and they tried to make me reveal where it was kept! But they also realized that there�d be an investigation if I simply disappeared�so they got hold of that character who resembled me to put on that flying act!" Later, Karen explains to Roy how she cleverly recognized that he was being impersonated, "Because, Roy, he was wearing a white shirt! Like all other TV performers, you always wear blue shirts, because blue photographs white on the TV screen!" (Hmmm, how come that after nearly thirty years working in the television biz, this the first � and only � time I�ve ever heard this "fact"!)
"Given! Boys! Girls! Ladies! Men! We Give You�Cash Or Premiums", a one-page [pic11]strip-ad[pic11], subtitled "Jim And Betty Solve The �Flying Saucer� Mystery" and drawn by "R. T.", soliciting for young door-to-door salespeople for "White Cloverine Brand Salve" for the "Wilson Chemical Co." (Please notice that the kids uses their telescope and binoculars to spot "the first Earth satellite" � the U.S.S.R.�s "Sputnik"!)
"Casey The Cop" in a one-page gag-strip written and drawn by cartoonist Henry Boltinoff.
"They Fight Frauds", a two-page text-story that�s described as "Police squads and federal postal inspectors wage relentless war on all sorts of racketeers", written by Jack Miller (writing as "Jack McCoy").
A statement of ownership from the publisher.
"John Jones, Manhunter From Mars" in "The Impossible Manhunt!", drawn by Joe Certa. � When an arson fire melts the wax figures on display in Jones� Wax Works, its owner, Roger Jones, is completely at a loss as to who would wish him harm. But in the following days, a series of fires plague the city, all destroying businesses owned by people named "Jones". Before long, every shop owner by that name lives in fear of being burned out of business. Meanwhile, at police headquarters, police detective John Jones (AKA J�onn J�onzz, the Manhunter From Mars), receives a mysterious letter from his chief. It reads, "Down with all men named Jones. I won�t stop until every business owned by a Jones is burned down! Long live the Smiths! � A Man Named Smith". When he�s given the assignment of bringing in the serial arsonist, John is understandably worried � because fire is the one element that can prove fatal to his Martian material makeup! Soon, John finds himself the "owner" of the John Jones Art Gallery. Since all of the other Jones-owned businesses in town have had their signs removed or replaced, it�s a good bet that the arsonist will turn up at John�s place. Concerned, John has the walls covered with asbestos paint and special fire extinguishers installed. After the gallery�s swanky opening reception � which is overseen by John�s invisible alter ego -- the arsonist finally strikes, hurling a fire-bomb through the venue�s glass skylight. But when J�onn uses one of his extinguishers to quench the blaze, he makes a startling discovery � someone has replaced the extinguisher�s fire-retarding chemicals for high-test gasoline! As the flames leap higher, J�onn weakens, but before he�s overcome by the fire, the quick-thinking Martian uses his "super-eye-sight" on the panes of the skylight overhead, liquefying it to put out the fire. Now recovered, J�onn � still invisible � uses his Martian vision to track "firebug Smith" by [pic12]the microscopic particles of carbon[pic12] from his car�s exhaust. The trail leads to the bayside Sam Jones Museum Of Famous American Ships (hey, I thought the police had removed all such signage), which displays "huge replicas of the country�s most famous ships". Inside, he encounters Sam Jones himself, who can�t understand how John entered the museum without setting off its alarms. Using his Martian "super-sensitive hearing", John detects the presence of Jasper Craig, who Sam Jones identifies as "my former superintendent, whom I fired for stealing! He threatened to ruin me!" That�s when John/J�onn mentally puts it all together: "So that�s it! He knew he�d be suspected if he destroyed your place � so he created a red herring by first setting fire to places owned by other men named Jones, while pretending to be a maniac named Smith!" But Craig�s got a final surprise for them; he�s planted a timed fire-bomb somewhere in the museum � but where? Even with his ability to see through objects, J�onn can�t scan all the replicas on display. But using his powers of deduction, the Martian Manhunter locates the fire-bomb in the RANGER, an old warship, then tosses "the ticking weapon of destruction" into the water. Relieved, Sam Jones asks John Jones how he knew where the bomb was hidden. The disguised Martian detective/superhero explains, "Just a hunch! I figured that Craig, who was following the pattern of bombing one Jones place after another, would be likely to pick the RANGER, which was the ship commanded by another man named Jones � JOHN PAUL JONES!"
"Do You Want Spending Money" Sell These Popular Patriotic And Religious Mottoes", an ad soliciting for young door-to-door salespeople to peddle "beautiful glittering mottoes" for "Stephens Credit Sales".
"Everything You Need To Enjoy Stamp Collecting, Yours For Only 25�", an ad for a stamp-collecting "starter kit" available through mail-order from the "Zenith Company".
"Mickey Mantle Goes To Bat For �Billy Bikeless�", a black-and-white, inside-back-cover [pic13]strip-ad[pic13] starring baseball great Mickey Mantle, soliciting for young door-to-door salespeople to peddle boxes of "All-Occasion Cards" for the "Junior Sales Club Of America".
"Choose Your Prize", a back-cover ad soliciting for young door-to-door salespeople to vend packets of vegetable and flower seeds for the "American Seed Co."

ODDBALL Factoid � Edmond Hamilton (1904 � 1977), the writer of "The Rainbow Batman", was a noted science-fiction author, whose work included STARWOLF, THE CITY AT WORLD�S END, BATTLE FOR THE STARS, the CAPTAIN FUTURE pulp magazine series and many more! Hamilton was also married to another writer of science fiction and screenplays � including THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, Leigh Brackett!

Next Week -- ODDBALL COMIC # 1,124: MONDAY, JUNE 12, 2006 -- Move over, Lash LaRue! Who "delivers a powerful sermon and packs a mighty punch"? Why, it�s John Hawk, AKA SKYPILOT, "the fighting missionary of the far North", that�s who! You won�t believe your eyes when this high-flying, whip-wielding, preaching plane-pilot locks horns with evil lumber pirates and other ODDBALL menaces of the North Woods! SKYPILOT is cooler than an Eskimo Pie!

Archie's Madhouse, No. 61

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:37:08 -0700

Which ODDBALL COMIC published a character called �Zappy The Hippy� in the late 1960s? Not only wasn�t it one of those �underground comix�; would you believe it was published by Archie Comics? Well, here�s proof, an issue of ARCHIE�S MADHOUSE that also features one of the publisher�s only Silver Age superheroes that�s never been re-launched, Captain Sprocket! (But what is classic illustrator Norman Rockwell doing in this Archie Comic?) [fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Archie's Madhouse[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]No. 61[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]June, 1968[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]Archie Comic Publications, Inc.[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Unknown[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]Which ODDBALL COMIC published a character called �Zappy The Hippy� in the late 1960s? Not only wasn�t it one of those �underground comix�; would you believe it was published by Archie Comics? Well, here�s proof, an issue of ARCHIE�S MADHOUSE that also features one of the publisher�s only Silver Age superheroes that�s never been re-launched, Captain Sprocket! (But what is classic illustrator Norman Rockwell doing in this Archie Comic?)[introtext]

[fieldinserts] According to Wikipedia: �Flower Power was a slogan used by the American counterculture movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology. It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in 1965 as a means to transform war protests into peaceful affirmative spectacles. Hippies embraced the symbolism by dressing in clothing with embroidered flowers and vibrant colors, wearing flowers in their hair, and distributing flowers to the public, becoming known as flower children. The term later became generalized as a modern reference to the hippie movement and a culture of drugs, psychedelic music, psychedelic art and social permissiveness. Flower Power originated in Berkeley, California as a symbolic action of protest against the Vietnam War. In his November 1965 essay titled How to Make a March/Spectacle, Ginsberg advocated that protesters should be provided with "masses of flowers" to hand out to policemen, press, politicians and spectators. The use of props like flowers, toys, flags, candy and music were meant to turn anti-war rallies into a form of street theater thereby reducing the fear, anger and threat that is inherent within protests. In particular, Ginsberg wanted to counter the "specter" of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang who supported the war and had threatened to violently disrupt planned anti-war demonstrations at the University of California, Berkeley. Using Ginsberg's methods, the protest received positive attention and the use of "flower power" became an integral symbol in the counter-culture movement. By late 1966, the Flower Power method of guerilla theater had spread from California to other parts of the United States. The Bread and Puppet Theater in New York City staged numerous protests which including handing out balloons and flowers with their anti-war literature.[ Workshop in Nonviolence (WIN), a magazine published by New York activists, encouraged the use of Flower Power. In May 1967, Abbie Hoffman organized the Flower Brigade as an official contingent of a New York City parade honoring the soldiers in Vietnam. News coverage captured Flower Brigade participants, who carried flowers, flags and pink posters imprinted with LOVE, being attacked and beaten by bystanders. In response to the violence, Hoffman wrote in WIN magazine, "Plans are being made to mine the East River with daffodils. Dandelion chains are being wrapped around induction centers.... The cry of 'Flower Power' echoes through the land. We shall not wilt." On the following Sunday in May 1967, WIN activists declared the Armed Forces Day as "Flower Power Day" and held a rally in Central Park to counter the traditional parade. Turnout was low and, according to Hoffman, the rally was ineffective because guerilla theater needed to be more confrontational. In October 1967, Hoffman and Jerry Rubin helped organize the March on the Pentagon using Flower Power concepts to create a theatrical spectacle. The idea included a call for marchers to attempt to levitate the Pentagon. When the marchers faced off against more than 2500 Army national guard troops forming a human barricade in front of the Pentagon, demonstrators placed flowers in the soldier's rifle barrels. Flower Power, a Pulitzer-nominated photograph by Washington Star photographer Bernie Boston, became a classic image of the Vietnam War era protests. The photo, taken on October 21, 1967 at the "March on the Pentagon", showed a young, long-haired man in a turtleneck sweater, placing carnations into the rifle barrels of military policemen. (The young man was identified later as George Edgerly Harris III, an 18-year-old actor from New York who was on his way to San Francisco and later performed there under the stage name of Hibiscus. The iconic center of the flower power movement was the Haight Ashbury district in San Francisco, California. By the mid-1960s, the area, marked by the intersection of Haight and Ashbury Streets, had become a focal point for psychedelic rock music. Musicians and bands like Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Janis Joplin all lived a short distance from the famous intersection. During the 1967 Summer of Love, thousands of hippies gathered there, popularized by hit songs such as San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair). A July 7, 1967, Time magazine cover story on "The Hippies: Philosophy of a Subculture," and an August CBS News television report on "The Hippie Temptation" as well as other major media interest exposed the hippie subculture to national attention and popularized the flower power movement across the country and around the world.�

According to Wikipedia: �ZAP COMIX is the best-known of the underground comics that emerged as part of the youth counterculture of the late 1960s. The first issue of ZAP, ZAP No. 1 was published in San Francisco in early 1968. It featured the work of satirical cartoonist Robert Crumb. Some 3,500 copies were printed by Charles Plymell (under the publisher name of Apex Novelties), a Beat writer who shared a house with Allen Ginsberg and Neal Cassady when LSD hit San Francisco in the early 1960s. An earlier issue had been intended to for publication, but the person who was supposed to publish it (he had published earlier works of R. Crumb in his tabloid called YARROWSTALKS ) left the country with the artwork. Shortly before ZAP No. 3 was to be published, Crumb found photocopies of the issue, drew new covers, and published it as ZAP No. 0. Thus ZAP No 0 became the third in the series (even though it was drawn before No. 1 in 1967), and ZAP No. 3 the fourth. Many of these first issues were sold on the streets of Haight-Ashbury out of a baby stroller pushed by Crumb or his wife. In years to come, the comic's sales would be most closely linked with alternative venues such as head shops. After the success of the first issue, Crumb opened the pages of ZAP to several other artists, including S. Clay Wilson, Robert Williams, "Spain" Rodriguez, and two artists with reputations as psychedelic poster designers, Victor Moscoso and Rick Griffin. This stable of artists, along with Crumb, remained mostly constant throughout the history of ZAP, which published sporadically. It was typical for several years to pass between new issues; the most recent ZAP (No. 15) appeared in 2005. Griffin died in 1991; a two-page story by artist Paul Mavrides appeared in issue No. 14. Mavrides was invited to contribute when Crumb announced that he no longer wanted to work on ZAP. Premiering in 1968, ZAP No. 1 was unlike any comic book sensibility that had been seen before. Labeled "Fair Warning: For Adult Intellectuals Only", it featured the publishing debut of Crumb's much-bootlegged "Keep on Truckin'" imagery, an early appearance of unreliable holy man Mr. Natural and his neurotic disciple Flakey Foont, and the first of innumerable self-caricatures (in which Crumb calls himself "a raving lunatic", and "one of the world's last great medieval thinkers"). Perhaps most notable was the story "Whiteman", which detailed the inner torment seething within the lusty, fearful heart of an outwardly upright American. While a few small-circulation self-published satirical comic books had been printed prior to this, ZAP No. 1 became the model for the "comix" movement that snowballed after its release. The contents of the first ZAP were not intended to be the debut issue. Crumb had drawn a completely different issue's worth of comics, but the artwork was stolen prior to publication. Rather than repeat himself, Crumb drew a new assortment of strips, which replaced the missing issue. Fortunately, Crumb had made Xerox copies of the missing pages, which (according to fellow ZAP contributor Victor Moscoso) successfully captured the linework but not the solid blacks. After being reinked, those cartoons subsequently appeared as ZAP No. 0 (which was first published about the same time as ZAP No. 3). While the origin of the spelling "comix" is a subject of some dispute, it was popularized by its appearance in the title of the first issues of ZAP. Design critic Steven Heller claims that the term "comix" refers to the traditional comic book style of ZAP, and its mixture of dirty jokes and story-lines. ZAP was also one of the books that put the "underground" in comics: ZAP No. 4 (by then being published by The Print Mint), in particular, was the subject of numerous "community standards" obscenity busts and court cases. That issue was most notorious for Crumb's satirical story Joe Blow, depicting an incestuous all-American nuclear family whose motto was "the family that lays together, stays together." San Francisco's City Lights Bookstore was raided by police, and the fourth issue of ZAP was eventually prohibited from selling over the counter in New York. However, the case was as much about publicity as anything else, and the issue continued to be readily available for purchase, including by City Lights. The attention created a bump in ZAP sales and elevated its reputation among counterculture types; it certainly cannot be argued that succeeding issues of ZAP were any tamer in content. Due to its unusual outside position in the comic distribution industry, a completely accurate count of ZAP's circulation cannot be known, but overall sales for the comic's 16 issues are in the millions.�

Its first issue -- cover-dated Oct. � Nov., 1952 -- EC's TALES CALCULATED TO DRIVE YOU MAD (soon to be known simply as MAD ) was a humor/satire comic book series that became incredibly influential within a year or so of its initial appearance. In fact, it spawned dozens of four-color imitations published by most of the comic book companies in existence at the time. Although not especially quick to jump on the MAD bandwagon, Archie Comics eventually responded to the trend, launching ARCHIE'S MADHOUSE -- also published under the title MADHOUSE MA-AD JOKES -- in September, 1959. (Ajax/Farrell had already published a satirical comic titled Madhouse in 1954 and 1957.) Please notice how the cover-logo separates "MADHOUSE " into two words, probably to further promote the concept that this comic is somehow connected with the "real" MAD, although this isn't done with any consistency within the interior pages of this comic itself.. Although the early issues of ARCHIE'S MADHOUSE featured the typical antics of Archie and his Riverdale pals 'n' gals, the comic began to resemble MAD magazine, full of articles and gag-strips that only occasionally featured Archie's gang. (Please note that Archie and his friends are shoehorned into this issue as "presenters" of most of the articles therein, somewhat like wholesome versions of such "horror hosts" as EC's �Old Witch�, �the Vault-Keeper� and �the Crypt-Keeper�). ARCHIE'S MADHOUSE provided the perfect vehicle to present short (and intentionally juvenile) parodies of whatever fads and crazes were currently popular with teen-agers: monster movies, science fiction, westerns, rock 'n' roll groups, television series, superheroes, spies, TV commercials, hippies, beatniks, etc. Of course, all of these were rendered with the squeaky-clean veneer associated that was typical of Archie's line of titles. Allowing ARCHIE'S MADHOUSE to skew much younger than MAD's teenage and adult audience.

�Captain Sprocket� made his first appearance in the pages of ARCHIE�S MADHOUSE No. 25 (April, 1963); the prolific George Gladir was the characters� co-creator. Although Archie had published a number of �straight� superhero characters since the 1940s, Captain Sprocket was the company�s first intentionally humorous superhero�and possibly the one with the longest continual run! In fact, It should also be noted this parody of the super-hero genre pre-dated the campy prime-time BATMAN live-action ABC TV series by almost three years. Captain Sprocket has no specific �secret origin�; in his first appearance it is assumed the Captain has been on the job for awhile, since officials in Washington DC are trying to get rid of a "...strange girl from outer space (who) is up to some evil." Only one man can do the job -- Captain Sprocket! Additionally, he was billed as "The World's Only Three-In-One Hero; Space Scientist, Space Adventurer, Space Loverboy". (Oddly enough, the �super� qualities that make Captain Sprocket a superhero � other than his costume � have never been specified.) Although Captain Sprocket didn�t appear in every issue of ARCHIE�S MADHOUSE, he was a character to be found there for many years; oddly, he was never given his own title. He hadn�t appeared in print for decades, but Captain Sprocket was recently revived � along with many much-more-obscure old Archie characters -- in the pages of ARCHIE AND FRIENDS No. 137, January, 2010.

The first issue of ARCHIE'S MADHOUSE (or "MAD HOUSE", depending upon the issue) was cover-dated September, 1959 and the final issue was No 66, cover-dated February, 1969. Following that, the series changed its title to MADHOUSE MA - AD JOKES from issue No. 67 (April, 1969) through No. 70, then MADHOUSE MA - AD FREAK OUT from issue No. 71 through 72 (January, 1970). After that, the title became MADHOUSE GLADS from Issue No. 73 (May, 1970) through No. 94 (August. 1974) � but skipping No. 78 through No. 92! Finally, the title shifted to MAD HOUSE and the genre to horror with its 95th issue (September, 1974). The final issue of MAD HOUSE was No. 130, cover-dated October, 1982. There were also eleven different annuals published under the umbrella of Archie's "MADHOUSE" titles, as well as a single digest reprint collection.

At age nine, writer George Gladir won a Mickey Mouse sweater in a contest in MICKEY MOUSE MAGAZINE. A few years later, he had the winning entry in a "Buffalo Bob" cartoon contest that appeared in TIP TOP COMICS. Winning a dollar was nice, but even more significant to George was seeing his drawing and name in print in a comic book. In 1943, at the age of seventeen, while attending Cooper Union Institute in the evening, George landed an apprentice-type job at Eisner and Iger; Will Eisner was away in the service at the time. But within a few months, he enlisted in the Army and served as a combat infantryman in France and Germany during which time George was a POW for sixteen days. George didn't get back to the comic book field for many years. Following his discharge from the Army, he went to NYU on the GI Bill of Rights, majoring in History and English. After graduation there was another stint in the Army, this time as a Psychological Warfare Officer in Germany. While in the service he could still feel the lure of cartooning tugging at him. George sold a number a gag cartoons to various publications-including several cartoon ideas to the NEW YORKER. Upon his second discharge he took a job at a bank and enrolled in a night course at New York's Cartoonists and Illustrator's School (changed later to the School of Visual Arts). Two of George's classmates were Bob Weber, Sr., later to create the hilarious MOOSE strip for King Features, and Orlando Busino, who became a top-selling gag cartoonist for major magazines like THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. Years later, George and Orlando would co-create the classic Oddball monster parody comic, TALES CALCULATED TO DRIVE YOU BATS! (1961). After leaving C&I, George submitted gag cartoons to various magazines for several years. In1959, a cartoonist friend of George's told him that Archie Comics was looking for a writer. He started submitting one-page gags for ARCHIE'S JOKE BOOK, and George quickly found his niche at Archie and has been writing for the publisher ever since, for forty-seven years and counting. In 1961, George also started working for CRACKED magazine a humor magazine in the tradition of MAD. George wrote over 2,000 pages for the magazine, collaborating with such talented cartoonists as John Severin and Don Orehek. Always exploring new creative possibilities, in 1991, George sold a series �� drawn by cartoonist Tetsuya Ohyama -- with the title "Is That True?" ("Honto Ko Na?"), a humorous feature on an American's misconceptions about life in Japan, to Kodansha, a major Japanese publisher. This feature ran for 69 episodes over four years. George's experiences in Japan also inspired a new fantasy-adventure series for Rorschach Entertainment, CINDY AND HER OBASAN, co-created with the great Stan Goldberg; the first issue was published in October, 2006. Still quite busy, concocting new characters and stories, George lives in Carlsbad, California with his wife Mary.

Cartoonist Charles �Chic� Eber Stone (1/4/1923 - 2/28/2000) was born in New York City, New York, on East 23rd Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan, As a kid, Chic admired many cartoonists from the Sunday newspapers� �funny pages�: Rube Goldberg, Milton Caniff, Gus Edson and Raymond Dirks, among others. During the Depression, Chic studied at the High School of Industrial Arts -- now the High School of Art and Design -- and the Works Projects Administration School, where he studied under cartoonist Chuck Thorndyke. At 16, he landed his first job in comics in 1939, apprenticing at the legendary Eisner & Iger comics packaging �shop�, performing such menial jobs as pasting, whiting out, etc. During the 1940s, Chic worked on the original �Captain Marvel� for Fawcett Comics, and BOY COMICS for Lev Gleason Publications. For Timely Comics (Marvel Comics� 1940s predecessor), Chic contributed to BLONDE PHANTOM COMICS, "Eustis Hayseed" in JOKER COMICS and "Jeep Jones" in ALL SELECT COMICS and KID COMICS. In the 1950s, Chic left the comic book field to art direct a number of magazines; these included TRUE EXPERIENCE and THE AMERICAN SALESMAN. He also published a short-lived magazine, BOY ILLUSTRATED. Chic drew commercial illustrations for the Grey Advertising Agency -- now Grey Global -- and having relocated to Hollywood, California, drew storyboards for TV commercials for Filmack Studios and art directed more magazines, MODERN TEEN and DIG MAGAZINE. In the 1960s, Chic returned to comic books, working for the American Comics Group, drawing �Nemesis� for ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN, as well as stories for FORBIDDEN WORLDS, UNKNOWN WORLDS and other ACG titles. He also renewed his relationship with his old boss from the 1940s, Stan Lee, inking various pencilers for Marvel, most notably, Jack Kirby on FANTASTIC FOUR, AVENGERS, UNCANNY X - MEN, �The Mighty Thor� in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY and later, �The Inhumans� in AMAZING ADVENTURES. (Speaking of mysteries, why didn�t Smilin� Stan ever ask Chic to do any penciling for Marvel? Or did he and Chic turned him down?) In any event, Chic�s varied line work beautifully embellished Kirby�s pencil art, making the figures �pop� against meticulously-inked backgrounds. Indeed, the powerful but immensely appealing Kirby/Stone collaborations represent the �house style� of early Marvel. Chic also worked as an occasional �ghost artist� for Bob Kane on various �Batman� stories; for example, although uncredited, Chic drew the lead story of DC�s BATMAN No. 200 (March, 1968). He also did uncredited inking for George Papp on SUPERBOY, as well as assisting Sal Trapani. Around this time, Chic also did work for Tower Comics (T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, DYNAMO, NOMAN ), Dell (FLYING SAUCERS, GARRISON�S GORILLAS ), and Skywald�s black-and-white magazines (PSYCHO, NIGHTMARE ), as well as a high-profile half-page advertisement that ran in many DC comics, �Grandpa Munster �Digs� The Drag-U-La�, hyping an AMT plastic model kit based on a custom car built for THE MUNSTERS TV series by George Barris. During the 1970s and 1980s, Chic drew many stories for Archie Publications, both depicting Archie Andrew�s Riverdale �pals �n� gals� as well as horror stories for Archie�s �Red Circle� imprint and superheroes for such �Archie Adventure Series� as ARCHIE�S SUPER HERO SPECIAL and BLUE RIBBON COMICS. He also continued to do work for Marvel, returning to inking Keith Pollard�s pencils on THE MIGHTY THOR. Chic eventually retired, but continued to draw commissioned art pieces for his many fans. Chic Stone died in Prattville, Alabama, while living with his adult daughter and her family.

Cartoonist Daniel �Dan� S. DeCarlo (12/12/1919 � 12/19/2001) was born in New Rochelle, New York. After graduating from New Rochelle High School and attending the Manhattan Art Student League from 1938 to 1941, Dan was drafted into the U.S. Army and shipped overseas. Stationed in England, Dan drew a weekly comic strip for a military newspaper and painted mascots on the noses of US airplanes while working in the base motor pool and as a draftsman. After the fighting in the Battle Of The Bulge, Dan met his future wife, the lovely Gosette "Josie" Dumont, a French citizen living in Belgium. After World War II, Dan and Josie � now Mrs. DeCarlo -- moved back to New Rochelle, where Dan freelanced for Atlas/Marvel, drawing a ten-year-long run (No. 18, June, 1949 through No. 93, November, 1959) of MILLIE THE MODEL -- as well as MY FRIEND IRMA, SHERRY THE SHOWGIRL, SHOWGIRLS and HOMER THE HAPPY GHOST, among others -- with writer/editor Stan Lee. He also drew many "cheesecake" gag cartoons for Atlas/Marvel publisher Martin Goodman's HUMORAMA, as well as for somewhat classier publications such as THE SATURDAY EVENING POST and ARGOSY. Dan also drew THE BRAIN! for Magazine Enterprises, a humorous series about an eccentric boy inventor. In 1959, Dan DeCarlo began to freelance for Archie Comics; it was soon obvious that their comics, when featuring covers drawn by Dan, were among the publisher's best sellers. This led to Dan re-establishing a "house style" for Archie, an appealing "look" also modernized Archie's core cast of characters. Dan not only co-created �Sabrina The Teen-Age Witch� with George Gladir and red-haired "Cheryl Blossom" with Frank Doyle, he also created JOSIE � later re-titled JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS � with its title character based on his wife Josie. "We went on a Caribbean cruise, and I had a [cat] costume for the cruise, and that's the way it started," says Josie DeCarlo. The DeCarlos had two sons, Dan Jr. and James, who also went on to work for Archie Comics. In 1974, Dan was awarded the Shazam Award for Best Penciller (Humor Division) and in 2000, he received the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in the Comic Book Division. In 2001, MCA/Universal released a JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS feature film, prompting the property's creator, Dan DeCarlo to finally approach his bosses at Archie Comics regarding a piece of the action. Dan had seriously considered such an action before, but was counseled by his lawyer that the owners of Archie might react with extreme prejudice against Dan � and unfortunately, the lawyer was right. After over forty years, Dan's freelance relationship with Archie was terminated by the publisher. However, Dan was immediately offered work by his fan and friend, cartoonist Bill Morrison, editor of Bongo Comics' SIMPSONS COMICS, BART SIMPSON COMICS and RADIOACTIVE MAN and author of INNOCENCE AND SEDUCTION: THE ART OF DAN DECARLO (2006). Dan also drew a story for Paul Dini's JINGLE BELLE. "It was tragic that when he was at an age when many cartoonists are revered as treasures by more beneficent publishers, Dan felt spurned and slighted by the owners of properties that prospered greatly from his contributions. Still, he was esteemed by fans and professionals the world over, and he often told me he was very grateful for the support he received from them over the past few years", said Dini. Tragically, Dan lost his lawsuit case against Archie, and he passed away in 2002. Fortunately, even in death, Dan DeCarlo�s distinctive and appealing drawing style is still among the most recognizable comic book imagery with the American public.

Cartoonist Jon D�Agostino, born in 1929, has also worked under the pen names �Johnny D.�, �Johnny Dee� and �Matt Bakerino�. Jon received his education at New York City�s High School of Industrial Arts and Art Students League. He has worked primarily for three mainstream publishers, Archie Comics, Charlton Comics and Marvel Comics. At Archie Comics, Jon has worked on ARCHIE, ARCHIE AND ME, ARCHIE AT RIVERDALE HIGH, ARCHIE'S MADHOUSE, ARCHIE'S TV LAUGH - OUT, �The Archies�, BETTY AND ME, BETTY AND VERONICA, �Captain Sprocket�, �Coach Kleats�, �Dilton�, �The Girl From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.�, JOSIE, JUGHEAD, LIFE WITH ARCHIE, LITTLE ARCHIE, �Little Jughead�, �Little Sabrina�, MADHOUSE, �The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.�, �Marvelous Maureen�, �Midge�, MIGHTY MUTANIMALS, �Mr. Weatherbee�, �Pop Tate�, REGGIE, REGGIE AND ME, SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH, �Svensen�, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, THAT WILKIN BOY, THUNDERBUNNY and VERONICA. At Charlton, Jon has worked on ANNIE OAKLEY, ARMY ATTACK, ARMY WAR HEROES, �Arro The Caveman�, ATOM THE CAT, ATOMIC BUNNY, ATOMIC MOUSE, ATTACK, BATTLEFIELD ACTION, BILLY THE KID, CHEYENNE KID, �Cornfield Chatter�, �Count Gatto�, �Dear Park�, FIGHTIN' AIR FORCE, FIGHTIN' ARMY, FIGHTIN' MARINES, FIGHTIN' NAVY, �Freddy�, GO - GO, �Gordie And Junior�, �Grandpa�, GUNMASTER, HEE HAW, HOT ROD RACERS, HUNK, �Jeannine�, �Johnny Boy�, JUST MARRIED, �Katrina�, LI'L GENIUS, �Li�l Lumberjack�, �Li�l Wise Guy�, LOVERS' LEAP, MARINE WAR HEROES, MARINES ATTACK, MASKED RAIDER, �Miss Bikini Luv�, MY LITTLE MARGIE, MYSTERIES OF UNEXPLORED WORLDS, NAVY WAR HEROES, �Nick The Beat�, OUT OF THIS WORLD, OUTER SPACE, OUTLAWS OF THE WEST, �Professor Invento�, ROCKY JONES -- SPACE RANGER, �The Rotting Stumps�, �Roy �N� Junior�, �Roy And Lulu�, �The Shadow�, �Snooper And Blabber�, SPACE ADVENTURES, SPACE WAR, STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES, �Stuff�, SUBMARINE ATTACK, �Sweet Jessica�, SWEETHEARTS, TEENAGE HOTRODDERS, TEXAS RANGERS, TEXAS RANGERS IN ACTION, TIMMY THE TIMID GHOST, �Tooley The Tramp�, U.S. AIR FORCE COMICS, UNUSUAL TALES, WAR AND ATTACK, WAR HEROES and WYATT EARP. At Atlas/Marvel, Jon has worked on ALL - TRUE CRIME CASES, AMAZING DETECTIVE CASES, BATTLE, CHUCK NORRIS KARATE KOMMANDOS, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, DAMAGE CONTROL, DROIDS, EWOKS, FANTASTIC FOUR, FLINTSTONE KIDS, FOOFUR, G.I. JOE, HEATHCLIFF, LUKE CAGE AND IRON FIST, MARVEL TWO - IN - ONE, MILLIE THE MODEL, PLANET TERRY, ROYAL ROY, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE, THE MIGHTY THOR, TOP DOG, WALLY THE WIZARD and WHAT IF ? Jon has also done work for DC Comics (lettering various comics), Mirage Studios, Palette Art, Orbit Publications (various romance comics); Story Comics (DARK MYSTERIES, HORROR FROM THE TOMB, MYSTERIOUS ADVENTURES, NUTS!, POLICE AGAINST CRIME, ROMANTIC HEARTS and TRUE LOVE CONFESSIONS ), Western Publishing (lettering various comics) and Youthful Magazines (lettering various comics), as well as some advertising work.

So small they�re early invisible on this cover�s protest-signs are the names �Richard�, �Gus� and �Jon�. I speculate that these represent publisher Richard Goldwater and cartoonist Jon D�Agostino; unfortunately, who �Gus� is/was is unknown to me.

This issue�s 5-page lead story is �Zappy The Hippy� in �Tragic Magic�. It opens with a splash-panel that introduces Zappy and his girlfriend Daisey, two hippies loitering outside an antique shop. (For no apparent reason, it includes a reasonable facsimile of [pic2]Fred Flintstone![pic2]) When Daisey spots a �groovy� Tiffany lamp in the store�s window, they both go inside:

ZAPPY:
How much bread for this lamp, man?
SHOP OWNER:
It�s free if you stop hanging around my store!

Wow, that is one hostile middle-aged businessman! And speaking of middle-age, check out the lame �hippie-type dialog� scripted by this story�s uncredited but doubtlessly middle-aged writer, when the two hippies take the lamp outside:

ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
This lamp and me are alike! We�re both very bright!
DAISEY:
I�m hungry! I wish I could eat some of your corn!
ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
You want food, Daisey? I�ll make like this is Aladdin�s lamp!
DAISEY:
Oh, Zappy! You�re so way out!

Zappy rubs the lamp, surprised that he�s actually summoned [pic3]a genie[pic3] �and the genie is a hippie, too:

KEEN GEEN THE GENIE:
This is your KEEN GEEN making the SCENE!
ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
Holy sandals! It�s a GENIE!
DAISEY:
A MOD genie!
KEEN GEEN THE GENIE:
What�s your pleasure, treasure?
ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
We�re bored! We want some KICKS!

Keen Geen (?) immediately uses his genie powers to create a pair of �super duper mod sundaes� that emit their own fireworks displays(!), but Zappy is unimpressed:

ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
BIG DEAL!

Zappy rubs the Tiffany lamp again to conjure the genie who lives within it:

KEEN GEEN THE GENIE:
You called me again?
ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
Yeah man! When I said I want kicks, I want KICKS!
KEEN GEEN THE GENIE:
Then come with me to the world�s grooviest discotheque�I created it just for you two!

Entering �The Electric Pow� discotheque -- without noticing that [pic4]King Kong[pic4] is walking by in a cameo appearance -- Zappy and Daisey are immediately immersed in [pic5]a psychedelic display[pic5] of colors and music, but Zappy is still unimpressed:

DAISEY:
Oh, Zappy! This discotheque is UNBELIEVABLE! What GROOVY LIGHTS and FAB COLORS!
ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
(Yawn!) They look like glorified traffic lights to me!
DAISEY:
And dig those way-out sounds!
ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
It�s one BIG DRAG!
BAND (singing):
I left my shoes in Columbus Georgia!

Once again, the hard-to-please hippie summons his mod genie, who Zappy apparently disturbed:

KEEN GEEN THE GENIE:
(Yawn!) You woke me out of a sound sleep!
ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
That�s your hang-up, genie! So far you�ve done nothing but set me up tight!
KEEN GEEN THE GENIE:
Well, exactly what do you want?
ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
Give me a machine that will give me KICKS 24 hours a day!
KEEN GEEN THE GENIE:
As you desire, Master! One [pic6]perpetual kick machine[pic6] coming up!
ZAPPY THE HIPPY:
You gotta lay it on the line with a genie!

Of course, this gag turns out to be exactly what one would expect to see, with Zappy locked in stocks with a revolving boot-wheel kicking his butt over and over (although I�ll admit I didn�t expect the Native American holding a sign that reads �Stop Custer Now�):

DAISEY:
Zappy is getting his wish all right! 90 kicks a minute! I hope he gets a BOOT out of the machine!
END - CAPTION:
Moral: People who keep kicking about kicks usually get it in�THE END!

(Well, at least King Kong makes an appearance in this story�and he�s hairier than a dozen hippies rolled into one!)

Also included in this issue of ARCHIE�S MADHOUSE are the following stories, features and advertisements:

�Save Time, Trouble, Money!�, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover ad soliciting for people of all ages to sell �deluxe printed name-&-address labels� as representatives of �The Writewell Co.�

�Whale Of A Sale�, a one-page gag-strip drawn by Chic Stone. � Lacey�s department store is having a �giant sale� � on [pic7]actual giants[pic7] -- who somewhat resemble the �Shemp Era� Three Stooges!

�Psychedelic Poster Covers�, [pic8]an ad[pic8] for posters/book covers, each with an �award-winning psychedelic design and Op pattern�, available via mail-order from �Studio 52�.

�Rock Combos That Really Do Look Different�� � This [pic9]two - page feature[pic9] includes the non-existent band �The Bowling Bawlers�, �Astronut And The Rockets� and �The Redfull Dreadfulls�.

�Archie� in �Stick With It!�, a half-page strip-ad � drawn by Harry Lucey � for the �Bendix Stick Shift� for bicycles.

�Stamp Collectors! Look At This Exciting Offer From Zenith!�, a half-page ad for collectible stamps available through mail-order from the �Zenith Co.�

[pic10]�The Space Cleanup Man�[pic10], penciled by Chic Stone. � �Our story is about Chester Quigly, an ambitious lad who wanted to work his way up in the world! To realize his dreams Chester went to night school and studied and studied and studied! Finally, after years of struggle, Chester succeeded in working himself up to the highest position in the sanitation dept.� But since this story is set in a comedic future, Chester�s job involves cleaning up the cluttered �spaceways� by collecting �old and useless satellites�. But although Chester is an important �sky sweeper�, his beautiful blonde girlfriend, Myrtle, considers him nothing more than a �garbageman�. When Dr. Varlet, �the universe�s 31 space fink�, creates a �super magnifying glass� that focuses the sun�s rays to melt Earth�s polar ice cap to flood the world, Chester takes it upon himself to stop Dr. Varlet�s scheme. Flying his space-scow to confront the mad scientist, Chester unloads his �space garbage� on top of the magnifying glass to cut off the rays from the sun! With Earth�s civilization returning to normal, its inhabitants declares that the space sanitation man has saved the world. Even Myrtle�s opinion of Chester changes; when astronaut �Ace� Conners, she rebuffs him: �Hmph! Why should I go out with a mere astronaut!...When I can date a space sanitation man! Sigh!� (This story is sporadically interrupted with jokes and riddles delivered by strange little creatures called �Blips�; these humorous intrusions look like they were drawn by �Little Jinx� cartoonist Joe Edwards.)

�Archie Annual #20 Is Out Of Sight�, a house-ad for the GIANT - SIZE ARCHIE ANNUAL 20 � including a mail-order offer that includes a psychedelic poster of Archie Andrews -- � drawn by Harry Lucey.

�Captain Sprocket� in �Vain Brain�, penciled by Dan DeCarlo and inked by Jon D�agostino. � The city is the victim of a crime wave and no one is exempt. In this story�s splash-panel, we see the culprits � as they dash past a storefront bearing a sign that reads: �Victor�s Hippie Shop�, undoubtedly referring to Archie editor Victor Gorelick -- led by �the greatest [pic11]criminal computer[pic11] of all time�! The authorities are confounded by this �inhuman criminal mind� so they�re forced to ask for the help of the city�s resident, �that numbskull� Captain Sprocket. After conning a passing kid to take over his paper route in his absence, Captain Sprocket reports for duty to the mayor�s office. Then, without any transition at all (I get the impression that a page was editorially chopped from this story), we catch up with the caped �nudnik� interviewing a wealthy society woman whose jewels were stolen from her wall-safe. When he discovers an IBM card at the scene of the crime, Captain Sprocket pays a visit to the Ace Computer Co., where he attempts to interrogate a computer. When he fails to elicit a reply, he mis-reasons, �There�s only one way to bring an evil computer to justice! I must destroy ALL computers!�. When he starts bashing the shop�s computers on display with a sledgehammer, the owners call the police, who summarily fire him. As he returns to his job as a newspaper delivery boy, Captain Sprocket runs across another stray IBM card laying on the sidewalk outside of the Third National Bank. Charging inside, Captain Sprocket finds the computer criminals in the process of breaking into the financial institute�s huge vault. The �electronic rouge� quivers with fear begs to call its lawyer as [pic12]Captain Sprocket grabs it and drags it[pic12] into the police station, allowing the rest of its gang to make their getaway since he�s arrested their computerized mastermind. But when the lawmen refuse to believe that �a machine can be a gang leader� � and the computer refuses to �spill the beans�, the policemen on duty decide to measure Captain Sprocket for a straightjacket! Referring to a book on criminal psychology, the superhero tells the chief of police that, �There�s no point in making this computer talk! It�s just a CHEAP TWO-BIT HOOD!� That enough to make the over-achieving computer crook to print out a long list of its crimes for the police, a computerized confession to every one of its crimes. Sentence to �99 years in prison�, the needy crooked computer finally is satisfied to get such attention. Captain Sprocket wraps things up with this message to the readers: �Let this be a lesson to all you computers out in the audience�Don�t stray from the straight and narrow of your circuits or you�ll wind up in the clink!� (Please note that the Blips are present throughout this story as well.)

�E-L-E-C-T-R-I-C Split Level, Fully-Furnished Doll House With Complete Doll Family� an ad for a doll house with electric lights and a �real growing front lawn�(!?!), available via mail-order from the �Honor House Prod. Corp.�

�Space Chase�, penciled by Chic Stone. � �Double Your Displeasure Dept. � You�ve all seen those TV shows where an innocent man is falsely accused of a crime and he keeps running away so as not to get caught. Well, MAD HOUSE combines this type of program with another TV favorite � the space show, and ruins both with��Space Chase��. Falsely accused of dropping a gum wrapper in the street, an average citizen flees fro Earth and heads into space, where he lands on what he thinks is the �friendly� planet of Blotto. Instead, he�s mistakenly landed on the planet of Gruntnik and is captured by its hostile inhabitants, the Pigmen (who resemble funny-animal pigs). The Earthman is taken to their �Exalted Highness�, who he presents with a piggy bank as a gift. The king is not impressed � he already has a �dandy human bank� � so he sends the Earthman to the arena. If he triumphs over three different opponents, he�ll be rewarded; If he loses, he�ll �be sentenced to life imprisonment and forced to live on water and pizza pie crusts�. His first foe is Rabbitman, who clobbers the Earthman with a �rabbit punch�. But when the Earthman distracts Rabbitman with a �juicy carrot�, he drives the alien bunny-boy into the ground with a huge mallet. His next opponent is Goatman, who butts his rear end -- hard! But when they go head-to-head, Goatman�s horns are ruined � the Earthman admits, �In school I was known as a big bonehead!� The Earthman�s third and final opponent is Lionman, who threatens to give him �the lion�s share of lumps and bruises�. But when the Earthman makes a sharp comment about the dandruff in Lionman�s mane, his leonine foe breaks down in tears! Having won all three matches, the king of the Pigmen presents the Earthman with his reward, the �prettiest� pig-woman in his kingdom. That�s when the Earthman makes a snap decision �to go back to Earth and pay the $5.00 fine!� (Yep, there are even more [pic13]Blips[pic13] throughout this story, too.)

A page consisting of two advertisements: �Missile Firing Tank�, an ad for a toy that�s �over 6 feet long� and �large enough for two kids inside� for $6.98�; and �10 Way Hairpiece!�, an ad for �10 glamour styles� of wigs and hairpiece, available via mail-order from the �Beauty Aids Co.�

[pic14]�Buried Alive!�[pic14], a two-page (including the black-and-white inside-back-cover) strip-ad (probably designed and illustrated by the Johnstone & Cushing art service/ad agency) for mail-order vocational courses available from �ICS�, AKA �International Correspondence Schools�.

��We�re Looking For People Who Like To Draw� Says Norman Rockwell�, [pic15]a back-cover ad[pic15] for correspondence courses from the �Famous Artists School�.

ODDBALL FACTOID � Decades later, Archie Comics acquired the license to publish funnybooks based on various Hanna-Barbera properties, including THE FLINTSTONES, from September, 1995 to June, 1997!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC #1,294 � MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2010 � �Don�t Jump!� Don�t worry, folks, that�s just the title of a story from this week�s �Groovy! Boss! Outa Site!� ODDBALL COMIC! Straight from Clarksville, here come Michael Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones in the very first issue of their Dell funnybook series! Hey, hey, it�s THE MONKEES! (Plus, learn why this is the second comic book series to feature Mickey Dolenz!)

Tales to Astonish, Vol. 1, No. 18

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:56:36 -0700

ODDBALL COMICS has already met Marvel�s mighty monkey-monster a few years back in an early issue of TALES TO ASTONISH! Now -- a few issues later and courtesy of Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers -- here comes �Gorgilla Strikes Again!� Yep, the big ape finally gets his very own sequel and winds up climbing the Statue Of Liberty! Plus, Steve Ditko�s �Monsteroso!� and �Robot On The Rampage!� (But what the heck is the Lone Ranger doing in this fearful funnybook?)

[fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Tales to Astonish[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]Vol. 1, No. 18[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]April, 1961[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]Vista Publications Inc. (Marvel Comics Group)[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Penciled by Jack Kirby; inked by Dick Ayers[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]

[introtext]

[fieldinserts]Before what became known as the �Marvel Age Of Comics� changed the landscape of superhero funnybooks forever (starting with FANTASTIC FOUR No. 1, cover-dated November, 1961) the company formerly known as Timely and Atlas published comics featuring many genres, including horror, westerns, romance, military and humor. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, one of the Stan Lee-edited publisher�s specialties was �monster comics�, usually scripted by Stan or his brother, Larry Lieber, and illustrated by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, the two cartoonists who would, within a few years, co-create the burgeoning Marvel Universe.� In fact, many of Marvel�s heroes have their roots in their �pre-hero� comics. The Fantastic Four�s first foe was the Mole Man and his subterranean monsters, with the shape-shifting �Skrulls� (who Reed Richards defeated with the help of a handful of pre-hero Marvel monster mags), Miracle Man�s living monster movie prop and Sub-Mariner�s monstrous walking whale-monster soon to follow. (For that matter, the Thing looked, for all intents and purposes, like one of Kirby�s brutish, scale-covered creatures that shambled across the pages of STRANGE TALES, TALES TO ASTONISH, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY and TALES OF SUSPENSE. Likewise, the incredible Hulk was another monsteriffic character who combined Frankenstein�s creation with �Mr. Hyde� (who would also become a Marvel supervillain), with an origin story that was practically a panel-by-panel adaptation of THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN (1957). Thor�s first adversaries were the craggy �Stone Men� from Saturn, who resembled creatures out of a Ray Harryhausen movie. Spider-Man was, in part, a combination of THE FLY (1958) and I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF (1957). Ant�Man was composed of equal parts of THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN (1957) and THEM! (1954). The X-Men were a combination of the kids from THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960) led by a man named �Xavier,� right out of X � THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES (1963), and so on. And just like many monster movies of the time, �Gorgilla Strikes Again!� is a sequel to an earlier story, a rare example of pre-hero Marvel monster continuity!

Stan Lee, AKA Stanley Martin Lieber, was born on December 28, 1922 in his parents� New York City apartment at the corner of West 98th Street and West End Avenue in Manhattan. His parents, Jack and Celia, were both poor Romanian-Jewish immigrants. Stanley�s father was a dress cutter, but in the years following �The Great Depression�, he was unable to secure full-time work. This forced the Lieber family to move further uptown to the more affordable neighborhood of Manhattan Heights. It was there, when Stanley was nine years old, that his younger brother (and future collaborator) Larry was born. When Stanley�s family moved to the Bronx, he attended DeWitt Clinton High School. Thanks to his mother�s encouragement, Stanley was a voracious reader. This led to his enjoyment of writing, working part-time writing obituaries for a news service and press releases for the National Tuberculosis Center while still a high school student. And when young Stanley wasn�t reading or writing, he could usually be found in one of the many movie theatres near his home. Other early jobs included delivering sandwiches for the Jack May pharmacy to offices in Rochester Center, working as an office boy for a trouser manufacturer, ushering at the Rivoli Theater on Broadway and selling newspaper subscriptions to THE NEW YORK HERALD-TRIBUNE. (This was the same newspaper that, when Stanley was 15, sponsored �The Biggest News Of the Week Contest�. When Stanley entered the contest, he received a letter from one of the newspaper�s editors, encouraging him to become a professional writer.) In 1939, Stanley Lieber graduated early from high school at the age of 16 and 1/2. Following that, he joined the WPA Theatre Project. Then, with the aid of his uncle, Robbie Solomon � who happened to be the brother-in-law of pulp magazine and comic book publisher Martin Goodman � arranged for Stanley to be hired by Joe Simon (co-creator of �Captain America� with Jack Kirby) as his assistant � and �general gofer� -- at the newly-formed Timely Comics� new offices in the Empire State Building. (Stanley�s cousin Jean was also Goodman�s wife.) In CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS No. 3 (May, 1941), a text-piece titled �Captain America Foils The Traitor�s Revenge� appeared, signed �Stan Lee�. It was Stanley Lieber�s first-ever-published professional writing. (Years later, Stan claimed that he was �saving� his real name for more �legitimate� writing gigs, such as penning �The Great American Novel�.) By the comic�s third issue, Stanley had graduated to writing the book�s back-up feature, �Headline Hunter, Foreign Correspondent�. Later that year, in the wake of a dispute with publisher Goodman, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left Timely to work for DC Comics. Their unexpected exit created an opening for a temporary editor at Timely, and 19-year-old Stanley�s uncle-in-law assigned him the position, but Stanley proved so adept with editing that he was made Goodman�s comic book division�s Editor-In-Chief and primary art director. This was interrupted by World War II; in 1942, Stanley enlisted in the U.S. Army in early 1942, serving stateside in the Signal Corps. He wrote manuals, training films and poster copy and occasionally even drew cartoons. (Stan now claims that his official military classification was �playwright� and that only eight other Army men in history were ever given that title!) While Stanley was serving his country, 4-F cartoonist Vincent Fago ran Timely, but relinquished the position when Stan returned from the Army in 1945. Post-war Timely published comics in every genre, and Stan not only edited them, he continued to write them as well. Martin Goodman�s rule-of-thumb was to imitate whatever concept was selling for Timely�s competitors, then saturate the market with so many variations on the genre that it would quickly exhaust itself. Therefore, Stan found himself writing romance, teenage, westerns, humor, science fiction, funny animals, medieval adventure, horror, kiddie and suspense stories, often, all in the same month. On the other hand, sales of superhero comics slumped after the war, causing all the major publishers, including Timely, to cut back on funnybooks starring the �long underwear crowd�. (Stanley was so prolific that he began to use a variety of pen names. These included, �S. T. Anley�, �Stan Martin�, �Neel Nats� and of course, the one to which he eventually legally changed his name, �Stan Lee�.) This kept Stan busy, even through the comic-book �witch hunts� of the early 1950s led by Dr. Frederic Wertham and Senator Estes Kefauver, but Stan was getting bored with the material he was churning out But by this time, Stan and his family were living in Hewlett Harbor on New York�s Long Island, and he had mouths to feed and a mortgage to pay. Even worse, his publisher (now known as �Marvel� � was merely limping along. Fortunately, Marvel had two freelancers working for it who would prove pivotal to Stan�s future: Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Although both of them were doing a great job plotting and drawing monster and suspense comics � scripted by Stan and his brother Larry � Marvel was rapidly becoming a marginal entity in the comic book field. But when Stan received orders from Martin Goodman to come up with a team of superheroes (supposedly to take advantage of the success of editor Julius Schwartz�s JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA for DC), Stan worked with Jack Kirby to create a team of superheroes the likes of which had never been seen before. Marvel�s other, more traditional comic books weren�t selling particularly well, the duo of Lee and Kirby tried to make THE FANTASTIC FOUR (1961) a superhero team that shattered the genres� previous stereotypes � or at least turned �em on their collective ear -- and it worked and for many, even lived up to its hype as �The World�s Greatest Comic Magazine!� Stan says that his lovely British wife Joan encouraged him to experiment with this new project by applying his own approach to the subject matter; Stan�s ear for writing clever, realistic dialog was particularly groundbreaking. It didn�t hurt, either, that Stan was working with two of the most imaginative cartoonists in comics, men who could write as well as they drew. This led to working so-called �Marvel Method�, a process with Stan writing his dialog after seeing the sequential images cooked up by Kirby and Ditko, and to a lesser degree of success, to other cartoonists hired by Marvel. It worked so well, in fact, that the upstart company (with decidedly inferior production values such as brittle cover-stock and easily-smeared ink) finally began to get noticed. Once again with Kirby, Stan turned Robert Louis Stevenson�s �Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde� into the misunderstood super-monster, THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1962). Then, teaming with Steve Ditko, Stan co-created a unique approach to the teenage superhero in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (also 1962), arguably Marvel�s most famous and successful character. These were followed by �The Mighty Thor�, �Iron Man�, �Dr. Strange�, �Daredevil� and �The Uncanny X-Men�, as well as revived, modern incarnations of Timely�s �Captain America� and �The Human Torch�. Stan not only edited and scripted all of these, but also became a hip and humorous front-man for what would become known as �The Marvel Age Of Comics�. In the long run, this astounding ability -- to attract and secure a readership so loyal that they�d feel genuinely indebted to Marvel for publishing such comics � may be Stan Lee�s greatest talent of all -- he practically invented the concepts of �marketing� and �branding� single-handedly! Of course, Stan �The Man� Lee was the biggest Marvel fan of all, so his ballyhoo rang absolutely true. Within a few years, Marvel had grown from a small company to the comic book industry�s giant, with the other publishers attempting to create and sell their own comics, directly emulating Marvel�s style, bluster and �goofy grandeur�. Stan was convinced that the target audience for Marvel Comics was the college crowd, and made many personal appearances as a speaker at many of the nation�s colleges and universities, although research seemed to indicate that Marvel wasn�t as ever-present in the institutes of higher learning than Stan had assumed. He even, very briefly, cover-labeled each of Marvel�s books as �A Marvel Pop-Art Production�, as if they weren�t mere comic books but fine art. With Marvel�s rising star, and a change in distribution, the company added more titles to its roster, and with them, more creators. Eventually Stan wasn�t writing nearly as many books as he once had, but he still set the standards for which all Marvel product was expected to meet. Then there came the day that publisher Martin Goodman decided to sell Marvel to Cadence Industries. Whatever it was that Stan was doing, the new buyer was convinced that he was doing it right, and made him an essential element of the deal. When the transaction was finalized, Stan emerged with something he hadn�t had since starting with Marvel three decades earlier: a contract. After a false start (the samples were discovered, untouched, in the files of Goodman�s son, who briefly worked for Marvel, Stan and John Romita, Sr. launched a daily AMAZING SPIDER-MAN syndicated newspaper comic strip; in 1977; eventually, Larry Lieber, Stan�s talented kid brother, took over drawing the feature, which continues to this day. In 1981, With Marvel Comics running relatively smoothly and extremely profitably, Stan and his family moved to Los Angeles, California, where he helped to oversee Marvel Productions, an animation studio (a new incarnation of Depatie-Freleng Productions.) Stan also headed up Marvel Films, a new enterprise dedicated to developing and placing Marvel properties in high-profile television and film projects. Stan�s name and reputation guaranteed that he had no problem scheduling meetings with any of Hollywood�s big-shots, but it took years for any of Stan�s energetic pitches to reach fruition. THE INCREDIBLE HULK TV series (1978 - 1982) was a hit, but other early Marvel/Hollywood projects such as THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TV series (1978) and PUNISHER (1989) and CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990) films were quite poorly-received. Marvel�s licensed properties really began to deliver the goods with the theatrical release of X-MEN (2000), in which Stan had a cameo part, as well as being an Executive Producer of the film. He also appeared in the Marvel adaptations SPIDER-MAN (2002), THE HULK (2003), DAREDEVIL (2003), SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004), FANTASTIC FOUR (2005) and X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (2006). Stan also appeared in the TV movies THE TRIAL OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1989), GENERATION X (1996) and NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998). Stan has also provided voiceovers for various animated cartoons adapting Marvel characters; he�s even provided narration for various �Spider-Man� video games. In non-Marvel-related films, Stan has appeared in Larry Cohen�s THE AMBULANCE (1990) and Kevin Smith�s MALLRATS (2002), as well as in Mark Hamill�s direct-to-DVD COMIC BOOK: THE MOVIE (2004). In the April 28, 2002 episode of Matt Groening�s THE SIMPSONS, �I Am Furious Yellow�, an animated Stan Lee made a nuisance of himself to the Comic Book Guy at �The Android�s Dungeon� comic book shop. Stan has also appeared on the TV game shows TO TELL THE TRUTH and IDENTITY, as well as producing and hosting an Oddball �reality� TV show, WHO WANTS TO BE A SUPERHERO?, which premiered on the Sci Fi Channel on July 27, 2006; the series was renewed for a second season. And very recently, Stan has made a cameo appearance on the NBC series HEROES. Stan has received several awards for his work, including being formally inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall Of Fame in 1995. In the late 1990s, Stan became associated with a former lawyer named Peter Paul. Together, in 1998, they formed Stan Lee Media, a studio focusing on the creation of entertainment for the Internet. The company�s projects included THE 7TH PORTAL, THE DRIFTER, THE ACCUSER and a concert-sold comic book starring the popular �boy band�, The Backstreet Boys. Unfortunately, in 2000, it was eventually discovered that Paul and corporate officer Stephan Gordon were involved in illegal stock manipulation. Although Stan Lee Media filed for bankruptcy in February, 2001, Stan Lee himself has never been implicated in their scheme. In the early 2000s, for the first time in his career, Stan finally worked for Marvel�s primary competitor, DC Comics, writing a series of �re-imagined� new superhero concepts based on their Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and the Flash. With co-writer George Mair, Stan wrote his autobiography, EXCELSIOR! THE AMAZING LIFE OF STAN LEE, published in 2002 by Simon & Schuster�s Fireside Press. In 2003, Stan created the animated superhero series STRIPPERELLA for Spike TV, featuring the voice of Pamela Anderson. In 2004, he announced plans to collaborate with pajama-wearing publisher Hugh Hefner on a similar superhero cartoon featuring animated PLAYBOY Playmates, as well as a superhero project that would star former Beatles� drummer Ringo Starr. In 2005, Stan Lee, Gill Champion and Arthur Lieberman formed POW! (�Purveyors of Wonder!�) Entertainment to develop film, television and video game properties. The first film produced by POW! was the live-action TV-movie Stan Lee�s LIGHTSPEED (2006) which aired on the Sci Fi Channel. POW! Entertainment Inc. reportedly has some forty different projects in various stages of development. Two of the company�s �Stan Lee Presents� animated direct-to-DVD productions have been MOSAIC (2006) and THE CONDOR (2007). In 2005, Stan filed a lawsuit against Marvel for his unpaid share of profits from Marvel movies, reportedly winning a settlement of more than $10 million. Apparently, Marvel held no grudge against him, though, because in 2006, to celebrate his 65th year with Marvel, the company published a series of five one-shot comics co-starring Stan Lee with Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, the Thing, the Silver Surfer (a character created solely by Jack Kirby) and Dr. Doom. Stan Lee�s impressive career with Marvel Comics has existed for over six decades. During that time, he has held the titles of Marvel�s �Head Writer�, �Art Director�, �Editor-In-Chief�, �Publisher�, �President� and �Chairman�, and is currently �Chairman Emeritus� of Marvel and an �Executive Producer� of their theatrical films. At the age of 86, Stan �The Man� Lee has never been busier!

Editor/writer/cartoonist Larry Lieber was born on October 26, 1931 in New York City. The younger brother of Stan Lee, Larry attended art school at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and at Manhattan's Art Students League. After that, he did military service with the U.S. Air Force for four years. Larry began has career at Atlas/Marvel in 1951, drawing stories for ALL-TRUE CRIME CASES. Then, from 1958 through 1959 � while teaching art classes on the side, he drew stories for such Atlas/Marvel titles as: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY; JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS; LOVE ROMANCES; LOVE TALES; THE ROMANCES OF NIGHT NURSE HELEN GRANT; TRUE TALES OF LOVE; STRANGE WORLDS; and LOVE ROMANCE. Starting in 1962, Larry began writing, penciling and inking back-up stories for STRANGE TALES; it wasn�t long before he started to write the comic�s main feature, �The Human Torch�, over plots loosely woven by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Around the same time, over at JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, he was performing the same duties on �The Mighty Thor� and various back-up stories. The pattern continued in TALES TO ASTONISH, where he wrote and penciled �Ant-Man� while creating entire back-up stories for the funnybook. In 1963, after writing, drawing and inking back-up stories starring the Wasp and the Watcher, Larry Lieber wrote the first �Iron Man� origin story in TALES OF SUSPENSE No. 39 (March. 1963). In 1964, Larry worked on KID COLT OUTLAW and RAWHIDE KID, and the next year, TWO-GUN KID, rapidly establishing himself as Marvel�s longtime go-to guy when it came to westerns. He continued to work on superheroes, writing a back-up story for THE AVENGERS in 1965, writing �Dr. Doom� in ASTONISHING TALES (he�d previously drawn the bad doctor in an issue of MARVEL SUPER-HEROES) and drawing lead stories for a pair of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUALS. In 1974, Larry Lieber briefly left Marvel to take on the editorship of Seaboard Periodicals� line of "Atlas Comics" published by Marvel�s ex-publisher Martin Goodman. He originally edited Atlas� black-and-white magazines, but soon took over the color comics as well. As Larry said in a 1999 interview: �When I went there, Martin put out two kinds of books. He was putting out color comics, and he was also going to put out black-and-white comics like Warren and Marvel. Now, I knew nothing about black-and-white comics, right? My only experience was in the color comics. Jeff Rovin came from Warren, and he knew nothing about color comics. Martin unfortunately put Jeff in charge of all the color comics and put me in charge of the black-and-white books. It was an unfortunate thing, and basically what happened was that Jeff's books didn't turn out so well. . . . Martin had to pay high freelance rates, because otherwise nobody would work for a new and unproven company. . . . It didn't work out too well, and Jeff finally left angrily or something, and I had to take over all his books. At this point, business was bad, and I tried to do what I could. One of the things I had to do was to cut rates and tell people they were going to make less money, which was not an enviable position.� In additional to his editorial duties at Atlas, Larry drew covers, wrote KID CODY GUNFIGHTER and drew PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES (both 1975). But it wasn�t long before Larry returned to Marvel, where he drew �It, The Living Colossus� in ASTONISHING TALES, wrote SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOES, wrote MARVEL GIANT-SIZE CHILLERS and wrote and drew KID COLT and SPIDEY SUPER STORIES. In 1976 and 1977, he edited Marvel�s line of British reprint comics and in 1986 and 1987, he drew character entries for MARVEL UNIVERSE. Larry Lieber has also worked on the Register And Tribune Syndicate�s THE INCREDIBLE HULK syndicated newspaper comic strip from 1978 to 1982 and King Features� daily THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN syndicated newspaper comic strip from 1980 onward to this day, both written by his big brother, Stan Lee. (Cartoonist Alex Saviuk continues to draws the Sunday installments of the strip.) From 1983 to 1984, Larry Lieber wrote and drew �The Super-Stiks� for STICKERS MAGAZINE. Larry is a member of the National Cartoonists Society.

Here�s a brief biography of Jacob Kurtzberg, AKA Jack Kirby (August 28, 1917 � February 6, 1994) from the Jack Kirby Museum And Research Center originally written by Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman for Communicator Unlimited�s KIRBY UNLEASHED (1972).

Cartoonist Richard Bache "Dick" Ayers, Sr. was born on April 28, 1924, in Ossining, New York. Dick served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, where, in 1942, the Army newspaper THE RADIO POST published his first comic strip, �Radio Ray�. After attending NYC�s Art Career School, the Cartoonists And Illustrators School -- which included drawing classes taught by Burne (TARZAN) Hogarth -- and the School Of Visual Arts, �Superman� co-creator Joe Shuster recommended that Dick interview with Magazine Enterprises� Vin Sullivan, who was impressed enough with a few FUNNYMAN stories �ghosted� by the newcomer that, in 1948, he assigned him to draw JIMMY DURANTE COMICS. Dick continued to freelance for ME until 1956, where he also drew stories for the original GHOST RIDER western and THE AVENGER, while doing a considerable amount of work for Charlton, Atlas/Marvel and many other publishers, working in a variety of genres. Eventually, Dick began working full-time for Marvel, inking much of Jack Kirby�s early work on FANTASTIC FOUR, �The Mighty Thor� in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, THE AVENGERS, THE HULK and SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS, as well as many of Kirby�s �pre-hero� monster stories. Dick also penciled a great amount of work for Marvel, including �The Human Torch� in STRANGE TALES, �Ant Man� in TALES TO ASTONISH, SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS and GHOST RIDER, among many others. During this period, Dick also contributed work to Joe Simon�s line of �Harvey Thrillers�. Dick�s work on Marvel�s various war and western comics led to similar assignments at DC, where he worked on �Sgt. Rock� in OUR ARMY AT WAR, �The Unknown Soldier� in STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES and JONAH HEX, among many others. He also took over KAMANDI from the series� creator, Jack Kirby. In the late 1970s and early 80s he also worked freelance for Archie Comics, American Comics, Revolutionary Comics and many others. Dick has taught at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon And Graphic Art and gave classes at the Guggenheim Museum. Dick returned to comics in 1996 to draw Old Town Publishing�s DR. WONDER. In 1985, his work won him the 1985 National Cartoonists Society Award Division Award for �Best Comic Book�. In 1997, Dick received the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic-Con International. Dick Ayers is still working full-time as an cartoonist, and recently the second volume of his autobiography in trade paperback form.

The co-creator of Marvel�s amazing Spider-Man, cartoonist Steve Ditko, was born Stephen Ditko on November 2, 1927 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the son of Slavic immigrants. As a kid, Ditko showed promise as a cartoonist; his primary influences included Will (THE SPIRIT) Eisner and the early �Batman� comic book artists. Ditko did military service in post-war Germany after graduating from Johnstown High School in 1945. Following this, he attended New York City�s Cartoonists And Illustrators School (later re-named the School Of Visual Arts); with �Batman� cartoonist (and creator of the Joker) Jerry Robinson as one of his instructors. In 1953, Ditko broke into the comic book business, working for Joe Simon and Jack Kirby�s BLACK MAGIC (Crestwood/Prize) and Kirby�s CAPTAIN 3-D (Harvey) and Charlton�s THE THING. The next year, he appeared in Farrell�s FANTASTIC FEARS and did a lot more work for Charlton, including drawing his first covers. In 1956, Steve began freelancing for Atlas/Marvel, primarily working in the genres of horror, mystery and science fiction, while continuing to freelance for Charlton. At Marvel, working with editor/writer Stan Lee, Steve Ditko�s work appeared in such comics as STRANGE ADVENTURES, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, STRANGE WORLDS, TALES OF SUSPENSE and TALES TO ASTONISH. His ability to craft unsettling stories with a unique �look� eventually led to AMAZING ADULT FANTASY (formerly AMAZING ADVENTURES), a TWILIGHT ZONE-esque anthology series (�The Comic Magazine That Respects Your Intelligence!�) tailored to feature nothing but his short, Stan-Lee-written tales. With its fifteenth and final issue (August, 1962), the comic changed its name once again, this time to AMAZING FANTASY. It cover-featured a new superhero, �Spider-Man�, drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Steve Ditko. (Steve had previously drawn the cover, but Stan rejected it for being drawn from a different, less dynamic angle.) Inside, in a historical collaboration between Stan Lee and Ditko, it introduced Peter Parker, a geeky high school student who is bitten by a radioactive spider, thereby gaining creepy superpowers � and eventually becoming one of the best-known superhero characters of all time. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN soon received his own title, but a second Ditko character, �Dr. Strange� � who Stan Lee once admitted in a fanzine interview that was entirely Ditko�s concept � first appeared as a back-up series in STRANGE TALES No. 110 (July, 1963). Unfortunately, Dr. Strange was too brilliantly weird to catch on in a big way with the fans, although the character and Ditko�s mind-blowing depictions of sorcery and other dimensions was eventually embraced by the counterculture. (What�s ironic is that Ditko has always been conservative in his viewpoint, the polar opposite of a hippie!) During this stint at Marvel, Steve also worked on such characters as �The Incredible Hulk� in THE INCREDIBLE HULK No. 6 (an Oddball story in which the green monster finds himself stuck with Dr. Bruce Banner�s head!) and TALES TO ASTONISH and �Iron Man� (being the first to design a red-and-yellow motif for Tony Stark�s armor) in TALES OF SUSPENSE. Although Ditko was eventually given the assignment of plotting his Spider-Man and Dr. Strange stories, and despite the fact that he was the ideal talent for both series and that he had already co-created the majority of Spider-Man�s arch-villains to this day, he abruptly quit working for Stan Lee and Marvel in 1966 (his last stories for them were both cover-dated July); Steve Ditko has never revealed the specific reason for his decision, but it certainly was the end of an era at Marvel, where his artistic presence nicely complimented those of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Instead, Ditko concentrated on working for Charlton, for whom he�d never really stopped freelancing for and for whom he had already co-created (with Joe Gill) a Cold War superhero, �Captain Atom�, in SPACE ADVENTURES No. 33 (March,1960). Although the Derby, Connecticut publisher paid a much lower page rate, it was run without nearly as much editorial control, and this greatly appealed to Steve, who would eventually have a major part in the creation of such memorable Charlton characters as the �new Blue Beetle� and �The Question.� (both 1967) as well as dozens of science-fiction, horror, mystery, monster and even war comics. During this period, Ditko also did work for Dell (NUKLA, GET SMART, etc., often inked by Sal Trapani) and ACG, By the late 1960s, Steve Ditko�s interest in the writing and philosophy of Ayn Rand -- termed �Objectivism� -- began to manifest itself in his mainstream funnybook stories. This led to Ditko�s creation of what is perhaps his most personal (and Oddball) character, �Mr. A�, first appearing in the third issue of Wallace Wood�s legendary prozine, WITZEND (1967). The embodiment of Objectivism, Mr. A (logically, the next step beyond the Question) practices his belief that there is no grey area of morality, only black (evil) and white (good), with his calling cards designed accordingly. Meanwhile, he had been drawing some of the best work of his career for writer/editor Archie Goodwin in the pages of Jim Warren�s CREEPY and EERIE black-and-white horror magazines. The prolific Ditko was also doing excellent work for Tower�s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS and, due to former Charlton editor Dick Giordano�s relocation, DC Comics. There, with writer Don (KONA, MONARCH OF MONSTER ISLE) Segall, he co-created �The Creeper� in SHOWCASE No. 73 (March-April, 1968) and with Steve Skeates, �The Hawk And The Dove� in SHOWCASE No. 75 (June, 1968). Both were memorable concepts that went on to short-lived series and continue to be re-visited in DC�s current continuity. For the next few years, Ditko concentrated on a combination of Charlton assignments (THE MANY GHOSTS OF DOCTOR GRAVES, GHOSTLY HAUNTS, GHOSTLY TALES, STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES, etc.) and self-expressing material for the alternative marked. Finally returned to DC in 1975, where Ditko created co-created STALKER (1975, with Paul Levitz and Wallace Wood) and SHADE THE CHANGING MAN (1977). He also worked on new stories featuring the Creeper, Jack Kirby�s Demon and the Legion Of Super-Heroes, as well as a new incarnation of Starman and a few illustrations for DC�s WHO�S WHO. After passing on the opportunity to draw Captain Atom (DC had recently acquired the rights to most of Charlton�s �action heroes�), Ditko returned to Marvel in 1979, but refused to draw anything featuring Spider-Man or Dr. Strange. Instead, he worked on just about every other classic Marvel character or series (including taking over Jack Kirby�s MACHINE MAN) plus creating SPEEDBALL (1988) and drawing a long run of ROM, SPACEKNIGHT, with a diverse and interesting parade of talented inkers. Ditko also worked on all four issues of Marvel/Star Comics� CHUCK NORRIS AND THE KARATE KOMMANDOS, a four-issue miniseries based upon a Ruby-Spears cartoon show. After brief creative stopovers at Dark Horse, Defiant and Hamilton Comics (on MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS, of all things!), Steve Ditko concentrated his efforts on new projects for the independent market. An extremely private man, Ditko was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall Of Fame in 1990, and still lives in New York City.

The first issue of Marvel�s TALES TO ASTONISH was cover-dated January, 1959. Following its �pre-hero monster� phase was �Ant Man, a superhero spin-off from �The Man In The Ant Hill!� in TALES TO ASTONISH No. 27 (January, 1962) who debuted in TALES TO ASTONISH No. 35 (September, 1962). Eventually, Ant-Man was joined by �The incredible Hulk� (in issue No. 60, October, 1964); then the diminutive superhero was replaced by �Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner� (in issue No. 70, August, 1965). The final issue of TALES TO ASTONISH was issue No. 101, cover-dated March, 1968. It spawned a one-shot two series that contained continuations of its dual storylines: IRON MAN AND SUB-MARINER No. 1 (and only), THE INCREDIBLE HULK No. 102 and SUB-MARINER No. 1.

Gorgilla first appeared in TALES TO ASTONISH No. 12, cover-dated October, 1960, in a 7-page cover-story titled �I Discovered Gorgilla! The Monster Of Midnight Mountain!� (the title that�s cover-blurbed is �Here Comes�Gorgilla!�). It was written by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Steve Ditko and edited by Stan Lee. According to the Grand Comic Book Database, its storyline goes as follows: �A scientist mounts an expedition to Borneo in order to locate the remains of the missing link. He is surprised upon his arrival that the locals refer to the creature as living upon "midnight mountain". The natives have built an enclosure around the area ala Kong, so after his group scales the wall, they come face to face with Gorgilla. Initially, relations between human and missing link are antagonistic, but when a T-Rex shows up, Gorgilla decides he feels more of a kinship with the explorers and attacks the reptile. He is victorious, but tired and weak after the fight, and the scientists realize he could be easily captured. Since he saved their lives from the T-Rex, they grant him the peace of remaining in his native habitat.� Or you could check out my ODDBALL COMICS column No. 802 for my personal take on the story.

This issue�s two-part, 13-page cover-story is �Gorgilla Strikes Again!�, written by Larry Lieber , penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Dick Ayers. It begins with this turgid introduction:

INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE CAPTION:
In the October issue of Tales To Astonish, we gave you the story of Gorgilla! Since then, you�ve asked for � begged for � demanded further adventures of the amazing creature! And so here it is � the fantastic SEQUEL to The Monster Of Midnight Mountain�GORGILLA!!

After a splash-page that essentially duplicates the cover, we�re treated to [pic2]a one-page recap[pic2] of Gorgilla�s previous story, narrated by an archaeologist only identified as �Scotty�, the same guy who discovered Gorgilla a few months earlier. But that page�s final panel � as well as the next page --takes the first step into this sequel:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
How could we have known that our brief encounter had awakened within Gorgilla a craving for human-type companionship�a craving so strong that as soon as he was able, Gorgilla climbed the wall which had imprisoned him for decades! In search of his evolutionary descendants, the gigantic link stole down the mountain and thundered toward the coast�Primitive awareness � primordial instinct � whatever name you give it, it told Gorgilla that in the distant regions dwelled millions of creatures�and that the great ocean liners sailed to those regions�Cunningly swimming around to the unguarded side of the ship, the mammoth ape creature silently climbed aboard�And still unseen by human eyes, he lowered himself down into the hold of the unsuspecting vessel�The following morning, the freighter pulled out of port! Its destination: the United States! [pic3]Its cargo: unbelievable![pic3] The voyage was long and rough�.But Gorgilla scarcely noticed it�For he was too busy anticipating his next encounter with the human race! Finally, the moment was at hand�

As the freighter pulls into New York Harbor and past the Statue Of Liberty, Gorgilla emerges from the ship�s hold, instantly sending the crew in search of firearms:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
The giant ape man peered at the humans about him! He saw their fear�their panic! What was wrong with these creatures? Couldn�t they see he was their brother? He had come to join them � to live in peace with them � NOT to harm them! But the humans did not understand�And a moment later the bullets struck Gorgilla�Bullets which could not penetrate his mighty hide, but caused him enough pain to make him leap overboard! Swimming underwater, the confused brute saw an opening in the land up ahead�An opening just large enough for him to fit through! In the dark safety of the sewer, Gorgilla was finally able to stop�to rest�and to think! He had greeted the humans in friendship, but they had only hostility for him! [pic4]Now he was hiding[pic4], without food, without light, or fresh air! What should he do? What COULD he do? WHAT?? WHAT??? In the meantime, news of the titanic creature spread like wildfire!

Among those watching the news reports on television is the archaeologist who discovered Gorgilla in the first place.

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
Like millions of other people that day, I also was watching television�But unlike the millions of others, I KNEW the truth behind the monster in the harbor!

The scientist/explorer turns to his wife Anne, astonished (I guess that�s why this comic�s title is TALES TO ASTONISH):

SCOTTY:
T-that�s the missing link � GORGILLA! He FOLLOWED us back to civilization!
ANNE:
He�s a wild giant beast! If he�s still alive, the entire city�s in danger!
SCOTTY:
No! That�s just the POINT! The city�s NOT in danger! Gorgilla saved our lives! If he followed us here, he must�ve come in FRIENDSHIP! People must be made to understand! They must not destroy the confused harmless creature!

Scotty goes to NYC�s authorities to explain Gorgilla�s motives, but they�re too panicked to take his explanation seriously. And unknown to anyone, a secret group of imbedded Communists decide to take advantage of the dire situation:

COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
The police are all searching for the monster! This gives us a chance to carry out our plan!
COMMUNIST AGENT #2:
Da! We will strike a low against capitalistic imperialism!
COMMUNIST AGENT #3:
It will be another step in our conquest of the world!

The following afternoon, at Yankee Stadium, the enthusiastic sports fans all but forgets their monster-problem by enjoying a lively baseball game. But wouldn�t know it, that�s when Gorgilla decides to show up, [pic5]surfacing from beneath the pitcher�s mound![pic5] (Don�tcha just hate when that happens?)

As [pic6]�Part 2�Gorgilla Strikes Again!�[pic6] begins, the panicked crowd struggles to exit the stadium, unaware that Gorgilla means no harm:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
As the fearful crowd rushed FROM the stadium, policemen rushed INTO the stadium to encounter � to defeat the mammoth menace! Three�four�then, five grenades exploded and the more Gorgilla inhaled the potent gas, the more tired and drowsy he became�until finally�But if the police thought they could so easily capture this mightiest of creatures, they were mistaken! For no sooner did the gas evaporate, then Gorgilla became himself again!! Again strength and vigor surged within his massive form as he lashed out at his captors! And for the second time, Gorgilla made his escape�an escape that wouldn�t have been necessary if the humans had only realized that he meant no harm, that he wanted only to dwell among them peacefully for the rest of his days! As swiftly as he could, the hulking giant lumbered toward a deserted warehouse�Barricading himself in the warehouse, Gorgilla began to dig underground again�Meanwhile, in a nearby abandoned subway tunnel, foreign agents were preparing to strike a blow for the dark forces of tyranny!
COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
Set that dynamite well! There must be no mistakes!
COMMUNIST AGENT #2:
Do not worry, comrade! All will go as planned!
COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
The African premier�s car will pass over us in three minutes and twelve seconds! At exactly that moment the dynamite will explode!
COMMUNIST AGENT #3:
The premier will be injured! His nation will blame the United States for it! There will be conflict � chaos � all of which will benefit the cause of world tyranny!

(Aha, we�ve been waiting for those fiendish Commie finks to finally make their move!) Meanwhile, Scotty and his wife are with the police, investigating Gorgilla�s rather unique method of making his getaway � he even filled up the hole behind him as he burrowed into the earth! Once again, Scotty tries to convince the lawmen not to overreact to Gorgilla:

ANNE:
Oh, Scotty, are you sure�REALLY sure�that the ape creature is PEACEFUL??
SCOTTY:
I�m CERTAIN of it, Anne! Gorgilla came to us, in friendship, but we didn�t give him a chance to PROVE it! We accused him of evil intent! We attacked him! We tried to destroy him! All because we were too FRIGHTENED to wait and learn the truth!

And beneath the oncoming motorcade, the three �foreign agents� await their master plan to achieve fruition, totally unaware that Gorgilla is silently watching them:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
Like a jigsaw puzzle, the fateful events were all coming together! To complete the picture, only one more coincidence was needed�and that happened when Gorgilla reached the abandoned subway tunnel!
COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
Soon, the premier will be caught in the explosion!
COMMUNIST AGENT #2:
And the American police will not look for US! They will think GORGILLA released underground gases which caused the explosion! But the REST of the world will blame America for it!
NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
As he watched the humans � their manner � the tone of their voices � Gorgilla senses they were dangerous men! Men who were up to something wrong � something harmful! Men who must be stopped!
COMMUNIST AGENT #1:
The premier is approaching now�get ready�Just one more second�
NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
But for the assassins, that second was NEVER TO COME!

The police assigned to guard the premier�s motorcade notice that the ground is rumbling and correctly assume it to be Gorgilla. But rather than bursting upward into the parade route, Gorgilla chases the terrified spies through the abandoned subway tunnel, eventually emerging on a open surface area overlooking New York Harbor. When the leader of the Commie assassins pilots a waiting speedboat to escape, that doesn�t deter Gorgilla in the slightest; he dives into the water and swims after the fleeing spy. But when the pursuit winds up at Liberty island, the police and the military fail to realize that Gorgilla�s after a bad guy; instead, they assume that [pic7]the mighty monkey-monster is intending to destroy the Statue Of Liberty[pic7] �and this assumption seems more and more reasonable when the Russian spy starts climbing up the circular stairway inside Lady Liberty:

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
We didn�t know � didn�t realize � that Gorgilla was chasing an enemy of America! All we knew was that the primeval creature was trying to force his way into the most cherished monument in our land! Inside the statue, the alien spy�s fear � his panic � drove him higher and higher up the winding stairway�But Gorgilla had no intention of letting the evil human escape! If the giant couldn�t reach his prey one way, he would try ANOTHER way! Just as Gorgilla reached the top of the statue, he saw his victim! Before the alien spy could turn and flee, Gorgilla reached out and grabbed him!! And at that very moment the bazooka below was fired!
SFX:
BAM!

Just as King Kong fell from the Empire State Building, [pic8]poor Gorgilla[pic8] topples from the top of the Statue Of Liberty, the Communist spy still clutched in his three-digit paw, crashing to the ground of Liberty Island. (Gee, wotta coincidence!)

NARRATIVE CAPTION (Scotty):
Seconds later, it was all over! The incredible ape-giant would be hounded nevermore! Then, when it was too late, we received the report! The injured spies had been found in the tunnel�The confessed to everything�Now the truth was known!
POLICEMAN:
We thought he was a menace � when he was only trying to HELP us!
SCOTTY:
Even as he fell, he held the spy so as not to injure him! How ironic that the wrong one survived the fall!
POLICEMAN:
You were right about the ape-creature! We should have listened to you!
SCOTTY:
Yes, I was right�But maybe it�s best that you DIDN�T listen to me! Gorgilla meant us no harm but he was still a savage! He was too savage to live among humans�and too human to live like a hunted beast! I don�t know where he is now, but wherever it is, I pray that Gorgilla has at last found peace�A better peace than he ever would have known here on Earth!

Also included in this issue of TALES TO ASTONISH are the following stories, features and advertisements:

�Draw The Lone Ranger!�, a black-and-white, inside-front-cover advertisement for a special scholarship contest (apparently co-sponsored by Jack Wrather Productions, corporate owners of [pic9]the Lone Ranger[pic9]) promoted by �Art Instruction, Inc.�, a noted correspondence school specializing in �advertising art, magazine illustrating, cartooning, or landscape or portrait painting.�

�The Stranger�, a two-page text-story featuring an illustration by Joe Maneely. (This feature was originally printed in Marvel�s ASTONISHING No. 39, June 1955.)

�Boys, Girls, Men, Women � If You Know Just 20 People�You Can Make At Least $50.00 � More Likely $100.00 To $200.00 In Your Spare Time!�, an ad soliciting for greeting cards salespeople to represent �Wallace Brown, Inc.�

A page consisting of two ads: �A Real Mobile Tank� that�s supposedly �large enough for two kids but can be handled by one�, available through mail-order from �Honor House Products Corp.�; and an �Amazing Wrist Radio� that �plays for years without electricity or batteries�, available via mail-order from �Honor House Prod. Corp.�

A page consisting of two unrelated ads: [pic10]�Juke Box Bank[pic10] Actually Plays Real Music�, the �swingingest� way to save!�, available through mail-order from �MedFord Products�; and �Powerful Microscope� with �no end to its uses�, available via mail-order from �Imperial Sales�.

[pic11]�Monsteroso!�[pic11], drawn by Steve Ditko. -- Essentially the same story as Lee and Ditko�s "The Terror of Tim Boo Ba!" in Marvel�s AMAZING ADULT FANTASY (No. 9, February, 1962), this story opens on [pic12]a strange, spotted-shell egg[pic12] that�s about to hatch; from it emerges a shaggy, red, saw-toothed monster that calls himself �Monsteroso�. [pic13]The shambling creature quickly grows so huge[pic13] that, within four pages he dwarfs his own world. With a single stride, Monsteroso crosses an entire continent. As he continues to grow, Monsteroso�s three-toed feet cause [pic14]the land he stands upon to crumble[pic14] under his massive weight. No matter how big Monsteroso grows, it seems his ego grows even bigger. But when torrents of water begin to fall from the sky, Monsteroso is helpless to stop it! Soon, it completely inundates the colossal creature, which drowns while thinking, �All � is � lost!! Lost!!!� Suddenly it�s revealed that [pic15]Monsteroso�s �world�[pic15] was actually a petrie dish, one that was just washed clean by a research scientist who needed to wash the dish clean of �unimportant microbes� for a new microscopic experiment! (This story was reprinted in Marvel�s FANTASY MASTERPIECES No. 9, June, 1967.)

A page consisting of two unrelated ads: �Look! Boys Wanted To Sell GRIT�, an ad soliciting for boys (specifically!) to earn �spending money� and prizes by selling copies of the popular �good news� publication from �GRIT Publishing Co.�; and �204 Revolutionary War Soldiers Only $1.98� for �two complete armies� made of �pure molded plastic�, available through mail-order from �Revolutionary War Soldiers�.

�Statement Required By The Act Of August 24, 1912, as Amended By The Acts Of March 3, 1933, July 2, 1946 and June 11, 1960 (74 Stat. 208) showing The Ownership, Management, And Circulation Of TALES TO ASTONISH��, a statement of ownership that lists this comic�s average monthly circulation from October 1959 to September 1960 as 163,156 copies.

�Shop By Mail�, a page of small, classified-style ads for collectible stamps, magic tricks, collectible coins, a blackhead removal gimmick, �Super Ju Jitsu� and other goofy goodies available from a variety of mail-order companies,

[pic16]�Robot On The Rampage!�[pic16], drawn by Steve Ditko. � �A few years in the future�, in �a lonely lighthouse in a desolate sea�, the lighthouse-keeper�s robot assistant declares that it�s �through taking orders� and attempts to extinguish the lighthouse�s beacon, even though the lighthouse �has saved many a ship from crashing on those rocks.� Defending himself, the lighthouse-keeper tosses a blanket over the robot�s head (to prevent its sensors from �seeing�) and shoves it out the door, hoping to stall it until the luxury liner �Superba� safely passes by during the next week. When the robot discovers that it�s unable to break down the door or scale the lighthouse, it decides to wait until the lighthouse-keeper runs out of stored food. Finally, the lighthouse-keeper emerges from the lighthouse; seeing this, the robot starts to make a move to enter the lighthouse � and realizes it can�t move! Between the salty water and the moisture in the air, it has rusted solid! All it can do is watch as the lighthouse-keeper summons help while refusing to abandon his post. (This story was reprinted from Marvel�s JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY No. 51, March, 1959.)

�You, Too Can Be Tough!�, a one-page ad that describes a variety of books, including FUN FOR BOYS, DRAWING FOR FUN, LEARN TO DANCE and THE KEY TO SPACE TRAVEL, all available through mail-order from the �Padell Book Co.�

�How To �Take Charge� Of A Highly-Paid Job In Air Conditioning & Refrigeration�, an ad for a correspondence school specializing in air conditioning and refrigeration technology, the �Commercial Trades Institute�.

�Learn Radio-Television Electronics By Practicing At Home In Your Spare Time�, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover ad for correspondence courses from �The National Radio Institute�.

�Are The Best Things In Life Passing You By?�, [pic17]a back-cover advertisement[pic17] for bodybuilding courses -- applying �dynamic tension� �secret formula� from �Charles Atlas�.

ODDBALL FACTOID � Although Gorgilla is referred to as an �ape� and �the missing link� � and his name strongly implies that he�s a giant gorilla � Jack Kirby designed the monster with a huge prehensile tail, indicating that Gorgilla is actually some sort of huge monkey-creature!

Bonus ODDBALL FACTOID � It�s certainly possible that Monsteroso�s name was inspired by the name of one of Steve Ditko�s fellow freelancers, prolific cartoonist Rocco Mastroserio!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC No. 1,293 -- Which Oddball Comic published a character called �Zappy The Hippy� in the late 1960s? Not only wasn�t it one of those �underground comix�; would you believe it was published by Archie Comics? Well, here�s proof, an issue of ARCHIE�S MADHOUSE that also features one of the publisher�s only Silver Age superheroes that�s never been re-launched, Captain Sprocket! (But what is this funnybook�s artistic connection to the early �Marvel Age Of Comics�?

Animal Adventures, No. 1

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:41:29 -0700

There have been a lot of funny animal heroes over the years, from �Mighty Mouse� to the �Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles� -- and beyond! Now, here�s the first issue of 1953�s ANIMAL ADVENTURES, which brings us such ODDBALL critter-crusaders as �King Karrot, The Royal Rabbit�, �Tobias Turtle�, �Soopermutt� and �Orsen Buggy, The Mad Genius�! Plus, the super-scientific secrets of �Dry-Tabs� and the �Vacutex� device revealed! What can we say, but �Woof!�? [fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Animal Adventures[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]N0. 1[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]December, 1953[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]Timor Publications, Inc.[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Unknown[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]There have been a lot of funny animal heroes over the years, from �Mighty Mouse� to the �Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles� -- and beyond! Now, here�s the first issue of 1953�s ANIMAL ADVENTURES, which brings us such ODDBALL critter-crusaders as �King Karrot, The Royal Rabbit�, �Tobias Turtle�, �Soopermutt� and �Orsen Buggy, The Mad Genius�! Plus, the super-scientific secrets of �Dry-Tabs� and the �Vacutex� device revealed! What can we say, but �Woof!�?[introtext]

[fieldinserts]The first funny animal hero was Kin Platt�s �Super Mouse�, who first appeared in the pages of Standard�s COO COO COMICS No. 1 (October, 1942). The same month and year, Terrytoon�s similar character of the same name first starred in his own animated cartoon, but was quickly re-named the much more familiar �Mighty Mouse�. Since then, pop culture has been populated by a number of animal heroes, animal adventurers and/or superheroes, including Super Rabbit, the Terrific Whatsit, Hoppy The Marvel Bunny, Bee-29 The Bombardier, Willie The Wonder Worm, Atomic Rabbit, Atomic Cat, Atomic Mouse, Super Turtle, Crusader Rabbit, Ruff and Reddy, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse, El Kabong, Secret Squirrel, Underdog, Atom Ant, Batfink, Fearless Fly, Touch� Turtle, Super Chicken, Dynomutt, Usagi Yojimbo, Space Usagi, the Wraith, Thunderbunny, Super Goof, Hong Kong Phooey, Duck Dodgers, the �Mazing Man-Spider, Spider-Ham, Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew, Super-Squirrel and the Just�a Lotta Animals, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Space Beaver, Cerebus the Aardvark, the Pre-Teen Dirty-Gene Kung Fu Kangaroos, Bucky O�Hare, Danger Mouse, Rocket Raccoon, Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, the Samurai Pizza Cats, Battletoads, Starfox, the Biker Mice From Mars, Super Ted, Street Sharks, the Mighty Mutanimals, the Conservation Corps, the Rescue Rangers, Sonic the Hedgehog, Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys, the SWAT Kats, the Road Rovers, Darkwing Duck, the Loonatics, Perry the Platypus, Radioactive Rabbit and many others�with inevitably more to come!

Timor Publications published three issues of ANIMAL ADVENTURES; the first issue was cover-dated December, 1953 and the final issue was cover-dated May, 1954.

This issue�s 10-page �King Karrot, The Royal Rabbit� cover-story is �Snaggin� A Dragon�. It begins with [pic2]a splash-page[pic2] that seems more like a gag cartoon than an introduction to its featured character. (Remember, this is the first time the readers ever saw �King Karrot�.) But on the second page, a series of captions clue us in regarding [pic3]King Karrot�s back-story[pic3]:

NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Long long ago in a castle on a high mountain there lived a royal rabbit named King Karrott. (sp.) All was peace and contentment! Flowers bloomed on the surrounding hills and the air was filled with the happy chattering and chirping of animals and birds. Yes, it was an idyllic kingdom and King Karrott (sp.) didn�t have a care in the world. Except for one thing�No, TWO things! FIDDLE AND FADDLE!

We�re shown that Fiddle and Faddle are the King�s mischievous twin nephews, who are playing with �invisible arrows� and �invisible armor�, while simultaneously driving their uncle crazy with distraction. Finally, King Karrot gets what he hopes will be a break:

FIDDLE/FADDLE:
Will ya tell us a story, Unk, yer MAJESTY?
KING KARROT:
Mm�That�s a little better! Okay,? what do you want to hear? �Little Red Riding��?
FIDDLE/FADDLE:
Naw! That�s SISSY stuff!
FIDDLE:
Tell us about the time you captured the purple dragon!
FADDLE:
Didja REALLY capture him, Unk?
KING KARROT:
Uh�So the story GOES, boys�
FADDLE:
Well then, t�heck with the STORY! We wanta see the DRAGON!
KING KARROT:
(Groan!) How do I get myself INTO these things?

King Karrot manages to stall Fiddle and Faddle until the next morning, when he promises to take them to the cave of the purple dragon. Unable to sleep due to worrying about his inability to produce �a mythical dragon�, he seeks out his court magician, Oodini. Despite Oodini�s excuses, the king orders the foxy wizard to obey him�or else:

KING KARROT:
OODINI!...Either you have a purple dragon at the old cave at dawn�er�a HARMLESS one...or I�LL HAVE YOUR HEAD!
OODINI:
In THAT case�(Ulp!), consider it DONE�yer Majesty!

As the sun rises, King Karrot (in medieval armor and on horseback) and Fiddle and Faddle (riding cute little donkeys) head out for the dragon�s cave. Meanwhile, unknown to them, Oodini can�t convince his team of five villagers -- King Karrot, he hired them to operate [pic4]a mechanical purple dragon[pic4] -- to enter the dragon�s cave. Just as he disposes of his clockwork monster, King Karrot and his nephews show up. Assuming that Oodini has done as ordered, King Karrot enters the darkened cave, only to come face-to-face with [pic5]the real, fire-breathing purple dragon[pic5]:

KING KARROT:
Oh, there it is! You scared me for a minute! Now look, all you have to do is let me chase you out, and YIIIII! FIRE!

The dragon chases King Karrot all over the landscape, but once he locates his horse, he eagerly leaps onto the steed�s back, only for the old nag to collapse spread-eagled on the ground! Once again chased by the fiery monster, King Karrot ducks into a smaller cave; once he�s inside, the ruler rabbit is rocked by a massive shock wave that shakes the whole cave. After a long silence, he hears:

FIDDLE/FADDLE:
HOORAY FOR UNK, THE DRAGON KILLER!

Emerging from the small cave, King Karrot is astounded to see the purple dragon laying on the ground with its feet up in the air:

FIDDLE:
Done �im in at LAST, Unk, he�s dead!
FADDLE:
He bashed himself against the mountain!

Later, after sending the twins back to the castle, King Karrot spots Oodini watching from nearby:

KING KARROT:
Oodini! Are you all right?
OODINI:
Yes, thanks, Your Majesty! T-that was the bravest thing I ever saw!
KING KARROT:
You don�t have to carry on the gag! The kids are gone! I�d like to congratulate you! That dragon was really convincing!
OODINI:
It should be! It was the REAL THING! My dragon is over here, see?

Suddenly realizing that it was the real dragon he defeated, King Karrot has no choice but to faint:

KING KARROT:
H-huh? EEEEEE

As soon as King Karrot hits the ground, Oodini wrap up the story�s narration like a pro:

OODINI:
Tch! Imagine that! He fights the real thing like it was NOTHING, then faints when he sees MINE! Oh well, I guess I did a pretty good job at that!

Also included in this issue of ANIMAL ADVENTURES are the following stories, features and advertisements:

[pic6]�Stops Bed Wetting!�[pic6], a black-and-white, inside-front-cover advertisement for �Dry-Tabs�, a �Medical Tablet Discovery� available via mail-order from the �Gary Pharmacal (sp.) Co.�

[pic7]�Tobias Turtle�[pic7]. � Tobias is so eager to escape from hungry Carlos Crocodile who�s chasing him, they both nearly trample King Leo the lion, who�s been reading a book on the Knights Of The Round Table. To punish them, he orders them to compete in a medieval-style jousting tournament and even has a special arena designed and built for the public event. One of the king�s emissaries even recruits two suit-wearing, card-playing horses to serve as the jousters� mounts! As the day of the big tournament looms nearer, both Tobias and Carlos find themselves becoming increasingly nervous. [pic8]The event[pic8] draws all of the townspeople to the stadium, where the jousting tournament finally begins. At the last possible second, the contestant�s mounts decide not to participate, [pic9]throwing their riders from their saddles[pic9] as they both skid to a halt to watch the proceedings. Meanwhile, King Leo becomes so engrossed with the action that he falls out of his viewing box and lands on top of Tobias and Carlos, knocking them out! As the last person standing, the king is declared to be the �winner and champion�! A few minutes after King Leo is carried away by a cheering mob of admirers, Tobias and Carlos shake hands, vowing to forget their non-fight and become friends instead!

�Musical Whirling Wind Chimes�, an ad for an �authentic replica of original �Swedish Singing Angels� centerpiece�, available through mail-order from the �Illinois Merchandise Mart�.

�Complete Baffling Magic Outfit�, an ad for �20 First Class Illusions� to �fool and delight them with a full 2 hour mystery show�, available via mail-order from �Honor House Products, Corp.�

�What�s In A Name?�, an unsigned two-page text-story.

�Soopermutt, The Doggondest Dog In The World� in �The Corn Is Ripe�. � After an explosively spectacular [pic10]splash-page[pic10], Soopermutt reveals his secret identity to the reader. Back when he was just happy-go-lucky Muggsy Mutt, Soopermutt �was deathly afraid of cats�. Then, one day, he sees an advertisement that reads, �Are you a coward? Try Snodgrass INVINCIBLE INK � Scare Off Bill Collectors, Mother-In-Laws, Cats, Mice, Lice, etc.�. Ten days after mail-ordering for it, Muggsy receives a bottle of the inky elixir. Later yet, when a burly cat named �Tabby The Terrible� causes him to accidentally swallow an entire unstoppered bottle of the stuff; Muggsy is turned upside-animal adown, allowing the magic fluid drips into his brain, [pic11]instantly transforming him into Soopermutt![pic11] The canine superhero nearly beats the soup out of his feline opponent, but immediately before he can take Tabby to the police, the special serum wears off! Muggsy winds up being �locked up fer disturbin� the peace, clutterin� up the station house � an� breakin� up a checker game!�

�Orsen Buggy (The Mad Genius)� in �Bank Nite Tonite�. � �Produced by Orsen Buggy, Directed by Orsen Buggy and Starring Orsen Buggy�, this is obviously a parody of Orson (CITIZEN KANE) Welles. [pic12]While filming a cops-and-robbers film[pic12], Orsen soon learns that the bank heist sequence looks so real for a reason � the two new �actors� he hired are really bank-robbers! And not only did they steal the bank�s cash, they also stole Orsen�s film! The producer/director/star hops on a nearby motorcycle, but when he stops due to a roadblock in his way, Orsen�s lassoed and captured by one of the bad guys, [pic13]a big and buggy bruiser[pic13] named �Blackheart Louie�. After he smacks around Orsen, Blackheart Louie begins to film a movie of his own � a pirate movie with rope-bound Orsen walking the plank! When the tip of Blackheart Louie�s sword persuades him into the shark-filled water, Orsen assumes he�s doomed. That is, until one of the sharks � [pic14]apparently a film fan[pic14] -- chews through Orsen�s bonds, then asks the insectoid movie star for an autograph! Orsen gripes, �This happens everywhere I go!� Swimming back to dry land, Orsen is spotted by Blackheart Louie in his getaway car; the big bad bug intentionally runs over Orsen with his automobile, then he unintentionally plows right into a telephone pole! After the police arrive and proclaim Orsen to be a �hero�, his girlfriend wants to know how he still looks so good, even after getting run down. Orsen explains that it was his own stunt man who �took the knocks�! This makes Orsen�s girlfriend so angry that she takes a baseball bat to her buggy boyfriend! In the final panel, Orsen and his stand-in, both stuck in wheelchairs, dejectedly play checkers, with a nearby sign that reads, �Autographed Cast For Sale Soon!�

[pic15]A page[pic15] that consists two unrelated advertisements: �Reversible Auto Seat Covers�, in �Zebra-Snake� or �Leopard Cowhide� designs (!), available through mail-order from the �Mardo Sales Corporation�; and �Ugly Blackheads Out In Seconds With Vacutex�, a blackhead pimple-removing device available via mail-order from �Ballco Products Company�.

�Borrow Money By Mail!�, an advertisement for mail-order loans from the �State Finance Company�.

�Dance To Romance�, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover ad that promises �Learn To Dance In Only 1 Week� with mail-order courses of dance instruction from the �Pickwick Corp.�

�New Styles Demand Smooth, Flat Tummy�, [pic16]a back-cover advertisement[pic16] for an �amazing new French undergarment girdle� that �makes you look your best in new fashions� available through mail-order from �The S. J. Wegman Company�.

ODDBALL FACTOID � In 1953 and 1954, Accepted Publications/Key Publications published corresponding reprints of each Timor issue of ANIMAL ADVENTURES, perhaps for Canadian distribution!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC #1,292 � MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2010 � ODDBALL COMICS has already met Marvel�s mighty monkey-monster a few years back in an early issue of TALES TO ASTONISH! Now -- a few issues later and courtesy of Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers -- here comes �Gorgilla Strikes Again!� Yep, the big ape finally gets his very own sequel and winds up climbing the Statue Of Liberty! Plus, Steve Ditko�s �Monsteroso!� and �Robot On The Rampage!�

The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, No. 19

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 09:33:15 -0700

Hey, LAAAAADY! Yesterday was National Gorilla Suit Day, so let�s continue celebrating the ODDBALL occasion with an issue of DC�s THE ADVENTURES OF DEAN MARTIN & JERRY LEWIS, cover-featuring yet another of DC�s infamous purple-skinned gorillas! Plus, learn the astonishing COMICS-related secret of one half of this classic comedy team! (And four, count �em, four strips by DC�s #1 most prolific cartoonist!)

[fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (on cover; �&� in indicia)[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]No. 19[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]February, 1955[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]National Comics Publications, Inc. (DC Comics)[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Bob Oksner[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]

[introtext]

[fieldinserts]National Gorilla Suit Day, usually celebrated every January 31st, is the creation of cartoonist Don Martin (5/18/1931 - 6/1/2000), who was once deservedly known as "MAD's maddest artist". The holiday first appeared in the pages of the 1963 Signet paperback original (Don�s second one), DON MARTIN BOUNCES BACK! in a story (with scripting assistance by E. Solomon Rosenblum) starring Fester Bestertester and his pal Karbuncle, called, fittingly enough, "National Gorilla Suit Day". One of the single funniest comic stories ever drawn (due to the "National Gorilla Suit Day" story's presence, the paperback went through eight printings) this story took clever advantage of its paperback format, with a brilliant new gag awaiting every turn of the page. (The humorous effect of "National Gorilla Suit Day" is the print equivalent of the best animated cartoons directed by the great Tex Avery.) To celebrate National Gorilla Suit Day, the tradition is to dress up in a gorilla suit and make a door-to-door trek around the neighborhood. But as Fester Bestertester noted, "Everybody knows it's just a ploy by the gorilla suit companies to sell their products!" In recent years, Don Martin�s widow, Norma, has attempted to curtail any mentions of "National Gorilla Suit Day", but frankly, that gorilla escaped from the barn a looong time ago!

Dean Martin (June 7, 1917 � December 25, 1995) -- born as �Dino Paul Crocetti� -- was an Italian-American singer, film actor and comedian who was nicknamed the "King of Cool". Born in Steubenville, Ohio to Italian immigrant parents, he dropped out of high school in 10th grade. After such jobs as a blackjack dealer, a steel mill worker and a welterweight boxer, the teenager began singing as �Dino Martini� with local Steubenville bands. He continued to develop his singing style and career until he was drafted in 1944; a year later, he was discharged after a surgery that reclassified him as 4-F. Resuming his career as a singer, Dean supposedly kept a polite relationship with the Mafia, that owned many of the nightclubs at which he performed. Actor/comedian/director/author Jerry Lewis was born (as �Joseph Levitch�) on March 16, 1926. His parents were both entertainers, and Jerry made his debut (as part of his parents' stage act) at the tender age of five, singing "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?" on the Borscht Circuit in New York. By the time he was fifteen, he was performing an act lip-synching to records. He eventually got gigs at various Jewish hotels in the Catskill Mountains. On July 25, 1946, Jerry began a show business partnership with Dean Martin, an association that would soon elevate both of them to fame and fortune. At first they worked separately, but then ad-libbed together, improvising insults and jokes. Their nightclub act became a huge hit and attracted the attention of Hollywood movie producer Hal Wallis. He signed the duo to a contract with Paramount Pictures, where they made a number of feature films:

MY FRIEND IRMA (9/1949)
MY FRIEND IRMA GOES WEST (8/1950)
AT WAR WITH THE ARMY (1/1951)
THAT'S MY BOY (8/1951)
HOLLYWOOD AT PLAY (Columbia newsreel, 9/1951)
SAILOR BEWARE (2/1952)
JUMPING JACKS (7/1952)
THE ROAD TO BALI (cameo appearance, 1/1953)
THE STOOGE (2/1953)
SCARED STIFF (7/1953)
THE CADDY (9/1953)
MONEY FROM HOME (2/1954)
LIVING IT UP (7/1954)
YOU'RE NEVER TOO YOUNG (8/1955)
ARTISTS AND MODELS (12/1955)
PARDNERS (7/1956)
HOLLYWOOD OR BUST (12/1956)

Wildly successful, they also continued to divide their time between nightclub engagements, personal appearances, recording sessions, radio shows, and television bookings. But exactly ten years after they became a team, Martin and Lewis broke up, never to perform together again. Jerry continued as a solo act, recording records ("Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody" sold four million copies) and starring in more Paramount films, expanding his participation to writing, producing and directing. It was during this time that he invented the "video play-back" method still used in film and television. By the mid-1960s, Jerry was making films for Colombia and Warner Bros.; he even wrote a book, THE TOTAL FILM-MAKER, based on his lectures at USC. After their split, Dean Martin, unfairly regarded by much of the public and the motion picture industry as something of a spare tire, found the going hard. His first solo film, TEN THOUSAND BEDROOMS (1957), was a box office failure. He was still popular as a singer, but with rock and roll surging to the fore, the era of the pop crooner was waning. It looked like Martin's fate was to be limited to nightclubs and to be remembered as Jerry Lewis' former partner. Never totally comfortable in films, Martin wanted to be known as a real actor. Though offered a fraction of his former salary to co-star in a war drama, THE YOUNG LIONS (1957), he agreed so he could learn from Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Tony Randall already had the part, but talent agency MCA realized that with this movie, Martin would become a triple threat: they could make money from his work in night clubs, movies, and records. Martin replaced Randall and the film turned out to be the beginning of Martin's spectacular comeback. By the mid '60s, Dean Martin was a top movie, recording, and nightclub star.

Dean Martin�s enjoyment of comic books was repeatedly mentioned in DEAN & ME (A LOVE STORY) by Jerry Lewis with James Kaplan (Doubleday, 2005). So why didn�t poor ol� Dino get a funnybook series of his own when he and Jerry dissolved their partnership, especially considering that he was the member of the team who was an avid comic book reader?

Cartoonist Bob Oksner (10/14/1916 - 2/19/07) was born in Paterson, New Jersey, Bob originally planned to become a lawyer, but while editing the New York University�s humor magazine, he realized that he had a natural aptitude for cartooning. Changing his major, he enrolled in the Art Students League, and eventually received an MA at Columbia University. Bob taught high school art and history courses until he was able to break into the comic books industry in 1939, working for Funnies, Inc., a comic art �shop� and supplier of features to a variety of publishers. One of these clients was Timely, and by 1942, Oksner was working directly for the company on �The Destroyer� and �Marvel Boy�, as well as for other publishers. In 1945, he began a two-year stint on a syndicated newspaper comic strip, MISS CAIRO JONES (which was reprinted that same year in comic book form by Croyden Publishers). Although the strip soon went under, DC editor Sheldon Mayer was sufficiently impressed with Bob Oksner�s work on it � Bob was particularly adept at drawing pretty girls -- to hire him to draw �The Black Canary� and other features in ALL STAR COMICS, GREEN LANTERN and THE FLASH. This assignment segued into a lifelong job working for DC, illustrating a variety of teenage comics (LEAVE IT TO BINKY, A DATE WITH JUDY, MISS BEVERLY HILLS OF HOLLYWOOD, etc.) and humor series based on licensed properties. These included THE ADVENTURES OF DEAN MARTIN & JERRY LEWIS, THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY LEWIS, SGT. BILKO, PVT. DOBERMAN, THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS (and therefore, WINDY AND WILLY), WELCOME BACK, KOTTER (with Mark Evanier) and, following the great Owen Fitzgerald and Mort Drucker, THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE. (Since Bob Hope appeared in the pages of MISS BEVERLY HILLS OF HOLLYWOOD No. 5, and Lucille Ball was in No. 6, this was Oksner�s second stab at drawing the comedians!) From 1952 to 1955, Bob drew a syndicated newspaper comic strip adapting the popular I LOVE LUCY TV series starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and from 1967 to 1968, Bob wrote and drew SOOZIE, a strip starring another of his cute and sexy girl characters. Oksner also co-created �Stanley And His Monster� (with writer Arnold Drake) in FOX & CROW COMICS and ANGEL AND THE APE (with E. Nelson Bridwell). He also drew stories for GIRL�S LOVE STORIES, MYSTERY IN SPACE, WONDER WOMAN, SUPERGIRL, SUPERMAN�S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE, SHAZAM (on a memorable version of �Mary Marvel�) and SUPERMAN, as well as inking many �Superman� stories over Curt Swan�s pencil art. Bob also collaborated with his old friend Irwin Hasen by plotting the DONDI strip from 1969 to 1986, when the classic newspaper feature finally ended. Retiring from drawing with a surprising finality (he even gave away his desk and all of his art supplies), Bob Oksner received the National Cartoonists Society�s Reuben Division Award for Comic Books for 1960 and 1961, won the Shazam Award in 1970 for Best Pencil Artist (Humor Division) and was given the Inkpot Award at the 2002 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Cartoonist Henry Boltinoff (February 19, 1914 � April 19, 2001) was born in New York City. Henry, who sometimes signed his work �Bolty�, was already a professional cartoonist when he was still a teen, drawing for the theatre section of THE NEW YORK AMERICAN newspaper. He studied at New York�s Art Students League and the National Academy of Design. Beginning in 1937, Henry freelanced as a cartoonist for numerous magazines. In 1940, he worked for Bert Whitman Associates, a �shop� that packaged comics. That same year, Henry became DC Comics� regular �filler� artist, writing and drawing an astounding number of gag-strips for their line of comic books. These included: �Abdul The Fire Eater�; �Backstage Bits�; �Bebe�; �Betty�; �Billy�, �Binky�; �Binky�s Buddies�; �Buck Skinner�; �Buzzy�; �Cap's Hobby Center�; �Cap's Hobby Hints�; �Car-Toons�; �Casey The Cop�; �Charlie Cannonball�, �Chief Hot Foot�, �Clancy The Cop�; �Cora The Carhop�; �Curios�; �A Date With Debbie�; �A Date With Judy�; �Dexter�; �Dinky�; �Dolly And The Professor�; �Doctor Floogle�; �Doctor Rocket�; �Dover And Clover�; �Elvin�; �Facts�; �Flip�; �Funnies�; �Freddie The Frogman�; �Gags�; ��Hamid The Hypnotist�; �Hang-Ups�; �Homer�; �Honey Of Hollywood�; �Hy The Spy�; �Hy Wire�; �In Hollywood�; �It�s The Scene�; �Jail Jests�; �Jerry�; �Jerry The Jitterbug�; �Jokes�; �Khai-Yaks�; �King Kale�; �Laffs�; �Leave It To Binky�; �Lefty Looie�; �Lem 'N' Lime�; �Li�l Brontosaurus�; �Lionel And His Lions�; �Little Pete�; �Little Pocahontas�; �Lucky�; �The Magic Genie�; �Mal�; �Mom �N� Pop�; �Moolah The Mystic�; �No-Chance Charley�, �Oddities�; �Og From The Planet Gog�; �Ollie�; �On the Set�; �Peg�; �Penniless Palmer�; �Peter Puptent, Explorer�: �Planet Quiz�; �Planet Pals�; �Preacher�; �Prehistoric Fun�; �Private Pete�; �Professor Eureka�; �Quiz�; �Sagebrush Sam�; �Scooter�; �Shorty�; �Silly Willy�; �Smiles�; �Stan�; �Strange Ads�; �Strange Laws�; �Super-Turtle�; �Swing With Scooter�; �Tarius The Planet�; �This Ain�t The Army�; �Travel Talk�; �Tricksy, World�s Greatest Stunt Man�; �True Crime Laffs�; �True-isms�; �Varsity Vic�; �Warden Willis�; �Willy And Dilly�; and �Young Doc Davis�. Nearly every comic book DC published for over thirty years contained work by Henry Boltinoff, most of which were lettered by Gaspar Saladino. In 1940, Henry wrote and drew �Bruce Barlow� for Holyoke Publications and in 1943, he also produced filler strips for Fawcett Comics. Henry also did work for Harvey Comics� RICHIE RICH and Major Magazine�s CRACKED. He also drew gag-strips for Archie Comics (�Jane Of The Jungle� and �Little Ha Ha�) and Renegade Press (�Flora The Explorer� and �The Planet Zog�). In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he edited, wrote and drew such �graphic albums� as HOWLS OF IVY (1955), SEX IS BETTER IN COLLEGE (Pyramid, 1957), BED AND BOARD (Pyramid, 1958), CARTOONS FOR MEN ONLY (Pyramid, 1958) and JUST MARRIED (Pyramid, 1962). Henry also wrote and drew a number of syndicated newspaper comic strips: AD LIBS (1942); THIS AND THAT (1946); WOODY FORREST (1960); STOKER THE BROKER (1960 � 1985); NUBBIN (King Features, 1971 � 1987); TINY (1987); and HOCUS- FOCUS (2001). A member of the National Cartoonists Society, Henry also worked as an advertising artist, a gag cartoonist for such magazines as BOYS� LIFE, ESQUIRE, LOOK, COLLIER�S and THE SATURDAY EVENING POST and a teacher at the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Arts (1976 � 1977). In 1970, Henry Boltinoff received the National Cartoonists Society�s Reuben �Best Humor Comic Book� Division Award and in 1982, he won their Reuben �Best Syndicated Newspaper Panel Cartoon� Division Award for his work on the strip STOKER THE BROKER. His brother, Murray Boltinoff, was an editor for DC Comics for many years.

Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis first appeared in comic book form in Famous Funnies� MOVIE LOVE No. 12 (December, 1951). The first issue of DC�s THE ADVENTURES OF DEAN MARTIN & JERRY LEWIS was cover-dated July � August, 1952. But when the team of Dean and Jerry finally broke up, DC opted to drop Dino from their line-up; the final issue, No. 40, was cover-dated October, 1957. The publisher continued the series as [pic15]THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY LEWIS[pic15] from issue No. 41 (November, 1957, featuring a purple gorilla on its cover!) through No. 124 (May - June, 1971). In fact, by his time late in the run of "America's Funniest Comic Mag", DC's time-honored tradition (reportedly enforced by DC Creative Director Irwin Donnenfeld) of using a cover-gorilla to "spike" sales apparently provided much more of a "draw" than Jerry himself! (And this wasn't the last time THE ADVENTURES OF JERRY LEWIS featured a gorilla on its cover, either!)

This issue�s untitled three-part, 25-page �The Adventures Of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis� cover-story was drawn by Bob Oksner. (Certain dialog and visual clues lead me to believe that this story may have been written and laid-out by Sheldon Mayer.) The first part begins with [pic2]a splash-panel[pic2] that visually implies that Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are on a boat in the middle of the ocean:

JERRY LEWIS:
AHOY! AVAST! Also WHAT-HO! MIZZEN THE MAST and STOW THE HATCH! POOP THE ANCHOR and BATTEN DOWN THE QUARTERDECK RIGGING! Reporting all ship-shape and ready to sail, sir!
DEAN MARTIN:
Okay, Commodore! You may put out to sea!
JERRY LEWIS:
There she goes, Dean! Pretty keen, huh?

At this point we�re shown that Dean and Jerry are on a pier and that the boat they�re talking about is a toy boat:

JERRY LEWIS:
There she goes, Dean! Pretty keen, huh?
DEAN MARTIN:
Yes, Jer! You�re a good sailor, even if you DO get seasick when you take a bath!
JERRY LEWIS:
Here, now! Where do you get that SEASICK stuff? You know PERFECTLY WELL the legs on our bathtub are WOBBLY! FURTHERMORE --
DEAN MARTIN:
Jerry! Your BOAT is sailing away!
JERRY LEWIS:
Oh-oh! It�s beginning to SINK � and I just paid 98� for it! SHIP IN DISTRESS! SHIP IN DISTRESS! MAN THE PUMPS! LOWER THE BOATS! WOMAN AND PEOPLE FIRST! HO-HO! LET�S GO!

With Jerry making such a fuss about the toy �good ship �Pride Of East Flatbush��, it�s impossible for the old sea captain of the freighter -- the �S. S. Tin Can� -- to ignore his cries for help. Of course, the ancient mariner assumes that it�s a real boat that�s sinking:

OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
HOIST THE ANCHOR! FULL SPEED AHEAD! WE�RE GOIN� ON A RESCUE MISSION!

Meanwhile, Dean tries to warn the freighter�s crew:

DEAN MARTIN:
That noodlehead has �em thinking there�s a REAL ship in trouble! I�d better straighten this out!

But when Dean discovers that the S. S. Tin Can�s crew is entirely made up as beautiful young women, his only reaction is a typical one:

DEAN MARTIN:
VOOM! VOOM!

Meanwhile, the old sea captain launches his freighter to rescue Jerry�s sinking boat, desperately peering through a spyglass:

OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
Where�s the sinking ship, matey? I can�t seem to locate it!
JERRY LEWIS:
Keep looking! It�s kind of small! After all, kid, it only cost me 98�!
OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
You mean it�s a TOY?? I thought it was a REAL boat!
JERRY LEWIS:
A REAL boat! Well, now, the joke�s on YOU, dad!

Instead of reacting as expected, the wacky old coot reacts with delight, hugging Jerry:

OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
AH! AH! AH! Shiver me timbers! That sure is a hot one!

The captain�s laughter arouses Dean�s curiosity:

DEAN MARTIN:
What�s the big yok, chaps?
JERRY LEWIS:
Dean boy! I didn�t know YOU were on board! Why didn�t you SAY something?!
DEAN MARTIN:
I was busy pitchin� woo at the crew!

That�s the old salt�s cue to introduce the ship�s crew, composed of his [pic3]five gorgeous granddaughters[pic3]:

OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
You must mean my FIVE GRANDDAUGHTERS!
DEAN MARTIN:
THESE DOLLS are your GRAND-CHILDREN? You�re a lucky sea dog!
OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
Permit me to introduce ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR and HENRIETTA!
DEAN MARTIN:
A crew to crow about, Grandpop! Now I know what they mean by �THE CALL OF THE SEA�! It�s a WOLF WHISTLE!

But before they turn back to port, the old salt receives a radio message:

OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
Batten me hatches! It�s a JOB! We�re ordered to the GALAPAGOS ISLANDS to pick up a cargo of TURTLE SOUP! FULL STEAM AHEAD, GIRLS! We�re headin� for the GALAPAGOS ISLANDS!

Dean and Jerry aren�t particularly thrilled to hear this news:

JERRY LEWIS:
Hey! What about US! We wanna go HOME!
THREE:
We CAN�T turn back NOW! Grandfather will lose his contract!
TWO:
This is the first cargo job our ship has had in MONTHS!
JERRY LEWIS:
But �
OLD SHIP CAPTAIN:
Sorry, matey! It�s YOUR OWN FAULT that you�re aboard! You lads will have to come along, as members of the crew!

Eyeballing the freighter�s shapely crew, Dean isn�t complaining -- but Jerry sure is:

DEAN MARTIN:
Oh, well�Things COULD be a LOT worse!
JERRY LEWIS:
I DON�T LIKE IT! If I had the fare, I�d ride home by TAXI-CAB!
THREE:
Here we go!

And �go� they do � all over the Pacific Ocean, without ever coming close to the Galapagos Islands! Along the way, Jerry goes fishing and catches a pink-and-purple sea serpent. Then, the S. S. Tin Can heads into the thick of a tropical hurricane so powerful it nearly hurls the ship right off the edge of the comic book page! The storm tosses the freighter onto a coral reef, which rips a huge hole in the ship�s hull. Fortunately, Dean, Jerry, the old sea captain and his five granddaughters survive the mishap and make to the shore of a nearby island that�s covered with jungle and even has its own [pic4]active volcano![pic4]

DEAN MARTIN:
BOY-OH-BOY! A BEAUTIFUL TROPICAL ISLE! And ME without my UKULELE!
JERRY LEWIS:
LOOK, DEAN! It�s even got a BUILT-IN BARBECUE PIT!

The second part of this untitled book-length �The Adventures Of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis� story opens with [pic5]another splash-page[pic5] as the old sea captain searches the ocean�s horizon with his spyglass while Dean relaxes in a hammock and tended by three of the all-girl crew:

OLD SHIP CAPTAIN:
Well, mateys � I radioed for help just before the ship sank! Here�s hoping somebody comes to our rescue!
DEAN MARTIN:
Who wants to be rescued, Pops? This setup is the MOST! To quote my buddy, J. Lewis � I LIKE IT! I LIKE IT! Speaking of Jerry, I wonder what ol� �Arsenic And Lunacy� is up to now�?

That�s when his partner-in-comedy dashes in, covered entirely in green leaves:

JERRY LEWIS:
HO, HO! HEY, HEY! Dig the dandy duds! Catch the CRAZY COSTUME!
DEAN MARTIN:
What are YOU supposed to be? A HEAD OF LETTUCE?
JERRY LEWIS:
Of COURSE not! I�m makin� like ROBINSON CRUSOE!
DEAN MARTIN:
ROBINSON CRUSOE??
JERRY LEWIS:
Sure! HE was marooned on an island just like THIS one! I�M gonna do the same things HE did � that�s what I�M gonna do! YES, SIRREE!
DEAN MARTIN:
But, Jer! CRUSOE is a STORYBOOK character! You can�t REALLY be like him!
JERRY LEWIS:
That�s what YOU think! I�ve been makin� some DANDY THINGS outta the wreckage from the boat!
DEAN MARTIN:
THIS I gotta SEE!

Jerry shows Dean his new �juke box� (a singing parrot in a crate) and [pic6]a bowling alley[pic6] complete a monkey pin-boy (years before THE FLINTSTONES!)

DEAN MARTIN:
I�ve gotta hand it to you, Jer! You�re the EINSTEIN of the SOUTH PACIFIC!
JERRY LEWIS:
There�s just one more thing I need, Dean, boy!
DEAN MARTIN:
What�s that, Jer? A CLAMSHELL YO-YO?
JERRY LEWIS:
No! A MAN FRIDAY � like ROBINSON CRUSOE had! A guy who�ll be my SERVANT!
DEAN MARTIN:
Don�t be STUPID! There�s no one on the island like US!
JERRY LEWIS:
OH, YEAH! I�m gonna FIND somebody! They CAN�T GYP ME!
DEAN MARTIN:
Come back, Jer! You�ll get into TROUBLE! You won�t find a man, Friday NOW! It�s only TUESDAY!

Looking like a giant asparagus stalk, Jerry hikes into the jungle � past a �Times Square -- 6000 Miles� sign nailed to a palm tree � Jerry yells out for his nonexistent assistant, unaware that he�s being followed by an unfriendly-looking, spear-carrying islander:

JERRY LEWIS:
YOO �HOO! OH, FRIDAY!! Where ARE you, boy??
ISLANDER:
GRRR!!
JERRY LEWIS:
HO, HO! LET�S GO, KIDDO! TIME�S A WASTIN�! >Chop Chop!<

When Jerry bends over to examine a footprint on the ground, he narrowly (and obliviously) avoids having his cranium pierced by the islander�s flung spear. He turns to see the loincloth-and-jewelry-wearing, orange-skinned man charging straight at him:

ISLANDER:
>SNORT!<
JERRY LEWIS:
Ah, THERE you are, Friday! Please draw my bath! You�ll find a pencil and drawing paper back at the camp! After that you can � HEY!
ISLANDER:
ME SQUASH-UM!
JERRY LEWIS:
HERE, now! You�re not catching the SPIRIT of this thing, kiddo! Haven�t you read the book?
ISLANDER:
ME CRUSH-UM!
JERRY LEWIS:
You�re supposed to be my FAITHFUL MAN FRIDAY! If you don�t behave, I�ll demote you to THURSDAY!
ISLANDER:
ME CLOBBER-UM!

(Hey, no wonder that guy�s orange � he threatens people like the Thing does!) With that, Jerry runs up a coconut tree so fast, [pic7]his word balloon turns sideways[pic7]:

JERRY LEWIS:
I SURE AM DISAPPOINTED IN YOUR ATTITUDE!

While monkeys dive for safety out of the tree, Jerry calls out for help:

JERRY LEWIS:
HELP! DEAN! SAVE ME! CALL OUT THE MARINES! GET MY LAWYER!

Dean and the old sea captain (why isn�t his name ever mentioned � is he in the Witness Protection Program?) hear this and come a-running, scaring away Jerry�s attacker:

ISLANDER:
UGH! Him get-um REINFORCEMENTS! Time for me to take-um on the lam-um!
DEAN MARTIN:
THE COAST IS CLEAR! You can come down now, STUPORMAN!
JERRY LEWIS:
I�m gonna SUE that guy for BREACH OF CONTRACT!
DEAN MARTIN:
BIG chap, wasn�t he?
JERRY LEWIS:
Not too big for ME to handle! NO, SIRREE! If he ever shows up again, I�ll make CHOPPED LIVER out of him! He doesn�t scare THIS kid! Much!
OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
Well, here�s your chance to get him, matey! He�s COMING BACK and bringing his FAMILY!
JERRY LEWIS:
TAKE TO THE HILLS! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! Ho, ho! Let�s get ROLLIN�!
DEAN MARTIN:
Relax, Jer! I can handle those kids EASILY with this WATCH! It�s all a matter of PRIMITIVE PSYCHOLOGY! LOOK, BOYS! PRETTY TICK-TOCK! You-um and we-um be FRIENDS! Okay-um? Give-um pretty TICK-TOCK, and --

Suddenly, a spear zips into the panel, [pic8]neatly piercing Dean�s dangling pocket watch![pic8]

DEAN MARTIN:
ANOTHER theory shot to pieces!
ISLANDER:
No can fool US with CHEAP DOLLAR WATCH! GET-UM, MEN!

Hiding in the depths of the jungle, Dean, Jerry, the old sea captain and his five granddaughters discuss how to evade the armed islanders:

JERRY LEWIS:
If you ask me, this island isn�t BIG enough for all of us! Either THEY GO � or WE STAY!
DEAN MARTIN:
There�s one chance left, kids! We�ll climb the volcano! I think the local yokels will be TOO SCARED to follow us!
JERRY LEWIS:
I think I�M too scared to follow us, now that you mention it!

Meanwhile, at a nearby naval base, a radio-transmitted S.O.S. from the freighter S. S. Tin Can, and in reply, a rescue plane is sent searching for the castaways. Back on the island, the ship�s crew are desperately climbing the volcano (which sports a sign that reads, �Caution! Volcano Dangerous When Lit!�)

JERRY LEWIS:
I DON�T LIKE THIS, DEAN! I DON�T LIKE THIS! I�m liable to scrape my KNEE! I might even dislocate an EAR LOBE! I could even get MOUNTAIN CLIMBER�S HANGNAIL!

As they climb past a second sign that reads, �No Smoking Beyond This Point�, Dean remarks:

DEAN MARTIN:
I wonder how HIGH we are, Jer�?
JERRY LEWIS:
I don�t know, but that WHITE stuff we just went through was the MILKY WAY!

Meanwhile, when the Navy�s rescue plane sees no sign of any survivors on the surface of the ocean, it heads toward �Volcano Atoll�. Speaking of which, that�s where the survivors have finally reached the top of the still-active volcano:

DEAN MARTIN:
It was a tough climb, but we�re safe now! Those characters will NEVER follow us up here!
THREE:
Dean, YOU�RE WONDERFUL!
OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
OH-oh! Wrong again, matey! They�re comin� up and NOW WE�RE TRAPPED!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Will our heroes escape? Will they be captured by the fierce natives? Will the rescue plane arrive in time? Will John and Mary find happiness together? Stop pestering us with questions and get on with the story! (continued)

As [pic9]the third part of this story[pic9] opens, Dean, Jerry, the old sea captain and his five granddaughters find themselves trapped between the fiery crater of the volcano and the attacking islanders:

DEAN MARTIN:
OH-oh! The picture doesn�t look very rosy, kids! We can�t GO DOWN and we can�t GO BACK!
JERRY LEWIS:
How about STRAIGHT UP, Dean boy? THAT would throw �em off the trail! Yes, indeedy! We can hide in the BIG DIPPER and --

Dean gets an idea and asks the old sea captain for his half-smoked cigar, then gives it to Jerry to hold. Making a stand, Dean confronts the irate islanders, halting them in their tracks:

DEAN MARTIN:
WAIT! HOLD IT! WHOA! COME-UM ANY CLOSER AND YOU�LL BE BEHIND-UM EIGHT BALL!
ISLANDER:
OH, YEAH-UM? WHY-UM?

Dean gestures to Jerry, who�s still wearing his ridiculous-looking leaf-suit:

DEAN MARTIN:
This is HEAP BIG WHEEL! IMPORTANT TYPE CHIEF! You BOTHER us and he�ll make-um BIG TROUBLE!
JERRY LEWIS:
Dean boy � what are you SAYING? This is ME! Plain, old, ever-lovin� JERRY!
ISLANDER NO. 1:
We NO BELIEVE-UM you! We call-um your bluff!
ISLANDERS:
PUT UP-um or SHUT UP-um!

Dean instructs Jerry to flip the cigar into the volcano�s crater where it immediately explodes, filling with air with acrid smoke:

SFX:
BOOM!
JERRY LEWIS:
WHERE AM I ? >COFF!< CALL OUT THE FOG PATROL! HO-HO! LET�S GO! WHAT A WAY TO RUN A VOLCANO!

As the smoke clears, we see [pic10]the mob of islanders bowing to the �Big Wheel� � Jerry![pic10]

ISLANDER NO. 1:
HAIL! HAIL!
ISLANDER NO. 2:
HAIL!
ISLANDER NO. 3
HAIL!
ISLANDER NO. 4:
HAIL, O MIGHTY CHIEF!
JERRY LEWIS:
NEVER MIND THE DOUBLE TALK! WHO SET OFF THAT EXPLOSION? SPEAK UP, NOW! CHOP, CHOP, KIDS!
DEAN MARTIN:
YOU set it off, Jer. When you tossed that cigar butt into the volcano! These characters think you�re some kind of MEDICINE MAN! YOU�RE THEIR CHIEF NOW!
JERRY LEWIS:
Well, fancy that! And me without a prepared speech! >Ahem!< FELLOW COUNTRYMEN � It gives me GREAT PLEASURE � in fact, it even BEHOOVES me�not to mention AND SO FORTH�and if I�m elected, I say to you�in ALL FAIRNESS to my WORTHY OPPONENT�OF the people�BY the people�and FOR the people! I THANK YOU!
ISLANDER NO. 3:
HURRAY FOR OUR CHIEF!
ISLANDER NO. 4:
Him win-um by LANDSLIDE!

Meanwhile, the rescue plane approaches Volcano Atoll:

PLANE PILOT:
That explosion may have been an S.O.S. SIGNAL! We�d better land and explore this island!
PLANE CO-PILOT:
Aye, aye, sir!

Seeing the rescue plane landing, the castaways prepare to leave. The islanders present Jerry with a farewell gift:

ISLANDER No. 5:
Heap-Big-Wheel-Important-Chief, please accept-um souvenir of visit to our island.
JERRY LEWIS:
Oh, ginger-peachy! What is it, fellows? Gumdrops? Licorice whips? Marbles? Pistachio nuts?

Jerry takes a look into the bag the islanders give to him:

JERRY LEWIS:
Aw � PHOOEY!
DEAN MARTIN:
What did they give you, Jer? Something VALUABLE?
JERRY LEWIS:
No! Just a bunch of ROTTEN OLD GENUINE PEARLS!

But as the survivors prepare to leave on the rescue seaplane, an unexpected situation arises:

ISLANDER No. 1:
Me go, too!
DEAN MARTIN:
Oh, no, Friday! You�d better stay here and stoke the volcano!
ISLANDER No. 1:
ME GO WITH-UM CHIEF AND BE HIS SERVANT!
DEAN MARTIN:
But you won�t LIKE civilization! It�s VERY NOISY! The traffic in our neighborhood is TERRIBLE!
ISLANDER No. 1:
ME GO WITH-UM BIG CHIEF! BAWWW!!
DEAN MARTIN:
Listen, kid! Our apartment is kinda cramped � and there isn�t a SINGLE COCONUT TREE in it! NOT ONE!
ISLANDER No. 1:
YOU TAKE-UM FRIDAY WITH YOU, OR FRIDAY TOSS YOU INTO VOLCANO RIGHT NOW!
DEAN MARTIN:
Well�if you put it THAT way! Er � go pack your spare spears! We�re getting ready to shove off!
ISLANDER No. 1:
HOORAY-UM!

But as soon as the islander leaves to pack for the trip, Dean grabs Jerry and dashes for the Navy seaplane:

DEAN MARTIN:
QUICK! Everybody � out to the plane before that walking H-bomb gets back!
JERRY LEWIS:
Dean, boy � THAT�S NOT CRICKET � NO, SIR!

Hurrying, the castaways manage to make their way to the rescue plane and take off without �Friday� tagging along. On the way back to New York City, Dean hands over Jerry�s �souvenir� to the old sea captain:

DEAN MARTIN:
Grandpop, here�s the bag of pearls! Use them to buy yourself a nice, shiny new cargo boat!
OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
Thanks, mateys! Very generous of you!

Finally home, the five female crew members are all eager to kiss Dean goodbye.

JERRY LEWIS:
Here, now! What about ME? Don�t I get a goodbye kiss?
OLD SEA CAPTAIN:
Well, sure, matey --
JERRY LEWIS:
DEAN!!

Back in NYC, Dean and Jerry look back on their adventure:

DEAN MARTIN:
That was quite a trip! I had enough of the South Pacific to last me FOREVER!
JERRY LEWIS:
Personally, I�m gonna miss the Robinson Crusoe bit!

Later, in their apartment, Dean lounges on the couch while Jerry (finally clad in his own clothes) wears himself out doing housework:

DEAN MARTIN:
It sure is nice to be home!
JERRY LEWIS:
Ho, ho! What�s so NICE about it? I�M working like a DOG! I wish I had my man Friday here!
DEAN MARTIN:
Don�t be STUPID! The whole idea was RIDICULOUS!
JERRY LEWIS:
Oh, yeah! I STILL think we could have brought him and �

Jerry�s suddenly interrupted by a knock at the door. Answering it, he�s surprised to see [pic11]an unexpected visitor[pic11]:

JERRY LEWIS:
FRIDAY!
ISLANDER No. 1:
Me missed-um plane, so me SWAM-UM all the way!

Later, Jerry relaxes on the couch while Dean makes an urgent phone call:

ISLANDER No. 1:
Your cheeseburger is-um ready, oh great chief!
JERRY LEWIS:
Thank you, Friday! Now you can finish cleaning the apartment!
DEAN MARTIN:
Hello? Acme Steamship Line? When does the next boat leave for the south Pacific?

Also included in this issue of THE ADVENTURES OF DEAN MARTIN & JERRY LEWIS are the following stories, features and advertisements:

�Now More Than Ever � Look For This Famous Symbol!�, a black-and-white, [pic12]inside-back-cover house-ad[pic12] for DC Comics� SUPERBOY No. 38 (January, 1955), MUTT & JEFF No. 76 (January, 1955), MY GREATEST ADVENTURE No. 1 (January � February, 1955) and PETER PORKCHOPS No. 34 (January, 1955.)

�Ring Around A Tootsie Roll, What A Lovely Treat. With Santa Claus And Tootsie, Xmas Is Complete.�, a one-page advertisement for �Tootsie Roll�s� �chocolaty� candies.

�Peg�, a one-page gag-strip written and drawn by cartoonist Henry Boltinoff.

�Varsity Vic�, a half-page gag-strip written and drawn by cartoonist Henry Boltinoff.

�Hey Kids! See If You�re Smarter Than The Smith Brothers!�, a half-page advertisement for �Smith Brothers Wild Cherry Cough Drops�,

�On The Set�, a two-page gag-strip written and drawn by cartoonist Henry Boltinoff.

�Binky��s Special Christmas Quiz �Christmas In Many Lands!�, [pic13]a public-service page[pic13] written by Jack Schiff and drawn by Ruben Moreira.

�Honey In Hollywood�, a one-page [pic14]gag-strip[pic14] written and drawn by cartoonist Henry Boltinoff.

�Amazing Offer > Do You Need Money? $40.00 Is Yours�, a one-page advertisement soliciting for people to sell greeting cards and other stationary items from door-to-door for the �Cheerful Card Company�.

�Come On, Buddy, Quit Being A Bag Of Bones Weakling Like I Was � In 10 Minutes Of Fun A Day YOU Can Do ALL I Did!�, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover advertisement for mail-order bodybuilding lessons from the �Jowett Institute Of Physical Training�.

�If You Get A Stunning $10.98 Dress Without Paying 1��Will You Wear And Show It In Your Community?�, a back-page ad soliciting for women and girls to sell dresses for �Fashion Frocks, Inc.�

ODDBALL FACTOID � This is the second cover of THE ADVENTURES OF DEAN MARTIN & JERRY LEWIS to feature a gorilla; the first one appeared on issue No. 5!

BONUS ODDBALL FACTOID � The plot of 1956�s Martin-and-Lewis film ARTISTS AND MODELS took place in the comic book industry!

DOUBLE-BONUS ODDBALL FACTOID � It�s generally accepted that the despicable �Buddy Love� character in Jerry Lewis� THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (1963) was based on Dean Martin!

TRIPLE-BONUS ODDBALL FACTOID � Jerry Lewis refers to the silly, child-like characters he once played as �The Chimp�!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC #1,291 � MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2010 � There have been a lot of funny animal heroes over the years � �Usagi Yojimbo�, �Super Turtle�, �The Wraith� and �The �Mazing Man-Spider�, among many others! Now, here�s the first issue of 1953�s ANIMAL ADVENTURES, which brings us such ODDBALL critter-crusaders as �King Karrot, The Royal Rabbit�, �Tobias Turtle�, �Soopermutt� and �Orsen Buggy, The Mad Genius�! What can we say but �Woof!�?

Judy Joins the WAVES

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:10:00 -0700

Here�s a lavish �giveaway� ODDBALL COMIC that promises �a career, security, travel, romance, a full life�� in the U.S. Navy! Meet Judy Watson, a teenage girl who goes fromworking at a department store ribbon counter to rescuing her friendfrom a desolate island that�s about to be bombed! Let�s all wave �hello� to JUDY JOINS THE WAVES! [fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Judy Joins the WAVES[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]NAVPERS 35985 7-15-51�500M[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]1951[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]Toby Press, Inc. (produced for the U.S. Navy)[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Unknown[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]Here�s a lavish �giveaway� ODDBALL COMIC that promises �a career, security, travel, romance, a full life� � in the U.S. Navy! Meet Judy Watson, a teenage girl who goes from working at a department store ribbon counter to rescuing her friend from a desolate island that�s about to be bombed! Let�s all wave �hello� to JUDY JOINS THE WAVES![introtext]

[fieldinserts]According to Wikipedia: �The WAVES were a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women. The name of this group is an acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" (as well as an allusion to ocean waves); the word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of the war and that at the end of the war the women would not be allowed to continue in Navy careers. The WAVES began in August 1942, when Mildred H. McAfee was sworn in as a Naval Reserve Lieutenant Commander, the first female commissioned officer in U.S. Navy history, and the first director of the WAVES. This occurred two months after the WAAC (Women's Auxiliary Army Corps) was established and Eleanor Roosevelt convinced Congress to authorize a women's component of the Navy- the WAVES. An important distinction between the WAAC and the WAVES was the fact that the WAAC was an "auxiliary" organization, serving with the Army, not in it. From the very beginning, the WAVES were an official part of the Navy, and its members held the same rank and ratings as male personnel. They also received the same pay and were subject to military discipline. In contrast, the WAAC became the Women's Army Corps (WAC) in July, 1943, giving its members military status similar to that of the WAVES. WAVES could not serve aboard combat ships or aircraft, and initially were restricted to duty in the continental United States. Late in World War II, WAVES were authorized to serve in certain overseas U.S. possessions, and a number were sent to Hawaii. The war ended before any could be sent to other locations. Within their first year the WAVES were 27,000 strong. A large proportion of the WAVES did clerical work but some took positions in the aviation community, Judge Advocate General's Corps, medical professions, communications, intelligence, storekeeper, science and technology. The WAVES did not accept African-American women into the division until late 1944, at which point they trained one black woman for every 36 white women enlisted in the WAVES. With the passage of the Women's Armed Services Integration Act (Public Law 625) on June 12, 1948, women gained permanent status in the armed services. Although the WAVES officially ceased to exist, the acronym was in common use well into the 1970s. The first six enlisted women to be sworn into the regular Navy on July 7, 1948 were Kay Langdon, Wilma Marchal, Edna Young, Frances Devaney, Doris Robertson and Ruth Flora. On October 15, 1948, the first eight women to be commissioned in the regular Navy, Joy Bright Hancock, Winifred Quick Collins, Ann King, Frances Willoughby, Ellen Ford, Doris Cranmore, Doris Defenderfer, and Betty Rae Tennant took their oaths as naval officers. The WAVES kept the homefront affairs of the US Navy going while the men were assigned to ships serving around the globe. While the official song of the US Navy men was Anchors Aweigh, the WAVES official song was sung in counterpoint to the men:

WAVES OF THE NAVY
WAVES of the Navy,
There's a ship sailing down the bay.
And she won't slip into port again
Until that Victory Day.
Carry on for that gallant ship
And for every hero brave
Who will find ashore, his man-sized chore
Was done by a Navy WAVE�

Part teenage comic, part romance comic, part adventure comic, part war comic and all upbeat military propaganda, the multi-genre JUDY JOINS THE WAVES comic book was created to be an effective recruiting tool aimed at impressionable teenage girls -- �impressionable� because, let�s face it, how many relatively sophisticated teenage girls are going to be influenced in their life-choices by a mere comic book?

Toby Press was an American comic-book company that published from 1949 to 1955. Elliot A. Caplin -- the brother of cartoonist Al Capp and also an established comic-strip writer -- had entered the comic book field as editor of TRUE COMICS for the Parents Magazine Institute. Some years later, he founded Toby Press; the company was specifically created to publish reprints of Capp's LI�L ABNER syndicated newspaper comic strip, a satire populated by a cast of memorably outrageous hillbilly characters. As publisher Elliot Caplin continued to add titles based on his famous brother�s comic strip, he also widened Toby Press� line of comics, including licensed-character comics starring Hollywood�s John Wayne and animated cartoon property Felix the Cat, as well as familiar comic book genres such as romance, Western, and adventure comics. Some of its comics were published under the imprint Minoan. The first Toby comics series was AL CAPP�S LI�L ABNER, which began with issue No. 70 (May 1949), picking up the numbering from Harvey Publications' LI�L ABNER COMICS. which ultimately published these various newsstand titles: AL CAPP�S DOGPATCH (1949); AL CAPP�S LI�L ABNER (1949); AL CAPP�S SHMOO (1949);; AL CAPP�S WOLF GAL (1951); BARNEY GOOGLE AND SNUFFY SMITH (1951); BIG TEX (1953); THE BIG TOP (1951); BILLY THE KID ADVENTURE MAGAZINE (1950); THE BLACK KNIGHT (1953); BUCK ROGERS (1951);; CAPTAIN TOOTSIE (1950); DANGER IS MY BUSINESS! (1953); DICK WINGATE OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY (1951); DICK WINGATE OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY (�giveaway� edition for US Navy recruiting) (1951); FELIX AND HIS FRIEND (1953); FELIX THE CAT (1951); FELIX THE CAT 3-D COMIC BOOK (1953); FELIX THE CAT AND HIS FRIENDS (1954); FELIX THE CAT SUMMER ANNUAL (1953); FELIX THE CAT WINTER ANNUAL (1954); FIGHTING LEATHERNECKS (1952); GABBY HAYES WESTERN (1953); GREAT LOVER ROMANCES (1951); HE-MAN (1954); JOHN WAYNE ADVENTURE COMICS (1949); JOHNNY DANGER (1954); JON JUAN (1950); JUDY JOINS THE WAVES (1951); KOKEY KOALA (1952); LI�L ABNER (1951); MEET MERTON (1953); MONTY HALL OF THE U.S. MARINES (1951); PAT SULLIVAN�S FELIX THE CAT SPECIAL (1952); PIN-UP PETE (1952); THE PURPLE CLAW (1953); RAMAR OF THE JUNGLE (1954); SANDS OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC (1953); SORORITY SECRETS (1954); SUPER-BRAT (1954): TALES OF TERROR (1953); TELL IT TO THE MARINES(1952); TRUE MOVIE AND TELEVISION (1950); TWO BIT THE WACKY WOODPECKER (1951); UNITED STATES MARINES (1953); WASHABLE JONES AND SHMOO (1953); WITH THE MARINES ON THE BATTLEFRONTS OF THE WORLD (1953); and YOUNG LOVER ROMANCES (1952). In 1950, the company also published six digest-size (6.75 x 3.5-inch) �giveaway� premium comics for Oxydol and Dreft detergents: AL CAPP�S DAISY MAE IN HAM SANGWIDGES, (AKA COUSIN WEAKEYES); AL CAPP�S LI�L ABNER IN THE MYSTERY O� THE CAVE!!; AL CAPP�S SHMOO IN WASHABLE JONES� TRAVELS; JOHN WAYNE: THE COWBOY TROUBLE-SHOOTER!; ARCHIE IN MASK ME NO QUESTIONS; and PAUL TERRY�S TERRY-TOON COMICS. Some covers bore the logo ANC, standing for American News Company, at the time the country's largest newsstand distributor. Under Toby�s �Minoan� imprint -- which featured a minotaur head as the company logo -- they published DR. ANTHONY KING, HOLLYWOOD LOVE DOCTOR (1952); RETURN OF THE OUTLAW(1953); and TALES OF HORROR (1952): Minoan/Toby also published BUST OUT LAFFIN� (1954), a digest-size collection of single-panel gag cartoons.

This particular copy of JUDY JOINS THE WAVES was distributed from the �U.S. Navy Recruiting Substation, Post Office Building, 705-1st Avenue North, Fargo, North Dakota�.

All 32 pages of �Judy Joins The Waves� were written by Charles Spain Verral (1904 � 1990), according to Will Murray (in COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE No. 119); the book�s artist remains unknown. It begins with this caption from its [pic2]splash-panel[pic2] (which re-uses and adapts the comic�s cover-art):

INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE CAPTION:
All her young life, Judy had dreamed of a wonderful future. After high school, there�d be college, where she�d study journalism. She�d become a newspaper woman, perhaps a foreign correspondent. She�d travel, have adventures, a glamorous career. But, suddenly, college was denied her. Judy�s dreams collapsed and she was forced to settle down to a humdrum existence. Then a chance came � a choice to have everything she wanted � a career, security, travel, romance, a full life. She didn�t hesitate � JUDY JOINED THE WAVES!

Working at the ribbon counter at the �Halbe Department Store�, Judy Watson has a depressing daydream:

JUDY WATSON (thinking):
Twenty years from now, I�ll probably still be here. Me and my big ideas of a career. If poor Daddy hadn�t had that accident, maybe I could�ve gone to college�Oh, well, I�m lucky to have this job!

After punching out at the store�s time clock, Judy pops in to a nearby drug store for a soda before taking the bus back home. There, she runs into her high school friend, Hank Williams; initially, she doesn�t recognize Hank, because he�s wearing a familiar white uniform:

JUDY WATSON:
Why�why you�re a � SAILOR!!
HANK WILLIAMS:
Yes, ma�am. One of Uncle Sam�s best! Don�t come any finer.
JUDY WATSON:
But I thought you went to New York to take a job.
HANK WILLIAMS:
I did and then I got hep to what the Navy offered, Judy. It�s real. It�s terrif, believe me. What a set-up! They�re teaching me a trade and PAYING ME! And everything�s free � food, clothing, lodging.
JUDY WATSON:
You look wonderful, Hank. Better than I�ve ever seen you!
HANK WILLIAMS:
I feel wonderful. I�m due to ship out soon. Maybe we�ll go to the Orient�or to the Mediterranean � almost anywhere. You know my yen for traveling.
JUDY WATSON:
Boys have all the fun. It isn�t fair. I wish I had the chance YOU have. But what a hope!
HANK WILLIAMS:
Are you kiddin�?
JUDY WATSON:
Kidding? Look, ever since we all graduated from Clarkson High, what have I been doing � clerking at Halbe�s. It might be all right for some girls, but I�d hoped for something a little more exciting.
HANK WILLIAMS:
Good grief! Then you haven�t heard of the WAVES!
JUDY WATSON:
Of course! I�ve heard of �em�during the last war.
HANK WILLIAMS:
Last war nothing! The WAVES are going stronger than ever. They�ve a whole new program in operation�Wait a minute. I�ve got a booklet here. I was taking it to my sister. This will give you a picture, Judy. Keep it. I can get another one�You were envying me. Heck, the Navy offers you gals the same advantages.
JUDY WATSON:
It does!
HANK WILLIAMS:
Read it for yourself�Hey! I�ve got to push off! Be seein� you, Judy.
JUDY WATSON:
Sure, Hank. And thanks�thanks for this.

Before you know it, Judy is absorbed in reading U.S. NAVY CAREER WOMAN, so distracted by the text-packed booklet that [pic3]she fails to notice the disasters[pic3] she�s unconsciously (but comically) avoiding -- and causing:

JUDY WATSON (reading):
�Naval bases in the United States, famous naval bases abroad, like Pearl Harbor, Hawaii � You may see them all. Your Navy life is an adventure, in which you travel by air, always on official orders and at naval expense. If you seek travel, education, a chance to develop your capacities to the fullest, the Navy can provide these benefit. As a WAVE recruit, you receive $75.00 a month. base pay, with your major living costs absorbed by the Navy. As a Chief Petty Officer, you may earn as much as $294.00 a month, plus allowances. Your pay in the Navy allows you to feel independent, for, from the day you join, you realize that the Navy places you in the position of being entirely self-supporting!�

Arriving back home, Judy excitedly shows her copy of U.S. NAVY CAREER WOMAN to her parents:

MR. WATSON:
Hmm. This booklet certainly is an eye-opener.
MRS. WATSON:
Goodness, yes. I never realized�
JUDY WATSON:
Let me see if they�ll take me�PLEASE!! It would be the answer to everything. I�d be able to get a good education and I�d be serving my country. Tomorrow�s my day off. I could go over to the Navy recruiting office in Westmount and get more information. Please let me try it.
MR. WATSON:
Well, I suppose it won�t do any harm to investigate, Sis!

The next morning, Judy has a long chat with the navy recruiter and bolstered by her reception, returns home to get her parents� permission.

MR. WATSON:
All right, Sis. I�m sold. If they�ll take you, you have my consent.
MRS. WATSON:
And mine, too�Only oh dear, you�ve never been away from home before�
JUDY WATSON:
I have to start sometime, Mom.

After her application is approved Judy receives �a thorough physical examination�, which determines she�s in �tip �top shape�. After waiting �on pins and needles�, she finally receives the news she�s been hoping for:

JUDY WATSON:
Mom! Dad! They�re taking me! I�m to leave for the training center next week! I�ll�I�ll have to tell them at the store. Oh golly! GOLLY!!

Soon, the day finally comes for Judy to leave. Her parents bid a tearful �goodbye� at the �Silver Hound� bus station:

JUDY WATSON:
Don�t cry, Mom. This is the biggest break I could have.
MRS. WATSON:
I know�it�s only that all of a sudden you�re grown up.
MR. WATSON:
Goodbye, Sis. Smooth sailing, sailor!

Hours later, Judy arrives at the Navy recruiting station, where she meets a friendly (and rather butch-looking) girl named Hilly Patterson, who�s also nervous about joining the WAVES. They also meet [pic4]a beautiful-but-snobbish girl[pic4] named Sheila Barrert, who arrives in a limousine and instructs her chauffeur George to carry her bags inside.

HILLY PATTERSON:
Brrr, I felt a distinct chill.
JUDY WATSON:
Probably just her manner. Let�s go! I don�t know if you realize it, Hilly, but the last moments of your civilian life are fast drawing to a close.
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Judy was always to remember the drama or the events that followed�The room crowded with other recruits�The spine-tingling moment when she raised her right hand and was sworn in as a member of the Naval service�The serious talk by the procurement officer. What was ahead. What they could expect�They are to leave immediately for the training center. They are all now members of the U.S. Navy and should conduct themselves accordingly�

Before the recruits board a train bound for their training location, a WAVE lieutenant appoints Judy to take charge of her group, a development that surprises her. It also irritates Sheila the wealthy recruit, to Hilly�s amusement:

HILLY PATTERSON:
You should have seen Park Avenue�s face when the lieutenant picked you for the job, Judy! Brother, that gas was primed to take over.
JUDY WATSON:
I wish she�d got it. I�m scared!
HILLY PATTERSON:
Ah, nobody�s going to get out of line�unless it�s Park Avenue. Have you noticed that every man under the age of eighty who comes through gets a coy look?...

As if to prove Hilly�s words, a �cute� young sailor appears in their car, and it takes only seconds for Sheila to �accidentally� drop her clutch in his path, then uses the opportunity to flirt with the seaman. After Judy and Hilly pay a visit to the dining car, Judy spies Sheila openly defying the WAVES� order, �no train flirtations�, by chatting up the sailor who retrieved her purse earlier:

JUDY WATSON (thinking):
I might have known!
JUDY WATSON:
Come along, Sheila.
SHEILA BARRERT:
In a few minutes. I�m just getting some information about the Navy.
JUDY WATSON:
I was made leader of this group. I didn�t ask for it, Don�t make it tough for me, Sheila.
SHEILA BARRERT:
Very well�But of all the stupid nonsense. After all, we aren�t in prep school�
CORPSMAN JEFF KING:
Take it easy, girls. Orders are orders.
SHEILA BARRERT:
If this is the way the Navy is going to be�Miss Nobodies throwing their weight around�

While Sheila returns to her seat, Judy accidentally trips and twists her ankle. The sailor, who introduces himself as Jeff King, offers to put a bandage on Judy�s ankle, but she�s obviously worried about violating that �no train flirtations� order too. Having seen the whole thing, Sheila is eager to criticize Judy:

SHEILA BARRERT:
That was a fine trick! Is that how you get your men?
JUDY WATSON:
But I did twist my ankle, really�
HILLY PATTERSON:
Judy, my girl. Methinks you�re in for a spot of trouble with that Sheila character.
JUDY WATSON:
Don�t be silly. Sheila knows I couldn�t help it. She�ll forget all about it!
HILLY PATTERSON:
That�s what you think. Her type�s had everything and the can�t stand anybody getting ahead of �em. You�ll see!

Finally arriving at the naval base, Judy, Hilly, Sheila and the rest of the would-be WAVES leave the train:

NARRATIVE CAPTION:
From the moment they pass through the gates, Judy and her fellow recruits are immediately meshed into a smoothly-functioning machine�They are broken up into groups of four and assigned to cubicles in the barracks�

Judy and Hilly are assigned two female roommates, Sammy Kohl (who �seems like a good gal�) and Sheila, AKA �Park Avenue�. Sammy�s motives are similar to Judy�s:

SAMMY KOHL:
I�m thrilled to have a chance to be a WAVE. Just think what�s ahead � travel, education, everything. And doing a job for Uncle Sam.

But Sheila has reasons of her own to become a WAVE:

SHEILA BARRERT:
I was bored with parties and traveling. I wanted a change, something new. You wouldn�t understand.
JUDY WATSON:
Maybe not. But we�re all in the service � and we�re roommates. It�s a case o share and share alike.
SHEILA BARRERT:
Even to MEN? I don�t play that way�By the way, darling, how IS your poor ankle? I notice you�ve forgotten to limp.

Later, Hilly and Judy compare notes about Sheila:

HILLY PATTERSON:
That babe�s got a knife out for you. I saw it glitter and it was this long!
JUDY WATSON:
I think you�d LIKE to see something start between us, Hilly. But if you ask me, we won�t have time for it. We�re going to be kept so darn busy being made into WAVES.
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
[pic5]And they are kept busy.[pic5] Scarcely before the recruit class has caught its breath, the girls are mustered for lunch and marched to the mess hall�Later, uniforms are issues�Civilian clothes packed away to be mailed home�Classes begin�And without a lost moment, life in the Navy proceeds full steam ahead�

One night, Judy writes a letter to her parents:

JUDY�S LETTER:
�Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, here I am in uniform and proud as punch to be a WAVE. I�ve met a swell bunch of gals � all except one and she got in my hair a little. Nothing serious (I hope)�The director of the school gave us a welcoming talk tonight�by the way, the food�s tops�I�m dog tired. Lights out here at 9:30. Or, as we say in the Navy, 21:30. Can�t come soon enough for me. Miss you both.
Love, Judy�
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Other letters are sent, many letters as the boots drive forward in the well-ordered pattern countless WAVES have followed before them�
JUDY�S LETTERS:
�Your WAVE reporting again. We�re really in full swing. Up at six. Breakfast at 6:30. Then morning quarters, classes. We have a full line-up of subjects to cover � history, personnel, jobs and training, ships and aircraft�Had our shots today. So far, feeling fine. Nobody passed out, although Hilly, the huskiest girl in the lot, claimed she was going to�We�re learning a whole new language. Stairs are ladders. Floors are decks, beds are bunks, quarters are billets and walls are bulkheads�You should have seen me today. It was my turn to be platoon leader. And you know my trouble with right and left�Seems impossible that I�ve been here already two weeks. I�m loving it. I feel a drive I�ve never known before and a purpose. Had our aptitude tests run off. The results will help determine where I go from here. I hope I end up with a journalist�s rating�but that�s looking way ahead. They have a grand pool here�We had a company show the other night. I was picked for the leading lady. Sheila � she�s the one who doesn�t seem to exactly like me � was burned up that she didn�t get the part. [pic6]Here�s a picture of me kissing the leading man[pic6] (only, alas, he was a she)�We�re getting off-the-school-area liberty tomorrow. Can�t wait to see what the world looks lie. This is a huge station with several service schools and a Navy boot camp. So things may prove interesting. I�m going with Hilly, so I�m sure they will�Love, Judy�

Finally on liberty leave, Judy and Hilly spot Sheila with a familiar-looking man:

JUDY WATSON:
Now that we�re free, where do we go, Hilly?
HILLY PATTERSON:
Park Avenue seemed to have ideas. She was the first one out. She�s latched on to a man already! And hang me from a yard arm if it isn�t the sailor boy who was on the train!

That �sailor boy�, Jeff King, immediately recognizes Judy from her mishap on the train. Before Sheila can drag him away, Jeff invites Judy and her friends to an upcoming social event:

JEFF KING:
Look, Judy, the scuttlebutt has it that your gang�s getting late permission next Saturday night. There�s a dance at the Servicemen�s Club. See you then?
JUDY WATSON:
That would be fine, Jeff.

While Sheila jealously hustles Jeff on their way, Hilly offers her personal observations to Judy (while offering an example of scripter Charles Spain Verral�s genuinely snappy dialogue):

HILLY PATTERSON:
She might as well have a half-nelson on him�What a cute guy. And he likes you a lot, Judy. A WHOLE lot...Well, let�s pick up our safari and head into the interior�HEY!! Snap out of it!
JUDY WATSON:
Um�What�s that?
HILLY PATTERSON:
The glazed look�The faint flush. Oh, Poppa, she�s got it. But at the moment, Sheila�s got HIM! How will the great romance come out? Tune in same time, same station for the next pulsing episode when WAVE battles WAVE on the dance floor.
JUDY WATSON:
Hilly! You�re impossible!

As Saturday night rolls around, it seems that Jeff�s �scuttlebutt� was correct, so Judy and her roommates prepare for the big dance. Hilly cheerfully dispenses dancing advice:

HILLY PATTERSON:
Now lemme see. When the music starts, you put one arm around the fellow�s neck. He holds your other hand. Your heart beats faster. Then you say, �GET OFF MY FEET, YOU CLOWN!�

At the dance, the WAVES are delighted (�YIPES! Men!�) and the sailors are equally glad to see them. (The sailors are visually represented by generic black silhouettes, [pic7]an extreme case of �art-hacking�[pic7].) Jeff King rushes ahead of his shipmates in getting to Judy, who he immediately asks to dance:

JUDY WATSON:
Hello, Jeff.
JEFF KING:
Hello, Judy. Like it?
JUDY WATSON:
They certainly keep us busy, but I like it fine.
JEFF KING:
I didn�t mean that � I meant dancing with me.
JUDY WATSON:
Yes, Jeff. I like that, too --

Suddenly, the couple Is bumped into by Sheila, who�s dancing with another sailor�and before Judy is completely aware of it, Sheila cuts in on them and winds up dancing with Jeff! But when the song is over, Jeff leaves Sheila stranded at the bar while the friendly sailor takes Judy out on the veranda, supposedly to show her where he hangs out. A few days later, Judy writes another letter to her parents:

JUDY�S LETTER:
�We had liberty last Saturday night to got to a dance at the Servicemen�s Club. It was wonderful. The company�s morale was given a boost. Mine, too! I met Jeff King there. He�s the hospitalman I told you about. He�s nice. Trouble is Sheila thinks she has a prior claim and has been acting huffy�but enough of that. We�ve all got our noses to the grindstone what with exams and everything. Love, Judy
P.S. Don�t worry. I�m not too serious about Jeff � yet. But he is attractive.�

Weeks pass and Judy writes yet another letter:

JUDY�S LETTER:
�It won�t be long now until I see you. We�ve have (sic.) our personal classification interviews. I�m still hoping I�ll be sent to a journalist school. Haven�t seen Jeff in ages. His hours have been shifted and our liberties don�t jibe (cruel fate!)�Sheila has almost been civil. Maybe she�s at last caught the WAVE spirit��

When Judy and Jeff�s liberty times coincide, they plan to meet at the Enlisted Men�s Club for a movie and refreshments, something that Sheila overhears when Judy and Hilly discuss it. But the morning of their date, Sheila sabotages Judy�s locker before an important inspection. As a result, Judy is confined to quarters for the nigh:

HILLY PATTERSON:
I�ll bet Sheila did it. To keep you from seeing Jeff.
JUDY WATSON:
She WAS the last one out, but I�ve got no proof, Hilly!
HILLY PATTERSON:
I knew that dame would sink the knife in sooner or later, Judy. And she�s waited until it hurt most�Your only chance to see Jeff before we take off from here.
JUDY WATSON:
Well, there�s nothing I can do about it now, Hilly.

After midnight, Hilly and Sheila return to their billet:

JUDY WATSON:
Have a good time, Hilly?
HILLY PATTERSON:
Yeah, but that Sheila. She was with Jeff all evening. I dunno what she told him about you � but if must�ve been good�Here she comes.
SHEILA BARRERT:
Sorry you missed the party. But it was really pretty dull. Except that I met Jeff. He was so sweet. You remember him, of course.
JUDY WATSON:
I remember a lot of things, Sheila.

Eventually, Judy�s parents receive another letter from their daughter:

JUDY�S LETTER:
�By the tine you get this, our training will just about be wound up�Eureka! I�ve been notified I�m to go on to another school to study JOURNALISM! But first I�ll be home on recruit leave for ten days. I�ll let you know the time of my arrival�Hilly is striking for a store-keeper rating and Sheila for photographer�s mate. Very appropriate as far a Sheila is concerned. She�s strictly a double exposure. Catty, huh? But I have reasons. Can�t wait to see you��

Meanwhile, Judy and her fellow WAVES are at their graduation ceremony, listening to a speech by one of their superior officers:

SUPERIOR WAVE OFFICER:
�And when you leave here, always bear in mind that you carry the honor and the dignity of the greatest navy on Earth with you�It�s been nice having you all aboard. Now, goodbye � and smooth sailing, seamen.

Following graduation, Judy and Hilly bid each other farewell:

HILLY PATTERSON:
Golly, Judy, why aren�t we being sent to the same school? Maybe we�ll never see each other again.
JUDY WATSON:
Our paths will cross some day.

Then Jeff King makes a surprise appearance, having �wangled� some time off to say goodbye:

JUDY WATSON:
I was sorry about the other night. I couldn�t help it.

JEFF KING:
Sheila told me about your tough break�Judy, will you write to me if I write?
JUDY WATSON:
Yes�I�I�ll write. Here�s my home address. Goodbye, Jeff � goodbye!

Arriving back home, Judy enjoys [pic8]a whirlwind schedule[pic8], but she finds time to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her father:

MR. WATSON:
Sort of interested in this young man who�s been writing you, aren�t you, Sis?
JUDY WATSON:
I�m getting that way, Dad. You�d like Jeff. I know you would. But I guess I won�t be seeing him for a long time. That�s the Navy.

When her leave is over, Judy reports to the advance training school:

NARRATIVE CAPTION:
At the school, Judy meets new surroundings�a new lot of girls�She pitches into an intensified course � learning the techniques of running a newspaper, writing news stories, bulletins, releases and radio scripts from veterans of the journalistic field�Judy finds it a wonderful life with plenty of time off for sports and recreation�And always there are letters from Jeff. Swell, newsy letters�

But two weeks later:

NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Suddenly the letters stop coming!

But even after writing to him twice, Jeff fails to respond. A letter from Hilly provides the unfortunate reason:

HILLY�S LETTER:
�Here I am in a new school. And guess what � I ran into Sheila and your old boy-friend, Jeff! They�re both stationed here. They both looked thick as thieves. What happened you let her beat you out? Hilly�

Upset by the news, Judy tries to forget Jeff by throwing herself into her studies and quickly achieves a journalist rating. But one morning a new WAVE reports for duty � Sheila Barrert! Unfortunately, she�s her same old bitchy self, a quality that Judy�s new friends can�t help but notice:

JUDY WATSON:
How�s Jeff?
SHEILA BARRERT:
I wouldn�t know�Now if you�ll excuse me.

But one day, Judy and Sheila are summoned to the lieutenant�s office:

LIEUTENANT:
A very important person is scheduled to inspect the base and harbor installations today, A defense official. You two will go along with me to help cover the inspection. Watson, you�ll do the story. Barrert, the camera work.
JUDY WATSON/SHEILA BARRERT:
Aye, aye, sir.
LIEUTENANT:
He�s due in an hour. There�ll be a review of the base personnel this morning. In the afternoon, a cruiser will take his party out to a San Clemente island to watch a target practice demonstration�secure your gear and stand by.
JUDY WATSON/SHEILA BARRERT:
Aye, aye, sir.

But all through the inspection and tour, Sheila constantly interrupts Judy, creating her own photo opportunities while Judy�s interview questions go unanswered. Finally, as they approach San Clemente Island, the V.I.P. makes a special request:

LIEUTENANT:
Our visitor has asked to go ashore and inspect the target area before the shelling. We will accompany his party. There�s nothing much to see except battered rock�but get everything down, Watson. And look for the human interest angle.
SHEILA BARRERT:
I should be able to get some good shots, sir.
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
In a matter of minutes, the party is ashore on a rocky, desolate island. The terrain is riddled with huge holes, mute evidence of previous direct hits�

With only twenty minutes before the shelling is scheduled to start, the party prepares to leave the island immediately. But just as they�re about to cast off, it�s realized that a WAVE is missing � Sheila Barrert! With only ten minutes left, Judy insists that she look for her old rival:

JUDY WATSON:
Sheila! SHEILA! Answer me!
JUDY WATSON (thinking):
She must be here somewhere. I�ve got to find her!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Above the swish of the surf, Judy hears a low moaning sound, then�

Judy discovers Sheila laying prone among the island�s sea-battered rocks. (It�s no wonder Sheila fell down, though � [pic9]she�s wearing high-heeled shoes![pic9]) After Judy�s shout bring �instant assistance� to carry Sheila back aboard their boat and launch away from San Clemente Island, Judy is given an unexpected compliment:

LIEUTENANT:
We�ll have her checked over soon as we get aboard�I�ll see that you�re commended for this, Watson. You�re real Navy!

As �the big guns� start to pound the island, Sheila recovers:

DOCTOR:
No concussion. She�ll be all right after a rest.
SHEILA BARRERT:
I�I was trying to get a special shot�when I stepped back into that hole and�
LIEUTENANT:
You can thank your friend here for being alive, Barrert. Only Watson�s persistence saved you.
SHEILA BARRERT:
My friend? FRIEND? Why did you do it, Judy? You must hate me. I�ve given you every reason to.
JUDY WATSON:
We�re both WAVES, Sheila. And�well, I�ve learned a lot of things since I�ve been in the Navy. Sometimes personal grudges have to be forgotten. Call it espirit de corps.
SHEILA BARRERT:
Judy�
JUDY WATSON:
Yes?
SHEILA BARRERT:
I told him you were engaged to someone else�I told him you weren�t serious about him. To prove it, I showed you a picture of you kissing another man.
JUDY WATSON:
But I don�t understand. What picture?
SHEILA BARRERT:
Hand me my bag, will you?...Remember that picture you had taken as leading lady in that recruit play at school�
JUDY WATSON:
Yes�
SHEILA BARRERT:
I doctored it. I got a picture of a handsome young fellow and made a composite�That�s my business � photography. It turned out well. So well that Jeff believed it, Judy.

Sheila shows Judy the phony photo:

JUDY WATSON:
That�s�that�s why Jeff stopped writing! That�s why he started going around with you!
SHEILA BARRERT:
I got nowhere with him. A few dates � that was all. The last time I saw Jeff, he was carrying a torch for you, Judy. I�ve been a heel. I know it now. The Navy has taught me something, too, Judy�I�ve never really belonged to the WAVES � I mean deep down And I won�t until I can somehow make up for what I�ve done.

A week later, Sheila and Judy�s relationship with each other is vastly different:

SHEILA BARRERT:
Judy, I want to tell you something. I wrote to Jeff�I explained everything.
JUDY WATSON:
What did he say?
SHEILA BARRERT:
I don�t know. But maybe you can find out for yourself. I just picked up your mail. Here�s a letter for you � from him.

Judy quickly opens and reads the letter from Jeff:

SHEILA BARRERT:
Everything O.K. with you two?
JUDY WATSON:
Yes. Oh, yes.
SHEILA BARRERT:
That makes everything O.K. with me, then. Very much O.K�.Come on, Petty Officer Watson!
JUDY WATSON:
Aye, aye, Petty Officer Barrert.

Suddenly, with arms locked together, [pic10]the two young WAVES burst into song![pic10] Oddly enough, it isn�t the official theme song of the "Women Accepted For Volunteer Emergency Service" that they�re warbling, either:

JUDY WATSON/ SHEILA BARRERT (singing):
WAVES of the Navy
We are still marching proudly on
Now that victory�s won.
Carry on, girls in Navy blue
We all have our work to do
With a merry song, we�ll swing along �
We still love the Navy way!

Also included in this newsstand-quality issue of JUDY JOINS THE WAVES are the following features:

�WAVE Enlistment Requirements�, a black-and-white, [pic11]inside-front-cover checklist[pic11] of the first, second and third requirements necessary to become a WAVE.

�WAVE Enlistment Requirements�, a black-and-white, [pic12]inside-back-cover checklist[pic12] of the fourth, fifth and sixth requirements necessary to become a WAVE.

�Navy Training Qualifies You For Important Navy Jobs��, [pic13]a back-cover photo-feature[pic13] showing various functions that WAVES perform in the U.S. Navy.

ODDBALL FACTOID � Famous fantasy artist Frank Frazetta not only once worked as an art assistant to cartoonist Al Capp (specializing in the depiction f female characters in LI�L ABNER), he also illustrated a handful of stories for Toby Press� JOHN WAYNE ADVENTURE COMICS!

BONUS ODDBALL FACTOID � Syndicated newspaper comic strip cartoonist Mell (MISS PEACH, MOMMA) Lazarus wrote the novel THE BOSS IS CRAZY TOO (1962) -- �the story of a boy and his dog of a boss� -- based on his experiences as an editor at Toby Press!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC #1,290 � MONDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2010 � Hey, LAAAAADY! Yesterday was National Gorilla Suit Day, so let�s continue celebrating the ODDBALL occasion with an issue of DC�s THE ADVENTURES OF DEAN MARTIN & JERRY LEWIS, cover-featuring yet another of DC�s infamous purple-skinned gorillas! Plus, learn the astonishing COMICS-related secret of one half of this classic comedy team!

Hee Haw, Vol. 1, No. 2

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:05:18 -0700

Yee-haw, it�s HEE HAW, an �eggs-ceptional� funnybook that attempts to adapt the classic country western musical comedy television of the 1970s! See cartoon versions of Buck Owens, Roy Clark, Junior Samples, Grandpa Jones, Lulu Roman and all the other hillbilly stars of America�s corniest cornpone TV series�with artwork by everyone�s favorite ODDBALL COMICS cartoonist, Tony Tallarico! But what is HEE HAW�s mysterious connection to Alvin And The Chipmunks and the Lone Ranger? [fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Hee Haw[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]Vol. 1, No. 2[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]October, 1970[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]Charlton Press[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Frank Roberge (signed)[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]Yee-haw, it�s HEE HAW, an �eggs-ceptional� funnybook that attempts to adapt the classic country western musical comedy television of the 1970s! See cartoon versions of Buck Owens, Roy Clark, Junior Samples, Grandpa Jones, Lulu Roman and all the other hillbilly stars of America�s corniest cornpone TV series�with artwork by everyone�s favorite ODDBALL COMICS cartoonist, Tony Tallarico! But what is HEE HAW�s mysterious connection to Alvin And The Chipmunks and the Lone Ranger?[introtext]

[fieldinserts]The HEE HAW comic book was based on a television series that could best be described as a country-western version of ROWAN AND MARTIN�S LAUGH-IN, with short, goofy black-out gags interspersed by musical interludes. Originally broadcast on CBS from 1969 through 1971 and syndicated from 1971 through 1992, the all-American HEE HAW was actually conceived by two Canadians! Incredibly successful (it was the nation's number-one-rated non-network show by 1977), HEE HAW was a fast-paced mixture of songs, skits, blackouts and corny jokes, all enacted by a large stable of regular performers, including country co-hosts Buck Owens and Roy Clark. Over the years, the show's regulars included such down-home luminaries as Louis "Grandpa" Jones, Junior Samples, Jeannine Riley, Lulu Roman, David "Stringbean" Akeman, Sherry Miles, Lisa Todd, Minnie Pearl, Gordie Tapp, Diana Scott, Cathy Baker, unicyclist Zella Lehr, The Hagers, Barbi Benton (PLAYBOY magazine creator Hugh Hefner's onetime centerfold-model-girlfriend), Archie Campbell, Roni Stoneham, George "Goober" Lindsey, Gunilla Hutton, Harry Cole, Don Harron, Misty Rowe, Gailard Sartain, Mackenzie Colt, Irlene Mandrell, Dub Taylor and Jeff Smith. HEE HAW even begat a short-lived spin-off series, THE HEE HAW HONEYS (1978 -1979)!

Cartoonist Frank Roberge (1918 � 1976) primarily worked on syndicated newspaper comic strips, but he drew quite a few comic books as well. Starting in 1953, he drew all five issues of Comic Media�s NOODNIK, starring an Inuit kid (who greatly resembled DONDI wearing a fur parka.) In addition to contributing to HEE HAW, he drew a number of comics starring Hanna-Barbera Productions� stable of characters from 1971 through 1977. These included; BARNEY AND BETTY; DINO; THE FLINTSTONES; �Hokey Wolf�; HONG KONG PHOOEY; THE JETSONS; PEBBLES AND BAMM-BAMM; QUICK DRAW McGRAW; �Snagglepuss�; TOP CAT; WHEELIE AND THE CHOPPER BUNCH; and YOGI BEAR. He also contributed to a series of promotional �Career Awareness Program� POPEYE comics co-published by Charlton and King Features Syndicate. In comic strips, Frank worked as an assistant to Dale Messick on the Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate�s BRENDA STARR from 1949 through 1953, then assisted Mort Walker on King Feature�s BEETLE BAILEY from 1954 through 1956. (He also worked on many of the BEETLE BAILEY comic books published by Dell, Gold Key and Charlton.) He finally created his own strip for King Features, MRS. FITZ�S FLATS, which ran from 1958 through 1973. Frank Roberge was a member and past president of the National Cartoonists Society. In 1974, Frank was nominated for the �Best Penciler� (Humor Division) -- Marie Severin was the winner -- and �Best Inker� (Humor Division) -- Ralph Reese was the winner -- awards by the Academy Of Comic Book Arts. Frank Roberge served as the President of the National Cartoonists Society.

Cartoonist Alfred Anthony �Tony� Tallarico was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. His pen-names include �Alfred Payan�, �Alfred Tallarico�, �Tony Williams�, �Tony Williamson� (working with Bill Warren), Tony Williamsune (working with Bill Fraccio) and �Anthony Williamson� (again working with Bill Warren). Attending New York City�s High School Of Industrial Arts, the Brooklyn Museum Of Art Show and the School Of Visual Arts, Tony�s artistic influences included Frank Robbins, Ken Bald, Roy Doty, Stan Drake and Milton Caniff. Tony�s first gig was from 1950 through 1951, assisting cartoonist Frank (MIGHTY MOUSE, LITTLE JACK FROST) Carin; after that, he did some work for Avon, assisting editor Sol Cohen (1951 � 1952) and transforming painted paperback cover-art into line-art to be used in their line of comic books (1953 � 1954) as well as at least one story which appeared in KIT CARSON (1953). From 1950 to 1952, Tony did work for Youthful Magazine�s MASKED MARVEL, STAMPS and various horror comics. During the first half of the 1950s, he also drew for Story Comics (DARK MYSTERIES and horror and western stories) and Trojan Comics (BEWARE and war stories). Around the same time, Tony started a long relationship with Charlton Comics, illustrating the text �filler� feature, �Hot Rod Talk� in the publisher�s automotive comics. Up through 1977, Tony worked on such Charlton titles and features as: 1776; HANNA-BARBERA�S ABBOTT AND COSTELLO; ALL-AMERICAN SPORTS; ARMY ATTACK; ARMY WAR HEROES; ATTACK; BILLY THE KID; BLUE BEETLE; BATTLEFIELD ACTION; BLACK FURY; BLONDIE; BOBBY SHERMAN; BUGALOOS; �Charisma Kid�; CHEYENNE KID; �Cynthia Doyle�; D-DAY; DRAG N� WHEELS; FIGHTIN� ARMY; FIGHTIN� MARINES; FIGHTIN� NAVY; THE FLINTSTONES; GERONIMO JONES; GHOST MANOR; GHOSTLY TALES; GRAND PRIX; GUNMASTER; HAUNTED; HEE HAW; HOLLYWOOD ROMANCES; �Holt Wilson�; HOT ROD RACERS; HOT RODS AND RACING CARS; I LOVE YOU; �Jonnie Love�; JUNGLE JIM; JUNGLE TALES OF TARZAN; JUST MARRIED; �Ken King�; KID MONTANA; LAWBREAKERS SUSPENSE STORIES; LOVE DIARY; THE MANY GHOSTS OF DR. GRAVES; MARINE WAR HEROES; MYSTERIES OF UNEXPLORED WORLDS; OUTER SPACE; OUTLAWS OF THE WEST; POPEYE; RACKET SQUAD; ROCKY LANE; ROMANTIC SECRETS; SARGE STEEL; SIX-GUN HEROES; SON OF VULCAN; STRANGE SUSPENSE STORIES; SUBMARINE ATTACK; SURF �N� WHEELS; �Surf Kings�; SWEETHEARTS; TEEN CONFESSIONS; TEEN-AGE LOVE; TEXAS RANGERS; TEXAS RANGERS IN ACTION; THUNDERBOLT; TIME FOR LOVE; UNUSUAL TALES; WAR AT SEA; WAR HEROES; WILD BILL HICKOK; WORLD OF WHEELS; and WYATT EARP, FRONTIER MARSHAL. Through most of the 1960s, Tony drew stories for Dell Publications, including: ALI; BEWITCHED; BOZO THE CLOWN; CAR 54, WHERE ARE YOU?; DANGER MAN; DRACULA; F TROOP; FRANKENSTEIN; THE INCREDILE MR. LIMPET; THE LITTLEST SNOWMAN; LOBO (1965 � 1966, the first comic book to title-star an African-American hero), MOUSE ON THE MOON; RAGGEDY ANN AND ANDY; ROOM 222; SINBAD JR.; TALES FROM THE TOMB; THIRTEEN (GOING ON 17); WEREWOLF; and WOLFMAN. In the early 1960, Tony drew stories for Gilberton, on their CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED adaptations of �Bright Boots�, �Food Of The Gods�, �How Fire Came To The Indians� and various stories for their THE WORLD AROUND US series. For Parallax Comic Books, Tony (working with Bill Fraccio) drew THE ADVENTURES OF BOBMAN AND TEDDY and THE GREAT SOCIETY COMIC BOOK (both 1966); that same year, he did work for Feature Comics; SICK magazine. In 1966 and 1967, Tony worked on Harvey Comics� line of �Harvey Thrillers� such as �Dr. Yes�, �Jack Q. Frost�, �Jigsaw�, �Pirana�, �Spyman� and UNEARTHLY SPECTACULARS, all edited by Joe Simon. From 1968 to 1971, Tony drew horror stories for Warren Publications� CREEPY, EERIE and VAMPIRELLA. From 1968 to 1972, Tony drew history and science features for T. S. Denison & Co.�s TREASURE CHEST OF FUN AND FACTS. In 1970, Tony freelanced for Major Magazines on CRACKED and WEB OF HORROR, and from 1970 through 1972, Tony drew ALEXANDER PUSHKIN, BLACK INVENTORS, DRUGS � THE WAY IT IS and ROY WILKINS for Fitzgerald Periodicals. For Apag House Pubs, Tony drew articles for GRIN from 1972 � 1973. He also drew a line of comic books with a religious theme for Logos International. Tony�s final comic book story was for Charlton�s GHOST MANOR No. 15, October, 1973 (although he drew stories for Marvel Comics� black-and-white humor magazine CRAZY in 1978.) Along the way, Tony Tallarico drew a multitude of promotional �giveaway� comics; his client list included: Pan-Am; Ford; Ringling Bros.; Maco Toys; WILD BILL HICKOK for Blue Bird Comics; and POPEYE for the King Features Syndicate�s �Career Awareness Program�. For syndication, Tony �ghosted� three month�s worth of United Features Syndicate�s DAVY JONES in 1969. He�s also ghosted Ernie Bushmiller�s NANCY and drawn ZAP THE VIDEO CHAP for the McNaught Syndicate. With his wife of over 44 years, Elvira, Tony created a syndicated newspaper comic strip, TRIVIA-TREAT, that ran from the early 1980s to the later 1990s; their son, Tony Jr., also wrote syndicated features during the 1990s. He also created a supplement comics section for Sunday newspapers for the David C. Cook Publishing Company, SUNDAY PIX. In advertising, He worked for J. Walter Thompson�s advertising agency on their Xerox, Pan-Am and U.S. Government accounts. account. Tony has written and drawn over 1,000 different children�s books � including the �Where Are They?�, �I Can Draw�, �Fun-Filled�, �Ultimate Hidden Pictures� and �The How & Why Wonder Books� series -- for such publishers as Kidsbooks, Tuffy Books, Modern, Simon & Schuster, Price, Stern & Sloan, Treasure Books, Concordia Publishing House, Putnam, and Little Simon on such titles as: TEEN TALES; DRAWING AND CARTOONING MONSTERS; SOUPY SALES AND THE TALKING TURTLE; PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON; and ASTRONUT AND THE FLYING BUS, among others. On May 19, 2006, Tony Tallarico was presented with the Pioneer Award for �Lifetime Achievement In The Comics And Books Industries� by the Temple University College of Arts and Sciences, especially in recognition of his work on LOBO. Tony Tallarico is a member of the National Cartoonists Society.

Charlton published a total of seven issues of the HEE HAW comic book. Edited by Sal Gentile, the first issue of this series was cover-dated July, 1970 and the final issue was cover-dated August, 1971.

This issue�s 5-page �Hee Haw� lead story features �Junior� in �Off To Nowhere!�, written and drawn by cartoonist Frank Roberge. It begins with [pic2]an unhappy-looking Junior Samples[pic2] -- sitting behind a tree with chickens and a pig for company � eavesdropping on Buck Owens as he chats with Grandpa Jones:

BUCK OWENS:
I�m goin� catfishin�! Junior says they�re biting like mad!
GRANDPA JONES:
Don�t you believe it! I heard they weren�t biting at all!
BUCK OWENS:
Why would he say they were biting then?
GRANDPA JONES:
Well�You know Junior�He�s always tellin� tall stories.
JUNIOR SAMPLES (thinking):
There�s a difference between tall stories and lying! I guess my friends think I�m lying all the time. I�ll show them, I�LL GO AWAY! I�ve haven�t enough money to go anywhere by bus. I�ll have to hop a freight car.

Junior hops aboard a �Ajax Tree Transit� box car labeled number �250�, unaware that the train has pulled to a stop so that a crew of men can load spruce trees onto the train. Curious as to what�s going on outside, Junior rolls the box car�s door open, only to see [pic3]a procession of spruce trees passing by[pic3]:

JUNIOR SAMPLES (thinking):
I�m sure we�ve stopped�I�ll just take a peek outside. We can�t be stopped! Look at those spruce trees zip by�We�re in the North Country already!

To prepare for the cold weather, Junior dons a heavy fur coat; meanwhile, up front, the tree-crew discovers that box car �300� is already full of palm trees! The foreman orders his men to haul the palm trees back to box car �2�. As they race past box car �250�, that�s when Junior decides to take another look outside:

JUNIOR SAMPLES:
I�d better check again�We�re probably in snow country, by now! GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! This train must be going a thousand miles an hour! We�re in the south now! Look at those palm trees zoom by!! Man, I�ve got to get off this crazy train!! But first I�ll change into some lighter clothes.

With that, Junior Samples removes his fur coat and changes his clothes to shorts, sandals and a Hawaiian shirt! [pic4](Now that�s a good-looking cartoon character!)[pic4] As the train begins to roll again, Junior hops off with his traveling bag:

JUNIOR SAMPLES (thinking):
Hot diggedy! She�s stopped�I can get out now! That�s strange�this almost looks like home! Well, I�ll be! That looks like Roy Clark, too!
ROY CLARK:
Hi, Junior! What are you doin� in those kooky duds?
JUNIOR SAMPLES:
Never mind! If I told you you�d say I was tellin� tall tales.

Also included in this issue of HEE HAW are the following stories, features and advertisements:

�Military Men � Your Credit Is Good! Any Item On This Page�Only $20 Monthly!�, a black-and-white, inside-front-cover ad for a variety of women�s and military rings, available via mail-order from �Military Diamond Sales�.

�Insure Your Future With An I.C.S. High School Diploma�, an advertisement for high school equivalency diplomas available through mail-order correspondence courses from �International Correspondence Schools�.

�Kingfish� in �Corn Struck�, a one-page gag-strip written and drawn by Frank Roberge. � Roy Clark is taking [pic5]his hound dog Kingfish[pic5] to the veterinarian because �He has corns��He won�t walk on his back feet�.

�A Hole In One With Buck Owens�, a one-page gag-strip written and drawn by Frank Roberge. � Buck Owens looks on as the son of his friend Lyndon tells his father, �Mommie took me to the dentist today and I only had one cavity!!� Buck tells him that he�d be proud of a son like that; Lyndon asks, �Only if he had one tooth?�

�Grandpa� in �The Poacher�, a one-page gag-strip written and drawn by Frank Roberge. -- [pic6]A young lady who looks like cartoonist Al (LI�L ABNER) Capp�s �Daisy-Mae Scruggs-Yokum�[pic6] as a fashion model (or prostitute, take your pick) is surprised to see Grandpa Jones coming back from picking mushrooms on private land! A sign reads, �INDIAN RESERVATION � KEEP OUT!�, but Grandpa can�t read it -- he claims he left his reading glasses at home, �But you betcha I�ll never go anywhere without them again!!�

�Roy And Gordie� in �Date Service�, a two-page gag-strip written and drawn by Frank Roberge. -- Roy Clark and Gordie Tapp encounter Elmo, a sad-looking hillbilly who needs a date for a charity dance. When he describes his idea of the perfect date � �one medium or short girl�, �one not so young girl� and �sweet, gentle, mild, a good cook and only have eyes for me�, Gordie brings forth Elmo�s mother as the perfect dance-date!

A page consisting of two advertisements: �Polaris Nuclear Sub�, for a �7 feet long� submarine-like novelty available through the mail from �Honor House, Prod. Co.�; and �Monster S-I-Z-E Monsters�, for extra-large posters of Frankenstein or a skeleton, available via mail-order from �Honor House�.

�Feather Power�, a one-page gag-strip written and drawn by Frank Roberge. � Buck Owens and Junior Samples react to their odd-looking friend [pic7](probably one of HEE HAW�s regular cast)[pic7] who wears giant wings on his arms because he hates to walk. The boys convince him to pay a visit to Doctor Phobia the psychiatrist. Surprisingly, he eagerly agrees, but he refuses to walk � and then flies away!

�Roy & Archie� in �The Big Bow Wow Swindle�, a one-page gag-strip written and drawn by Frank Roberge. � Archie Campbell sells [pic8]a small, furry poochie[pic8] to Roy Clark for only five dollars�but it doesn�t seem like such a bargain when the �cute little feller� says �meow�.

�Buck And Grandpa� in �Stampede�, a one-page gag-strip written and drawn by Frank Roberge. � Grandpa needs to hitch his donkey up to his wagon, but can�t catch it, so Buck volunteers by yelling, �C�MERE YOU STUPID JACKASS!� Of course, most of the neighborhood residents respond! Grandpa explains, �You�ve got to be more specific.�

�Quiet Somethin's Hatchin'�, [pic9]a two-page, center-spread �Hee Haw� poster[pic9], drawn by Frank Roberge, featuring rural critters from HEE HAW�s animated segments.

�Hee Haw Horoscope�, [pic10]a faux astrology chart/dart board[pic10] drawn and lettered by Tony Tallarico.

�Lulu and Archie� in �A Walk In The Lake�, a one-page gag-strip written and drawn by Frank Roberge. � Archie Campbell offers to take Lulu Roman a canoe ride (even though she calls him �Gordie�!) But when [pic11]the hefty hillbilly girl jumps into the fragile canoe[pic11], Archie�s plans are instantly scuttled.

�Giggles, Higgles And Wiggles�, a text-page of jokes.

A page of advertisements, including �Boys 12 Or Older Sell GRIT In Your Spare Time�, a half-page ad soliciting for door-to-door delivery boys for �GRIT, The Family Newspaper�; plus smaller ads for a mail-order squirrel monkey, �hawks and falcons for hunting�, �Pet Baby Raccoons�, a �star-studded vest with the leather look�, and mail-order bodybuilding courses.

�Hee-Haw Jigsaw Puzzle�, [pic12]a bizarre activity page[pic12] drawn and lettered by Tony Tallarico. � �You�ve all heard of that famous statue �The Discus Thrower�! Well, here is our answer to this�Just cut out the pieces and assemble.� However, judging by the unassembled puzzle, it looks like a nekkid Junior Samples holding a corn cob, with the label, �The Corn-Thrower�!

�Archie, Gordie and Grandpa� in �Doin' the Stingeroo�, a two-page gag-strip written and drawn by Frank Roberge. -- When Archie Campbell and Gordie Tapp see Grandpa Jones dancing like crazy, they try to get him to sit down, but he refuses. As he dances into the distance, Archie and Gordie sit down on a small mound�and realize that Grandpa wasn�t dancing�he�d just sat on the same ant hill that both of them are sitting on!

�Hee Haw Color Me Page� drawn and lettered by Tony Tallarico. � Archie Campbell and Gordie Tapp finally answer [pic13]the eternal question[pic13], �Why does the chicken cross the road?�

�Corn-Quiz�, a two-page feature using a variety of �Hee Haw� characters answering corny riddles, drawn and lettered by Tony Tallarico.

A page of advertisements, including a half-page ad for [pic14]a �Life Size Inflatable Doll� that�s �life-like in every detail�[pic14], available via mail-order from �Liverpool Sales�; plus smaller ads for model rockets, �Pete�s pets�, stamps, coins and a home-barbering device.

�Home Surgery With Buck Owens and Stringbean�, a one-page story written and drawn by Frank Roberge. -- David "Stringbean" Akeman feels like he�s wasted his entire life, one spent leaning on an old wooden fence and watch the world go by. When Buck Owens suggests, �Well, you must have learned SOMETHING leaning on this fence all these years!�, he inspires Stringbean to start a new business and puts up his sign: �DR. STRINGBEAN � SPLINTERS REMOVED�!

�Lulu's Date�, a one-page [pic15]maze/game[pic15] drawn and lettered by Tony Tallarico.

�The Old Philosopher's Parting Thoughts?�, a one-page feature drawn and lettered by Tony Tallarico. � [pic16]This collection of one-liners[pic16] ends with the �teaser�, �Come on now, gang! Don�t be stubborn as a you know what! Buy the next exciting next issue of�(continued next issue!)�

A one-page advertisement for over twenty practical jokes, gimcracks, gizmos and tricks, all available from �Honor House Prod. Corp.�

�3 Complete Fishing Outfits�, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover ad for 411 pieces of fishing equipment, including rods, reels, lures and a tackle box, available through mail-order from �Niresk Product Sales�.

�Finish High School At Home�, a back-cover advertisement for high school diploma equivalency lessons available via mail-order from the �Academy For Home Study�.

ODDBALL FACTOID � The animated main titles and other cartoon clips in HEE HAW were animated by Herb Klynn�s Format Films, the producer of THE ALVIN SHOW!, THE LONE RANGER and THE CURIOSITY SHOP!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC #1,289 -- MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2010 � Here�s a lavish �giveaway� ODDBALL COMIC that promises �a career, security, travel, romance, a full life� � in the U.S. Navy! Meet Judy Watson, a teenage girl who goes from working at a department store ribbon counter to rescuing her friend from a desolate island that�s about to be bombed! Let�s all wave �hello� to JUDY JOINS THE WAVES!

Bozo the Clown, No. 3

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:22:19 -0700

Jumpin� firecrackers! If you think that current comic books have gotten too �dark�, wait until you see this week�s ODDBALL COMIC � a �dark� issue of BOZO THE CLOWN from waaay back in 1951! But whatever you do, don�t reveal the secret of �The Mysterious Box Of Shadows�! That would be a definite �Bozo No-No�! [fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Bozo the Clown[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]No. 3[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]Sept. � Nov., 1951[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]Dell Publishing Co., Inc. (�Authorized edition featuring the famous �Bozo the Capitol Clown� appearing in juvenile recordings.�)[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Unknown[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]Jumpin� firecrackers! If you think that current comic books have gotten too �dark�, wait until you see this week�s ODDBALL COMIC � a �dark� issue of BOZO THE CLOWN from waaay back in 1951! But whatever you do, don�t reveal the secret of �The Mysterious Box Of Shadows�! That would be a definite �Bozo No-No�! [introtext]

[fieldinserts]The so-called �dark� trend in comic books probably began in 1975 with the publication of Marvel�s GIANT-SIZE X-MEN No. 1, when the character Wolverine (introduced in the pages of THE INCREDIBLE HULK Nos. 180 and 181, 1974) joined the new international incarnation of the team of mutant superheroes/ In just a matter of issues, Wolvie went from Canadian good-guy to a stubble-faced anti-hero who had no trouble with dispatching his enemies with a well-placed �Snikt!� of his super-sharp adamantium claws. As the 70s segued into the 80s, Marvel�s SECRET WARS gave Spider-Man a new, black uniform � one that eventually metamorphed into the arch-foe known as �Venom� and creators such as Frank (THE DARK KNIGHT) Miller and Alan (WATCHMEN) Moore brought a similarly dark side (as opposed to �Darkseid�) to four-color entertainment. From that point on, the �comic� in �comic books� has continually decreased, with dark characters, themes and storylines have increasingly dominated the industry. But here�s a BOZO THE CLOWN comic from 1951 that features �dark� circus animals and performers to which even kiddies can relate!

According to Don Markstein�s Toonopedia �Bozo the Clown didn't start out as a cartoon character. He began in a series of book and record sets, designed so kids could listen to a story and read it at the same time � which was not only fun for them, it also helped nurture their reading skills. The first of them was BOZO AT THE CIRCUS, issued in 1946 by Capitol Records. It was highly innovative, very popular and much imitated, and it made a good deal of money for the character's creator, writer/producer Alan W. Livingston. No, it wasn't Bozo that was highly innovative. He was just a clown, a guy who dresses funny and acts goofy (in fact, the first actor to do his voice and portray him in promotional appearances was Pinto Colvig, who also played Disney's �Goofy�), and this particular one was in fact designed as a composite of several previous clowns. The innovation was in the format � no such book and record set had ever been made before. The clown rode his innovative format to stardom. In 1949, with his first record still on BILLBOARD magazine's best-selling kids' records chart, Los Angeles TV station KTTV launched a half-hour series titled BOZO�S CIRCUS. This series lasted only a year, but it was followed immediately by a 13-episode syndicated version. From there, Bozo went on to a sporadic but persistent presence on TV up to the mid-1950s. In 1956, Larry Harmon (one of several actors who had played Bozo in one venue or another), along with several partners, bought most rights to the character (excluding the recordings that had originally launched him � he got that, and bought out his partners, in 1971), and used him in another innovative concept. All over America, by that time, TV stations were running kids' shows, broadcast live, in which a local actor would do skits, introduce reruns of old theatrical cartoons, and interact with a live audience of local kids. Harmon franchised the concept, using Bozo. By 1959, several stations were running that sort of show, but with the local actor wearing a �Bozo the Clown� costume. Among the more notable actors to play Bozo that way were Willard Scott (who also portrayed Ronald MacDonald and is now a member of the TODAY SHOW cast) and Vance Colvig (son of the man who first played Bozo). Among the cartoons shown there were 20 five-minute shorts made in 1958 by Jayark Films, in which Bozo was the star. Harmon did his voice in this series. 84 more were added to the mix in 1959, and another 52 in 1962. By far, the most successful of the franchised Bozos was that of Chicago station WGN, where Bozo was played for more than two decades by Bob Bell. �Bozo� became Bell's nickname, in fact, and he kept it for the rest of his life. The WGN version introduced several new supporting characters in comedy skits, and some of these found their way into Bozo coloring books in the '60s. The waiting list for seats in the audience grew to ten years, and would have gone higher if the company hadn't stopped accepting them. When it again started taking reservations, five years' worth were snapped up in five hours, with calls being attempted at a peak rate of 120,000 per minute. Meanwhile, one by one, the other Bozo shows were dropping off. By the 1980s, Chicago's was the only one left. Bell retired in 1984 and was succeeded by Joey D'Auria, who kept the role until the show ended. The last episode, titled "Bozo: 40 Years of Fun!", aired on WGN as a prime-time special on July 14, 2001. Bozo will be remembered a very long time, and not just as a slang expression for someone with no brains.�

Cartoonist Ralph Heimdahl was born on March 22, 1909 in Willar, Minnesota. After studying at the Minneapolis Art Institute � where he later taught -- he worked as a cartoonist at Walt Disney Productions from 1937 to 1941 on such films as SNOW WHITE, PINOCCHIO, FANTASIA and various �Mickey Mouse� and �Silly Symphonies� cartoons. In 1946, Heimdahl began a long-term relationship with Western Publishing, Inc.; in 1947, through Western, he drew a �Dumbo� giveaway comic included as a premium in �Cheerios� cereal. Starting that same year, he drew �Minnie Soo And Little Ha Ha� and �Yippy The Yukon Pilot� stories for McCombs� CROWN COMICS. Continuing with Western, Heimdahl drew for Dell�s BOZO THE CLOWN, �Bucky Bug�, �Mary Jane And Sniffles�, BUGS BUNNY and PORKY PIG. Starting in 1948, he also began drawing the BUGS BUNNY syndicated daily newspaper comic strip, which was written by Jack Taylor; he eventually took over the art chores on the BUGS BUNNY Sunday strips as well, written by Al Stoffel. Heimdahl drew the strip until it was finally discontinued in 1979. Meanwhile, back at Western Publishing, he was drawing the British edition of the YOGI BEAR comic (1962 � 1964), various comic book covers for Dell and Gold Key, children�s books and coloring books. Ralph Heimdahl died in 1981.

Bozo The Clown�s comic book career began in the pages of Dell�s FOUR COLOR No. 285 (July, 1950). The character vacillated between continued to appear in FOUR COLOR and seven issues of his own Dell title, BOZO THE CLOWN; his final appearance during that period was in FOUR COLOR No. 285 (July, 1950). In 1961, Apsco published BOZO THE CLOWN IN THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING POINT!, an Oddball �giveaway� Dell started a new, animated cartoon-inspired version of BOZO THE CLOWN that lasted for four issues between May-July 1962 - October-December 1963. Much later, in the Fall of 1987 and 1988, Blackthorne Publishing Inc. published two issues of LARRY HARMON�S BOZO IN 3-D, to date, the last funnybook-to-date to feature the Capital Clown.

This issue�s 32-page �Bozo The Clown� cover-story is �Bozo And The Mysterious Box Of Shadows�, drawn by cartoonist Ralph Heimdahl. Its [pic2]splash-page[pic2] opens one morning in Bozo�s circus trailer, as the Capitol Clown hears a familiar song; emerging from his wagon, he finds his young friend Sparky, two elephants and a burro singing �Happy Birthday� to him!

BOZO THE CLOWN:
SPARKY!
SPARKY:
Look what I brought you!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Jumpin� firecrackers! It�s a BIRTHDAY CAKE! This certainly is a pleasant surprise! Come in, my boy!

Inside Bozo�s trailer � and it�s the most spacious one in the history of circuses � alerts Bozo to another birthday surprise:

BOZO THE CLOWN:
Gosh, Sparky�I didn�t think anyone would remember!
SPARKY:
I have another surprise for you, Bozo! All the kids in th� neighborhood are bringing you presents!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
GOLLY! Are they comin� HERE?
SPARKY:
They�re on their way now�they�ll be here any minute!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
I better get busy and decorate the room! Help me string up these ornaments!
SPARKY:
OH BOY! I bet we�ll have more fun than a barrel of monkeys!

But before Bozo�s young friends can arrive to give their gifts to Bozo, they�re stopped by [pic3]the circus boss and his big dumb bruiser of an assistant, Rube[pic3]:

CIRCUS BOSS:
What�s up, Rube?
RUBE:
Hello, boss�These kids wanna see Bozo!
KID #1:
Yes! We�ve got lots of presents for him!
KID #2:
Look�I brung him a lollipop!
CIRCUS BOSS:
The circus don�t open till tomorrow! Go on�BEAT IT, KIDS!
KID #1:
Gee! But won�t you just let us�?
CIRCUS BOSS:
NO! I�ll give ya two seconds to clear outta here!...NOW, SCRAM!
KID #2:
Shucks! I guess we might as well go home!
KID #3:
He�s an old meanie!

Back in Bozo�s circus wagon, Bozo and a tearful Sparky anxiously await the entourage of Bozo-boosters. In an attempt to cheer up Sparky, the Capitol Clown suggests that they start his birthday party without the other kids. Soon, Bozo is playing his bass tuba while Sparky beats a big drum, but the ensuing �racket� riles Bozo�s boss, who decides to put an end to the noisy celebration. Bozo inhales deeply to blow out the candles on his big birthday cake, but when the circus� boss storms into his star clown�s wagon, [pic4]he gets a face full of icing and lit candles[pic4]!

CIRCUS BOSS:
WHY YOU�YOU�
BOZO THE CLOWN:
EEK! The boss!
CIRCUS BOSS:
I�m going� t�fix you good an� proper�
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Now�Now, boss, I can explain!
CIRCUS BOSS:
I�m gonna break every bone in your�
BOZO THE CLOWN:
(Sniff! Sniff!) I smell somethin� burning!
SPARKY:
BOZO, LOOK! Th� candle set fire to his clothes!

Fortunately for his boss, Bozo is [pic5]an expert at putting out fires with his extra-large clown shoes[pic5]:

BOZO THE CLOWN:
Don�t worry, boss! I�ll put it out! I use t�stamp out forest fires!

When he sees that the circus� boss� clothes are still smoldering, Bozo rips off his employer�s vest, shirt and pants. Trying to leave, the boss trips over a drum and tumbles down the wagon�s steps, landing on each one with his chin:

CIRCUS BOSS:
I�ll get even with you if it�s th� LAST THING I DO!

While Bozo gets ready for bed, Sparky worries about the boss sneaking into the wagon while they�re asleep. (Is Sparky somehow Bozo�s �ward�, a la wealthy playboy Bruce Wayne and young acrobat Dick Grayson?) While he considers locking all the doors and windows of Bozo�s circus wagon he sees a big, dark shadow on the wall that really freaks him out. Bozo searches the room, but finds no trace of an intruder�and from their window, he and Sparky can see their boss, sound asleep in his trailer:

SPARKY:
Well, whose shadow was it?
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Well, er�er�hmmm�Perhaps the shadow of a fairy prince! Heh-heh!

Bozo tucks Sparky into the lower level of their bunk bed, sets the alarm clock for 7 am and climbs into the upper bunk. But while they�re in a deep slumber, [pic6]the mysterious shadow reappears on the wall[pic6], shutting off Bozo�s alarm clock and helping itself to what�s left of his birthday cake. The next day, Bozo and Sparky oversleep, not waking until 2 pm.; then they notice that the birthday cake is missing! To make matters even more, Bozo�s group of young friends show up just as the frantic Capitol Clown realizes that it�s �circus time�! While he and Sparky get ready, the shadow reappears and unnoticed, grabs a lime-flavored lollipop, one of the kids� gift. Rushing to the big top with Bozo�s tiny unicycle, they�re interrupted by the boss, who carries a ribbon-wrapped gift:

BOZO THE CLOWN:
Wait here, Sparky! I�ll ride into the ring before he�
CIRCUS BOSS:
JUST A MINUTE, BOZO1 I got somethin� for ya! Here�s your birthday present!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Huh? A present? For ME? Gosh, boss, I never�

Bozo opens the box, only to find:

SIGNAGE:
YOU�RE FIRED!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
But-but�
CIRCUS BOSS:
That�ll teach ya not t�show up late�Yak-yak-yak! Now you and the kid get OFF TH� GROUNDS!
SPARKY:
Gee, Bozo, you lost your job�What are you gonna do now?
BOZO THE CLOWN:
I don�t know, Sparky! >Sigh!< But don�t worry! Everything will turn out all�
KID #2:
BOZO! BOZO!

Suddenly, Bozo�s interrupted by the kid who earlier brought him the lime lollipop:

KID #2:
Your lollipop! It disappeared right out of my hand! I was standin� in your dressing room, when suddenly a hand reached out from nowhere an� grabbed it!

Upon hearing that, Bozo and Sparky dash back to the Capitol Clown�s wagon, where they see the shadow-man happily licking that lime lollipop! Bozo tries to grab him, but the show jumps out of his way and through a knothole in the wagon�s wall. Giving chase, Bozo and Sparky follow the shadow into the nearby woods, where they see them dive into [pic7]an old trunk[pic7]. Believing they�ve got the candy-swiping shadow-man cornered, Bozo opens the trunk�s lid, only to release shadow-creatures in the forms of an elephant, a lion and other circus animals, which immediately head for the circus grounds:

BOZO THE CLOWN:
EGADS! It�s a box of shadows!
RUBE:
Hey, boss! What�s that comin� up the road?
CIRCUS BOSS:
EGAD! Looks like a bunch of black clouds!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Pursued by Bozo, the shadowy figures enter the circus ring�
BOZO THE CLOWN:
AFTER �EM, SPARKY! I�ll grab the big ones!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
At first [pic8]the audience[pic8] is amazed by the strange sight�But as they watch the proceedings, the crowd begins to roar!

CIRCUS BOSS:
Just listen to that crowd! They�re goin� wild!
RUBE:
Bozo must have a new kind of act!
CIRCUS BOSS:
I can�t figure it out! Maybe it�s�
RUBE:
LOOK OUT, BOSS! THEY�RE HEADIN� THIS WAY!
CIRCUS BOSS:
YIPE!

[pic9]The boss and Rube are instantly mowed down by the stampede of shadows[pic9], but Bozo and Sparky run after them, hot on their trail:

NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Close on their heels, Bozo gains on the dark images�When suddenly�From out of nowhere, a plane appears overhead�Casting a huge shadow on the ground!
SPARKY:
LOOK, Bozo! They�re hoppin� on th� shadow of th� plane!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
JUMPIN� FIRECRACKERS! They�re ridin� away on it like a surfboard!
SPARKY:
HURRY, BOZO! Catch �em!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
It�s no use! They must be travelin� over a hundred miles an hour! >Sigh< Too bad they got away! I had such wonderful plans for them!
SPARKY:
Plans?
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Yes, Sparky! I was thinking of putting the shadows in a circus!
SPARKY:
Gee! I betcha it would have been th� GREATEST show on Earth!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
AH! It would have been WONDERFUL! I can just picture it!...People from all over the world flocking to see them�
SPARKY:
Oh, boy! Super!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Well, it�s no use daydreamin�!

Bozo and Sparky�s conversation is interrupted by mysterious laughter from a nearby clump of bushes. Investigating its source, they discover a little old man with a cane and a beard who they recognize as �Ol�-Timer�:

BOZO THE CLOWN:
Why, it�s OL�-TIMER!
OL�-TIMER:
Yak-yak! It was th� funniest sight I ever did see!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Funny?
OL�-TIMER:
Heh-heh! You tryin� t�catch those shadows!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Then you know about the shadows?
OL�-TIMER:
Of course, I do! I�ve been around these parts for a long time! Draw up a rock an� set down, m�boy, an� I�ll give ye the whole story!

Meanwhile, the circus� boss and Rube (wouldn�t you think that, by now, the boss� name would have been established?) are wandering around, looking for the living shadows:

CIRCUS BOSS:
I�ll feature �em in my circus an� make a MILLION BUCKS!

Then they stumble upon Bozo, Sparky and Ol�-Timer, as the bearded geezer wraps up his story. He hands the Capitol Clown a map to Mount Canalee, the �Land Of Shadows�. Bozo accepts the map, rolls it up and sticks it in his back pocket. But before Ol�-Timer can bid the clown and the kid goodbye, the circus boss � hiding behind a tree trunk � deftly plucks the map out of Bozo�s pocket. Unaware of this, Bozo and Sparky dash off to get packed for their expedition. Meanwhile, the boss and Rube take off for Mount Canalee. Later, Bozo discovers that the map is missing, but confident that he�ll be able to find the Land Of Shadows, he has Sparky climb onto his shoulders, hops on his mini-unicycle and sets out on the road toward Mount Canalee. But they�re nearly run over by the boss and Rube, zooming by in a bright red convertible. Taking a short cut ahead of the car, Bozo tosses a bunch of thumbtacks onto the road, but Rube manages to avoid getting any flat tires. Fortunately for Bozo and Sparky, Rube and the boss are so busy congratulating themselves, [pic10]they crash their car into a tree[pic10]!

SFX:
BAM!
RUBE:
Wha-what happened?
CIRCUS BOSS:
YA DUMB OX! Come down from there and put th� car together!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Over rugged hills and through deep valleys, Bozo and Sparky travel on and on�And by nightfall they finally reach the top of Mount Canalee!

There, the forest�s trees seem to have spooky faces; things get even more nerve-wracking when the living shadow who stole Bozo�s birthday lollipop steps out of the bushes, still slurping on the candy-on-a-stick:

SHADOW:
Hi-ya, Bozo!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Jumpin� firecrackers! He talks!
SHADOW:
Why, sure! All of us shadows on Mount Canalee talk!...Come on, I�ll introduce you to the rest of the boys!
SHADOWS:
HI-YA, BOZO!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
GOSH! They all know me!
SHADOW:
Naturally! We�re shadows of people who work with you in the circus!

Sure enough, Bozo recognizes [pic11]the friendly shadows[pic11] of Alex the fat man, Joe the thin man and Edgar the midget:

BOZO THE CLOWN:
Gee, I didn�t think it possible for shadows to go around by themselves!
SHADOW OF JOE THE THIN MAN:
I�ll agree it�s rather odd! But I can explain th� whole thing! You see, we shadows are just a bunch of copycats!
SHADOW OF EDGAR THE MIDGET:
Copycats!
SHADOW OF JOE THE THIN MAN:
QUIET, Edgar!...Don�t interrupt!
SHADOW OF EDGAR THE MIDGET:
Sorry!
SHADOW OF JOE THE THIN MAN:
As I was saying�We shadows are just a bunch of copycats�No minds of our own�Always following people around!
SHADOW OF EDGAR THE MIDGET:
Following people around!
SHADOW OF JOE THE THIN MAN:
EDGAR! Will you stop mimicking me!
SHADOW OF EDGAR THE MIDGET:
Sorry!
SHADOW OF JOE THE THIN MAN:
�So we got tired of it all and decided to live here as free individuals�Now nobody can tell us what to do! Especially that fatheaded CIRCUS BOSS!

That�s when the circus boss and Rube show up in their barely-held-together convertible and discover that Bozo�s already beat them there:

RUBE:
Hey, boss, LOOK! There�s Bozo�s bicycle!
CIRCUS BOSS:
Sooo! He got here before us, huh? Well, I�ll fix him! Just for luck, I�ll put his bike out of commission!
SFX:
BAM! BAM! BAM!
RUBE:
Heh-heh!

(Oddly enough, it�s clearly a unicycle on which he�s stomping!) When Rube points out that he sees Bozo talking to a shadow, the circus boss is surprised when Bozo approaches him with a proposal:

BOZO THE CLOWN:
Hello, boss! We�ve been expectin� you�Everything�s all arranged!
CIRCUS BOSS:
ARRANGED? For what?
BOZO THE CLOWN:
For the contest! You want some shadows � so do I! So the one who puts on the funniest act gets a box of �em!
CIRCUS BOSS:
Wait a minute, Bozo! Don�t try t�put anything over on ME!
RUBE:
Pssst, boss�With Bozo�s bicycle busted, his act will be a flop! Ya can�t lose!
CIRCUS BOSS:
Hmmm! Ya got somethin� there, Rube! He�ll be like a bird without wings!
CIRCUS BOSS:
Okay, it�s a deal!
SHADOW OF JOE THE THIN MAN:
GOOD! Sign here!
CIRCUS BOSS:
SIGN? I don�t get it!
SHADOW OF JOE THE THIN MAN:
Well, if you LOSE, Bozo will be the sole owner of your circus�BUT if you WIN, Bozo will help you put on your new act and work for you FREE for a whole year!
CIRCUS BOSS:
Sure, sure�Bozo hasn�t got a chance, nohow�I�ll sign!
SHADOW OF JOE THE THIN MAN:
Fair enough! Now prepare for your acts and may the BEST MAN WIN!

Heading in separate directions, the circus boss and Rube return to their car while Bozo and Sparky go back to where they left his unicycle:

RUBE:
What kinda act are you gonna do, boss?
CIRCUS BOSS:
Hee-hee! I�ve got one of the FUNNIEST things in show business, Rube! A HORSE COSTUME!
RUBE:
HOT DIGGETY!
CIRCUS BOSS:
I�ll be the front part�an� you�ll be the back part!
CIRCUS BOSS:
Oh, boy! We�ll WOW �em!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
In the meantime, Bozo discovers his broken bicycle�
BOZO THE CLOWN:
SPARKY! I�m ruined!
SPARKY:
Oh gosh, Bozo!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
Hmmm! I wonder if the boss had anything to do with it?

Things start to get crazy when the circus boss � who�s already standing in the front end of the horse costume � tells Rube to put his cigar on a nearby rock then hurry back. That�s when [pic12]a lion[pic12] inexplicably emerges from the nearby forest (maybe it�s an escaped circus lion, because Bozo addresses it as �Lionel�) and leaps toward Bozo, who tosses a handy bone to lure the ferocious feline away from Sparky and himself. [pic13]The bone lands in the back end of the horse costume[pic13], so the lion hops inside to retrieve it, but Bozo zips up the horse suit, jumps aboard and rides it back down the road and into a big top tent full of shadow-people in the audience. [pic14]Bozo bravely puts the phony horse through its paces[pic14], coaxing it to leap through a hoop, motivated by Lionel the lion giving the circus boss a lively chomp in the posterior! Realizing that it�s not Rube behind him but instead a ferocious lion, the circus boss runs out of the tent and into the distance with Lionel hot on his heels:

RUBE:
HEY, BOSS!
LIONEL THE LION:
GRRRRRRRR!
CIRCUS BOSS:
OUTA MY WAY!
RUBE:
Ya forgot your CEEGAR!
CIRCUS BOSS:
Help! Help! Help!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Having departed for unknown places, the circus boss is out of the contest and Bozo is declared the winner.

The shadow of Joe the thin man presents Bozo with the deed to the circus and a box of shadows. Then, after they�ve arranged for a private plane to fly them back home, Bozo and Sparky finally arrive at the circus, where they open the box containing the shadows, to release the shadows of themselves!

BOZO THE CLOWN:
Why, they�re shadows of YOU and ME, Sparky! Well, there�s one thing we can be sure of, Sparky�We�ll never have to chase our own shadows! Hee-heh!

Just then, Bozo�s interrupted by the same group of kids who wanted to celebrate his birthday earlier:

KID #2:
We�ve been lookin� all over for you! We still have your birthday presents!
BOZO THE CLOWN:
BIRTHDAY PRESENTS? Wonderful! Now we�ll have the birthday party under the big top! It�ll be [pic15]the BIGGEST and FINEST party[pic15] in the whole world!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
�And so it was!

Also included in this issue of BOZO THE CLOWN are the following stories:

�Sparky�, an untitled black-and-white, inside-front-cover gag-strip drawn by cartoonist Ralph Heimdahl. � Sparky tries to convince a shoe shine man that his small shoes should be cheaper to shine than an adult man�s bigger shoes,. His words don�t work on the stubborn shoe shiner, who insists that all of his �shines are the same price�big shoes or little shoes�. Annoyed with the shoe shiner�s attitude, Sparky seeks out Bozo, then brings him � and his size 40 clown shoes � to do business with the astounded shoe shine man.

�Bozo The Clown�, an untitled black-and-white, inside-back-cover gag-strip drawn by cartoonist Ralph Heimdahl. � Bozo and Sparky are concerned that Sylvia the circus elephant is having a hard time learning any tricks. To help the dopey pachyderm, Bozo arranges for her to watch Rover the performing dog as he buries a bone. Afterwards, Sparky gives Sylvia a bone to bury, but the dimwitted elephant gets confused and buries herself instead of a bone.

�Bozo The Clown�, [pic16]an untitled full color, back-cover gag-strip[pic16] drawn by cartoonist Ralph Heimdahl. � When the circus� popcorn-and �peanut butcher unexpectedly quits, Bozo takes over his job. He�s working hard but not making many sales, so the ringmaster suggests that he change his location to �where the traffic is the greatest�. Bozo responds by moving to the edge of the big top�s tent, where dozens of kids are sneaking in under its canvas edge.

ODDBALL FACTOID � Bozo The Clown isn�t the only character named �Bozo� to appear in a comic book: �Bozo The Robot� � who first appeared in Quality Comics� SMASH COMICS No. 1 (August, 1939) � was the non-human star of �Hugh Hazzard And His Iron Man�, a series created by cartoonist George Brenner!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC #1,288 -- MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2010 � Yee-haw, it�s HEE HAW, an �eggs-ceptional� funnybook that attempts to adapt the classic country western musical comedy television of the 1970s! See cartoon versions of Buck Owens, Roy Clark, Junior Samples, Grandpa Jones, Lulu Roman and all the other hillbilly stars of America�s corniest cornpone TV series�with artwork by everyone�s favorite ODDBALL COMICS cartoonist, Tony Tallarico!

Superman, No. 143

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:17:27 -0700

ODDBALL COMICS kicks off the new year with a hilarious-yet-pathetic SUPERMAN tale from the �Silver Age Of Comics� � �Bizarro Meets Frankenstein!� And if that ain�t Oddball enough for you, we�ve also got �The Great Superman Hoax!� and �Lois Lane�s Lucky Day!� up our sleeves! Bizarro say you am gonna hate it! [fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Superman[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]N0. 143[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]February, 1961[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]National Comics Publications, Inc. (DC Comics)[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Penciled by Curt Swan; inked by Stan Kaye[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]ODDBALL COMICS kicks off the new year with a hilarious-yet-pathetic SUPERMAN tale from the �Silver Age Of Comics� � �Bizarro Meets Frankenstein!� And if that ain�t Oddball enough for you, we�ve also got �The Great Superman Hoax!� and �Lois Lane�s Lucky Day!� up our sleeves! Bizarro say you am gonna hate it![introtext]

[fieldinserts]

�Bizarro� was originally created by editor Mort Weisinger and writer Alvin Schwartz for the syndicated SUPERMAN newspaper comic strip early in 1958. But before that story arc saw print, Bizarro first appeared in SUPERBOY No. 68 (October, 1958) in a three-part, book-length story, �The Boy Of Steel VS. The Thing Of Steel�, written by Otto Binder, drawn by George Papp and edited by Mort Weisinger. Created when a device intended to duplicate matter was applied to Superboy; instead of materializing his twin, the machine brought forth an �imperfect duplicate� of the Boy Of Steel, possessing his superpowers but without being truly alive. With a face that looked like a marble bust after vandals chipped away at it and a speech pattern that hinted at a mind that seemed to be severely mentally handicapped, Bizarro named himself after mishearing someone refer to him as being �bizarre�. By the rather somber story�s tragic end, he�s destroyed by exposure to Blue Kryptonite�only to reappear anew a few months later again as another �imperfect duplicate�, this time of the title character of the SUPERMAN comic strip (August 25, 1958 to December 13, 1958) by Alvin Schwartz and Wayne Boring. (In it, Bizarro�s costume featured a stylized letter �B� on his chest!) Apparently, the readers responded to the character, because an adult Bizarro soon appeared in the pages of ACTION COMICS Nos. 254 (�The Battle With Bizarro!�) and 255 (�The Bride Of Bizarro!�), cover-dated July and August, 1959. This version was created by Lex Luthor, who recreates the earlier duplicating ray seen in the pages of SUPERBOY. The Bizarro that is created is confused, stating, "Me not human...me not creature...me not even animal! Me unhappy! Me don't belong in world of living people! Me don't know difference between right and wrong -- good and evil!" The next year, Bizarro appeared in a number of stories; with each one of these Bizarro grew increasingly a comedic character that gained the descriptive label, �hilarious yet pathetic�. ACTION COMICS No. 263, featuring �The World Of Bizarros!�, set the stage for �Tales Of The Bizarro World�, a hilarious, decidedly non-pathetic series written by SUPERMAN co-creator Jerry Siegel and drawn by cartoonist John Forte that ran from ADVENTURE COMICS No. 285 (June, 1961) through No. 299 (August, 1962). (The feature was replaced in the next issue of ADVENTURE COMICS by a new one starring �The Legion Of Superheroes�.) Their world, created by �Bizarro No. 1�, was a cube-shaped planet they called �Htrae� (�Earth� spelled backwards), where its inhabitants � �imperfect duplicates� of various members of the �Superman� cast -- did practically everything backwards! But even after his regular series� end, Bizarro continued to appear throughout Mort Weisinger�s line of �Superman family� titles -- such as SUPERMAN�S PAL JIMMY OLSEN, SUPERMAN�S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE and WORLD�S FINEST COMICS -- through the 1960s. Since then, several different incarnations of Bizarro have been introduced to the �Superman� mythos, each one more dark and dangerous than the last. Bizarro has also appeared in animated cartoons produced for television (CHALLENGE OF THE SUPER FRIENDS; THE SUPER POWERS TEAM: GALACTIC GUARDIANS; SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES; JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED), live-action television series (SUPERBOY; SMALLVILLE; ROBOT CHICKEN) and video games (SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL; SUPERMAN RETURNS) A BIZARRO feature film is currently being developed by writers Dean Parisot and Robert Gordon.

Editor/writer Mortimer �Mort� Weisinger (April 25, 1915 - May 7, 1978), AKA �Mort Morton, Jr.�, was born in the Washington Heights section of New York City, New York and raised in the Bronx as the son of a Jewish businessman in the garment trade. At age 13, he was introduced to science fiction by means of a borrowed copy of the August, 1928 issue of AMAZING STORIES. By 1930, Weisinger was active in some of the earliest science fiction fan clubs and fanzines, including THE PLANET. In 1931, Weisinger hosted a meeting of pioneer science fiction fan club "The Scienceers", which was attended by a young Julius Schwartz, who recalled that the two became "very friendly...and got along well together." A year later, Weisinger, Schwartz and Allen Glasser joined fellow-future professional editor Forrest J Ackerman in founding THE TIME TRAVELER, which they styled "Science Fiction's Only Fan Magazine", and, in fact, it was the first fanzine devoted entirely to science fiction. After high school, Weisinger attended New York University, where he worked as editor of the college's newspaper and magazine, but left before graduating. Around that time, Weisinger made his first professional sale, a story called �The Price Of Peace� which appeared in AMAZING STORIES. (He considered Jules Verne, Orson Welles and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be his primary influences.) In late 1934, Weisinger and Schwartz formed the �Solar Sales Service�, the first literary agency to specialize in the related genres of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Edmond Hamilton was the agency's first client, and Otto Binder soon followed; eventually, Solar Sales represented many prominent science fiction and fantasy writers. (Both Hamilton and Binder would eventually write many �Superman� stories for Weisinger at DC.) Schwartz continued the agency into the early 1940s, but Weisinger moved on to a job with the Standard Magazine chain, publisher of a range of pulp magazines. Standard had acquired writer-publisher Hugo Gernsback's defunct WONDER STORIES and added it to Standard series of "THRILLING" publications (THRILLING DETECTIVE STORIES, THRILLING WESTERN STORIES, THRILLING ADVENTURES, and THRILLING MYSTERY). Weisinger became the editor of THRILLING WONDER STORIES and bought stories by Hamilton and others from his former partner Schwartz. Weisinger was soon editing a range of other pulps by Standard, including STARTLING STORIES and CAPTAIN FUTURE, and was in charge of no fewer than forty titles by 1940, including BLACK BOOK DETECTIVE, G-MEN, PHANTOM DETECTIVE, STARTLING STORIES, and STRANGE STORIES. In 1941, Weisinger even contributed the plot for an issue of Street & Smith�s DOC SAVAGE. In March 1941, Weisinger moved from Standard Magazines to National Periodicals (later DC Comics) primarily as editor of the �Superman� and �Batman� titles. Among his earliest jobs, was the task of creating some new characters such as MORE FUN No. 73�s �Aquaman�, �Green Arrow� and �Johnny Quick�. He also wrote stories for �Air Wave� (another Weisinger creation), �Alfred�, �Batman And Robin�, �The Crimson Avenger�, �The Martian Manhunter�, �The Newsboy Legion And The Guardian�, REAL FACT COMICS, �The Sandman�, �The Seven Soldiers Of Victory�, �The Tarantula�, �TNT And Dan The Dyna-Mite� and �The Vigilante�, as well as editing SUPERMAN, ACTION COMICS, ADVENTURE COMICS, BATMAN DETECTIVE COMICS, WORLD�S FINEST COMICS and much later, SUPERBOY, SUPERMAN�S PAL JIMMY OLSEN and SUPERMAN�S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE. In 1946, he also wrote the BATMAN AND ROBIN newspaper comics strips for the McClure Syndicate. After serving in Special Services during WWII, Weisinger married and returned to DC in 1946. There, he resumed editing the �Superman� and �Batman� titles. In his editorial capacity, he added many characters and concepts to the various �Superman� books, including �Supergirl�, �Krypto the Super Dog�, �the Phantom Zone�, the bottle city of �Kandor�, the �Legion of Super-Heroes�, and a variety of types of Kryptonite in a rainbow of colors. Also, Weisinger was particularly proud of having dreamed up the "Imaginary Story" gimmick to motivate otherwise impossible stories and for having conceived the idea of DC's first �80-Page Giant� anthology, SUPERMAN ANNUAL No. 1. Weisinger also conducted informal �focus groups� with the children in his neighborhood regarding what sort of stories and situations they wanted to see in the �Superman� titles. He even had his artists model new comic covers on past pulp magazine covers, then use the recycled images to inspire new stories from his writers. Handing the �Batman� titles off to editor Jack Schiff, Weisinger concentrated on DC�s best-selling hero, the Man Of Steel, even heading to Hollywood to help his DC boss, Whitney Ellsworth supervise the story content of the popular THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN television series. Weisinger had a certain fascination and high regard for show business celebrities and loved to exploit his connections to Hollywood. (He�d previously worked on the scripts for the SUPERMAN and BATMAN movie serials and later, he was a consultant on Filmation Studios� THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN 1966 animated cartoon series for CBS.) But between changing tastes, his allegedly overbearing editing style and the political climate at DC, the controversial editor finally stepped down from SUPERMAN in 1970, to be replaced by his old partner, Julius Schwartz. Stepping away from comics, Weisinger wrote articles for such top magazines as READER�S DIGEST, COLLIER�S, THE SATURDAY EVENING POST, PARADE, BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS and others. He also put his name on a ghost-written novel about high-profile beauty competitions, THE CONTEST (1970), as well as writing 1001 VALUABLE THINGS YOU CAN GET FOR FREE, a best-selling Bantam paperback described as "a compendium of freebies available to anyone". He also wrote HOW TO BE A PERFECT LIAR and THE COMPLETE ALIBI HANDBOOK. In 1978, Mort Weisinger was given a posthumous �Inkpot Award� by the San Diego Comic-Con.

Writer Otto Oscar Binder (08/26/1911 - 10/13/1974) was born in Bessemer, Michigan. The youngest of six children of Austrian immigrants, the Binder family -- pronounced with a short "i" -- relocated to Chicago, Illinois in 1922, Otto and his brother Earl became completely obsessed with science fiction and began to write as a team. The brothers cracked the science fiction print market in 1930 with �The First Martian�, appearing in a 1932 issue of AMAZING STORIES under the pseudonym of �Eando Binder�. Earl eventually followed a career in the iron industry, Otto retained their mutual pen name, attaching it to most of his science fiction writing for the rest of his life. (His books include LORDS OF CREATION (1949), ADAM LINK -- ROBOT (1965), ANTON YORK, IMMORTAL (1965), ENSLAVED BRAINS (1965), THE AVENGERS BATTLE THE EARTH-WRECKER (1967) and WHAT WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT FLYING SAUCERS (1967). During a two-year stint as the literary agent of science-fantasy author Otis Adelbert Kline, Otto began writing for the Mort Weisinger-edited THRILLING WONDER STORIES and the Ray Palmer-edited AMAZING STORIES. It was for Palmer that Otto created �I, Robot�, the first story of �Adam Link�, a humanoid mechanism with a human personality. In 1939, thanks to his other brother, Jack, Otto began working on stories for comic books, working through Harry �A� Chesler�s �shop�, initially as an artist but soon, in 1940, writing scripts for Fawcett Comics� features �Captain Venture�, �The Golden Arrow�, �Bulletman� and �El Carim�. In 1941, Fawcett editor Ed France Herron tapped Otto to begin writing stories for their �Big Red Cheese�, Captain Marvel. Eventually, Otto wrote over half of Fawcett�s entire output of �Captain Marvel family� stories, 986 of them in all. Along the way, he co-created such mainstay characters as Mary Marvel, Uncle Dudley, Tawky Tawny, Black Adam, Mr. Mind, Sivana Jr. and Georgia Sivana for Fawcett. He also wrote scripts for most of Fawcett�s other characters at one time or another, including Captain Marvel, Jr. and Hoppy The Marvel Bunny. In 1953, when Fawcett finally closed its doors, Otto easily found work at other comic book publishers; fortunately, the prolific writer had been writing for most of them during his thirteen years freelancing for Fawcett. At Marvel/Timely, he had written CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE HUMAN TORCH, SUB-MARINER, THE ALL-WINNERS SQUAD, �The Destroyer�, �The Whizzer� and co-created �Captain Wonder�, �The Young Allies�, �Tommy Tyme� and �Miss America�. For Quality Comics, Otto wrote BLACKHAWK, DOLL MAN, UNCLE SAM and �The Black Condor�, as well as co-creating �Kid Eternity�. For Archie/MLJ, he wrote scripts for �The Shield�. �Steel Sterling�. �The Hangman� and �The Black Hood�. In 1948, Otto started writing for Fawcett�s onetime primary rival, DC/National Periodical Publications. For their STAR-SPANGLED COMICS, he created �Merry, Girl Of 1,000 Gimmicks�, but he soon moved on to writing stories for the various �SUPERMAN family� of titles. Reunited with editor Mort Weisinger, Otto created many of the secondary characters, features and details of the �Superman� mythos, including the Legion Of Super-Heroes, Jimmy Olsen�s special signal-wristwatch (��zee�zee�.zee��), Elastic Lad, Beppo the Super-Monkey, Brainiac, the Phantom Zone, Lucy Lane (Lois� kid sister), Titano the Super Ape, Supergirl, Krypto the Super Dog and the first �Imaginary Tale�, as well as wildly expanding on SUPERMAN comic strip writer Alvin Schwartz�s Bizarro. Otto also wrote one of the most beloved �Superman� stories of the �Silver Age Of Comics�, �Superman�s Return To Krypton�. Having mastered the combination of comedy and superheroics while at Fawcett, Otto was the perfect choice to write most of the stories appearing in SUPERMAN�S PAL JIMMY OLSEN and SUPERMAN�S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE, two of the longest-running (and arguably the best) Oddball Comics of all time. After briefly stepping away from comic books in 1960 to edit SPACE WORLD magazine, Otto returned to the funnybook field to resume working for DC. He also co-created (with cartoonist Frank Thorne) Gold Key�s MIGHTY SAMSON and in collaboration with �Captain Marvel� co-creator C. C. Beck, co-created Molson�s FATMAN THE HUMAN FLYING SAUCER. Although by 1969 he was spending most of his efforts on writing science fiction and non-fiction books on UFOs, Otto kept a hand in comics by adapting FRANKENSTEIN, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE TIME MACHINE, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND to a paperback format in 1973, Otto Binder died in Chestertown, New York on October 13, 1974. In 2004, he was inducted into the San Diego Comic-Con�s Comic Book Hall Of Fame.

Cartoonist Wayne Boring (6/5/1905 - 2/?/1987) was born in Minnesota and attended the Minnesota School Of Art and the Chicago Art Institute. Boring�s first gigs as a professional cartoonist were for �Superman� co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster�s studio, �ghosting� such features as National Allied Publications� �Slam Bradley� and �Dr. Occult�. After �Superman� premiered in ACTION COMICS No. 1 (1938), Boring drew the character�s syndicated newspaper comic strip, eventually even signing his name to the feature. In 1942, Boring was hired as a staff artist by what was then known as National Comics; it was here that he was first paired with his long-time inker Stan Kaye, with whom he worked for over twenty years. In 1948, after his ex-bosses left DC due disputes over the ownership of �Superman�, Boring became the primary cartoonist to depict the barrel-chested Kryptonian superhero�s exploits through the 1950s. Eventually, Curt Swan began to eclipse Boring as �the� Superman artist with a more naturalistic rendition of the character, but Boring continued his association with the Man Of Steel until, in 1967, when DC stopped giving him drawing assignments, along with many other once-popular contributors to the publisher�s comic books. (Along with cartoonist George Papp, Boring was one of the two most unfortunately-named �Superman� artists of all time.) From 1968 to 1972, Boring ghosted backgrounds for cartoonist Hal Foster on the syndicated Sunday newspaper comic strip, PRINCE VALIANT, then took over the art on DAVY JONES, a strip written by Sam Leff for the United Feature Syndicate. Following this, Boring made a brief comeback in comics, thanks to writer/editor Roy Thomas, first in the pages of Marvel�s CAPTAIN MARVEL, then in DC�s SECRET ORIGINS (penciling a retelling of Superman�s origin, inked by Jerry Ordway). Sometimes signing his work as �Jack Harmon�, Boring died of a heart attack in Pompano Beach, Florida. To this day, Wayne Boring�s sturdy, squinty-eyed version of Superman remains one of the character�s most iconic renditions.

Writer Robert Bernstein (1919 - 1983) -- AKA "R. Berns�, �Robert Brent� and �Robert Burns� -- apparently began his career in funnybooks as an editor at Harvey Comics in 1943. That same year, he wrote �The Flying Dutchman� for Hillman Periodicals. In 1945, he wrote text page features for Fox Comics; the next year, Bernstein wrote comic book stories for Spark Publications (�Golden Lad� and �Swift Arrow�). In 1946, Bernstein wrote �The Golem� (illustrated by Joe Kubert) in THE CHALLENGER; the same year, Lev Gleason hired him to write scripts for CRIME DOES NOT PAY, sometimes �ghosting� for Charles Biro, well into the 1950s. Around this time, Bernstein wrote for Fawcett, St. John Publishing (Joe Kubert�s TOR), Marvel/Atlas Comics (BLACK RIDER, �The Human Torch� in STRANGE TALES, �Iron Man� in TALES OF SUSPENSE, TALES TO ASTONISH, �Thor� in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY and in WAR ACTION) and EC Comics� �New Direction� titles (IMPACT, M.D., the �Mark Stone� stories PSYCHOANALYSIS, SHOCK ILLUSTRATED and VALOR). Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Bernstein wrote a number of stories for DC Comics (ALL-AMERICAN MEN OF WAR, �Aquaman� in ADVENTURE COMICS, co-created �Congorilla� in ACTION COMICS and ADVENTURE COMICS, DANGER TRAIL, G.I. COMBAT, GIRLS� LOVE STORIES, �Green Arrow� in WORLD�S FINEST COMICS, the Golden Age �Green Lantern�, SUPERMAN�S GIRL FRIEND LOIS LANE, SUPERMAN�S PAL JIMMY OLSEN, OUR ARMY AT WAR, OUR FIGHTING FORCES, STAR SPANGLED WAR STORIES, �Superboy� in ADVENTURE COMICS and SUPERBOY, �Supergirl� and �Superman� in ACTION COMICS and SUPERMAN and WEIRD WAR TALES). In addition to ADVENTURES OF THE JAGUAR, Bernstein wrote stories for Archie�s �Fly Girl�, ADVENTURES OF THE FLY, THE SHADOW and YOUNG DR. MASTERS. He also wrote a one-shot for Dell in 1963 starring Universal Studios� THE WOLFMAN. In related fields, Bernstein wrote for pulp magazines, edited children�s books for Random House, �ghosted� scripts for United Feature�s JUDGE WRIGHT syndicated comic strip (1945 - 1948) and taught high school English.

Jerome "Jerry" Siegel (10/17/1914 � 1/28/1996), born in Cleveland, Ohio, was the son of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania. When he was in junior high school, Jerry�s sign-painter-turned-haberdasher father Mitchell died due to a heart attack while trying to stop a man who was robbing his store. A devoted fan of movies, comic strips and science fiction pulp magazines, letter hack Jerry published one of the earliest � if not the first � science fiction fanzines, COSMIC STORIES, in 1929. While attending Cleveland�s Glenville High School, Jerry met aspiring cartoonist Joe Shuster. Their friendship begat a creative partnership that changed the world. In 1935, their first sale was to Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's MORE FUN COMICS, with �Henri Duval� and �Doctor Occult�. In the sixth issue of MORE FUN, they introduced a villain called �The Superman�, based on one of Jerry�s fanzine yarns from 1933. In 1936, he also wrote for Centaur Comics (�Dr. Mystic The Occult Detective�, �Federal Agent�). But he and Joe were also working on a new character � supposedly similar to DETECTIVE COMICS� �Slam Bradley� -- who was also called �The Superman�. But when a fly-by-night publishing deal went bad, the team of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster revised the character and re-pitched it to Vin Sullivan, the editor at National Allied Publications (the primary precursor of DC Comics) as the cover-feature for ACTION COMICS No. 1 (June 1938). A syndicated SUPERMAN comic strip for newspapers followed the next year. In 1940, in collaboration with cartoonist Bernard Baily, Jerry created another long-running superhero for DC, �The Spectre�. He also wrote stories for such DC characters and features as: �Radio Squad�/�Calling All Cars�; �Red, White And Blue�; �Robin The Boy Wonder�; �Robotman�, �Slam Bradley�; �Spy�; �The Star Spangled Kid And Stripesy�; and �Superboy�. In 1946, Siegel and Shuster unsuccessfully sued National over rights to Superman and his supporting cast. In 1947, they rejoined Vin Sullivan, now the founder and publisher of Magazine Enterprises; there they created the short-lived crime-fighter �Funnyman�, loosely based on entertainer Danny Kaye. In the early 1950s, Siegel wrote for Toby Press (JON JUAN -- WORLD'S GREATEST LOVER and horror), Quality Comics and the Jerry Iger Studio. About that same time, he accepted a job as an editor and art director at Ziff-Davis Comics, where he also wrote for such titles as G.I. JOE, INVISIBLE BOY and LARS OF MARS. From 1950 through 1953, Siegel wrote for Farrell Publications (horror) Feature Comics (romance) and Better Publications (JOE YANK, crime and horror). In 1956 and 1957, Siegel wrote for Charlton Comics (MR. MUSCLES, NATURE BOY and ZAZA THE MYSTIC, as well as various stories in the �jungle� genre), and in 1958, he wrote for Health Publications (PANIC) and Major Magazines (CRACKED). In 1959, Jerry Siegel returned to DC, where he primarily wrote stories for editor Mort Weisinger�s �Superman family� of titles: �Tales Of The Bizarro World�; �The Legion Of Super-Heroes�; SUPERMAN�S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE; SUPERBOY, �Supergirl� and �Superman�. He also wrote stories for DC�s �Adam Strange�, �The Green Glob� series in HOUSE OF MYSTERY, �Space Ranger� and STRANGE ADVENTURES. In 1963, Siegel wrote two �Human Torch� stories (as �Joe Carter�) for Marvel�s STRANGE TALES; nearly a decade later, he wrote an �Angel� story for the publisher. As mentioned earlier, Jerry Siegel wrote stories for most � if not all � of Archie Comics� line of Mighty Comics� �ultra-heroes�: �The Black Hood�; �The Comet�; �Fly Girl�; FLY MAN; �The Fox�; �The Hangman�; THE MIGHTY CRUSADERS; �Mr. Justice�; �The Shield�; �Steel Sterling� and �The Web�, as well as the Oddball pre-Mighty Comics title, THE SHADOW. Siegel also wrote for England�s LION on such features as �Gadgetman� and �The Spider� and for Italy�s TOPOLINO comic/magazine on various Disney characters. In 1966 and 1967, Siegel wrote stories for King Comics (MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN, THE PHANTOM); and from 1967 to 1972, he freelanced for Western Publishing Inc. (HUEY, DEWEY & LOUIE � JR. WOODCHUCKS, THE OWL, TIGER GIRL and WOODY WOODPECKER). In 1967, Siegel wrote a �No Man� story for Tower Comics. In 1971, Siegel wrote for the Skywald Publishing Company (NIGHTMARE, PSYCHO). Siegel also wrote various syndicated newspaper comic strips, including BUCK ROGERS, FUNNYMAN, FUTURE EYE, KEN WESTON, REGGIE VAN TWERP and SUPERMAN. He also wrote scripts for animated cartoons for television, including for Grantray-Lawrence�s CAPTAIN AMERICA (part of their �Marvel Super-Heroes� syndicated package, Hanna-Barbera�s FRANKENSTEIN JR. and Steve Krantz� ROCKET ROBIN HOOD. In 1975, Siegel � with the help of cartoonists Jerry Robinson and Neal Adams -- launched a public-relations campaign to protest DC Comics' shoddy treatment of him and Shuster; ultimately Warner Communications, DC's parent company, awarded Siegel and Shuster $20,000 a year each for the rest of their lives and guaranteed that all comics, TV episodes, films and video games starring Superman would be required to credit Superman as being "created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster". Siegel�s final comic book work was �Ricky Robot� for Aardvark-Vanaheim in 1984. Siegel died in 1996. He was inducted into the original Academy Of Comic Book Arts Hall Of Fame; his �The Death Of Superman� received the Alley Award for �Best Story�. In 1975, he was presented with the San Diego Comic-Con�s Inkpot Award and in 1979, the Science Fiction Writers Of America�s �President�s Award�. He was inducted into the Eagle Award Roll Of Honor in 1986, the Eisner Award Hall Of Fame in 1992 and the Harvey Awards� Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2005, Jerry Siegel was posthumously awarded the Bill Finger Award For Excellence in Comic Book Writing.

Cartoonist John Forte (1918 - 1965) began his career in comic books in 1941, drawing stories for Atlas/Marvel. These assignments included: ADVENTURE INTO MYSTERY; ADVENTURE INTO TERROR; ADVENTURE INTO WEIRD WORLDS; ASTONISHING COMICS; BATTLE ACTION; BATTLE; BATTLEFIELD; COMBAT; CRIMEFIGHTERS; �The Destroyer�; �Famous Indians�; GUNSMOKE WESTERN; JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY; JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS; �Jungle Boy�; JUSTICE COMICS; �Lance Brant�; LOVE ROMANCES; LOVERS; MAN COMICS; MARINES IN BATTLE; MARVEL TALES; MENACE; MY OWN ROMANCE; MYSTERY TALES; MYSTIC; MYSTICAL TALES; NAVY COMBAT; POLICE ACTION; SECRET STORY ROMANCES; SPELLBOUND; STORIES OF ROMANCE; STRANGE STORIES OF SUSPENSE; STRANGE TALES OF THE UNUSUAL; STRANGE TALES; SUSPENSE; TALES OF SUSPENSE; TALES TO ASTONISH; TRUE SECRETS; UNCANNY TALES; WILD; WORLD OF FANTASY; WORLD OF MYSTERY; WORLD OF SUSPENSE; and WORLD'S GREATEST SONGS. In 1942, Forte also drew for Dell (�Commando Tommy Larkin�, GANG BUSTERS and WAR HEROES). In 1946, he began working at the Iger Studios �shop� primarily on stories for Fiction House (�Captain Fight�, COWGIRL ROMANCES, �Glory Forbes�, �Hooks Devlin�, �Stuart Taylor� and �Z X-5�). In 1946, he drew for M.C. Comb�s VOODAH and in 1949, he drew Superior Publishers� ELLERY QUEEN. In 1950 and 1951, Forte drew stories for Avon Comics (INTIMATE CONFESSIONS) and Orbit Publications, followed by Quality Comics (BLACKHAWK; BRIDES ROMANCES; DIARY LOVES; LOVE CONFESSIONS; LOVE LETTERS; and LOVE SECRETS). The 1950s provided assignments from a wide variety of comic book publishers, including St. John Publishing, Better Publications, Fawcett Comics (ROCKY LANE). Lev Gleason (BLACK DIAMOND), Trojan Comics (BEWARE, YOUTHFUL ROMANCES), Mainline Comics (BULLSEYE), Story Comics (ROMANTIC HEARTS), Charlton Comics (MR. MUSCLES), Farrell Publications, American Comics Group (ADVENTURES INTO THE UNKNOWN, FORBIDDEN WORLDS), Gilberton (THE WORLD AROUND US) and Candor Publishing Company (ZANY). John Forte is primarily known for his work for DC Comics, which began in the mid-1950s and continued until his death. There, the prolific cartoonist drew: FALLING IN LOVE; GIRLS� LOVE STORIES; GIRLS� ROMANCES; �The Legion Of Super-Heroes� in ADVENTURE COMICS; SECRET HEARTS; SUPERBOY; SUPERMAN; �Tales Of The Bizarro World� in ADVENTURE COMICS; SUPERMAN�S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN; SUPERMAN�S GIRL FRIEND, LOIS LANE; WORLD�S FINEST COMICS; and YOUNG ROMANCE. At DC, Forte would occasionally accept gigs inking other artist�s pencils; he inked a number of stories drawn by Curt Swan.

Cartoonist Henry Boltinoff (February 19, 1914 � April 19, 2001) was born in New York City. Henry, who sometimes signed his work �Bolty�, was already a professional cartoonist when he was still a teen, drawing for the theatre section of THE NEW YORK AMERICAN newspaper. He studied at New York�s Art Students League and the National Academy of Design. Beginning in 1937, Henry freelanced as a cartoonist for numerous magazines. In 1940, he worked for Bert Whitman Associates, a �shop� that packaged comics. That same year, Henry became DC Comics� regular �filler� artist, writing and drawing an astounding number of gag-strips for their line of comic books. These included: �Abdul The Fire Eater�; �Backstage Bits�; �Bebe�; �Betty�; �Billy�, �Binky�; �Binky�s Buddies�; �Buck Skinner�; �Buzzy�; �Cap's Hobby Center�; �Cap's Hobby Hints�; �Car-Toons�; �Casey The Cop�; �Charlie Cannonball�, �Chief Hot Foot�, �Clancy The Cop�; �Cora The Carhop�; �Curios�; �A Date With Debbie�; �A Date With Judy�; �Dexter�; �Dinky�; �Dolly And The Professor�; �Doctor Floogle�; �Doctor Rocket�; �Dover And Clover�; �Elvin�; �Facts�; �Flip�; �Funnies�; �Freddie The Frogman�; �Gags�; ��Hamid The Hypnotist�; �Hang-Ups�; �Homer�; �Honey Of Hollywood�; �Hy The Spy�; �Hy Wire�; �In Hollywood�; �It�s The Scene�; �Jail Jests�; �Jerry�; �Jerry The Jitterbug�; �Jokes�; �Khai-Yaks�; �King Kale�; �Laffs�; �Leave It To Binky�; �Lefty Looie�; �Lem 'N' Lime�; �Li�l Brontosaurus�; �Lionel And His Lions�; �Little Pete�; �Little Pocahontas�; �Lucky�; �The Magic Genie�; �Mal�; �Mom �N� Pop�; �Moolah The Mystic�; �No-Chance Charley�, �Oddities�; �Og From The Planet Gog�; �Ollie�; �On the Set�; �Peg�; �Penniless Palmer�; �Peter Puptent, Explorer�: �Planet Quiz�; �Planet Pals�; �Preacher�; �Prehistoric Fun�; �Private Pete�; �Professor Eureka�; �Quiz�; �Sagebrush Sam�; �Scooter�; �Shorty�; �Silly Willy�; �Smiles�; �Stan�; �Strange Ads�; �Strange Laws�; �Super-Turtle�; �Swing With Scooter�; �Tarius The Planet�; �This Ain�t The Army�; �Travel Talk�; �Tricksy, World�s Greatest Stunt Man�; �True Crime Laffs�; �True-isms�; �Varsity Vic�; �Warden Willis�; �Willy And Dilly�; and �Young Doc Davis�. Nearly every comic book DC published for over thirty years contained work by Henry Boltinoff, most of which were lettered by Gaspar Saladino. In 1940, Henry wrote and drew �Bruce Barlow� for Holyoke Publications and in 1943, he also produced filler strips for Fawcett Comics. Henry also did work for Harvey Comics� RICHIE RICH and Major Magazine�s CRACKED. He also drew gag-strips for Archie Comics (�Jane Of The Jungle� and �Little Ha Ha�) and Renegade Press (�Flora The Explorer� and �The Planet Zog�). In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he edited, wrote and drew such �graphic albums� as HOWLS OF IVY (1955), SEX IS BETTER IN COLLEGE (Pyramid, 1957), BED AND BOARD (Pyramid, 1958), CARTOONS FOR MEN ONLY (Pyramid, 1958) and JUST MARRIED (Pyramid, 1962). Henry also wrote and drew a number of syndicated newspaper comic strips: AD LIBS (1942); THIS AND THAT (1946); WOODY FORREST (1960); STOKER THE BROKER (1960 � 1985); NUBBIN (King Features, 1971 � 1987); TINY (1987); and HOCUS- FOCUS (2001). A member of the National Cartoonists Society, Henry also worked as an advertising artist, a gag cartoonist for such magazines as BOYS� LIFE, ESQUIRE, LOOK, COLLIER�S and THE SATURDAY EVENING POST and a teacher at the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Arts (1976 � 1977). In 1970, Henry Boltinoff received the National Cartoonists Society�s Reuben �Best Humor Comic Book� Division Award and in 1982, he won their Reuben �Best Syndicated Newspaper Panel Cartoon� Division Award for his work on the strip STOKER THE BROKER. His brother, Murray Boltinoff, was an editor for DC Comics for many years.

This issue�s 9-page �Superman� cover-story is �Bizarro Meets Frankenstein!�, written by Otto Binder, penciled by
Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. It begins with [pic2]this splash-panel[pic2] intro:

INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Who is the most famous monster in history�THE WOLFMAN?...THE MUMMY?...THE BLACK OGRE?...THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN?...All of these ugly creatures must bow down to their unbeatable superior, BIZARRO, who possesses super-powers just like SUPERMAN! In fact, he is an artificial IMITATION of the MAN OF STEEL that came out imperfect! And one day, when this pathetic, grotesque creature visits Earth, he seeks to win the grown of ugliness. Thrills await you when BIZARRO MEETS FRANKENSTEIN!

For those unfamiliar with the Bizarros, we�re brought up to speed with a series of informative captions and images:

NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Earth spacemen exploring the strange wonders of the outer universe would be most startled at one phenomenon�A SQUARE WORLD! On this cube-shaped planet exists a mad imitation of earthly civilization where city skyscrapers lean crookedly at all angles! On this world, perfection is hated and everything is mixed up�Following a crazy calendar, all earthly holidays are misplaced! It is the WORLD OF BIZARROS, where all earthly customs are backwards�including the use of alarm clocks! Originally created by a defective DUPLICATOR RAY these artificial creatures are imperfect imitations of SUPERMAN and Lois Lane! Leaving Earth, BIZARRO #1 and Lois-BIZARRO #1 settled on their square world and duplicated many more BIZARRO citizens! All animal, vegetable and mineral objects of Earth came out imperfect when imitated�except for the SUPERMAN-type uniforms which was made originally from SYNTHETIC fiber of KRYPTON! Let us look in on the NUMBER ONE BIZARRO FAMILY as they tune in TV for the Late Late Show from Earth�

But when Bizarro World�s Last Family sees the innocent image of [pic3]silent movie comedian Charlie Chaplin[pic3] cavorting on their television screen, their two children completely freak out!

BIZARRO-BOY No. 1:
Oh, me scared, Mommy!
BIZARRO-LOIS No. 1:
The children will have bad dreams of they watch that, BIZARRO! Tune in a LAUGH PROGRAM!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
You can guess what makes THEM laugh!
BIZARRO-BOY No. 1:
Ha, ha! Is Wolfman, Mummy and Ogre! Ha, ha!
WOLFMAN (on television screen):
Grrrrrr! Come, let us attack that village!
BIZARRO No. 1:
Them so FUNNY! Ha, ha, ha!
BIZARRO-BOY No. 1:
Papa, why Earth kids SCARED and call them �monsters�? Them look NICE, not ugly!
BIZARRO No. 1:
Well, silly Earth people TWIST everything, you see! Me first original BIZARRO created on Earth, am most famous MONSTER of all!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
As an announcement flashes on the screen�
ANNOUNCEMENT ON SCREEN:
WORLD�S SCARIEST MONSTER � A NEW FRANKENSTEIN ADVENTURE
BIZARRO No. 1:
That a big lie! Him not as good as me! Me can scare MORE Earth-people than FRANKENSTEIN! Me go to Earth and prove it! Make them apologize for INSULT to me! Why, when FRANKENSTEIN sees me, HIM will be scared!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
Approaching Earth, the dim replica of SUPERMAN�s memory that BIZARRO possessed inspires him to seek out the legendary ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN�
BIZARRO No. 1 (thinking):
Me�uh�better make SURE me can scare FRANKENSTEIN!* Will find horrible creature that lives here in Himalaya mountains!
FOOTNOTE:
EDITOR�S NOTE: In the original Mary Shelley novel, FRANKENSTEIN is the name of the scientist who created the monster, through misuse, the term �FRANKENSTEIN� has grown to mean the monster itself!

Soon, Bizarro No. 1 flushes out [pic4]the legendary yeti of the Himalayas[pic4]:

ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN:
YAAAHHHHHH!
BIZARRO No. 1 (thinking):
Ah, me scared ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN. Me still champion! Now me go to Hollywood and prove me WORLD�S WORST MONSTER, not FRANKENSTEIN!

Meanwhile, Superman�s in Hollywood, manipulating a marionette of himself to use a �giant� toothbrush in a public service commercial. (Why he didn�t do this himself with a hug prop toothbrush is anyone�s guess!) Elsewhere on the movie lot, Bizarro No. 1uses his super-vision to locate the dressing room of the actor cast in [pic5]the role of Frankenstein[pic5]. Crashing through the door, the imperfect duplicate of the Man Of Steel confronts his �rival�:

BIZARRO No. 1:
Me found you, FRANKENSTEIN! What they say about you is big lie, see? ME am scariest monster in history, not YOU!
FRANKENSTEIN ACTOR (thinking):
Great Scott! It�s BIZARRO! And he seems to think I�m the REAL FRANKENSTEIN, not just an actor with make-up on! I�ll explain�
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
But the dim-witted super-creature fails to understand, and�
BIZARRO No. 1:
Grrrrr! Me get rid of you right now, FRANKENSTEIN!
FRANKENSTEIN ACTOR (thinking):
Yipes! The mad monster flung me out the window! If I�m injured it�ll stop the whole filming of this new FRANKENSTEIN adventure!

Fortunately, at that very moment, Superman just happens to be flying by as this mishap occurs, catching the airborne actor before he faints while Bizarro No. 1 demolishes the dressing room:

SUPERMAN (thinking):
Great guns! My imperfect double came to earth! This actor he flung out fainted! I�ll rush him to the studio doctor, then find out what BIZARRO is up to!

Meanwhile, jealous Bizarro No. 1 takes off to even the numbers with his other perceived monster adversaries:

BIZARRO No. 1 (thinking):
Me fixed FRANKENSTEIN! But now me go around and scare others! Then everybody in Hollywood will admit that BIZARRO NUMBER ONE am also MONSTER NUMBER ONE!

On a nearby set, Bizarro No. 1 sees a futuristic-dressed bevy of beauties gathering around a publicity photographer. When he lands among them, intent on scaring the starlets, they display the opposite of his expectations, crowding around Bizarro No. 1 and covering his chipped-marble face with their kisses! He recoils at their attention, not realizing that earlier, the ladies have been told that he�s someone else:

PUBLICITY PHOTOGRAPHER:
I ran into SUPERMAN on the set before�Now, here comes BIZARRO flying! Obviously SUPERMAN disguised himself as BIZARRO and is pretending to be him to help the FRANKENSTEIN picture get publicity!
STARLET #1:
So it�s really SUPERMAN under that awful make-up, eh, Al? And if we girls seem to ENJOY kissing a �monster� it will make the front-page everywhere! Okay, Al � we�ll be happy to kiss him!

Unknown to anyone, Superman is secretly observing Bizarro No. 1:

SUPERMAN (thinking):
Hmm�Let them think it WAS me they kissed! If the news got around that the REAL Bizarro was here, it might start a PANIC! Well, as soon as he succeeds in scaring somebody, he�ll be satisfied and leave Earth!

Assuming the girls he met earlier were blind, Bizarro No. 1 flies out to the site of a western being filmed on the lot.

BIZARRO No. 1 (thinking):
Maybe them girls was BLIND and couldn�t see my face! But me scare living daylights out o these two men or sure�

As he lands, Bizarro No. 1 calls out to some of the actors:

BIZARRO No. 1:
Ho! Me BIZARRO! Worst monster on Earth!

But when Bizarro No. 1 encounters a couple of weathered old cowboy character actors, they start firing bullets at his feet:

COWBOY ACTOR #1:
Ha, ha, ha! Here�s what we did with tenderfeet in the old days! Dance, pard�DANCE! Ha, ha!
BIZARRO No. 1 (thinking):
Bullets not hurt my feet! But me hurt INSIDE! Them making FUN of me!
NARRATIVE CAPTION:
SUPERMAN observes secretly as the baffled BIZARRO retreats�
COWBOY ACTOR #1:
So long, PALEFACE! Ha, ha, ho, ho!
SUPERMAN (thinking):
Hmm�Now I see why those men are laughing so wildly! This set is a portion of REAL desert enclosed within the huge movie lot! And this native plant is the�[pic6]LOCO WEED![pic6] Its juice makes cattle or cowboys go out of their heads temporarily and even LAUGH AT danger! These two actors must have chewed loco weed by mistake, thinking they were MINT leaves! Two more patients for the studio doctor! He�ll give them an antidote! Then I�ll follow BIZARRO secretly again! Hope he frightens SOMEBODY soon�so he�ll leave Earth!

Bizarro No. 1 then invades another set, where he intentionally tries to scare two children who are carrying long swords (!?) with the sight of his �awful� face. Instead, they sit on his lap and pat his face lovingly. Crushed by their reaction, Bizarro No. 1 moves on while Superman ponders:

SUPERMAN (thinking):
Poor BIZARRO! He doesn�t know how another twist of fate foiled him this time! The kids were carrying those swords to�a SWORD SWALLOWER who is part of [pic7]a FREAK SHOW troupe[pic7] run by their father! The troupe has been hired by the studio for a circus movie. The kids are so used to seeing odd people, BIZARRO was just another FRIENDLY FREAK to them!

Finally, Bizarro No. 1 blunders onto the set of the studio�s production of Frankenstein:

BIZARRO No. 1:
Stop laughing! Me will get you all! Me terrible monster!
ACTOR #1:
Ha, ha! Don�t kid us! The studio press agent told us you�re really SUPERMAN in disguise! Well, SUPERMAN, you�re putting on a swell act, trying to scare us!

Their ridicule causes Bizarro No. 1 to go berserk, smashing a statue of Frankenstein and the film�s laboratory set. This, in turn, apparently causes the on-set cast�s hair to stand on end!

BIZARRO No. 1:
Wait�Me hear them yelling! Maybe they believe me now! Aha! Your hair am standing ON END! You all scared of me! Now ME laughing! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
BIZARRO No. 1 (thinking):
Me still CHAMPION MONSTER! Now me satisfied! Me pick up little souvenir first, for my children, then go back home!

As Bizarro No. 1 flies away, Superman watches from a hiding place on the laboratory set:

SUPERMAN (thinking):
BIZARRO�S leaving! Whew! Little does he know how I FOOLED him! I made it SEEM as if the actors were frightened by him! I gave this static machine a super-spin! It created a harmless static voltage in the floor under the actors! When human hair gains an electrical charge, it always becomes bristly and stands on end! I also turned on this SOUND EFFECTS record! BIZARRO would have realized it was only an ADVERTISEMENT if he had heard the ENTIRE message�
SOUND EFFECTS RECORD:
HELP! HELP! RUN FOR YOUR LIFES! BEWARE THE MONSTER! YES, EVERYBODY WILL SCREAM LIKE THIS WHEN THEY SEE THE NEW FRANKENSTEIN MOVIE!

Later, the Man Of Steel explains his behind-the-scenes action:

SUPERMAN:
Folks! To avoid panic, I let you think I was doing a �publicity stunt�! But it was the REAL BIZARRO who threatened you! He was jealous of �FRANKENSTEIN �HERE!
STARLET #1:
What!? Th-then we kissed the real BIZARRO, thinking it was SUPERMAN! Ohhhhh!

Meanwhile, on the Bizarro planet, Bizarro No. 1 brings back [pic8]a special gift from Earth[pic8] to frighten his kids:

BIZARRO No. 1:
Date is December 24, Halloween Eve! Me brought souvenir from Earth to give kids a good scare!
BIZARRO-BOY No. 1:
Yipes! Look�Is it witch?...Goblin?...Ogre?
BIZARRO-GIRL No. 1:
No�Is WORSE!...It�s SUPERMAN! Help!

It�s that �Superman� marionette we saw earlier! Using his X-ray vision to check in on Bizarro No. 1 and his family, Superman comments:

SUPERMAN:
How do you�er�like that? Up there, I�M the world�s worst monster! Even my marionette scares BIZARRO kids!
TEASER CAPTION:
Watch for more stories about the twisted creatures on the mad world of BIZARROS!

(This story was reprinted in SUPERMAN No. 202, December, 1967 � January, 1968 and in SUPERMAN FROM THE THIRTIES TO THE SEVENTIES, Crown Publishers, Inc., 1971.)

Also included in this issue of SUPERMAN are the following stories, features and advertisements:

�Mickey Mantle Makes This Promise To You! We Will Give You The Muscle Power Of A Champ!�, a black-and-white, inside-front-cover advertisement for mail-order bodybuilding courses from �The National Sports Channel�.

�Superman� in �The Great Superman Hoax!�, written by Robert Bernstein, penciled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. � �For years, girl reporter Lois Lane has suspected that SUPERMAN�S secret identity is Clark Kent! But overnight, a NEW suspect takes Clark�s place! A tall, bearded, handsome stranger who seemingly can fill SUPERMAN�S boots and perform any of THE MAN OF STEEL�S super-feats! Is it any wonder then, that Lois falls for�[pic9]THE GREAT SUPERMAN HOAX![pic9]� When Perry White receives an anonymous letter claiming that scientist Professor Otto Juris is Superman�s �secret identity�, he asks Lois Land and Clark (Superman) Kent for their cooperation. He also explains that �I could trap Juris by exposing him to some RED KRYPTONITE I�ve got locked in my lead-lined safe�but I don�t dare risk harming him if he REALLY is SUPERMAN! RED KRYPTONITE has terrible effects on him!� Visiting the Juris Electronic Laboratory -- on the following page, there�s a conflicting sign that identifies the place as �Juris Electronics, Inc.� -- Lois and Clark confront Prof. Juris (who looks exactly like Clark Kent with a goatee) that they have reason suspect that he�s actually Superman. Upon hearing their accusation, Juris puts on acting coy, as if he really is Superman. In addition to displaying some phony robots, he �accidentally� rips the door knob off of a door and hides red and blue �dusting rags� that look like they could be Superman�s suit. When he hears a radio announcement that Superman is needed to save some miners trapped in a cave-in, Dr. Juris abruptly excuses himself supposedly to conduct �an important experiment�. Going outside, they spot what looks like Superman flying away at super-speed from the rear of Prof. Juris� labs, but Clark�s super-vision reveals that it�s actually a helium-filled balloon formed in Superman�s image! Clark sends Lois back to the DAILY PLANET offices to report in to Perry White; meanwhile, he changes to his �Superman� identity before rescuing those trapped miners. Later, back in the DAILY PLANET offices, Lois shows Clark that she�s given a photo of Prof. Juris to Eddie, �our photo-retouching expert�, to remove the scientist�s glasses and goatee; sure enough, the results look just like Superman. Then she takes the retouched photo to Prof. Juris; while he pronounces it to be �a coincidence�, she notices that his hands are covered with coal dust, but the scientist explains that it�s just �a little dust from one of my experiments with carbon compounds�. Then, when a fire hydrant explodes outside the lab, it abruptly melts, as if affected by Superman�s X-ray vision. (Lois fails to notice that Prof. Juris adjusts a dial on a nearby machine at the same time, a fact that Clark notices from afar with his super-vision; the hydrant was electronically rigged to burst and then melt.) Despite this, Lois becomes convinced that Prof. Juris really is Superman! Suddenly, Superman is once again summoned by a radio announcement; this time, he�s needed to stop an armed robbery at Metropolis� Peerless Gem store. While the real Man Of Steel stops and captures the jewel thieves, Lois drives out to the Juris Electronic Laboratory, where she discovers a dummy of Otto Juris bent over a microscope. Entering one of the rooms that Juris previously prevented her from entering, Lois finds robots of Superman, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White and even Lois herself. A second room reveals a makeup table and mirror and a huge supply of cosmetics, wigs, fake goatees and various costumes and disguises. And in a third [pic10]�mystery room�[pic10], she discovers a veritable shrine to her full of photos and statues of herself! As if on cue, that�s when Prof. Juris enters, scolding her for snooping. Instead of acting contrite, Lois rushes up to Juris and hugs him, claiming it�s the happiest day of her life. In the process, she dislodges a flattened bullet from his jacket, apparently one from his encounter with those jewel thieves. After Lois leaves to return to the offices of the DAILY PLANET, Prof. Juris receives two �gangland visitors�, friends and co-conspirators of the cigar-smoking phony scientist who join Juris in listening in on the conversation in Perry White�s office, thanks to a secret microscope that he planted there sometime earlier. While waiting for results, he also reveals that he�d previously had plastic surgery to closely resemble the Man Of Steel. Soon, Lois and Perry discuss Juris� secret relationship to Superman and how they can help him with his weakness to Red Kryptonite: �Maybe we can find an antidote for its strange, unpredictable effects! It can cause him to suffer amnesia�give him hallucinations�even split him in two! The stuff�s usually bad for SUPERMAN!� It doesn�t take long before Perry and his staff receive a surprise visitor: Professor Otto Juris, AKA Superman! Perry offers to give him the sample of Red Kryptonite, and since it hasn�t been wrapped in lead foil, Perry suggest that Juris take the whole thing, safe and all. When the scientist balks at this task, Superman steps out from behind some drapes and while ripping off his jacket and shirt, proves that Prof. Juris is merely a fake �Superman�: �You�re an imposter, Juris! For the past two hours, I�ve been observing you and your hoods with my X-ray vision and super-hearing! I heard your discussion about plastic surgery and how you wired Perry�s office! Here�s the mike! As for Juris� powerful physique, it�s nothing but padding! As I told Lois and you, Perry, Juris himself wrote that anonymous letter! The doorknob bit, the rigged hydrant, the dummy, the flattened bullet�everything was a planned act to convince Lois he was SUPERMAN! Knowing you were tuned in via the mike, Juris, I had Perry speak about the RED KRYPTONITE so that you�d be lured here to get it! You hoped to sell it for a fortune to criminals to use against me!� Because he thinks that he�s broken no laws in his ruse, Juris is confident that he can�t be arrested for his scheme, but Superman hauls him in to the police on charges of destroying public property -- namely, that fire hydrant he melted! �That�ll keep you locked up till I collect enough evidence to keep you in jail for years!� The next day, at the offices of the DAILY PLANET, Clark takes a break from admiring the headline of the latest issue � �SUPERMAN IMPERSONATOR JAILED!� � to notice Lois staring off into space. When he inquires, she answers, �Since the professor isn�t SUPERMAN, I wonder who IS? Naturally, it couldn�t be YOU! So that leaves everybody else in METROPOLIS as a suspect! Hmm��

�Our American Heritage�, [pic11]an educational public service page[pic11] written by Jack Schiff and drawn by Bernard Bailey.

�Just Imagine!�, [pic12]a house-ad[pic12] for DC�s JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA No. 3 (February � March, 1961).

�Superman� in �Lois Lane's Lucky Day!�, written by Jerry Siegel and penciled and inked by John Forte. � �Can this be SUPERMAN? Would the MAN OF STEEL use his super-powers to win ALL the prizes on a carnival midway? Yes � it all happens when a clever trickster gets a taste of his own medicine in the laugh-packed adventure � [pic13]LOIS LANE�S LUCKY DAY![pic13]� In response to letters from fair-goers who feel they were cheated, DAILY PLANET editor Perry White � hoping for a juicy front-page story -- assigns Clark (Superman) Kent and Lois Lane to investigate the fair grounds� games to determine whether or not they�re rigged. After a cramped ride in her tiny compact car (�It just fits like my budget!�), Clark and Lois take a look around the fair. At Clip Carson�s game-booth, a young couple lose �half a month�s pay� without winning a penny, while a blonde named Zelda wins three times in a row! Using his X-ray vision, Clark �follows� her as she privately meets with Clip to reveal that Zelda is merely a �shill� for his crooked game. When Lois plays Clip�s roulette game, Clark discovers that it�s also rigged with compressed air; he uses his super-vision to burn a hole in the air-tank, then uses his super-breath to stop the wheel on Lois� number, winning her a Superman doll! After dumping her prizes into her compact car, Lois and Clark take a look at Clip Carson�s other fair-games, with Clark using his superpowers when needed. Meanwhile, threatened by the latest developments, Clip tells his flunkies to bring out the �top prizes� and to make sure that all of his �gimmicks� are in working order to insure that �The suckers can�t win!� One by one, Clark secretly uses his superpowers to foil each rigged game that the �girl reporter� plays. He uses his super-breath to freeze Lois� water-pistol�s squirts into frozen projectiles to knock down lead-weighted tin ducks. To help a little boy win equipment for his baseball team, Clark uses a �super-pitch� to knock down a pyramid of milk bottles by breaking the plastic brace-device that holds them up. To get Lois a bulls-eye on the chest of a Superman dummy that�s rigged with magnets, [pic14]Clark secretly customizes a dart[pic14] with a non-magnetic silver point that he forms with �super-pressure� from a silver comb. After that, he switches to his �Superman� identity and trades places with the dummy of himself to intimidate Clip. (He tells Lois that Clark is guarding the prizes in her car.) When Perry White shows up with the mayor of Metropolis, that�s enough for Clip Carson, who decides to clear out of town, while the Man Of Steel systematically sabotages each of Clip�s rigged games, from tossing wooden hoops to a �Ring The Gong And Win This Car!� game. As Clip tries to drive away, he�s unaware that he accidentally activated the �master electromagnet with its built-in battery� he uses to gyp the public; it creates havoc when it yanks such metal objects as a policeman�s pistol, a metal chain and a bicycle out of the hands of their owners and pulls them in its wake. While the police round up Clip Carson and his gang, Lois thanks the Man Of Steel: �You�re an angel, SUPERMAN! You could have given the scoop to Clark � but you gave it to ME!�

�Tricksy, World�s Greatest Stunt Man�, a 2/3-page gag-strip, written and drawn by Henry Boltinoff.

A 1/3-page statement of ownership that mentions that SUPERMAN�s circulation in 1960 (published eight times annually) to be around 810,000 copies.

�Metropolis Mailbag�, a one-page letter column with a masthead illustrated by Curt Swan.

A page consisting of two half-page advertisements: �204 Revolutionary War Soldiers � Only $1.98� (drawn by the great Russ Heath) available via mail-order from �Revolutionary War Soldiers�; and �Frontier Cabin -- $1.00� available through mail-order from �Frontier Cabin�.

�Do You Want Spending Money? Sell These Popular Patriotic And Religious Mottoes�, an advertisement soliciting for salespeople to represent �Stephens Credit Sales�.

�You Asked For It!�, [pic15]a black-and-white, inside-back-cover house-ad[pic15] for SHOWCASE No. 30 (January � February, 1961), featuring the origin of Aquaman.

�Boys! Girls! Ladies! Men! Win A Beautiful New Photo Ring!�, a back-cover ad soliciting for �Cloverine Brand Salve� salespeople to represent the �Wilson Chemical Co.�

ODDBALL FACTOID � The character and concept of �Bizarro� has crossed over from comic books to become part of the English language and American pop culture in general, and has turned up in such unrelated TV series as SEINFELD, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL and the animated series THE SIMPSONS and DRAWN TOGETHER!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC #1,287, MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2010: Jumpin� firecrackers! If you think that current comic books have gotten too �dark�, wait until you see this week�s ODDBALL COMIC � a �dark� issue of BOZO THE CLOWN from waaay back in 1951! But whatever you do, don�t reveal the secret of �The Mysterious Box Of Shadows�! That would be a definite �Bozo No-No�!

Science Comics, Vol. 1, No. 1

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:18:47 -0700

Meet Dave Keene, Doctor Franklin and Professor Gregory Black, the egghead stars of SCIENCE COMICS, a futuristic Canadian ODDBALL COMIC that�s �Based On TRUE Scientific Data�! Plus, predictions of the future of �Advanced Two-Way Television�, �Trapped By The Electric Eye� and the rhyming, how-to-draw fun-feature known as �Drawatoon�! (Just watch out for �Captain Hobby�!) Happy ODDBALL New Year! [fieldinserts][issuetitle]Title: [subissuetitle]Science Comics[subissuetitle]
[issuetitle][issue]Issue: [subissue]Vol. 1, No. 1[subissue]
[issue][publicationdate]Date: [subpublicationdate]March, 1951[subpublicationdate]
[publicationdate][publisher]Publisher: [subpublisher]Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd. (Canadian)[subpublisher]
[publisher][coverartists]Cover Artist(s): [subcoverartists]Unknown[subcoverartists]

[coverartists][introtext]Meet Dave Keene, Doctor Franklin and Professor Gregory Black, the egghead stars of SCIENCE COMICS, a futuristic Canadian ODDBALL COMIC that�s �Based On TRUE Scientific Data�! Plus, predictions of the future of �Advanced Two-Way Television�, �Trapped By The Electric Eye� and the rhyming, how-to-draw fun-feature known as �Drawatoon�! (Just watch out for �Captain Hobby�!) Happy ODDBALL New Year![introtext]

[fieldinserts]There have been educational comic books practically since the inception of the form. Early examples include: FUTURE COMICS, TOPIX, TRUE COMICS and many others. Obviously, SCIENCE COMICS was one of these, with its claim to be �Based On TRUE Scientific Data�. Over the years, there have been many such comics; a quick search on the Internet yields a variety of current educational funnybooks, including: NATURE COMICS; THE ADVENTURES OF SCOOTER MacDOOGAL; ONE GIANT TREE; SEARCH FOR SOIL; SAFETY BEE; WAY TO GROW!; MOVING WITH MR. MOUSE; McGRUFF�S SURPRISE PARTY; THE STORY OF BANKS; THE STORY OF INFLATION; THE STORY OF MONEY; THE STORY OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM; ONCE UPON A DIME; A PENNY SAVED; THE STORY OF CHECKS AND ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS; THE STORY OF FOREIGN TRADE AND EXCHANGE; THE STORY OF MONETARY POLICY; TOO MUCH, TOO LITTLE; WISHES AND RAINBOWS; and THE ROAD TO ROOTS, among many others currently available from a surprising variety of publishers.

Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd. published only two issues of SCIENCE COMICS; the second issue, also cover-dated 1951, featured a cover-story titled �Atomic Energy: A Force For Good�.

This issue�s 9-page cover-story is �Rocket To The Moon�. It begins with [pic2]this splash-page[pic2] introduction:

INTRODUCTORY NARRATIVE CAPTION:
DAVE KEENE and the Famous DOCTOR FRANKLIN explore the exciting possibilities of a��ROCKET TO THE MOON (based on TRUE scientific data)

Will we ever reach the moon?
Is there any life on the moon?
Is the moon any larger than the Earth?
What kind of fuel would get us to the moon?
How far away is the moon?
Are we actually preparing a trip to the moon?
Have we already made contact with the moon?

On a moonlit night, �Dave Keene� pays a visit to Doctor Franklin�s mountaintop observatory:

DAVE KEENE:
I�m sure lucky to have a friend like Doctor Franklin. He�s one of the world�s greatest scientists and yet he takes an interest in students or any young fellows who are interested in science and new inventions. To-night�Dr. Franklin�s going to sow me the moon through his new telescope!

Dr. Franklin opens the door and gives Dave a tour of the observatory�s interior:

DAVE KEENE:
I can�t wait to see your new telescope, Dr. Franklin.
DR. FRANKLIN:
Well, Dave, it doesn�t compare with the new Palomar telescope of course, but you�ll be able to see quite a few interesting features.
DAVE KEENE:
I�ve seen the moon with a little hand telescope and through binoculars but never from a real observatory telescope.
DR. FRANKLIN:
Well there it is Dave.
DAVE KEENE:
It�s a beauty, doctor.
DR. FRANKLIN:
Most every city in America has an observatory, Dave�and they are glad to let interested people, young and old, study the stars and the planets.

Peering through the telescope�s eyepiece, Dave gets his first spectacular view of the Earth�s moon:

DAVE KEENE:
Just what do we know about the moon, Doctor?
DR. FRANKLIN:
Well Dave, we do know how far it is away from the Earth. How big it is, what its surface consists of and many more interesting facts�facts that make a trip to the moon quite possible. It�s a beautiful and fascinating sight isn�t it Dave. For years man has wondered about the moon�and since the year 1600, has been engaged in making maps of it�s (sp.) surface markings�

Then, Dr. Franklin shows Dave a closer view of the moon:

DR. FRANKLIN:
Now we�ll give you a close-up of the moon�s surface�
DAVE KEENE:
SAY -- !
DR. FRANKLIN:
You�re looking at one of the great moon craters, Dave�Many of their rims stand as high as two miles above the surface of the moon plains and some of them are two miles deep beneath the surface of the plains�As you can see, Dave, many of these giant craters have mountains standing right in the middle of them!

What follows is a less-than-lively discussion space research, the surface of the moon and its formation, its gravity and range of temperature. Then the subject changes to the possibility of alien life-forms:

DAVE KEENE:
Do you think there are any people up on the moon, Dr. Franklin?
DR. FRANKLIN:
It is generally believed that no life exists on the moon, Dave, but there is always a possibility. We have only seen one side of the moon�we can only hazard a guess as to what lies on the other side�nor have we explored below the moon�s surface.

While Dr. Franklin describes the likeliness of a moon shot in the near-future, while Dave imagines himself as a participant on the mission:

DR. FRANKLIN:
Yes, Dave, possibly in a quarter-century a picked group of men will attempt the first trip from the Earth to the moon�A type of rocket fuel would power the space-ship�for�a rocket can operate in airless space. This would not be the�first time we have contacted the moon�for already radar impulses have been sent to and returned from the moon. We have already sent a rocket 114 miles into the air�The, soon to be launched navy rocket, Viking, is expected to go 215 miles away from the Earth...and the moon rocket�with the use of atomic energy will be able to clear the Earth�s atmosphere at an approximate height of three hundred miles.

Within Dave�s fantasy, the rocket eventually reaches the moon, while Dr. Franklin drones on about the realities of rocket fuel and space flight:

DR. FRANKLIN:
Today it would require a ship as large as the Queen Mary to carry enough fuel�In time, science will develop a powerful fuel requiring much less space. On the chard below are several types of rocket fuel, any of which if used in sufficient quantity would allow the rocket to escape from the Earth�s gravitational pull�the figures refer to the exhaust velocity of the fuel, not the rockets speed. A rocket leaving Earth would have to reach the speed of at least twenty-five thousand miles before it�s (sp.) upward velocity over-came the downward pull!

Back in Dave�s fantasy, after circling the moon a few times, the rocket lands tail-first on [pic3]the lunar surface[pic3], and Dave is one of the crew who exits the craft:

DR. FRANKLIN:
Once on the moon�the space-ship crew, equipped with heated pressure suits, would work swiftly, taking samples, surveying, and commence construction of underground laboratories. Eventually�on this planet, one quarter the size of Earth, Man will set up a colony. Scientists will be able to study the universe in much�greater detail�voyages to new planets from the moon base will be possible�great stories of valuable raw material may be discovered.

Back in the observatory, Dr. Franklin concludes his lecture as Dave snaps out of his daydream:

DR. FRANKLIN:
Yes, Dave, it is quite possible that within twenty-five years, maybe sooner�a picked group of physically perfect, keen-mined young scientists will attempt to reach the moon and begin a great new era for mankind�THE CONQUEST OF SPACE!
DAVE KEENE:
I hope I can make the grade for the first trip, Dr. Franklin.
TEASER CAPTION:
Don�t miss the next issue of SCIENCE COMICS when Dave Keene and Doctor Franklin discuss a modern scientific mystery that all the world is wondering about�FLYING SAUCERS�fact or fancy?

Also included in this issue of SCIENCE COMICS are the following stories, features and advertisements:

Drawatoon�, a black-and-white, inside-front-cover [pic4]how-to-draw in-rhyme[pic4] (!) feature �by Harry and Wes�. -- This installment demonstrates how to draw a kangaroo, a chimp (with a tail?) and St. Nicholas.

Bats Have Built In Radar�. � �For years Man has wondered why the bat can fly in total darkness and avoid bumping into objects, but it is only recently scientists have discovered that [pic5]bats[pic5] have been using the radar principle since they were first created�Even before the year 1800, naturalists have known that a bat can fly in total darkness without bumping into obstructions. A biologist, Spallazani, reported in that period that bats liberated in a dark room, easily avoided a series of wires strung about the room. Tests prove that a blindfolded bat will avoid obstacles�BUT if a bat�s ears are covered it has no sense of direction, it will bump into anything that gets in its way. The bat sends out a piercing whistle, too shrill for a human to hear, but the bat hears the sound wave�s echo off objects and uses the echoes like RADAR to gauge distances and keep from crashing! The expression �blind as a bat� is not true, for scientists have proved that bats can see in daytime Their remarkable night time flying accuracy is due to their natural RADAR. A bat will never deliberately attempt to entangle itself in a person�s hair. At this point, a man who looks a lot like Dr. Franklin from �Rocket To The Moon� enters the story just as sit ends: �Actually the bat is a harmless little fellow whose �natural radar� was carefully studied by scientists during their development of RADAR as we know it!�

Leonardo Da Vinci�. � �GREAT MEN OF SCIENCE 1: Born in the year 1452, Leonardo Da Vinci�s name will always be remembered for his wonderful paintings�but in addition to being a great artist, Leonardo Da Vinci made many contributions to science.� This three-page biography �filler� starts by showing Leonardo living in the Italian town of Florence, working as an apprentice to the painter, sculptor and goldsmith, Verrochio. A skilled artist, young Leonardo expands his abilities by extensively studying the dissected bodies of both animals and human beings; this results in Leonardo�s sketches, ones �so finely drawn that they could be used as illustrations for medical text-books today.� We�re shown Leonardo�s most famous piece, the �Mona Lisa�, which is hanging in the Louvre. Next, Leonardo�s achievements in archaeology, geography and architecture and engineering are examined. Leonardo�s creation of the �camera obscura�, his designs for �flying machines�, his study of the stars and planets of the universe, his plans for a submarine of his own design (�I will not release these plans for the use of wicked men.�) and his experiments with �steam power� are all examined. �Although Da Vinci made vast numbers of scientific studies, he wrote down only a fraction of his research results�that fraction alone earned him a rightful place with GREAT MEN OF SCIENCE.�

Trapped By The Electric Eye�. � �The brilliant young scientist, Gregory Black and his beautiful assistant, Janet Martin, build an electric eye to catch an amazingly clever thief�� At the labs of Gregory Black�s �Scientific Research � Incorporated�, he and his assistant are interrupted by a phone call. It�s the owner of the Green Jewellery (sp.) Company calling to report that his shop�s been robbed of a half million dollars� worth of jewelry. Mr. Green wants them to catch the thief, since he doesn�t want any publicity about the theft or interference by the police or press; he also believes that it�s an �inside� job. Professor Black and Janet drive into town and meet with Mr. Green, who privately reveals that one of his employees, Jack Williams, is an ex-con who once served time in prison for jewel theft; Green feels that he�d be the first one to be under suspicion for the crime -- whether he�s guilty or not � and would prefer an unbiased investigation. Black agrees to help Green, and after stopping off at Jan�s place so she can change clothes (how gratuitous can you get?), they go to Scientific Research, Inc., where they start to build an �electric eye beam�. Gregory Black explains: �There you are, Jan�An electric eye beam that when intercepted operates a camera�using ultra-violet light for the beam to make it invisible and infra-red film so that we�ll be ale to take a picture in the dark�I think it will get our man!� Janet replies: �I see, Greg�The beam is set to cross in front of the safe�The thief�s body breaks the beam�the electric current, interrupted, sets off mechanism operating camera.� After testing it on a skull (!), they install the �little thief getter� in Green�s jewelry store, explaining to the owner, �Your thief will have to kneel in front of the safe, to open it�When he does he will interrupt the electric current flowing from this ultra-violet lamp to that photo-electric cell�This interruption in current will set off a mechanism which will operate the camera that we have concealed behind the picture above the safe�Switch on the eye whenever you leave here Mr. Green�and if our man does show up, you�ll soon recover your jewellery (sp.).� Five nights later, a mysterious figure breaks in to the jewelry store, using a duplicate of Green�s �special key� that bypasses any alarm: �Everything�s nice and quiet�the perfect set-up for another big haul�Ahaa�Green�s private safe�a tough can to crack�Unless you happen to know the combination, which, thanks to his carelessness, I was able to steal�from his desk. What a set-up�The third haul in a month�It�s also too easy�No trouble�No risk�� Little does the sneak-thief realize that he�s being photographed�and here�s [pic6]a diagram[pic6] that shows how! The following morning, the film is developed, and before very long, Gregory Black has called a meeting with Mr. Green, Jack Williams, a plainclothes policeman and the guilty man, a person named George Griffin. When Griffin tries to throw suspicion on Williams, he claims that the ex-con was behind �the robberies, all three of them�, he give himself away. When Gregory confronts him with the infra-red photography, Griffin panics and pulls a deadly automatic pistol before he can be arrested. Admitting his guilt, Griffin blurts out, �Okay, so I pulled the jobs�So anybody wants to stop me from leaving this place, pickin� up the loot from my room and blowin� town gets knocked off�Out of my way, suckers!� Using his valise, Gregory Black disarms Griffin so that he can be subdued. Mr. Green gets in the last word: �Nice all-round job Professor Black!�

Professor Gregory Black�s Scientific Research Reports�, a one-page [pic7]illustrated question-and-answer feature[pic7].

Professor Gregory Black�s Science Forecast�, a one-page feature of [pic8]surprisingly accurate scientific predictions for the future[pic8] of �Advanced Two-Way Television�.

Science In The Sky�. � �Since Man first witnessed the bird of the air, he has dreamed of a machine that would carry him to the clouds�and today when we see the sleek jets streaking effortlessly across the sky, we find it hard to believe that though Man has been trying to fly for over a thousand years, it is only in the last century that he has been able to realize his dream. Toda science works unceasingly to provide faster, safer travel in air.� Establishing that, �Man�s first thought was that a flying machine should use the basic action of a bird in flight�, we�re shown a pair of mechanical wings designed and built by Leonardo Da Vinci. Then the story -- more like an article, actually � visually covers [pic9]a variety of other Oddball examples of early attempts at aviation.[pic9] These include a flying boat, a combination of helicopter and airplane, flipper- and propeller-powered devices, an �aerial steam carriage�, an early plane with bat-wings, a �semi-rigid dirigible with two and driven propellers� and other historic semi-failures. �Today we take the new announcements of airspeed records as a matter of course�little realizing that such perfection has been reached only by the ceaseless efforts of our scientists of the sky�Don�t miss the next chapter of aviation progress in�SCIENCE COMICS.�

Dave Keene�s Laboratory�, [pic10]a two-page educational feature[pic10] that features a fictional scientist in the mode of television�s Don Herbert, AKA �Mr. Wizard� � �Hello, guys and gals. Welcome to my little laboratory. I thought you might like to drop in here each issue of Science Comics to conduct scientific experiments.� -- in a classroom performance of �a simple experiment� designed to �demonstrate gravitation, the force by which bodies are drawn toward the centre of the Earth�.

Science Sketches�, a page of [pic11]interesting scientific tidbits[pic11] that include �Science Uses Atomic Energy�, �Rockets Collect Atmospheric Samples� and �Firefighters Keep Cool�.

Drawatoon�, a black-and-white, inside-back-cover [pic12]how-to-draw in-rhyme[pic12] (!) feature �by Harry and Wes�. -- This installment demonstrates how to draw a puppy, a beaver and a Christmas tree.

�Ahoy � Mates! I Think You�ll Like CAPTAIN HOBBY COMICS�, [pic13]a back-cover house-ad[pic13] for Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd.�s CAPTAIN HOBBY COMICS.

ODDBALL FACTOID � This issue�s back-cover was a little late to do its job, because Export Publishing Enterprises Ltd. only published a single issue of CAPTAIN HOBBY COMICS four years earlier, back in February 1947!

New Next Week: ODDBALL COMIC #1,286 -- MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2010 � ODDBALL COMICS kicks off the new year with a hilarious-yet-pathetic SUPERMAN tale from the �Silver Age Of Comics� � �Bizarro Meets Frankenstein!� And if that ain�t Oddball enough for you, we�ve also got �The Great Superman Hoax!� and �Lois Lane�s Lucky Day!� up our sleeves! Bizarro say you am gonna hate it!