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Post by steveinthecity on Aug 22, 2017 13:54:39 GMT -8
Kull The Conqueror #8 (1973) Len Wein-script/John & Marie Severin-art While lost in a stormy sea, Kull and his followers are shipwrecked on an island believed to be inhabited by the "Cult Of The Leopard". A self-contained story including mysterious murders, villager rebellion, a mad ruler-type, lycanthropy, and swordplay. All in all a pretty decent representation of the Sword and Sorcery genre in early 70's comics. Ad pick: "Train at home to be a veterinary assistant". Training can lead to a career as a Lab Aide, Kennel Owner, or as a ZooKeeper!  Rawhide Kid #143 (1977) Story and art by Larry Lieber Reprints Rawhide Kid #45 and tells the origin of the Kid. We also meet his previously unknown two brothers. Simplistic, but entertaining backstory. Ad pick: "Poster Bonanza"! For only $2 you get five full color posters featuring such 70's idols as KISS, Hardy Boys, Farrah Fawcett, Grizzly Adams, Baretta, etc. Hostess Ad: "Thor In The Ding-A-Ling Family". Hillbillies in a trailer floating randomly through Asgardian orbit encounter Thor and his allies. As one hillbilly is about to bring down Thor with his "Atomic Shotgun" Sif distracts the baddie with delicious Hostess fruit pies. The drama now averted, Volstagg in a wildly out of character moment suggests they bring the remaining fruit pies back to Odin(rather than eat the snacks himself).  Rawhide Kid #144 (1977) Story and Pencils - Larry Lieber, inks- George Roussos. Reprints a story from RK #112. Run of the mill western fare. Single young woman is approached by the local baddie to sell her ranch, she refuses, bad guy starts killing her ranch hands. A spurned romantic advance and several gunfights follow with the bad guy eveventually getting put down and the young woman agreeing to marry the gunslinger that helped Kid save her ranch. A back up story from Two Gun Kid #68 by Stan Lee and Jack Keller had an interesting twist ending. Ad pick: Heroes World selling a "Marvel Collector's Set" for $5.50 post paid that consisted of 2001 #1, What If #1, Black Panther #1, Red Sonja #2, and Peter Parker #3. Hostess Ad: "Spider-Man Spoils A Snatch". While out with MJ (as Pete), Spidey foils an unnamed villain who's projected multiple images of himself during a museum jewel robbery to confuse onlookers. The quick thinking Spidey tosses delicious devil's food chocolate cupcakes on the floor to draw out the real villain who can't resist the temptation to eat the snacks. Gil Kane cover  Chili #22 (1973) Indicia shows copyright date from '69, so these are apparently all reprints. Five short stories by Stan Lee and Stan Goldberg plus one uncredited single page strip. The usual Chili fare with Chili trying to outsmart or one-up her rival Millie with her efforts often backfiring. I find the later Chili's mostly unremarkable when compared to the Millie's of the early 60's or before. Ad pick: A company called Adolph's from Minneapolis, Minnesota is selling reproduction German Army helmets with swastika decals. Decals come in your choice of red, blue, or orange!   The Original cover  Notice from the original (only four years older!) not just were the character's fashions brought up to date, but the pipe was removed and the word 'lady' changed to 'miss'. |
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Post by Jimmers Nice Guy on Aug 22, 2017 16:50:31 GMT -8
This is great!
More Hostess Cupcake adverts please!
I'll keep an eye open too.
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Post by steveinthecity on Jul 4, 2018 17:44:25 GMT -8
Vision & The Scarlet Witch #7 cover date April 1986 Steve Englehart with art by Richard Howell and inks by Frank Springer. "Batteries Not Included" #7 of a 12 issue mini series, but remarkably this can be read as a stand alone story. We begin with Sub-Mariner practicing in the Avenger's combat simulation room and destroying one of Stark's weapons due to not knowing where the "off" switch was. On to the 4th page we learn Capt. America's favorite drink is whole milk and Subby's is spring water. They proceed into another room where Mastermind regains consciousness (or reanimates) and attacks Vision, causing Vision the loss of his left hand. During the scrum, the Toad King (!) also uses this as a time to escape in his space ship conveniently standing by. Vision manages to board just before losing consciousness. Whatever android consciousness is called, it's never explained. Vision defeats The Toad in space and uses his 'solarbeam" to propel him backwards, safely to earth. Wanda & Vision reunite, there's ad placement from Macy's for the 3rd or 4th time, then some relationship drama set up for a future issue. Favorite ad is from Kenner. An action figure group called MASK that has cars, helicopters, and a jet as part of their arsenal. I don't remember these, but they sound cool. Mile High has an ad with 100 Archie's for $22, and early Kamandi's for 50¢. A Marvel sub could be had for $6.50 for 13 issues.  Sorry, none of my images are working once posted. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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Post by steveinthecity on Jun 11, 2019 19:10:59 GMT -8
Blazing Battle Tales #1 cover date July 1975
"The Beast With One Arm"
John Albano - script / Pat Broderick - pencils / Jack Sparling - inks
SSG Hawk is in the mold of the fearless "anything goes" type of soldier, as well as his platoon. He and two of his men, Whitecloud and Goldberg are hand picked by Military Intelligence to rescue an agent from the French Underground who was captured by the German Army. Off they go to the German prison camp, on foot, and arrive at 0400 hrs. Two panels later Hawk tells his men they need to go in now as they only "have about three hours of daylight left". It must get dark at odd times in Germany, or the editor doesn't know how to use a 24 hour military clock. The trio rushes the sentries, killing both with knives, then killed another man, naked, and headed to the shower. "He died dirty" Hawk chirped.
Hawk and Whitecloud crawl through a window into a darkened room where the Nazi Colonel and four of his troops surprise Hawk by suddenly switching on the lights, all with weapons drawn. Hawk reacts quickly by throwing a grenade left handed at the Nazi boss's head and causing him to drop his firearm. With his right arm Hawk hurls a knife at a soldiers mid section, killing him. Not to be outdone, Whitecloud fires at two more of the German troops, dropping them at close range. The last German soldier is shot from behind by Goldberg who was still waiting outside the window. It's unclear how or why the soldier was able to get his back to the window and still be facing Hawk and Whitecloud. The Colonel escaped during the melee.
With the prisoner in his arms, Hawk carried her out of the prison camp, avoiding enemy soldiers, and the four of them hunkered down in a secure spot for two days where the Germans couldn't find them. Hawk noticed some German troops off in the distance and found they were digging graves to hide soldiers from Hawk's platoon that were tortured and killed at some point by the Nazi Colonel. Hawk dispatched the German troops and angrily stormed off back towards the prison camp to get retribution, Whitecloud just behind him. Whitecloud was so focused on hitting his targets he failed to notice a grenade landing between Hawk and himself. Luckily, Hawk was able to kick the grenade back at the Germans and thus ended the threat. At that point Hawk noticed the Colonel trying to get away in a jeep, so Hawk shot him causing the jeep to go out of control, and crashing in fiery ruins, killing the Colonel.
That's the entire story, and being the only issue published, we never got to see Hawk, his men, or any further adventures again.
"Sky Demon" six pages
John Albano - story / Al Williamson - art
A quick story of an incredibly brave and daring pilot who followed orders not to engage a target that was not part of the mission. He wanted to bomb a train, which they let pass unscathed. It turned out Hitler was secretly riding on that very train.
"Saluting Pvt William Swanson"
John Albano -story / John Severin - art / Alan Kupperburg - letters
A two page account of a real life medal winner.
Cover art - Frank Thorne
Ad pick - Flintstones scale model (6" molded plastic) $1.80 + 50¢ shipping
Never saw one of these. I'm guessing it's a few pieces that snap together, the dinosaur being one color and Fred being another. I can only imagine how bad kids would have felt if they ponied up over nine comics worth of coin for this.
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Post by steveinthecity on Jun 18, 2019 22:01:54 GMT -8
Billy The Kid (Western Outlaw) #35 cover date August 1962 "El Hombre's Army" - 8 pgs. Splash page shows El Hombre about to blindfold Billy as he is about to face a firing squad. The second page begins the story of how Billy ended up in such a dire predicament. Billy decides to visit friends in Mexico and is aware of the threat El Hombre and his band of outlaws pose, but believes the possible rewards are greater than any danger he'll face. He meets a Father and Daughter that he knows and learns the Daughter's fiancee(Pablo) has been captured by El Hombre. He next visits his friend, Jose. Jose is fearful El Hombre will return to take all the villagers money or kill them. At that moment El Hombre shows up and demands money ("Gringos have much gold!") then slaps/punches Billy and Jose. Billy just pulls his gun when El Hombre's henchman arrive. Billy jumps through a nearby window as shots are fired and manages to hide. An angry El Hombre takes assorted villagers hostage in order to draw Billy out of Hiding, then heads to a hotel to rest. Billy shows up and is knocked unconscious and taken prisoner. Now facing the firing squad with his hands tied behind his back, Billy quickly turns and shoots El Hombre with a derringer he concealed when first captured. The other prisoners (unarmed) then chase El Hombre's gang out of town. Pablo, now freed, asks Billy to be his Best Man at the wedding. All apparently ended well. "Gimpy's Boy" - 2 pgs. An unamed 15 year old punches an outlaw and starts shooting, which succeeds in driving the outlaw and his crew out of town. "That Nice Bonnie Boy" - 5 pgs. The sheriff punches Billy and orders him out of town. Billy then punches and shoots two of the sheriff's gang and orders them all out of town. In the final panel Billy is seen holding a woman in his arms with the Editor's notes saying (Billy) should be "able to relax a little". "Hamilton Heads Here" -2 pg text story A mountaineer meets an Indian tribe, Eats some Buffalo tongue, and learns the Indian's sign language. "Tenderfoot" - 2 pgs A Chicago police lieutenant offers Loco Mike a drink and accepts his offer to "hand rassle". The police lieutenant forcefully squeezes Mike's hand causing Mike great discomfort. He produces a warrant for Mike's arrest and Loco Mike complies due to the gentlemanly behavior of the big city policeman. "Maximillion's Heirs" - 8 pgs Billy heads off to Mexico where he meets a Frenchman who is tormenting the locals. Billy eats some enchiladas and chili. Billy learns the Frenchman planned to steal an enormous amount of gold that was mined by thousands of Indian slaves throughout the years. The Frenchman's fiancee is upset about this, so Billy shoots the guy in the shoulder and order is restored. The Frenchman apologizes for allowing his greed to cloud his judgement.  Cover art by Charles Nicholas (last name Wojtkoski) and Vince Alascia.  Ad pick - "Get A Miniature Dog At No Cost!". "So intelligent it's almost human!". "Simply pay the postman 49¢ and a few cents for c.o.d. service plus postage on arrival". You're asked to send a photo and state hair & eye color and you'll receive back a "Movietone picture frame at no extra cost". The frame is evidently a sample that kids would use to motivate others to buy photo enlargements and these magnificent frames. If the free dog doesn't appeal there's the option of a free radio, camera, or miniature monkey.  |
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Post by steveinthecity on Jun 20, 2019 22:17:32 GMT -8
Defenders #30 (1975) Bill Mantlo - script / Sam Grainger & Jack Abel -art "Gold Diggers Of Fear" As Dr. Strange walks down the street a man comes up behind him, with gun in hand. Strange immediately levitates the man and drops him into a trash can, the levitating can lid falling to cover the can. Some gangster types approach, telling Doc to read a letter they brought with them. Strange reads it as the paper floats in the air in front of him. It's from Nighthawk, explaining he has been captured for ransom (as his alter-ego, Kyle Richmond). We find out the gangster's names are "Smiley", "Foxy", "Louie", and "Da Boss". Doc invites the gangsters to his apartment, and Wong seats them in the parlor. Doc casts a spell and speaks with Nighthawk's floating head appearing above him. He goes to enlist the aid of Valkyrie and the Hulk, who Doc sends on ahead to Los Angeles with his astral image showing the hulk the direction to where Nighthawk is imprisoned. In the meantime Wong spikes the gangsters drinks, causing them to fall asleep, and Wong is to call the police. Doc casts another spell, instantly transporting himself and Valkyrie to L.A., just seconds ahead of the Hulk who leaped his way there. Hulk states his pleasure being with the two of them, and then we see Nighthawk(as Kyle)with hands tied, sitting in a director's chair. Some guy in tails and top hat tells Kyle he's going to kill him. He tells our heroes his name is "Tapping Tommy" and he has been alone since age five when his parents went to "rot in prison" for operating an illegal distillery. Tommy only survived by becoming an "extra" in films and theater. Without pause, a robot attacks Hulk, Kyle is freed and changes into his Nighthawk uniform that he brought with him when he was kidnapped, and then punches a gangster. The four heroes are then knocked unconscious by a gas grenade and wake up shackled to a stage set. Robot women sing and dance while Robot men dressed like Tommy strike the foursome repeatedly with canes. Valkyrie announces her "powers are useless against women, even metal ones". Hulk breaks his shackles, Valkyrie throws her sword at a box with buttons on it, destroying the box and causing the robots to cease functioning. Hulk head-butts Tapping Tommy, knocking him out cold. A welcome triumph over their most incredible foe!   Mine is a pence copy. Ad Pick - Marvelous Halloween Monster Masks made of high quality rubber. Two of the masks offered have the same part number, but one is $3.28 and the other $4.48, not sure which is which. I suppose you find that out if you order the "wrong" one and it comes c.o.d. The Wolfman is $10.24. Hostess Ad - "The Incredible Hulk and The Twins of Evil" - Wendigo and the Abomination team up to knock Hulk out. Some kids out for a hike give Hulk a Hostess Fruit Pie made with real fruit filling and a light, flaky crust, rejuvenating him, and Hulk begins punching trees.   |
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Post by Ditch Fahrenheit on Jun 21, 2019 18:28:23 GMT -8
If I remember correctly, there's a Hostess ad where Hulk kills a drug dealer by rolling him up in asphalt from the street.
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Post by steveinthecity on Jun 23, 2019 22:14:04 GMT -8
If I remember correctly, there's a Hostess ad where Hulk kills a drug dealer by rolling him up in asphalt from the street. He rolls up/crushes some kids who were roller skating with boom boxes blaring. Yeah, they certainly were killed.  They're in some Marvels with cover dates of August '80(FF #221). |
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Post by steveinthecity on Jun 30, 2019 20:13:02 GMT -8
Adventures Of The Big Boy #233 (1976) A giveaway made available to kids who visit the Big Boy restaurants. Looking at these now as an adult, I realize there's really a lot going on in these 16 pages to keep a youngster occupied and even learn some stuff. Letters page with really lame letters. "Big Boys Place In History" - 5 pgs. A painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware falls on BB's head and knocks him out. He dreams he's part of the crew crossing the river, catches a cold, sneezes, impersonates a native American Indian by putting a feather in his hair, and distracts a British soldier on lookout. Next some guy from the museum puts the painting back on the wall and apologizes to Big Boy. "State Of The Union: Alabama" - 1 pg mostly text Frenchmen settled along the river bank in what became the city of Mobile, AL. There followed steady wars with the native people until Gen. Jackson's army drove the natives out in 1816, who relinquished claim to any land south of the Tennessee River. Slaves were "imported", planters became rich and built mansions and practiced "Southern Hospitality". This practice of being kind and welcoming was apparently the envy of people worldwide. Birmingham was known as "Pittsburgh Of The South" beginning in the early 1900's due to the city's rapid rise in the steel industry. There is a small map showing the locations of eight Big Boy locations in the state. "Great Americans" - ½ pg Short bio's on John Marshall (Supreme Court Justice for 35 years) and Jane Adams (Helped the less fortunate and won a Nobel Prize). A game similar to "Guess The Book" - ½ pg. Six portions of panel art are shown and you're supposed to find the original panel. There's "wallet pictures" and a word search, drawing of six flags that were part of the "Independence struggle" and ½ page essay about characteristics of a hyena as told by a hyena. "People call us Laughing Hyena's out of ignorance" and "Rats don't drop bombs on other rats", "Gray mice don't let white mice buy a home on the same block" were some of the hyena's comments explaining why humans suck. Also, a small maze filled filled the remainder of the fun/educational part of the book. "Nugget Outsmarts Himself" - 2 pgs Nugget avoids being trounced by the local "bully" dog by drawing him into another dog's territory. While Nugget flees for safety, the two other dogs throw down. Later the bully dogs overhear Nugget bragging about how smart he is, so they beat the crap out of him. The message of the story in the final panel is "Wise dog keeps thoughts to himself if others are listening". Last page (inside cover) is a pen pal page. Washington and his men clearly overlooked the relevancy the Big Boy's extensive study of Native American culture and language pays off. Examples of the nimble witted feedback Big Boy offers to directional arrow had to their mission. club members in distress.    This 10-year old kid in 1976 lists I think Dolly's been into Mom's computers and nuclear power as Kid's last names are understood only and Dad's medicine cabinet. his hobbies. He's from Canada, so by Navajo Code Talkers. At least they he likely grew into a well adjusted left the full addresses unaltered. and productive adult.   
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Post by steveinthecity on Jul 6, 2019 23:18:10 GMT -8
Action Comics #400 (1971) "My Son...Is He Man Or Beast?" Leo Dorfman - Script / Curt Swan & Murphy Anderson - art We see Superman present at the funeral of a famous scientist. As the service ends, Supes approaches Gregor, son of the deceased. Kal-El is bewildered when Gregor gives him a cold shoulder. The will is read, naming Superman legal guardian of Gregor, who reacts by telling Supes he "hates him" and wants to tear him apart. He rushes off to his room as he becomes ghost-like and passes effortlessly through the closed door. Superman smashes through the door to see Gregor is now a gorilla, but then quickly returns to human form. Gregor recalls several years back and explains that his Father's atomic furnace was about to explode, potentially harming every living thing on the planet, but Superman swooped in and threw the furnace into an in-ground swimming pool. Radioactive steam rose from the pool and contaminated the air surrounding Gregor as Supes flew him to safety. Gregor discovers he can turn into anything he thinks of for a short time, then reverts back to his normal self. He tells his girlfriend (who he'd hope to marry) to buzz off and Supes offers to train the lad in how to use his powers. The FBI summons Supes to a vault that will explode if super-strength, x-ray or heat vision is used to tamper with it. Supes has Gregor become a ghost and open the vault from the inside. Gregor goes to Africa and becomes an elephant to fight poachers, turns back into a ghost, grabs Superman's cape who then unknowingly carries Gregor back to Clark Kent's apartment. Superman knowing his secret identity is now exposed, decides to take young Gregor to the Fortress of Solitude for further training. Gregor impulsively pushes a button causing a space station to begin self-destructing. While Supes races to outer space, an emergency call comes in that a submarine is trapped miles below the surface somewhere in Japan. Gregor then develops Superman's powers, changes into one of the Superman uniforms from a nearby group of Super-Robots and flies off to Japan. He is able to withstand the pressure of being so deep in the ocean because he's gained Superman's powers. As he's lifting the sub to safety, he turns back to his normal self, but Superman is back on the scene. He races Gregor and the sub to the surface, hoping to get to a hospital in time to save Gregor. Gregor has Supes put him down on a beach somewhere and tells him he's happy to die as a man, not a beast. His body then turns to dust as Superman cradles the now empty uniform and looks skyward with profound sadness, having lost "the son (he) always dreamed of". I wish this was a 2-part story because I wanted to see how Superman explains Gregor's death to the authorities and to the fiancee, or what happened to the body. I mean, there were witnesses to Gregor's threatening of Supes after the will was read. Superman could've saved Gregor if he'd used his super breath to create a kind of vortex or whirlpool and carry Gregor through the opening where the water was pushed apart. The fiancee could repeat the atomic furnace accident and allow herself to be exposed to radioactive steam, become a villain and get revenge for Gregor's death. LOC with a letter from Bob Rozakis. Next a guy named Alan points out Supe's telescopic vision couldn't possibly compensate for the curvature of the earth and the editor explains how Superman does it anyway. Joseph buys an issue of Action Comics for the first time in seven years(against his better judgement), then goes on to rave about how super-duper awesome the writer, artists, and story were. Gary from Ohio tells us he "would die if not for the spellbinders that Leo Dorfman writes", and he "basks" in Curt Swan's scenery from the future. "Duel Of Doom" Geoff Browne - script / Swan & Anderson - art We're seeing a rerun of a history tape being shown at Kandor University(Go mighty Kan-U!). It's likely the only institute of higher learning the Kandorian's have, but whatever. Brainiac loses his hold on the bottled city of Kandor, Supergirl catches it before it hits the ground, saving the millions of Kandorians that somehow survive in that bottle. Cut to two Kandorian students squabbling over whether men or woman are the superior gender. The gal student(Yllura)sneaks onto a restricted Historic Zone site, blasts away some rocks with a ray gun and discovers the "find of the century". Yllura immediately knows she's found the site of a prehistoric demon worshipping cult, so of course she goes off by herself to explore the maze of tunnels in front of her. Meanwhile Arvor (the guy) is testing a Cyclops-looking visor that gives him "mental vision" and x-ray vision like Superman's. A second device(a belt with two big red lights at the hip) enables him to fly. His batteries or something go dead and he plummets into a body of water, struggles to get the heavy belt off as it drags him far below the surface, leading him to an underground chamber. Yllura starts screaming because a floating gargoyle head appears. Arvor follows the sound of the screams and throws a rock at the stone gargoyle, not the floating image. The gargoyle head cracks open and a bunch of wires and stuff fall out and Arvor realizes this was just a fancy projector of sorts. The tunnels become completely dark, and the couple embraces and is grateful that they'll "at least die together". Yllura asks Arvor about that mental vision device of his so he uses it to "see" their way out of the tunnel to safety. Supes and Supergirl parachute into Kandor to present the couple with a "super trophy" for the teamwork the two displayed in getting themselves out of hot water. I'd expected there'd be an award for making the find of the century, but I guess I don't really have a handle on Kandorian culture and how they prioritize things. Not really sure whatever became of Brainiac.    Ad pick - I'd pretty much want this airplane. It actually flies and it's fully dimensional. That means it's got all the right dimensions, just like a real plane. It's made from resilient expanded polystyrene and even glistens. It's aerodynamically balanced, that's how come it can fly. It's kind of expensive, but that's how you know it's good. This would buy a bunch of comics or 31 packs of baseball cards. I've got like ten Rennie Stennetts and still no Carlton Fisk or Dave Kingman. That's really messed up.  
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Post by steveinthecity on Jul 8, 2019 23:44:25 GMT -8
Sgt. Fury #98 (1972) "Top Secret: Dugan's Deadly Dozen" Gary Freidrich - script / Dick Ayers & Mike Esposito -art John Severin - cover art Happy Sam gives Dum Dum the news that he's tasked with leading a new group of commandos & hands over a file containing info on his new partners who were currently in prison for crimes ranging from simple theft to manslaughter. Pinky and Dino carry over to Dugan's new squad. Dum Dum is less than enthused, so Sam calls him a "jackass" and threatens him with jail. He's then given a promotion to Sergeant and threatened with peeling potatoes for the remainder of the war. Dugan is told the group has a critical mission coming up in 15 days, so Dugan threatens a few of his new charges with jail, physical violence, and smashing the guitar belonging to one of the new guys. He throws Laurie(a British civilian who speaks ten languages fluently) into the water, then beats up Hoss(a professional wrestler). A rarely seen occurrence of Dum Dum's hat falling off has no bearing on the story whatsoever. Cut to Dugan & crew spotting a raft in open water loaded with German spies. Laurie uses the term "ruddy" twice, "bloomin' right" once, and makes a statement about women's equality. The spies land on the beach wearing standard military uniforms and weapons drawn. One spy is shot and wounded, one is kicked in the giggle berries, one karate chopped, and one knocked out by a guitar. Laurie headbutts the spy she squared off with. Hoss spins two guys over his head, and another goes down after being distracted by a card trick. Jake tries to steal a wallet from one downed spies, but another spy catches him so Jake headbutts that guy(we learn Jake has a steel plate in his head). All the spies have now surrendered with hands in the air, so Dum Dum Threatens his commando crew with prison if any harm should befall the captured spies. Laurie then uses the word "shant" to remind everyone she's British. Happy Sam shows up to insult the Dirty Dozen, then sends them to "double time out of his sight". A thought bubble reveals Sam just doesn't want the new group to become overconfident. Bullpen Bulletin's page - Stan Lee says "panopoly of punctilious phrases" and tells readers to skip buying Millie The Model this month and pick up Luke Cage #1. Steve Englehart is welcomed as a new writer, Flo Steinberg says "hi"(wherever she is), and Roy Thomas went to the Rutland, VT Halloween parade dressed as Spidey. "Tell It To Fury" letters column - Sean promises to buy every new Sgt. Fury that comes out and that hearing CCR's "Who'll Stop The Rain" causes him to relive the Howler's combat experience. Dick Ayers reminds him of Neal Adams/Jack Kirby and #94 is in his(Sean's) personal Comics Hall Of Fame. Pete in Maryland praises #94, calling it a "masterpiece" and deserving of 12 Academy Awards for Comics. The Editor responds that they received many long, thought out letters, but filled 30%+ of the LOC with the Statement Of Ownership and a reprinted panel from #94. Nick makes a cameo and does his tough guy act. The German spies were so obviously outclassed by Dum Dum & his crew.    I wasn't aware hip huggers were in Vogue during WWII, but Laurie pulls the look off nicely.  Ad pick - "The Secret Of Bowling Strikes". Promises to increase your average by at least 35 pins. Most people don't know that the best way to improve your bowling is by looking at pictures. With this including 101 "actual pictures" I'm pretty much guaranteed to get one of those "600" or "700 Club" patches that only the very best bowlers get to wear. I hope the photos aren't of Earl Anthony because he's left handed, that'll just screw me up. That anti-gravity device sounds pretty cool, too. I could probably put the car on the roof of the house or in a tree because it won't weigh so much. My parents would flip out. 
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Post by steveinthecity on Jul 12, 2019 19:50:59 GMT -8
What's In It For You? #nn (1957) What's in it for me? Hopefully one of those hotties  Sue likes this guy(Don) who's a popular student and star athlete, but he's a selfish jerk. Sue & her brother(The Football Coach) decide to invite Don to a National Guard sponsored dance in order to teach him teamwork. Don's not buying the spiel and goes home. That evening there's a flash flood or a dam breaks or something and Don's house fills with 3-4 feet of water. His mother (who's ten feet away) needs some sort of help, so Don or his Dad(I forget which) break down the front door for some reason. Now the water outside rushes even faster into the house(?) placing the family in grave danger. A boat filled with National Guardsmen appears and rescues the family. Don has fantasies about being able to help people so the following day he signs up. The family is really happy and supportive. Seven days pass and we see the Dad painting the walls inside the house, commenting that everything is back to normal. Sue goes to a game show and is picked as a contestant. In a stroke of remarkable luck, her category is questions about the National Guard! She answers 4 or 5 correctly and is awarded a large trophy. Don is now at National Guard "camp" and looking at a pin-up picture of Sue in a bathing suit. Now everyone's happy. The football coach regales Don with the many perks he'll get as a Guardsman. The toughest questions are always saved for last, but Sue obviously knew her stuff. Don shows the reader's the real reason he joined the Nat'l. Guard.    Lest the comic mislead the reader into thinking all one gets as a Guardsman is the attention of women, the more practical reasons and things you'd tell your parents are shown on the back cover. You can be a pilot apparently. Get paid to read books. The "learn leadership" one is confusing. Is the guy walking beside the larger group the leader or is it the guy in front of the line the leader? Either way, with the odds being one out nine Guardsmen getting to be a leader it's not a sure thing. You can be an officer, although I suspect there's some fine print somewhere that spells out the qualifications. I don't quite understand what the image of the guy watching ufo's coming up over the horizon has to do with being an officer, but it's probably explained once you're signed up. I can see the appeal of the social and athletic activities, since civilians have a harder time accessing those things. Guardsmen must like to dance a lot. The excellent pay & retirement plans seal the deal. The coach is a Sgt. earning $400 a year, so a new recruit will be pulling down about 40% of that. Sweet. Sweet, sweet Sue...
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Post by Jeffro on Jul 13, 2019 4:11:29 GMT -8
Nice write up Steve. That's what I love about these giveaway comics. They are often a snapshot of the period in which they were produced, not to mention complete propaganda for whatever the subject of the comic was. Some of them are damned odd but maybe that's because we look at them now with 2019 eyes, instead of the eyes of the time in which they were made
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Post by Ditch Fahrenheit on Jul 13, 2019 16:22:16 GMT -8
What's In It For You? #nn (1957) What's in it for me? Hopefully one of those hotties Sue likes this guy(Don) who's a popular student and star athlete, but he's a selfish jerk. Sue & her brother(The Football Coach) decide to invite Don to a National Guard sponsored dance in order to teach him teamwork. Don's not buying the spiel and goes home. That evening there's a flash flood or a dam breaks or something and Don's house fills with 3-4 feet of water. His mother (who's ten feet away) needs some sort of help, so Don or his Dad(I forget which) break down the front door for some reason. Now the water outside rushes even faster into the house(?) placing the family in grave danger. A boat filled with National Guardsmen appears and rescues the family. Don has fantasies about being able to help people so the following day he signs up. The family is really happy and supportive. Seven days pass and we see the Dad painting the walls inside the house, commenting that everything is back to normal. Sue goes to a game show and is picked as a contestant. In a stroke of remarkable luck, her category is questions about the National Guard! She answers 4 or 5 correctly and is awarded a large trophy. Don is now at National Guard "camp" and looking at a pin-up picture of Sue in a bathing suit. Now everyone's happy. The football coach regales Don with the many perks he'll get as a Guardsman. The toughest questions are always saved for last, but Sue obviously knew her stuff. Don shows the reader's the real reason he joined the Nat'l. Guard. Lest the comic mislead the reader into thinking all one gets as a Guardsman is the attention of women, the more practical reasons and things you'd tell your parents are shown on the back cover. You can be a pilot apparently. Get paid to read books. The "learn leadership" one is confusing. Is the guy walking beside the larger group the leader or is it the guy in front of the line the leader? Either way, with the odds being one out nine Guardsmen getting to be a leader it's not a sure thing. You can be an officer, although I suspect there's some fine print somewhere that spells out the qualifications. I don't quite understand what the image of the guy watching ufo's coming up over the horizon has to do with being an officer, but it's probably explained once you're signed up. I can see the appeal of the social and athletic activities, since civilians have a harder time accessing those things. Guardsmen must like to dance a lot. The excellent pay & retirement plans seal the deal. The coach is a Sgt. earning $400 a year, so a new recruit will be pulling down about 40% of that. Sweet. Sweet, sweet Sue...  Very funny Steve.  |
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Post by steveinthecity on Aug 17, 2020 5:54:17 GMT -8
Brave And The Bold #125 (1976) Bob Haney - script / Jim Aparo - art The cover does it’s job here. Flash helpless in the maws of a tiger. Batman leaping in front of an ominous moon apparently to save the day, but doesn’t see the bad guy with a machine gun trained on him. Easy choice pulling this one from the spinner rack. Action is immediate. A drug deal goes down with a guy named “Cheech” buying a pound of smack from two criminal types when “Kwaaaam”, Batman takes Cheech down and you next see him dragging Cheech by the collar through the prison halls. Cheech turns out to be a police informant, so this was all a plan to get a sample of this super strong “junk” that’s about to flood Gotham. Barry Allen is fortunately standing by to analyze the powder and determine it’s the purest he’s ever seen, and part of “the Chan Connection” they’d previously been tipped off about. The Commissioner who’s also standing by authorizes Bats & Flash to go undercover to SE Asia to cut off the source of the drug. Meanwhile a female prisoner escapes by using a trampoline to jump over the prison walls onto a waiting truck. Now in Rangoon, the duo look for their contact Max, who will take them to the elusive drug lord, Chan. Flash misses getting squashed by several elephants, and Bruce is randomly attacked by a sword wielding baddie while at a cafe. They think they’ve spotted a famous US pilot who has been missing for 7+ years, but she ditches them. A tip leads the pair to the jungle to find Max, and in short order Barry is taken down by a tiger, and while it drags him further into the brush, Bruce takes a moment out to change into costume. The lion is next determined to be Chan’s pet, so Bruce follows them back to the compound, shedding the Batman outfit along the way. The pilot appears to be a prisoner/servant to Chan at the compound. We find out Max was killed and Bruce is to deal directly with Chan as the go-between in arranging a payoff from the US Government for Chan to destroy the drug supply. Chan pretends to destroy an Opium crop and Bruce is rightly angered.  That night they go in search of the real opium stash and see the US pilot again, coming in by boat. What???!!! The pilot falls in a pit, and upon rescuing her, she tells him she’s a writer looking for Max.  Flash hyper-vibrates through some walls, carrying the pilot inside the compound. She doesn’t seem worse for wear, despite the trauma her internal organs must have just experienced. A quick check of her fingerprints show she’s the prisoner who escaped over a wall early in the story. She’d just undergone plastic surgery to alter her appearance and randomly gave the Surgeon photos of the missing pilot to use. Batman states she’s “ok, deep inside” and wants to work a deal with her. Bats and Flash locate the real Opium being carried by an elephant caravan, and in two panels take out the bad guys, and in a third somehow set the opium on fire. The missing pilot we learn, was only pretending to be a prisoner, and before going “missing” was a smuggler for Chan, and decided to spend out her years living in his compound. Batman discovered “drug concealing compartments” in her plane and all her flights coincided with shipments coming from Chan’s region all those years before! Exhausting to think that was packed into just 18 story pages. The LOC was fairly “blah”, but mentioned Aparo did his own pencils, inks, and letters. Ad pick: Lots of great choices, particularly multiple in-house ads, but I’ve got to go with “The Battle Of The Century”. Wow.  For the Hostess ad we get Shazam! Doesn’t seem like the big cheese had much evidence to go on here, or even if there was a crime committed beyond selfishness or poor business practices.  
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They're in some Marvels with cover dates of August '80(FF #221).
