Separated at Mirth: Great Ball's O' Fire!

Well, maybe not exactly Separated at... "Mirth"... unless your idea of fun is being under attack by fireballs - but, for any of you Fireball Fanciers out there, we humbly submit... 

DONALD DUCK #101 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: (May, 1965)...

...And WONDER WOMAN #99 (DC Comics, Cover Date: July, 1958).

One thing they DO have in common is that both are breathtaking images!  DONALD DUCK #101 is by Carl Barks.  WONDER WOMAN #99 is by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.  Each are the most classic artists for their respective characters - and it certainly shows here!  

And, while not a comic book cover, I'd be remiss if I didn't include this striking image from LOST IN SPACE, "Condemned of Space" (1967), with the Jupiter 2 narrowly avoiding a catastrophic collision... with guess what?!  

All three are guaranteed to "light up your life" in their own unique ways!  

TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Four: Lunch Specials!

It was was quite the "special lunch" indeed that fine day in the later spring of 1965!  But first, a bit of background...  

I may have said that I spent my childhood in a neighborhood that was once a thriving county hub that, almost overnight, turned bad and outright dangerous. Summer 1960 until February 1969, to better place it in time. 

You could almost say it was a "tale of two cities", with profuse apologies to Charles Dickens! Through 1966, it was, at best, a suburban paradise and, at worst, just an ordinary convenient village.  With so many different places to buy comic books, all within reasonable walking distance, it was a great place to spend virtually the entire Silver Age!  Those four-colored twelve-cent tickets to Utopia seemed to be just EVERYWHERE, and I was more than happy to reap the benefits of such a bounty!

 I still have most of mine, and nearly all of them look better than those in this stock photo! 

By 1967, things suddenly took a dramatic change and, by the fall of 1968, it had gotten so bad, so threatening, so dangerous that I refused to go to school out of fear for my safety.  Had I possibly known in 1968 what the future's "cyber-bullying" would be, I would have gladly traded it for the torturous reality I faced every day!  Regardless of good or bad times, it was a particular quirk of this school that led to some decidedly wonderful lunches for me...

 My school abandoned and boarded-up sometime in the "20-teens". Only picture I could find. 

One problem I DIDN'T HAVE was getting "beaten-up for my LUNCH MONEY"! 

Why? Because I DIDN'T CARRY lunch money!  Why? Because my combined elementary and junior high school, built in 1911, per the cornerstone... (as hard as this is to believe) had NO CAFETERIA FACILITIES... and we students were (as hard as THIS is to also believe) were DISMISSED from 12:00 Noon to 1:15 PM... and SENT HOME FOR LUNCH!  Yes, really!  

Could you imagine this in today's world?  Could you imagine mothers being home every day to receive their offspring and serve them lunches in their kitchens?  Could you imagine kids having to (and BE ABLE TO, distance-wise) walk (most of us unattended) home and then back to school for an afternoon session?   ...If you meet Mom in heaven, don't tell her about all those 1:15 to 3:45 afternoon sessions I resorted to some "creative ways" to avoid attending - once released for lunch! 

Now, as things were still good in 1965, there were some distinct advantages to this, for me at least. 

For one, I was out of the stifling school building, and would run the three blocks home like a road runner!  

For two, there was always a reasonably good lunch waiting for me. Something, alas, not all kids had. 

And for three - and best of all - sometimes there were COMICS waiting for me, which I joyously devoured along with lunch!  

By then, I had solidly moved from "young casual reader" into "never-miss-an-issue" mode, as discussed in THIS POST and one way to "never-miss-an-issue" was to SUBSCRIBE to as many titles as my meager allowance and generous-to-her-grandson GRANDMA MILLIE would provide! 

Our mail would generally arrive by 10:30AM, and so any subscription comics delivered that day, would be waiting for me on the kitchen table when I arrived home for lunch.  What a WONDERFUL FEELING THAT WAS!  

The day that is the subject of this post provided a particularly memorable yield, so much so that I remember it distinctly to this day.  Try to imagine what a Gift-From-The-Gold-Key-Gods this two-issue bonanza was through the wide eyes of eleven-year-old me! 

 UNCLE SCROOGE #58...  

...And THE FLINTSTONES #28!

Each one a prime Silver Age specimen of its respective title!

"The Giant Robot Robbers" was one of the best Uncle Scrooge outings of the (much-unfairly maligned) sixties-period of Carl Barks' incredible - nay, historic - run on the title.  Even inspiring an informal, though also effective, adaptation for the TV series DuckTales (1987). 

THE FLINTSTONES #28 has my vote for The-Best-Ever-Never-To-Be-Surpassed issue of THE FLINTSTONES that ever was, and very likely ever will be! 

Stridently reflective of the FIFTH SEASON of THE FLINTSTONES TV show, which was in summer reruns (...remember "summer reruns"?) at the time of its release, #28 offered "The Pirates of Skull Island", a lead adventure story in keeping with the "adventure plots" that kept the Fifth Season lively and memorable. Think "A Haunted House is Not a Home" (with Uncle Giggles Flintstone), "Dr. Sinister" (with Madame Yes "I'm too important to be captured!"), and, to me, one of the best eps of the entire series "Time Machine" (with its trip to the 1964 New York World's Fair!)

Oddly, to digress, my favorite seasons of THE FLINTSTONES are Season One, and Season Five! Both seasons "did what they did" better than any of the other seasons - especially Season Six! 

Harvey Eisenberg did some of his finest art for this story and when you can say THAT, you're really saying something - considering he routinely did stuff like this!

Harvey Eisenberg died in 1965, perhaps even before THE FLINTSTONES #28 was published. At the time of his death, I felt that he even surpassed Carl Barks (though ever slightly) as the best artist of the Western Publishing stable. Take a peek at a page of interior art from "The Pirates of Skull Island" and some panels from "The Giant Robot Robbers", and decide! 

For many years, I've said, "IF YOU'RE GONNA GET ONLY ONE ISSUE of THE FLINTSTONES, THIS IS THE ONE TO GET!" 

...And get the UNCLE SCROOGE, too!  They're two of the best Gold Key Comics of what was an extraordinary creative period for them! (1964-1966). 

I read both of these comics during my home lunch break and, as was my custom at the time, read them both AGAIN that evening after my homework! That made for one great day... except for that "homework part", that is! 

One great day, with one great lunch, thanks to Gold Key's subscription department and the United States Postal Service!  

And so, our "16 Covers -- Number Four" goes to both UNCLE SCROOGE #58 and THE FLINTSTONES #28... as a Two-for-One Lunch Special!  

 Where will we go tomorrow?  Come back and see! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Tom's Big Turn-Around!

As a follow-up to OUR LAST POST on those pesky (all together now) intrusive UPC Code boxes, we offer for your UPC amusement the cover of TOM AND JERRY #146 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: September, 1956)...

...The cover of TOM AND JERRY #236 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: June, 1967)...

...And finally the UPC-influenced cover of TOM AND JERRY #295 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: June, 1977) - ten years later, and into the intrusive UPC era!

It almost makes you want to play that old kids' game - "Which One of These Doesn't Belong?"... except that it's all too obvious which one doesn't!  

In the interest of efficiency (and laziness), I will reproduce the notes I prepared for my indexing of this cover at GCD:

"Image is flipped from its original printing in Tom and Jerry Comics (Dell, 1949 Series) #146 (September 1956) and its prior reprinting in Tom and Jerry (Western, 1962 Series) #236 (June 1967) which had Tom facing right, to Tom facing left - with all illustration elements flipped accordingly.

"This was most likely done to accommodate the UPC code box, which would have interfered with Jerry and Tuffy's fishing lines as previously rendered. Tom's fishing line is also shortened for the same reason resulting in a change in perspective.

"The separation of the water and sky (now more garishly colored) is delineated with a black inked line, where in the previous printings water and sky simply 'blended into one another'."

Here is the actual GCD link, for anyone that cares to see it! 

Of course, there have been many UPC-alterations performed over the years, but this, along with the two later variations of "Og's Iron Bed" are among the most extreme! 

But, at least everyone here is FACING THE SAME WAY as they were...

...And not looking into a garishly-reflective mirror!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: A Most Unusual - Yet Familiar - Sound Effect!

I wonder if anyone has ever tallied the number of unusual sound effects used in comic books...

I know I've created a few of my own... 

...But, as the host of this humble Blog, a certain sound effect from THE FLASH #168 (DC Comics, Cover Date: March, 1967) jumped out at me...

Anyone who DOESN'T get this is banned from my "BLOGG!"... er, Blog for a month!  

That includes YOU, Melvin! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Knowing One's Limitations!

Ya gotta appreciate this caption from THE FLASH #168 (DC Comics, Cover Date: March, 1967), acknowledging the inherent shortcomings of the printing methods of the time! 

Given that, back in 1967, most comic books (save Gold Key and Charlton, who owned their own presses), were printed at World Color Press in Sparta, IL - and were more than adequately done for the times, before we were collectively spoiled by modern printing and coloring techniques - Flash writer John Broome or editor Julius Schwartz accept the limitations of the coloring process, and engage in a little "truth in advertising" with the following caption narrations...

"At the sensational COLORAMA show, Dr. Maybrook, the show's creator, is seated at his special COLOR ORGAN, expertly

"...projecting on a wide screen an extraordinary play of vivid hues (here, alas, within this magazine-medium, shown only approximately -- with only a bare hint of its startling real-life effect)!..."

And, for what my view is worth, it actually enhances (in your "mind's-eye") what the images might look like within the context of the story!  

A nice touch that didn't need to happen - but did! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: The One-Shot "SUPER" Super Goof Logo!

The Gold Key/Whitman logo for Super Goof, remained fairly consistent over the 19 years and #74-issue run of the title.  

From first to last:

But, for ONE EXCEPTION... SUPER GOOF #46 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: April, 1978)...

...And it's peculiar attempt to simulate the SUPERMAN logo (in "Goofy-style"?). 

SUPERMAN #338 (DC Comics. Cover Date: August, 1979)... which, oddly (...and apropos of little, unless you like making these connections as much as I do), had a Whitman variant (below). 

And, speaking of "odd", the "Superman-style logo" sported by SUPER GOOF #46 was not even specifically designed for that particular cover...

...Because the cover was a REPRINT from SUPER GOOF #9 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: December, 1967)!

How or why this logo came to be - and the reason for its lasting for only one issue (...maybe DC raised an objection?) - is just another one of those things about Western Publishing that is forever lost to history! 

SUPERMAN #338 cover by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano.

SUPER GOOF #9 and 46 covers by Paul Murry. 

Who drew the LOGO for SUPER GOOF #46 is anybody's guess!  

R.I.P. Hank Aaron - the REAL Home Run King!

At TIAH Blog, we mourn the passing of Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves baseball legend Henry (Hank) Aaron, who passed away at the age of 86.  

Hank Aaron was already a superstar when I began watching baseball in 1967 (when the terms "superstar" and "legend" were not thrown around with the casual abandon they are today), but will be forever remembered for the day in 1974 when he hit home run #715 - passing Babe Ruth's lifetime total of 714. 

For insane and unfathomable reasons of racism, many people were unhappy on that day, April 08, 1974.  I will confess to being "unhappy" too... but merely because the home run record no longer belonged to a New York Yankee (Ruth).  

But, if the record could not belong to a New York Yankee, it couldn't have belonged to a finer man!  

Over his long career, he faced all sorts of adversities with dignity and class - and, in view of an almost endless tide of threats and hate, with extreme bravery!  

Aaron went on to hit 755 home runs before he was done!  

If I was "unhappy" on the day Hank Aaron achieved the home run record, I was all the more so on the day his record was eclipsed by someone who cheated by ("allegedly") using a baseball-illegal enhancer that Hank Aaron never had - or NEVER NEEDED!  

To me, and to many other baseball fans, Hank Aaron is still the LEGITIMATE home run champion - and the REAL Home Run King!  

Thank you, Mr. Henry Aaron, for all the great moments I was able to witness and/or read about, and for being such a fine and exemplary human being.  

Christmas 2020: Reading and Viewing.

The question on everyone's lips (...if, by "everyone", you mean everyone presently in my den as I type this - which adds-up to only me) is... "What made up Joe's Christmas 2020: Reading and Viewing, and when will we find out about it?"

The answer to the second question is NOW!  (...If, by "NOW", you mean going on a month after Christmas - all the usual [all together now] "horrifically busy" factors being applicable!)  As for the first... 

Since the days of home-recorded VHS Tape, I've had TWO Basic and Absolute Christmas Viewing Standards for the longest time, and have added (variably, depending on the year, and amount of available time) to them over the years, to where there are now FOUR annual absolutes.  

Others come and go per the above variables, but these are the perennial-programmers of my "Christmas Show"...

THE FLINTSTONES: "Christmas Flintstone" (1964):  Department store Santa Claus Fred fills-in for the real thing, when Jolly Old St. Nick temporarily takes ill.  

This is the real-Christmas-deal that aired the evening of Christmas Day, 1964, and not to be confused with any number of permutations that came later!  

An extraordinary effort for 1964 Hanna-Barbera, with more elaborate than usual backgrounds, and some soundtrack music that might never have been used more than that once.   

It also came "on the cusp" of my believing (or not believing) in Santa, and may have held-off the skepticism for another few days or weeks.  A perfect storm of story, execution, and "time-of-life" for me, made this my All-Time-Favorite-Christmas-Thing!  

LOST IN SPACE: "The Toymaker" (1967):  Will Robinson and Doctor Smith are imprisoned in an "other-dimension-based" toy factory, by an eccentric yet stubborn old toymaker who views them as animated toys to be shipped-off to a world of giant children!  

   

He also refuses to see that events occurring on the Robinson's planet will imminently destroy the Toymaker's shop... and everyone in it!

Though more tangentially related to Christmas than its prior season predecessor "Return From Outer Space", "The Toymaker" still acknowledges the Christmas season in a most imaginative way.   

  

...And, if you have an ear for TV and movie soundtracks, you can even hear a little of the score for "Miracle on 34th Street" mixed-in with the standard LOST IN SPACE musical stylings!  

The Toyshop set, while basic endless black, is marvelously decorated with props from literally all-over the 20th Century Fox lots and warehouses...

So much so that I truly see "something new" in the background every time I watch "The Toymaker"... including this time!  Of course, Blu-ray sharpness and clarity combined with a large widescreen HD TV always helps!  

Finally, for anyone still doubting the "Christmas connection" for this standout episode, check out this Illustrated article from MeTV, the Saturday evening home of LOST IN SPACE since at least 2013, if not longer - HERE!  

"Christmas Flintstone" and "The Toymaker" are my two Basic and Absolute Christmas Viewing Standards.  As for the other two, added-as-absolutes later-on, we have...  

BEWITCHED: "A Vision of Sugar Plums" (1964):  Airing literally the DAY BEFORE "Christmas Flintstone" on Christmas Eve, 1964 (while "Christmas Flintstone" aired on Christmas Day, 1964), "A Vision of Sugar Plums" had the same "Santa-Believing-Effect" for "on-the-cusp" little me.  

...It also guest-stars a Pre-Lost In Space Billy Mumy, seen below. 

Though, unlike "Christmas Flintstone", I did not become reacquainted with "A Vision of Sugar Plums" until  recent years, and a BEWITCHED Complete Series DVD set - which presents the episode in color, rather than its original black and white.  

But, I remembered it, and it fit right in with the Absolute Christmas Viewing Standards where it's remained ever since!  

JUSTICE LEAGUE ANIMATED: "Comfort and Joy" (2003): Three separate tales of Christmas, starring GREEN LANTERN AND HAWKGIRL...

...THE FLASH...

...SUPERMAN and THE MARTIAN MANHUNTER!

All superbly written by the great Paul Dini!  Even if you are not a DC Comics fan, this is a must-see that transcends the expected super-doings, and perfectly captures the spirit of the season.  

Oh, and in that last one a Martian (The Martian Manhunter) discovers Christmas...

...SOUND FAMILIAR? 

...I'd say so!  

Christmas comic reading tends to be more variable, often some combination of an "old favorite" with something I haven't read before - and, unlike viewing, almost never repeats itself.  

And, in an exact reflection of said viewing it began with THIS!  

THE FLINTSTONES #31 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: December, 1965) 

Yes, it's the comic book adaptation of "Christmas Flintstone", with art by Phil DeLara! I'll simply let the illustrations below speak for their "Santa-substituting-selves" (Hey, even the word "elves" manages to find its way into that last phrase!  How 'bout that!)

You can read more about it in the GCD Index, where I supplied most of the specific detail - HERE!

As for the "something I haven't read before", how could I go wrong with BUGS BUNNY CHRISTMAS FUNNIES #3 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: 1952) - especially after so enjoying THIS ONE!

Since this issue is so packed full of yuletide goodies, we'll just cover some quick highlights...  

Usually, when a story begins with a bunch of animals running in terror past Bugs' rabbit hole, you expect one of them to say: "Run for your life!  The Tasmanian Devil's on the loose!" 

But, before Bugs can stop one of the fleeing creatures (usually by force) and ask: "Eeeh, what's a Tasmanian Devil?"...

 

...Jolly Old Saint Nick gets into the act, and turns the story in a completely unexpected direction... leading to this wonderful image - courtesy of writer Don R. Christensen and artist Tony Strobl... 

...And some good old Christmas magic!  

In other stories, Henery Hawk visits a department store Santa (not Fred!) with some very characteristic behavior - and later hatches a Christmas-chicken-catching-scheme of his own...

...And Elmer Fudd vs. Sylvester in a "snowman-building contest" that would be right at home in a Donald Duck ten-pager by Carl Barks!

...Though maybe not this particular ten-pager!  

It all ends with this nice back cover!

Here's a close-up on the card! 

And, with that we say "That's All Folks!" to Joe's Christmas Reading and Viewing for 2020!  We'll try to do it again next year!