Adventures in Comic-Boxing: You Never Know Who's Lurking in the Background!

Here's an interesting panel from THE FLASH # 202 (DC Comics, Cover Date: December, 1970), which shows not only the degree to which American society had changed at the time...

...But how much these COMICS themselves had changed since the "anything goes" imagination-burst of the Silver Age!  

The cover of  THE FLASH # 202, in contrast...

Certainly more dramatic, with some late '60s - mid '70s comic-book relevance added - but straight forward, and completely eschewing the unpleasant grotesqueries of today's comics!  

But, amid the greater era-reflecting visuals and relevance, we're here to "draw" (Get it? Because it's art?) some attention to a certain someone lurking in the background!  

Someone who is, in no way, connected to our story, but is there nonetheless as an apparent observer of the unusual culture that we had become.   

Look!  Between the caption box and the hippie's head...

IT'S THE "MIRROR-MIRROR UNIVERSE" VERSION OF STAR TREK'S MR. SPOCK!  

GO ON... TELL ME IT'S NOT!  

I think I might have discovered the first STAR TREK comic book crossover! 

A proud tradition that would someday lead us to places like THIS! 

And to think, it all started with this humble, hippie-like beginning!

Like WOW, man! 

Cynical Blog Post: I Wanna Hold Your Hand... Then Again, Maybe Not!

When I start becoming cynical about Love - and The Beatles - it's worth noting...

But fear not... I'm probably just working through the lingering aftereffects of "Our (recent) Crime Story", and I'll be as high as ever on the Beatles (...and, in the later years of their original band incarnation, they could be pretty "high" themselves) and Love in a short while! 

When The Beatles first sung "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", they probably never envisioned anything like this sequence from CAPTAIN AMERICA #103 (Marvel Comics, Cover Date: July, 1968)! 

[ Click to Enlarge ]

Or, just focus in the two panels that count...

POWDERED CORROSIVE?!  MICRO-FLAME THROWER?! 

That's enough to deter even a hopeless (but cynical) romantic like me!  ...Or even this guy...

Oh, and before we leave this issue, let's have a look at the cover and see The Red Skull and what may be the ugliest bunch of Nazis ever to (dis)grace a comic book...

...Including, at... (Ironic Phrasing Alert) the "far right"... a Nazi Mr. Spock! 

WOW!  Talk about "Mirror Mirror"! 

But, hey... It's not as if he hasn't done this bit before!

Um, maybe we'd best go back to something more pleasant... like hand-holding...

...Aw, skip it! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Picard Routs Kirk!

Let's consider the seemingly unusual case of Starfleet Captain Jean Luc Picard... 

Perhaps, over the long years, he'd grown weary of always "being in second place" when it came to beloved Star Trek captains... 

Not satisfied to be comfortably ahead of Captains Pike; Sisko, Janeway, Archer, Georgiou, and even "whatever version of Captain Lorca" we might have seen, Picard may have obsessed over James T. Kirk long enough that, in his "older age" (note the hair and beard), he finally decided to do something about it!  

Such is apparently the case, as seen in STAR TREK #47 (Gold Key Comics: Cover Date: September, 1977)!  ...Published a decade BEFORE any of us even heard of Jean Luc Picard!  Talk about a prescient comic! 

Here, Picard "makes it so" with a vengeance!  

I wouldn't worry... I'm sure Kirk will prevail, and the misunderstanding will be cleared-up and forgotten in no time!  

I just have one final question about the story's TITLE... 

...What do "The Tree Bears" have to do with any of this?  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: SHADOW??? ...Of a Doubt!

The TWILIGHT ZONE, BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY, and RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT titles published by Gold Key Comics were known for their beautifully painted covers...

  

  

...Mostly by a talented painter named George Wilson, who also painted covers for VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, STAR TREK and other Gold Key titles.  

   

Far be it from me to question the technique of such an amazing artist, but there was the matter of TWILIGHT ZONE # 43 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: May, 1972)...

...And what could be interpreted as a "shadow" on the unfortunate victim's clothing... or, perhaps not!  

I have no idea what my panicked reflexes might do if I were to fall, seemingly to my death, from a tall building and abruptly meet the street below... 

...Though it WOULD be sorta "Twilight Zone-ish ironic" if my crumpled body were to be further run over by one of those BUSSES seen in the painting, after all the public hearings I've spoken at to save and restore local bus service... 

 

That even LOOKS LIKE ME, in 1972 that is! 

...But, knowing me, my final thoughts would probably be... "To PEE, or not to PEE, that is the pants-staining question!"  

...And, having asked that question (that was probably on the lips of every comics reader and fan who ever saw this issue), I leave you to provide your own answer!  

...Gosh, if only he'd worn BLACK instead of red!  

Special Bonus Gag ('cause I just can't help myself): "Hey, Bellboy... Urine trouble now, ain'tcha!"

...Sorry!  We'll resume our normally tasteful posting next time!   

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: The More Things Change...

Without additional comment, we present the following panel from STAR TREK # 3 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: December, 1968)...

...Okay, maybe a little comment from Averi... No one would want to argue with HER!

So, how did that old disclaimer go again?  Oh, yes... "The stories, characters, and incidents portrayed in this magazine (Blog post, actually) are entirely fictional.  No actual persons, living or dead, are intended or should be inferred."

...And, with ALL THOSE PEOPLE ON EARTH, they could be talking about virtually anyone!   

...............

First post created and published entirely under the NEW version of Blogger!  Please let me know if you see or find anything different or unusual!  

As it is, I must actually access and modify the HTML code in order to retain the font size that is normal for this Blog.  ...Good thing I spent nearly all my adult life as a programmer!  

 Hopefully, Google will correct that matter before long!   

Just One More Reason The World of Star Trek is Better Than Ours!

Despite the seemingly endless conflicts and wars (Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Xindi, Terrans, Section 31, etc.), the world of Star Trek has always been one of HOPE... and a BETTER WORLD THAN OUR OWN!  

Here, from STAR TREK # 9 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: February, 1971), is just one more reason why... 

...Need I say any more than 'Nuff Said! 

What’s Last …and First …and Red (read) All Over? (...Another LONG Post!)

Ya know?  That old joke REALLY doesn’t work in printed form!  No matter, because…

THE HOLIDAYS AREN'T OVER UNTIL I SAY THEY ARE!

As for that “What’s Last …and First” part... You're probably asking yourself, now that the (once unimaginable) New Year of 2020 has been rung in, what was the LAST comic Joe read in 2019 - and what was the FIRST comic he read in 2020 - and were they really "red (read) all over?"

...Even if not, just go along with the bit, okay?  

You're ALSO probably asking yourself... They must have been really spectacular choices to commemorate such an important turn-of-decade, right? 

Well, EVERY comic book I own is "special" to me, kinda like the way every coin is "special" to Scrooge McDuck.  Each one of my precious comic books has "its own story"!  In fact, many of them have SEVERAL stories, and lots of ads to boot - but I digress. 

But, in terms of historic import - or "gravitas", if you will - you might well consider my choices to be quite ordinary!  Though, again (like Scrooge's coins), none of them are "ordinary" to me! 

Last Comic of 2019:  MARCH OF COMICS # 402 -  Daffy Duck (Promotional Giveaway, 1975)

First Comic of 2020: WORLD'S FINEST # 106 (DC Comics, Cover Date: December, 1959)

Feel free to read on, once your moment of stunned silence has passed! 

Okay, now that you've rejoined us, I have to ask... Has anyone ever actually said "Great Scott!" in real life? 

Sure, Captain Kirk might occasionally say "Great Work, Scotty!" in times of crisis...

...But "Great Scott!"?  I dunno!  

Yet, it's even on the cover of the VERY NEXT ISSUE (# 107)! 

...And, many, many more! 

You might think that my choice of WORLD'S FINEST # 106 could have something to do with its  Cover Date of December, 1959 - sixty years after we'd just left 2019 in our cosmic rear view mirror... but, no.  It was just luck-of-the-draw, as both these comics were in the very last shipment of back issues I received from Lone Star Comics before the turning of the year!   

So, without further ado, let's say goodbye to 2019 with MARCH OF COMICS # 402 -  Daffy Duck (Promotional Giveaway, 1975)!

"March of Comics" (as discussed in THIS POST) was designed to be a giveaway premium, and was used for promotional purposes by major retailers such as Sears, and by others you probably never heard of.

Beginning in 1946, and ending in 1982 (!), it ran for an astounding 488 issues - and was produced by the same editorial and creative folks that brought you Dell and Gold Key Comics. 

Daffy Duck "The Bottled Blabber" 14 pages (of 3-tiers per page) is written by Vic Lockman and penciled by Phil DeLara. 

Long story short, Daffy and Elmer Fudd, with the help of a few wacky inventions by Elmer's (presumably deceased) Uncle Fignewton Fudd...

...Travel to a somewhat familiar place in time and space, even if you've never read this particular story before!  

"Familiar", that is, to ANOTHER duck named "DONALD"!

Yes, Vic Lockman sent BOTH famous ducks back to the fabled "Battle at Hadrian's Wall"!  

Happily for us readers, Lockman gave us two very different stories about "Hadrian's Wall" - for Donald in 1966, and for Daffy in 1968!  More "wall" for "all", let's have a ball!  

...And, yes, I said "Daffy in 1968!" 

Because, while March of Comics # 402 appeared in 1975, the story therein was reprinted from 1968's March of Comics # 313!

Look closely, and you'll see a reference to "1968" in one of the panels I reproduced above!  

Look closer still, and you'll find a total of FOUR references to "1968" scattered throughout MOC # 402!  Oops!  Someone was asleep at the time-switch!  

All the more oddly, this story was ALSO reprinted in GOLDEN COMICS DIGEST # 39 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: September, 1974) - where THREE of the FOUR references to "1968" were changed to "1974"... but one was not!  

Golden Comics Digest # 39: ("1974" re-lettered)

March of Comics # 402: (Still "1968" in 1975) 

(Click to Enlarge)

Western Publishing... Ya gotta love 'em! 

Regardless of the year, it was my last comic-read of 2019!  Now, let's usher-in 2020 with WORLD'S FINEST # 106!

There's probably no better way to celebrate a new year than with a good 1950's sci-fi-based-villain story, featuring DC's two greatest heroes...

...Oh, yeah! ...And Robin, too! 

(...Okay, maybe there ARE better ways, but none I'm willing to discuss here!) 

Classic DC artist Dick Sprang could sure draw some great villains!  

And, look... Even some iconic "giant props"!  

Add a villain that's (at least temporarily) a match for Batman (Oh, yeah! ...And Robin too!)... 

...As well as Superman...

...And a good time is had by all...

...Eventually! 

See the lower left of the panel above… Even DICK TRACY admires “The World’s Finest Heroes!”

WORLD'S FINEST # 106 is rounded-out by stories featuring "Tommy Tomorrow" and "Green Arrow and Speedy" - the later of which serves to illustrate just how similar Green Arrow was to Batman!

Let's check the boxes, shall we? 

"Wealthy Guy in a Mansion"?  CHECK!

"Youthful Ward"?  CHECK!

"The Arrow Signal"?  CHECK!  

"The Arrowcar"?  CHECK!  

...And, quite true - no joke, he drove "The Arrowcar" out of "The Arrow Cave"!   CHECK-A-ROONIE!  

Small wonder they made so much of the similarities, which evolved into a rivalry, on the animated series BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD!  

Not to mention the comic based on the show! 

Anyway... This post might be just about finished, BUT...

THE HOLIDAYS AREN'T OVER UNTIL I SAY THEY ARE!

We will have at least one more Holiday Post before I'll consider calling it quits.  Be there, won't you?  

BONUS GCD LINKS:  Here are the links to each featured comic at Grand Comics Database!

March of Comics # 402  (I wrote this one!) 

World's Finest # 106