I've always wondered how this came to be...
"Frankenstein and Dracula", on the cover and in the lead story of THE FLINTSTONES # 33 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: April, 1966), and not "Franken-stone and Dracu-slab"?
There's also The Wolfman and The Mummy thrown in for good monstrous measure!
If you have this comic, dig it out and re-read it (...or read it for the first time)! It wasn't a Halloween-timed release, but it should have been!
One more interesting Halloween thingee before we close (the coffin?)...
Here's the cover of WORLD'S FINEST # 152 (DC Comics, Cover Date: September, 1965). There are FIVE characters on the cover, in costume. Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, and Dick Grayson are obvious, but WHO might the "other two" be?
(Click to Enlarge!)
But, the real interesting (sorta) "Halloween thingee" (I just LOVE writing that!) is found in the issue's letter column, where a mom writes in about making a Batman costume for her son!
First, this was 1965, and I doubt there were ANY "Batman costumes" available anywhere! The Dark Ages for cosplayers, perhaps? No Batman, Joker, Riddler, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy costumes to be photographed in... and, in fact, no Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy - period!
YOU had to LAND US is in 1965, didn't you?!
Then, there is the REPLY from editor Mort Weisinger, or more likely his assistant the amazing E. Nelson Bridwell...
(You'll really want to Click to Enlarge!)
Poor "Mom" (whose name we have judiciously withheld)... If only she'd waited ONE YEAR, until 1966, there would be Batman costumes, and stuff (even thingees) EVERYWHERE!
Happy Halloween!
9 comments:
Happy Halloween from all of us at the Pack of the Petrifying Pumpkins!
P.S. from the Pack of the Petrifying Pumpkins: if you happen to see the Group of the Ghastly Gourds, tell 'em that it was us who stole their Halloween cake (we've got rather a rivalry, you know).
Thank you PotPP’s! Same to you!
I have a feeling I’ll be hearing from those “gourd guys” in short order.
I haven't seen The Flintstones 33 (though I might have to seek it out, on your recommendation!)...but I have watched the video of "The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone," on the recommendation of one of your commenters--I forget who it was. Not the best animation, but it's a fun romp, and as your commenter said, Wilma comes off quite well in it.
Despite the rather spooky weather hereabouts, I had a good number of trick-or-treaters, almost all of them very happy to get a couple of mini-comics (ordered from my comic book store off the Halloween Comicfest website--they come in packages of 25 for $5) instead of candy. Indeed, in the very first bunch of kids who showed up, there was one boy who remembered my giving out comics from last year, and told his friends, "This is the best house!!"
Now I'll read a few of my favorite Halloween comics before bedtime.... Too many Halloween favorites to read in one evening, so I'm stretching them out through the week. Mostly Duck comics, of course, with a few Little Lulu, a couple of Mickey stories, etc. Happy Halloween!
Elaine:
THE FLINTSTONES # 33 was just another of those great older back issues, that have (once again) become my focus with the dropping of certain contemporary titles that I’ve already devoted far more Blog space to than their inferior quality warrants!
In it, a scientist brings “back FROM the future” beings from the world of tomorrow – not unlike the way it happened in 2014’s SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP # 7 - only this time it’s the whole gang of “Universal Monsters”, who escape into Bedrock – and are mistaken for Fred’s (quite) distant visiting cousins! The monsters all go by their actual names, and not the expected “stone-parody names” – but, if they are the “real deal” from the 20th century, and not some Flintstonian parody, they SHOULD go by their actual names! Bravo to whoever thought that out… Vic Lockman? …Chase Craig?
It was written by Vic Lockman (at his best) and drawn by Phil DeLara, who ably took over on the title after the death of Harvey Eisenberg. I first read this when it was new in 1966. I loved it then, and I still love it now!
Our weather was windy and wet (perfect for Halloween), but we only had TWO KIDS (separately), each properly escorted by a parent – for a total of FOUR persons at our portals!
However, I don’t think the weather was a factor because, in recent years, we’ve gotten similarly low turnouts – and, either last year or the year before, got ZERO!
As a result, Esther, wisely, bought only ONE bag of candy this year… most of which is still here! But, one of her friends will be here later in the day to take it to her church, so we feel much better about that.
I suppose it’s a sign of the times we live in. Parents are rightly concerned for their kids, because so many things can happen today that were unthinkable back when I first read THE FLINTSTONES # 33. Older kids are nonexistent, probably because trick-or-treating has become “uncool”, and their time is better spent on “Insta-book-tweet-gram-face”. I suppose that’s better than egging houses and cars – MUCH BETTER, in fact!
Maybe they all became COSPLAYERS, and their deviltry now is clogging-up the aisles at comic cons!
Averi went trick-or-treating this year, but I wonder how much longer… Gotta love this!
You know, mortal, if all that comic-boxing becomes too hard for you… you can always hire a ghost from our services to do it for you! After all, you can't work them to death — they're already dead! We do not deal in vampires, stone-named or otherwise, but all of our produce is, er, stone-dead!
If you are interested in our business offer, contact us through your local medium.
Not sure if I can… Around here, mediums are rare!
Thank you, Elaine, for taking my recommendation on the special "The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone". Anyone who is a fan of Wilma (and what Flintstones fan isn't?) will appreciate her problem-solving skills and resourcefulness coming to the fore in this adventure. This was in an era when the Saturday morning version of the Flintstones, namely "The New Fred and Barney Show" generally relegated Wilma and Betty to cameo supporting roles (they did get to shine occasionally but not much). I realize that, especially as such a late entry in the canon, the special TFMRAF will not be everyone's cup of tea. But for me it's quite satisfying--and a return to the more "adult" themes of the original series. (There is a bedroom "seduction" scene which was pretty "adult" for its day, plus some direct and indirect references to death, coffins, voyeurism, bigamy, and widowhood. As this is a Hanna-Barbera production, many of these aspects are not readily noticeable until you pause to think about it. But they are there.)
I did not discover Flintstones #33 until adulthood. The fact that the Flintstones are under a misapprehension about the identity of their "guest stars" for the majority of the tale sort of, for me, undercuts the potency of the premise. If there is to be interaction with iconic literary and cinematic figures, let them be recognized for who they are so that their story potential can be developed more fully. However, having said that, I do savor and enjoy Flintstones #33 right along with the rest of my Dell/Gold Key Flintstones collection, and I would certainly rather have the story with its (in my opinion only) mis-steps than not have it at all.
A belated Happy Hallowe'en wish, and thanks for yet another delightful post!
Scarecrow:
It’s a rare occasion when I disagree with you but, I feel that “the fact that the Flintstones are under a misapprehension about the identity of their 'guest stars' for the majority of the tale” is one of the story’s great strengths!
And, it works perfectly in the case of The Flintstones in that, no matter how iconic such a literary or cinematic figure may be to us 20th/21st century readers”, that figure would (or should) be unknown to The Flintstones!
Meaning, if Goofy didn’t recognize Dracula… well, he’s just plain old Goofy – and that would work for his character. But, Fred and Wilma not recognizing the horror icons of the 1930s (A.D.), works for those characters and for that world they exist in!
Besides, a lot of the fun of the story is that WE know who those characters are, and no one else in the story does.
…But, that’s what makes this rockin’ world… er, rock!
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