Adventures in Comic-Boxing: I Wanna BE This Guy!

Man!  Not only does he have ALL THAT going for him, but he even gets to be featured on the the back cover of REAL SCREEN COMICS # 15 (Published by DC Comics, Cover Date: December 1947 / January 1948)!  
 

Why, just reading his list of accomplishments and future aspirations is enough to give an average student an inferiority complex!  (Click to Enlarge for ease of reading!) 

You were OVER SIX FEET TALL... IN HIGH SCHOOL!?  ...In 1947, yet?  

I've been out of high school for over fifty years, and I haven't reached that yet!  And I'm not very... er, "high" on my future chances... 

As this is 1947, he even got to hear President Dwight D. Eisenhower BEFORE he was president!  

...And, while most of the nation "liked Ike", Ike probably "liked HIM!"  

Contrary to the request made above by "The Box in Pink", I cannot "...watch this space for the high school champ of [my] locality", because my high school wasn't built until 1956!  

Yeah, I know... That's exactly the kind of excuse-laden, non-positive thinking that never won me any class honors beyond "Most Likely to Collect a Lot of Comic Books".  

In addition to our esteemed Mr. Friedman, REAL SCREEN COMICS # 15 featured a number of other role-model types for "what passed for the comic book nerds and geeks of 1947" to aspire to.  

On the INSIDE BACK COVER (the REVERSE of Tommy's page) was this...

Then again, if there was anyone I would have wanted to be, had I existed in 1947, it would most likely be the guy in THIS INTERIOR AD! 

Seriously, "Tommy" (or Mr. Friedman), if you're really out there, please accept my kidding in the spirit of kindly humor with which it is intended!  

Hope it all worked out exactly as you planned!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Comics DIGESTS?

 Wrong CAPTION, or wrong PHOTO... You decide...

If they're COMICS, I don't recognize any of the characters!  But the ART seems to be good, even if a tad small!  And wouldn't those POSTMARKS devalue the comic's condition from a FINE/NEAR MINT to a GOOD MINUS?  

But the worst thing about them is that they look VERY DIFFICULT TO READ! ...Kinda skimpy on PAGE COUNT, too!  

...Maybe they're COMICS DIGESTS?  ...But VERY SLIM comics digests!

Unlike this one...

Yeah, that's more like it!

Now, let's just try to keep it safe from those nasty, grade-devaluing postmarks!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Disney Mini (not Minnie) Giveaway Comics!

From the pages of BLONDIE #32 (Harvey Comics, Cover Date (July, 1951), we find this interesting promotion for Wheaties breakfast cereal... 

Now I wasn't an athlete by any stretch of the imagination, but even *I* would "eat my Wheaties" to get my hands on these!

...Alas, not being alive in 1951, I had to do it the hard way! 

BTW, that's Paul Murry doing the cover for "Mickey Mouse and the Magic Mountain", as well as the interior art for "Donald Duck and the Inca Idol" the latter of which I wrote of an amazing fact about my particular copy HERE!

Harvey Eisenberg also did the interior for "Mickey Mouse and the Stagecoach Bandits", so there are lots of unexpected pleasures to be found among these little gems. 

And there were FOUR SETS of these (with eight mini-comics per set) released between 1950 and 1951. A worthy pursuit for any Disney comics completist!  

EXTRA ADDED ILLUSTRATION:

In my response to our great friend Sergio's comments, I added the following illustration! ...To see why, go to the Comments Section and and soak-up some '60's cereal pop (...with no "snap" or "crackle") culture! 

Just for the record: I hung all of those Pooh toys on the rim of my cereal bowl, as pictured on the box front!  I did not, however, attach them to my pencils, as pictured on the box side!  ...That just seemed too painful a thing to do to a beloved Bear of Little Brain!

Happy Mother's Day 2025!

Happy Mother's Day 2025 - from Joe and all the lights of his life, Esther, Averi, Logan, and Cici! 

Who could ask for more?  I sure couldn't! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm... Pebbles and Splish-Splash!

Here's a comic book that featured "PEBBLES and BAMM-BAMM"! 

Here's a comic book that featured "PEBBLES and SPLISH-SPLASH"! 

Gotta love this gag from MUTT AND JEFF # 103 (DC Comics, Cover Date: June, 1958), with individual panels enlarged for your reading pleasure. 

So, while in this comic, Pebbles watches Bamm-Bamm go "BAM! BAM!"

We learn that another "Pebbles" went SPLISH-SPLASH"!

Johnny Cash once sang: "Life ain't easy for a Boy Named Sue"!  

Neither, it would seem, for a boy named "Pebbles"! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Our Changing Language: Unfunny Then, Funny Now!

The English language is (as modern languages tend to be) a living and evolving tongue!  We see examples of it every day.  Older comics often provide inadvertent examples of this, as seen on the cover of SPOOKY SPOOKTOWN #65 (Harvey Comics, Cover Date: October, 1976)! 

In 1976, and up until more recent years of "real-time", this would have been just another unfunny gag cover, that relies on the presence of a needless dialogue balloon to pull off what little of a gag there might be. Such was all too typical of Harvey in its later years!   

That's not to say that the gag, as such, could not be somewhat funnier with no dialogue and different staging!  Leaving it as-is, but silent, would be a slight - but immediate - improvement.  

Or restage it in such a way that still has the guy looking aghast into his fridge at the chicken bones - but angle it from his back... and, in the foreground, have Spooky walking away from the fridge... still carrying the largely-bitten drumstick!  You could even have Spooky drawn in those "outlining-dotted-lines" that were used as visual shorthand for him being invisible. Have a look of satisfaction on his face, and maybe even a "burp!" for added effect!   

To be fair, I'll even present an example of when a similar gag worked!  From SPOOKY #45 (Harvey Comics, Cover Date: (July, 1960)... 

... With a SILENT COVER GAG that also worked, I might add! 

"GHOST TOASTIES" works because (A) it rhymes, and (B) Post Toasties was an actual breakfast cereal of the time! 

But, back in the American Bicentennial Year, this superfluous spook-said sentence was simply not funny.    

However, let's jump ahead to the 21st Century to find that "GHOSTED" carries an additional - and altogether different - meaning:

"In slang, "ghosted" means someone has suddenly and abruptly ended all communication with you without explanation, typically in the context of a relationship or dating. They stop responding to texts, calls, or other forms of communication, effectively disappearing from your life."

Indeed, Spooky has, quite literally, made the roast chicken "disappear" from the unfortunate midnight-snacker's life!  

It would seem that all has gone well for our "Tuff Little Ghost"... at least until he "washes down his ill-gotten foodstuff" with a few too many strawberry sodas! 

And you can bet that Spooky wishes this bad karma would GHOST HIM!  

Now on Sale: Gold Key Select: Boris Karloff Thriller #1!

 It's HERE and ready to "THRILL" you!

The long-awaited Gold Key Select: Boris Karloff Thriller #1 from Gold Key Entertainment "thrillingly" takes its proud place alongside the previously released Boris Karloff Gold Key Mysteries #1 and #2! 

Even if you never read the original Boris Karloff comics - or their recent versions - THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO START! ...No experience necessary, just enjoy the goosepimples! 

What makes this book different from the others is that, while the "Gold Key Mysteries" issues were all new and original material, Gold Key Select: Boris Karloff Thriller #1 is a collection of classic-era stories culled from the earliest days of Western Publishing's Gold Key Brand's Boris Karloff Thriller #1-2... down to the "Early Gold Key Look" of rectangular dialogue balloons with wide, perfectly aligned page-bisecting panel gutters - often in various colors! 

[Click to Enlarge]

Another unique facet of this issue is that, despite the excellent cover choice, it is not merely a reprint of Boris Karloff Thriller #1 (1962)...

 [Back-to-back - or side-by-side - THRILLS!] 

...But, as mentioned, select "Tales of Mystery" from original issues #1-2, resulting in a book that is more than a mere "replica edition" as has become so common these days!  

Finally, there is one more feature that you won't find in the original Boris Karloff comics -- and pretty much NOT ANYWHERE in modern comic books...

...The GOLD KEY CLUB READER'S PAGE!  A place where YOU can become involved with this and any of the upcoming titles from Gold Key Entertainment!  Letters of Comment, questions, likes and "likes-not-so-much", suggestions, and all things Gold Key!  

A modern version of the original Gold Key Comics Club pages instituted by Western Publishing in 1967...

 [Join the Club - 2025 or 1967!] 

...This Gold Key Reader's Page, while steeped in its original incarnation at its core - right down to its retro logo design, takes less of a juvenile focus and is written for more of a general comics-consuming audience!  

And ALL OF YOU can join in the fun by sending in those "Letters of Comment, questions, likes and 'likes-not-so-much', suggestions, and all things Gold Key" to this address: 

So, how do I know that the Gold Key Reader's Page will be "fun"?  ...Simple, because I am writing/preparing the page and, if you're familiar with this humble Blog (...if you're reading this, you probably are) you know how I handle contributions and comments to it.  I look forward to bringing that manner to a wider scale with Gold Key Comics!  

I thank Gold Key Entertainment CEO Lance Linderman and all of the Gold Key Team for their faith in me to allow this undertaking and, as you all know from everything else I do in comics, I will make this new Gold Key Reader's Page the very best it can be!  

You're all invited to kick things off by reading the book and participating in the experience! 

Let's turn out a big response, and make it a regular ongoing thing across the Gold Key line!  

See you there...

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Blondie's Cook Book!

From the back cover of BLONDIE #7 (David McKay, Cover Date (August-September, 1948), comes this artifact of post-war suburban bliss - BLONDIE'S COOK BOOK! 

Not that I advocate women - or men for that matter - "staying-at-home-and-cooking" (quite the opposite, I assure you), but I present it here as a sign-of-its-times, and a unique character tie-in product to the book's starring characters!  

But, let's be honest... who wouldn't want a little o' THIS in your home - regardless of who does the cooking!  

...Bon Appétit! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Somebody Stole Donald's Gag!

When the great editor Julius Schwartz was in charge of certain Silver Age DC Comics titles, he used to say (...and I'm paraphrasing as best I can) that the story should, in some way, highlight - or otherwise showcase - the particular hero's individual powers.  

The Flash's powers are "showcased" in... SHOWCASE!  

Meaning that a FLASH story should be geared toward velocity, a GREEN LANTERN story should feature "power ring" stunts, and an ATOM story should involve its star becoming very small!  

Otherwise, you just have a generic story that could be told for any old generic hero.  

I'm reminded of that when I read the Inside Back Cover Gag from ADVENTURES OF MIGHTY MOUSE #151 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: July-September, 1961) titled "The Free Book", with art by Dan Gormley...

More than simply not catering to Mighty Mouse's powers - or his very existence as a super powered mouse - this gag doesn't even need to star a superhero!  

We'll enlarge it below for your reading pleasure... 

In fact, this gag would seem to be best suited to DONALD DUCK, what with his impatient nature and trademark slow burn, and would have made a dandy one-page gag for a Dell or Gold Key comic, or an Al Taliaferro Donald Sunday newspaper strip.  

This cover, which I'd like much more if Carl Barks or Tony Strobl had drawn it, will give you an idea of what I mean! 

You could even pare it down to four panels and make it a weekday strip.  

But instead it is MIGHTY MOUSE who usurps Donald's gag.  And, hey... It's not like, in return,  Donald could... you know, like become a superhero and "Save the Day"... 

...Aw, skip it!