Separated at Mirth: Too Big To Fail... But, Somehow They Do!

 Some of us never "outgrow" comic books (...and thank goodness for that)...

...But, on rare occasions, some comic book characters will "outgrow" their cover image space to where their fearsome faces are obscured by the comic's title logo! 

And, with that rather tenuous introduction, we present out latest Separated at Mirth entry: WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #159 (DC Comics, Cover Date: June, 1966), cover by classic Superman artists Curt Swan and George Klein ...

...And DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES #23 (Gladstone Series II, Cover Date: December, 1993), cover by the great Don Rosa.  

But, Joe... (you may find yourself asking), I see the "Separation" but, with our respective heroes facing such huge and overpowering adversaries, "Where's the Mirth?"  

To this, I offer that each issue's adversaries are just SOOOO BIG, that even the standard comic book cover image space cannot contain them!  

...An unusual, if not outright mirthful, use of the requisite issue title logo!  

  Gotta love this side-by-side!   

Of speculative interest: We know from previous comments, that Don Rosa read the Mort Weisinger-era Superman comics of which WORLD'S FINEST #159 is one - edited by Old Unca Mort himself.  

So, it's possible that Rosa could even have (consciously or otherwise) been influenced by that cover, when creating his own for DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES #23.  

Regardless of who may have influenced whom, we leave you with WORLD'S FINEST COMICS #159 and DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES #23...  Separated at Mirth!  

Though ya gotta wonder why the LAND OF THE GIANTS comic never tried that stunt!  

...It would have been a natural!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Don't TAKE Any "Wooden Nickels"... Just BUY THEM, Instead!

Is it my imagination... NO, IT'S NOT... or did comic book ads become very cheap and cheesy looking during the 1970s?   

In the 1950s their quality was so high that they looked like "mini-adventures" of their own!

In the 1960s, they remained very well designed!

But, by the 1970s, we sunk to stuff this looked like this!

Which brings us to our selected specimen of specious seventies sales-pitching from THE FLASH # 202 (DC Comics, Cover Date: December, 1970 - just barely into the decade, but it certainly counts!)

I'm not even sure where to begin, as merely "taking it all in" is quite an experience!

Okay, let's start with... "Opening Hook-Logo"!  It's a LONG WAY DOWN when you go from THIS "eye-catching" 1950 hook...

...To THIS "eye-scratching" 1970 hook!

Yeah, nothing says seventies like huge, brightly-colored, awkwardly-designed capital letters comin' right at'cha!  Unless it is additionally adorned by stars or fireworks, or sumpthin'!

Beyond design, its CONTENT smacks of a unique time and place where such an ad would have actually been run by a respectable publisher.  (Click to Enlarge!)

THE AMAZING PENNY-in-a-BOTTLE!  How DID that penny get in there?!  Perhaps it sailed-in on one of those equally amazing "Ships-in-a-Bottle"!

BULGARIAN BANKNOTES!  Sound like something UNCLE SCROOGE might have stored in some lesser, auxiliary Money Bin!

 Hmm... Looks like he really did buy some Bulgarian Banknotes from this ad!  

6 WOODEN NICKELS!  Lock 'em away when THIS BUNCH comes to visit!

25 FOREIGN COINS!  Get 'em all... and BOTTLE 'em, just like the Amazing Penny!

So much fun - and for so little money!  (Oh, wait... that was "1970 Money"!  Never mind!)  

But, the BEST ONE OF ALL was this...  Lincoln Novelty Pennies?! 

Yes, really... You could have "The Great Emancipator" doing all these unusual things!

"Watching the Moon Landing": Were both the Moon Landing AND the Lincoln Assassination a hoax?

"Smoking a Pipe":  I suppose if the "Man in the Stovepipe Hat" must smoke SOMETHING, it might as well be a pipe!

"Smoking a Cigar":  Again, if he MUST shorten his life by SMOKING (...Oh, no, wait!), lose the cigar!  At least a PIPE smells less foul! 

"Lincoln Looking at JFK":  Sorry!  I'm not touching THIS ONE with a "ten-and-a-half-foot split rail"!  I've already exceeded my "Bad Taste Quota" for the year with these comments alone!

It's almost as if THIS is the only one they left out! 

GO GET 'IM, PIPE-SMOKIN' ABE!

Just don't go a-gettin' caught in one of those "Penny Bottles", ya hear?  

FINAL THOUGHT:  I wonder if anyone who actually ordered something from this ad, had anywhere near the amount of fun I've had by merely DISCUSSING IT! 

...No, I didn't THINK so!  

 UPDATE: JULY 21, 2019! 

For your viewing pleasure, here are some additional comic book ads that are referred-to in our Comments Section!  (Click to Enlarge!) 

"Margie Gets Free Gifts for the Whole Family"

"Sea Monkeys"

"Hostess: Featuring Tweety and Sylvester"

"Hostess: Featuring Batman" 

"Seven-Foot Polaris Nuclear Sub"

 SECOND UPDATE: JULY 23, 2019! 

From our great friend Debbie Anne Perry, comes this addition to our 1970s Comic Book Ad Gallery:

Some interesting observations...

Woody Woodpecker (from whom, we've previously established, you must hide your above-ad-mentioned "Wooden Nickels") is the only Non-Warner Bros. character offered here... and that was BEFORE they owned the MGM, Hanna-Barbera, and DC Comics characters!  

Perhaps he came cheap, because they paid him off in "Drooler's Delights"!  

The Daffy Duck Snippy, would seem to be based upon his earliest incarnation!

Finally, it's been ingrained from childhood to never "run with scissors"!  Wouldn't that make the Road Runner an odd choice for this product?

Meep-Meep!  Zip-Toing! 

 THIRD UPDATE: JULY, 27, 2019! 

To illustrate my response to Achille Talon's comment of July 27th, here is an image of WOODY WOODPECKER with KNOTHEAD and SPLINTER from the Walter Lantz theatrical short "Get Lost" (1956, and the kids' first animated appearance )!  Note the proportions of the kids to Woody vs. the more standard proportions seen in the comic books, and in later cartoons.  

These images make a nice pair of bookends, don't they?  

R.I.P. Yvonne Craig.

We sadly note the passing of actress Yvonne Craig, on August 17, 2015, at the unthinkable age of only 78. 

We can endlessly debate who, and what medium, gave us the best version of Batman, and all arguments and opinions have merit… but Yvonne Craig WAS Batgirl!  Hands down, and no arguments! 

Even subsequent animated versions of Batgirl owed their designs to Yvonne Craig. 

Filmation.

Warner Bros. 

And, it is the role of Batgirl she will be endlessly identified with.  To the present day, as seen by this 2015 comic book cover. 

...And the original 1967-era photo that inspired the 2015 cover. 
  

...And the comic book that started it all!  

Here's Batgirl's transformation, circa 2015.  The second panel, in particular, captures that "Yvonne Craig look"!

Beyond Batgirl, Yvonne Craig was also all over the landscape in other popular genre and fan-favorite series as:

STAR TREK

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

Anyone care to guess what she's screaming about? 

LAND OF THE GIANTS

...With Bruce Dern

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

 ...With Angela Lansbury ("The Bride of Frankenstein")

That's Angela Lansbury - NOT Yvonne Craig!  

...Opening U.N.C.L.E.'s "Channel D"! 

Yvonne Craig can be found throughout my DVD collection including:

PERRY MASON, WAGON TRAIN, McHALE'S NAVY, MY FAVORITE MARTIAN, THE WILD WILD WEST, and IT TAKES A THIEF.  All of which I hope to acquaint, or reacquaint, myself with in the coming days.  

And, of course, I can always enjoy her performances HERE. 

A complete list of Yvonne Craig's credits are found at IMDB, HERE.  

 I even got to meet her once.  She was delightful and very high-spirited.  It was anything but going through the “personal-appearance-motions”, as some might do. 

I must also add that she was at the top of my “Big Three” of sixties television, along with Marta Kristen, and Grace Lee Whitney – the latter of whom we also lost this year! (…And, if you have to ask “Big Three what?”, you are banned from my Blog for a week!)

Mark Evanier has a wonderful piece that you can link to HERE - and another funnier one HERE! 

And here's a great one from our friend "Comic Book Rehab"!

Rest in Peace, Yvonne Craig, and thank you for such great moments that will live on forever.