Believe it or not, there was a comic book version of this holiday "classic" flick...
...in 1966, from Dell Comics!
Next Friday: Santa's trip to Mars...
(...not to be confused with Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars!)
The writer/adaptor is unknown, but the art is by Bob Jenney, who did quite a few movie and tv adaptations for Dell.
The actual title of the comic is Dell Movie Classic #725. Not only was it sold on newsstands, but it was packaged with an LP album of the movie's audio including dialogue, sound effects and (shudder) the earworm-creating theme song! (Remember, they didn't have streaming services, DVDs/Blu Rays, or even videocassettes back in the 1960s!)
Ever hear "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"?
...well, when that woman is the Ice Queen, even ol' Kris Kringle better watch out!
Some observations...
Boy, the Ice Queen is a real...#itch, ain't she?
Santa has "magic snowshoes"?
Wonder what other kool gimmicks he has lying around the toyshop...
Illustrated by Lea Bing, this never-reprinted story from Dell's Santa Claus Funnies #1 (1942) was the first in a series of annual books featuring not only Kris Kringle, but other Christmas-related characters and stories that ran from '42 to '62.
Starring a host of tv and b-movie actors including handsome-but-wooden Leonard Hicks as the benevolent Martian leader Kimar, 60s villain/voiceover artist Vincent Beck (who did lots of work for Irwin Allen's sci-fi shows) as the film's mustache-twirling, scenery-chewing Martian villain, Voldar, and John Call as a pretty damn convincing cuddly Santa Claus, the film is classic kiddie matinee programming at its' retro campy best!
The plot's pretty simple.
The children of Mars are in a funk.
The adult Martians deduce it's due to the children's strict and sterile upbringing, and that to "normalize" them, the kids must have fun!
And what could be more fun than celebrating Christmas?
But, to do a proper Christmas, you need a Santa Claus!
Thus, the Martians journey to Earth to kidnap Santa Claus and force him to create a Christmas celebration on Mars!
Then, as they used to say in TV Guide's plot listings, hilarity ensues! (well, sorta)
As an example of low-budget filmmaking, it's amazingly-effective.
Every penny (what few of them they had) is up on the screen.
The costuming and Santa's Workshop and Mars sets are as good as those of tv shows of the period.
(The Martian robot is probably the weakest element from a design and execution standpoint, but, hey, nobody's perfect!)
There's extensive use of military stock footage (from Dr. Strangelove, no less).
And, the idea to utilize the then-current Wham-O Air Blaster toy guns as Martian weapons was either a stroke of marketing genius or clever use of limited funds. Either way, sales of the guns shot thru the roof after the film hit the kiddie matinee circuit!
If you're between 3-9 years old, the flick's a lot of fun.
If you're between 10 and whatever the local drinking age is, it'll drive you nuts, especially the theme song! And to prove it...here it is!
If you're over the local drinking age...do so before watching! It's available on a host of public domain DVDs and BluRays as well as one of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 snarkfests.
BTW: The image at top is the cover of the comic book tie-in. There was also a 45rpm single of the theme, a spoken-word LP album of the movie's dialogue (which included the comic book), and a novelization, all of which are HTF...and expensive when you do find them!
Be Here Next Friday,
when we begin our re-presentation of the comic book adaptation of the movie!
Now I can't get that damn theme out of my head..."Hoo-ray for Santy Claus..."
Space Heroes take many forms...not all of them human!
...as shown in this never-reprinted introductory tale from Dell's Four Color Comics: Space Mouse #1132 (1960).
Writer Carl Fallberg and artist John Carey did such an amazing job on this intro to the character, that when it was adapted in 1963 into a cartoon short (May be NSFW/NSFS due to racial stereotyping of Siamese cats using "Asian" accents) directed by Alex Lovy shown HERE, most (but not all) of the plot, script, and visuals were kept intact! Though the cartoon didn't result in a Space Mouse TV series (or even additional cartoon shorts featuring the character), it did spawn a number of additional comic book stories as well as a five-issue Space Mouse comic!
...whose strip ran through several Avon Comics funny animal titles in the early 1950s!
In 1959, a year after Avon ceased publishing comics, Dell Comics introduced a new Space Mouse...
...who was published as a Walter (Woody Woodpecker) Lantz project, though Lantz had no input into the character's creation or direction!
Note: In many cases, I'm skeptical of the accuracy of Wikipedia articles, the one about this character (click HERE) rings true, so, unless anyone can disprove it, I'm sticking with it! Movie-tv animator/comic book artist John Carey designed the character and illustrated almost all his appearances including covers, stories, and one-page features and text pieces! Along with the cover shown above, here's a few examples of Carey's work from Space Mouse's premiere in Dell's Four Color Comics: Space Mouse #1132 (1960)...
The b/w pages are from the inside covers of the comic, which were printed without color (or just black and one other color) to save money...a standard practice in comics until the 1970s.
Ironically, the last page would've benefitted from using color to play up the bulls-eye/target joke!
Tomorrow in Space Hero Saturdays... The Introductory Comic Story! Plus A Link to the Animated Version (which is not available on YouTube!) Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics Visit Amazon and Buy...
More holiday fun with Walk Kelly's adaptations of nursery rhymes...
...starting with a never-reprinted revisionist short from Dell's Four Color Comics #140: Easter with Mother Goose (1947), showing the Easter Bunny succeeding where All the King's Horses and All the King's Men failed!
Revisionism continues the next year, with another never-reprinted short (with guest-stars Jack and Jill), this time from Dell's Four Color Comics #185: Easter with Mother Goose (1948)...
Should we ask why Peter isn't actually living with his wife?
Trivia: this issue features the now-repaired Humpty Dumpty on the cover!
