Easter Reading Room TICK TOCK TALES "Judy and Her Magic Chalk in the Land of the Easter Bunnies"

Though no other American comic publishers besides Dell ran Easter-themed anthologies...

...many ongoing series did run Easter stories, including this strip appearing in the kids' humor anthology Tick Tock Tales!

Illustrated (and possibly written) by animator Larry Silverman who freelanced for packager Jason Comic Art Studio, this never-reprinted story from Magazine Enterprises' Tick Tock Tales #4 (1947) was only the second entry in the "Magic Chalk" strip, which ran for almost thirty issues!
Judy would also appear on covers and in two-page text stories teamed with other characters from the anthology like Goofus the Gopher and Spanky, but, oddly, never in an actual comic story with them!

Be Here Thursday, When We Present a Walt Kelly Story Featuring Numerous Fantasy Characters in an Easter-Themed Adaptation of a Classic Fairy Tale!

Space Hero Saturdays JET POWERS "InterPlanetary War"

Like any respectable Space Hero, Magazine Enterprises' Jet Powers visited Mars...

...and ran right into the middle of an interplanetary war...but one that, for a change, didn't involve Earth!

But, the Queen doesn't realize a danger threatening not only Mars, but Earth as well, lurks within her own court...in a sequel tale to this one by writer Gardner Fox and artist Bob Powell from ME's Jet Powers #3 (1951)!
Jet Powers was a typical all-American scientist/pilot/adventurer who fought foes of democracy on Earth, in space, and even other dimensions!

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Monday Madness HOME RUN "Daffy Dodgers"

This year is the 65th Anniversary of baseball's Dodgers deserting my beloved Brooklyn (sob) for Los Angeles...

...so let's look at a few of the most infamous moments of the "Da Bums" during their long stay in the illustrious County of Kings!

Rendered by Bob Powell in his rarely-seen humorous style, this piece appeared in Magazine Enterprises' Home Run #3 (1953)...which was the only issue of that title!

Note: Almost everybody attempted one or more sports-themed titles to show comics were still wholesome, all-ages appropriate entertainment during this period as "comics cause juvenile delinquency" mania swept America!

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Tales from the Dodgers Dugout

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The Ten-Cent Plague

The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America

Coming Sunday...the ULTIMATE RUSSKIE SMASHER!

There's an interesting sub-genre of superheroes, known as the "inspired-bys".

These are characters who are inspired by other characters to take up the mask and seek justice.

Usually they're family members who take up the same identity as their predecessor (The Phantom, Black Canary, Silk Spectre of The Watchmen, The Black Hood, HourMan, etc.)

Sometimes, as in this case, they're inspired by an unrelated hero who just happened to be published by the same company!

The best-known example is DC Comics' WildCat, inspired by the Golden Age Green Lantern to become a crimefighter.

Magazine Enterprises' The Avenger had a similar origin.

When his brother is taken hostage by Communist spies who wanted the prototype StarJet aircraft, inventor Roger Wright is inspired by remembering stories of the Original Ghost Rider (also published by Magazine Enterprises) to take up a masked identity to rescue his captive sibling!

Proclaiming himself "an Avenger against the evils of Communism",  Roger dons a red costume in defiance (Communists were often described as "the Red Menace" because their flags were predominiantly red) and uses his StarJet to attempt a rescue.

Unfortunately, his brother, who had attempted to escape, was already dead! The Commies were dealing, of course, in bad faith!

Roger captured the spies, and declaring "No man can be complacent while such as you are bent on enslaving all Mankind", began a one-man war against Communists everywhere!

The war lasted only four bi-monthly issues from 1954-55.

The Avenger, like Nature Boy and several other mid-1950s heroes came along just before the audience was ready for the return of superheroes, who had all but disappeared from comics in 1949!

It wasn't until an updated version of The Flash appeared in Showcase #4 (a year after the last issue of The Avenger) that the Silver Age of Comics, and the resulting explosion of superhero books that continues to this day, got going!

Beginning today, we'll be re-presenting his Russkie-smashing saga at Hero Histories!

BTW, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have digitally-restored and remastered what we believe to be his first and best cover appearance by Golden Age great Bob Powell, on an assortment of pop-culture collectibles, including t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs and other goodies!

Show you believe in capitalism and buy an Classic Avenger goodie or two.

You don't want him thinking you're a Communist, do you? ;-)

Note: this character is in no way related to the earlier pulp/comic character The Avenger published by the same company as Doc Savage and The Shadow, and currently being revived by Dynsmite Publishing

Friday Fun HOT DOG "Harry Hotdog in Alarm! Alarm!"

It's my birthday, so I thought I'd present a never-reprinted tale about a birthday present...

... from Magazine Enterprises' Hot Dog #1 (1954) which utilized then-state of the art tech!

I bet you thought Siri and Alexa were terrible as alarm clocks!

At least that's what i hear from those who utilize them as such!

Harry Hotdog was Magazine Enterprises' primary attempt at creating a funny animal series, running four issues.

It wasn't bad, by any means, but it wasn't really distinctive, either

Was INAPAK the Chocolate Drink That NEVER Actually Existed?

Tuesday, we presented the miracle chocolate drink Inapak...

Now here's an interesting point...

It apparently never existed!

Really!

From extensive research (we're talking off-line and on-site) thru the archives of several dealers and collectors who handle related food ephemera like Ovaltine and Quik (now Nesquik) packaging and advertising, I've yet to come across anything (besides the comic book) relating in any way to Inapak!

Could it have been a proposed project that never got off the ground, like Victor Fox's Kooba Kola?

If so, who was behind it?

Magazine Enterprises, the publishers of the The Avenger, FunnyMan, and original Ghost Rider, produced the comic, and it's copyrighted in their name, not an outside corporation, as most licensed comics are!
Bob Powell is obviously the artist, though the writer is unknown.
It's theorized on the Grand Comics Database that Gardner Fox scripted the two stories in the book.
Speaking of which, here's the short tale from the back of the book...

Now, here's my theory about who Major Inapak is and how he came to be...
At this point (1951), there were a number of kids' sci-fi tv shows like Captain Video, featuring characters who also promoted their sponsors' products...

...and there was talk of a tv version of radio/comic/movie serial hero Captain Midnight (who was still owned by Ovaltine) with a heavier sci-fi flavor to compete with Captain Video, Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, Space Patrol, et al.
A Captain Midnight show eventually aired in 1954-56 with some sci-fi elements, but set present-day to keep the budget down.

And of course, it had lots of promotion for products...)

Could this book have been a tryout with the original, futuristic, format for Captain Midnight, spotlighting his sponsor, Ovaltine?

And, when it didn't sell, the story was reformatted with a new character and a non-existent chocolate drink to demonstrate what Magazine Enterprises could do for potential clients, and then used as a trade-show giveaway to drum up business for a licensed-comic division (similar to what both Marvel and DC have today)?

Think about it...

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Remember INAPAK, the Amazing Chocolate Drink?

Bosco?

Bah!

Quik?

Crap!

Ovaltine?

Ewww!

You want serious chocolate flavor in your milk?

Here it is...

It must be true!

Major Inapak says so!

And Major Inapak wouldn't lie!

In fact, he uses science to prove his point...

Major Inapak returns to tell the Youth of America what to do...

You'll pardon me while I scamper out to the supermarket to get a box!

Be back Thursday for more on...Inapak!

Reading Room HOME RUN "Little Leagues"

With the return of fans worshipping at the temples of the National Pastime (aka "baseball stadiums")...

...we thought we'd look at the origin of how many of us (myself included) first experienced organized baseball!

There was a short-lived surge in sports-themed comic books from 1949 to 1952.

This particular one-shot from Magazine Enterprises, produced in 1952 (but published in '53), was the last gasp of that cycle.

Produced/packaged by writer/artist Bob Powell's studio, this non-fiction historical piece was typical of the high-quality material he supplied to numerous publishers including Magazine Enterprises, Street & Smith, Prize Comics, and Harvey Comics, from the mid-1940s to the early 1960s.