Monday Madness AMAZING ADVENTURES "Cosmic Comics"

Ziff-Davis' 1950s sci-fi anthology Amazing Adventures...

...ran interesting "filler" pages including these humor strips by Harry Sahle from the first two issues.

Note the one above, from the inside back cover of #2, is b/w.

But the one above, from issue #1, while also an inside cover, is two-color!

Perhaps there were budget cuts between the printing of the two issues!
Sadly, these were the only two Cosmic Comic strips to run in any Ziff-Davis comics!

Friday Fun GET LOST! "Dr Jerkyll Became Mr Hide"

It's more "inspired" by the Robert Louis Stevenson tale than an adaptation...

...since it's set "present day" (1950s) and the dear doctor is a psychiatrist!

MikeRoss' Get Lost was one of numerous MAD comic clones that popped up in the mid-1950s when that humor comic became one of the hottest titles on the market...literally flying off newsstands!

The company, created by writer/artists Mike Esposito and Ross Andru (the "MikeRoss" of the company name) was meant to be a showcase for their talents.
They edited, wrote, and illustrated almost all the material, including this tale from #1 (1954).
Unfortunately, they debuted just as the legendary "Seduction of the Innocent" scandal (where comics were blamed for juvenile delinquency) hit the public consciousness!
All MikeRoss published were Get Lost, Heart and Soul (a romance comic) and a couple of 3-D books using modified Heart and Soul artwork.
Sadly, the company never really got off the ground as distributors became leery of handling any comics, much less titles from a brand-new, unproven company!
MikeRoss folded within a year, and the creators returned to working for others, enjoying long careers in the comics business both as a team and individually until they passed away!

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Friday Fun ABBOTT & COSTELLO "Money-Mad"

We've covered the Golden Age comic book adventures of the multi-media superstars HERE, HERE, and HERE...

...now we continue with Lou in a situation which all of us can sympathize with!

Though the scripter is unknown, the art for this tale from St John's Abbott & Costello Comics #8 (1949) is clearly by the team of Lily Renee and and her husband, Erik Peters.

It was reprinted once, in 1955, and hasn't been seen since!
We felt almost 75 years was too long a period to keep this from Lily Renee admirers, Abbott and Costello fans, comic book afficionados, and any combination of them!

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Abbott & Costello Story

Sixty Years of "Who's on First?"

Friday Fun BLAST-OFF "Danger! Atoms!"

Some stories need little extrapolation...

...such as this never-reprinted short by writer/artist Howard Nostrand from Harvey's Blast-Off! #1 (1965)

Cute, eh?

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Chilling Archives of Horror Comics Volume 7

Howard Nostrand's Nightmares

Space...Hero? Saturdays WEIRD TALES OF THE FUTURE "Jumpin' Jupiter 'In Space No One Can Hear You Laugh' "

If you thought Jumpin' Jupiter's first story was weird...

..his third appearance from Weird Tales of the Future #4 (1953) is gonna make you plotz!

Whether it's his ongoing SpaceHawk and Space Patrol strips or any of the numerous one-shot tales he did, Wolverton's Golden Age output was always instantly-recognizable!
The humor strip ran in #2 thru #5 of Key Publications' Weird Tales of the Future, along with several serious sci-fi/horror one-shot stories also written and illustrated by the amazing Basil!
And, yes, we'll get to the second tale, along with the fourth (and final) one...in the future! (Where else?)

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Creeping Death from Neptune

Life and Comics of Basil Woverton

Volume 1

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Friday Fun RIOT the Complete "Why Izzit?"

Appearing in Atlas' Riot #5 and #6 (1956)...

...these never-reprinted features by writer Stan Lee, penciler Dan DeCarlo, and inker Rudy Lapick...

...were designed as fillers for use at any point the book's page count came up short!

Were more created...but never used?

Or are these four pages all that exist?

I suspect we'll never know the answer...

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Sincerest Form of Parody

What Do Trumpettes Talk About When They Wait in Line to Get Into a Rally?

Likely something like this...

...and this!

Both these two-page spreads are from Charlton's Hee Haw comics derived from the syndicated TV series.

These examples of the show's humor were written and illustrated by Frank Roberge and based on an ongoing skit featuring the entire cast (plus guest stars) in a cornfield popping up and doing jokes and one-liners!

The TV show ran a surprising twenty-six seasons from 1969 to 1995, though the comic only lasted for seven (never-reprinted) issues!

Monday MARVEL Madness BARBIE FASHION "Bye, Bye, Barbie!"

When is a Barbie story not a Barbie story?

When it has no Barbie (or her supporting cast) in it...until the very last page!

Perhaps that's why this never-reprinted tale from Marvel's Barbie Fashion #41 (1994) was in their April Fool issue!

But as for who is in this story, well...

Either in-universe Marvel's Editor-in-Chief Tom DeFalco (not the real guy, of course) was an easily-manipulated fool...or he was a sadist!

Note: Barbie Fashion ran for another year, until it was really cancelled with #53 in 1995.
Written by Barbara Slate, penciled by Mary Wilshire, and inked by Trina Robbins, this story from three decades ago featured the entire creative and editorial crew from the two Barbie titles as well as various other Marvel personnel.

Can you name them all?

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Barbie and Ruth

The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

Friday Fun RIOT "Mother Goosepimple's Nursery Rhymes" Parts 1 & 2

Atlas Comics' numerous 1950s MAD comic clones...

...gave the company's creatives a chance to flex their artistic muscles in ways rarely-seen by their readers!

This never-reprinted short from Atlas RIOT #5 (1956) gave amazingly-versatile artist Joe Maneely a chance to show his rarely-seen humorous side.

The second, final, also never-reprinted installment in this series features an artist who already had a rep doing humor, John Severin, best known for his serious Western and War comics work at Harvey and EC!

He was also brother of EC Comics colorist Marie Severin, who later became Marvel's resident caricaturist (among her many other talents)!
I suspect this was going to be an ongoing series featuring rotating illustrators, but since Riot was cancelled as of this issue (6) in 1956, we'll never know!
BTW, if the writing style for both stories feels "familiar", that's because it was by snarky Stan (the Man) Lee!

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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!