Friday Fun KOOKIE! "Yea Sayers"

The title is a play on the phrase "nay sayers"...

...which denotes someone who complains, criticizes, or objects to something!

Kookie is an aspiring young actress look for her big break.

Her friend, Jose O'Hara, is an aspiring playwright looking for his big break.

In this never-reprinted tale from Dell's Kookie! #1 (1962), scripted by John Stanley and illustrated by Bill Williams, the two encourage each other's "creativity" with almost insane optimism, trying to turn each setback into an advantage!

Friday Fun ARCHIE'S MAD HOUSE "Why Is It?"

Archie Comics tried twice to do a kinder, gentler (Comics Code-approved) MAD-style comic!

This series, Archie's Mad House, using the Archie cast as "hosts" to introduce the features, was the first attempt!

Joe Edwards, the writer/artist behind this never-reprinted story from Archie's Mad House #16 (1962) was one of the most prolific creators of the Archie Comics creative crew, producing several thousand (yes, you read that correctly) stories including standalones like this one, one and two-page shorts, tales of the Archie gang, and an ongoing strip featuring his own creation, L'il Jinx!
The book went through numerous reboots/reincarnations as Archie's MadHouse / Archie's Mad House / Mad House / Mad House Ma-ad Jokes / Ma-ad House Freak-Out / Mad House Glads / Mad House an anthology horror comic for three issues...then reverted to humor as Mad House Comics for a total run of 130 issues between 1961 and 1982, a pretty good run by any standard!
The book was revived as a Halloween reprint annual from 2017 to 2019, and will doubtless rise again at some point!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and order...

Best of Archie's Mad House!

Friday Fun WILD "I Was an 88 Pound Weakling"

As we enter the final weekend of summer vacation...

...lets look at a parody of a classic tale of humiliation and redemption on the beach!

This never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Wild #5 (1954) spoofs the plot of this ad...

...which had already become a cliche!

Penciler Al Hartley,  inker Carl Burgos, and an unknown scripter (likely the book's editor Stan Lee) knew the audience would get the joke especially since the ad ran in almost every comic of the 1950s!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Sincerest Form of Parody

Friday Fun HICKORY "Irrigation Irritation"

Let's have a look at how some creatives see twice-impeached/thrice indicted Don (the Con) Trump's "deplorables"...

...in this never-reprinted tale from Quality's Hickory #1 (1949)

Illustrated (and probably written) by Harry Sahle, this strip began in Hillman Comics' anthology All-Humor Comics, then spun-off into it's own, short-lived, title when All-Humor was cancelled.

In 1948-49, superheroes were all but kaput.

Comics were experimenting with every genre imaginable to see what would sell.

Li'l Abner was a major success in newspapers and had already spawned a radio series and feature film!

Strips like Looie Lazybones had long been a part of anthology titles, and series like Ozark Ike, and Babe had earned their own titles, though it was probably due more to their emphasis on the characters' involvement in sports than their rural origins.

Hickory the comic only lasted six issues.

Please Support

Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Order...

Best of Li'l Abner

by Al Capp

Monday Madness RIOT "The Shadower"

"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?"

Not this guy...

...as demonstrated in this never-reprinted tale from Atlas Comics' MAD clone, Riot #1 (1954)!

Though the writer of this satire of The Shadow radio show is unknown, odds are it was Stan Lee, who was writing almost everything at this point.

The illustrator is extremely well-known...Gene Colan!

This was not the first time The Shadow had been spoofed, since EC's MAD ran their own take on the character in #4 (1953) as shown HERE.

(It was even the cover feature!)

You'll note in this tale "The Shadower" doesn't have the usual cloak, slouch hat, and aquiline nose we associate with the character...

Art by Frank Robbins

In fact, he looks a lot like the Archie Comics version from a decade later...1964...

Art by John Rosenberger

...who, at least initially, was primarily-based on the radio show, but updated to the spy-oriented Sixties!

BTW, if you want more The Shadow stuff, have a look at our current Summer RetroBlog Blogathon participants...

CRIME & PUNISHMENT

...where we're re-presenting the Dark Avenger's never-reprinted 1970s-created, but 1940s-set adventures featuring art by Frank Robbins and E R Cruz.

AND

HERO HISTORIES

...where we began the re-presentation of the never-reprinted, final "Maxwell Grant" Shadow novel from the Swinging Sixties!

Friday Fun ABBOTT & COSTELLO "Biscuit Eater"

They were one of the top comedy acts in every existing media of the 1940s/50s including comic books...

...with simple but effective storylines, almost always leading up to a satisfying, entertaining conclusion!

This tale from St John's Abbott and Costello Comics #8 (1949) certainly wouldn't have been out of place on their 1950s TV series...if they had the budget to pull off either animal costuming or trained animals (which the low-budget series rarely did).
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Abbott & Costello Story
Sixty Years of "Who's on First?"

Friday Fun RICHIE RICH "Military Mix-Up"

The Dreaded Deadline Doom caught us this week...

...so enjoy this carry-over from our brother RetroBlog, Hero Histories, featuring The Poor Little Rich Boy kicking Russkie butt in this tale from Harvey's Richie Rich #51 (1966)!

Whatta guy!

And he didn't even have to become Super-Richie/Rippy...

...to do it!

(If you think there's a lot of Spider-Man or Batman titles out now...and there are quite a few...it's nothing compared to Richie Rich at his peak, when there were...take a deep breath...

32 simultaneous monthly, bi-monthly and quarterly Richie Rich Universe titles!
And that's not including Casper, Sad Sack, and all the other non-Richie Rich Harvey titles! 

You read that right, True Believer!
By the way, they were all selling better than almost everything Marvel and DC has out there now!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Harvey Comics Classics Volume 2

Richie Rich

Friday Fun DUNC AND LOO "Loo and Strongboy Stoop in 'Muscle Bound' "

Let's return to an unusually-urban humor comic series...

...with this never-reprinted short from Dell's Dunc and Loo #8 (1963)!

Trivia: The book was originally-titled Around the Block with Dunc and Loo, but was shortened to just Dunc and Loo as of #4.
(Apparently suburban and rural readers use "corner" or "street" instead of "block" when referring to addresses, so the original title confused them!)
You'll note two major differences from most teen humor tales we present here...

1) the art doesn't mimic the Archie Comics "house" art style, which became synonymous with "teen humor" in the late 1950s!

2) the series is set in a big city with apartment houses and other urban elements.

(Most "teen humor" series are set in suburbs/small towns!)

Written by John Stanley and illustrated by Bill Williams (the series' co-creators).

It was one of three "teen humor" series created for Dell by Stanley, including Kookie and Thirteen (Going on Eighteen) for Dell.

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Thirteen Going on Eighteen

by John Stanley