Monday Madness THIS MAGAZINE IS CRAZY "Russians are Stealing Our Comics!"

Russians using pop culture to spread disinformation is nothing new...

...as this never-reprinted feature from Charlton's MAD clone This Magazine is Crazy V4N8 (1959) by an unknown writer and artist (or writer/artist) demonstrates!

The really sad thing is how few of these strips survive to this day!

Nancy, Dennis the Menace, and Beetle Bailey are still being published.

Peanuts is in reprints only, with no new strips since creator Charles Schultz retired.

Abernathy and They'll Do It Every Time are gone and pretty much forgotten.

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Friday Fun EH! "Squeeeezerama in 5-D!"

Movie theaters are still struggling, post-covid, to get people back into the seats...

...much like back in the 1950s, when TV first competed with the cinemas for the attention of the viewing public!

Illustrated by Dick Ayers and likely written by editor Al Fago, this story from Charlton's Eh! #2 (1954) exaggerates (but not by much) the lengths to which movie studios went to lure the audience back to theaters!

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Friday Fun ZANY "Russian Bubble-Gum Cards"

Americans have obsessed about Russians for over half a century...

...as this never-reprinted feature written by editor Dick Richards and illustrated by Ricahrd Doxsee from Candar's Zany #4 (1959) proves!

To explain some of the references:
"Bubble-gum cards" are trading cards, which haven't included bubble gum in the packaging for decades!
(The sugar in the gum damaged the cards!)

"Mel Stalin" is based on Mel Allen, longtime play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees.

"Dr Wherner von Foofnick" is loosely-based on Dr Werner von Braun, inventor of the V-2 rocket who later created the Saturn V rocket for NASA.
(German scientists ended up working for both the USA and USSR on various projects including the respective countries' space programs.)
"Henry Fordsky" is based on automobile innovator Henry Ford.
"Edvard R. Murovitch" is based on radio/TV newsman Edward R. Murrow.
"Mickey Mantlevitch" is based on Baseball Hall of Fame New York Yankee Mickey Mantle.
And the fact I have to explain who and what these things are makes me feel very old...

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Friday Fun RIOT! "Guillotine!"

Sometimes you find something so weird, you just have to show it to others!

This never-reprinted cover and story from Atlas' RIOT! #1 (1954) are two such examples!

Illustrated (and possibly written) by Howie Post.

This tale proves that, with Atlas doing several MAD comic clones at once, even the most talented of creatives could find themselves stretched thin!

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Friday Fun EH! "That's How T.V. was Born!!"

For the record, this is not a true story!
In fact, this never-reprinted tale from Charlton's EH! #1 (1953) isn't even close to the truth!

But, in the pre-cybertech era of the 1950s when all that existed was radio and blurry black-and-white TVs, this feature illustrated by Dick Ayers made a lot more sense.

As they say,"You had to be there!"

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Space Hero Saturdays GET LOST! "Ace of Space: Four-Flush Gordon"

If you're a poker player, you'll get the reference in the name of the title character...

...if not, we'll explain it at the end of this classic comedy tale!

A four flush (also flush draw) is a poker hand that is one card short of being a full flush.

"Four flushing" refers to empty boasting or unsuccessful bluffing.

Written and illustrated by the team of Ross Andru and Mike Esposito for first issue of their short-lived 1954 humor title Get Lost, for their own short-lived publishing house, MikeRoss Publishing,  this was their almost-mandatory Flash Gordon/Buck Rogers spoof all humor publishers in the 1950s did!

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Space Hero Saturdays ZANY "Buck Dodgers" and "Flush Gordon"

A couple of comic strip parodies from one of the many MAD Magazine imitators...

From Candar's Zany #3 (1959), illustrated by Carl (Golden Age Human Torch) Burgos, writer unknown, though it might have been Burgos himself.

From Candar's Zany #2 (1958), artist and writer unknown.

Note: "Max Oboy" is a spoof of Mac Raboy, Golden Age Captain Marvel Jr and Green Lama comic artist who replaced Alex Raymond on the Flash Gordon Sunday strip from 1948 to his passing in 1967.

These HTF (and never-reprinted) space adventure parodies, were from Candar, which published risque titles like French Cartoons and Cuties and College Laughs.

Though Zany only ran four issues, it had a pretty damn good lineup of writers and artists including the aformentioned Burgos (who was also the editor for the first two issues), Bill Everett (who also painted all four front covers), Joe Sinnott, Dick Briefer, John Forte, Don Orehek, Morris Waldinger, Paul Reinman, and Pete Costanza!

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Monday Maternity Madness MAD "Mad's All-Inclusive Do-It-Yourself Abortion Newspaper Story"

With minor updating, this never-reprinted two-page feature...

...written by long-time contributor Frank Jacobs from EC's MAD Magazine #324 (1994) could be used today!

Sad, isn't it?

Friday Fun FROM HERE TO INSANITY "Century's Most Practical Inventions"

What could be a better way to end the week...

...than a never-reprinted Basil Wolverton story?

Charlton tried several times to match the success of EC's MAD, both as a color comic and a b/w magazine!

This particular book, From Here to Insanity V3N1 (1957), was comic-book sized, but tried to look like a b/w magazine with "spot color" elements!
The remaining seven issues in the series were the same b/w magazine format as MAD.

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Friday Fun RIOT "Mother Goosepimple's Nursery Rhymes" 2

The second, final , 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 Atlas' MAD-clone Riot was cancelled as of this issue (6) in 1956, we'll never know!
BTW, if the writing style feels "familiar", that's because it was by Stan (the Man) Lee!

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Friday Fun RIOT "Mother Goosepimple's Nursery Rhymes"

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

...gave their 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 humorous side.

OTOH, writer/editor Stan Lee was already well-known for his snarky prose.

This was the first installment of what was intended to be an ongoing feature.

A second Mother Goosebumps appeared in the next (and last) issue.

You'll see that one next Friday.

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Friday Fun / CoronaVirus Comics CEREBUS IN HELL "Super-Cerebus Vs. Covid-19"

Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark has been a comics standout since the late 1970s, running more than 300 issues...

Originally a parody of Roy Thomas & Barry Smith's Conan the Barbarian, the Cerebus comics stand out for their experimentation in both storytelling format and editorial content, often mirroring the creator's sometimes controversial beliefs.

The current on-line series Cerebus in Hell, is no different, mirroring the CoronaVirus pandemic and the US government response!

You can download the current chapter in PDF form (including this double-page spread), for free, HERE!

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Cerebus the Aardvark

Volume 1

The storyline that started it all!

Where are the "Kool" Uniforms for Don da Con's Space Force?

The uniforms for Don da Con's "Space Force" have been unveiled...

...and are military surplus camos...for space warfare!
When you're given a multi-million dollar budget and you cant even do better than a 1970s tv series...

...you're really badly off!
Ironically, the comic-book version of Space Force has a much better uniform...

But, then, in the comic, Don da Con has lost over 100 pounds from his real-world weight!

(Or those spacesuits have built-in Spanx!)

Sad, ain't it?

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Trump's Space Force

(either for yourself, or as a gift for a con friend/relative)