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!

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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!

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Sincerest Form of Parody

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 NUTS! "Popular Pictorial Science Handicrafts"

We brought you a similarly-themed tale about comic books from the same MAD-clone series HERE!

And now, our host/instructor (who originally-had a red mustache and hair) presents popular "slick" magazine genres...

This feature, illustrated by Hy Fleishman, from Premier Magazine's Nuts! #5 (1954) demonstrates the quality this undeservedly-obscure, short-lived (1953-1956) company gave to the titles in its' multi-genre (humor/Western/horror/romance/crime/funny animal) lineup!

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Friday Fun CRAZY, MAN, CRAZY! "Hollywood Version"

Some complain that movies and TV shows take too many liberties when adapting classic literature...

...and to that we say...DAMN STRAIGHT!

This never-reprinted feature from Charlton's short-lived MAD Magazine clone Crazy Man, Crazy! V2N1 (1955) shows they were already doing it almost 70 years ago!

You think artist Art Gates and the unknown scripter (possibly editor Al Fago) were as perturbed about the "creative re-imaging"/mangling of classics back then as we are today?

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Sincerest Form of Parody

Friday Fun 50s FUNNIES "Hot Sox the Teenage Devil Delinquent! in 'I Sold My Soul for Rock'N'Roll!' "

He's not who you think...

...he's a lot snarkier, but still PG-13, so kids can read him!

But he's not Comics Code-approved!

You've been warned!

As you may have guessed, Hot Sox was a parody of...

..."taken to 11" as they said in This is Spinal Tap!

Written by Larry Shell & Scott Shaw! and illustrated by Shaw! (Yes, the "!" is part of his name), he made his one and only appearance in Kitchen Sink Press' 50s Funnies (1980), a one-shot (and never-reprinted) anthology about (you guessed it) 1950s pop culture...from a 1980s viewpoint!
The impressive list of contributors included Steve Bissette, William Stout, Rick Veitch, Will Meugniot, John Totleben, and Alfredo Alcala!

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50s Funnies

(The Hot Sox color pageat the beginning of the post was the comic's back cover!)

Friday Fun NUTS! "Comics is Wonderful!"

We keep telling you "comics can be educational"!

This feature, though it looks like it, is not an example of that!

How "meta" can you get?

A comic that spoofs other comics' genres!

This feature illustrated by Hy Fleishman from Premier Magazine's Nuts! #4 (1954) demonstrates the quality this undeservedly-obscure, short-lived (1953-1956) company gave to the titles in its' multi-genre lineup!

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Friday Fun GRIN "Knowstalgia!"

From the short-lived MAD clone GRIN...

comes this "what the future will be like" feature which we're looking at from the future they "predicted"!

Illustrated by Al Scaduto and likely written by D J Arneson, this never-reprinted feature from the final issue of APAG House's GRIN (#3 in 1973) combines both topical humor and predictions about the future including technology, morals, and behavior that are amazingly-off from what actually happened!

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Sincerest Form of Parody