Monday Madness REAL FACT COMICS "Rookie of the Year" & PICTURE NEWS "California Flash"

For the past few weeks, we presented a fictional tale about a ballplayer facing prejudice...

...today, it's the "real deal" with the guy who broke the racial barrier in Major League Baseball!

The story from DC's Real Fact Comics #14 (1948) presents the story in a straightforward, if slightly patronizing, manner.

The following tale from Parents Magazine's Picture News #4 (1946) by writer/artist Charles Wessel, predates his being called up to the majors.

Note it does contain a couple of racial stereotypes common to the era, and may be NSFW.

There was also an official Jackie Robinson comic book from major comics publisher Fawcett that lasted six issues (longer than most other comics based on real-life sports figures) from 1949-52.

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Digitally-restored and remastered from a scan of the actual original cover!

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Easter Bunny and the Dwarf"

To be clear, "dwarf" is not politically incorrect...

...so just sit back and enjoy the never-reprinted tale from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #140 (1947)!

This story, written and illustrated by Walt (Pogo) Kelly features a number of nursery rhyme characters including Jack and Jill (who went up a hill), Little Jack Horner, and Mother Goose herself.

But, it is not, as was often the case with Kelly's holiday pieces, an adaptation of existing nursery rhymes, but a totally-new tale!
It's also a prequel to the book's lead tale featuring an Easter party...which you'll see on Easter Sunday!

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Space...Hero?...Saturdays ABBOTT AND COSTELLO COMICS "About Space" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our...Heroes?...
(Don't worry, you didn't miss a post!
Part 1 appeared yesterday as part of our ongoing Friday Fun feature!)

The unemployed Abbott and Costello are hired by a mad scientist to crew his experimental rocket aimed at Mars...which is currently at war with Jupiter!
Astra, beautiful ruler of Mars, mistakes them for Jovians and shoots them down.
Crash-landing on Mars in the "Swamp of Death", our dim-witted duo encounter and make friends with a fire-breathing dinosaur/dragon.
Good thing, since the Jovians have landed (without crashing) in the swamp and are about to launch a sneak attack on Astra's palace!
When the Jovians shoot at the duo and their dinosaur/dragon, the trio head for the nearest city!
Within, Astra prepares a special formula that enhances one's courage.
But, unknown to her, aide Taro is a traitor working for the Jovians, and he switches her formula for plain water...which she drinks, believing it to be the courage-enhancer!
A&C arrive, the city's robot guards scare the dinosaur/dragon off and the pitiful pair are captured!

Then the poop hits the propeller...

(Hey, it's a PG-13 blog!)

Written by John Graham and illustrated by Lily "Lilly" Renee and Eric Peters, this tale from St John's Abbott and Costello Comics #3 (1949) shows what a decent special effects budget could've done for decent (but not great) A&C flicks like Universal's Abbott and Costello Go to Mars!

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Friday Fun ABBOTT AND COSTELLO COMICS "About Space" Part 1

Bud Abbott (the skinny straight man) and Lou Costello (the plump comedian)...

...were one of the most popular comedy teams in movies, radio, and TV for decades!

Yes, it's a cliffhanger!

And, no, you won't have to wait a week to see the conclusion!

Be here tomorrow, as we present the fantastic finale in our ongoing weekend feature,...

Space Hero/Space Heroine Saturdays!

Though some of their movies are (rightly) considered classics, it was always due to the duo, who were never given a decent-sized budget!

Even my all-time favorite, Universal's Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, had only a b-movie budget and a lot of recycled sets, props, and costumes!
This original (not adapted from radio or movies) story from St. John's Abbott and Costello Comics #3 (1948), written by John Graham and illustrated by Lily "Lilly" Renee and Eric Peters, shows how comics creators visualized spectacular tales unrestrained by financial limitations!

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Lily Renee, Escape Artist

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Reading Room OUT OF THIS WORLD "Man-Eating Lizards!"

It's fun to see early work by a talent who would become one of the all-time greats...

...like this rarely-seen work by a then-teenaged Joe Kubert!

Note: may be NSFW due to racial stereotypes common to the era.

Oddly, the Pacific Islanders are colored green in this tale from Avon's Out of This World (1950) one-shot.

But when this story appeared several years earlier in Avon's Eerie Comics #1 (1947), they were various shades of brown and tan...

There's no explanation for the change to the coloring, especially since all the other color elements remained the same in both versions!

While artist Joe Kubert went on to become one of the icons of graphic storytelling, writer Edward Bellin disappeared from comics after scripting just this and one other story...which also appeared in that issue of Eerie Comics.

But that's not the end of the story!

Bellin (actually "Edward J Bellin") was an early pen-name for a writer already well-established in science-fiction/fantasy...Cyril M. Kornbluth...who was looking to expand beyond the prose market into other media, including comics, radio, and television.

Kornbluth had used the name on one of his earliest short stories, "No Place to Go", and decided to reuse it years later for his comics work.

Who sez comics ain't educational?

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