Friday, February 23, 2024

Friday Fun THIS MAGAZINE IS CRAZY "Fact Realism vs TV is 'em Real"

Old West humor, illustrated by the legendary Jack Davis...
...but NOT from MAD!
It's from Charlton's This Magazine is CRAZY! V4N8, a MAD imitator which lasted only seven issues!
Both as a color comic and a b/w magazine, MAD inspired many imitators.
Some, like Cracked, are going even today (albeit on-line, not in print).
Others, like This Magazine is CRAZY, were short-lived, but able, from time to time, to get work from MAD's regular contributors, almost all of whom were freelancers.
This particular piece from 1959 apparently was a satirical response to TV's sanitizing the images of both cowboys and Indians in ongoing series.
Westerns were the most popular scripted genre at the time, dominating almost half of both the prime time and syndicated schedules.
The writer is, regrettably, unknown but it could be Davis himself, who utilized this format in both issues of his own short-lived color comic humor anthology Yak Yak, as seen HERE and HERE!
The writer is, regrettably, unknown.
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Thursday, February 22, 2024

Reading Room UFO FLYING SAUCERS "Life on Other Worlds"

Specifically-themed anthologies are difficult to keep going for more than a few issues at a time...
...but Gold Key's UFO Flying Saucers / UFOs and Outer Space managed an impressive 25-issue run!
The series combined stories using documented UFO sightings with features based on reasonable speculation and tales that were flights of sheer fantasy,
Written by Leo Dorfman and illustrated by Luis Dominguez, this short from  UFO Flying Saucers #1 (1968) falls into the "reasonable speculation" category...albeit with aliens who look like refugees from a Golden Age (1920s-1940s) pulp magazine!
BTW, Gold Key's former publishing partner Dell, had their own 1960s anthology, Flying Saucers, which began before UFO Flying Saucers, but only managed five issues!
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Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder WOLFF "Mother of Waters"

At last, the never-seen (in America) continuation of the saga of Wolff...
...as our post-apocalyptic barbarian and Galadra meet...guess who?
Hint: Look at the title!
This tale from New England Library's Dracula #7 (1972), by Luis Gaska (aka Sadko) and Estaban Maroto takes a tragic turn.
But, it also sets up a major change in the storyline, as we'll see in the near-future!
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Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Reading Room TWILIGHT ZONE "Calling..." & "Journeys into..."

Though the original Twilight Zone comic never adapted any of the TV episodes...
...it did use a stellar lineup of talent to craft some really good new stories as well as science featurettes like this George Evans-illustrated one from Dell's Four Color #1288 (1962)...
...and this Evans-penciled/Reed Crandall-inked piece from Dell's Four Color #1173 (1961).
Besides these talented guys, other artists on the early issues included Frank Frazetta, Mike Sekowsky, Frank Giacoia, Alex Toth, Frank Thorne, Don Heck, and Angelo Torres!
Though neither Dell nor Gold Key followed the Comics Code, they didn't allow the creatives to go back to the relatively-unrestrained horror material most of the artists (especially the EC alumni) had done previously!
Sadly, trademark and licensing constraints have prevented these stories from being reprinted, but you'll be seeing them re-pesented here and at our fellow RetroBlogs!
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(which is available in reprint, and features many of the same artists as the Twilight Zone comic)

Monday, February 19, 2024

Monday Holiday Madness PRESIDENTS' DAY...the Holiday that Combines TWO Presidents' Birthdays!

Before they combined Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays into a "floating" holiday...
...Washington's Birthday was always celebrated each year on Feb 22nd...
...and Lincoln's Birthday was always on February 12th!
Why the change?
USA Today has an explanation HERE!
Since this is a comics blog, let's get back on-topic!
These two features appeared in a 1956 comic called "Every Day's a Holly Day"
(No, it's not a typo...as you can see!)
Why was it called that instead of "Every Day's a Holiday"?
Because it was given away to kids by grocers who sold Holly Sugar!
Illustrated by John Rosenberger, it's a unique pamphlet covering a number of American holidays, including Mothers' Day (though not Fathers' Day), Flag Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and a couple of holidays we've largely abandoned...Pan-American Day and American Indian Day!
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