Friday, October 14, 2022

Friday Fun CALLING ALL KIDS "Twinkle...Helps on Halloween"

Here's a character you've likely never heard of....

...in a tale from Parents Magazine Press' Calling All Kids #13 (1947).
And, yes, he's an actual star, like our own Sun, except he's now manifesting as a humanoid with limited mystical abilities.
Just go with that...
Debuting in the second issue of Calling All Kids, Twinkle not only ran for the remainder of the book's existence, but was reprinted in the same publisher's Childrens' Digest and Humpty Dumpty Magazine in the 1950s and 60s!
Once the Halloween season is over, we'll re-present his "origin" story!
BTW, despite the indicia above saying Quality Comics was a subsidiary of Parents Magazine Press, it wasn't.
Quality was only the editorial content packager and printing agent for Parents' comic book line, nothing more.

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Haunted House Reading Room TORCHY "Haunted House Party"

We end this week's Haunted House Reading Room-fest with one of the most popular...
..and politically-incorrect female characters of the Golden Age!
Torchy Todd wasn't quite a stereotypical blonde bombshell!
She did have a brain, and could extricate herself from most situations!
But her main attribute was how often she could end up in "cheesecake" poses, usually showing off her legs!
Created by noted good-girl writer/artist Bill Ward, Torchy had a long career during the Golden Age as a back-up strip in Quality's Modern ComicsDoll Man Quarterly, and her own 10-issue title!
Eventually, Ward moved away from the strip and others (including Gill Fox, who wrote and illustrated this never-reprinted tale from Modern Comics #98 [1950]) tried to fill his high-heeled shoes!
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PG-13/NO Nudity

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder WALKING DEAD "Beginning of the End" Conclusion

When Last We Left the Former Law-Enforcement Officer Battling Zombies in a Post-Apocalyptic World...

...no!
Not that LEO..

...this LEO!
Mortally-wounded Sgt Joe Barker faces off with zombie leader (Yes, the zombies in this universe have a leader!) Jak...

The final scene of the final issue of Aircel's Walking Dead (#4 in 1990) truly defines "apocalyptic" as everyone (live and undead) is now kaput!
There are two more short tales involving different groups of characters than the main series.
You'll see them over the next few weeks.
Created by writer/artist Jim Somerville and published by Malibu/Aircel in 1989, it was vastly-different from the 2003-present graphic novel series created by writer Robert Kirkman, and artists Tony Moore & Charles Adlard..
For collectors, there's good news and bad news...
Good news: There's only a four-issue mini series and a one-shot Special to collect!
Bad news: Because it didn't sell well (and has never been reprinted), it's HTF (hard to find) and expensive!

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Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Haunted House Reading Room JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY "I Don't Believe in...Ghosts!"

Behind this never-reprinted Jack Kirby/Dick Ayers cover...
...lurks a rarely-reprinted haunted house tale that's so darn good, I couldn't resist re-presenting it!
Plotted by Stan Lee, scripted by Larry Lieber, penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by George Klein, this cover-featured story from Atlas' Journey into Mystery #77 (1962) has only been reprinted once, in Marvel's Fantasy Masterpieces #9 (1967)...
...which is where I first read it as a kid!
Since it hasn't seen publication in over 50 years, I thought it was time to dig it up and dust it off for a new generation of Kirbyphiles and other comics readers!
The lead character's name, Mr Jordan, is an in-joke and a clue as to what he is!
L-R Evelyn Keyes, Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains (Mr Jordan), Edward Everett Horton

"Mr Jordan" was the title character of Here Comes Mr Jordan (1941), an angel (Claude Rains) sent to guide a recently-deceased boxer who died before his time and was returned to Earth in a different body since his own was creamated!
The movie was running on tv pretty regularly at the time, so either Lee or Leiber was inspired to give the protagonist the "Jordan" name in tribute.
Note the little banner at the bottom of the final page promoting The Fantastic Four?
#2 of that series had just come out!
In addition, Hank Pym (who would later become Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath/YellowJacket/Wasp) had just been introed in "Man in the Ant Hill" in Tales to Astonish #27!
Within a couple of months both Spider-Man and The Hulk would debut!
And Mighty Thor would premiere in Journey into Mystery itself six issues later!
Bonus: the original art for the splash page....
Kool, ain't it?
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Monday, October 10, 2022

Monday Madness ADVENTURE INTO MYSTERY "World Gone Mad!"

Here's a little ditty about how homogenized America (especially the suburbs)...
...became during the post-World War II era...ironically created during that era!
Illustrated by Jim (Supergirl) Mooney and scripted by an unknown writer, this tale of suburban prefab housing tract development and how it could confuse the unaware from Atlas' Adventure into Mystery #3 (1956) rang true for many during that era who actually fell for that sort of trick, especially around Halloween!
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(which presents this tale from its' reprint appearance in 1975)