Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Comic Books Uncovered

I'm still on the mend and what better way to spend that time than reading comic books.  I wrote about the comic book find I made at a garage sale a few weeks back.  The comics were ten cents each and the vast majority were coverless.  But for 10 cents, I wasn't ashamed to pick up a bunch of the orphaned adventures. While collectors call them worthless, I'm here to defend the lowly coverless comic book.

No cover means no false allusions as to what takes place in the book itself.  Most of the scenes on comic book covers never happened in the interior anyway.

No cover means you jump right into the action, no wasted time flipping the cover page.

No cover means no worries if you spill chocolate milk on it.

No cover means I have no problems leaving them in the bathroom hoping my kids will latch onto one and become a fan.

Usually, the first splash page acts as a second cover, reiterating what happens (or doesn't happen) within the comic.

You still get to enjoy art by some of the greats including Don Heck, Stan Goldberg, and Dick Ayers.

And as always, there's the ads.



Convenient placement of seaweed there, Jimmy.

Uh, perhaps you shouldn't be exposing a guided missile to an open flame, Jim.

Tough break, Supes.


Well, Jimmy, at least you didn't get into the "Ron Jeremy" Serum.




Millie the Model with art by Stan Goldberg.



Man, Betty is totally strung out in that first panel.


Betty has a bit of the "thumb toe" going here.

Apparently, Archie capitalized (and acronymed) on the "Man from U.N.C.L.E." craze of the mid '60's.  "Let's get Pop Tate!"  Sorry, Archie, looks like somebody already "got" him.



Given the style of the Archie art above, I'm guessing this Bendix ad had been running since the '50's.


I remember ordering one of those comic book back issue lists when I was a kid.  Not having a comic shop around me, the prospect of access to old comics was intriguing.  I never did order anything though.



Ahnold.






I always wanted this record when I was a kid.  As it turns out, the ad was cooler than the record.


Fall 1969 CBS Saturday Morning Lineup

 This was Scooby's inaugural season.

I guess they were showing "Monkees" reruns and promoting them as something new.  I wonder what the "new" songs were.

I'm guessing the "bippie" was riding on the popular "Laugh In" expression, "You bet your sweet bippie!"



"Big Jim" was Mattel's answer to "G.I. Joe" because "Ken" sure wasn't.

6 comments:

  1. All very awesome and well worth the money. I used to love the time spent browsing the spinner rack to decide on one comic book. Good memories. And great scans here! Hope you are mending well and that it is not too serious!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Joe. I have a soft spot for comic book spinner racks as well. Mine was in the Rexall Drugstore. I'm on the mend, but it will still be a bit before I'm 100%.

      Delete
  2. Great blog!
    If you're not aware, comic sellers would send the cover of unsold books back to their wholesaler for credit.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, Guy. I did know that, but had forgotten about it. That's a good point. Given the volume of coverless comics at that sale, it's very possible that was the source.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I guess they were showing "Monkees" reruns and promoting them as something new.  I wonder what the "new" songs were.

    That's pretty much it. The music for the "romps" were replaced with songs from the group's then-current albums.

    Songs used from "The Monkees Present" (1969):
    *"Little Girl"
    *"Good Clean Fun"
    *"If I Knew"
    *"Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye"
    *"Looking for the Good Times"
    *"Listen to the Band"
    *"French Song"
    *"Oklahoma Backroom Dancer"

    Songs used from "Changes"(1970):
    *"Oh My My"
    *"Ticket on a Ferry Ride"
    *"Acapulco Sun"
    *"99 Pounds"
    *"Tell Me Love"
    *"Do You Feel it Too?"
    *"I Love You Better"
    *"All Alone in the Dark"
    *"Midnight Train"
    *I Never Thought it Peculiar"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm a Monkees' fan, but I don't recognize any of those songs. Maybe I'm not a big enough fan. Thanks for the info, James!

      Delete