Wednesday, December 31, 2014

The Day Archie Andrews Became Foghorn Leghorn!!

Say, where has Archie been lately?


Oh, that's right, he's been down south!!

(Note to self: Make sure to add "not in the South" to my list of Riverdale location clues...)

Oh, how wrong you are!



But no matter the disdain that Reggie and Jughead show...






The ladies love Archie Southern-style!!

And not just Betty & Veronica!




And there's more...


Sad times for the non-drawling males of Riverdale!


Oh, no, this isn't going to go well, is it?



Oh, you poor dim lads...

From Reggie #16 (1964)

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Monday, December 29, 2014

Manic Monday Triple Overtime--Well, This Explains The Ewoks, Doesn't It?

It's not easy being a world famous science-fiction author.

Especially when there are monsters lurking outside your window:

Well, a chase leads to the building's roof, where unnamed creepoid reveals his master plan:




A cunning plan...







Man, nobody has an original invasion idea anymore...

Hmm, horrendous monsters made to look cute and friendly so we'll actually welcome them?

That might be the only way to explain Ewoks. George Lucas, vanguard of an interdimensional invasion?

From Tales To Astonish #34 (1962), as reprinted in Monsters On The Prowl #29 (1974)

Manic Monday Bonus--Romita Does Kirby

The cover to Tales To Astonish #34 (1962), by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers:

They basically used the same drawing as the splah page, with minor alteration to fit the indicia and such. (Sorry, I don't have that comic, so I can't show you...I'm taking GCD's word for that).

When they reprinted the story in Monsters On The Prowl #29 (1974), they again re-used the drawing for the splash page, with a bit of re-coloring:

So what did they use for the cover?

Waste not, want not! They re-used that drawing one more time, but this time, they had John Romita make some alterations:

Aside from the re-coloring, note that Romita replaced the guy in the window with a frightened woman; added a second gawking head; added lightning in the background; and added some more detail (especially in the cracking of the window frame and brick work).

I have no real point to make here. I just found the multiple uses of one panel of artwork interesting.

Now why is the monster at the window? We'll find out next post, so come back in half an hour...

Manic Monday--OMG, Wear Analog Watches!!

OK, I know you youngsters don't wear watches anymore, because you tell time with your newfangled telephonic devices. And the few who do wear actual watches, wear those digital things, not good old-fashioned analogs.

And you're going to cause the destruction of the Earth!

Look, I will gladly admit that what follow may be just another piece of wonky Silver Age DC Science--hell, the wonkiest.

But what if it is true? What if?

We're reading a tale from the Space Museum, and the exhibit du jour is...

A watch?!?

Well, we're told that Harvey Drake is on Earth's first faster-than-light flight, where he encounters a system whose planets are each near replicas of various epochs in Earth history. Because of Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development, or some such.

But on the planet equivalent to the current earth time?

Oops.

So Drake heads back to the "1950s" planet, to see if he can find out what happened:




Red skies in a DC comic? Holy Crisis!


The key is so simple, the Bat-Computer couldn't figure it out!


Wait.

Seriously? The fact that our watches ticked saved Earth from magnetic death-storms?

Yes, seriously.



Let's look at that more closely...

They tied giant watches on the front of jets!!

But that's not all!




And the lesson to be learned?

BY LAW!!!

Get to work, Congress!

And the lesson isn't lost on the youth of the DC future:


Every go and buy analog watches--NOW!!!!!!!

From Strange Adventures #109 (1959), as reprinted in From Beyond The Unknown #25 (1973)