BB-Gun

...and the Shadow. bb

I scanned a science fiction book dust jacket by Blaisdell a few weeks ago and was suprised to see he was the same person who did special effects for horror movies. In one of my old magazine boxes I found a set of Fantastic Monster magazines that were edited by Haydock, Harmon, Blaisdell, Byrd and Burns. In most of the issues there were great articles on comic related material, such as, Frankenstein comics, Spy Smasher, Capt. Marvel, Blackhawk and The Shadow. There was also a short article on Blaisdell by Harmon. bb

I like the early Walt Disney Comic and Stories but I like the later editions around 200-250 too. People liked to write their name on the covers. Mr. Harris also stamped his name on coverless copies below 31. Other than that, the copies weren't too bad. The infinity cover is nice to have. The story inside features Donald fighting a shark. bb

You may like these reprints better. I like the new cover but I don't think it was Barks. I have a couple of copies of the original Uncle Scrooge edition but they didn't feature the Yeti. This is my original copy and the first time I got to read FC 29 and 386.

If you are a closet Disney collector, then you need to get a copy of this little digest that reprints FC 29, 256, 275 and 282. Some of the best barks for the buck. Yeah, I know they have been reprinted many times but it is nice to have them in digest form. bb

Out Our Way was so popular that it was reprinted for years. This book was printed in 1946.

I don't know if I have shown these before. J.R. Williams had a good eye for drawing characters and horses. He was perfect for drawing cartoons of the old west or the not so old. I am told that there is a museum in the southwest that specializes in his art. I don't think this book is in the platinum age list. I always thought that his art influenced early work by Carl Barks. A lot of his cartoons were reprinted in The Funnies. bb

Another circus cover for you BZ. And a snow storm that reminds me of Catman 31. bb

Here are a few more of those Disney books. The reading level varies for each. bb

Nice Schomburg covers and Street and Smith Love Story with an aviator cover. The Flying Aces cover that describes the Japanese invasion is from 1938! bb

Scrooge, I asked Jon Bevans about these film strips several years ago and he told me that the viewers are easy to find. The quality of the film strips and the box that they come in is the important thing. I think the original box that was sold on Hake's auction is very desirable and probably is the reason for the difference in price. I like the film strip. I still have my Batman microfilm issues from Jerry Bails. They were a fun read back when reprints were not available. Even Fiche scans are being replaced by digital these days. But a cool little box or bunch of boxes with Superman's picture on them is nice to have. bb

I have a few extra copies of this old radio show premium from 1936. The show was sponsored by Hecker HO Breakfast Cereals. When Bobby Benson went National on CBS, they replaced the local guy with Billy Halop. Billy had been an actor in top radio shows like "Let's Pretend". Billy got a lot of press and his picture was in this premium. Eventually, Billy left the show to co-star in "Dead End" on Broadway. The play was made into a movie with Joel McCrae, Bogart and Ward Bond. The Dead End kids were almost as much trouble as the Marx brothers but they made several movies before Billy dropped out of the group. He continued to work in radio until the fifties. I probably have seen every Dead End, East Side and Bowery Boys (Kids) movie. bb

I think I had four issues of Sport Stories in the old box off the back of a truck. This one has a good action cover. The adventure comic has a guy set up to swing his snowshoe like a lefty. Perhaps he was a baseball player too. bb

I found some new Wolverton art scans at Goldenagecomics.UK. These are Wonderful. I guess there are a few collections of his art but I don't know if they have all of the Target Spacehawk stories. bb

I don't believe they wanted any Bob Kane art in the show. He didn't do most of it anyway. bb

I have some books for sale. These Fiction House are for sale and I have a dozen Wild West Weekly (1935 or so) and Range Romance (1948-51) that I would like to sell. bb

This is one of my favorites but there are so many. bb

Oh you wanted to know what the plane was on the cover of Lightning V2#3. I thought it was a Messerschmitt 110. Design of planes for war was new and the Germans had some odd looking aircraft but no superplanes like the cover of Marvel Mystery 44(?). bb

August did Flying Aces and Alex did Radio Craft. When they worked together, I think August did the airplanes and Alex did the people. Al McWilliams did the interior art for Flying Aces.

The pulp is from Feb - March 1942 like this one. It's not Alex working on the cover though but his brother August here. This is not quite a pulp since it's mostly facts with very few fiction pages but it's a worthwhile having book. This was put out by A.A. Wyn who also published Ace Comics. Below is an ad for their comic line from the back pages. Not shown here is Jim Mooney's cover for Lightning Comics v. 2 # 3 with a dramatic bombing scene. BB, do you know what German bomber type is on that cover? I would guess that the bombers were Junkers but I would have to check. They were slow and didn't carry a large bomb load. Fortunately the Brits had radar and superior fighters. bb

And masked heroes like the Moon Man and the Spider. The spider had some neat interior art too. bb I am not sure whether the Moon Man was really a good guy or a bad guy but he was tangling with the Skeleton. Cover was touched up a little, especially on the bottom right corner.

Street and Smith had their hand in every type of pulp. Dizzy used to announce baseball games when I was a kid. He was a real character. bb Bondage and G-Men with practical advice for future crimestoppers.

I still have a few odd items in the pulp boxes. Fun but not for the kids. And true adventure stories which are really pretty tame but a colorful cover.

Very nice BR. Thanks for the info. Did you go Newark to see the comic display there? I don't know that area very well and thought I would wait to see if it came to NYC. bb

BB, thanks for all the posts today. (thumbs u The answer was inside. The planes (see below) are Boulton-Paul Defiants and were as you mentioned used during the Battle of Britain. Here's an excellent page from the Battle of Britain Historical Society about the Defiant, its role and more (Notice the same PS on the image below as on the pulp cover) Thanks for the information Scrooge. I think I had heard about the Defiant but couldn't find a reference on line. It seems to have been designed after the Spitfire and the gun in the back was unique. The air speed seems kind of slow but fire power was much improved. I also learned that the Lancaster bombers had a larger payload capacity than the B-17 that was used by the US army air corp. They must have used the letters from the publicity films as a model for the pulp cover. What year was that pulp? It was my understanding that the high quality fuel and speed of the RAF fighters that turned the tide in the Battle of Britain. But it might be all of the additional supplies from Canada and the US. Just like the loss of the Japanese air craft carriers in the Battle of Midway. The US replaced the aircraft carriers that they loss and built several more. The Japanese could not replace their bombed out carriers, pilots and air craft. Too much history channel lately. bb