AJD

You know, I hadn't made the connection between the title and those ads. And the story has a more botanical meaning of 'daisy'. I do miss having an air rifle though.

Yes, that's the story. I would have seen it reprinted in black and white, and not with that cover (which I'm pretty sure I'd recall). Duffman is right that the story was reprinted in Supacomic #104 (as Ausreprints shows) - though that issue isn't one I ever had. It must have been reprinted again in another comic, probably a few years later judging by the timeline. Who knows, I might stumble on it again one day.

A big shout out to @Point Five for parting with this gem. I couldn't decide which internal page to post. A Taliafero DD strip with Hitler and war bonds, or Mickey Mouse in Berlin surrounded by Nazi trappings. So here are both of those: The Barks story - a knock down, drag out fight between DD and neighbour Jones - gets an honourable mention too. This one has it all.

I've just picked up three issues of WDC&S in the 40s. Here's the first of those - #41 You can see an interior page in my journal (linked in my sig). I'll post the other two later in the week.

As promised, after some EC seriousness, it's time for some comic relief. (thank you, I'm here all week.) Twelve months ago I only had five of the ten issues of WDC&S in the 40-49 range. Now I have them all. This was the third last one: No trouble picking the 'under the covers' image from this one. It has my favourite early Barks story in it - 'The Duck in the Iron Pants'. "I am invincible! I am doom itself!" sounds like something Stan Lee would have written in Journey Into Mystery, circa 1964.

Great stuff Hep! I really like those aircraft wheels. (Well, there's a surprise...) But I was also struck by your comment about the GL "I still remember how it filled me with a sense of awe and wonder at the time." That pretty much describes my recollections of the Legion/Fatal Five story with the Sun Eater and the death of Ferro Lad in Adventure 352/353. (Actually, it would have been in an Australian reprint - I have no idea which one.) The Legion of Super Heroes was my favourite super hero thing. Of course, I had limited funds, and if I had to choose between Disney and DC, the tight tights brigade usually missed out.

A man after my own heart. It might be time for some funny animal goodness around here, I think.

Fake news! As requested... And my nomination for the silliest ever EC panel. I imagine Bill Gaines would describe this as being "in good taste - for a horror comic":

Great stuff Harry. I've never read that story, but now I know the backstory to a scene in Marvels where Namor and his forces invade NY. (If you haven't read Marvels, you should. I think you'd love the many references to classic Marvel scenes.)

A quality control error. Pretty sure that should be in a purple label. Not the first time it has happened.

Well, thanks to you in no small part. Any more need upgrading?

Yes, there's no point in having a partial run, I agree. Though you could always solve the problem by selling the ones you already have to needy collectors.

While I am almost overwhelmed by the four views and no comments since the last post, let me try to struggle through another one. Here's the other SSS that was in my last mega-shipment. I think that ShockSuspenStories was probably the boldest of the EC titles. Some of the social issues they took head on made the book look pretty subversive. The cover story in this one is an example - an angry mob turns on someone who doesn't measure up to their idea of what patriotism looks like. The level of 'retribution' is severe. (Note the guy reaching down to pick up a brick bottom right.) It reflects the Cold War mood of the times, and is consistent with a particularly ugly time in US politics. Not surprisingly, there's more to the story than meets the eye:

Well, let's find out, shall we? (Spoilers) Naw, other than a marginal grasp of English syntax and imminent expiration, he's fine.

You'd have no trouble selling those in Australia. Maybe A$100 each, though sometimes a little more if two guys go for it.

Sownds gud. Aim in.

Would it shock you (see what I did there?) to know that it's an Ed Owens undercopy?

Hey Brando, thanks for the kind words! As it happens, the package of books I'm working through posting has some nice SSS issues in it (the first ones I have in the series). Here's #3. Let me know your favourite pages in #s 2 and 3 and I'll scan them for you.

Here's another EC recently added to the box. This is MD #1 The first story in the series is a look back at human history before modern medicine. It's quite thought provoking, if a little heavy handed in a forgivable EC kind of way. But when I think of all the medical procedures I've had, and the mostly pain and disease free life I've had, it really is worth taking pause and saying a quiet thank you for human ingenuity. Here's a page from that story, with an unintentionally (I think) funny panel at the bottom left: It might be just me, but I'd have thought the guy that had just caused a gaping wound in the patient would have a fair idea how he's doing... It must have been disappointing to hear "dead!" Ow, man, not again!

Let me swim against the tide here. From an investment point of view, go with the highest grade you can. But if you want nice things that make you smile when you look at them, two is better than one. I stopped buying medium to high graded stuff to drop back to (tightly graded) VG - Fine a couple of years back. I haven't regretted it for a moment, and I have quite a few nice books I wouldn't otherwise have had.

I'm very pleased to add this EC to my collection, thanks to Ed O's bottomless undercopy box. Great GGA by Jack Davis on the cover - even if his grasp of pachyderm anatomy seems to have gone a little awry in the leg-to-shoulder connection: Reading this issue confirmed my lack of connection with EC horror stories. Two of them revolve around being entertained by people being dismembered. Neither is as gross as Foul Play, but neither of them appealed to me either. The second story in the book is a 'death by irony' story in which a trio of rogues frame their innocent collage in a web of deceit, then <spoiler> fly into a giant spider web and get devoured while making good their escape. </spoiler> It's mildy funny. The last (cover) story is the best, and is the one I've chosen for Under the Covers. (Spoilers again) The woman is crushed to death by the elephant, who is ordered to by the trainer to get his wife out of the way for his mistress. The innocent elephant is killed by the circus security folks. A year later the circus is back in the same town... The Trumpeting Dead!

Nice! The #7 looks undergraded from here. The eye appeal is excellent and CGC wouldn't knock much (if anything) off for that Marvel chipping.

They look like very nice midgrades. And it's hard to go past the D&M history. I have a couple of their Mads (including #8) and also their copy of the Weird Fantasy you just bought. If you want to swap the Bethlehem for the D&M... Nice SSS #3 as well. I'm enjoying your old one.

Maybe you should see someone about that?

Another day, another comic. If MD was a pleasant surprise from the EC New Direction stable, this one was anything but. The premise is easy enough. Each issue we get to sit in on a psychoanalysis session with one of the patients shown in the sidebar. We get to hear them be worked through understanding their emotional problems by a professional. Yes, it's every bit as exciting as that sounds. Here's the sensational splash panel. Strap yourselves in: Here's an example of the insights the patients get: "My boss was furious! He... he got so angry! It was terrifying! He reminded me of my father... that time so long ago! I was only a little girl then... " It's fair to say that parent issues abound in these case files - which might reflect the Gaines family home to an extent! The book Foul Play tells us this: Gaines and Feldstein were both in analysis at the time, so they got the idea to do a comic book following people's progress in their analysis. "We had this idea that we were gonna put out this proselytizing comic book called Psychoanalysis and tell people what it was all about." said Feldstein in the EC Companion. "I don't know why we ever thought it would sell, when I think about it". Quite. This is really doleful stuff.