Scrooge

from WDCS 34 - July 1943 If you wonder what's happening to DD: he started the day deciding he would do nothing but good deeds and of course they all backfire on him, including him feeling he should volunteer a match to light his funeral pyre!

# 64 First Romance # 11 - bought from ?? Content: Those Stolen Kisses by ? 6 pgs Warned Against Him by ? 5 pgs Backstage Love by ? 6 pgs I Mortgaged my Heart by ? 6 pgs This is going to be a short one as I have no ID for any of the artists. Powell did a lot of work for the series in 1-5, 8-10, 14, 18, 20-22, 24, 25, 28, 36, 46, 48, 51 but not in here This was a long running title for Harvey lasting until November 1958. The book has a table of content with a note from the editors as seen below. Since all the splash pages are presented here I won't show them again and only show story pages below. Story 1 last page Story 3 last page Story 4 last page I don't know if you notice the similarities in the ending but in each of these three stories the main female character realizes the boorishness of the man they had all eyes for throughout the story and have the chance of being rescued / accepted by the more mild-mannered young guy all parents would wish for their daughters. Very repetitive (as one would expect from a Romance title). Reading output from many publishers, I had established that on average Fawcett had better second tier talent for their secondary books but now I am wondering if I shouldn't adjust my judgment and place Harvey on top of the second-tier publishers for art's sake while still keeping Fawcett second for scripts / stories. For a one to one comparison, look back up to Exciting Romances from Fawcett. There are several neat in-house ads in the issue. Still odd to me to advertise "Blood and Guts" and Horror titles in a Romance book . Is this the correct audience ? Anyway, here are the ads. The second one is printed in B&W.

Great pages ft88. It's amazing how difficult it is to pick a single page out of those 10 pagers as so many are stunning on their own! WDCS 33 - June 1943 DD tries to impress the girl and, of course, lands flat on his belly. Great pages as well of HDL dressing up as a shark.

I wish! You're correct these are from reprints my friend. Call me crazy but I figured I scan so much stuff for the other thead that I could easily squeeze in another page while I was at it so yeah I plan on posting regularly, again chronologically, from the Barks 10 pagers. I know people would also like to see the Scrooge and Donald Duck Adventures comics but I got started with the 10 pagers so I'll go on with those for now. We'll see where this goes. I know some of the non-duck collectors have been really surprised at how much they like the ducks from seeing them in this thread so I am stoking the fire.

# 63 Firehair # 11 - Bought at Remember When in Dallas Subtitle - Warrior Maid of the Wild Dakotas Content: (GCD IDs) Firehair in Wolves of the Overland Trail by Bob Lubbers 10 pgs Tex Rainger in Take'em alive, son by Sam Savitt 4 pgs Firehair in Yellow Knife in the White Man's Jail by Bob Lubbers 10 pgs I really like this comic, especially the effort put in the effects in the art. We will come back to Sam Savitt once we see his painted covers later and will focus on Bob for today. The nice folks at AC Comics tell us that: "Bob Lubbers is best known for his "good girl art" from both the comic strips and comic books. Bob was born in 1922, and attended the Art Students League before breaking into the comic book profession at the tender age of 18. His first work was for Centaur, (then known as The Comics Corporation of America) illustrating such features as The Arrow, Reef Kincaid, Red Riley and The Liberty Scouts. When Centaur folded in 1942, Bob moved over to T. T. Scott's Fiction House line and found a home for the rest of the decade. There he served as Art Director, doing many action features and spectacular covers. He drew Camilla in Jungle Comics, Señorita Rio in Fight Comics, Captain Wings in Wings, as well as Space Rangers, Rip Carson, Flint Baker, Captain Terry Thunder, and a long stint on Rangers Comics' frontier girl, Firehair. In 1950, Bob began a four-year run on the Tarzan comic strip. Bob did a lot of work in newspaper strips including The Saint, Big Ben Bolt (ghosted) and Rusty Riley (ghosted). He did two strips of his own creation, Long Sam (1954-58) and Robin Malone. Long Sam was written by Al Capp and featured the exploits of a tall and gorgeous montain gal. He began working on Lil' Abner in 1970, and later did a stint on Secret Agent X-9. He did some work at DC Comics on The Vigilante. Bob also did some Westerns at Pines (Standard / Nedor) comics on into the 1950's. His work also popped up at Gleason, Timely / Marvel, St. John and King Comics, and even stories in The Twilight Zone comic book for Western in the 1960's. Bob is still going strong today, producing a prodigous amount of artwork for collectors and fans that is absolutely the best work of his career. If you are interested in commissioned artwork, or if you are interested in contacting Mr. Lubbers directly, email us and we will forward the information to him." Bob was also the focus of coverage in a CBM issues a few years ago. IIRC, Jon Berk in has some of Bob's recent recreations in his online gallery. Great stuff. To see some of his work on Secret Agent X-9, please check this site and for another Firehair story, please visit here for a story from Rangers 39. Story 1 Splash Story 1 Page 2 Story 1 Page 2 OA QUESTION - This OA is for sale at Anthony Snyder's website along with some other pages from the story. I need wiser folks advise on this. I would like to purchase at least a page but I have never bought OA before. Is this Anthony Snyder reputable? Is the $75 price tag reasonable? Does the page look OK condition-wise? I hesitate between this page and the last page of the story shown below. Which would you choose or would you choose yet a different one from the set. Your input is important to me. Thank you in advance. Story 2 Splash Story 3 Page Story 3 - Nice Page

From WDCS 31 - May 1943 Donald is trying his luck with the nephews rabbit's foot. His usual luck takes over.

Bonds, those moderns are anything but lame-o. I like your copies! So trying something different, let me show the insides of the ducks: from WDCS 31 - April 1943 Donald is running into some difficulties when trying to plant his Victory Garden From the Smithsonian : "The Smithsonian Institution invites you to visit its new Victory Garden, an outdoor garden produced in conjunction with the Within These Walls... exhibition at the National Museum of American History, Behring Center. Using a design from a 1943 pamphlet, the Horticulture Services Division of the Smithsonian Institution is re-creating a World War II victory garden on the terrace outside the Museum's cafeteria. The 130-foot long garden contains over fifty varieties of vegetables and flowers that change with the seasons. The vegetables are heirloom species, older varieties that were available to gardeners during the 1940s." Let everyone proudly display their ducks' insides!

# 62 Fightin' Marines # 4 - eBay purchase Content Tripoli Shores in Detour of Destruction by ? 8pgs Guerrillas Die at Dawn by ? 4 pgs Canteen Kate in Tailor Maid by Matt Baker ? 6 pgs Danger Ahead by ? 8 pgs Leatherneck Jack by Gene Colan ? (GCD guess) 6 pgs Gallantry in Action by ? 1 pg Not a lot to work with in regards to artist credits. Guessing Matt Baker for the Canteen Kate story, here's a brief recap of Matt's career from the Comiclopedia: "Matthew Baker is best known for his romance and "good girl" comics. He is considered a master in drawing the female form. Baker started his career in 1944 working for Fox, Fiction House ('Tiger Girl' and 'Sky Girl') and Atlas. He is mostly remembered for his work on the 'Phantom Lady' series. He has also done the daily 'Flamingo' strip with Ralph Rutte. Unfortunately, his career ended abruptly in 1957, when he died at the young age of 34. He was one of America's first major black cartoonists." I can't wait to read the recent Alter Ego with coverage on Matt, including interview with relatives (I know it is out but haven't gotten it yet). In the meantime, we can all visit this Baker fan site which is illustrated. For more Baker Romance reprints, one could also read John Benson's Romance without Tears - 50's Love Comics with a twist focusing on the writing of Dana Dutch for St John, today's publisher. The reprint book contains 11 Baker stories. For a competing view on these stories, one should read Michael Barrier's review of Romance without Tears. Keeping this quick today, onto the art Story 1 Splash Story 2 Splash Story 3 Splash Story 3 Page Story 4 Splash Story 5 Splash - ID tentatively as Colan on the GCD. Any one disagrees? One Page story about a Silver Star recipient - I wasn't able to confirm if this was a true story but at least let me provide you with what the 7th Marine did in Korea below the one-pager. " On August 17 , 1950 the 7th Marines were again activated for service. On September 15, the 1st Marine Division, with the 7th Marines in Reserve, landed at the port city of Inchon. Once the port was secured, the 7th Marines landed and took over the drive for Seoul. For 5 days, the 7th Marines fought against the communist North Korean forces and entered the capital city of Seoul. In bitter house-to-hose fighting, the city quickly fell to the Marines and the communists were driven north. In October, the 1st Marine Division landed at Wonson. After liberating the port, the Marines began their drive north to the Chosin Resevoir to either capture or destroy a key hydroelectric plant. By November 15, the Marines had reached the southern tip of the resevoir. Then all hell broke loose. Eight Chinese communist Division stormed out of the mountains and attacked the 1st Marine Division. The Marines began to withdraw just as winter set in. For four weeks, the Marines fought through 78 miles of mountain roads in icy winter conditions all the while battling the Chines forces. By mid-December, the Marines had finally reached the port of Hungnam and were evacuated. The fighting withdrawal had cost the 1st Marine Division over 4,000 casualties but the enemy had paid a high price. The Marines had inflicted over 25,000 casualties on the 8 Chinese Divisions. The Chosin Reservoir, or "Frozen Chosin", had been one of the bloodiest fights of the war and the Marines finest hour. The 7th Marines participated in numerous operations in 1951 including the assault on the Hwachon Resevoir. In May, the 7th Marines were on defensive duty when 500,000 Chines soldiers attacked the main United Nations lines in their Spring offensive. For three months, the 7th Marines fought with the rest of the UN forces to defeat the Chinese offensive. For the rest of 1951 and 1952, the 7th Marines maintained their defensive positions and conducted patrols around their area of operations. In 1953, the 7th Marines were ordered to relieve the Army 25th Infantry Division. Soon after, the Regiment came under attack by North Korean and Chinese forces. The Marines held out for two weeks and did not lose any ground. The attacks ended on July 27, when the Panmunjom truce went into effect. During the Korean War, 20 Marines of the 7th Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroism under fire. The 7th Marines remained in Korea for several years before returning stateside" Update - Earlier we were discussing George Roussos career evolution. On Meskin.net , there is a nice bio of George from which I excerpt here concerning his decision to dedicate his time fully to coloring: "After working for Marvel for years, in 1972 he joined the staff of in-house artists and began a second career in comics, as a full time colorist. He took over the position after Marie Severin quit. Roy Thomas, chief editor at Marvel, from 1972-‘74 remembers Roussos as somebody who knew what he wanted: "I liked his coloring and we got along real well. We used to go around and around about one little thing. When he was coloring interiors, whenever Spiderman, who wore red and blue, leapt from one wall to another, he was always leaping from a yellow wall. Whatever wall he headed for suddenly became yellow when he landed on it to contrast. He would say, ‘You've got to have contrast.' and I would say, ‘There's also got to be continuity.'" Roussos' amazing color sense reinvented the look of Marvel books, particularly the covers. He believed that colors in comics had to be simple and striking and developed a unique approach to using white that would "make a white seem whiter than the paper it was printed on." he told Gruenwald. His color sense is unmistakable. He was working on cover proofs and corrections until his death this year. He still continued to do hand coloring as a back up, even when computer coloring became the norm in the ‘90s. As usual, playing down his own role, Roussos told me in 1999, "A very easy job, I have now."

With the knowledge of this board, there should be enough substantive postings to write a book. Any takers? And here I thought it had already been written: Commies, Cowboys, and Jungle Queens: Comic Books and America, 1945-1954 by William W. Savage, Jr. Review from The Washington Post Book World, Dennis Drabelle In Commies, Cowboys, and Jungle Queens, William Savage ... argues that, in the decade between the end of World War II and the comic book industry's adoption of a prissy code at the height of the McCarthy era, the comics presented a distorted but recognizable image of American mores. As a thesis, this may be a non-startler, but Savage fleshes it out in interesting detail and accessible prose, embellished with well-chosen (if dingy and cramped) reproductions of period strips. Just joking of course, this thread covers more than Savage does. However, this felt like the perfect moment to point out this book that I rarely hear mentioned within the community or the boards for that matter. Am I the only one who has read it (a while ago mind you and it is due to be read over) ?

We all love ya Keith ... we just thought your new fiancée would be the most appropriate person to demonstrate it to you though

Chamber of Clues from which the cover artist was locked out because he had none when he laid out the speech balloons. The girl's caption is all wrong (to me). But heck, it adds drama. And PCKeith I agree that the previous one does not hold a candle to a nice Elias cover. Despite what he later said that he stopped doing horror after talking to his son and asking him what he thought, considering what he produced, I can't see how he couldn't have had fun creating some of these "shocking" covers (see CoC # 8). So what series is next

# 61 Fighting Leathernecks # 1 - Bought from Southern California Comics Content: Cover - Alex Kotzky - Signed! You don't see that too often during those days. Fighting Leathernecks Introducing Quigley and Beals by Kotzky and Burlockoff 12 pgs Fighting Leathernecks in Dame Trouble by Burlockoff (?) 11 pgs Duke's Diary by Sparling (?) 5 pgs Toby and Marines - that's a common association as they did publish, in addition to Fighting Leathernecks, Monty Hall of the US Marines, Tell it to the Marines and also John Wayne Adventures when every other month the Duke was a Marine. So in honor of the Proud, the Few, the Marines, here's a little Corp history, including the reason behind the Fighting Leatherneck name: "The United States Marine Corps first appeared as the "Continental Marines" during the American Revolutionary War, formed by a resolution of the Continental Congress on November 10, 1775. They served as landing troops for the recently created Continental Navy. The Continental Marines were disbanded at end of war in April of 1783 but reformed on July 11, 1798. In the days of wooden sailing ships, the Continental Marines kept order at sea and maintained internal security on board ship. In combat they manned the fighting tops, sniping at gun crews on enemy ships. On deck they led boarding parties in close action and repelled enemy boarding parties. These Marines earned the nickname "Leatherneck." The time honored sobriquet was derived from the thick leather stock worn around the neck to protect the Marine from the decapitating slash of an enemy's cutlass. The United States Marine Corps (USMC) forms the second-smallest branch of the United States Armed Forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve members as of 2002. The USMC serves as a versatile combat element, adapted to a wide variety of combat situations. Its original purpose, giving it the name Marine Corps, comprised the provision naval infantry (combat forces serving aboard naval vessels), and carrying out amphibious operations from the sea onto land. The Marines fully developed and utilized the latter tactic in World War II, most notably in the Pacific Island Campaign. The Marine Corps forms part of the Department of the Navy (but not part of the United States Navy). Since its inception, the Marine Corps has had a reputation for combat prowess, and the Corps' role has expanded significantly. Currently, the Marines serve as an all-purpose, quick-response task-force, suitable for quick insertion into areas requiring emergency intervention, and capable of utilizing ground, air, and sea elements. For example, in 1990, the 22d Marine Expeditionary Unit (22d MEU) conducted Operation Sharp Edge, a so-called NEO, or Non-combatant Evacuation Operation in the west African city of Monrovia, Liberia. Liberia suffered from civil war at the time, and civilian citizens of the United States and other countries could not depart via conventional means. Sharp Edge ended in success. Only one reconnaissance team came under sniper fire (no casualties occurred on either side), and the Marines evacuated several hundred civilians within hours to US Navy vessels waiting offshore. The Marines have a unique mission statement, and do not necessarily fill unique combat roles. The Marine Corps is the only branch of the US Armed Forces with a mandate to do whatever the President may direct. The US Army, US Navy, and US Air Force combined do overlap every area that the Marine Corps covers. However, the Marines consistently utilize all of the essential elements of combat (air, ground, sea) together, and have perfected these tactics over the years, whereas the larger services may not work together as often, and may take some time to learn to function together in a combat theatre (though the creation of joint commands under Goldwater-Nichols Act has improved interservice coordination). The Marines argue that they do not and should not take the place of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, any more than an ambulance takes the place of a hospital, but when an emergency situation develops and little time remains to deal with communications and/or political problems, the Marines essentially act as a stop-gap, to get into and hold an area until the larger machinery can be mobilized. Other military men and politicians, such as President Harry S. Truman, have differed, and considered abolishing the Corps as part of the 1948 reorganization of the military. The Marines have one further difference from the other US military services: all marines, male or female, no matter what the occupational specialty, receive training first and foremost as riflemen. Thus the Marine Corps, at heart, functions as an infantry corps. The Corps has a creed stating "Every Marine a rifleman first." This infantry-intensive training could be seen in the Battle of Fallujah in 2004, in which Marine battalions occupied a section of the city, instead of providing a cordon as the 82nd Infantry Division did before relief by the Marines. Historically, the United States Marine Corps has achieved fame in several campaigns, as referenced in their anthem "From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli". In the early 19th century, First Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon led a group of seven Marines in deposing the dictator of Tripoli (thereby restoring the rightful ruler). Separately, the Marines took part in the Mexican-American War (1846 - 1848)." Note that our pencil / ink team both went into service in WWII. From his AE interview, we know that Alex went in from 1943 to 1946 in the Army's Fourth Division and did go overseas. As for Sam, as he recounts in his AE interview: "In 1943, I went into the Army Air Corps as a camouflage technician. [...] I went overseas to New Guinea, the West Indies, the Philippines, and Japan. We built airstrips and I became the entertainment director for the group. I ran the PX, too. We went to all the Islands and built those landing strips. We were always on the move." Here's an excerpt from the excellent coverage on Alex at The Rules of Attraction website (which I recommend you check out for the thoroughness of coverage and excellent illustrations): "Like many of the other artists of this era, Alexander S. Kotzky was a city boy, born on September 11, 1923 in the Bronx, the son of Helen and Theodor Kotzky. He attended, as would Leonard Starr two years later, the Manhattan High School for Art and Music and then the Art Students League under George Bridgeman--Stan Drake who was two years Kotzky's senior had just left--as well as the Pratt Institute for a year. Kotzky eyed becoming a big-league illustrator, but World War II's manpower drain allowed him the opportunity to immediately earn a living with his blossoming talent in comic books. One day in 1940 he answered a newspaper ad for an artist and before long, while still in art school, Kotzky was penciling for Chad Grothkopf on DC titles like Johnny Quick, Sandman, Three Aces, and Detective Chimp (sometimes using the alias "Grotsky") and doing backgrounds for Will Eisner's weekly Sunday supplement for The Spirit. At this point, he looked very much like a crude Lou Fine whom Kotzky inked for Eisner's shop and idolized, even trailing Fine out of the city to work for a period of time. Eventually, the draft found and plucked Kotzky away for service with the Army's Fourth Divison from the fall of 1943 to early 1946. When he returned to New York and the commercial art world, again like Starr, an intense comic book period followed, mostly for Quality Publishing from 1947 and now under the guidance of studio mainstay Jack Cole, including various covers and penciling Blackhawk, Dollman, Espionage, Kid Eternity, Manhunter, Plastic Man, along with inking such titles as Quicksilver, Torchy, Uncle Sam and True Crime Comics. Art Spiegleman in his recent book on Cole claims Kotzky and John Spranger were the best of the Cole mimics. Kotzky's time with older artist, whom the "worshipful" Kotzky termed "a wild man mentally," earned the young man some notoriety as he worked with Cole during "Murder, Morphine, and Me," the True Crime comic that Frederic Wertham singled out in Seduction of the Innocent (1954) and a year later drew a New York State Legislature report on censorship and comics. Kotzky leaves comics as many did in 1950 and heads for the security and money of advertising at Johnstone and Cushing. Here at Cushing from 1953-1960, he was among the many artists who would define the photo-style through its golden age. Kotzky remained there through the 50s, handling comic strip illustration for Dodge and Ford and illustrations for medical magazines and science fiction digests. He never strays too far from comics and comic strips, showing the talent for mimicry he had earlier displayed at Quality: a four year stint on and off ghosting Milton Caniff on Steve Canyon (1955-59), one of the first ghosts on Juliet Jones (1956-57 dailies and Sundays. For awhile in 1957--four months mid year?--the Sunday belonged completely to Kotzky. This example, 6-24-56), and a late 50s stint on John Cullen Murphy's Big Ben Bolt. (In 1965, Kotzky would work again for his old friend Lou Fine on Peter Scratch and had a brief job ghosting on Rex Morgan, MD in 1980.) The Caniff connection would prove to be especially worthwhile. Kotzky's only solo strip during this period was a widely distributed (60 major markets nationwide) Sunday with writer Allen Saunders (Mary Worth and Steve Roper) for Phillip Morris cigarettes called Duke Handy, running for half of 1958, April to October, an adventure continuity about a blue collar "two fisted redheaded hero" who smoked when he wasn't setting things straight or roaming from town to town. Kotzky inherited it when Caniff bowed out in prepublication. Undoubtedly, it was the Duke Handy experience with Saunders, the reliable ghosting, and the sure-fire romance credentials of a stint on Juliet Jones that prompted Publishers Syndicate head Harold Anderson to look Kotzky's way when a new idea about three young women sharing an apartment came in late 1958 from veteran writer Dallis. Dallis, who had earlier created and scripted Rex Morgan, MD in 1948 and then did the same on Judge Parker in 1952, once recalled about his new brainchild, "I had been nurturing the idea of such a strip for a long time, but it required an artist who could do a more illustrative type of art and was especially adept in drawing women." That artist was Alex Kotzky and 36 months later--after considerable discussion with Dallis and delayed an additional nine months because of the appearance and subsequent quick failure of another soaper, Honor Eden-- Apartment 3-G made its debut on May 8, 1961. It is still running today, 40 years later, in over 100 newspapers." Sam, as mentioned above, has been interviewed in AE 32. He does mention that Bill Quackenbush was mostly an inker which now makes me doubt the ID on the DollMan from the GCD as being Quackenbush inks on Quackenbush pencils but since I have no alternate artist to cite, the ID will stand. Here's a recent picture of Sam with his childhood friend Allen Bellman. Onto the art, first story splash Second story splash Pin-ups from Duke's Diary. hoping I won't get in trouble with Architech. Now, these would have been pretty racey for a 8 to 10 years old to bring home, especially with the adjoining write-ups.

Adam, thank you for the thoughts. As for the Elias ID, this is why I was also circomspect about it. It is probably Elias doing his best Canniff as you mention (I mean just look at the first full face shot of Saturna and don't tell me this does not belong in Male Call) but it sure does not exactly match his output from the same period in some Harvey War books such as War Battle (this being a W book, we won't get to it for a while) and the multitude of Chamber of Chills work he did. Now that I write this, I didn't check the OS or the Keltner to see if those were reprints of a younger Elias because at this time period he seems busy over at Harvey not Fiction House. Plus there were more than a few artists than were apt at aping Canniff. Actually, brush up on your Elias because soon we'll another Canniff channeler in the cover of First Romance (another Harvey). Another side note, the main strip this story reminds me of is not Terry but Prince Valiant because I keep on seeing flashes of Foster's squid as per this panel below from April 27, 1941. I couldn't show you the whole Sunday as my reprints are larger than my scanner's bed. Yup, surprising about Whitman and Webb's lack of knowledge. Maybe someone else reading could give us a lead. Enough for now and thanks for your show of appreciation on the research. If you haven't read it, I would recommend the Maltin book to anyone. One can find it for cheap in many places. PS: Considering your comments in the FH thread, I thought you were a T man but now with your new comments about Tiger Girl's thigh, you sound like a A man. So which is it?

Thank you Adam! You went to a lot of trouble there. Those scenes with the girls dressing as does to go a-hunting sound familiar as I must have seen some of those panels reprinted somewhere. It still sounds like a scatter-brained story where the spy angle gets lost once we are on Amazon island and then pops back up and the ending seems like a quick wrap-up in two pages. Noone can ever say that GA stories are uneventful (Maybe we should send a copy of the WW archive to Bendis ). Good point on the production angle that the artist would have chosen the placement of the price but I went ahead and mentioned production guys because before posting I checked the way in WW prices and company logos were put on and notice the various WW have different dress: one has a price and a company logo while the other has a combo price-company logo. Wouldn't it a lot of trouble to communicate to all artists the variations from month to month or even at a lower frequency? Unless, of course, the guys were working "on location" at the publisher. Was Peter? Another production question: I was reading my run of Invaders tonight and it struck me that by the late 70s Roussos was coloring. This is an evolution from him doing some pencils early in his career to then primarily inking and then at the end coloring. Is this strange or simply a reflection of his decline in status as the industry evolved? Do you know of any other examples of such a career path?

# 60 Fight Comics # 79 - eBay purchase Content: (Credits courtesy of the GCD) Cover - Maurice Whitman Tiger Girl in Idols of the Fallen Temple by Robert Webb (?) 8 pgs Space Rangers in Spaceship Graveyard by Lee Elias (?) 6 pgs Kayo Kirby in Defeated by Ivan Ivanovitch by Jack Kamen (?) 5 pgs Rip Carson of Risks, Unlimited in The Dragon-Fire Idol by Robert Webb 7 pgs If I had my pick, I would concentrate this entry on Maurice Whitman and Robert Webb as they are both most clearly associated with Fiction House. However, it is near impossible to find information about these two gentlemen, at least online. Still, I don't recall seeing or hearing of any articles or interviews with either of them offline either. Does any one know where I could find more information about these gents? Should I go back and look over the Iger shop AE issue? Would they be mentioned there? For lack of choice, let me concentrate on Elias (hoping he is indeed the artist on Spaceship Graveyard). The Comiclopedia informs us that: "Lee Elias, born in the UK, moved to the USA at a very young age. In New York he studied music and followed several art studies. In 1943 he made his debut in the comics scene at Fiction House. From 1943 to 1946 he collaborated on 'Captain Wings', 'Suicide Smith', 'Firehair', etc. At the same time he worked for Harvey ('Black Cat', 'Terry and the Pirates'), National Periodical and Marvel. For two years he was the assistant to Al Capp on 'Li'l Abner'. From 1952 to 1955 he drew 'Beyond Mars', a science-fiction series that was published in the New York Daily News. In 1959 he returned to National Periodical, where he worked on series like 'Adam Strange', 'Green Arrow', 'Ultra' and 'Automan'. For Warren, he specialized in horror stories. In 1980 he created his final comic book, 'The Rock'. Afterwards, Elias became a teacher at the School of Visual Arts and took on painting and illustrating." Note - while not mentioned above, Jack Williamson was the scribe on the Beyond Mars strip. Here's another look at Lee as presented in "BLACK CAT" No. 13 in the Summer of 1948. "Lee Elias - 'Ave you ever 'ad to live a lie? Well, I 'ave and I can bloody well tell you it's hell! Lee Elias, English-born artist whose creative brush brings the Black Cat to graphic glory, was referring to the peculiar events surrounding his introduction to the woman who is now his wife. An accomplished dialectician, he wooed and won his wife while pretending to be an English refugee. Of course, during the weeks following, his accent became quickly Americanized and by the time he was married, he'd dropped all guise and admitted leaving England at the age of six. Elias' versatility goes on to the field of music, where talent and encouragement, in the form of a scholarship led him to aspire to a concert violinist career. "I still fiddle with the fiddle," he says, "but my new love, the Black Cat, is a rather jealous creature." Remarking on the split-personality of Hollywood's most glamorous movie-detective star, Elias asserts, "Give me Linda Turner... sweet and clinging for a real life companion, but the adventurer in me can't help but get a bang out of the more dynamic side of her character." Seated in front of his drawing board, pencils sharpened, brushes in readiness, favorite brand of cigarettes nearby, radio softly playing classical music, Lee (nee Leopold) starts in by scribbling, erasing, scribbling, erasing. A few hours later, the Black Cat in her latest dare-devil adventure has emerged. He prefers working late at night, believes it's more conducive to thinking and usually works right through until eight or nine in the morning. A fiend for authenticity, Elias uses a mirror to capture gestures, enacts all the judo stunts he illustrates, and swears by their credibility. He is a conscientious craftsman, who worries over items such as faithfully reproducing latest car models, Hollywood movie star caricatures, the type of suit Linda Turner's news-hawk boyfriend, Rick Home, should wear. He will painstakingly spend time to draw a glen-plaid suit pattern line for line. Leopold "Lee" Elias was born in Manchester, England on May 21, 1920. Six years later he came to America with his grandmother and attended school in Brooklyn. He studied music under the tutorship of Israel Epstein and supported himself by playing the violin at club dates, recitals and on the radio. He is 5 ft. 7 in. tall and his 153 pounds fill out a suit nicely. Elias is a natty dresser. He has dark brown hair, large light blue eyes, which usually are serious. Elias is a serious fellow. He does not take life lightly. He was married in 1942. When the first child, a daughter, arrived in 1944, he carefully selected her name for its monogram value- Adrienne Victoria Elias. Elias lives in a three-room apartment in Brooklyn, which he calls his "temporary" home. The clatter of a malicious neighbor upstairs sometimes makes work very trying. He hopes to have his own home soon. He is a temperamental artist, whose work has earned the highest respect in the comics magazine field. In motion pictures, he prefers adventure films. Likes the "blood and thunder." In person, Elias is very soft-spoken and unassuming. He looks and acts like none of his belligerent villains. Modest and sincere in his artistic endeavors, he enjoys being praised for his efforts and will listen to criticism with an open mind. He is always bent on improving the Black Cat art, on introducing new gimmicks and brush techniques. Every so often he gets together for a duet with a friend who plays the piano. Aside from the relaxation and enjoyment, these musical evenings stave off his becoming rusty on the violin. He also paints whenever he has spare moments; refuses, however, to sell any paintings. "They take so much effort," he explains, "I feel as though they're my brain children and should be nurtured at home." In addition to fathering his comic strip character Elias finds time for hunting and fishing trips. Like the Black Cat, his is a constant search for adventure and thrills." Note - While at that site, you may want to check out this new Black Cat origin as recounted by Mark Evanier and illustrated by Murphy Anderson. AE ran a December 1970 interview with Lee in issue # 14 and some of his comments have been to say the least puzzling to me. "But in the long run it [struggling to make his pages perfect while others just plugged the pages away] paid off, because when the crunch came in about 1946, when things became real bad in the comic book publishing industry, these guys weren't working - and I was" Now, what do you guys think this 1946 crunch was / is? I know later in the interview he mentions that during the war years so lesser talented artists were working due to the shortage of manpower and that once the boys came back home these guys obviously were let go. Is he referring to this? The language he uses certainly does not point entirely to this specific issue. In part of his answer to the following question: "Fiction House went overboard for - er- naked ladies and sex in their stories. What did you feel about doing those?", Lee states: "That was my attitude to the human body - but then to debase it - the way this publisher did... His name was Thurman T. Scott, a reactionary white-supremacist, who grew pecan nuts on his plantation in Georgia. He wanted sex in the books." Gee, Lee, how'd you feel about the boss? I have as I recall nowhere else seen any discussion of Thurman Scott's character but before I form a judgment I'd be interested in hearing more. Any one has any recollections of other comments about Fiction House's publisher and his character? Let's start with the always attractive in-house ad from FH. Robert Webb(?)'s Tiger Girl Splash Lee Elias(?) COMPLETE Story (I was scan happy yesterday) Jack Kamen(?)'s Page Robert Webb's Splash

Zonker, I agree so let me add to this madness. Checking those titles on the GCD for, I randomly picked, June 1967 (Thanks to Mike's Amazing World of DC to get the right issue numbers), here's how Greene tracks: Atom 31 - Greene inks on Kane for Good Man - Bad Man = 23 pgs JLA 54 - Greene inks on Sekowsky History-Making Costumes ... = 23 pgs GL 53 - Greene inks on Infantino Two Green Lanterns in the Family = 10 pgs Detective 364 - No Greene ink. Giella does the inks on Batman Flash 171 - Greene inks on Infantino Here lies the Flash = 23 pgs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total (?) inked pages in print for the month = 79 or slightly less than 3 pages a day if he worked every day. Assume Sid takes one day a week off for a total of 26 days, this is 3 pages a day. I say Slacker. (of course, he might have inked some other work we missed)

Zonker, I had thought of that as a possibility as well and here's what the Comic Strip Project lists for Giella: Giella, Joe b. 1928 st. ASL cb art and ink-Batman, Flash, Green Lantern-1950's-1980's asst cs "Sherlock Holmes" art cs "Batman" 1966-67 asst cs "Flash Gordon" 1970-ink asst cs "the Phantom" 1972-88 art cs "Mary Worth" 1990-- So you guys would have to check the time periods but the reason Giella disappeared is because Joe went on to the 60's Batman strip, doing both pencils and inks. As for Greene replacing Murphy Anderson, this is around the time Murphy dropped Hawkman to go work for Will Eisner and this is also why Murphy didn't get to work on the regular series of The Spectre (First Spectre is Showcase # 60 in Feb. 1966) Murphy would have little time left to work on outside work, being able to work freelance only after being done for Eisner. (Murphy recounts that in his short interview in AE 44 which I was reading this week so it was fresh in memory). Oh and by the way I am starting to be proud of my innocent question. I am enjoying the ensuing discussion

# 59 Felix the Cat # 29 - San Diego Con purchase Content: Felix Books an Act by ? 12 pgs Nick's Knacks by ? 2 pgs Joe Blow by ? 3 pgs Felix Goes West by ? 11 pgs Let me invoke the Toonopedia first, where we learn about Felix's multi-media career: "Felix the Cat was animation's first superstar, far eclipsing Farmer Alfalfa, Bobby Bumps, Col. Heeza Liar and other ongoing cartoon characters of earlier years. From the moment Felix first appeared, in Feline Follies (1919), he was a hit — even tho he hadn't yet been given his name. In that film and his second, Musical Mews, he was called "Master Tom". It was only in the third, Adventures of Felix (1919) that he received his permanent name — and his long, long career was off. From Leonard Maltin's Of Mice and Magic, here's the Cat's studio: According to the credits, Pat Sullivan, owner of the studio, was the guiding genius behind Felix — but in reality, the cartoons were the work of a young animator named Otto Messmer, who produced the entire four-minute debut all by himself, working at home on a freelance basis. Felix's success was a direct result of Messmer's great ability to create sight gags, and to express a character's personality through his own unique way of moving. Dozens of silent Felix cartoons were made, with increasing sophistication as the 1920s wore on. Again in Maltin's book, here's an early version of the Cat from some promo material: When the talkies came in, Felix was quickly eclipsed by Disney's Mickey Mouse, who had made an early and successful transition to sound. The last silent Felix cartoon was the appropriately-titled The Last Life (1928). The Sullivan Studio, which never did embrace the new technology, went into decline. When Sullivan died, in 1933, it closed its doors. Messmer left animation to concentrate on comic strips about Felix, which he had started in 1923 (and which lasted until 1966). Felix made a brief return to animation in 1936, when the Van Bueren Studio bought rights to the character. But the charm of the Messmer years was not recaptured, and the series ended after only three cartoons. In 1960, Felix was revived once more, this time on TV, by producer Joe Oriolo. Oriolo, whose credits include Casper the Friendly Ghost and The Mighty Hercules, had worked as Messmer's assistant during the 1950s, and had taken over the Felix newspaper strip from him in 1954. It was this series that introduced Felix's now-famous "bag of tricks" — as well as the dastardly Professor, who coveted it. Voice actor Jack Mercer, whose best-known role was Popeye the Sailor, provided most of the voices in this series. Meanwhile, Messmer's comics — first in the form of a newspaper strip distributed by King Features Syndicate and later, in 1943, as a regularly-published comic book — displayed his visual imagination and solid design sense to great effect, which is why the Messmer-drawn issues are highly prized by modern collectors. The comic book, which was published first by Dell Comics, then Toby Press, and finally Harvey Comics, ended in 1961. Dell started a new series a year later, but it lasted only 12 issues. Gladstone Comics published a thick album in 1991, reprinting Messmer's comic book art; and Fantagraphics did another album in '96, this one reprinting his newspaper comics from the 1920s. From 1991-93, Harvey Comics reprinted some of Messmer's stories in comic book form, but with very poor printing. Later in the '90s, the Oriolo family put out new, non-reprinted ones, with better production values. In recent years, Felix has turned up occasionally in a new cartoon or comic strip — sometimes, unexpectedly enough, as a co-star with Betty Boop. The most recent was a Saturday morning animated series, which ran from 1995-97. Unlike his contemporaries, animation's first break-out star has a lot of life still in him." So while Pat Sullivan was credited, Otto Messmer was the true originator of this cat: (courtesy of Fantagraphics and Steve Stiles) "Otto Messmer was born August 16, 1892 in West Hoboken (now Union City) New Jersey, and educated at Holy Family Parochial School and the Thomas School of Art. His parents cultivated his early interest in vaudeville and show business." (Fantagraphics) "Messmer began his commercial art career with a work-study program illustrating fashion catalogs but became interested in cartooning, especially animated cartooning, when he happened to see Windsor (Little Nemo) McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur vaudeville act in New York one day in 1912. Fascinated by this combination of live action and animation, Messmer began submitting his own strips to newspapers, and by 1915 began attempting to get work as a set painter at film studios (fortunately, the film industry hadn't made its mass-exodus to California yet). An executive at Universal liked the young artist's work and signed him on to make a test film. Being totally inexperienced, Messmer nonetheless managed to put together a crude short called Motor Mike. While never released, his first attempt resulted in getting work with an established cartoonist, "Hi" Mayer, who taught him the ropes of peg board and cel registration techniques necessary in those early days of crude animation. After helping Mayer on Travels With Teddy, an animated short based on Mayer's friend Teddy Roosevelt, Messmer sought out additional work with Pat Sullivan, who had set up his own studio and produced a number of shorts, including Twenty Thousand Laughs Under the Sea, a satire to be released with the second film version of the Jules Verne classic (1916). As with Disney and Ub Iwerks, Sullivan became more engrossed with the business end of running a studio, while Messmer handled the creative chores." (Steve Stiles) "[...] created Felix The Cat for Pat Sullivan Studios in 1919. Messmer was to direct all Felix episodes through 1931 and was lead animator on all the cartoons produced by the studio. He was responsible for most of the work on the Felix comic strip from 1923 through 1954. In addition to his work on Felix he also worked for years with Douglas Leigh, the "Lamplighter of Broadway", where he was the lead animator on the large "moving" electric signs above Times Square in New York City." (Fantagraphics) Messmer (left) discussed with Don Leigh a storyboard for a giant animated electric sign "Throughout the 1940's and 50's he continued to produce new Felix comic book material for Dell, Toby Press and Harvey Comics. Joe Oriolo , Messmer's assistant for many years, took over control of the character in 1955. In the 1960's the efforts of Oriolo and fandom in general resulted in the shy Messmer's public admission that he was the creator of Felix (not Pat Sullivan). he grew to enjoy the publicity, and retired in 1973. Messmer passed away October 18, 1983, at last recognized for his fine work and essential position in animation and pop-culture history." (Fantagraphics) Finally, here's little bio for Joe Oriolo who was also co-creator of Casper! "Joe Oriolo - Born February 21, 1913 in Union City NJ. Graduated Union Hill High & Cooper Union . His first job in the art field was as a Show Card Writer for Sears Roebuck. He was the Top Animator for Max Fleisher. While at Fleisher studios he worked on "Superman,” “Popeye,” and "Gulliver's Travels” as well as doing high priority films for the Government. Joe created "Casper the Friendly Ghost" and was responsible for opening one of the earliest commercial TV studios in 1945, Felix the Cat Studios. Joe Oriolo produced 260 "Felix” cartoons for TV and also produced 130 "Mighty Hercules” films for TV. Joe's son, Don Oriolo, carries on Oriolo film studios today." Finally for more of all things Felix, please visit this Felix the Cat Fan Site. First Story Pages A few pages later, Felix escapes the Martians. I appreciate the layout decided on to make the most of this sequence. What I remember of Felix from childhood is the zaniness of the sequences as seen here where there is an outwordly quality to the chain of events. I care more for it as an adult than I did as a child where I was more attracted to say Lucky Luke (a cartoon western hero) than to Felix and his strange adventures. Second Story Pages

I agree. That WW 3 cover is something else. I don't have the WW Archives but if it illustrates a story inside I'd be curious to know what it's about. Plus the production guy went along with it and added the nice touch of tilting the 10 ¢ price. A very cool batch.

IMHO, the Daredevil cover is better. "Sock the Razzies" with the target heads of our usual trio of baddies AND there is that Mickey plush toy on the floor + the puck(is that what you'd call it) zinging up above the title head. Even though plenty is going on it is still quite clear. Good stuff all around. Thanks for sharing.

No one has any more Planets to share? I seriously doubt that's the case. So, getting down on my knees, pleeeeaaase more Planets. Here's hoping this one starts a trend

# 58 Famous Gangsters # 3 - Lucky Luciano - Bought from Tomorrow's Treasures Content: Let's do this differently today as I'll try to weave the splashes with some historical background. "Avon Periodicals had a number of crime books to its name, though a number were one-shots. Famous Gangsters, Murderous Gangsters, Parole Breakers, Behind Prison Bars, Police Line-Up, Prison Break, and Gangsters and Gun Molls were all published between 1951 and 1952. These better-than-average books contained art by Wally Wood, Everett Kinstler, Syd Shores, Joe Kubert and Mort Lawrence. Avon thumbed its nose at Dr. Wertham when it published Reform School Girl under its Realistic Banner. “The graphic story of boys and girls running wild in the violence-ridden slums of today” said the blurb over the title. The picture and title were lifted from an Avon pocket book published in 1948." There was a copy of this book in the Church collection which apparently is in VF+ (as per Arty and Rob). Cover - OS only tells us it is a replica of Avon Paperback # 66. According to Lupoff in The Great American Paperback, the cover artist is Paul Stahr. Here's a scan of the original paperback which shows more of the painting. Paul Stahr (1883 - 1953) Confortable with everything from comedy to crime, Stahr had long running associations with the pulps (especially Argosy) and the weekly comics (notably Life); also work for Collier's, Munsey, Saturday Evening Post, Judge, American Magazine, People's Home Journal. Responsible for a number of book covers for authors like Mrs. Wilson Woodrow, W. R Burnett (Little Cesar), Leslie Charteris (The Saint), Abraham Merritt, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep). Lucky Luciano and Murder Inc. - The comic concentrates on the early "career" of Lucky (sans Lansky, Costello and Siegle) and the goings-on in Chicago gangland (Actually, having read some mob history for this entry, I am interested in reading again the Shadow early novel Gangdom's Doom because a lot of the themes are very very very similar). "Charlie Lucky Luciano was born Salvatore Lucania in a small town outside Palermo, Sicily, Lercara Friddi, November 27, 1897. His parents moved into the Lower East Side on Fourteenth Street of Manhattan where Luciano attended school for a brief time. He tried his hand a honest living delivering hats for a Jewish merchant named Max Goodman. Although his parents were very loving towards him, his brothers and sisters, Luciano found comfort with Goodman. Giving him a good job and showing him how a middle-income family lived as opposed to his lower-income family, Goodman opened Luciano's eyes to a whole different side to life -- a prosperous life. Goodman also opened a door for him that stuck with Luciano for the rest of his life: the ability to make money with a legal front. Luciano started delivering dope for a local pusher when he was eighteen, hiding the heroine in the hat bans of deliveries he was making for Goodman. Luciano was soon arrested and sent to Hampton Farms, a state facility for youths. After being released from prison, Luciano decided to change his first name to Charlie because he felt that Salvatore, or "Sal" was a girls name, and having been in prison, Luciano had earned the right to be tough. Soon Luciano would take up with the Five Points gang where he would meet a slew of future crime bosses: Jonny Torrio, Al Capone, Frankie Yale. Because Luciano had kept the code of silence during his trial and prison sentence, the Five Pointers would take to him quickly, realizing his ability for leadership and organization." Some background on Chicago's mob organization: "Having murdered his boss "Big Jim" Colosimo, Torrio was in a position not only to take over the Chicago Outfit, but to seize control of all the gangs throughout the city. But his Chicago Crime Syndicate did not go unopposed, and Dean O'Banion's Northsiders would be a constant thorn in his side. In the aftermath of Colosimo’s death, Torrio became Chicago’s most powerful crime boss. He had dreams of organizing a national crime syndicate taking in all the major gangsters across the country. The first step towards achieving this goal was to organise the Chicago criminals. At a summit meeting, he divided Chicago into several territories, each one belonging to one of the major players in the city. He brought home the point that violence and reprisals damaged everyone’s business and drew too much police attention. If they all respected each other’s territories and kept the peace, they would all prosper. Having said that, he made it clear that the other gangsters would have to "rent" these territories by paying a percentage of their profits to him and that failure to do so would result in war. Most of the hoodlums present were in no position to argue. The largest territory belonged to Torrio and consisted of "the Loop" in the city centre and the South Side. The Northside belonged to Dean O’Banion’s gang. The Genna family controlled Little Italy in the Southwest and Edward "Spike" O’Donnell claimed the "Kerry Patch" South of Torrio’s turf. Joe Saltis and Frank McErlane ruled the docklands while Terry Druggan and Frankie Lake dominated the Westside. Further West, William "Klondike" O’ Donnell established his region and Roger Touhy took the suburbs around the city." After a string of murders inside the organization: "The following day, Torrio and Anna returned home from a shopping trip in a Lincoln car borrowed from one of Torrio’s men, Jack Guzack. Their driver was one of Capone’s chauffeurs, Robert Barton. As they were unloading shopping, a black limousine pulled up and four men opened fire with two .45 pistols, a 12 gauge shotgun and a Thompson sub-machine gun. They riddled the car with bullets, hitting both Barton’s legs. When they noticed that Torrio was not in the car two men jumped out of the limo and fired, hitting Johnny 4 times in the chest, neck, right arm and groin. The family dog was killed by a stray bullet. One of the men put a pistol to Torrio’s temple and pulled the trigger, only to find he was out of ammo. The limo driver blew the horn and the assailants jumped back inside to make their getaway. Al Capone organized a private room at the hospital and surrounded it with bodyguards. Al even slept beside Torrio’s bed with a loaded revolver. Torrio made a very quick recovery and was able to serve his 9-month sentence in Waukegan Prison. The warden had been bribed into giving the mobster a bullet proof cell with two armed guards outside at all times. The cell contained an easy chair and a radio, and Torrio was the only prisoner allowed to hang pictures on his wall. He also had a comfortable down mattress to replace the standard lumpy flock mattresses that other convicts slept on. A Northside gangster named George "Bugs" Moran was arrested for the attempted murder of Torrio after a 13 year-old boy identified him as the man who put a gun to Torrio’s temple. Despite Moran’s airtight alibi, many believe that he and Hymie Weiss were the two men who jumped out of the limousine and that Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci was the driver. But Charlie "Lucky" Luciano put forward another theory in his memoirs. Luciano was a member of the Five Points Gang at the same time as Capone and Torrio. Luciano blames Al Capone for the murder attempt saying that Capone wanted to take over his boss’ empire. According to Luciano, everyone in the New York underworld believed that Capone faithful Leonard "Neddles" Gianola lead the hit team." One of the players in this story is: "Vincent Drucci (? - April 4th, 1927), born Victor D'Ambrosio, mafia figure from Chicago prohibition era. Member of the North Side gang of Chicago and associate of Bugs Moran, Earl 'Hymie' Weiss, and Dean O'Bannion. Drucci was involved with the attempted murder of both Al Capone and Johnny Torrio in the turf wars of the 1920's. Drucci was shot in an altercation with a Chicago policeman in 1927. He has the ignoble distinction of being one of the few gangsters to be killed by law enforcement." Once Torrio was dead, Capone was left free to rule Chicago, with Frank Nitti as his second-in-command: The Enforcer Too bad the moll's nose was lost in the production process Here's how the Enforcer's career ended. "Nitti got into trouble again in 1943 when he was indicted for extorting the major movie studios in Hollywood in what came to be called the Hollywood Extortion Case. Nitti masterminded a plot with several other mobsters where they gained control of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Then, the heat was turned on the Hollywood movie studios. If they didn't pay up, their stage hands and other workers could be used against them to ruin them. Warner Bros paid, RKO paid, MGM and Fox paid. Everyone was paying up and the whole set-up looked set to be a big money earner for the Mob. That was until a Chicago news reporter began asking questions when he saw Willie Bioff, one of the Mobs men in the union, at a big Hollywood party. The reporter was Westbrook Pegler, a nationally syndicated reporter. He recognized Bioff as a one time pimp from Chicago and wondered why he was moving in such high society circles. When he found out what a big man Bioff had become, he began to look into it. It was soon discovered that Bioff still owed Illinois state for a conviction for pandering. He was arrested and jailed for six months. After his release, he was indicted again along with the other Mob man in IATSE, George E. Browne, for the extortion of the movie theaters. They had to appear before a Federal Grand Jury in New York and were questioned about their association with the Mob. Bioff and Browne were both found guilty but rather than do hard time, they decided to rat on their Mob controllers. As a result, indictments were brought against Frank Nitti, Paul Ricca and others. They were all called to stand trial later that year in New York. indicted members of the case about his bad handling of the whole affair. Bioff and Browne should never have been allowed to A meeting was called at Frank Nitti's house in Riverside after the arraignment and Nitti was attacked by the other testify. He was told by Paul Ricca to be a 'stand-up guy' and take the rap for all of them since Bioff and Browne were his guys and so his responsibility. Nitti disagreed with Ricca and argued back that they all shared the responsibility for the whole fiasco and then ordered them all to leave. Essentially, Nitti had now broken the Mafia code of honor by not taking the heat for his failures. Nitti had previously done 18 months in jail on an income tax evasion charge and did not want to spend another day in a 9 by 6 cell. He was acutely claustrophobic and the thought made him unstable. The day after the argument with Ricca, on March 19th, 1943, Nitti went for a walk near the railway tracks near his home, across from the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium, and blew his brains out with a pistol. The resulting trial in New York found all the defendants guilty and sentenced them all to ten years." I left the last one alone as I already packed the entry this time and have already mentioned the O'Donnells. Also, while unIDed, wouldn't some of you agree with me that this art is familiar? Any suggestions?

I can handler spoilers on this one. What is "Jelly Death" about? And does it involve peanut butter? The story chronicle's the fate of someone who enrolls in the "Jelly of the Month" club. It turned out to be a pretty good story, mostly for the art which looks like Bob Powell. A scientist (ironically named Larson) comes up with a formula for activating protoplasm, basically creating life. Lots of hypo panels. The problem of course is that the blobs take on unexpected forms & act out in typical blob anti-social behavior; one of which is a giant spider that kills a reporter with a nice neck bite. Larson soon becomes the enemy of the townsfolk, and so he decides to turn the blob on them. I won't "give away" the rest, but it's pretty predictable..... Powell? Hypodermics? Protoplasm? Giant biting spiders? Predictable or not, it sounds like a keeper to me! No kidding. I'd better hurry and get that one (trying not to be too old hat but it's a 3/52 book) as it sounds swell.

143, I am sure you noticed that both the Millie and the Margie gags work around the "And how!" reaction. So .. in the spirit of the cover repeats in the Jungle / Jumbo and other Fiction House books, let me show these two: So here we have one Jaffee Patsy and one Vigoda Wilbur with the same gag. Yes so what. Well. folks, remember that my books are all from the same month so these two were out at the SAME time which makes me go either or (think - the layout is the same). They are from 2 different publishers. A testament to what all teen artists have been saying that they had 3 stories they repeated ad-nauseum

A perfect book for your 1000th post and here's for you. Looking forward to your next 1000 posts. P.S.: I read your anwers in the 10-centers thread and am letting them digest before asking follow-up. Hopefully other people like Aman will join. I think it is a very interesting topic (probably because I know so little about it)