Question about Boy Explorers story in Simon's book

[PaulTumey]

According to an article in "The Kirby Collector" Joe Simon's book, "The Comic Book Makers" publishes, for the first time, the 13- page second "task" in Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's BOY EXPLORERS series. The story is called "The Laughing Lizard."

 

That made me want to get the book, right away! I went to Amazon, and noticed there's a "look inside" feature. Being eager to preview the story, I looked, and it isn't in the book! It's not even listed in the index!!! However, the Amazon preview is for the paperback only, not the more expensive hardcover edition.

 

So, my question is, does anyone out know if the "Laughing Lizard" story appears in either the hardcover or later trade paperback edition of "The Comic Book Makers?" I've scoured Amazon and the Web to find out, but no luck. I'd much rather buy the less expensive edition of the book, just because I'm a single Dad on a budget... but I need that story!

 

By the way, Joe Simon's new book, "My Life In Comics" is highly recommended!

http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Simon-Comics-Illustrated-Autobiography/dp/1845769309/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312400492&sr=1-1

 

Many thanks for reading this post -- and double thanks if you have any info!

 

As a thank you, here's the original art to page 1 of the first BOY EXPLORER'S STORY, courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

 

 

 

[adamstrange]

According to an article in "The Kirby Collector" Joe Simon's book, "The Comic Book Makers" publishes, for the first time, the 13- page second "task" in Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's BOY EXPLORERS series. The story is called "The Laughing Lizard."

The story is called "The Laughing Hyena" and starts on page 6 of the original 1990 softcover version of Simon's book.

[PaulTumey]

Thanks very much! I located a copy on Alibris for $8.00 and have ordered it!

 

I wonder why Joe Simon dropped it from subsequent printings. Maybe he's "saving" it.

 

I was surprised to see that no Boy Explorer stories were included in the Titan collections. In his new book, Joe Simon says that he has a 7-book deal with Titan, so maybe they will reprint the stories in a future volume. I think this would make a great book! By my count, there are 58 pages of Boy Explorer stories and art. With an essay and the inclusion of "extras" such as the ads for the never published numbers, and the two text stories, this could be a 70-80 page book.

 

I just pieced together the BE stories from Digital Comics Museum and Kirby Collector, and wow... reading them in order (except for the "Laughing Hyena" story) really shows that this could have been one of S&K's greatest efforts. The series combined mythology, sexual politics, social satire, good old adventure, and amazing art.

 

Thanks again for the help! I love this message board!

[KirbyJack]

Good heads up on the BE story. Also, that is one superb page! Thanks!

[PaulTumey]

I just wanted to follow up and say that I received a copy of Joe Simon's book THE COMIC BOOK MAKERS in the mail yesterday. I found a copy at alibris.com for $8. It does indeed contain the full, previously unpublished BOY EXPLORERS story by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Thank you so much for the information. As far as I can tell, the story does NOT appear in the revised edition of the book, only the original printing. To my knowledge, this is the ONLY place this story has ever appeared. A shame, because it's very cool... the good ol' S&K kid gang AND dinosaurs (an early pre-figuration of Kirby's monster images that would flow into his Atlas work and then into his 60's and 70's work).

 

Interestingly, the book itself introduces the story as "The Laughing Hyena," but you can tell from the splash and the story itself that the proper title is "The Laughing Lizard." There is no hyena in the story. This must have been an incorrect "correction" by a proofreader, or perhaps just a slip by the authors (Simon and his son).

 

In any case, the book is a treasure for GA fans and I highly recommend it. It's packed with rare art and great anecdotes from Simon's career in comics. It also reprints 3 complete stories. Thank you again adamstrange for the tip!