Show Us Your 10 Cent-ers! 16 16

[Inaflash]

Thanks. I don't have very many pre-horror HOM, maily the greytone issues, but I like the colors on this one.

 

Ken

[selegue]

Jerry Lewis was such a big hit that I knew you'd all want to see another DC celebrity book, Pat Boone 4 from April 1960. Not like Adventures of Jerry Lewis of Bob Hope at all, this was more like a fan-club book with text features, fashions, pin-ups and some actual comics. The comics are interesting. If you want to see a sample page, check the Short Bus thread in Gold later today.

 

Jack

 

[selegue]

I'm overwhelmed (OK, whelmed) by the demand for more 10¢ celebrity humor books!

Stepping away from DC, here's Abbott and Costello 37, March 1956 from St. John.

 

For more comments and some interior scans, check later on the Short Bus thread in Gold.

 

 

Jack

[Silver]

Jerry Lewis was such a big hit that I knew you'd all want to see another DC celebrity book, Pat Boone 4 from April 1960. Not like Adventures of Jerry Lewis of Bob Hope at all, this was more like a fan-club book with text features, fashions, pin-ups and some actual comics. The comics are interesting. If you want to see a sample page, check the Short Bus thread in Gold later today.

 

Jack

 

 

he must have been popular:

 

[selegue]

Jerry Lewis was such a big hit that I knew you'd all want to see another DC celebrity book, Pat Boone 4 from April 1960. Not like Adventures of Jerry Lewis of Bob Hope at all, this was more like a fan-club book with text features, fashions, pin-ups and some actual comics. The comics are interesting. If you want to see a sample page, check the Short Bus thread in Gold later today.

 

Jack

 

 

he must have been popular:

 

 

He was VERY popular in real life, topping the charts (before the Beatles) with his white-bread covers of black R&B hits. Amazingly, he's managed to stay in the public eye off and on for decades, with his nutty album of heavy metal covers in 1997 and ridiculous phone recording supporting Ernie Fletcher in this year's Kentucky goober-natorial election.

 

DC must have had an unusual business arrangement with Boone, since he not only had his own book but crossed over into the mainstream titles, like you showed here. Hope, Martin and Lewis didn't do that, as far as I know.

 

I wonder which real-life person showed up the most in Silver-Age comic books. Did the Code keep Hitler out of comic books for a while? At DC, maybe John Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe?

 

Jack

[burntboy]

I suspect that "covering" so many Black Artist's songs early in his career, had a negative and longterm effect on his career.

 

He had 38 songs crack Billboard's top 40. 18 of those made the top 10. and 6 of those hit #1. and two of those were #1 for at least 6 weeks. he was considered Elvis' chief competition for a couple of years. he made 15 movies. his daughter (Debbie) is the biggest one hit wonder of all time with "You light up my life" (#1 for an amazing 10weeks).

 

and, yet, he isn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.............

 

i have lots of other useless stuff like this in my head........

[tth2]

He had 38 songs crack Billboard's top 40. 18 of those made the top 10. and 6 of those hit #1. and two of those were #1 for at least 6 weeks. he was considered Elvis' chief competition for a couple of years. he made 15 movies. his daughter (Debbie) is the biggest one hit wonder of all time with "You light up my life" (#1 for an amazing 10weeks).

 

and, yet, he isn't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.............

Harry, you`re missing the most important fact, though. Pat Boone epitomized the Elvis-in-the-Army-waiting-for-something-new-and-exciting-to-come-along-which-turned-out-to-the-Beatles interim period. He was the safe and clean-cut wet dream of all the worried parents who desperately wanted rock and roll to be a fad whose time had gone, and wanted their daughters to stop listening to "dangerous" people like Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent and, of course, all those black musicians. For that reason Pat Boone will never be inducted into the [b[Rock and Roll[/b] Hall of Fame.

[selegue]

Mystery in Space 63, November 1960, 11th Adam Strange.

 

A book that's been on my want list since I found out years ago that it includes an element-rich story, and does it ever! High enough grade for bright colors, low enough grade to smash flat on the scanner -- just right for me.

 

Cover, with an oddball alien and his devie, plus classic Infantino futuristic cityscape.

 

 

Page with "a transparent solution of liquid iron", followed by tin, gold and barium (ouch). It's like Gardner Fox wrote this story just for me 47 years ago!

 

 

I like how the colorist varied the background to complement each metal color.

 

Jack

 

 

[adamstrange]

I like how the colorist varied the background to complement each metal color.

 

I have that issue but never paid attention to the coloring but I love the effect! Thanks for pointing it out!

[october]

[tth2]

sweet book.

[october]

[adamstrange]

 

You're finally collecting the really good stuff!

[selegue]

 

Wow, great-looking copy. Adam Strange had some of the best covers of the Silver Age, if you ask me (and obviously no one would, since neither Kane nor Infantino made final five in the SA artist contest). This one is Kane/Giella. For Adam Strange, I'd have to rank that team third after Infantino/Anderson and Infantino/Giella. I wonder why the editor swapped cover duties around, since Infantino/Sachs did the AS story in this issue.

 

Adam Strange would be a fun series to complete, except those #$%^& Showcase issues would be nearly impossible.

 

Jack

[PUNYHUMAN]

 

 

My all time Fave Silver AGE Superman issue.

Classic.

[namisgr]

Love the Infantino interiors and the sci-fi-inspired stories. Check out this awesome, bizarre cover:

 

 

 

[Aman619]

 

Wow, great-looking copy. Adam Strange had some of the best covers of the Silver Age, if you ask me (and obviously no one would, since neither Kane nor Infantino made final five in the SA artist contest). This one is Kane/Giella. For Adam Strange, I'd have to rank that team third after Infantino/Anderson and Infantino/Giella. I wonder why the editor swapped cover duties around, since Infantino/Sachs did the AS story in this issue.

 

Adam Strange would be a fun series to complete, except those #$%^& Showcase issues would be nearly impossible.

 

Jack

 

Unless theres absolute data that Kane pencilled the cover, Id go with Infantino/Geilla, or, even Anderson/Geilla,,, even Infabtino/Andedrson/Geilla, Big Adams right arm, hand and knee really have Anderson's patented feathers linework shading, The hand is PURE Anderson drawing or inking. But big Adama face is fure Geilla hard edges, The building is very Infantino like: BUT, Infantinos cover were layed out much cleaner than this one, and the futuristec skyline was always just a small strip acrosds the cover. Maybe thats because the penciller needed a close up building in order to add th etiny fleeing people on the streets, But here, the skyline and building really look more "infantino-esque" than pure Infantino. And the Big Adam looks very little like Infantino.

 

The only thing really Kane-looking here is the Big Adam face: but, Geilla inked Kane so often I can see Kanes style creeping into Geilla's other inking work ecery now and then... same as Giordano did a pretty good (if uninspired) Neal Adams for a long time after Neal stoppped pencilling.

 

to my eyes its hard to say for sure.

[Aman619]

heres the very next issue, clearly Infantino/Geilla. Look how sharp, angular and thin hi sinks are here, not feathered as in #59.

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/attachments/42043-scan0003resized.jpg

[Aman619]

well, I went back to the MIS thread and came across RedHooks references to a Comicbook data site... who clearly gives credit for the cover to Kane. Seems the general opinion is that Infantino covers didnt start for a few issues more..... so much for my tired old eyes. maybe Im hungover or something. : )

 

 

"The Duel of the Two Adam Stranges (1960). The city of Ranagar is menaced by a giant, destructive Adam Strange. The giant Adam wrecking a city recalls all the giant monsters who destroyed cities in 1950's science fiction pictures, such as Godzilla. The image of a menace who has destroyed a handful of buildings in Ranagar and who is threatening the rest, is one of the archetypal images of Adam Strange. It recurs in story after story.

 

We are just shown the behavior of the giant Adam Strange at the start of the story. We are not given any explanation, or any history of how the giant Adam Strange came to be. Nor does Gardner Fox tell us how we should respond to this. There is no clear indication of how the story will develop, or what kind of tale it will be. In fact, the story turns into a well constructed sf mystery at this point. It seeks to discover the causes and underlying reality of the bizarre situation we see. There is a bit of a didactic point embedded in this approach. The right response to a strange situation, Gardner Fox is telling us, is to try to understand it rationally, to look for its hidden causes. The true nature of events in the tale turns out to be very different from their initial, surface appearance: this too is a lesson Fox is trying to teach his readers. Gardner Fox suggests that dispassionate reason, and a search for truth, are the right responses to a menacing situation. One should never jump to conclusions, or try aggression or anger.

 

Fox constructs his mystery plots in layers. The whole process of detection here can be considered as a cycle. The detectives strip away one layer of pretense, then later in the story remove another one, and so on. The layers are often supplied with clues. Often times, this clue is something in the apparent nature of reality that is not consistent. Adam Strange will look at this apparent inconsistency and wonder. Eventually he will decide that the cause of this inconsistency is some false belief he has about reality. He will revise this false belief, and look for a different explanation of the basic situation in front of him. Exploration of the world around him will then lead him to a full explanation of the situation. Another layer will have been peeled away. Clearly, there is a didactic point, structurally embedded in this mystery cycle. Fox is warning his readers that they might have to change their views about reality. A role model like Adam Strange is open minded. He is willing to change his viewpoints. He is a disinterested seeker after truth. He succeeds and helps other people precisely because of his willingness to revise his own viewpoints.

 

Adam meets the zeta-beam in Earth's upper atmosphere, in order to avoid meeting it in an unnamed, populous city below. This is an interesting sf idea; other sf features include the meteor that Adam dodges. It does not seem to have much connection with the story that follows. However, the quietness of the opening, one of the purest and simplest in the whole saga, sets the mood for Adam Strange's use of reason in the tale that follows. So does the careful thinking and planning that led Adam to make his choice of the atmosphere. It also shows Adam going behind the obvious choice, the point of the zeta-beam's contact inside the city, to a more intelligent but less obvious choice, a meeting in the atmosphere. This anticipates Adam's going behind the surface of appearances in the detective story that follows.

 

This story is based on one of Gil Kane's best covers. It shows the giant Adam being battled by the ordinary size Adam over the streets of Ranagar. Giant versions of regular series characters had appeared in other DC magazines: see Otto Binder's "The Human Skyscraper" (Jimmy Olsen #28, April 1958). Still, it was quite ingenious of Kane to confront the two Adam Stranges. The buildings in Ranagar are not drawn in Infantino's Art Deco style. Instead, we have some of Kane's Constructivist buildings, made out of pure geometric shapes. This cityscape is one of the best collections of Constructivist buildings anywhere in Kane's art. They are very detailed. There is what looks like an arc of a circular elevated tunnel for vehicles. This circular design anticipates the futuristic plaza of Kane's "Green Lantern's Statue Goes To War" (Green Lantern #12, April 1962).

 

Adam often looks like a tough guy in Kane's covers. He is unlike Kane's leading men types that show up in Kane's stories; instead he looks like a gangster or a tough urban cop in a crime film. This is true of his face; his gaudy red costume is much more celebratory. Adam's appearance of a film noir tough guy makes one wonder if Kane conceived the character as a sort of inter-planetary policeman. He certainly looks very different from Infantino's refined, ethereal hero.

[adamstrange]

well, I went back to the MIS thread and came across RedHooks references to a Comicbook data site... who clearly gives credit for the cover to Kane. Seems the general opinion is that Infantino covers didnt start for a few issues more..... so much for my tired old eyes. maybe Im hungover or something. : )

 

FWIW, I've always gotten a very strong Gil Kane vibe and do think that it's a particularly striking example of his work which was very good at this time. When you combine it with those DC colors it's just too good.