BB-Gun Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 BZ, I would like to have recognized the artist but I think that guessing this one was luck. I was looking at the Gerber guide and saw the Witch on the cover of Let's Pretend. It reminded me of the MLJ witch character and I looked closer at the cover just because I was curious. To my suprise, the characters in the crystal ball looked similar to the page you posted. And above their heads was a window with the poison flask and eureka! Mostly luck again. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I see that Black Hand found the MLJ witch that I was looking for. Similar but not an exact swipe. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I noticed that the Nila Mack (editor of Let's Pretend) papers are available at the New York Public Library. A short biography is listed below. Old time radio and comics combined to make some interesting reading. "Nila Mack was born in Arkansas City, Kansas on October 24, 1891. She was an only child. Her mother was a dancer and ran her own dancing school. Her father was an engineer who died tragically in a train wreck. Upon her father's death, she attended Ferry Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois. After graduating, she went to Boston and took courses in French, dance, and voice training. She was also a pianist and played in her mother's dancing school. Nila Mack's early career began in vaudeville and as a leading lady in a traveling repertory company. She married her leading man, Roy Briant. When Briant joined Paramount Pictures as a writer, Mack became a member of Nazimova's company. She was in the film titled War Brides and also wrote scenarios for screen shorts. She also acted on Broadway and appeared in the plays Fair and Warmer and A Doll's House. Her husband, Roy Briant, died in 1927 after 13 years of marriage. She was also an actress in the radio program CBS Radio Guild of the Air. Nila Mack, returned to Kansas to nurse her ill mother and at that time became the program director of a local station. This was the beginning of her career in radio programming. In 1930, CBS asked her to return and take over the children's program The Adventures of Helen and Mary later renamed Let's Pretend which she produced for the next 23 years. The show featured dramatizations of classic fairy tales. It was one of the most successful children's shows in radio broadcasting history. Nila Mack received fan mail from youngsters and mothers, some of which was read during the show. From her shows she discovered young talents who became performers, producers, directors, and writers. Nila Mack also produced other radio programs such as Let Freedom Ring, Treasures Next Door, Sunday Morning at Aunt Susan's, Funny Things, and March of Games. Nila also wrote children's stories for magazines and wrote the book Animal Allies and a storybook of Let's Pretend. Nila Mack died of a heart ailment in her New York apartment on January 20, 1953. She won numerous awards for Let's Pretend as well as individual awards for her accomplishments. During her 23 years in radio she was known as "Fairy Godmother of Radio". Scope and Content Note The Nila Mack Papers consist of correspondence, personal papers, photographs, clippings, and scrapbooks. The clippings and the scrapbook provide a complete overview of her life and career and span 1910 to her death." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Just Wondering: Has anyone discussed the production of a Gerber guide on a CD? It gets harder every year to see those little photos. Or how about a limit of 16 photos per page in a new edition? I don't think a quality printing is possible without losing your shirt but a large pdf file would be helpful. The GCD has done a lot of this for free and I have sent them a lot of scans in an effort to help but many of the scans that they have are not as good as they could be. The GCD is constantly upgrading but I would think that Gerber already has a huge number of negatives that could be converted to digital before they are lost. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I found a couple of addtional items in the premiums box. Another Tracy cover and I thought the Nat King Cole item would be interesting to the record collectors. There is also a Ms. Monroe photo on the inside. bb What a beautiful voice he had and his show was very successful on TV too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 I knew that looked familiar... Great catch, BH. I always enjoy seeing artistic sources such as that identified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 I noticed that the Nila Mack (editor of Let's Pretend) papers are available at the New York Public Library. A short biography is listed below. Old time radio and comics combined to make some interesting reading... Thanks for the info, BB. I'm an OTR fan but I've never heard an episode of Let's Pretend. Here's a free site for over 12,000 other radio shows. Old Time Radio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 There's lots of oddball strips like that one sitting around in comics unappreciated. I think they're loads of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selegue Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 I knew that looked familiar... Great catch, BH. I always enjoy seeing artistic sources such as that identified. Where could the publishers have come up with an inspiration for those witch and crystal ball images in the 1940s? Hmmm Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 Here's a group of early King Comics starring Popeye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Popeye was great by Segar, Bud and BZ. And I always eat my spinach. bb Jiggs, Popeye and Flash all in the same book by the best artists. King must have been very popular at the time. I wonder what the monthly sales figures were? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selegue Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I'm not sure where to put this, but readers of this thread will certainly be interested. My favorite is the Briefer strip, but it's interesting to see the early Bob Kane work. Do you think that he drew it, or wrote it and farmed out the artwork? Jack Posted by: "kquattro@comcast.net" kquattro@comcast.net kenquattro Tue Jun 3, 2008 5:35 pm (PDT) -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "Steven Rowe" > Since Wags wasnt an American publication, it's not mentioned too > frequently on this side of the pond. > From what I recall (from an article that appeared somewhere), it > existed post-Eiger & Iger material as well > > I trust Ken that you will index it for the GCD - (and here?) Im sure > we'd like to know how long atime before the USA repinted these > stories. I've uploaded scans of most of the Eisner/Iger shop contributions to this issue of WAGS. This is vol. 2, #36. There is no weekly date on it, but everything is copyrighted 1938. I've checked this against JUMBO #4 (Dec. 1938) which is the earliest issue I own of that title. Most of the WAGS strips carry a "33" in the final panel of each, indicating, I presume, that it is the 33rd episode of each. Meanwhile, the Eisner/Iger strips that appear in JUMBO all have varying numbers. For instance, HAWKS OF THE SEAS starts with episode 55, PETER PUPP starts with 20, SPENCER STEEL starts with 44 and the HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME starts with 15. I infer from this that there is no specified time period before these strips were reprinted in JUMBO. Anyway, here are the scans: http://www.comicartville.com/wagsfrontcover.jpg http://www.comicartville.com/wagsbackcover.jpg (odd that the number is on the back page) http://www.comicartville.com/wagsclock.jpg (by George Brenner) http://www.comicartville.com/wagshawks.jpg (by Eisner) http://www.comicartville.com/wagshunchback.jpg (by Briefer) http://www.comicartville.com/wagspupp.jpg (by Bob Kane) http://www.comicartville.com/wagsscrappy.jpg (artist unknown--maybe Iger?) http://www.comicartville.com/wagsspencer.jpg (by Eisner) There is also an informational airplane page that I didn't scan by Les Marshall (an early Eisner/Iger artist). Ken Q Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ft88 Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Comics.org needs images on issues 17, 51 56 70 74 82 99 for King Comics covers. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Popeye was tough but Olive and Swee'pea knew how to handle him. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 I've uploaded scans of most of the Eisner/Iger shop contributions to this issue of WAGS. This is vol. 2, #36. There is no weekly date on it, but everything is copyrighted 1938. Interesting material, Jack. I wish I knew more about Wags. The only thing I know is what I read some time ago in a profile of Will Eisner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 King Comics are full of top-notch comic strips. However, as noted by ft88 in an answer to someone who was asking about them this afternoon, "King Comics are about as dead a title as there is." The fact that statement is undoubtedly true is ironic given the popularity of pre-Batman Detective Comics and New Adventure Comics which are full of material similar to King Comics (cowboys, gangsters, sci-fi, jungle stories, etc.). Here's a sampling of strips from King #15 (June 1937) as an example. Mandrake the Magician by Lee Falk and Phil Davis I'll post some more strips later today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 I'll be there waiting to see more. Has there ever been a comprehensive Mandrake reprint project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 One trip to Wikipedia later, the answer is no. There have been quite a few reprint attempts here and there but nothing concerted ... Reprints Dragon Lady Press reprinted a 1937 Mandrake daily story in Classic Adventure Strips #1. Pacific Comics Club reprinted two Mandrake daily stories from 1938 Feature Books #18 and #23. Nostalgia Press published a hardback book reprinting two 1938 daily stories. Pioneer Comics reprinted a large number of Mandrake stories in comic book form. Comics Revue has reprinted several Mandrake daily stories. JAL Publications has reprinted several Mandrake stories Are only certain stories reprinted because the stories don't hold up very well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Black Hand ® Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 King Comics are full of top-notch comic strips. As noted by ft88 in an answer to someone earlier this afternoon who asked about the current market for his Mile High King Comic, "King Comics are about as dead a title as there is." That fact that the statement is undoubtedly true is ironic given the popularity of pre-Batman Detective Comics and New Adventure Comics which are full of material similar to King Comics (cowboys, gangsters, sci-fi, jungle stories, etc.). Here's a sampling of strips from King #15 (June 1937) as an example. I'll post some more strips later today. That's some fine illustrating ! By the way BZ, I started a poll in comic general in which you're featured. I hope you don't mind. http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2424528&page=1&fpart=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted June 5, 2008 Author Share Posted June 5, 2008 Here's a couple more samples of the strips that were published in King Comics #15. Brick Bradford by William Ritt and Clarence Gray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
