radio free mount airy

No time for purrs and pats (70s Flashback No. 1)

Nothing says Saturday Morning like Josie and the Pussycats.

Yeah, this cartoon comes from the same shop that gave us endless Scoobie Doos, but there's something enticing about watching Josie and her friends playing faux-pop, faux-bubblegum rock and roll. I mean, it's not like these cartoons were meant to cause kids to become perverted, as some others have posited, but still, there's something about this animation that is fetching. Consider that after a couple of seasons doing the Scooby Doo schtick, Josie and the gang devolved into an Outer Space Cartoon where they travelled the universe in what appeared to be a Giant Dildo. This is very slackworthy indeed, but in their original television incarnation, the original show opener was animated in such a way to make the kids in 1972 take notice. I mean, that the kids watching Josie and her friends on stage reacted a bit differently than if, say, they did while watching Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids or The Ant and the Aardvark.

Josie and the Pussycats!
Long tails and and ears for hats
Guitars and sharps and flats
Neat, sweet, a groovy song
You're invited, come along.

Hurry, Hurry!

See ya all in Persia
Or maybe France
We could be India
Or perchance
Be with us in Bangkok
Make no difference
Everywhere the actions at
We're involved with this or that

Come along now!

Josie and the Pussycats!
No time for purrs and pats
Won't run when they here scat
There where the plot begins
Come on and watch the good guys win
Josie and the Pussycats
Josie and the Pussycats... yeah.

Fookin' ICQ

From October 22, 2006, with the names redacted to protect the innocent guilty.

robin (11:20 PM) : holy sheepshit batman! the joker just dropped 4 pounds of peruvian hash! I have captured the package with my batwhip. we must head to the batcave immediately and examine it.

batman (11:20 PM) : yes robin we must

batman (11:21 PM) : go get the bat-bong

robin (11:21 PM) : there may be Trouble

batman (11:21 PM) : only if we toast it all at once

robin (11:21 PM) : summons alfred so that he might make us brownies!

batman (11:22 PM) : we should have him bring some to commishiner gordon and

robin (11:22 PM) : for some reason I can see that as a premise for a cover story for Strange Adventures

batman (11:22 PM) : oh who was thatr irish guy ?

robin (11:24 PM) : inspector detector?

batman (11:24 PM) : lol

More GI Jane

G.I. Jane ran for eleven issues in the mid fifties. Here's the cute cover art for the third issue, dated September 1953.

Jane was created by Hal Seeger, who is notable for his animation work for the Fleischer brothers and later, his own studio. Sources indicate that Stanhall Comics, which published the first ten issues of G.I. Jane, was apparently named for Stanley Estrow and Hal Seeger.

In this particular issue, it's Patti who steals the show. Note at the bottom of the second page, the story is copyrighted 1953 by Hal Seeger.

That Crazy WAC

Slightly risque for today's newsstand, but perfectly okay for 1954.

Jane on vacation

Here's an eBay sighting of a comic book that captures perfectly Jane's latest adventure at the beach.

Patsy's beginnings

This may qualify as the oldest comic book in my collection. The only date it bears in the indicia is 1945. This isn't Patsy's first appearance -- for that we need to see Miss America Volume 1 Number 2 from 1944, which appears to be rather rare. It is a classic and definitive introduction to Patsy and her friends and family, a franchise that Marvel Comics would benefit from in an incredible twenty year run. Patsy was one of the few characters that managed to sustain a print run well into Marvel's silver age (the others being Millie the Model and some of the western characters).

This is a really cool comic book. It's a great window into a much quieter time in America and shows how much we've changed in sixty years. The stories revolve around Patsy and her circle of friends in small town USA. Patsy's got a country yokel cousin. They go to costume balls. Their local hang out is the soda shop.

A surprising story here has an opening panel showing Patsy holding a huge cigarette with a tag affixed that says "Cigarette supply for my pop." Patsy and her friend Nancy stand in a "cigarette line" to get smokes for their dads. Patsy wishes her dad could be cured of smoking, and she comes across an ad in a magazine for a product called "Zippo":

Cure your loved ones of the tobacco habit -- A few drops of ZIPPO coffee or other favorite beverages will kill the nicotine habit instantly!

She slips her dad some Zippo in his coffee, and even though it's a foul tasting thing, it appears to work! Patsy's mom scolds her when her father is ill, and Patsy confesses her trick: "I realize you wanted to help, dear, but your father's habits are for me to cure!" The next day, Hedy Wolfe, Patsy's rival, is seen smoking. "Why Hedy! Smoking! In Public, too!" Pasty says. Hedy replies, "I find it makes me more attarctive to men!" So to cure Hedy, Nancy slips her some Zippo in a fountain soda, and Hedy is similarly poisoned...

The last panel of this story is the most striking. Patsy, Nancy and Buzz Baxter are rolling lots of smokes for Patsy's dad, who says, "Make a lot of them, kids! Now that Zippo's worn off, I have a lot of smoking to catch up on!"

There are four Patsy Walker stories in this issue. Although Atlas Tales credits Patsy's creator Ruth Atkinson as the author of all four, the final story has distinctly different art that isn't nearly as good as Ms. Atkinson's distinctive style. The cover art, pictured here, is credited to Mike Sekowsky.

This issue also has a full page house ad for Miss America, what they call "the fastest growing girl magazine of 1945." "Be a keen-teen! More than 525,000 teen-agers are reading Miss America each month!" An annual subscription for 12 issues costs a mere dollar.

Fascinating dead genre comics

Here's another oddball comic from the golden age. From April 1950, we have Miss America, Volume 7, number 33, published monthly by Miss America Publishing Corp. We have a cute, leggy photo cover this time.

This title started back in January, 1944 with a one-shot featuring a female super hero called "Miss America." The second issue, produced in November of that year, started the format that was still in use when this issue was published in 1950. The second issue, Miss America Volume 1, Number 2, featured the introduction and first appearance of Patsy Walker, a most durable Marvel character, who was one of the very few characters who survived from the late Timely era all the way into the 1960s. (Patsy was revived in the modern Marvel universe, ultimately becoming the superheroine Hellcat, and going through all kinds of awful metamorphoses, but that's a story for another time.)

This is a very interesting comic from a dead genre targeting young girls. Inside we have "illustrated romances" drawn in a style quite unlike the Marvel house style of the time. In fact, the romances resemble someone trying to rip off Matt Baker's classic style of the period; however Baker had no peers when it came to comic art in this genre. We also have some fiction, a five page romance story that's mostly text, some "features and fun" including games, fashion tips, and sewing activities. And, of course, we have a couple of wonderful Patsy Walker features.

We have two Patsy Walker features in this issue, both drawn by the same uncredited Marvel artist. The contents page credits Stan Lee as Editor Director of Art, Joellen Murdock as Editorial Associate, Mart Nodell as Art Associate, and Gary Keller as Production Associate. The artwork in the Patsy stories is definitely Al Jaffee-like.

This appears to be one of the last (if not the last) Miss America's in the hodgepodge romance/activity/comic style. Marvel was going through a lot of changes in 1950, and in just a few short months Miss America would evolve into a pure comic book full of Patsy stories. The romance features found their home in dedicated Marvel romance books like Love Tales and Love Romances.

• Photo cover with blurb for Patsy Walker stories and a "true-to-life tale" called "Happiness is a Lad Named Larry!" (LOL)
• Inside front cover, ads for various toys and stuff, including the "sensational drink and wet doll in washable rubber wonderskin with life-like hair..."
• First page is a full page color ad for Sylvia's Shows in Brooklyn. One of the shoes looks an awfuil lot like what Patsy's wearing in the first story. They also have the "Ridin' High with Buck and Tex" western-style shoe and pouch that looks like a binocular case.
• Contents, half page, and a house ad for My Friend Irma #3, with great Dan Decarlo art.
• "Food for fun," a short column on how to please the man in your life the next time you invite him to dinner with a meal of beefsteak and onions (1/3 page), and an ad for "Growing Up and Liking It" sent to you in a "plain brown wrapper" with secrets about Modess napkins (2/3 page).
• Patsy Walker in "Follow That Car!", job number 7281, 7 pages.
• Full page ad for a faux television coin bank with contrast, focus, channel, brightness and volume knobs.
• Polly Parker's letter column, "For girls only," 2 pages.
• "Fashion Whys," an activity page that compares the very slim Joann with the "much bigger" Janie.
• A full page ad for "amazing wrist watches" from Mardo Sales on Lexington Ave. in New York.
• "Jealousy!" a Miss America feature romance comic story, featuring Linda the Navy nurse. Job number 6875, 6 pages.
• "Room For Growing," a two page illustrated feature on decorating your house.
• "Roadside Romance," a five page text story by Lee Wyndham, with interspersed comic art, featuring Dobby the pigtailer, who works at her father's gas station.

  Dobby searched Keith's face, her eyes swimming in unshed tears. She reached for his face and held his cheeks between her hands. "Oh Keith," she murmured, "Today I said, 'This is the end. The end of Keith and me.' But now I see it's only the beginning!" She bent swiftly and brushed her lips against the top of his short, wavy hair, then scrambled down from the crooked trunk.

• A full page ad for the Kopal Cosmetic Enamel Kit, so you can have radiant white teeth just like a movie star.
  
• A two page cartoon, signed by Mart Nodell, called "Charm Corner." Question 3: Do you make as much noise as a four-piece band when you come home at night?" (Answers on page 49)
  
• Patsy Walker in "Art For Art's Sake!" Patsy gets a part time job as an artist's model at the art academy.
  
  Buzz has other things on his mind. This story has job number 7211 and is seven pages long.
  
• Full page sartoon and ad, "How 'Mini-Gym' turns Dateless Dorothy into Dazzling Dotty!"
  
• Finally, the feature romance story advertised on the cover. Judy and Larry's story, job number 6864, six pages.
  
• "Stitchin' Time," a full page house ad for patterns for a dress and "easy sew shortie coat."
  
• The answers to "Charm Corner, illustrated by Mart Nodell. Answer to question 3: "You may be exuberant after a gay evening, but the neighbors and your parents are more sleepy than gay! Be quiet and considerate when the hour is late!" (2/3 page), and various small ads including tips on preparing frog's legs!
  
• Full page ad for a "genuine Hollywood Tum-E-Lift Supporter" girdle.
  
• Inside back cover, ad for Lovmee Shoes in Newark, New Jersey.
  
• Back cover, ad for Kelpidine Tablets, to help you reduce fat. A google search reveals that Kelpidine is a somewhat suspect weight loss therapy.
  

The major surprise in this comic is that the "Mart Nodell" features appear to be illustrated, and at least partially lettered, by none other than the great Harvey Kurtzman. Check out these pages and let me know what you think. If it isn't Kurtzman, it's very Kurtzmanesque.

A ride through the ol' comic book west

I finally managed to get my hands on this nice comic. This is Two Gun Kid #3, from August, 1948. I don't have very many westerns in my collection, as I'm partial to seventies superheroes and some of the more esoteric Marvel comics from the fascinating era between World War II and the Fantastic Four. But this one's pretty interesting. First we have awesome cover art attributed to Syd Shores and Bill Everett.

Inside we have four western stories with some good ol' fashioned western style violence and mayhem. The Kid beats a bad guy "to a pulp" in the first story, and throws a bad guy down the stairs in the second story. The second story alone has four murders in it. The Sheriff doesn't kill anyone in his story, which is kind of lame.

In the third feature, the Kid is mistaken for boxer "Curly Collins" and beats the crap out of a particularly ugly "Gus Matzo" in the ring. There's suspicion and intrigue as the guy helping wipe the Kid's eyes between rounds tries to blind him with ammonia. The fight continues, but before the Kid can knock ol' Gus out, someone shoots and kills Gus in the ring. Then there is a big ruckus; apparently the fight had been rigged for "Curly" to take a fall so a lot of money could be made. Back in the dressing room, the ammonia guy suddenly breaks in, all pissed off because he bet all he owned on Gus. Of course, the Kid shoots him as payment for "that ammonia treatment." In the end, the "boss" confesses to the gambling scam and is shot in the arm before being taken away by the Sheriff.

The reason I got this comic is because I have long wanted a complete set of appearances by Marvel's 1948 incarnation of Annie Oakley. The last story, "Oil Is Where You Find It, " features Annie and all the characters at the Barr-X Ranch in Texas. Mister Barr is upset because the well's going dry and the dry season is on. Poor Sally's inherited 40 acres adjoining the ranch, but she owes $500 in back taxes, so she unloads the property on the unsuspecting Annie for a dollar an acre. So, Annie decides to check out her property, and is planting dynamite for post holes, when blammo, she hits an oil gusher. Tex, Annie's wannabe suitor, is sad and forelorn because Annie's new status as a wealthy property owner means she won't want to have much to do with him. Tex tells Sally about the oil, Sally faints and acts all girly while Tex comforts her, just as Annie rides back to the ranch. So Annie decides to throw a party to celebrate her oil well, and dresses up "real rough" for Tex. Sally, on the other hand, dresses up with something special she bought in Dallas. At the party, Mr. Barr asks Sally how she brought the gusher out, so Annie demonstrates her dynamite trick again. A gusher appears, ruining Sally's dress, but the oil quickly turns to water! Mr. Barr offers to pay Annie double for the land, now that his water problems are solved, and everyone's happy...except the mean and spiteful Sally.

Here's the complete contents of this comic.

• Cover, "Gun smashing action tales of the fighting west!" by Syd Shores and Bill Everett.
• inside front cover, an ad for a Bingo machine, made of "nickel-plated polished pressed steel with attractive stripes of dull satin finish," complete with Bingo cards and a master chart, for only $2.98.
• The Two-Gun Kid "blasts a barrier of badman viciousness behind flaring twin colts, to reach... The Killer Badman and the Colt-Hung Kid!" This story has job number 2977 and is five pages long.
• The Two-Gun Kid travels to the Arizona trails for "Guns, Gold and Glory!" Job number 2979, 8 pages.
• "Gun Guard For Boot Hill!" A story from a long forgotten, unknown western character called "The Sheriff." Job number SL-3043 (Stan Lee?), 4 pages.
• A two page text story called "Good Luck To Me," with job number SL-2895.
• The Two-Gun Kid goes boxing in a story called "Death In The Ring!" 7 pages, job 2978.
• The Two-Gun Kid Color Page, which is a color-free print of the cover to Two-Gun Kid #2.
• Annie Oakley in "Oil Is Where You Find It!" Job number 2821, 5 pages.
• Inside back cover, Lose weight with the Spot Reducer, and now you can also get free, a large size jar of Special Formula Body Massage Cream with your Spot Reducer. Only $2.
• Back cover, Bad skin? The "doubler Viderm treatment" is for you. Just (you guessed it) $2.

Donations wanted

I want this one real bad. Does anyone have two grand to donate to help me get my comix fix?

Update 11/6/05 6:29pm edt: It's now up to $2900 on eBay...

The things you find in old comic books

Here is page 17 of Captain America 100, published in April 1968 by Marvel Comics.

Heh. What wonderful pop art to accompany Cap's battle with Baron Zemo. "You must buy all of these products NOW!"

I think I'll play the radio!

Here's another cool "Hey Look!" one pager from the great Harvey Kurtzman. This one, from Hedy De Vine Comics 29, October 1948, has a radio theme, back from when it actually took a bit of time for the tubes to warm up.

I'm starting to think that Kurtzman had a thing about radios.

Hedy De Vine is very attractively drawn here, and she's also one of my favorite Marvel Comics characters from this era.

Western gals

Here's some more eye candy from the collection. Marvel's comic line was starting to show a definite western influence in early 1948. These are a couple of my favorite covers from this era. Were Hedy and Annie related? It sure looks so.

Annie Oakley 1, Marvel Comics (Manvis Publications, Inc.), Spring, 1948. Annie's debut contains three Annie Oakley and a single Hedy De Vine story.

Annie Oakley 1, Marvel Comics (Manvis Publications, Inc.), Spring, 1948, 36 pages.

• Classic good girl cover with a very faint rubber stamp that says "Feb 8."
• Inside front cover: full page B/W ad hawking a new and easy way to learn how to play the guitar, 53 song "Karl and Harty Sing Book" for $1.69.
• Annie Oakley in "Just Love That Cowhand", five pages, job code 2543.
• Two page text story "The Grecian Wiggle" by Stan Lee?, job code SL-2019. In between is a one page ad "Advice to comic book readers for Bad Skin (stop worrying about pimples, blackheads and other externally caused skin problems)."
• Annie Oakley in "She's My Gal, Pal!", eight pages, job code 2545.
• One page assorted B/W ads.
• Hedy De Vine in "Heart Havoc," four pages, no visible job code.
• One page of ads, including one for a "3 in 1 Air Pistol" that shoots regular BB's, hard hitting pellets and steel darts, for $3.49.
• Annie Oakley in "Wrong Steer,", job code 2564, eight pages.
• Full page ad for the book "How To Get Along With Girls."
• Full page ad "How a simple discovery made Billy a very happy boy." Billy's having trouble learning how to play the piano. No problem! The amazing new chord-slide invention, the self-teaching ABC Picture Method" and the "33 Popular Songs" all for $2.
• Inside back cover: another B/W ad for surplus US Army Air Forces Flying Helmets.
• Back cover: Ad for American Seed Company. Sell our seeds and earn valuable prizes! "Send no money - we trust you."

Hedy De Vine Comics 25, Marvel Comics (Red Circle Magazines, Inc.), February, 1948. This issue contains four Hedys, a Millie the Model, and a Tessie the Typist story, and a great one page "Hey Look" gag strip by Harvey Kurtzman.

Hedy De Vine Comics 25, Marvel Comics (Red Circle Magazines, Inc.), February, 1948, 52 pages.

• Cool western good girl art cover. My copy has a rubber stamp mark that says "2 11 22." I am assuming that this indicates a newsstand arrival date of February 11?
• Inside cover: ad for Bonnie-Gaye Famous California Styles dresses, only $14.95.
• Hedy De Vine in "The Prince's Peachy Pick," 8 pages, job code 1899.
• Ad for a Wheaties contest offering 1,112 prizes, including an Admiral combination radio-phonograph.
• Hedy De Vine in "Doing the Town," 7 pages, job code 2008.
• House ad, half page, "Follow the exciting, romantic stories of Millie, the world's most glamorous model, in every laff-and-love filled issue of Millie The Model Comics! P.S. Millie also appears in Joker•Gay•Rusty•Millie"
• Hedy De Vine in "The Start That Couldn't Be," six pages, job code 1876.
• "I'm a Hero," a two page text story by Stan Lee? Job code SL-1797.
• Two pages of black-and-white ads filled with various house ads for other Marvel Comics, including Blonde Phantom, Justice, Young Allies, Captain America, Official True Crime Cases, Marvel Mystery Comics, Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and All Winners. "Marvel Group Magazines, Martin Goodman, Publisher, Stan Lee, Editor."
• Millie the Model in "Best Laid Plans," 5 pages, job code 1960.
• A half page "Hey Look" by Harvey Kurtzman, job code 2248, and an ad for Joe DiMaggio's book "Lucky To Be a Yankee." Paper cover edition for $1 and a personally autographed "De Luxe Clothbound Edition" for $2.
• Tessie The Typist in "The Garrulous Guest." First page signed "MSW " (Morris Weiss). Five pages, job code 1696.
• A classic "Hey Look" by Harvey Kurtzman, "Optical Illusion." One page, job code 2192.
• Hedy De Vine in "Scrapping Over Scripts," 7 pages, job code 1792.
• Full page color ad for Cracker Jack.
• Ad for Revell's "Sensational New 1947 Model Radaradio" with no batteries, no electricity and no tubes (a crystal set??) for $7.98. Included at no extra cost is a complete aerial and ground kit (a couple of bales of wire, pictured); and a "professional type Radio Mike" that "attaches in a jiffy to any radio" and only costs $1.98.
• Inside back cover: B/W ad for a "Beautiful Matching Genuine Leather Western Billfold, Pocket Flashlight and Cowhide Western Belt" for only $2.98.
• Back cover: War surplus close out, genuine US Army Air Forces Flying Helmets. While they last, only $1.49, available in three sizes, small, medium, and large.

Ever have a day like this?

Here's a classic one pager by the great Harvey Kurtzman, from Gay Comics 34, Marvel Comics, October 1948.

The cover from this issue is pretty cool, as well. This is a definitive early Millie the Model illustration. The artist is unattributed, but it reminds me of Dave Berg's early work for Marvel.

A brief introduction to Marvel's golden age

Here's a gem from a cool Marvel Comic from the Golden Age, Nellie The Nurse #17, February 1949. This issue features a few Nellie stories, a story featuring Millie the Model, and a story with one of my favorite golden age characters -- Marvel's version of Annie Oakley.

I've been slowly collecting titles from the bizarre and wonderful period between the end of the second world war and the beginning of the silver age of comics in the late fifties. After the end of WWII, the superheroes started to lose their luster. The comic publishers scrambled through an ever-changing collection of genres during this time. The Marvel Comics Group was no exception, switching genres so fast that in many cases they didn't even bother to restart the numbering of a series or even change it's title when they replaced a failing theme with the "next best thing."

Annie was a unique combination of the then-nascent western comics genre with Marvel's popular teen humor line, exemplified by such titles as Patsy Walker, Millie the Model, Tessie the Typist, Cindy, Jeanie, and others. Many references to Marvel's Annie in the literature call her a western Millie -- although fifty years later I personally think Annie retains a bit more charm than Millie. Annie even had her own title for four issues in 1948, and she was re-launched in a more western style for seven more issues eight years later. I recently filled my collection of the first four Annies from 1948, and eventually I'll summarize them here. Annie is, in many ways, the definitive Marvel pretty girl from this time long ago.

Never mind that Nellie's really a brunette -- this is a cool cover. The hearts floating around Nellie's head is an example of one of my favorite comic gimmicks, which was used with great success in, among others, the Patsy Walker series. Note that the table in the foreground has on it a Patsy Walker and a Cindy comic, two of Nellie's contemporaries. Little subliminal ads like this are common in golden age Marvels.

Now about the time this comic book was published, psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham began his crusade against the evil comic book and it's negative influence on society. Some publishers took to print to counter Wertham's lurid and sensationalist writings, and this very issue of Nellie the Nurse has an anti-Wertham editorial immediately following the Annie Oakley story, which I've transcribed here:

Marvel Comics Group

Hi friends:

Lately there has been quite a debate about comics raging in the pages of the Saturday Review of Literature, one of America's most respected magazines. In an article, a Dr. Wertham discussed the problem of juvenile delinquency in America today, and pinned the blame for some of these cases on comic magazines, simply because many of the delinquent youngsters had read comics.

93% of all young people (from 8 to 16 years of age) read comics. Naturally a few young people get into some kind of trouble...so do a lot of older ones...and of course many of the kids who get into trouble read comics. But what that article does not state is the fact that 93% of the boys and girls who get into no trouble at all also read comics.

Let us quote a letter from David Pace Wigransky, a 14 year old reader of comics, published in the July 24th issue of the Saturday Review:

"...In none of those cases was it proved that reading comic books was the cause of delinquency. A good many of the delinquents mentioned happened to be readers of comic magazines, just as 69,999,975 perfectly healthy, happy, normal American boys and girls, men and women, who also read comics.

"...It appears that [Dr. Wertham's] $64 question to a child being psychoanalyzed is, 'Do you read COMIC BOOKS, my little man?' Of course the juvenile delinquent, beinga normal clild in at least that way, will answer 'Yes'."

In other words, the case is just as we stated it above. Since almost all kids of any kind read comics, naturally some of the delinquents read comics too. But since the same percentage holds true among the millions of youngsters who have committed no offense at all, why not give the comics credit for the good influence thay have on these millions of healthy, normal kids, instead of just blaming them for our handful of delinquents?

Once again let us remind you to show our magazines, or any of the other good comics, to people who criticize this form of entertainment. Show those people that your favorite magazines are not harmful. Let them see Dr. Thompson's endorsement on the first page of every one of our magazines, and prove to one and all that the comics you buy and read are good for you.

The Editors
Marvel Comics Group

Now how in the hell someone could think that something as innocuous as this issue of Nellie the Nurse was somehow subverting the children of America, I'll never know. But the story's not quite over -- on the same page as this editorial, Marvel lists their current titles, split into a "Red Unit" and "Blue-Yellow Unit" as follows:

Red Unit

Annie Oakley
Blackstone the Magician
Blonde Phantom
Complete Mystery Stories
Crimefighters Always Win
Georgie
Ideal Comics
Joker Comics
Justice
Lawbreakers Always Lose
Margie
Marvel Mystery Comics
Millie the Model
Namora
Nellie the Nurse
Patsy Walker
Sub-Mariner
Sun Girl
Teen Comics
Tessie the Typist
Tex Morgan
Two-Gun Kid
Wild Western
Willie

Blue-Yellow Unit

All-True Crime Cases
All Winners
Blaze Carson
Captain America
Cindy
Comedy Comics
Crime Exposed
Frankie
Gay Comics
Hedy De Vine
Human Torch
Jeanie
Junior Miss
Kid Colt
Krazy Komics
Lana
Mitzi
My Romance
Oscar
Powerhouse Pepper
Rusty
Super Rabbit
Tex Taylor
The Witness
Venus
Wacky Duck

Let's take a closer look at Marvel's line here at the beginning of 1949. Broken down by genres, loosely organized, we have:

• Teen humor: 21 titles
• Superhero: 8
• Western: 6
• Crime: 5
• Mystery: 3
• Funny animal: 2
• Romance: 1
• Unique or unclassifiable: 3 (The classic Venus, which evolved from a teen comic, to romance, to science fiction, finally settling on horror; Ideal Comics, a short-lived title presenting adaptations of historical stories, e.g. Joan of Arc; and Basil Wolverton's zany madcap Powerhouse Pepper)

There is nothing remotely subversive about any of Marvel's teen titles. The dying superhero genre at this time was experimenting with mystery, crime, sci-fi and horror, but there's not too much over-the-top content in any of these titles. The early westerns and crime titles were about as close to the edge as Marvel would get in 1949.

Now, before we can conclude that Wertham was all foamed and frothed up over nothing, consider that in one year, most of the titles in this print run would cease to exist. The teen genre very rapidly imploded just a few months after this comic was published. All of Marvel's superheroes went dormant around this time as well. The teen and superhero comics were replaced by an explosion of romance, western, crime, war, and horror comics. Marvel never did do much with the crime genre, having given that niche up to other publishers. But Marvel and many other comic publishers quickly embraced horror and all restrictions were thrown out the door.

So Wertham was ahead of his time? It is true that Marvel's output was relatively tame compared to other publishers' output (but never as lame as DC Comics). Marvel never had a title comparable to Phantom Lady, Crime Does Not Pay, or any of EC's fantastic horror and sci-fi comics. However, Marvel was responsible for the single greatest number of horror comics published before the mess that Wertham started resulted in the creation of the Comics Code Authority, which ruined several publishers and lobotimized the industry.

Wertham's gimmick was over-sensationalization. He rarely provided sufficient proof of any of his outlandish claims of a direct link between "juvenile deliquency" and comic books. However it's clear that the industry would have had to initiate some kind of restraint at some point. Sadly we remember the establishment of the Comics Code mostly for destroying Gaines' EC Comics. But the industry would experience a huge rebirth just a few years later.

Looking back at these wonderful works of art from the late forties it seems hard to imagine what would happen to comics just a few years in the future. Marvel's classic Annie Oakley never made it past 1948, but she's part of a history that is always intriguing.