You know, when I was growing up as a kid, in the mid 1960s, hundreds of comic book titles were being published by Marvel, Dell, Golden, Archie, Disney, and DC.
Every month (bi-monthly in some cases) a complete issue of several stories, ads, and letter columns would appear, as if by magic, to gravitate into the sweaty mitts of any kid with 12 cents.
Pretty much at random, I have selected
Superman 171, cover-dated August 1964, for a little experiment.
Over the next week or two we will look at EVERY PAGE of this comic in sequence, from cover to cover, with my observations thrown in. When we're done, perhaps we all will have a little more appreciation for what an undertaking such an everyday thing as a comic book was in the 1960s.
And, in my opinion, how much the poorer we are today, in not having such common treasures kicking around as part of our children's lives.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo152/MarkAAlfred/Superman%20171/S17101-FrontCover.jpg
Well, on this cover we have a fistfight portrayed by the great Curt Swan. Did you know that Curt was a boxer in his youth? You can tell it here in the way Superman has his hands held up in the "put-'em-up" position, while that caveman lays into him with a mean right cross.
Everybody but Supes is smiling.
Those big domes in the background are supposed to be tipis or some such. But look how huge they are! They must be ten feet tall or higher. There must be some big critters on this planet.
For anybody who didn't know about the effects of a red sun's rays on a Kryptonian, the thought balloon lays it out for us. Superman doesn't have any powers here, and so he's getting his teeth handed to him.
Note the postage-stamp-shaped box in the top right-hand corner, which announces that this issue was approved by the Comics Code Authority. Do you think that the CCA is behind Superman's missing nipples and lack of chest hair?
Tomorrow, we'll dive into this stack of everyday miracle called
Superman 171.
