I'd Rather Build Models than Get Prizes, Thank You

In #97, the Nov-Dec 1966 issue of The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, "Batman Meets Jerry!" with art by Bob Oskner.

I confess that the story is so disjointed that I gave up trying to follow it.

But check out the rear cover, more ads for great Aurora models! And only 98 cents to boot. Now, I had The Forgotten Prisoner once. I always figured that the name was made up to sound like it was a scene from some movie.

Somebody agrees with me. According to http://members.aol.com/thebananasplits/forgottenprisoner/ ,
"Actually there never was a movie for this character but there certainly could have been.
If you're at all familiar with the Forgotten Prisoner, imagine the possibilities of a movie.
The concept of this character was actually a combined effort between Aurora and
Famous Monsters of Filmland."

The other Jerry Lewis issue for today is #105, dated April 1968. It too is a marvel of dizziness to my very linear brain, so I gave up around the time that Lex Luthor crawled through Jerry's window in a Superman suit (or something like that).

On the back cover is a less fun ad, but one very familiar to Silver Age memories. "Make Money! Get Prizes!" Well, I'm proud to say that I never fell for it. Probably because I didn't want to cut up a comic for the coupon!

Not the Super-Ball I Grew Up With

OK. When I was 8 or 10, Wham-O merchandised the Superball. Now widely available as knock-offs abound (and rebound), the originals were a dull purplish color and about halfway between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball.

This Super-Ball, on the other hand, is bigger than a softball! Under the "E" in Superman, is a fragment of a "Look! Up in the Air!" headline. Under the "M," kind of upside down, is a smaller headline, "Superman and Parasite Battle in City Sewers."

The image of Superman is kind of like a Grummett face, do ya think?

See ya next time!

A Tale of Two Pin-Ups

Here's an illustrated side-by-side look at Superman, as drawn by perhaps the two most influental Super-Artists (after Daddy Joe Shuster, of course).

The one with a brown frame around it, set in bright daylight, is by Wayne "women waver" Boring. I nicknamed him that because one of Boring's characteristic traits is to draw women with both hands flung up before them about shulder-height, as if somebody had told them "This is a stick-up."

This Boring pin-up is from the cover of Superman Annual #1.

The other one, with a dramatic "lightning striking again" backdrop, is by the great Mr. Swan. It was the centerfold of Action #340, which also introduced the Parasite to DC.

Boy, such Super-Manliness! It's enough to give Lois Lane the vapors!

I’m in a Model State of Mind!

(with apologies to Billy Joel)

Here are a couple of more simply fab comic-book ads for Aurora model kits.

My first guess is that Murphy Anderson drew the art for this ad for the Batman model. As you can see from the price, this kit was part of the “second wave” of models. All the original monster kits were 98 cents. Then the price jumped for them (and more recent monster kits such as King Kong and Bride of Frankenstein) to $1.49.

The new DC superhero kits like Superman, Superboy, and this Batman model were also $1.49.

But, hey! When a kid could make almost half a dollar in one afternoon by turning in abandoned pop bottles for 2 cents’ deposit each, even a rise in the cost of model-building could be coped with.

I mean, it’s not like we wanted to spend our money on *yuck* girls or anything!

I never managed to buy a Big Frankie, but he looks pretty cool from the ad. And read the tagline at the top of the ad! “Make a friend” – pretty neat, huh. But for five bucks, this was an investment that would probably have to wait until Christmas or Birthday came around – unless you could talk your big brother into buying it and building it, then letting you play with it!