Golden Age Sub-Mariner

Bill Everett was a comic book artist who was ahead of his time. Looking now at his early SUB-MARINER stories from MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS is nothing less than a revelation. Whereas most of the artwork in early Marvels (and DCs for that matter) is decidedly crude by modern standards, Everett’s is polished and inventive. He seems to be inspired by book illustration rather than by other comics artists and his work has a unique and far superior feel right from the beginning. Moody and yet cartooney, his storytelling is enhanced by his own lettering, often appearing in boxless narration rather than in word balloons. Adding to the overall appeal are the opening panels and logos of each strip, foreshadowing Will Eisner’s classic SPIRIT splash variations.
With the haphazard reprints of this work over a forty year period, it isn’t easy to realize that SUB-MARINER was far from just another super-hero. For one thing, Everett does the strip as a serial, perhaps because of its original intended audience in the aborted MOTION PICTURE FUNNIES WEEKLY. Namor is a young Prince of mixed parentage whose first contact with surface people ends in the deaths of several of them. Having been told all his life how the "white man" has harmed his own race, he vows vengeance on them. A female police officer gets him to question the wisdom of his campaign and convinces him to help in the war effort. Namor actually dresses like a super-hero for awhile in New York City but is told that he still has to face trial for the murders he committed before he knew better. He humors them and allows himself to be brought to trial where he is unexpectedly convicted and sentenced to death. Attempting to escape, he realizes that he has been being consistently drugged by his captors and is too weak to do so. Only the power of the electric chair reinvigorates him and he once again vows a reign of terror on the white man, taking up residence in the Statue of Liberty for attacks on Manhattan which eventually bring him to the attention of the Human Torch. This leads to the various legendary "fire vs. water" battles after which Subby’s strip finally begins to settle into a blandness that will follow it throughout the forties. Never straying far from the comics field, creator Everett returned to the strip with an even smoother style in the fifties and would enjoy another brief run with his waterlogged baby in the sixties. In the early 1970’s, beginning with SUB-MARINER number 50, he would return one final time just before his death for a handful of some of the very best comics of their day.

Silver Age Sub-Mariner Splash Page Sundays # 14

Another creative use of the story's title highlight this Marie Severin page. This one is one of my favorite SUB-MARINER issues, the one in which the Golden age Human Torch's kid sidekick, Toro, is brought back by Roy Thomas and given a good send-off. Like most other Marvel heroes, he would come back eventually in spite of that.

Here on the splash, however, there's no sign of the now grown Toro. Just a lot of fish, a lot of bubbles and Subby in what appears to be yet another dance move. Isn't he so graceful? The revolving inker's chair this month went to Mike Esposito in spite of the fake name seen here, one of several pseudonyms the artist used supposedly to keep DC from knowing he was moonlighting for the competition.

Silver Age Sub-Mariner Splash Page Sundays # 1

Here we start a new feature. This one a brief weekly look at Marvel's SUB-MARINER comic of the sixties and seventies, appropriately enough through its "splash" pages. I've always been fascinated by Prince Namor even though I can't swim. I first met him in his TALES TO ASTONISH strip in the mid-sixties, then backtracked to find him as a villain in FANTASTIC FOUR and AVENGERS. Soon enough, I latched onto his Golden Age reprints. In 1968's Marvel expansion, Subby, as he is affectionately called, got his own comic again. It ran 72 issues but was decidedly a second-string book. Doesn't mean it didn't have it's moments, though. Let's just jump in, shall we? It's 1968 and Namor is about to meet...his Destiny!

This first issue splash page shows the at-this-point oval-headed sea king (it varied throughout the run) as only a vague thought in the obviously angry mind of the character Destiny whom in that issue we find has much to do with Namor's past. As drawn by John Buscema and Frank Giacoia here, Destiny would be quite an imposing figure...if he didn't look like a big naked crybaby wearing a pink diaper! And the green! What is with that color scheme, boy? Plus he's clearly in an ice cave! He must be awfully cold unless he comes with the power of "super warmth." Note his funny-looking, oddly shaped helmet, also. It's that helmet, in fact, that will become a major thorn in the side of various Marvel superheroes over the years since as...The Helmet of Destiny!

Silver Age Sub-Mariner Splash page Sundays # 26

This issue of SUB-MARINER from 1970 features a second attempt at reviving an obscure 1940 Timely character called the Red Raven. A previous attempt in X-MEN was also by Golden-Age loving Roy Thomas.

The Raven only appears here on the splash in the title box, however, itself perhaps a little too big. What I like about Namor though is that he looks a bit wet! A zillion times he comes out of the water in comics looking pretty darn dry. Even here he looks pretty dry other than his tousled hair.

Nicely laid out, drawn and colored with Sal Buscema and Mr. "Gaudioso" continuing on the art.

Review: Amazing Mysteries-The Bill Everett Archives Vol. 1

Here we have an example of that old adage, "You can't judge a book by its cover." With all due respect to those involved, I would not look twice at the above cover if I saw it on the shelf. The choice of panels is poor, the colors dull, Bill Everett's name is barely noticeable and surely someone could have shopped out the stray words left at the top of the front cover from the original comic. Everett's name on the spine is almost too tiny to see, also. Nope. I would have passed right over AMAZING MYSTERIES, volume one of Fantagraphics' new Bill Everett Archives...and that would have been MY loss!

Not as well known to the general public as some Golden Age comics creators, Bill Everett was there from the very beginning of Marvel...or to be more precise, just BEFORE its beginning when he created THE SUB-MARINER for MOTION PICTURE FUNNIES WEEKLY # 1. Unlike many who started crude and got better, or others who started okay and became far too stylized to be enjoyable, Everett's art was pretty well developed right out of the gate and continued to improve until his death in the early seventies. To many, myself included, his best work ever was on a return to his creation, THE SUB-MARINER,  just before the end.

This volume collects 36 covers and stories from the artist's earliest days in comics. Originally published by various companies, these feature fun but forgotten characters such as Amazing Man, The Conquerer, Music Master, Hydro Man and Dirk the Demon. Presented chronologically, one can witness Bill's design skills develop by leaps and bounds even as his storytelling skills just seem to have come naturally to him.

Compiled by Blake Bell, author of the still recent Bill Everett biography, who provides some insightful text and art samples throughout, fans of Golden Age comic books in general and key artists in particular have a treasure trove here similar to Vanguard's recent Wally Wood volume. Lots of fun, colorful stories with some of the best artwork of the late 1930's and early 1940's.

Comics fans have long lionized Kirby, the EC artists and a few others. It's about time that Bill Everett was added to that list! I'm glad to see that "Vol.1" in the subtitle because that means Blake is already working on a follow-up. Like I said, Everett started strong and just kept getting better. I can't wait for more!

Marvel Super Heroes # 1

I gotta tell ya, back around 1970 this 1966 one-shot was the Holy Grail for us collectors and at our school there was apparently only one single copy that got traded back and forth fairly regularly (with me eventually ending up with it!). If you wanted this guy's stash of coverless 1965 JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY THOR's, offer him MSH # 1 and you had a deal. Then if he wanted that rare issue of FLY-MAN that he'd never even seen before, he'd offer MSH # 1. This particular copy, as I say, got around.

It was a cool book! I had purchased it myself at Woolworth's in '66 but my copy got tossed in one of my mother's then-periodic purges of my collection. First up, it reprinted AVENGERS # 2, a pre-Cap issue with the Hulk still a member...for the most part. Then you had DAREDEVIL # 1, his origin and the first time most of us had ever seen both that dorky yellow costume and that lovely Bill Everett artwork! Finally, the whole thing was rounded out with a reprint from the oh-so-mysterious "Golden Age." A Different Human Torch vs. a seemingly different Sub-Mariner!

Note, though, on the inside cover seen here how someone (Stan?) tries to apologize for and distance themselves from the Torch and Subby bit, dismissing it as "camp," which even under the prevailing bat-definition of the day it was not.

The text reads: In an effort to really grab you with the most off-beat special ish of the year, we've included one of the rarest super-hero classics of all time...with all its corny,colorful, colossal nostalgia still intact! At last you can see what the Human Torch and Subbie (sic) were like in the fabulous forties...and why we've changed 'em since!

So that's why Marvel kept refusing to bow to the readers' wishes for more Golden Age material (until Roy Thomas finally talked Stan into it). They were ashamed of it!

The Fin Splash

Doing our new regular feature, SILVER AGE SUB-MARINER SPLASH PAGE SUNDAYS, recently brought to mind this 1939-40-drawn splash page featuring yet another Bill Everett creation, the Fin! Is this a beautiful Golden Age splash or what?

Silver Age Sub-Mariner Splash Page Sundays # 28

A nice detailed street scene with Marvel's trademark grey buildings. Good to see Namor in regular clothes again like in so many of his Golden Age stories.

Sal Buscema and Mike Incognito get credit for this alternately dull but kind of fun page. Roy Thomas then follows with a script to match. Dull...but very different in this series and kind of fun.

Points for "bizarre" go to the anonymous colorist who alternately colors our hero's hair brown or purple as opposed to its traditional blue-black. Yikes!

Silver Age Sub-Mariner Splash Page Sundays # 8

It's obvious that John Buscema, generally a pretty traditional artist, is continuing to have fun with the splash page layouts. I'd guess we have Jim Steranko's innovations of then-recent years to thank for that. This issue re-introduced Namor's Golden Age co-star, Betty Dean--hands seen here--who would be put to good use in a couple of years by her creator, Bill Everett. Roy Thomas would continue to reintoduce forties characters both at Marvel and later DC throughout his career and then write about them all in ALTER EGO! Buscema, later the FANTASTIC FOUR artist of the seventies was having an early go at the Thing here and didn't always get him right. That would change soon enough.

Bronze Age Sub-Mariner Splash Page Saturdays # 63

A nice big explosion yet somehow still pretty dull. Once again there's way too much exposition here and the boxes are oddly placed in the very center of the art. Note the lack of Namor himself, never a good idea. Bill Everett's name is up there, apparently his story playing out. But Gerber's (over) writing it and Sam Kweskin's still on the layouts. Syd Shores, another Golden Age veteran (albeit a much better one), is on the inks. The whole thing leads to pretty much of a mishmash of an issue following this lackluster splash. 

Interestingly enough, this issue has another splash what with a new backup feature entitled TALES OF ATLANTIS. The art on this Gerber story is by a young Howard Chaykin and while it's a bit more intriguing than the main story's, I really don't know these folks and the splash doesn't convince me that I want to either. 

Beside Myself

I've decided to stop thinking of myself as unemployed and start calling it "SELF-employed." After all, I've been keeping pretty busy lately working with various folks on various projects. I just haven't gotten it to the point where I can make a living at it yet. Recently, I worked with author Martin Grams on his new SHADOW book--highly recommended. I'll be doing a big piece on it as soon as I actually finish reading all 800+ pages of it! I've spent quite a bit of time working with Craig Yoe on his two ARCHIE books, also--the big coffee-table history of which is just out this week. Again, a major article will be here as soon as I actually see a copy! It has my biggest credit, yet! I also just proofread and fact-checked a new comics history book for another author as well as doing a few pronunciation research projects for an audio book publisher. I spent much of the past week working with Craig on a thoroughly tasteless and disgusting idea for a book that will undoubtedly sell quite well.

Freelancing is fun and sometimes pays well...but not often. I'm told I'm good at it so I have no intention of stopping. That said, I am still attempting to find a regular job, also, but even McDonalds didn't give me a callback on their big hiring day last week. Sigh...

Add to this major blood pressure issues in recent months. Not even going to get into all that here but...wow.

PayPal donations are always appreciated and encouraged, especially at this time of month. Alternately, check out our BOOKSTEVE RARITIES link at right and order some DVD's. It's a shared site so I don't get all of the money but I do get a good percentage.

At this time it looks like we will not be attending this year's Cincinnati Old Time Radio and Nostalgia Convention next month for the first time since 1988. That's not yet definite but it seems hard to rationalize the expense when you're juggling the water and electric bills. Since we're here in town, we'll probably at least meet a few of the attendees for a cheap lunch while they're here.

Probably no one noticed but BRITTANY ROSE AND ME has gone away this past month. We are all excited around here that muse, model and BFF Brittany Rose has met the Man of Her Dreams and that they're busily preparing the "happily ever after" part. The downside to that is that they'll be moving far away and new photos will be few and far between. So...

Have you checked out my A GEEK'S JOURNAL-1976 blog? Phenomenally successful out of the gate this past January, it continues its worldwide success with many, many fans in Germany and Belgium! It even has a few celebrity readers!

YOU'RE ONLY AS GOOD AS YOUR LAST PICTURE is not the easiest blog to write and my attempts at streamlining it last year were only mildly successful. That said, Fred Astaire is more than halfway done with Mae West, Charles Laughton and Bing Crosby in the wings so there WILL be more. I just can't guarantee when.

The Wood and Morrow blogs continue apace, dealing as they do more with art than articles. Same with the popular FOUR-COLOR SHADOWS with its mix of rare and interesting Golden-Age comics finds.

The Christa Helm blog flares up in popularity every time they rerun the episode of 48 HOURS MYSTERY that John O'Dowd and I inspired with our research into her tragic and still-unsolved murder. I would love to jump back into that case with both feet but for various reasons, that's just not happening right now.

In all that spare time I DON'T have, an idea for yet another fun blog has entered my fevered brain. I don't want to give it away just yet but let's just say that it would deal with history, music, TV, movies, comics, toys and general pop culture...all from a particular vantage point in time.

So here we are, at any given time attempting to dodge either the electric, the water or the Internet being turned off as I attempt the uphill battle of making it as a freelance writer/editorial assistant in this down economy. Again, your best wishes and donations are both much appreciated.

Back tomorrow with SILVER AGE SUB-MARINER SPLASH PAGE SUNDAYS!

Namor's Secret Identity

Our Net friend Kevin recently ran a surprising shot of Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner wearing a costume from the early 1940's at BeaucoupKevin(dot)com. BlogMachineGo. This, of course, was a revelation that we ourselves had run across some time back. To be precise, here: http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com/search?q=golden+age+sub.

Now, today, we reveal the Prince nattily attired for a weekend in the country with his police officer girlfriend, Betty Dean. Not really a "secret" identity but he's definitely attempting to pass. In fact, he wears the clothes through much of this story (from HUMAN TORCH # 9) which is a landlocked haunted house story!

Happy New Year from Namor

The Golden Age Sub-Mariner is a party animal. Who knew? Be sure not to fly drunk on those tiny l'il ankle wings tonight, buddy. Happy New Year.

My Top 15 Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four Favorites

With the announcement of the impending cancellation of FANTASTIC FOUR-- which I don't have an issue with in and of itself as good stories have been few and far between and too many reboots have scarred the brand--I've been waxing nostalgic over what I would still consider y all-time favorite comic book series. I briefly had a complete collection of FF, stopping at # 414 as I didn't realize the original run would end just a couple issues later. The above is probably my all-time favorite with perhaps the best story of Doctor Doom, another character whose many appearances diluted his importance.

This was one I spotted in ads long before I found the book itself for a nickel in a junk shop. An atypical but wonderfully atmospheric story and Wally Wood redrawing Daredevil throughout! What's not to love?

One of the first of the older stories I read in MARVEL COLLECTOR'S ITEM CLASSICS, this one introduced me to the Sub-Mariner, here running a movie studio where the bankrupt FF attempt to make some money! Again, hardly a typical adventure.

The big one. Marvel really went cosmic with this one featuring The Silver Surfer and Galactus.

Another one i discovered in reprints--a great sci-fi story also well-adapted for the '67 cartoon series.

The first issue of FF I ever saw and my introduction to so many characters from Kirby's fertile imagination.

Took this PRISONER-inspired ish on vacation with me to North Carolina. A good story and some of Jack's best latter day FF art.

The wedding issue! In spite of less than stellar inks, this free-for-all was and is much fun to the hardcore fan.

As I was collecting back issues as I found them, I was reading them in all the wrong order. This one quickly became a favorite.

Another one with ads that intrigued me but one I wouldn't actually get until years after I first saw its cover.

I remember the day I bought this at the drugstore and stopping to read it in a parking lot before I even git home! Couldn't wait!

A truly epic, perhaps definitive Sub-Mariner/FF tale, later reprinted with additional tweaking by John Byrne!

My introduction to the concept of the Golden Age and also the word "original."

I remember being blown away by this cover while I was on my knees at Stegner's Drugstore looking through the just shelved new comics!

And finally I read this one, where Sue announces her pregnancy, while sitting in the car waiting for my Dad to finish a horseshoe match!

And here's the thing. All of these books still exist for me to re-read and others to still discover. They may seem simplistic compared to today's sophisticated plots and art but brother, comics don't GET any better than the original FF!

 

Marvel Mystery Contest

Here's a cool contest ad from an early issue of MARVEL MYSTERY, Timely's flagship Golden Age title that featured, amongst others, the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner. The prize for what was basically now standard reader feedback was a trip to New York City to meet the Timely staff!

Cincinnati Comic Expo

It was exciting earlier this year when WizardWorld bought the rights to handle a big Cincinnati Comic Book Con but if there has been any movement whatsoever beyond that, they seem to be keeping it to themselves. Seems unlikely to me that they would even have enough time to pull one off at this point.

In the meantime, however, in stepped the folks behind the Cincinnati Comic EXPO! I'll share more details as things get closer or if you're on FACEBOOK, look 'em up but for now, take delight in their just released poster!

Drawn especially for the Expo by Golden Age artist Allen Bellman who worked for Timely as well as several other companies, often on crime titles, here we have the Invaders--The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner and Captain America, Timely's Big Three!--fighting Nazis in the shadow of Cincinnati's Roebling Suspension Bridge. The bridge, connecting Cincy to my own Northern Kentucky, has been there since the Civil War (the US one, not the Marvel one) and is one of the most obvious and recognizable landmarks in the city. Note, however, that although they are rather obviously Nazis, there is no sign of a swastika. With the area's reputation for closed-mindedness leading to the sadly appropriate nickname, "Censornazi," perhaps that was a good choice.

More Convention Booklets

As Comicon rages on without me (although I have it on live on G4 in the background even as we speak) here are a couple more convention booklets I've collected over the years. Omnicon was a Louisville, Kentucky convention in 1976 that was put on by Keno Don Rosa and James Van Hise. The biggest convention I had attended at the time, guests included cover artist Frank Brunner and STAR TREK's DeForest Kelly. Wearing my Trek uniform shirt in time-honored geek manner, I stood next to Kelly as he was interviewed on local TV. The con book is in the format of the fanzine, RBCC (not so coincidentally edited by Van Hise) and contains mostly reprints from that venerable publication including some early Don Rosa art and a cool SUB-MARINER strip by Mike Zeck.

I attended Omnicon with my parents but I attended the 1989 ChicagoCon with my then fiance. I've written about this convention before. This was where Reed Waller and the late Kate Worley asked us to hang out with them at an after hours party and we were too awestruck to do so. This was where my soon-to-be wife got so incredibly ticked off at Peter David on a panel and yet respected him enough to decide to name our future son (BookDave) after him. Her real goal that year was to meet her fave Wendy Pini and we did but Wendy came across as shy and demure (after Kate Worley who wouldn't?) and a far cry from the sword-wielding Red Sonja she had been when I had met her in Philadelphia back in 1977. This was where we met and hit it off with John Ostrander and the late Kim Yale, a tough, talented woman who died far too soon. Also, we sold Denis Kitchen some L'IL ABNER metal signs and had a nice long talk with him. Denis has long been one of my favorite folks in the comics business. Finally, this was the place where we watched Golden Age BATMAN ghost artist Dick Sprang introduce himself to DC head Jenette Kahn over her breakfast table at the hotel restaurant. Ahhh...memories. I hope this year's ComiCon attendees come away with cool memories like those and not just nightmares of the crowds.

Starhawk

In the mid-sixties, Marvel's modestly titled FANTASY MASTERPIECES reprinted their pre-hero monster stories such as FIN FANG FOOM. Later on, golden-age hero stories were added featuring CAPTAIN AMERICA and later the HUMAN TORCH, SUB-MARINER and even some also-rans such as BLACK MARVEL and Kirby's MERCURY. Eventually, all-new stories were added such as DOCTOR DOOM's first solo outing, Herb Trimpe's PHANTOM EAGLE, THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and the Kree CAPTAIN MARVEL. Then one issue ended with a one page preview of STARHAWK! All we got was a quick character shot of a guy in a cool costume and the usual Marvel hype. Fans were excited though and thus highly disappointed the following month when the new issue presented all super hero reprints. Even worse, the reprints apparently sold better so the by now retitled MARVEL SUPER HEROES continued with those from that point, leaving us thinking we'd only imagined STARHAWK.

Eventually what there was of STARHAWK slipped out and consisted of precisely one Dan Adkins cover (which appeared on an issue of MARVELMANIA) and a handful of completed story pages (in a different issue of MARVELMANIA) and finally the picture seen here which appeared on an early seventies TBG cover. The figure here seems to be the same Dan Adkins art (looking like a John Buscema pose) but with an entirely different background. The whole story--such as it is--of STARHAWK has already been told here: Starhawk (ad character, Marvel Super-Heroes). Roy Thomas's improbable explanation was that the series was going in the wrong direction and thus it was decided to pull it until such time as it could be better thought out. Looking at some of Marvel's seventies series that DID get out marks this as unlikely to be the whole truth. The fact that when STARHAWK finally did appear (with a revived GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY), the only thing he had in common with this guy was his name ("Take it from one who knows!") led to this version almost literally falling through the cracks. For the House of Ideas, apparently it was decided that this was a bad one. Too bad. Cool costume!

Fandom Annual # 3

I thought I had sold FANDOM ANNUAL # 3 a few years ago but I found it slightly misplaced in the archives last night. This 200 page bound volume collects what is essentially a "Best Of" compilation of early RBCC articles and art. Published circa 1972 (there’s no date) it features such a wide variety of fan-oriented obsessions that it eerily echoes the blog I, myself, have now created! Legendary fan G.B. Love was the editor and his talented replacement, James Van Hise (who still owes me some money on that last RBCC subscription renewal but, hey, that’s all water under the bridge…) assisted.
An index of the contents will give some idea of just how diverse fandom was in those days (and maybe how I got to be that way, too!).
Cover-Sub-Mariner by Farwell and Warner
(?)Inside Cover-Fighting American by Bill Black

EC Revisited by Rich Hauser-20 page section illustrated by original and fan EC art
Blackmark- a review of Gil Kane’s sword and sorcery paperback

Undergrounds- a one page piece by Van Hise

Comics Fans- an undergroundish strip that defines fanboys in 3 pages of still true truisims

Untamed Love-a Frazetta reprint

Interview with Garry Trudeau

An index of UNCLE SCROOGE comics by…wait for it…DON ROSA!!!!!

Magazine reprint on Alex Raymond

Flash Gordon-one page reprint

Serial stills, posters and lobby cards for 16 pages

Harryhausen stills

TOR by Joe Kubert-Cover and 11 page reprint

Star Trek article with rare illustrations

WHITE INDIAN-Frazetta reprint

The Williamson Collector-23 pages of this popular RBCC review feature, with art

Return of the Werewolf-Horror reprint by Al Williamson and Harold LeDoux

7 page Lone Ranger piece with great stills

3 pages of early Wallace Wood art

The Ray- Lou Fine reprint

Interview with PRINCE VALIANT’S Hal Foster

White Indian-another Frank Frazetta reprint

Rocketship-Flash Gordon serial feature reviewed

Buster Crabbe and the Maid of Mars-yet another reprint

SPACEHAWK- Basil Wolverton sci-fi reprint!

Days of Valor- Multi-page EC reviews

Captain Comet-Space Pilot, one final comic book reprint

A series of classic and (at least then) little-seen golden age comic covers

Back Cover-PRINCE VALIANT by Hal Foster
Whew! As I said, what a diverse bunch of stuff…much like what I’ve been presenting here. Okay, Van Hise, I guess I got something out of all this after all. Let’s call it square on that subscription mess, deal?

Comic Book Books

I had begun collecting comic books in 1966 (as had many others due to the phenomenon that was BATMAN) but it was not until the early seventies that I knew they wrote histories of the darn things! Along with Steranko's HISTORY OF THE COMICS and ALL IN COLOR FOR A DIME, the four books pictured here were among the earliest books about comics.

Jules Feiffer's book, THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES came first in 1965. I grabbed it as a bargain book reprint circa 1971. The author, as you may know a cartoonist himself of some reknown, offers a series of nostalgic essays on the early days of comics. Fascinatingly, in the Will Eisner chapter, he manages to completely leave out the fact that he himself was once an assistant to Eisner and actually wrote quite a few classic SPIRIT stories! The meat of the book for my pre-teen self, though, was more golden age reprints than I had ever seen in one place up to that time! Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Sub-Mariner and my very first exposure to the original Captain Marvel! Already owning the Harvey Comics SPIRIT issues, I could never figure out why that character was dressed in white in his reprint here. When the book was reprinted again a few years back, Feiffer's prose was deemed the most important factor and thus, probably due to rights issues, the reprints were left out.

THE PENGUIN BOOK OF COMICS was originally published in England in 1967. This is the revised 1971 edition and it was a revelation to me. I had no idea that comic strips were international! I guess I just myopically assumed that all the comics I knew were all there were. Sigh. This tome delves into pre-history with cave paintings and greek frescos. Then we see quite a bit of the early British tabloid comics. In fact, we're well past page 100 before we even get to US comics of the early twentieth century. Eventually it touches on comic books as part of the larger worldwide pop art phenomenon. This book introduced me to Barbarella, PUCK, Fritz the Cat, Garth and Fred Bassett.

COMICS-ANATOMY OF A MASS MEDIUM was a 1971 German book that deals with comics in a more-or-less scholarly fashion in spots and a bit exploitatively in others. Lots of good black and white illustrations, though and it introduced me to Carl Barks, the Underground movement and the whole concept (remember I was 13!) of nudity in comic books and strips everywhere in the world except the US, the "land of the free."

Finally, Les Daniels offered COMIX-A HISTORY OF COMIC BOOKS IN AMERICA with a cover that must have been somebody's idea of pop art but...ugh! Although riddled with errors, Les offers an enthusiastic look at his subject that introduced me to EC, Kurtzman and 8 pagers! There's also a nice selection--not the usual stuff--of sideways black and white (and some color) reprints that include Barks, Steranko and Graham Ingels as well as the Fox and the Crow! Les resurfaced in relatively recent years doing the "official" histories of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman as well as the very pretty "official" coffee table histories of both Marvel and DC.

There have been other, better books on comics since these (many of them written by Ron Goulart but the best by Gerard Jones!) but these will always be special to me because they fired up my sense of wonder and that's why we all read comics in the first place, isn't it?