Archie-Jackpot-1942

If you've been in a comic book shop recently, you may well have seen the new coffee table book by Craig Yoe (with assistance from yours truly!), ARCHIE-A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA'S FAVORITE TEENAGER. It's a marvelous book if I do say so myself (and I do!). To celebrate, here's an early ARCHIE story that's not in the book. This one follows the time honored "How to Be a Detective" cliche. GCD suspects that the art is by early ARCHIE artist Harry Sahle. You can order your copy of our brand new ARCHIE book below!

Who Is Mr. Ashtar-Jack Kirby-1957

Here we have a short and interestingly colored sci-fi tale from the one and onpy Jack "King" Kirby from his unhappy National Comics stint of the last fifties. It's a shame it was unhappy, of course, for various reasons...but if things hadn't happened exactly the way they did, Jack probably would never have re-connected with Stan Lee and allowed his boundless imagination free reign to co-create the Marvel Age of Comics.

The Devil's Island of Space-Murphy Anderson-1958

An artist whose work has never been anything less than fully polished, Murphy Anderson was already a sci-fi veteran of more than a decade by this point in 1958, having been at one time the artist on BUCK ROGERS. He really hit his stride in National's sci-fi titles and later became renowned for his inking there as well. In the sixties, he succeeded Will Eisner as the person in charge of the Army's PS MAGAZINE but he has thankfully never strayed too far from comics.

The Crime Crusaders Club-Phil Bard-1943

Okay, technically this is a MINUTE MAN story but it's also the one and only appearance of the Fawcett super-team, the Crime Crusaders Club. The team consists of Captain Marvel, Jr, Bulletman and Bulletgirl, and Minute Man--coincidentally enough the main heroes in MASTER COMICS during this period. The art here is credited on GCD to Phil Bard, about whom I'm afraid I know nothing. Some seemingly Kirbyesque layouts mixed with the company's then-standard Mac Raboy swipes on Junior. Apologies about the scans. They weren't that good to begin with, someone made a strong effort at making them more readable and then I spent another hour adjusting them even more. The thumbs look MUCH better now...but embiggen them and they're still a bit harsh. Best I could do but worth it for this one of a kind super story.

The Space Bums-Happy Jack-1957

Here's an obscure but kind of fun little story which grabbed my attention for its subpar Dan DeCarlo rip-off artwork. As often happens, I was not able to track down who the actual artist was so any guesses or knowledge you might have is appreciated.

Tom Terrific-Mighty Mouse Fun Club Magazine-1958

Here we have the now-classic Gene Deitch cartoon character, TOM TERRIFIC, originally seen on the CBS series, CAPTAIN KANGAROO in the fifties and sixties. The animated version was highly stylized and while the unknown cartoonist here makes it look a little more traditional, the story and script remain true to one's memories of the characters.

Punky-Al Wiseman-1957

Here's a genuinely amusing back-up story from a 1957 DENNIS THE MENACE with GCD crediting art to popular Hank Ketcham ghost, Al Wiseman. Note that our titular hero speaks in Sugar and Spike-lish whilst our clever salesman takes particular advantage of same.

Magno and Davey-Harvey Kurtzman-1943

Harvey Kurtzman was undoubtedly one of the most influential men of the 20th Century, inspiring as he did everything from anti-war sentiment to feminism to the sexual revolution to Underground comix to the overall sense of humor of both America and England! Way before all that, however, he started out doing superhero comics like this long and bizarre Magno and Davey, seen here from FOUR FAVORITES.