Frosty the Snowman-Dan Gormley-1957

Dell's FROSTY THE SNOWMAN stories were seasonal back in the day and must have been quite the treat to the young reader as every issue was therefore special. It wasn't a character you'd say every single month. It snowed all day here, though, so that's why YOU'RE seeing Frosty today!

The Come-On-A.C. Hollingsworth-1955

One major good thing for me about this blog is that I've discovered a number of new artists with whose work or even NAMES I was previous;y unfamiliar. One of my favorites of these new discoveries is Alvin Hollingsworth, an African-American artist from the fifties who went on to be quite successful as a painter for many years. Here's a crime story from him. The poor printing doesn't do his heavy use of black justice but still some good stuff here.

Ricky Nelson-Russ Manning-1961

Here's a real-life Archie clone, Ozzie and Harriet's youngest son both in reality and on TV. Ricky didn't have much personality as a performer but he was  pretty good singer in a kind of Elvis-lite mode. Here he's drawn by the great TARZAN (and later STAR WARS) artist Russ Manning!

The Hunchback-Mac Raboy-1941

I'm not certain why the GCD puts a question mark next to Raboy's name on this one as it certainly has all the hallmarks of his early work. It's a well-drawn story with a decidedly atypical superhero!

The Master Key-Punch Comics-1946

What if...The Spirit had Cyclops' eyebeam? Or at least Superman's super vision? That seems to be the basic premise of this strip in which our stylishly dressed hero uses his eye powers to shine a light on justice.

Space Legion-Vern Henkel-1940

Not to be confused with Jack Kirby's Solar Legion. Already a comic book industry veteran by 1940, Vernon Henkel would turn out a hundred more strips for various companies for another decade and a half before shifting to the advertising field. 

The Spectre With Percival Popp-Bernard Baily-1944

Like Dr. Fate, the Spectre was a character who was too powerful for his own good. In this case, they made him essentially into a guardian ghost for one Percival Popp who liked to refer to himself as a Super Cop! Jerry Siegel made the change but then was drafted and Gardner Fox took over the series at perhaps its lowest ebb. It would be two decades later when Fox revived the character on a cosmic scale not seen again until the Marvel characters of the seventies!