Number 628


Bubbles in the brain


Here's some more high-larity from the gang at the Sangor shop, where issues of Giggle, Ha Ha and Coo Coo Comics were produced.

Animator Hubie Karp wrote this funny story which comes from Coo Coo Comics #39. "Bubbles in the brain"; I love it. I wish I could do what Colonel Punchy Penguin does. Sometimes you've just gotta unscrew your lid and let out those bubbles.

My appreciation to Dave Miller, who scanned this story for us. Thank you, Dave.

Number 627


South Seas Girl


I can't resist another jungle goddess, this time drawn by Matt Baker.

Alani was the South Seas Girl, not proprietress of some African jungle domain, so that made her somewhat unique. Maybe she was a response to sarong-wearing Dorothy Lamour's movie popularity. Alani normally appeared in Seven Seas Comics, a rip-roaring postwar comic. This particular printing was from an unusual place, Tales of Voodoo Vol. 2 Number 3, 1969, published by the bad boys at Eerie Publications. Besides the presence of a guillotine I presume retitling it "The Bloody Ax" and painting some blood onto the artwork qualifies it as a horror comic.

Number 626


This song's a killer!


"Record of Doom" from DC's Tales of the Unexpected #2, 1956, reminds me of the backwards masking scandal of a couple decades ago. You remember when recording artists were accused of sending hidden messages in their songs, backwards, subconsciously influencing their listeners. I couldn't understand what they were saying consciously, much less subconsciously.

The story is drawn by Bill Ely, a longtime comic book journeyman who came into the industry in the 1930s. For DC Comics he later drew Rip Hunter, Time Master.

The suicide theme of the story seems morbid for a Comics Code-approved story, especially so soon after the Code was adopted. (However, in the pre-Code days the guilty party would have done his own killing.) Also, the cops in this story are pretty dumb. They don't notice until several people have taken the plunge that the suicide notes are all in the same comic book lettering. It makes me think of Jack Webb's Dragnet. In my head I replaced the comic book cops with Frank Smith and Joe Friday. Panel 5 and 6, page 5:. "Look at this letter "O", Frank. Notice the break in it on every single note?" "What are you getting at, Joe?" "They were all written by one man."

Dramatic Dragnet theme music rises: DOMM-DA-DOMM DOMM!

Number 625


The comic book civics lesson


If a United States senator is having a tough time getting his bill passed through the regular American lawmaking process he can always resort to what the villains in "Forged Faces" did in Uncle Sam Quarterly #1, Autumn 1941. Just replace the senators and congressmen--even the President--with lookalikes.

In this comic book civics lesson from the Will Eisner crew the Bill of Rights can be changed by mere votes, instead of a Constitutional amendment. Tsk tsk. It's a good thing it's not that easy to change the Constitution or those rights would've been gone years ago.

Despite its silliness I like this story. I'm not sure that Uncle Sam, an enduring American symbol, was a good comic book character. Maybe it's because he was already a symbol before Eisner and Co. got ahold of him. He's still a symbol, and although he was revived by DC with a bunch of other Quality Comics heroes in the 1970s he didn't last past the end of the war in his own title (which became Blackhawk), or his lead spot in National Comics.

According to the Grand Comics Database Eisner did the splash page and may have written the story, and Dan Zolnerowich pencilled pages 2-16. The inker is unknown.