Jerry Lewis Vacation

Seems odd to be dealing with Labor Day weekend and it still being August, but, this is the unofficial end of summer...

...and it wouldn't be Labor Day without Jerry Lewis, so, here's a few Adventures Of Jerry Lewis (#65 and #70, July-August, 1961 and May-June, 1962, both covers by Bob Oksner), with Jerry enjoying a tropical vacation as only Jerry can!

The First Two Adventures Of The Fantastic Four

 

It is easy to see the Fantastic Four now, and their wonderful adventures as a family and as a foundation of the Marvel Universe....

...but what were they like when there was no Marvel Universe?

A quick look at the first two issues of the Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with that thought in mind.

A Timely Preamble

While Timely Comics (the precursors to Marvel) had a few super heroes (mostly notably Captain America), by the early sixties, the publisher that would be Marvel was making monster comics, and the citizens of the world had to deal with alien invaders and horribly mutated creatures that would make their lives miserable, with only random scientists, brave military and occasionally some siblings to save them.

But all that would change with Fantastic Four #1....

The Fantastic Four!

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and George Klein gave us Fantastic Four #1 (November, 1961), and it started with a menacing gathering of four people (first, Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards, who sent out the calling, then, the Invisible Girl, Sue Storm, fading out from a society friend, the lumbering Thing, Ben Grimm, smashing his way through a world too small for him, and the Human Torch, Johnny Storm, burning to get to the meeting, and needing a little help from Reed at the end).

But, who were these people?

The four were astronauts, led by Reed, a scientist, who disagreed with his friend, Ben, the ship's pilot, about how safe they would be from the cosmic rays in space.  But, they still wanted to get to the moon, and would include as crew Reed's fiance Sue, who would go wherever Reed went, and mechanic Johnny, who would follow his sister.  Stealing away in their ship to launch early, the four did make it to space, but Ben was smarter than Reed, as their shielding was insufficient, and the four were exposed to strange radiation, manifesting as powers for each of them.  After a brief tussle, the four realized they needed to work together to help the human race.

But, what of the menace they had to face now?

Well, that was the threat of disappearing atomic plants across the world...that were taken by monsters from inside the Earth!  Stretching his incredible brain, Reed calculated where to go to find the source of the problem, and it was Monster Isle.  There, the four searched, faced a dragon like creature, then were separated, with Reed and Johnny meeting the Mole Man....leader of the subterranean world, who had found Monster Isle as he fled humanity, then, falling into this strange underground world, learned to master the monsters there to take revenge on the people who hated him.  The four rallied together to beat him, sealing the tunnel to the island, though they left the Mole Man behind....

...and, on to the next adventure!

The Fantastic Four Meet The Skulls From Outer Space!

With their second appearance in Fantastic Four #2 (January, 1962, by Lee, Kirby and Klein), the four seemed to be famous (likely more from their astronaut fame, as no one other than the team saw their battle against the Mole Man), the four seemed to be an actual menace to the world, with the Thing destroying an oil tower, the Invisible Girl stealing a priceless diamond, the Human Torch destroying a statue, and Mr. Fantastic turning out the lights to a city...

...maybe they weren't heroes after all!

Well, it was really the evil invading aliens, the Skrulls, who were to blame for the misdeeds, as these four advanced soldiers used their shape-changing abilities to impersonate the heroic team, hoping to turn the world against the heroes.  The FF gathered in secret, debating what to do, as the military closed in, taking the Four prisoner.  But, not prison could hold these heroes, and they promptly escaped...

...but what to do now?

Reed came up with the idea of one of them causing more mischief, in the hopes that their evil doppelgangers would then find the mischief maker, and take in the FF member.  Johnny volunteered to be the agent, and was quickly found by the Skrulls.  They could Johnny to their base, where he called in the rest of the team, and they made quick work of these Skrulls.  But, in finding them, the four realized there was a bigger menace, the rest of the Skrull invasion force.  Thinking quickly, Reed decided his four would impersonate the Skrull four, and go back, and report that Earth had too many menaces there for the Skrulls to conquer the world (oddly, using Strange Tales and Journey Into Mystery comics as proof).  The invasion fleet left, and the Fantastic Four returned to Earth, convincing the remaining three Skrulls to change into cows, where they were hypnotized to forget their Skrull life, leaving them contented.  (But, what of the fourth Skrull?   A tale for the future....).

Still, these two issues helped found the Marvel Universe, setting up many tales both in and above the Earth...as soon after, the Marvel Universe started to grow with Hank Pym, a man who shrank to the size of ant, and the Fantastic Four got costumes, a headquarters and even a car, as the Fantastic Four became more of a success for Lee and Kirby!

Remembering Jack Kirby

Remembering the King, Jack Kirby on his birthday (August 28, 1917 - February 6, 1994).

Here, a portrait of Kirby by Alex Ross, and some of Kirby's own words to remember him by....

"If you look at my characters, you will find me. No matter what kind of character you create or assume, a little of yourself must remain there."

Celebrating artist Mike Kaluta

Celebrating the birthday of artist Mike Kaluta (August 25, 1947), with some of his earliest work, covers for the Shadow, a pulp creation of Walter Gibson, following the adventures of wealthy man about town Lamont Cranston and his relentless war against crime in the 1930s, along with his network of agents.

The Shadow #1 and #2 (October-November, 1973 and December-January, 1973/1974)

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The Shadow #3 and #4 (February-March and April-May, 1974)

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The Shadow #6 and #10 (August-September, 1974 and April-May, 1975).

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The Shadow #11 and #12 (June-July and August-September, 1975)

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Remembering Artist Jim Aparo

Remembering artist Jim Aparo on his birthday (August 24, 1932 - July 19, 2005), who was known for his Batman art, as well as Batman team ups...

...but, you might not be aware of his World's Finest Comics covers....specifically these from the Dollar Comics era, that wraparound the comic, showing off not only Batman, but Superman and as additional features, Captain Marvel (as the Shazam feature), Green Arrow, Black Canary, Creeper, Hawkman, Hawkgirl and Black Lightning!

World's Finest Comics #253 (October-November, 1978)

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World's Finest Comics #254 (December-January, 1978/1979)

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World's Finest Comics #255 (February-March, 1979)

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World's Finest Comics #257 (June-July, 1979)

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Remembering Artist Marie Severin

Remembering artist Marie Severin on her birthday (August 21, 1929 - August 29, 2018) with something a little strange..

...her Strange Tales covers featuring Doctor Strange, including the introduction of the Living Tribunal!

Strange Tales #154 and #156 (March and May, 1967)

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Strange Tales #158 and #160 (July and September, 1967)

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Celebrating Artist Gene Ha

Celebrating the birthday of artist Gene Ha (August 19, 1969) with his covers to the 6 issue mini-series of JSA vs Kobra...

...featuring the legendary Justice Society of America fighting against the forces of Kobra.

JSA vs. Kobra #1 and #2 (August and September, 2009)

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JSA vs. Kobra #3 and #4 (October and November, 2009)

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JSA vs. Kobra #5 and #6 (December, 2009 and January, 2010)

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Celebrating Artist Alex Saviuk

Celebrating the birthday of artist Alex Saviuk (August 17, 1952) with a couple of his earlier covers featuring Superman, as he worked on the Superman team-up title, DC Comics Presents, with these two issues featuring Air Wave (#55 of March, 1983) and the Atomic Knights (#57 of May, 1983).

Remembering Artist Jim Mooney

Remembering artist Jim Mooney on his birthday (August 13, 1919 - March 30, 2008).  Usually remembered for his work with Supergirl, Tommy Tomorrow or the Dial H For Hero series, Jim also contributed to the solo Robin stories for Star-Spangled Comics, #84 and #86 (September and November, 1948) shown here.

Celebrating Artist Jim Lee

Celebrating the birthday of artist Jim Lee (August 11, 1964), who is currently President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics....

...here with a couple of iconic covers featuring two of DC's main characters, Batman and Superman, from Batman #608 (December, 2002) and Superman #204 (June, 2004).

National Bowling Day 2025

Celebrating National Bowling Day with Betty and Veronica, but it seems Veronica Lodge just doesn't get bowling (annoying Betty Cooper) in these two Betty and Veronica covers (#40 from June 1991 by Dan DeCarlo, and #184 from March, 2003 by Jeff Shultz and Henry Scarpelli).

Celebrating Artist Mark Bagley

Celebrating the birthday of artist Mark Bagley (August 7, 1957) with a trio of covers from Amazing Spider-Man....

...featuring the star, his symbiote enhanced villain, Venom (Eddie Brock), and a new introduction, serial killer Cletus Kasady, who, when merged with a symbiote, became Carnage!

Amazing Spider-Man #361 and #362 (April and May, 1992)

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Amazing Spider-Man #363 (June, 1992)

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Celebrating Artist Ed Hannigan

Celebrating the birthday of artist Ed Hannigan (August 6, 1951), who has done spectacular cover work over the years, including these covers for Spectacular Spider-Man, featuring Spider-Man and Cloak & Dagger (including their debut issue).  Cloak and Dagger were two teenagers (Tyrone Johnson and and Tandy Bowen) who got powers over darkness and light (respectively) after an injection of synthetic heroin.  The duo complemented each other, and used their newfound powers to fight crime.

Spectacular Spider-Man #64 and #69 (March and August, 1982)

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Spectacular Spider-Man #70 (September, 1982)

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Kirby Westerns

Jack Kirby worked on many western comics during his career, including Kid Colt Outlaw, Two Gun Kid and the Rawhide Kid.  Sadly, an era too often ignored by modern readers especially as the titles became reprint titles towards the end of their runs (with some covers duplicated but altered).

Two great examples here are Kid Colt Outlaw #215 (February, 1977), which reprints Kid Colt Outlaw #121 (March, 1965) and Two Gun Kid #134 (December, 1976), which reprints Two Gun Kid #75 (May, 1965).

Kid Colt Outlaw #121 and #215 (March, 1965 and February 1977)

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Two Gun Kid #75 and #134 (May, 1965 and December, 1976)

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