This comic lasted only three issues, but was produced in connection with the animated series that ran on Saturday mornings from 1973–1975 on NBC. Season one was produced, and season two was merely reruns. Here's the opener - theme song isn't nearly as good as the original show's.
It's still October, and here's a series that sported SEVERAL holiday themed covers. I don't have much to say about any particular cover in this collection of Halloween themed covers from Sugar & Spike. Sheldon Mayer's work speak for itself
Sugar & Spike #25 Oct-Nov 1959 Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #31 Oct-Nov 1960 Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #37 Oct-Nov 1961 Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #43 Oct-Nov 1962 Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #49 Oct-Nov 1963 Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #55 Oct-Nov 1964 Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #61 Oct-Nov 1965 Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #67 Oct-Nov 1966 Art: Sheldon Mayer Sugar & Spike ran bi-monthly for most, if not all, of its run. I probably only read 2-3 issues as a lad. It ceased publication with #98 (featuring a cover redrawing of #55 above) in 1971, due to Mayer's progressively worsening eyesight. He eventually had surgery to fix his eyesight and resumed writing and drawing the series for the overseas market. It was always light-hearted fun written and illustrated by Sheldon Mayer. Mayer was considered by many to be one of the greatest editors of all time when he ran National comics. Before that he reportedly pulled the first Superman strip from the rejection pile, and wound up working on Action Comics. After leaving the editorial side, Mayer mostly continued to write and illustrate Sugar & Spike comics for DC.
For those unfamiliar with Sugar & Spike, the pair communicated via "baby talk" with each other and to other infants, but not to adults. And ALL babies spoke the same baby-talk "language", allowing the kids to speak with not only human infants, but baby animals as well.
And if you happened to read Adventures of Superman (2013) #42, you met this pair of troublesome tykes in the back-up story written by Fabian Nicieza, pencilled by Phil Hester and inked by Eric Gapstur. Clark Kent is asked to baby-sit the two, and it's a much funnier idea than the comic itself turned out to be. Hester is a great artist, but Sheldon Mayer he's not.
Mayer was considered by many to be one of the greatest editors of all time when he ran National comics.
He never ran National. He wasn't really a full-fledged editor (more of a production guy, really) until he left National with Gaines in 1939 when Gaines formed All-American. It was with All-American that Mayer became involved with character creation and art direction and such, and mentored guys like Toth, Kubert, and Infantino. When National bought out All-American in 1946, Mayer continued editing the same books he’d been editing, and in 1948 he quit to go back to freelancing.
But otherwise, yes, Mayer was—and still is—considered to be one of the greatest editors of all time.
My best pick-up this weekend at the NYCC was without question The Adventures of Bob Hope #17 (Oct.-Nov. 1952)—cover by Owen Fitzgerald, with a great interior story by Fitzgerald, a five-page “Kitty Karr in Hollywood” backup by Bob Oksner, and a few one-pagers by Henry Boltinoff. The copy I bought was pretty beat up, and has a corner missing, but it was only $5—a bargain.
Continuing the October theme (and perhaps a favorite title of @nweathington ) Adventures of Bob Hope #106 Aug/Sept 1967 Cover: Neal Adams
In the mid-1960s, Bob Hope comic book sales began to slip and after this issue, there would only be three more; Hope just wasn’t hip enough for the era, I suppose. But hey, how often do you see a cross-dressing Frankenstein’s Monster in comics? That's hip!
And the back cover is one we will probably NEVER see again, at least in this day and age. It might be one of the scariest covers ever, to the faint of heart:
Apr. 1946: I don't have confirmation on this, but I'm pretty sure this Jumbo Comics cover is by Joe Doolin, who was the primary cover artist for Jumbo during this time period. The quality of his Jumbo covers varied, but this is one of his best.
Adventures of Jerry Lewis #83 July 1964 Cover: Bob Oksner
This issue features Jerry Lewis meeting Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the Wolfman. This may be the first use of the three monster characters by DC and they were apparently so popular they were brought back again several times, within the pages of Jerry Lewis and The Adventures of Bob Hope.
Adventures of Jerry Lewis #83 July 1964 Cover: Bob Oksner
This issue features Jerry Lewis meeting Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the Wolfman. This may be the first use of the three monster characters by DC and they were apparently so popular they were brought back again several times, within the pages of Jerry Lewis and The Adventures of Bob Hope.
In this issue of Jerry Lewis, they were named Boris Killoff (a.k.a., Krankenstein), Bela le Ghouli (a.k.a., Count Drinkula), and Peter Leery (a.k.a., Dog Boy), along with the not pictured Bride of Krankenstein, but they weren't really recurring characters—other monsters were brought in with almost every issue for the next two years or so.
In the Bob Hope series, the monsters were given different names—Coach Franklin N. Stein, Dr. Van Pyre, Professor Heinrich Von Wolfmann, and the female Zombia Ghastly—as well as teaching careers, and became part of the supporting cast. They were introduced in the same issue as Super-Hip, issue #95.
As for first appearances, Frankenstein appeared in Detective #135 (1948) and Superman #143 (1961). Count Maurice Dracula appeared in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis #7 (1961), also by Bob Oksner, and of course vampires were pretty common throughout DC history going back to Detective Comics #31, where Batman fought the vampiric Monk. Likewise, Cotton Carver battled the Wolf Men in Adventure Comics #51 (1940), and werewolves showed up in House of Mystery from time to time. It is probably the first time all three monsters showed up in the same DC story though.
Adventures of Jerry Lewis #83 July 1964 Cover: Bob Oksner
This issue features Jerry Lewis meeting Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the Wolfman. This may be the first use of the three monster characters by DC and they were apparently so popular they were brought back again several times, within the pages of Jerry Lewis and The Adventures of Bob Hope.
In this issue of Jerry Lewis, they were named Boris Killoff (a.k.a., Krankenstein), Bela le Ghouli (a.k.a., Count Drinkula), and Peter Leery (a.k.a., Dog Boy), along with the not pictured Bride of Krankenstein, but they weren't really recurring characters—other monsters were brought in with almost every issue for the next two years or so.
In the Bob Hope series, the monsters were given different names—Coach Franklin N. Stein, Dr. Van Pyre, Professor Heinrich Von Wolfmann, and the female Zombia Ghastly—as well as teaching careers, and became part of the supporting cast. They were introduced in the same issue as Super-Hip, issue #95.
As for first appearances, Frankenstein appeared in Detective #135 (1948) and Superman #143 (1961). Count Maurice Dracula appeared in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis #7 (1961), also by Bob Oksner, and of course vampires were pretty common throughout DC history going back to Detective Comics #31, where Batman fought the vampiric Monk. Likewise, Cotton Carver battled the Wolf Men in Adventure Comics #51 (1940), and werewolves showed up in House of Mystery from time to time. It is probably the first time all three monsters showed up in the same DC story though.
Putting aside the alterations on the names, I thought it was the first time they all three appeared together. My details are fuzzy though. Also in this issue, the first time you saw the monsters, they were actors, but the real things showed up later, or am I remembering wrong?
Also in this issue, the first time you saw the monsters, they were actors, but the real things showed up later, or am I remembering wrong?
Right, the monsters are actors. I don't have that issue yet, so I haven't read it. Frankenstein comes back once as a real monster, but I don't think the other two monsters show up again in Jerry Lewis, real or otherwise. There is a recurring character named Witch Kraft who comes in as the housekeeper in issue #88.
Adventures of Bob Hope #95 November 1965 Cover by Bob Oksner & Tom Nicolosi
Super-Hip wasn't exactly what some considered a high point of this series. The alter-ego of Hope's fictional nephew, Tadwallader Jutefruce, he had the abilities of flight, shape-changing, super-strength, and a super-loud guitar that can be used as a mind control weapon. Check out the mod hair! The “Sultan of Swingers” had a battle-cry which went something like “Blech to Lawrence Welk!”
Below are the first few pages of this issue, in which Super-Hip made his debut.Where's Harvard-Harvard when you need him? (click to enlarge)
May 1946: Stephen (Steve) Douglas was an editor at Eastern Color, but he also drew spot illustrations, covers, and on rare occasion full stories for many of their comics, particularly (as in this case) for Famous Funnies. His style wouldn't look out of place in today’s European humor comics.
As my contribution to the Halloween festivities, here's one of my all time favourite horror comic covers. This was the last of the Venus series; the artwork is by the great Bill Everett.
As my contribution to the Halloween festivities, here's one of my all time favourite horror comic covers. This was the last of the Venus series; the artwork is by the great Bill Everett.
June 1946: Not a great cover, but a strong composition and nicely drawn. But the most interesting aspect of this cover is that it was only the third cover drawn by Warren Kremer, better known as the creator of Richie Rich and Hot Stuff.
July 1946: I really like the design of this cover. This wasn't the first time a cover title logo had been integrated into the actual cover illustration, but this is definitely a stand-out. The cover is probably by Chad Grothkopf, the creator and primary artist of Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, though the Hoppy figure here is a little beefier in the arms than he usually drew. Still, there are other design characteristics—the ears, the tail—that point to Grothkopf, though perhaps one of his assistants did some of the work.
Grothkopf had a long and fruitful career. He started out in the mid-1930s as a junior art director for Paramount’s animation department. In 1938 NBC aired his eight-minute long Willie the Worm, the first animated film specifically made for television, which Grothkopf produced himself. That same year he began doing comics for DC, doing stories (most of which he wrote, drew, and lettered) for Detective, Adventure, and other titles.
After spending 1942 working for Marvel doing “The Imp” backup in Captain America Comics, he finally wound up at Fawcett where he created Hoppy and the rest of the features for Funny Animal Comics, also bringing in his Willie the Worm character for good measure (the one character he retained the copyright to). For the first few years of the title, Grothkopf plotted, drew, and lettered the entire book, and even scripted stories on occasion. He also created the game and puzzle pages—Funny Animal was the first comic to feature games and puzzles—and the book proved to be very popular, selling more than a million copies a year (according to Grothkopf). Eventually assistants were brought in to draw the backup features, but Grothkopf always did the “Hoppy” and “Willie” stories, along with the game pages—even throughout his time in the Army during the war.
In 1947, Grothkopf went back to television animation where he worked for Disney, the original Mighty Mouse cartoons, Underdog, and Tiny Toons, among other things. He also drew the Howdy Doody newspaper strip in the early ’50s, and illustrated a few children’s books, and he came back to comics to do a little inking work on Captain Carrot in 1982. He says he drew some new Hoppy material during that time, but DC scrapped the project.
Comments
I think my first exposure to it was as part of the "Marvel Value Stamp" Series B puzzle.
Amazing pencils and inks by Frank Brunner from June 1974!
Hanna Barbera Addams Family #1
October 1974
Art: Dan Spiegle
Read the whole thing online here...
This comic lasted only three issues, but was produced in connection with the animated series that ran on Saturday mornings from 1973–1975 on NBC. Season one was produced, and season two was merely reruns. Here's the opener - theme song isn't nearly as good as the original show's.
The Three Stooges #23 & #24
May & July 1960
No story/art credits given
So, I thought I'd share the cover art from my copy of the program -- a wrap-around cover no less!
Cover carries a signed credit by Nasser & Milgrom. (Though, to my eye, some of the art looks repurposed??)
And I agree, either re-purposed or simply swiped.
Sugar & Spike #25
Oct-Nov 1959
Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #31
Oct-Nov 1960
Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #37
Oct-Nov 1961
Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #43
Oct-Nov 1962
Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #49
Oct-Nov 1963
Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #55
Oct-Nov 1964
Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #61
Oct-Nov 1965
Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike #67
Oct-Nov 1966
Art: Sheldon Mayer
Sugar & Spike ran bi-monthly for most, if not all, of its run. I probably only read 2-3 issues as a lad. It ceased publication with #98 (featuring a cover redrawing of #55 above) in 1971, due to Mayer's progressively worsening eyesight. He eventually had surgery to fix his eyesight and resumed writing and drawing the series for the overseas market. It was always light-hearted fun written and illustrated by Sheldon Mayer. Mayer was considered by many to be one of the greatest editors of all time when he ran National comics. Before that he reportedly pulled the first Superman strip from the rejection pile, and wound up working on Action Comics. After leaving the editorial side, Mayer mostly continued to write and illustrate Sugar & Spike comics for DC.
For those unfamiliar with Sugar & Spike, the pair communicated via "baby talk" with each other and to other infants, but not to adults. And ALL babies spoke the same baby-talk "language", allowing the kids to speak with not only human infants, but baby animals as well.
And if you happened to read Adventures of Superman (2013) #42, you met this pair of troublesome tykes in the back-up story written by Fabian Nicieza, pencilled by Phil Hester and inked by Eric Gapstur. Clark Kent is asked to baby-sit the two, and it's a much funnier idea than the comic itself turned out to be. Hester is a great artist, but Sheldon Mayer he's not.
But otherwise, yes, Mayer was—and still is—considered to be one of the greatest editors of all time.
Adventures of Bob Hope #106
Aug/Sept 1967
Cover: Neal Adams
In the mid-1960s, Bob Hope comic book sales began to slip and after this issue, there would only be three more; Hope just wasn’t hip enough for the era, I suppose. But hey, how often do you see a cross-dressing Frankenstein’s Monster in comics? That's hip!
And the back cover is one we will probably NEVER see again, at least in this day and age.
It might be one of the scariest covers ever, to the faint of heart:
Adventures of Jerry Lewis #83
July 1964
Cover: Bob Oksner
This issue features Jerry Lewis meeting Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster and the Wolfman. This may be the first use of the three monster characters by DC and they were apparently so popular they were brought back again several times, within the pages of Jerry Lewis and The Adventures of Bob Hope.
In the Bob Hope series, the monsters were given different names—Coach Franklin N. Stein, Dr. Van Pyre, Professor Heinrich Von Wolfmann, and the female Zombia Ghastly—as well as teaching careers, and became part of the supporting cast. They were introduced in the same issue as Super-Hip, issue #95.
As for first appearances, Frankenstein appeared in Detective #135 (1948) and Superman #143 (1961). Count Maurice Dracula appeared in The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis #7 (1961), also by Bob Oksner, and of course vampires were pretty common throughout DC history going back to Detective Comics #31, where Batman fought the vampiric Monk. Likewise, Cotton Carver battled the Wolf Men in Adventure Comics #51 (1940), and werewolves showed up in House of Mystery from time to time. It is probably the first time all three monsters showed up in the same DC story though.
RIP Bob Oksner
November 1965
Cover by Bob Oksner & Tom Nicolosi
Super-Hip wasn't exactly what some considered a high point of this series. The alter-ego of Hope's fictional nephew, Tadwallader Jutefruce, he had the abilities of flight, shape-changing, super-strength, and a super-loud guitar that can be used as a mind control weapon. Check out the mod hair! The “Sultan of Swingers” had a battle-cry which went something like “Blech to Lawrence Welk!”
Below are the first few pages of this issue, in which Super-Hip made his debut.Where's Harvard-Harvard when you need him? (click to enlarge)
Adventures of Bob Hope #96
January 1966
Cover: Bob Oksner
You might be surprised how many covers in this series featured pretty much all the same characters...
One of my favorite Iron Fist covers was the first, from Marvel Premiere #15 (May 1974)
Pencils by Gil Kane with inks by Dick Giordano (with some John Romita alterations per GCD).
Cover art by Dave Cockrum (and interior art by John Byrne!)
Grothkopf had a long and fruitful career. He started out in the mid-1930s as a junior art director for Paramount’s animation department. In 1938 NBC aired his eight-minute long Willie the Worm, the first animated film specifically made for television, which Grothkopf produced himself. That same year he began doing comics for DC, doing stories (most of which he wrote, drew, and lettered) for Detective, Adventure, and other titles.
After spending 1942 working for Marvel doing “The Imp” backup in Captain America Comics, he finally wound up at Fawcett where he created Hoppy and the rest of the features for Funny Animal Comics, also bringing in his Willie the Worm character for good measure (the one character he retained the copyright to). For the first few years of the title, Grothkopf plotted, drew, and lettered the entire book, and even scripted stories on occasion. He also created the game and puzzle pages—Funny Animal was the first comic to feature games and puzzles—and the book proved to be very popular, selling more than a million copies a year (according to Grothkopf). Eventually assistants were brought in to draw the backup features, but Grothkopf always did the “Hoppy” and “Willie” stories, along with the game pages—even throughout his time in the Army during the war.
In 1947, Grothkopf went back to television animation where he worked for Disney, the original Mighty Mouse cartoons, Underdog, and Tiny Toons, among other things. He also drew the Howdy Doody newspaper strip in the early ’50s, and illustrated a few children’s books, and he came back to comics to do a little inking work on Captain Carrot in 1982. He says he drew some new Hoppy material during that time, but DC scrapped the project.