COVER STORIES for 04/01/2007
COVER STORIES INSTALLMENT #99
Welcome, faithful readers (and those of you joining us for the first time) to the 92nd installment of Cover Stories, the weekly column in which I, Jon B. Knutson, present a group of covers with a common theme!
This time around, the theme is "Games of Chance," as we look at four covers that take place at the carnival! I know, it's a bit early in the season for real carnivals and fairs... but maybe this'll give you a taste for them when they come around!
We're starting with Comic Cavalcade #28, and have you noticed how many of these covers I've been able to use in this column? It's a great title for finding stuff that fits in a theme.
Anyway, this cover, as you can see, features Green Lantern, Flash and Wonder Woman... and Diana's definitely showing that "the weaker sex" (as some insist on referring to women, probably even now) definitely can throw! And Flash knows it, too (although Green Lantern seems to be enjoying himself a bit too much at Jay's expense, doesn't he?).
This cover was by Irwin Hasen and Bob Oksner. Inside, Wonder Woman starred in "The Sinister Countess Hatra" by Robert Kanigher and Harry G. Peter; Mutt and Jeff newspaper reprints by Al Smith (as Bud Fisher), Johnny Peril in "The Treasure of Diaz" by Howard Purcell, more Mutt and Jeff; Green Lantern in "The Treasure of Plateau City" by Kanigher and Alex Toth; even more Mutt and Jeff, Cotton Top Katie in "National Thrift Week-Open a Bank Account" by Harry Lampert; the Atom in "The Mystery of the Midway Tunnel" by Joseph Greene and Carmine Infantino; yet more Mutt and Jeff; the text feature "The 700 Year Old Partnership," the filler "Ma Nature's Curiosity Shop" by Martin Naydel; Flash in "The Flash Concerto" by Kanigher and Irwin Hasen; and finally, much more Mutt and Jeff!
Next up, another DC cover, this one Leave it to Binky 33! A nice gag here, and a nice "babe," too... even if a bit cartoony! I'd imagine most of you remember Binky, if at all, from when DC changed the art style on his book to more resemble the Archie comics that it was created to compete with (Binky shouldn't feel bad... the same thing happened to Millie the Model over at Marvel!).
Bob Oksner did the cover art for this issue. Inside, we have a Buzzy PSA called "Get a Box Seat to Nature's Wonders" by Jack Schiff. Next up... well, these stories didn't always have titles, so I'll use the titles given in the Grand Comics Database entry! Binky in "How do I Know You're Under Ten" by Oksner; "Surprise Party" by Oksner; the filler "The Fittin' Thing," possibly by Mort Drucker; "Binky You Don't Mind Carrying My Compact Do You?" by Oksner; a Stevie filler by S.B. Stevens; the text feature "Mr. Hubble's Troubles" by Raymond Perry; a Jerry the Jitterbug filler by Henry Boltinoff; Teen Teasers activity page by Martin Naydel; Binky in "Mr. Hidome... Oops!" by Oksner.
Here's Popeye number one, from Dell Comics, featuring a nice carnival gag! OK, this really isn't quite a "game of chance," but I liked it too much not to include it! I guess Swee'Pea's definitely been eating his spinach, hasn't he? Of course, equally amazing is how Popeye's able to just stand there casually without being tipped over from being off-balance!
The entire book is by Bud Sagendorf, as the cover promises! Inside, there's Popeye in "Popeye! Were There Any Pirates..."; Popeye and Olive in "Shame on You! Or, Gentlemen Do Not Fight! Or, You're a Ruffian, Sir!"; Swee'Pea in "Map Back! Or, Back Map!"; Popeye and his Pappy in "Spinach Revolt"; Popeye in "Ring!"; and Popeye in "Popeye, I Think I'll Go Over..."
I started this column with Wonder Woman playing a game of chance, and I may as well finish with one! This is Sensation Comics 86, with a most unusual game of ring toss! Or should I say, with a most unusual version of the usual bondage that was frequently presented in WW stories?
This cover was by Harry G. Peter. Inside, we've got Wonder Woman in "The Secret of the Amazing Bracelets" by Bob Kanigher and Peter; Lady Danger in "The Case of the Conscientious Shoplifter" by Oksner and Bernard Sachs; Willy Nilly by Frank Harry; Wonder Women of History featuring "Kathleen Blake Coleman" by Paul Reinman; the Atom in "The Undersea Raiders" by Jon Kozlak and Joe Giella; the text story "Year In, Year Out" by Ted Udall; and Wildcat in "The Heavyweight Robberies"!
Join me next time for another installment of "Cover Stories," when the theme will be "What Were They Thinking?" (and what was I thinking, forgetting to update this line in some previous columns?), and in the meantime, you can check out my blog at http://waffyjon.blogspot.com for other musings and ramblings by me, or email me with comments about this column at !
Anything Goes Trivia
