When Enemies Become Friends!

So, in the summer of 1941, many in America considered the Soviet Union an enemy on a par with, or even greater than, the Nazis.

Thus, this ad for forthcoming Young Allies #1, as printed in The Human Torch 5(a) (1941):

[NOTE 1: Yes, I said Human Torch 5(a). Somehow, Timely skipped straight from issue #2 to issue #4, and then followed that with two separate issues each numbered #5. This first of those #5s, actually the fourth issue published, is usually denoted as 5(a)]

[NOTE 2: I blacked out part of that ad, as it contained an insanely offensive racial stereotype, and did the same below. If you really need to know, you can go look at the unredacted version on Marvel Unlimited.]

So, yeah, the cover portrays Joe Stalin as one of the bad guys, on the same footing as the Axis leaders (and the Red Skull!). And that wasn't a crazy attitude, either--the USSR did take part in the invasion of Poland, and had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, allowing them to run roughshod over the rest of Europe.

Except, of course, Hitler reneged on that agreement, launching an invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.  So suddenly, we were on the same side as Stalin.

Well, Human Torch #5(a) hit the streets on July 11th. Presumably, either no one thought to double-check the ad, or there wasn't time to redo it.

But there was time to redraw the actual cover, because when Young Allies #1 hit the stands that same week:

Hey, no more Stalin! (And a much better cover, even though Jack Kirby must have had to whip it off extremely quickly!)

Since Young Allies was a quarterly, and would be on newsstands for a while, it made sense to keep advertising it. So when USA Comics #2 hit the stands in August, Timely was still advertising it--but now with the new, Stalin-free cover!

So, quick turnaround there.

Of course, Timely always was hyper-aware of the situation in Europe, compared to other comic companies, so it figures they'd be able to pull the big switcharoo and save Stalin's dignity.

For the record, I didn't notice this on my own--it was pointed out in the back matter of Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Ypung Allies Volume 1 (2009). So a hat tip to whomever put it together, presumably editor Cory Sedlmeier.

Tales From The Quarter Bin--His Dog Isn't Named "Tyke"??!!??

You learn something new every day, and most days that teacher is the Quarter Bin.

Buster Brown was a comic strip created by Richard Outcault in 1902. It proved pretty popular, and Buster went on to star in movies, Broadway shows, radio, and television.

Buster was a pampered rich boy with a talking dog, who was always getting into trouble.

Just to prove that quickly selling out isn't a new phenomenon, by 1904 Outcault had licensed off Buster to more than 200 different companies for various types of merchandise.

Most significantly--and probably the only reason someone in 2018 would remember the character--the Brown Shoe Company made Buster Brown their official "mascot."

The Buster Brown logo was stamped inside of every shoe, and they made that a big advertising focus.

Now, in the days of my youth, it seemed as if the airwaves were inundated with Buster Brown Shoe commercials. And the jingle I remember best is:

He's Buster Brown
He lives in a shoe
Here's his dog Tyke
He lives in there, too!

At least, that's what I thought it was.

See, I had never read a Buster Brown strip, or seen him in any other media, as that aspect of his popularity had pretty much faded away by then. But I heard them damned jingle 10,000 times on radio and TV. And I would have sworn to you on a stack of Fantastic Fours that the dog's name was "Tyke."

Until I found this in the Quarter Bin this week:

"Tige"? Who the hell names a dog Tige? You mean I've been wrong for the past 40+ years?!?!?!

By the way, that's a real shoe store, there, and it still exists (although they've rebuilt the street a couple of times over the decades, and so it has a new street address, and now a couple of other locations). Brown Shoes would commission comics, print them up, and stamp the name of affiliates on the front.

Of course the book is chock full of advertising...

The inside was competent but forgettable comic antics. In this case, Buster and Tyke Tige wandering around a fictional and heavily-stereotyped Arab county. Still, this bit made me laugh, as a con man and his servant try to out-scheme each other for possession of a flying carpet:

"Hey, your shoe's untied" jokes are always funny.

Anyway, now that my childhood has been destroyed by learning that the dog's name was Tige, I should point out that Buster's girlfriend was named Mary Jane, and now there's nothing in the world I would love to see more than an olde tyme comic strippe with Mary Jane telling the dog, "Face it, Tige, you just hit the jackpot!"

This is why I'm not allowed to write 1900-era comic strips.

My Dog Tige is from 1957

Judgement Day!

Hey, kids--

Erector sets are great fun!!

Why, you can make--

Giant Ferris Wheels!!

Amazing airplane rides!!

And, of course...

YOU CAN UNLEASH SKYNET TO DESTROY US ALL, FOOLS!!

Now, I know what you're thinking...that was 1948, when we were naive about the machine threat. We would never have erector sets with giant robots that could take over.

Wrong.

 Ahhhhhhh!!!!

The worst part?

THEY WILL STEAL OUR WOMEN!!

From Black Terror #25 (1948)

Buy Cracky, By Cracky!

I don't want to scare you...

...but a rock & roll parrot wants to sing to you.

I can't read music, so I'll presume that's an amazing rock tune there...

Cracky was sorta kinda the mascot for Gold Key Comics, presenting their joke pages and "educational" features, and eventually they spun him off to host...

But, like all the parrots who tried to hop onto the mod, mad world of rock 'n' roll, Cracky eventually grew up, and narrowed his focus:

You'd think that if you wanted to sell a magazine of jokes, you'd present an actual joke in your ad, or, you know, make it funny. But maybe that's just me...

Ads from Star Trek #2 (1968) & #10 (1971)

Manic Labor Day Bonus--The Computer Of Your Dreams!!

 Yes! Yes!! YES!!!

Whoa! Somebody pinch me!! 1 Mb of RAM?? How is that possible?!?!

And a 20 Mb hard disk?? 20 Mb?!?! What is this, some science fiction utopia!!

Man, some days I just want to jaunt back in time a couple of decades with a smart phone and a laptop and watch people's brains explode...

From 2000 AD #786 (1992)

Why Your Parents And Grandparents Won't Have Any Estate To Leave To You!!

Did you ever look at those old Warren horror magazines?Where the last 25+ pages of each issue were solid advertising?

I mean, who could resist this? We weren't made of stone, you know!

And that was before The Empire Strikes Back!!

Close Encounters got some love, too...

And the non-neck-breaking version of Superman was there to suck away our money, too!

Is it any wonder nothing is left for your inheritances?!?

From Eerie #100 (1979)

Great Moments In Inventions That Never Caught On!

Sorry, Perry Safety Wheel Corp...

...but I guess the world wasn't ready for this in 1963.

I do like the implication that somehow this would make you look cool in the neighborhood...

Yes, I know that these "steering wheels for bicycles" still exist--you can find plenty of pictures in a Google image search. And I'm sure they work perfectly well, and have saved gosh-knows how many folks from being "poked" by handlebars. But I've never seen one in the wild. And until you get someone to put these on motorcycles, you'll never convince most people that it's "cool."

What's next, roller skates for Iron Man's armor?

From Fantastic Four #10 (1963)

Madbomb T-Shirts?!?

This ad appeared in some of this week's Marvel books:

Hey, I'm all about using covers from Kirby's mid-70s Marvel work as the basis for T-shirts.

But Black Panther #2? Not one I would have chosen.

How about...

If that were on a T-Shirt, I would wear it every day for the rest of my life. I'm not kidding.

Other, better choices than Black Panther #2 (your mileage may vary):

OK, I know 2001 is unlikely, for licencing reasons, but I still have to throw these out there for consideration.

So, there's a lot of good candidates for T-shirts based on Kirby's mid-70s Marvel work, is all I'm saying.