Peerless Power of Comics!

As summer winds down, my thoughts often drift to childhood, circa the mid-late 1960's, specifically July and August, when school was a distant memory and a walk to the neighborhood candy store offered the additional anticipation of purchasing a big, fat Annual. Marvel produced its share of truly SPECIAL Annuals in that period, which not only featured exciting, longer stories, but a variety of special features. Creators included Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Gene Colan, Dick Ayers, Larry Lieber, John Romita, Roy Thomas, John Buscema and Don Heck, who often did their best to provide fans with a roller coaster ride, all at the cost of twenty five cents. The BIG Millie the Model Annual # 1 had the distinction of being the first of two titles to receive a summer edition, the other being Strange Tales Annual # 1, reprinting Jack Kirby drawn monster tales. Both Annual debuted in June, 1962. Stan Goldberg cover art and coloring. Artie Simek lettering.      While the superhero titles w

As noted in my previous post, by the mid-1960's Marvel's "Girl Line" was dwindling down. Patsy Walker, who originated in 1944 and received her own title in 1945, had a healthy twenty year run, ending with issue # 125, Dec 1965. Her spin-off title, Patsy and Hedy , appeared in late 1951 and ended in late 1966. A single Annual appeared in 1963. With the cancellation of Modeling with Millie in 1967   (which began as Life with Millie in 1950), only Millie the Model  remained, but the era of soap opera dramatics concluded when the title reverted back to humor in the Archie mold.          Patsy and Hedy's final issue. The "Gals on the Go-Go" have nowhere to go. Al Hartley pencils ?: Frank Giacoia inks, Sam Rosen letters. Patsy and Hedy # 110, Feb 1967 This issue included a change of format, one inspired by the many teen magazines such as 16 . The decision was likely made before the title was cancelled. The cover promotes a new column, and features head shots

One area of comic’s research that is lacking are credits on Marvel’s Soap Opera and humor line of the 1960's and early 1970's. There are many gaps on titles such as  Millie the Model, Modeling with Millie, Patsy Walker, Patsy and Hedy, Chili   and others. While Stan Lee began providing a credit box on the splash pages of his superhero and westerns they included the inker and letterer along with the writer and artist (beginning with Fantastic Four # 9, December 1962). Lee continued the policy of ‘signatures” in the romance and humor strips, so they often remained with the credit reading   “ by Stan Lee and Stan G.” (Goldberg), or “by Stan Lee and Al Hartley”. The role of the inker (and letterer) was often left out, and it is assumed by many that Goldberg and Hartley inked their own work. This is often not the case, particularly with Stan Goldberg. In his interview with Jim Amash in Alter Ego # 18, Oct 2002, Goldberg explained: “George (Klein) inked some of my work, as did Fran