The He-Man Effect: How American Toy Makers Sold Your Childhood

Box Brown explores how corporations have manipulated our fandoms in this 2023 non-fiction graphic novel. While Brown explores the affects of propaganda on the American populace during the two World Wars, his focus is on toys because many of those psychiatrists who used science to ideally heighten pro-American sentiments ended up being hired by advertising agencies after the conflicts. In between the first World War and the attack on Pearl Harbor, women were the primary targets of those advertisers. However, with the baby boom after the fall of Japan, companies were made aware of a brand new untapped market: children.

It turns out that our tiny undeveloped brains cannot tell the difference between the fictions of a TV show and the commercials that fill in gap time. So when a kid sees Superman telling kids that Wheaties is the only cereal for him to eat, they believe that in order to be just like the Man of Steel, the kiddies need to eat Wheaties too! This blending of the two types of media got so bad that restrictions were made by the FCC, thanks to a bunch of angry moms, that prohibited children's programming from being essentially a 30 minute commercial for products. There were a few exceptions like Sesame Street, which was considered educational for children and being on public television, never ran commercials. It's also why during the 60s and 70s, that TV shows like Laugh-In, which was clearly for more mature audiences could appeal to children on lunch boxes and trading cards. It wasn't considered kids programming, so those shows could license out products meant for kids. It also explains why the 1970s was the best decade for cartoons.

This all changed in November, 1980. Ronald Reagan became President and he appointed those to head the FCC who opposed the restrictions on advertising to children during the Saturday morning cartoons and after school programming. Mattel was about to launch a new toy line that promised to rival Kenner's Star Wars behemoth, Its main character was called He-Man. However, capturing the imagination of the youngsters who would demand mom and dad buy it for them would be no easy feat without able word of mouth and frequency on the airwaves. With FCC deregulation of kids programming, Mattel was able to produce an animated series that would essentially be a 22-minute commercial for the Masters of the Universe toyline. 

Thanks to the series produced by Filmation, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe became a cultural touchstone for children in the mid-1980s. I should know, I was on of those kindergartners who started to drop their Star Wars figures and instead pickup a He-Man and a Skeletor figure. I still love the original He-Man series. I've bought massive omnibuses containing the entire run of mini comics inserted with each action figure. I also have a book devoted to the seldom seen newspaper strips. I'm currently on the hunt for the comics produced by Marvel imprint, Star Comics, without going bankrupt doing so. 

While my love for He-Man hasn't diminished reading this historical account of pop culture in the 20th century, I am chagrined to see how much I have been manipulated by Mattel, Kenner, Hasbro and the likes. Eternia's Prince Adam doesn't say 'By the power of Gray Skull. I have the power.' to become He-Man, though it helps. That was an ear worm planted by toy designers to trigger something in our little pea brains to want to consume more Masters of the Universe merch! The same goes with 'Yo, Joe!', 'Thundercats, Ho!' and so many other catch phrases of my childhood.

I'm almost mad at Box Brown. I've enjoyed a lot of his previous works. But with The He-Man Effect, I feel like he exposed the man behind the curtain. There was just a little too much of Adam Ruins Everything that destroyed some of the magic of my youth. The book does explain very well why we get upset when our favorite childhood franchises are rebooted or made 'woke' with diverse casting changes or switching genders of characters. But what I'm most upset about is that these toy lines and animated series that were bright spots to a childhood fraught with bullying and abuse, weren't there to make me happy and secure. They were created to make people rich. Thanks to Box Brown, the truth about my childhood heroes is that they weren't there to protect me. They just wanted my money.

Worth Consuming, but man does it hurt.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Spy Vs. Spy 2: The Cloak and Dagger Files

Black Spy vs White Spy. Are they birds? I've always wondered if they were birds because of the beak-like noses. 

I couldn't tell you where I got this 2007 collection of later Spy vs Spy strips. My guess would be Ollie's. But I'm not sure. The strip of two similar looking secret agents trying to steal the secret plans of the other while attacking them with booby traps was originally created by Cuban political cartoonist, Antonio Prohias. An earlier volume paid tribute to Phobias time at MAD Magazine. This book would feature the numerous artists and writers who were tasked with filling the Spy vs Spy creator's shoes.

I knew that this book was a volume 2. I didn't know that it was not going to have any of the original Prohias works in it. But I'm not too upset as he had retired from MAD before I started reading the magazine as a kid. There were several articles in the book including a section by current Spy vs Spy artist, Peter Kuper, whose use of stencil and spray paint have given the series an industrial artistic look. His section explains his creative process. How Mountain Dew came to do a series of live action Spy vs Spy commercials and how Spy vs Spy became a video game are other interesting features. But I think it's a forgotten piece of Spy vs Spy history that was most interesting: a newspaper comic strip.

For only 39 weeks in 2002, newspapers across the country ran a Sunday funnies strip involving White Spy and Black Spy trying to outdo each other. The pantomime strip was novel in that it looked just like you'd see in the pages of MAD, except in a paneled format like a strip. However, with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan occurring at the same time, it was felt that such a strip like Spy vs Spy seeing one or both of the characters blowing up and maiming the other, that it was the wrong time for such antics in cartoon form and the strip was quickly cancelled.

One area of Spy vs Spy history that I didn't see in the book was the animated shorts seen on Fox's MAD TV. Maybe they were included in the first volume. But with this being a chronological account of life after Prohias, it's absence seems strange.

Also, can someone explain to me why the occasionally appearing Grey Spy, a voluptuous blonde in a grey dress never gets her comeuppance? If she appears, she always gets the best of the two spies. They never manage to get her. Just like how Wile E. Coyote can never capture the Road Runner!

This was an okay book. The articles were needed as there's almost no words in the strips. Plus, this is not a book for folks who need reading glasses. To include as many strips as possible, a bunch are shrunken by at least half and with needing to pay attention to detail, the smaller size can give you blurry eyes at best or as with me occasionally, a migraine.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Legend of the Swamp Thing Halloween Spectacular #1

My last read for Halloween 2024. It's a Swamp Thing special from 2020 built on a unique premise. 6 terrifying tales starring various Guardians of the Green throughout history. You thought Alec Holland was the only human to become the creature known as the Swamp Thing? Think again!

This anthology begins with Holland's Swamp Thing rescuing a missing child from the Great Abysmal Swamp. Afterwards, he begins to reflect on his past lives throughout history, including an encounter with the armies of Julius Caesar in Brittany and witnessing a group of Spanish explorers become trapped on an island of living rage. That one was the best story, by the way. Things wrap up with a glimpse at a future incarnation of the Avatar of the Green.

Though touted as a Halloween special, none of the stories were set at Halloween. But all 6 did have elements of fear. Did I feel gypped by the erroneous title despite pay for the full cover price? No, not really. Maybe it's because I had long lost this book in my massive pile of books needing to be added to my collection and the feel of wasted money over a Halloween comic that really wasn't has passed. Or maybe it's because this book was so darn good. 

Great stories. Very good art. A reboot of a legend that I hope I can live long enough to experience when the future Swamp Thing's time finally arrives.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Hearing Things (Family Comic Friday)

Tim and his sister are new in town. Tim likes to record interesting sounds he's encountered during his daily walks and incorporate them into his sister's music which is inspired by horror movies. However his sister is feeling uninspired and depressed. Martha has had trouble making friends since their move and is considering quitting music altogether.

Tim, joined by his cat, Frankie, decides to explore a creepy abandoned house in hopes of capturing some spooky sound effects that will bring Martha out of her depression. Yet when Tim and Frankie climb over the estate's stone fence they discover that the entire area is devoid of sound. How can Tim prevent his sister from quitting music, which is her passion, if he cannot record any scary sounds?

Hearing Things was an awesome read by newcomer Ben Spears. I thought it would be a quaint little read for the month of October. I wasn't aware of how explosive a read it was going to be. Tim's cat Frankie steals the show. Such a funny character with so much life and energy. I couldn't stop marveling at Frankie.

Not to ruin the surprise, but this book ends up being a ghost story with charm and decorum. The pair of spooks might look a little scary. But they're harmless. In fact, one of them gets startled by Frankie.

I hope this isn't the last we see of Tim and Frankie. I probably would be okay without a return of the ghosts, though they were great characters as well. I just think it would be wrong to never get more of the pantomimes of Frankie the Cat or another recording session of sounds with Tim. 

This 2024 book is part of the Toon Books series edited by Francoise Mouly. I've been a fan of these books which introduce readers to dynamic new creators as well as translated readers from across the globe that would have been ignored by American readers without the efforts of Mouly. 

Spooky. Charming. Funny. A read that might produce a few chills but has a heartwarming ending as well as some unforgettable characters. Hearing Things is a book perfect for this time of year and is sure to become an annual classic.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.