Marvel Comics Mini-Books Collectible Box-Set

This deluxe box set collects over-sized facsimiles of the 6 Marvel mini-books kids could get out of bubblegum machines way back in 1966. The original mini-books were barely the size of a postage stamp and yet they were each 48-pages in length!

The stars of the 6 minis were Sgt. Nick Fury, The Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, Millie the Model, The Mighty Thor and The Incredible Hulk. (Note that the order in which I listed these characters is also the rating I give of the 6 books from best to worst). Licensed by anow defunct tiny novelty company based in Chicago, Il., not a lot is known about the production of these little reads. Mark Evanier (Garfield: TV or Not TV?) does a very good job of recording what he knows in the 7th book in this collection, Marvel Comic Mini-Books: A Mini-History. 

Evanier makes a very good point that many of the artists and writers who might have been behind this project have passed away. Evanier was able to determine that Marie Severin (Not Brand Ecch) was behind the Sgt. Nick Fury story. I also think the Thor and Hulk stories were drawn by her. Mark Evanier also reveals that Denny O'Neil was the writer of the Captain America book.

The main problem I had with Mark Evanier's book is something that probably wasn't even his fault. The history book contains reprints of the 6 books in their original size form. If you read that book first, it spoils the reading of the 6 books, which were what you paid hard earned money for. So if you ever get your hands on this beautiful set, read the supplemental book LAST!

This was a product of its time. Marvel was way behind DC in terms of marketing its big name faces. One might wonder why Millie the Model got included in this set. In 1966, Millie starred in no less than 3 monthly titles. Plus, having a book starring a female character was a smart way to ensure that it wasn't just the boys who spent their allowances on a chance to snag one of these treasures.

While the books themselves are looked at as collector items, not every book is a classic. The Hulk book doubles as a goofy joke book. Plus, the Mean Green Machine talks more like when he's the intellectual Grey Hulk than his regular speak in monosyllable when verde. The Thor book was pretty good. It just had some rather odd looking artwork, the ending was silly and the God of Thunder is really more of a minor character than the star. The Millie book started off with a rather clever story. But the second half devolves into an outdated list of beauty tip cliches.

I thought Nick Fury's story was fantastic. It was a clever mystery tale about the Howling Commandos attempting to rescue a missing general somewhere in Nazi occupied France. Captain America's story is a spy thriller comprised of some goofy named fiends. But full of action. The Spider-Man story was silly. But then 1960s Spidey was pretty silly himself. Plus that story guest-stars a certain caped character from the Distinguished Competition. 

I really didn't know the hardback versions of these books existed. I knew of the minis from '66. But I'm not willing to pay $30 for such a tiny book. (Heck, I'm not willing to pay $30 on a regular comic unless I determine it to be an amazing deal!) But I found the whole set at a book store used for only $15. That deal was a freakin' steal!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Mini Books: Sgt. Nick Fury (2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Imagine it's the spring of 1966. You're with mom at the local grocery mart and you run across a spinner rack full of comic books. Mom's not willing to pay 12 cents for the latest adventures of the Fantastic Four or Iron Man, so you continue with the shopping trip. You're a bit miffed but you move on...

After mom checks out, you exit the store, coming across the vending machines. Glistening in chrome and cherry red paint, there's an assortment of gumballs, jawbreakers, and fake mood rings ranging in price from a nickel to a quarter. And there you see it! A mini-Marvel comic book starring your favorite characters for only 10 cents! Spider-Man! The Hulk! Thor! Captain America! Sgt. Nick Fury! Even Millie the Model! Marvel Comics is the hot thing right now and you've got to have it!

Feeling a little bad that she said no to that comic book you weren't allowed to purchase, mom digs into her purse and hands you a dime. You place the coin into the slot and eagerly twist the dial. As the trinkets rumble inside the machine, your mind races in speculation as to which book you will get. Then the tumbling stops and the tiny 'egg' rolls down into your hands. At this point, you'll take the Millie book. You just want the bragging rights to being the first kid on your block to have one of these Marvel minis. And then the prize falls into your hands and you discover that you got... a whistle!!!

Chicago, Illinois' Creative House Promotions, INC. was behind the sale of these mini comics. The 6 books were less than the size of the average postage stamp and had 48 pages of story and art. There's a great debate over whether these books are in fact the World's Smallest Comic Books since the format of the stories are more like picture books than works of sequential art. 

Fans can also argue that the Marvel Mini Books were the first comics to have variant covers. Each mini came in 6 differing covers- orange, green, red, yellow, blue & lime- but the interiors were always the same. There are some error covers floating around with patterns of dots and strange lines on the front. However, they don't seem to be any more or less valuable than the solid color covers. 

The Marvel Mini Books were held together along the left side spine with a rubber glue similar to what holds together memo pads. The tiny size of the books made it impossible to read these rather thick books without damaging the spine and causing pages to fall out. Thus, a Marvel Mini Book in flawless condition is considered a grail find while the discovery of such a book held together by clear scotch tape would be gladly accepted by many a collector.

Just who wrote and illustrated these books is a bit of a mini mystery. Marie Severin (Not Brand Echh) was known to have illustrated a couple of these including the Sgt. Nick Fury book which was regularly drawn by Marie's big brother, John Severin. Writer Mark Evanier in the book Marvel Comic Mini-Books: A Mini-History got a confession out of Denny O'Neil (Batman) as being the writer of the Captain America tale. But as for the other 5 books, former Marvel EIC Roy Thomas confides that neither Stan Lee nor himself wrote any of the minis. 

Though C.H.P. would advertise all 6 Marvel titles as being available for only a dime, kids had to sift through other assorted junk like rings, plastic toy animals and even other mini books. In 1965, C.H.P. produced a line of 6 mini books devoted to jokes. Monster Laffs, Silly Willies and Wise Qwaks were just a few of the joke books that became filler in the Marvel Minis vending machines. A 'Stan's Soapbox' issued in all of the April, 1966 Marvel titles proclaimed that an astounding 10 million mini books were produced. C.H.P. apparently had a lot left over because by 1967, Marvel's fan club, The Merry Marvel Marching Society, started giving the minis away as part of their membership kits. Later, some discount stores started selling cake decorations with both the Marvel minis and the joke books affixed with glue.

The Sgt. Nick Fury book is essentially 2 stories in one. The first half of the book titled 'The Mirror Image' was about Nick's role with the Allied Forces during World War II. The second half of this book has Fury's Howling Commandos going behind enemy lines to rescue a general being held as a prisoner of war. 

For a veteran collector to enjoy these books, a magnifying glass is needed. The print is small and smudgy. C.H.P.'s quality was questionable and yet this is what you'd expect for only 10 cents. As for why Millie the Model was a part of this series, one has to remember that in 1966, Marvel was producing no less than 3 books starring Millie. Plus, to include the chance to win a Millie mini was a smart way to attract girl customers to spending their money on these books. 

A rare book that one should expect to pay a lot of money for if you weren't lucky enough to get out of the vending machine way back in 1966. As for the whistle you won, the only value it has is sentimental. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #2 (Comic from the Silver Age (1956-1970)) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Batman #181 Facsimile Edition

There's a new criminal queen on the Gotham City scene. Her name is Poison Ivy and she uses a mix of botanical knowledge and chemistry to put others under her command. But in order to become the most feared femme fatale of them all, Ivy must eliminate Interpol's top 3 most dangerous female criminals. In order to do that, Poison Ivy plans to use the Caped Crusader whose fallen under the villainess's spell with her bedeviled kiss!

In the second feature, the members of the Gotham City Detective's Club must protect a mystery novelist who has been marked for death when the clock strikes 10pm! While the majority of the club members seek to provide protection for writer, Batman will do the dirty work by doing what he does best: sleuthing and maybe knocking around a few heads!

I was really excited when I heard that DC was releasing this facsimile edition of the first appearance of Poison Ivy. Of most of Batman's most deadly and famed foes, Poison Ivy is perhaps the only one whose first appearance of which I am not familiar with. 

When the character appeared in Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin, I was disappointed on how much of a romantic wedge she was between the dynamic duo. I guess I must forgive Schumacher a little bit as this debut has Poison Ivy toying with Batman's heart strings while Robin struggles to detoxify Batman from Ivy's lipstick.

While I understand that 1960s comics often played the romance angle quite a bit between the heroes and their opposite sex foes, I really thought that Poison Ivy was immune to such outdated tropes. Man- was I wrong!

I really enjoyed the second story. Last year's Batman: The Brave and the Bold/Scooby-Doo movie had a version of the mystery club. It's neat to see one of that awesome film's inspirations for the first time. 

I also loved the 1966 vintage ads. I really loved those. Some were so timeless looking, especially the Bullwinkle ad. It looked more like some I would have seen in a 1980s comics not a reprint from the mid-60s. The advertising art and print quality was that prestine! There's also letters from the editor and a full run-down of other DC titles released during this time period.

DC has plans for more facsimile edition books. As much as I love seeing the vintage extras and secondary adventures, the publisher is going to have to offer books that I don't have in my collection. I've got so many reprint collections of classic DC material, the odds that I have a version of the work in question are often in my favor.  I got lucky this time around! We'll just have to see what else the House that Superman built has in store for this run of reprints!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

A Classic TV Chirstmas: Advent 2017 Day 8

For today's look at Classic TV Christmases, we're going into outer space to celebrate. Here we'll partake of the holidays on the Starship Enterprise. 

Look, I am going to admit, I fudged on this on. The episode of Star Trek I am examining today isn't a Christmas episode. But it does take place during Christmas! Honestly, there's never been a Christmas themed episode. So, humor me for a bit...

The episode is titled 'Dagger of the Mind.' It aired on NBC on November 6, 1966. The episode starts with Captain Kirk having just exited a Christmas party as the Enterprise is en route to a penal colony. They are to make a delivery of supplies and picked up others for another penal colony. It's revealed that an escape prisoner is inside the crate so Kirk and his crew investigate only to learn that the inmates have taken over the asylum!

That's pretty much it for Christmas. Oh, yeah- Kirk's love interest in this episode is named Dr. Helen Noel. I'm wondering if this was Kirk's first Noel... Sorry, very crude joke that had to be made. 

Other than this episode, Christmas is never really mentioned again in the Star Trek universe until nearly 40 years later when in the Next Generation episode Devil's Due, Picard helps Data practice the role of Scrooge at the beginning of an episode. Then there's a dream sequence in the Star Trek Generations crossover that involves Christmas. Plus, in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, Q turns the ship into a Christmas ornament (talk about product placement.) Again none of these are Christmas episodes. The holiday just happens to be a bit player.

The closest Trek fans have ever gotten to a bonafide Christmas anything involving Star Trek is issue #2 of the Star Trek: The Next Generation miniseries from DC Comics, 1988. There Picard and the crew of the Enterprise D battle a race of Grinch-like creatures that want to destroy Christmas.

However, this series was so badly planned out that many fans don't even acknowledge it's existence! This is what happens when you try to rush out promotional tie-in materials but don't do your research!

So with all that in mind- there's not much Christmas in Star Trek. So my Advent gift to you is three-fold. First is a video showing all of the so-called Christmas references in the original Star Trek. Then, I gift you with a couple of commercials from the 90s advertising the new Star Trek ornaments at Hallmark. These star actual actors from the Next Generation and are pretty darn clever bits of advertising. 
So enjoy and until next time- Merry Christmas!

Treasure Chest (of fun & fact) Volume 22, #7 [December 1, 1966]

  Every week, When I was in elementary school, it was a  treat when the teacher passed out our copy of Weekly Reader. It was a varying age appropriate booklet about 4 or 8 pages long filled with news, facts, activities, and cartoons. Usually, there was a giveaway or some other project you could take home and complete with mom and dad. February of 2012 was a period of some sadness when the publication was bought out by Scholastic and publication ended in favor of a cheaper (digital) method.

   So why all the talk about Weekly Reader if the comic book I am reviewing is called Treasure Chest (of fun & fact)? It so turns out that this rare gem that I unearthed at one of my all-time favorite used bookstores was the Catholic version of the Weekly Reader. Published by Ohio's George A. Pflaum, Treasure Chest was given to students at parochial schools on a bi-weekly basis from 1946-1972. 

    In this issue of Treasure Chest, students would've learned about the weather balloon experiments of the Piccard Brothers, solved brainteasers using toothpicks, watch a young man fly a plane when his flying instructor has a sudden heart attack, better understand the rules of scoring in bowling, and much more. With assorted gags, riddles, and fun facts; this comic might not seem like much but for 1966 this was cool stuff.

    Treasure Chest was known to have employed comic book legends such as DC's Murphy Anderson, EC's Joe Orlando, and Graham Ingels, as well as Marvel's Joe Sinnott. This is pretty odd since, during the comics scare of the 1950s, community groups led by the Catholic church organized comic book burnings, many of which featured art by the aforementioned artists.

    Though this issue doesn't feature any work by those comic book legends, this comic is about as rare of some of their pivotal works. But if I have learned anything from the TV show Pawn Stars, rare doesn't mean valuable. This book's condition is pretty beaten up and I had to be ultra careful since the pages wanted to break away from the staples. But for an almost half-century old educational comic, it was still readable and didn't feature any pen or pencil marks on it. ( I would actually consider getting this book slabbed at a free grading event in the future to keep it better preserved.)

    An interesting look at American Catholic school life during the mid-1960s. If you are a fan of silver age books, comics aimed at children, or free publications from yesteryear, this is definitely something to look out for to add to not just a comic collection to your overall book collection as well.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.