BETTY AND VERONICA SPECTACULAR #138, June 1966 "Pay Dates Incorporated"

1966 was a great year! So much pop culture! The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" and the Beatles' "Revolver" albums debuted, as did TV shows like STAR TREK and BATMAN. Also, BETTY AND VERONICA SPECTACULAR #138, June 1966 (which is copyright Archie Publications) was on the comic book spinner racks.

This was a more innocent time and a story like "Pay Dates Incorporated" (see below) simply did not resonate the way that it does today. It all starts with a typical teen problem in these Archie books: how do I get some money to buy some cool stuff? 

Sidebar:

I was fortunate enough to hear the story of Archie from Joe Edwards himself. Joe was there, in the MLJ offices, with Bob Montana and John Goldwater, as they were hashing out ideas. Publisher Goldwater (whose first name was the "J" part of the "MLJ" publishing acronym) wanted a new comic book story, maybe something like the Andy Hardy series of movies. But what would it be? What do teenagers want? How do you appeal to them? 

He turned to the then-twenty year old Joseph Edwards. 

"Joe, you're a young guy. What do you want?" asked Goldwater. 

"Three things," said Joe, counting on his fingers. "Girls, of course -- money, so I can take girls out -- and a job, so I can make the money to take out the girls." 

Bob Montana created the initial look of Archie Andrews, Jughead and Betty Cooper for Pep Comics #22, December 1941. By the next year, Archie had his own title.

Okay, so let's go 25 years in the future from 1941 -- to BETTY AND VERONICA SPECTACULAR #138.

How do the girls make money?

The answer is peddling flesh. Yes. Really. In an Archie book. But, hey, it was approved by the Comics Code Authority, so it's alright. Read on!

The art is by the incomparable Harry Lucey. 

(EDIT: Probably not. This blog entry was originally titled "BETTY AND VERONICA SPECTACULAR #138, June 1966 "Pay Dates Incorporated" Art by Harry Lucey" but Rodrigo Baeza tweeted that it looked like Dan DeCarlo's art to him, and a friend of mine concurred that it didn't look like Lucey. Since I'm not sure, I'll keep the are credit off for now. Sorry about the mistake!)

-- Edited from a June 24, 2015 blog post.

Charlie Hebdo trial opens in Paris with most suspects dead or presumed dead

Via France24 English:

As France prepares to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks, the trial into the deadly assaults, which killed 12 people including prominent French cartoonists, opened in Paris Monday. Reporting from the courthouse, FRANCE 24’s Chris Moore explained that the trial is “a bit of a ghost trial” since most of the 24 suspects are dead or presumed dead in Iraq or Syria.

The Great Ham Caper

My wife, Stacy, wrote this poem way back in Christmas 2006. It's about us and our cats, Rufus and Sam.

Her poem was got some serious Web traffic, and it's been rerun annually since. Since we moved we have adopted a few more cats.

It's bittersweet now, since big red Rufus died on December 5, 2014. It was cancer and there was nothing we could have done. He had a wonderful life. He adored Stacy, who tamed him from a wild cat from the big city to a sweet, round, purring house cat. He had no idea he was on the Internet, of course.

For auld lang syne, here is the poem again, starring our two cats from Brooklyn, Rufus and Sam (Sam is alive and well and asking me for pats as I type this):

The Great Ham Caper
Words by Stacy Lynch
Pictures by Mike Lynch


’Twas the week before Christmas
When Rufus and Sam
Hatched a devious scheme
To make off with the ham!

The ham that would grace
The holiday table!
Roo was the brains.
Sam, wiry and able.



They devised a plan
Of Goldbergian proportions
With pulleys and weights
And kitty contortions.

And on Christmas day
They’d eat until stuffed
(The very idea
Made their tails slightly puffed!)

’Til then, they’d lay low,
Little angels to see.
But that made us suspicious –
Wouldn’t you be?




So we snooped and we sleuthed
And uncovered their caper -
“The Ham-Stealing Plan”
Diagrammed on a paper!

“No silly cat’s gonna
Steal my roast beast,”
Exclaimed Mike. “Just watch,
I’ll ruin their feast!”


So he countered their scheming
With mad plans all his own
And all I could do
Was inwardly groan!

Who’d win this contest
Of wits they were planning?
Would Mike, Roo or Sam -
Be last man or cat standing?



As Christmas day dawned
The four of us waited
For the ham to be served
With breaths that were bated.

But before the main course
Could even be plated
Their plans took a turn.
Some say it was fated...

What happened to stop them
So cold in their tracks?
Why, cat-nip and husb-nip
(in big canvas sacks)
Was all that it took
To stop their foul warring.
And they rolled and purred
And drooled on the flooring.And as long as I kept
My fingers and toes
Away from a hubby and two cats
In nip’s throes -
My own Christmas day
Turned out merry and calm;
The ham moist and succulent,
The champagne, a balm.

When they “awoke”,
hostilities abated,
We all ate some ham
And went to bed sated.

And such peace we wish
To you and to yours:
An end to fighting;
An end to wars.

Happy Holidays!

Mike and Stacy and Rufus and Sam


UPDATE: and, the "new" cats: Dexter and Fergus and my special studio cat Dropcloth (who just, sadly, suddenly passed away).

Happy Holidays, everyone.

It's time to be with family. So, this blog will be quiet for a time. I'll see you soon.

Pogo by Walt Kelly: "Deck Us All With Boston Charlie"

Christmastime Spirou Magazine Covers

Some lovely covers from the 1950s thru the 70s from Spirou Magazine (and one from the Tintin Journal).  Spirou has been, since 1938, a weekly Franco-Belgian comics magazine published by the Dupuis company. European comics goodness!

Oh, this one is from 2015:

Related:

Lambiek: About Spirou

TCJ: Behind the Blue: The Story of Peyo

History of Comics Class at the Institute of Art and Design at New England College

I've been teaching this class.

And here are a few pics from this Tuesday’s History of Comics class at the Institute of Art and Design at New England College. The last class! Sob! I got help from one of the students in getting a selfie. (Thank you, Rose!)

There are a couple of “happy” pics, and then I asked them to act like choosing to be a cartoonist was a big, shameful mistake. They hammed it up nicely, as you can see.

I had a good time creating the course for NEC, and then teaching the class this past semester. Really, my one fear would be that I wouldn't like the students. That was unfounded. These are some great kids. Lotsa talent, lotsa heart.

My thanks to Karen Hillson, Ph.D., Director, Liberal Arts Education, for hiring me. And a big thank you to Jim Salicrup and Brian Fies for speaking to the class. And an even bigger thanks to John Klossner for recommending I teach the class in the first place.

Happy pics:

The "Uh oh, I am making a big mistake with my life" photo:

They know more about aiming a camera for a selfie than I ever will.

Thank you, Rose. 

From the Dick Buchanan Files: All In Fun: Gag Cartoons 1949 - 1968

And now back to our regular programming ....

Here are some great gag cartoon picks by the great gag cartoon collector Dick Buchanan. He has dived into the great collection of gag cartoons housed in his Greenwich Village apartment to grab these unseen gems. As ever, thanks for sharing these and making us all laugh. Some of us sure need it. Take it away, Dick ....


---


ALL IN FUN
Gag Cartoons 1949 – 1968

Here is a selection of assorted cartoons, chosen from a pile of assorted cartoons found atop the Cartoon Clip File refrigerator. The cob-webs have been brushed aside and they have been carefully re-assorted. Now rescued from cartoon obscurity, they emerge for the amusement of one and all . . .



1. PHIL INTERLANDI. The Saturday Evening Post June 15, 1957.

 2. ERNEST MARQUEZ. Collier’s March 31, 1951.

3. DAVID HUFFINE. The Saturday Evening Post. September 27, 1958.

4. JOE BURESCH. Boys’ Life February, 1950.

 

5. JOHN RUGE. Look Magazine February 17, 1959.

6. SID GORDON. The Saturday Evening Post February 26, 1949.

7. MISCHA RICHTER. 1000 Jokes Magazine March – May, 1964.

8. CHARLES RODRIGUES. Cartoons & Gags February 8, 1962.

9. LEE LORENZ. The Saturday Evening Post June 21, 1968.

10. GEORGE SMITH. Collier’s March 24, 1951.

11. BORIS DRUCKER. Look Magazine August 11, 1964.

12. JEFF KEATE. 1000 Jokes Magazine December, 1955 – February, 1956.

13. JEFF MONAHAN. The Saturday Evening Post June 29, 1957.

14. NED HILTON. For Laughing Out Loud August – October, 1962.

15. VAHAN SHIRVANIAN. The Saturday Evening Post August 5, 1961.