Disneyland...

And Comic Books!

Earlier this month was our nation's day for honoring all of the Veterans that have served the country.

While digging out a photo of my dad and grandfather to add to that Veterans Day blog post, I also came across a 1959 photo of my family when we were chosen Navy Family Of The Month at the Base in Los Alamitos, (see top right photo), and awarded an all expense trip to Disneyland!

My dad, (Francis L Hamersky and pictured below), served in the US Navy for 21 years.

It was during this time that I was busy reading what my Aunt Marge and Uncle Howard McIntosh called 'funnybooks', and of course Disney Comics were part of that 'funnnybooks' reading experience!

My Aunt and Uncle were the ones that got me reading comics, (as told in a previous blog post).

Below is a photo of one of the BIG events on TV, and of course in my funnybooks reading!

The point to this blog post is this...

Christmas is coming soon, as we have all know by now, what with TV Commercials telling us so during Halloween of all things!

My suggestion for gift giving is age appropriate comics for the youngsters that you are giving gifts to, (can't start 'em off too early!), and comics, graphic novels, or trade paperbacks to older kids.

I for one remember being very pleased to receive bundles of comics for Christmas, and my birthday!

If you are reading this and don't know what to buy someone, just drop me an e-mail with the person's age, sex, and their known interests. Get them reading instead of complaining they're bored or glued to their TV or video game!

For those of you that are new to our blog today, we have an ongoing 'Comics Convention and Pop Culture Show' ourselves here at "Make It So Marketing Inc.", what with our daily blog posts and new listings of items for sale in our online store!

Thanks for reading this blog post today, and please join us again for more!

~ Michael

         

  

Martin Goodman's  

Little Company....

...was known by many names during the years. It was known as Timely Comics, Atlas Comics, and later as Marvel Comics! Yes, that Marvel Comics!

Martin actually had several different companies, as he was a magazine publisher, but it was the comic book titled  'Marvel Comics" #1, (pictured below), that was his first entry in the Comics World in 1939!

Martin was the Editor of this issue, and other contributors were names that would become well known in the industry: Bill Everett, Carl Burgos, Frank Paul, Paul Gustavson, Ben Thompson, Ray Gill, and Fred Schwab.

You'll notice a few names that aren't listed there, that I blog about quite a bit:  Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, and Stan Lee.

Joe and Jack came in later as a team, and Stan came on board soon after that.

Comic characters that are well known to this day from this first issue are: The Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch, (not the FF's Torch). There are other versions of the characters with the same name of Ka-Zar and The Angel. 

Martin had been born in 1908. He was a salesperson for a publisher, and then a joint owner in another publishing company, before starting his own magazine company in 1933. 

Martin contracted with newly formed comic book packager Funnies Inc in 1939 to supply pages for a test comic book, as Superman had started in 1938 in Action Comics, and everyone was trying to get into that new publishing field of superheroes!

Martin had two hits in his first comic, with Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch. In 1941 Captain America was added to his publishing empire and the 'Big Three'  of Subby, Torch & Cap enjoyed a good sales run until the end of WWII.

Even though the first comic was 'Marvel Comics', Martin's company was considered to be called 'Timely Comics'.

This name lasted until the end of the Golden Age of Comics circa 1949. 

In 1951 Martin started using the Atlas Globe Logo for his comics that were printed on the covers by his multiple companies, which caused those comics to be called 'Atlas Comics'.

'Atlas Comics' were big sellers in the HoRRoR and MoNSTer days of the 1950's until the Comic Code Authority (CCA) came into being, and made publishing such comics not viable.

By 1957, Atlas Comics had 'imploded', and Martin centered on his mens' magazines and other publications, leaving his now dwindled down comics publishing empire to his relative Stan Lee to handle on a day to day basis.

It wasn't until 1961 that Stan along with Jack Kirby kick started the 'Marvel Age of Comics' with the first issue of the Fantastic Four.

The newly re-named Marvel Comics Group added several more superheroes into their anthology books, with co-creators Steve Ditko, Don Heck, and others.

(continued next column below the photo's text...)

Stan Lee

At The White House!

Stan Lee was among the select few that were at the White House on Monday, November 17th, when he and a few others were awarded the National Medal of Arts.

The award  is billed as the highest bestowed by the U.S. government.

President Bush presented the awards to Stan Lee (comic book writer, producer), Olivia de Havilland (actress), Hank Jones (jazz pianist), and Robert B and Richard M Sherman (songwriters). 

The National Medal of Arts was established by the US Congress in 1984.

It is awarded by the President and managed by the National Endowment for the Arts, (NEA).

Award recipients are selected based on their contributions to the creation, growth, and support of the arts in the United States.

I am personally pleased that this award was presented to Stan Lee, who at the age of 85 has finally been seeing several of his co-creations from the 1960's finally hit the big screen after all these years.

Congrats Stan!

For those of you that are new to our blog, we have an ongoing 'Comic Con and Pop Culture Show' here at "Make It So Marketing Inc.", what with our daily blog posts and new listings of items for sale in our online store!

Thanks for reading this blog post today and please join us again for more!

~  Michael

Note: If you work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers!