Twinkle, The Star That Came Down From Heaven

In the mid-1960s, when I was in elementary school, I had a subscription to HUMPTY DUMPTY MAGAZINE. A very weird comic strip therein was titled "Twinkle, The Star That Came Down From Heaven." (Seen above, drawn by Jerry Smath, and courtesy of the Flickr stream of Glen Mullaly.) Even as a kid, I knew it was strange. A living, sentient star who manifested on Earth in a bipolar costume and kept his face-equipped iconic star head? And did he come from the celestial heaven or the Christian Heaven? Far out!

Little did I know until recently that "Twink" had earlier adventures in the 1940s, in the pages of CALLING ALL KIDS, that were even more bizarre in their fashion. Unfortunately, no information remains about the writer and/or artist who was crazed enough to invent Twinkle.



You can read several issues here.

This issue appears to be Twink's origin story.

I love those giant railroad engineer/welder's gloves he wears in his 1940s incarnation.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 15, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Freaks, Oddities, Quirks of Nature, Comics, Children, 1940s, 1960s

One Atom Bomb Can Ruin Your Whole Day

Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 13, 2013 - Comments (8)
Category: Comics, Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, 1950s

Most Unfortunate Clown Motto Ever

More info here.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 09, 2013 - Comments (2)
Category: Clowns, Sexuality, Comics, 1950s

Zippy & Me

Yesterday, Saturday April 6, I was privileged to interview Bill Griffith, longtime weirdo and creator of Zippy the Pinhead (along with so many other great comics) at the MOCCA Fest in NYC. Here's Bill at the Fantagraphics table at MOCCA, showing off the newest Zippy collection, now available thru the link at the sidebar here.

And here we are onstage. (Photo by Phil Merkel.)

Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 07, 2013 - Comments (8)
Category: Conventions, Cult Figures and Artifacts, Comics, Surrealism, Books

Cracker Jack Jingle Beanie

[Click to enlarge]

Imagine any kid enthusiastically wearing such a hat today.....

Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 03, 2013 - Comments (9)
Category: Comics, Children, Headgear, 1950s

Miss Curity Coloring Book

Click on each page to expand.

1) Yes, that's a fishhook in the lad's finger. How it was extracted before application of bandaid is not known.

2) Do NOT invite Miss Curity to your party--she's a jinx!

3) Why are they peeing into the lemonade?

Please color within the lines!

Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 27, 2013 - Comments (9)
Category: Art, Comics, Injuries, Advertising, 1950s

Lena the Hyena:  (Anti-) Beauty Contest Winner

Most fans of comics, or Mad magazine, or pop culture in general know about Basil Wolverton and his famous creation, Lena the Hyena. (I put one of Wolverton's great recent books in the sidebar a little while ago.)

But did you know that Lena was the result of a contest sponsored by Al Capp for his Li'l Abner newspaper strip? She took the prize from several other contenders for ugliness.

See who she beat out here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 18, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Comics, 1940s

Westphal’s Auxiliator

[Click text to enlarge]

Here's an old-timey hair tonic with a weird name. The strange noun just means "helper."

Composed of "55% grain alcohol," it went down many an alcoholic's gullet, I'm sure.

Believe it or not, the tonic was mentioned in a SIMPSONS comicbook. If you look at their ad below, you'll see why. The mutant female user resembles the famed Springfield three-eyed fish.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 22, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Elderly and Seniors, Comics, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, Nineteenth Century, Hair and Hairstyling

Alfred, Meet Jimmy

Recent scholarship has traced the roots of Mad magazine's Alfred E. Newman back to the nineteenth century. But I don't believe anyone has ever before noted his resemblance to this animated version of Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen, as seen in the 1942 Superman cartoon "Showdown," embedded above.



How fitting that today both Jimmy and Alfred are owned by the same company, Warner Bros.!

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 14, 2013 - Comments (7)
Category: Humor, Magazines, Twins, Lookalikes & Doppelgangers, Comics, 1940s, Nineteenth Century

Most Disturbing Cartoon Lion Ever

[Click to enlarge]



Source of image in Amazon link.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 20, 2012 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Comics, 1950s