BOB POWELL and MAJOR INAPAK, THE SPACE ACE!

Here's a little gem that many of you have seen before, but some of you have not, so...

In 1951, there was a 'chocolate flavored drink' called "INAPAK", and since comic books were all the rage with the kids back then, they decided to create a promotional 'giveaway' comic to sell their product. I'm not sure how but they managed to get comic book great Bob Powell to do it for them, and I can't say for sure whether or not Powell enjoyed drawing it or not, but it sure looks like he did! It's pretty damn cool for a free comic! - oh, yes, a word for the comic collector's out there...if you are looking to purchase a copy of this comic for your collection, don't be fooled into paying high prices! I actually saw this on Ebay going for $50 or more! Don't you do it! A few years back they found a whole warehouse FULL of these comics, so you can pick one up real cheap! But now you don't have to, just read it here and save the images! By the way, these scans are from my own personal comic, as usual. Nowadays it can also be found many places online as well.

As a special treat for you, I found some early panels that were not approved by INAPAK, and so they had to be changed (not the art, but the story). Here, take a look at some of these early panels before they were fixed.

Okay, just kidding! Those aren't real panels, just ones that I messed with...heh heh...

Here is the real comic, from cover to cover. Powell was skilled at drawing action, and, boy-o-boy, is there ever some action! So pour yourself a biiiiig ol' glass o' yummy INAPAK drink flavored goop, and enjoy the work of Mister Stanislav Robert Pawlowski, better known as Bob Powell. Oh, yeah, don't miss the inside cover where they compare INAPAK flavored drink to the atomic bomb...

(You may notice the front and back covers suffer from mild offsetting from sitting in stacks for so long, or perhaps just bad printing)

By the way, if anyone out there has ever drank this stuff, please let us know how you survived the experience...was it as dee-lish as Bob Powell says it is? Mmmm, I'm thirsty now!

GETTING A SWELLED HEAD - Bob Powell and Andre Le Blanc

Here's something to fill the time while I wait for my guest, comic book psycho-analyst Dr. Wertham P. Fredrics, to wake from his nap. Apparently he had a busy day and needed to lie down for a while (he did kind of smell like he fell in a vat of Kahlua). So, I went down to the basement to get away from his snoring, and found one comic book that reminded me of another comic...so here they both are! In researching background on one of the artists I learned something that I will share with you later. But for now, check out these cool comic stories!

The first one is a brain-busting sci-fi tale from Bob Powell. The GCD gives him writing credit on this one, too, and it's a DOOZY! It's from the final issue of Harvey's TOMB OF TERROR # 16, 1954.

This is...THE REPORT!

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This second story reminded me of the previous one, for reasons soon to be obvious.I'd like you to meet 'Intellectual Amos', the creation of artist Andre LeBlanc. LeBlanc started in comics in the 40's working in Eisner's studio, and later in his career during the 60's and 70's he did work mostly for Gold Key. A bit more on him later. This story comes from 1945's NATIONAL COMICS # 50 by Quality Comics.

Here is...

"INTELLECTUAL AMOS meets the Mosquito Menace! "

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Did anyone else feel a little Windsor McCay type of "Little Nemo"-ish moment or two in there? Well, I did, anyway. I liked it so much I went and dug up his very first appearance in NATIONAL COMICS # 46, 1954. As Stan Lee might have put it, "The Spectacular Senses-Shattering Heart-Pounding Origin Issue!!" is coming at ya!

Here again is the odd, quirky, and in most ways charming 'Intellectual Amos' in

"The Lisping Hob-Goblin and the Ghost That Failed!"

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While researching Andre LeBlanc I discovered that I was very familiar with his work already, but I just hadn't realized it. LeBlanc, who had by now traded the whimsical style for more realistic depictions, was the illustrator for "The Picture Bible", originally done in the 70's, I believe (at least the ones with his artwork).  I have a 6 volume black and white paperback boxed set that I have looked at so many times I can't even recall. It is not a word-for-word depiction, but the writer and he portray many key Biblical scenes wonderfully. I can't find my set right now, so I can't show you his lovely artwork in detail., but here are a couple of pics from the web.

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Whoops!Sounds like my new friend Dr. Wertham Fredrics is waking up! I'll take him over to Denny's for some bad eggs, and coffee, and we'll continue psycho-analyzing comic book covers with 'hidden sexual' messages -  see you then!