#008.Classics Illustrated Junior Comics

“CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED JUNIOR was the brainchild of Russian-born Albert Lewis Kanter, a visionary publisher who deserves to be ranked among the great teachers of the 20th century. Born in Baranovitch, Russia on April 11, 1897, he immigrated with his family to the United States in 1904. From 1941 to 1971, he introduced young readers to the realms of literature, history, folklore, mythology, and science in such juvenile series as CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED, CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED JUNIOR, CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED SPECIAL ISSUES, and THE WORLD AROUND US.”

- William B. Jones Jr.; Author; Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History; (McFarland & Co., Publishers)

Only these 77 CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED JUNIOR with fairy tales and folk tales were published.

501 Snowwhite & the Seven Dwarfs

502 The Ugly Duckling

503 Cinderella

504 The Pied Piper

505 The Sleeping beauty



506 The Three Little Pigs

507 Jack and the Beanstalk

508 Goldilocks & the Three Bears

509 Beauty and the Beast

510 Little Red Riding Hood



511 Puss In Boots

512 Rumplestiltskin

513 Pinocchio

514 The Steadfast Tin Soldier

515 Johnny Appleseed (check 31th post)



516 Aladdin and his Lamp

517 The Emperor's New Clothes

518 The Golden Goose

519 Paul Bunyan

520 Thumbelina



521 The King of the Golden River

522 The Nightingale

523 The Gallant Tailor

524 The Wild Swans

525 The Little Mermaid



526 The Frog Prince

527 The Golden Haired Giant

528 The Penny Prince

529 The Magic Servants

530 The Golden Bird



531 Rapunzel

532 The Dancing Princesses

533 The Magic Fountain

534 The Golden Touch

535 The Wizard of Oz



536 The Chimney Sweep

537 The Three Fairies

538 Silly Hans

539 The Enchanted Fish

540 The Tinder Box



541 Snow White & Rose Red

542 The Donkey's Tale

543 The House in the Woods

544 The Golden Fleece

545 The Glass Mountain



546 The Elves and the Shoemaker

547 The Wishing Table

548 The Magic Pitcher

549 Simple Kate

550 The Singing Donkey



551 TheQueen Bee

552 The Three Little Dwarfs

553 King Thrushbeard

554 The Enchanted Deer

555 The Three Golden Apples



556 The Elf Mound

557 Silly Willie

558 The Magic Dish

559 The Japanese Lantern

560 The Doll Princess



561 Hans Humdrum

562 The Enchanted Pony

563 The Wishing Well

564 The Salt Mountain

565 The Silly Princess



566 Clumsy Hans

567 The Bearskin Soldier

568 The Happy Hedgehog

569 The Three Giants

570 The Pearl Princess



571 How Fire Came to the Indians

572 The Drummer Boy

573 The Crystal Ball

574 Brightboots

575 The Fearless Prince



576 The Princess Who Saw Everything

577 The Runaway Dumpling

All cover images are copyrights of Jack Lake Productions, Inc.

If you like these, buy.

Source of information: http://www.jacklakeproductions.com/file1.asp

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Jimmy Olsen #74

Jimmy Olsen was a durable character in the Silver Age. He did not appear a lot in the Golden Age comics, although he was a regular on the Superman 1940s radio series and later on the 1950s TV show, which was why he got his own book. Olsen allowed the DC editors to touch (rather awkwardly) on teenage culture of the time, with Superman as Olsen's regular deus ex machina to get him out of the innumerable jams.

His rather nerdy and unattractive red-headed appearance appears likely to have been aimed at the Archie audience, perhaps as a bridge to bringing them into the Superman fan club. But Jimmy was an interesting character because he combined elements of both Goofus and Gallant. Capable of doing the dumbest things, he could also suddenly perform nobly and well when the situation warranted.

The first story, however, features Jimmy doing a lot of the wrong things. He turns his girlfriend, Lucy Lane, into a midget, swells Lois' head up like a balloon and turns Superman into Cluck Kent:



Of course, it's just a gag by Mr Mxyzptlk who has managed to take over Jimmy via a machine. But the lad figures out a good way to exorcise his demon:



In Jimmy Olsen and the Forty Thieves, our boy is transported back to ancient Bagdad (sic), where he had an unfortunate discovery:



Jimmy is eventually captured and sold into slavery. But there are only two possibilities for a Silver Age character sold into slavery. Either he will be sold to a hot slave-owning babe:



Or the evil villain who's also hiding out in the past. Guess which?



Luthor uses Jimmy to lure Supes back to the past, but his plot to kill the Man of Steel falls apart when Jimmy uses some nifty footwork here:



Jimmy Olsen's Secret Love begins a series of pretty embarrassing stories. The premise for the series is that both Jimmy and Lucy Lane, his girlfriend, are working undercover in disguise when they meet and fall in love. Jimmy is Magi the Magnificent, a stage magician, while Lucy is Sandra Rogers, a beautiful starlet.

Well, the negative with that humorous plot is that it makes both Jimmy and Lucy look pretty boring and unsophisticated versus the fascinating and cultured people they play in this story, as you can see from their rather pedestrian thoughts.

There was at least one more Magi and Sandra story after this.

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Look Before You Leap Day

Here's a humorous Peg short from Superman #136 on a leap year tradition:



This sequence from Lois Lane #19 might be a little surprising:



In the story, Lois has been hypnotized into forgetting about her affections for Superman and decides that maybe her co-worker deserves a shot, alarming the heck out of Clark.

Update: In Green Lantern #3 (Nov-Dec 1960) Green Lantern experienced the Leap Year Menace:

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Double Trouble

One of the more durable plot ideas of the 1960s was the concept of the doppleganger, the criminal version of the hero. The appeal of these doubles to writers and editors is pretty obvious. Having created these extraordinary characters with "powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men", the creators found it difficult to present them with a real challenge. What better solution than to have them face villains with similar qualities?

The concept is not original with superheroes; Sherlock Holmes had his Moriarty, the crime-creating mastermind to his crime-solving genius. Going back further, God found himself in constant battle with the fella with the horns. We've already talked quite a bit on this blog about Bizarro and
SuperMenace, two memorable DC knockoffs of Superman.

But there were many other dopplegangers. Green Lantern had Sinestro:



Sinestro was a renegade Green Lantern who had abused his power and had his ring and lantern taken away by the Guardians. At some point he acquired a ring that emitted a yellow light and thus was invulnerable to Green Lantern's own beam.

Hawkman had the Shrike:



The Shrike was an interesting double in that his powers were similar to Hawkman's (although the lightning-shooting wings were a significant difference) but his origin resembled that of another DC hero:


Instead of landing in Kansas, this rocket landed among a grudge-bearing tribe of Indians who dreamed of the youngster restoring them to glory, which led to the Shrike (initially) being a criminal, stealing back ancient treasures.

Well, if a doppelganger works, then why not a doppelgang?

The Legion of Super-Villains was a twist on the Legion of Superheroes and specifically the original three members of that group, who were similarly seen voting down Superboy on the famed cover of Adventure #247. This particular concept for a cover (which looks like a game show) was also used in Action #296, and Jimmy Olsen #87, making it something of a doppelgang itself.

Over at Marvel, the Frightful Four were a similar but different version of the Fantastic Four. The Justice League of America had an even more similar opponent in the Crime Syndicate of America of Earth-3.

Two of the more interesting duplicates of the Silver Age were Amazo and the Composite Superman. Amazo debuted in Brave and Bold # 30. He was an android who had been given the powers of the members of the Justice League of America (not counting Superman). But World's Finest #142 introduced a character who topped even that:



The Composite Superman was Joe Meach, a failed high-diver who after being saved by Superman, was offered a position at the Superman Museum as a janitor. But instead of being grateful, Meach resented his lowly status. So when a freak bolt of lightning hit the statues of the Legion members at the Superman Museum and gave him virtually limitless power, he used it in an evil way:



Fortunately his powers turned out to be temporary as is his memory of the experience and so he ends up back where he started, pushing a broom.

Oddly enough, a similarly menial position was the origin of a reverse doppelganger, The Leader. While working a mindless job at a chemical research plant, he was exposed to gamma radiation that amazingly stimulated his brain, making him a being of great intellect but little physical ability, the exact opposite of the Hulk as he mentions here:



Some other famed doubles: Crimson Dynamo/Iron Man/, Titanium Man/Iron Man, Gas Gang/Metal Men. Many superheroes had some sort of real duplicate created by a ray or magic or red kryptonite, so we'll ignore those. I don't see a real Reverse Spiderman or Reverse Daredevil or Captain Russia out there, and while you can argue Loki as the anti-Thor, I don't buy it. That's more a personal rivalry that doesn't really imply similarity in powers. For the same reason I'd argue that Dr Doom is not Mr Fantastic's double, nor is Baron Mordo the equivalent of Dr Strange.

Atom battled a few small villains but I don't think any of his villains really mimicked him beyond that. There were of course several Kryptonian criminals who appeared in the Silver Age as doubles of Superman or Supergirl.

Any others?

Update: Kyle points out Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash. He was in the original post, but somehow an editing mistake left him out. Good catch!

Update II: Here's a different take--multiple androids with the combined powers of the Avengers:

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