Here's a cute 'n funny little Hap & Babs quickie from the August 1947 issue of Four Favorites #30, a comic book series which started out as a superhero testing ground, and then switched gears for the last few issues of its run as Ace Magazines (and every other publisher in the world) frantically scrambled to widen / add their own teen scream brand of Archie's rip-offs into their other slowly dying titles. Ace had good artists though, as displayed here by the unique stylings of Sam Singer. Meanwhile, Hap's own solo series ran for nearly 2 dozen issues from 1944 to 1949. And yes, this was another Valentine's post I had ready for February and then blanked on... derrrr! Playing catch-up two months later was never so romantically dim-witted on my part!
2 comments:
That cover has a lot of Al Feldstein in it!
What the heck is Hap wearing? That needs to make a comeback! Wide lapels, monochromatic tux bottom ... it's like something you'd see in the 80s Buck Rogers show!
Mr. Barnes--It's almost like a suit jacket made from a short, form-fitting trench coat? I mean, look at those button strapped cuffs and what I assume are perma-creases to match the pants. If only it was double-breasted. If only it had epaulets.
The art here is so nice. I know it's an Archie clone, but this story seems to share as much DNA with the likes of Blondie and Hi and Lois as it does the red-headed riptide of its contemporary teen trend. And yet I'm sure this title seems much more like the Archie template in other stories. I'll have to assume, since I'm not sure I've read much about Hap in my life... but then again, in the Archietypes-riddled landscape of precode comics, only Dudley and the Kilroys really stand out for me. So maybe I've read more of these than I'm remembering.
At least this stuff didn't try to ape Montana.
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