Hummbugged! / Flowers of Evil

In the early 70's, Marvel Comics teamed up with The Electric Company kid's television series and released Spidey Super Stories upon the world. It was published well into the early 80's, and just like the tv show, SSS was produced specifically for children, and typically included age apro good / bad moral messaging. The inclusion of various other Marvel characters throughout its popular print run also proved to be a good starting point for young'ins who were now dabbling into the inevitably addictive, allowance annihilatin' world of comic book collecting-- thanks Stan! So okay, we already saw one fun example over at THOIA last week (HERE!), now today as promised, we have a few more featuring two of the silliest villains to ever spring forth from the more madcap side of the 'ol Marvel U! BEHOLD-- the sickly sweet, lovelorn Wallflower, and the hilariously horrible Hum Dinger! The latter, aside from becoming a huge internet meme superstar thanks to one very funny, isolated panel forever taken out of context (see the last panel on page 3 below), The Hum Dinger also made the live action leap (and with better hair) onto the small screen in one rather memorable Electric Company episode. CLICK HERE for it! The Wallflower, unfortunately, didn't quite make the TV syndicated grade, and I suppose maybe she'll have her revenge for that someday as well! NOTE: If someone's up for writing it, we'll post it here! Humbugged is from SSS #24, while Flowers of Evil comes to us via SSS 28.

The Eat

We're still diggin' through the ever fabulous Esquire Handbook for Hosts hardcover from 1949 (see our previous post about the caricatured celebrity cover art HERE!) And speaking of the art, that's exactly what today's post is all about as well, because the unique, stylized hand of L. J. Allen returns for a perfectly proper look at the clever chapter headings and various other bits of quirky key art scattered throughout the first half of the book. Are you a man with the munchies, as well as one with cravings for drinky-dranks and throwing parties? Okay then, more on the latter in the coming month, but for now let's just focus on The Eat. And please note that the less than stellar quality of the images below were photographed and edited in a not so typical AEET fashion, -- but instead while I was laying in bed after spending 4 hours of my morning in root canal Hell. Yep, this was pretty much a test to see if I could even do it, (instead of waiting a few days until I was feeling better.) I eagerly await your reviews, complaints, and stupid suggestions.

Esquire's Handbook for Hosts Mystery

I bought this book a few weeks ago thinking I had found myself another neat example of Vampira illustrative goodness. Yep, right there on the back cover of Esquire's Handbook for Hosts, sandwiched between Clifton Webb and a goofy grinning Groucho Marx caricature, (and hovering above some tasty hunks of toothpick impaled party cheeses too, no less), wearing her trademark crimson lips, inclinating eyebrows, and ghostly, blood-drained pallor, --why, this looks to be every bit of Maila Nurmi's famous, midcentury, KABC-TV horror hostess, Vampira. There's only one catch-- this book was published in 1949, and Vampira wasn't created until 1954. So who the heck exactly was cover illustrator L. J. Allen caricaturing here then?! The interior of the book provides no information, and when I put the isolated image into a Google search engine, it delivers wildly random hits for Tallulah Bankhead, Katy Jurado, Caroll Borland, Yvonne DeCarlo, Jean Brooks, and silent screen queen, Theda Bara. But none of these seem even remotely correct either. And while Charles Adams did indeed do work for Esquire, his Morticia Addams character was strictly for The New Yorker-- plus, this doesn't really resemble the Morticia comic character's sleek uniqueness anyway. The truth is, it only resembles one person on planet Earth, and that's Vampira. If anyone has a clue to this Hollywood mystery, we'd sure love to hear it! And don't say Bette Davis, --she's already featured on the back cover in pearls!

Little Injun Scout Cook Stove

I was sorta feeling like I didn't have enough toilet paper shaped imagery here at AEET lately (see the previous post too), so let us now take a look at the Little Injun Scout Cook Stove --in a can! It's perfect for fishermen, campers, hunters, and anybody else who likes to cook things outdoors. And gee whiz, setting it up for a few photos was actually a lot easier than it looks too! Now, being "laboratory tested and approved" didn't really make me feel any safer from it just somehow suddenly exploding in my face, but I still put all of my trust into the rather amateurishly illustrated Little Injun Scout mascot, for I knew that he could not, and would not, never ever steer me into harm's way. So yes, all of that marvelous midcentury, campfire cooking goodness is absolutely crammed into one toilet paper roll sized can. Just don't forget to follow the rules of necessity, --and remember to bring a "reasonable size cooking utensil" too!

John Wayne Toilet Paper

Annnnd of course I would follow up a laxative post with one about toilet paper, wouldn't I? It's rough! It's tough! And it doesn't take crap off anyone! Wait, doesn't that completely defeat the point of TP? Butt still, it's John Wayne to the 'ol hole rescue! (Hee! I said "butt.") And as my cute new cohort in kitsch was quick to point out (before I even noticed, in fact), though this is actually a late 90's product parody, it still feels like a rather fun, old school gag of the sort I bin postin' 'round these parts now for a coon's age. Plus, the funny Dean McCartney artwork earns itself a Royal Flush Award for that rootin' tootin', sure as poop-shootin', Class A caricature of The Duke. Butt #2, after a dramatic dookie of your own, you may wanna just stick to some Charmin. I'm bettin' that barbed wire on the wrapper is an actual crapper warning, and there's no need'ta be left sore in the saddle as yer skiddin' off into the sunset! Uhh, if ya catch my drift...