For a few years in the 1960s, it wasn’t hyperbole. The Fantastic Four really was “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Yeah, looking at comic books today, it’s easy to wonder why Marvel would ever put such a bombastic statement on the top of the cover of THAT comic book, especially when Marvel has so many other comic book heroes and teams that stand out more.
But from 1961(?) to 1968(?), The Fantastic was consistently the best comic book out there. Except for a couple possible exceptions, like The Amazing Spider-Man, it wasn’t even close.
Some comic fans try to explain what made the Fantastic Four unique by calling it a “family” super hero team. Yeah, they were a family, but that’s not what made the comic book great. Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby put more effort into the Fantastic Four than they did with any other comic. Stan Lee’s dialogue was better in Fantastic Four than his dialogue in other comics. Jack Kirby’s art in Fantastic Four was usually better than his art in other comics. The villains, like Dr. Doom, the Mole Man, the Submariner, Galactus, Annihilus, were better than the villains in most comics.
Plus, The Fantastic Four wasn’t just another superhero comic. It was more like a science fiction comic with superheroes in it. The members of the FF received their powers in some stupid outlandish space experiment. They encountered aliens from other planets. They explored fake scientific stuff like subatomic universes and Negative Zones. Villains like Dr. Doom used advanced technology to try to conquer the world or do even worse stuff.
There was always something crazy going on in that comic book. Even when they were just hanging out in the Baxter Building, something crazy was going on. It was the only comic book consistently like that (except for again… The Amazing Spider-Man).
Then somewhere around #70 or so, things started to change. Other comic books were getting better. The Fantastic Four started to slide. Jack Kirby was overworked and tired of dealing with Marvel and Stan Lee. Marvel was bringing in new talent which either copied some of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s style or brought in new ideas of their own. Even the Distinguished Competition improved.
Ever since maybe 1969, The Fantastic Four has been up and down in quality and usually hasn’t stood out from other super-hero comic books, but for about seven to eight years in the 1960s, The Fantastic Four truly was “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!”
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A grammar-obsessed English teacher falls in ‘luuuvvv’ but discovers how chaotic and dangerous ‘luuuvvv’ can really be. It’s a romantic comedy from an ‘average’ guy’s point of view!
The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy is now available on Amazon and from the trunk of my car!
Getting feedback for creative stuff was tough for my older brother back in 1983 when he drew these Dummo Mouse comic strips. My older brother would mail copies of Dummo Mouse (and sometimes copies of other ideas he had) to syndicated comic companies or to agents that represented other comic artists, and then months later he would get a slip of rejection note paper responses.
It was also difficult to get positive feedback from his family and friends. At that point, he had moved away from the small town with the weekly newspaper that had published his Calloway the Castaway comic strip for almost half a year. Most of his creative friends in his new home city weren’t in to comic strips (they were more into music). Even though I lived hundreds of miles away, when I saw these Dummo Mouse strips months and months after he’d draw them, I’d freak out. I thought these were great, especially when compared to a lot of stuff in the daily newspaper.
And now I get to publish these on my own blog!
For more Sunday comics with Dummo Mouse and his friends, check out…
Dummo Mouse and Friends: Misleading Episodes
Dummo Mouse and 1980s Star Trek Humor
Comic Sunday: Dummo Mouse and Friend(s)
Dummo Mouse Takes on Big Floral
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If you enjoy this content, ‘like’, subscribe, leave a comment,… and buy my book!
In this romantic comedy from an ‘average’ guy’s point of view, a grammar-obsessed English teacher falls in ‘luuuvvv’ but discovers how chaotic and dangerous ‘luuuvvv’ can really be.
The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy is now available on Amazon and from the trunk of my car!
With all the superhero movies over the last few decades, with all the writers involved, with all the reshoots and re-edits, there are bound to be lost deleted scenes and bloopers that the general public has never seen.
Of course, a nobody like me can’t get the actual footage of mistakes and deleted scenes, but below are comic illustrations of what could be… might be… may be… hidden from the public.
And finally…
For more comic book related posts, check out…
Comic Book Nerd Book Review-Jack Kirby & Stan Lee: Stuf’ Said by… by…
Jack Kirby: The true Creator of the Marvel Universe?
How Classic Comic Books Led Me To Classic Literature!
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If you enjoy this content, please ‘like’, subscribe, and/or buy my book.
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A grammar-obsessed English teacher falls in ‘luuuvvv’ but discovers how chaotic and dangerous ‘luuuvvv’ can really be. It’s a romantic comedy from an ‘average’ guy’s point of view.
The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy is now available on Amazon and from the trunk of my car!
Just so you know, there’s no character named Big Floral in the Dummo Mouse comic strip world.
Instead, Dummo takes a mild swipe at the flower business, kind of. I’m pretty sure the big floral industrial complex would never have allowed my older brother’s comic strip Dummo Mouse from 1982 to be syndicated. Those big businesses have always tried to crush the little guy.
For more Sunday comics with Dummo Mouse and his friends, please see the following:
Dummo Mouse and Friends: Misleading Episodes
Whenever I buy an old book, I debate whether or not I should read actually read it or not. I’m talking about yellowing books with frail spines and delicate aging newsprint paper that feels like it can disintegrate on your fingertips. A part of me wants to preserve these out-of-print books. The other part of me wants to read them. After all, what’s the point of a book if you don’r read it?
I felt confident that I could read the above copy of The Moneyman by Thomas B. Costain. The spine felt a little insecure, but I have a light touch when I turn the pages. I thought it was worth the risk. I generally like Thomas B. Costain books (though they sometimes focus on the part of the story I’m least interested in). I took the chance and halfway through the book…. Aaaarrrgh!
I knew there was a strong possibility/probability that the book could fall apart while I was reading it, but I have a history of handling old books. I collect them and old comics as well. I take pride in keeping my hands clean and turning pages with care. My mistake, however, was that I became too interested in The Moneyman. The print in those old books can get close to the left margins, and sometimes you have to spread the binding just a little and then… Aaaarrrgh!
The book didn’t have any monetary value, even before it fell apart, so it’s not like I flushed my family’s financial future away on a lame horse. I think I spent $2 on that crusty paperback from 1947. I guess I’m the only guy who still wants to read The Moneyman in 2025.
Ideally, I would have read the book AND kept it intact, but I guess this time I had to make the choice. Even though a book is meant to be read, and I actually enjoyed the experience, I kind of feel guilty. It’s like I destroyed an antique. Yeah, 1947 isn’t that long ago in terms of antiquity, but once I realized that The Moneyman was a good book, I probably could have found a newer copy.
I also have this old beat up copy of Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini, but I don’t think I’ll read it. I’ve learned my lesson.
BONUS BOOK REVIEW:
The Moneyman by Thomas B. Costain was a good book. I finished it (even after it fell apart in my hands).
If you can get yourself a newer copy of The Moneyman, I recommend it, especially if you like historical novels about the Renaissance. The book has a little bit of everything, from romance, to adventure to war to mystery to political intrigue. It even has a legal thriller aspect towards the end of the novel (but I think that’s the weakest part).
Just please find a copy that’s not in danger of falling apart.
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What do you think? Should I read this? Or should I leave it alone?
Despite the title, I’m not sure that Shmitty Cat should be classified as one of Dummo Mouse’s friends.
For more Sunday comics with Dummo Mouse and his friends, please see the following:
Dummo Mouse and Friends: Misleading Episodes
Comic Sunday: Dummo Mouse’s Not-Yet Wild Adventures
I know, I know! Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry isn’t meant for me. I’m not the book’s target demographic. I’m a guy, a dude who reads books about barbarians who conquer ancient worlds and perform deeds of toxic mascul… you get the idea.
But I still read books. The thing is, I start reading lots of books and don’t finish very many. Sometimes I write what I call a Literary Glance, where I begin reading a book but don’t even have the intention of finishing it. That’s not an insult to the book. There are a lot of books out there, and I like to see what different writers in different genres are doing, and reading online samples is a great way to get a feel for what’s going on in the book world.
I hadn’t read a romantic comedy in a long time (like, maybe, never), so I picked one that showed up on several BESTSELLER LISTS, a book called Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. I know nothing about it, except that it seems to a selection of Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club (I’m not in her book club) and the author has written other bestsellers (because the cover says so). I like a cover that tells me something about a book without ruining it.
I started reading Great Big Beautiful Life on my phone’s Kindle, and I’ve gotten through the first chapter. The book is okay. It’s not my thing. The narrator is a female journalist Alice Scott who starts off the book meeting a reclusive former famous person named Margaret Ives. On her way out, she runs into a handsome (of course) Pulitzer-Prize winning (of course) writer and (what I assume will be) her future love interest, but that wasn’t the focus of the chapter, and I’m more interested in the writing than the story anyway.
As Alice waits to meet Margaret, Alice makes these observations about Margaret’s home (and I take some notes in parentheses):
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I take the opportunity to make a slow lap around the room, still buzzing and smiling big enough that my jaw has started to ache (misplaced modifier-makes it sound like the room is buzzing and smiling). I set my things (what things?) down on the low rattan coffee table and cross my arms to keep myself from touching anything as I wander. Art crowds (what kind of art?) every inch of the walls, and plants hang in clusters in front of the windows, still more in clay pots on the floor. A thatched fan (what kind of art?) twirls lazily overhead, and books-most of them about gardening and horticulture (that’s great, but what kind of art?)-sit in messy stacks and face down with cracked spines, covering every antique-wooden surface available.
It’s beautiful (what’s beautiful? the thatched fan? the room? the house? it’s definitely not the art!). I’m already mentally drafting how I’d describe it. The only problem is, I’m not convinced I’ll have a reason to describe it.
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In case you can’t tell, I wonder about the art. How can a journalist mention art crowding a wall without any details about what kind of art it is? I’m not even an art expert. The author could have made up a bunch of fake names for fake artists, and I wouldn’t have known (or cared). Instead, she mentions nothing, and I’m taken out of the story.
Maybe it’s just me. I’m a guy, and I don’t even ask for many details in my writing. When I write about shoes, I just call them shoes. I don’t name the brand or the type of shoe. It’s just a shoe. Maybe calling a shoe a shoe takes some readers out of my stories, and I don’t know it. How can I trust, a reader might think, a narrator who doesn’t identify the type or brand of a shoe?
Most people who mock romantic comedies (people also mock the genres I read) make fun of the formula, where an average-type female protagonist falls for an overly handsome, rich, high-status male. There might be some variation of the average-ness of the female protagonists and the wealth, success, status, and attractiveness of the male (or male substitute) love interest, but the formula is the same. Romantic comedies are like female fantasy novels.
My own novel The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy flips the formula and approaches the ‘romance’ from a male’s perspective. In The Sunset Rises: A 1990s Romantic Comedy, the protagonist male is an average guy (average in almost every way) who falls for a hot chick and doesn’t care about her wealth or status or success. He just likes the way she looks and talks. Unfortunately, he doesn’t pay attention to her red flags, and he ends up paying a steep price for succumbing to his infatuation. That’s what happens when male fantasy meets reality.
Anyway, back to Great Big Beautiful Life.
Maybe the narrator mentions more details about the art when/if she writes her article… if she gets the job. I might not find out. This is just a literary glance. I haven’t read the entire book.
Like last weekend’s episode, today’s comic strip seems like a standard cat vs. mouse cartoon. But I’m telling you, things are going to change!
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For more Dummo Mouse, read Dummo Mouse and Friends: The Intro or Dummo Mouse and Friends: The Second Intro.
Or for a full-run of my older brother’s 1979 comic strip, start with The Lost Adventures of “Calloway the Castaway” Episode 1!
And come back next week for more Dummo Mouse and Friends!
When I was growing up in the 1970s, it was considered okay to beat your kids in public. I’m not sure it was ‘okay.’ It might have been frowned upon, but bystanders rarely intervened. To me, it looked like it was okay because nobody ever did anything about parents who beat their children in front of a bunch of people. Everybody would just stand and watch.
When kids get smacked around in public now, it gets recorded and police seem to get involved (I have no statistics to back this up). In fact, I haven’t seen a good child beating in years. By ‘good,’ I don’t actually mean that it’s good. I guess I should choose my words more carefully.
In the mid to late 1970s, I saw a bunch of public child beatings that made an impression on me.
I saw a young mom beat the tar out of her son in a movie theater lobby. This was probably 1978 (I wasn’t keeping a diary of this stuff). After a minute or two of slapping, screaming, and punching, she dragged the kid out to the parking lot and beat him some more. My best friend was more entertained by the beating than he would be by the movie later on. He just munched on his popcorn, kept his eyes glued to the spectacle with a grin, and wondered out loud what the kid had done. After the movie, the beating was all he could talk about. He was almost proud of having been a witness.
I saw a kid get beat down by his dad in a restaurant parking lot. The dad finished his beating by slamming the kid’s head against his car passenger window four or five times. At least, I think it was his dad. And I think it was his dad’s car. Maybe it was a random guy abusing a random kid and a random car. I don’t know. Nobody intervened. We just watched. I was just a kid and couldn’t have done anything, but my parents and a bunch of other adults just watched too. And then we went into the restaurant and ate. And nobody talked about it.
I saw parents beat their kids when I was a visitor in their homes. Thankfully, that didn’t happen often. That was always awkward, watching your friend get pelted by a mom or dad’s belt/strap while you’re trying to read a comic book or play a board game. What are you supposed to say to a friend after that?
“Wow! Your mom packs a mean swing!”
“I guess you just f***ed around and found out.”
“Your mom messed up the board. You want to start over?”
“You’d better put some ice on that.”
My own parents could get carried away with impulsive punishments, but I always knew I was safe when we had visitors. In fact, sometimes I invited friends over just to keep my parents on good behavior. At least my parents knew that some of their occasional impulse punishments were wrong. Public shame is an effective deterrent to some people. But a couple of my friends weren’t so fortunate.
A lot of what I saw would be considered child abuse today. Some of the stuff that happened to me would be considered child abuse today, but I don’t talk about it because I don’t want people looking at me like that. If you start talking about it, people look at you funny. I made that mistake once, so it’s better when you mention that you witnessed stuff rather than experiencing it. What I witnessed was worse anyway.
Nowadays, people seem more willing to talk about trauma than they were a few decades ago. Of course, when I was a kid, I couldn’t have cried in the car and then posted it on Tik-Tok. Social media didn’t exist. And if my dad had caught me crying in the car, he would have told me to stop or he’d give me a reason to cry. In fact, whenever I see a video of an adult crying about something in a car, my first impulse is to think, ‘What a lose….’ Aw, never mind. That’s just my upbringing. Maybe I should be more tolerant. Maybe I’m just jealous.
I’m glad people are more open about trauma than we were when I was growing up. A lot of adults stood around and watched (that still happens, but at least they record it, and the public/police reacts later), and people kept it to themselves (not so much anymore). I’m glad some aspects of abuse seem to be changing because a lot of the stuff that I witnessed when I was growing up is really tough to explain to people who weren’t there.
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And for more Old Things That Are Tough To Explain, see…
At first, it looked like my older brother’s Dummo Mouse comic strip from 1982 would be a typical cat vs. mouse comic strip, this time set in a junkyard. A few early comic strips like today’s might make it seem that way, but this one can be misleading. As we’ll see over the next few weeks, a cartoonist has to set things up before going all-out.
For more Dummo Mouse, read Dummo Mouse and Friends: The Intro or Dummo Mouse and Friends: The Second Intro.
Or for a full-run of my older brother’s 1979 comic strip, start with The Lost Adventures of “Calloway the Castaway” Episode 1!
And come back next week for more Dummo Mouse and Friends!
Dysfunctional Literacy 