Since I started reading them as the PDFs, there are a handful of highlights I wanted to draw attention to, in case anybody missed them, including (primarily, in fact) the still-copyrighted and the too late to be Golden Age.
- Captain Conservo is bizarre, and I'm saddened that they're posters rather than comic books. Did the Army really think they needed a superhero mascot to convince soldiers to turn out the lights? Is he based on Captain Atom? Is the circled A an insignia used by the Army? I'm so confused.
- Bert is, of course, one of the best things ever. I was in kindergarten just before the air raid drills were phased out, over here. I wondered if I was part of the reason we stopped (obviously not), because I asked exactly how my flimsy hands were going to protect my skull and spine. Beyond that, you just gotta love the idea that you should INSTANTLY duck and cover--y'know, ideally before there's any sign of trouble.
- Mommy, can I have a demoncycle?
- I heard about "Gracias, Papa!" a couple of years back, and it's just as demented and ham-fisted as I had hoped. Can YOU spot all the ways men can be slime?
- Gosh, the Grenada book might be CIA propaganda? What, just because the art and diction are almost identical to The Black Panther Coloring Book?
- Can I write the followup to the DDT story about how Rachel Carson, the unaccredited "scientist," was sleeping with the environmental committee chair and the WHO decided to follow the American ban because, hey, there are too many Africans anyway? Because that has "Frank Miller adaptation" written all over it.
- I grew up with Nutri-Man and Vita-Woman on commercials, but never dreamed there was a story. Sure, it's a lame story, but VW's costume is pretty nifty and NM looks like a child-molesting Rudy Giuliani! I do so hope that New York State doesn't maintain copyright...
- The Pogo books are amazing, and the "primer on television" is worthy of reprint, with the television changed to the Internet. It just goes to show that problems don't change. (Though the presence of Pogo might, since it appears that some drawings were copyrighted.)
- I'm very uncomfortable with the juxtaposition of Sally Brown with an eyepatch and the sexual assault book.
- Does Ray Cycle work with Captain Conservo? Can Sprocketman join in? Will the Obama Administration add Cap'n Trade to the mix, with the power to make Congress not bother to read stuff before voting on it?
- Pip, the Magic Safety Elephant? Somehow, that strikes me as far more compelling an argument against drugs than anything Captain America or the Teen Titans might have told me.
All right, that's it. I gotta go check out copyrights. Oh, right. And go outside. First sunny day here in, like, ever.
