When i was growing up, i usually felt like the smartest person in the room, adults often included. (That's true these days, too, but the room is usually empty, so that feeling is easier to achieve, though i may not always succeed.) So, it was rather natural that i had an affinity for boy genius/inventor type comics, even when the label was sarcastic, as it often was.
It certainly didn't hurt that genius inventor types of all ages were generally portrayed as odd-ball eccentrics. That's a crowd with whom i feel at home. We've seen a few of those sorts of characters here, and many more have lurked off-stage in the wings. Today's featured character is one of those lurkers.
Li'l Genius lives in his own odd little world, as so many do. But sometimes the Odd goes deeper than it might appear. We don't know who wrote these stories, and Frank Johnson is only an unconfirmed guess for the artist. Take a gander at a couple stories, and i'll meet up with you down below.
For extra fun, Li'l Genius also featured strips like Atomic Bunny, with art by George Wildman -
However, what was really Odd about Li'l Genius wasn't in the comics themselves. It was the publishing deal. Not unique, but decidedly odd. Though the comic was produced by Charlton, the "Publisher" varied. You can find the comic with one of three Shoe Stores listed as the publisher - R&S Shoes, Schiff's Shoes, or Blue Bird Shoes, as seen here -
And, yes - shoe ads were included...
15 issues were published between 1959 - 1963, with numbering running from 1 to 20 to help keep things confusingly odd.
I'm not sorting that mess out.
It certainly didn't hurt that genius inventor types of all ages were generally portrayed as odd-ball eccentrics. That's a crowd with whom i feel at home. We've seen a few of those sorts of characters here, and many more have lurked off-stage in the wings. Today's featured character is one of those lurkers.
Li'l Genius lives in his own odd little world, as so many do. But sometimes the Odd goes deeper than it might appear. We don't know who wrote these stories, and Frank Johnson is only an unconfirmed guess for the artist. Take a gander at a couple stories, and i'll meet up with you down below.
For extra fun, Li'l Genius also featured strips like Atomic Bunny, with art by George Wildman -
However, what was really Odd about Li'l Genius wasn't in the comics themselves. It was the publishing deal. Not unique, but decidedly odd. Though the comic was produced by Charlton, the "Publisher" varied. You can find the comic with one of three Shoe Stores listed as the publisher - R&S Shoes, Schiff's Shoes, or Blue Bird Shoes, as seen here -
And, yes - shoe ads were included...
15 issues were published between 1959 - 1963, with numbering running from 1 to 20 to help keep things confusingly odd.
I'm not sorting that mess out.
page art from Li'l Genius #8 (1960)
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