Showing posts with label Stuntman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stuntman. Show all posts

05 August 2017

Fun With Stunts (King Kirby 019)

Stuntman may not be the most recognizable Simon & Kirby creation, but damn - sure had some nice work in it at times:


That sweet center-spread comes from Thrills Of Tomorrow #19, from 1955.
Ostensibly it was a Harvey Comics release, but their presence is only felt in one advertisement and a single Harvey Comics News text page. Harvey published and distributed, but the book was an independent Simon & Kirby production in most respects. The indicia lists it as published by Witches Tales, Inc. I'm guessing that publishing name was chosen because of Black Magic's success, but that's pure conjecture with no knowledge of any sort in the matter. Just the first thing that jumped into my head when looking to see who the publisher was since that information was strangely absent from the cover. Perhaps they were trying to build different 'brands', such as A THRILL Adventure to see what stuck?

Anyway, Jack & Joe were jamming tons of fun into their work here, happily dancing that tightrope line between light-hearted and silly with the skill of their cover character. See what i mean with the rollicking conclusion to the tale above, including a right proper skull conking:



On the silly front, the character is in his 10th year here (assuming it's not a reprint) and this poor girl still hasn't figure it out. Seriously - here's the last panel from the first story in the book:


Note the mustache. That means he's doubling as the actor for whom he stunt doubles, and she doesn't realize it's him... twice.


Bonus feature! Here's the splash page for the first story in the book:


Stuntman fun by Simon & Kirby from Thrills of Tomorrow #19 (1955)