"Barbie the Nightclub Singer" and Other Dabblings in High Art

"It was OUR SONG Roger's and mine ... the love song that formed the background of our romance ... THE THEME THAT BROKE MY HEART.

It's all over and done ... and I NEVER think of Roger anymore ... never, except when I hear THE SONG they're playing ... it was 'OUR SONG' then ... the theme they were playing that first night right here when Mark introduced me to ROGER MELTON."

Thus begins the heaviest of our four light tales today. And in the others we will visit The Archies as they try to rehearse, take in Barbie and Ken at their hit nightclub act, and learn about how taking up accordion can change your life forever!

A frothy mix of comics madness featuring humor, romance, adventure and accordions - all to be savored right here at the WFMU Comic Supplement - right after the jump!

Our first stop today will be this little give-away comic book from "Feature Publications", published in 1957. Unfortunately, the files that I found for this are poor, but I was tickled by the idea of kids getting really jazzed-up about learning to play accordions and felt that this book should be seen more widely. I actually agree that learning an instrument or two is a good thing to do in one's youth (or anytime in life), but that concept has lost some cachet over the years.

So here we go with "In Tune with Fun". (Note that the accordion that is being played on the cover is pasted-up. Not surprising, really. How many artists would be good at just whipping out a drawing of one?)

And on the bottom of the back cover, shown at right above, there would often be an imprint of the information about the music store or vendor that would have offered this promotion.

Now we'll move on to the second entree in our four-course comics meal today, a Whitman Archies Coloring Book. Since the series ran in some form or other from 1968 to 1978, this could fall anywhere in that period. I don't own the original coloring book, which would have had some indicia within it; this was another item found online that I thought would be appropriate for this series, even thought the quality of the files isn't very good, it's only a coloring book, so there isn't a whole lot of detail to lose to begin with.
Here come the highlights of that coloring book (PS - because of the wonky presentation of the files where I found them online, the page order got a little bit off in the middle of the 'story', so if it looks like the continuity is screwy - it probably is. I fixed it as best as I could). Hang on to your hats!

Next up, a visit with Barbie and Ken, where we'll travel overseas with them to score some high-grade hash. Wait - that can't be the same Barbie and Ken, sorry.
Anyhoo, here's a sample story from Barbie and Ken #2, the August-October 1962 Dell issue. No artist or writer credits available. This is one chapter of the full book, so the story will end rather abruptly as this chapter ends, before it can go on into the even-duller chapter beyond.

Sounds like the beginning of a really good song, there...

And now, for the closer, we have a short piece by the terrific artist Bob Powell, who keeps popping up here in the Comic Supplement, 'cuz he is just everywhere.
Enjoy "Song in My Heart", from First Love Illustrated #7 (Harvey Comics), way back in February 1950.
Cover art by Al Avison.

Ahhh, the healing power of music. Ain't it grand?

Well, that's all for this weeks blog, but we'll be back in two weeks at this time with another healthy salvo of fresh comic book delicacies fished from the deep seas of comic mayhem and madness.

And by the way, this January 2015 marks my SEVENTH year blogging bi-weekly here at WFMU. Whew! What a ride it has been! Yes indeedy! (a tip of the hat to Otis F. Odder!)

And to think that I began by posting albums and music tracks every other week for the first years. It seems funny to think that I haven't uploaded and mp3s to the WFMU blogfiles for a long, long time. No worries, though - I love this comic book series. I'm still enjoying the challenge of finding suitable comic book material to showcase here.