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From NOT BRAND ECCH# 6, February 1968 (but my old dilapidated copy has a newsdealers' stamp NOV 14 1967 on the cover.. the practice of releasing comics with official dates months after their actual on-sale day is an old dodge. Marie Severin really hits the mark here. I never cared for her straight super-hero art, it seemed insubstantial and soft, but when it came to humor, she was excellent. Marvel with NOT BRAND ECCH and DC with titles like THE INFERIOR FIVE didn't come near being as funny as MAD had in its early issues and I feel the difference is that their art lacked the demented little gags crammed into every panel. Severin does that here, and it works fine. Gary Friedrich does a good job as well, but if he had (say) Mike Sekowsky drawing this story, it probably would not have turned out as well.
Isn't that Alice on the other side of the looking-glass? There's an idea for a series of stories, Alice still alive and ageless because time doesn't pass the same way, occasionally emerging from mirrors. Next page, it's a very existential comment from the Green Globule. "I just remembered-- I was killed last ish." It's true of course, being killed for comic book characters is like us wrecking a car; it's a setback and a nuisance, but it doesn't stop us forever.
"He looks like the Vanilla Fudge locked in a freezer." What the...? What does THAT mean? There was a 1960s psychedelic group called Vanilla Fudge (and this story also references Moby Grape) but still, I don't get it. Next page, "I'm not gonna kick off, stupid-- this is a comic book."
Isn't that Percy Crosby's classic character Skippy? I believe it is. I like the agent of HYDRA lurking in a bistro, wearing a flowered dress and hat, stockings and high heels. Maybe he's off-duty. Next page, Marie Severin draws the cutest Lizard ever!
Finally, what a twisted ending. Ack. Way to restore the status quo. I do like the way Dr Octopus' mechanical arms seem to be up to no good all on their own in the first panel, and the Lizard (or Gizzard, I suppose) winking at the reader is perfect.
If I were asked my opinion back in 1967, I'd have told Stan Lee, "Don't waste Marie on hero stuff, give her a funny title of her own, maybe steer it toward a newspaper strip." I might also have told him to give Kirby and Ditko more credit and even some more cash if possible, while there was still time.
Isn't that Alice on the other side of the looking-glass? There's an idea for a series of stories, Alice still alive and ageless because time doesn't pass the same way, occasionally emerging from mirrors. Next page, it's a very existential comment from the Green Globule. "I just remembered-- I was killed last ish." It's true of course, being killed for comic book characters is like us wrecking a car; it's a setback and a nuisance, but it doesn't stop us forever.
"He looks like the Vanilla Fudge locked in a freezer." What the...? What does THAT mean? There was a 1960s psychedelic group called Vanilla Fudge (and this story also references Moby Grape) but still, I don't get it. Next page, "I'm not gonna kick off, stupid-- this is a comic book."
Isn't that Percy Crosby's classic character Skippy? I believe it is. I like the agent of HYDRA lurking in a bistro, wearing a flowered dress and hat, stockings and high heels. Maybe he's off-duty. Next page, Marie Severin draws the cutest Lizard ever!
Finally, what a twisted ending. Ack. Way to restore the status quo. I do like the way Dr Octopus' mechanical arms seem to be up to no good all on their own in the first panel, and the Lizard (or Gizzard, I suppose) winking at the reader is perfect.
If I were asked my opinion back in 1967, I'd have told Stan Lee, "Don't waste Marie on hero stuff, give her a funny title of her own, maybe steer it toward a newspaper strip." I might also have told him to give Kirby and Ditko more credit and even some more cash if possible, while there was still time.
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