Captain's Library BEETLEJUICE "Never a Doll Moment"

With a sequel (finally) about to be released...

...we thought we'd present a never-reprinted comic tale from three decades ago featuring the garrulous ghoul and Lydia...which includes the creative team's take on...Barbie!

Written by Angelo DeCesare, penciled by Howie Post, and inked by Ken Selig, this tale appeared in Harvey's Beetlejuice Holiday Horror Day Special #1 (1992).

Oddly, a simple caption change would've changed his search for a birthday present into seeking a Christmas present, which would've been more seasonally-appropriate, but nobody bothered to do so!
Also note that the native "witch doctor" and his kid are orange, making them appear to be related to Willy Wonka's Oompa Loompas!
(The book was Comics Code Authority approved!)
The comic was based on the syndicated spin-off animated series which toned-down certain aspects from the film to make it "kiddie-friendly".
(Remember this was before Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and Toonami and non-broadcast venues like streaming services which could've shown a series closer in tone to the film.)

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Captain's Holiday Library SAVED BY THE BELL "Chilling Holiday"

It's over 30 years later...

...and the gang from Bayside High is back, so here's the first of their "classic" comic book adventures unseen since their initial appearance!

Written by Angelo DeCesare, penciled by Hy Rosen, and inked by Ken Selig, this tale was part of the series' first and last appearances (Saved by the Bell #1 [1992] and Saved by the Bell Holiday Special [1993]).

The comic lasted five issues and two one-shot specials.

Though most are calling it a reboot, the show is actually a sequel (one of several that have popped up over the years), which really should be called Saved by the Bell: the Next Generation since most of the original's cast are appearing as their characters from the first series...

If you're unfamiliar with the show and characters, Entertainment Weekly has a convenient primer HERE!

Trivia: the article doesn't mention the original Saved by the Bell is actually a sequel series to Good Morning Miss Bliss, which starred former Disney movie star Hayley Mills as teacher Carrie Bliss, featured Zack, Screech, Lisa, and Mr Belding...and was set in Indianapolis!

(Apparently the surviving characters moved en masse to Bayside, California when the show was retooled!)

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Good Morning Miss Bliss / Saved by the Bell / Saved by the Bell: the College Years / SbtB:Hawaiian Style / SbtBell:Wedding in Las Vegas

(It does not include Saved by the Bell: the New Class...a sequel series which ran longer than the original series!)

...But you can get it HERE!

SEASON ONE

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SEASON FIVE

SEASONS SIX & SEVEN

Plus:

You knew this one was coming...

UnAuthorized Saved by the Bell Story!

Captain's Library GREEN HORNET "Kingpin of Crime"

For St Patrick's Day, we're featuring our favorite Son of the Old Sod...

...Michael Aloysious Axford, in a never-reprinted comic book tale adapted from an episode of the long-running radio show, The Green Hornet!

Most people don't know that the character of Mike Axford actually pre-dates the The Green Hornet, appearing on an earlier, but now forgotten, radio series, Warner Lester: Manhunter, by the same writer/producer team, Fran Striker and George Trendle!

Axford was a police chief suspected, then cleared, of corruption who resigned from the force and joined Lester in a detective agency.

BTW, It's mentioned on The Green Hornet that Axford is a retired policeman, but his rank was never specified.

It would make sense that Dan Reid would hire as presitigous a retired cop as possible to be his son, Britt's bodyguard, and who better than an ex-police chief?

There's more about Axford's long run on radio HERE.

Though the scripter of the adaptation from Harvey's Green Hornet Fights Crime #35 (1947) is unknown, the art is by long-time pro Al Avison.

Captain's Library & Theatre: GREEN HORNET FIGHTS CRIME "Desperate Gamble"

Not a dream!

Not a hoax!

Not an imaginary story!

The Harvey Comics series had been adapting radio show scripts for years, but cramming a status quo-changing four half-hour episode arc into only two eight-page chapters took a lot of modifications...

Here's a link to the October 28, 1947 Green Hornet radio show episode "Exposed" that most of this comic story is based on.

There are some interesting differences, such as Clip Phelan being the murder victim in the radio episode, but Phelan's the murderer in the comic story and the murder victim is "Frankie Striker", a reference to Hornet co-creator Fran Striker!

The art on this lead tale from Harvey's Green Hornet Fights Crime #43 (1949) is presumed to be by Al Avison, but I believe he only did the pencils.

The inking looks a lot like Lee Elias, who was doing, among other things, The Black Cat for Harvey.

The writer of the comic adaptation is unknown.

This entry is part of our Retroblogs™ Masks Marathon, celebrating the new Dynamite comic series Masks which combines, for the first time, the major masked mystery men of pulps and comics including The Green Hornet, The Shadow, The Spider, Zorro, The Black Terror, The Green Lama, and Miss Fury (ok, a masked mystery woman), among others.

We'll be presenting more never-reprinted stories featuring these characters throughout the month of December.

Join us on Tuesday at 

Hero Histories™

for the astounding conclusion!

Captain's Library: THE GREEN HORNET "Crime at Floodtime" Conclusion

The original art for the cover for this issue

When last we left our hero...

In 1946, The Boy Heroes were watching a TV broadcast of The Green Hornet's "latest" adventure as he battles a group of criminals using a captured Japanese mini-sub to loot a flooded town.
Lenore Case, assisting Britt Reid in covering the flood for his newspaper, The Daily Sentinel, was captured after she inadvertently stumbled upon the crooks' base of operations in an abandoned lighthouse.
Casey manages to activate the lighthouse's lantern, in the hopes of signaling help...

You'll note at this point in time, Casey doesn't know her boss, Britt Reid, is The Hornet.
She admires The Hornet and believes he's a misunderstood "good guy", not a notorious criminal.
Within a year she'll learn her boss' secret identity both in the comics and on the radio show.
Speaking of which, most of The Green Hornet comic stories were derived directly from the radio show scripts.
This one, from All-New Comics #13, was, obviously, not.
And, there's no Kato, Black Beauty or gas-gun in the "tv episode"!
The scriptwriter is unknown, but the artist is Al Avison, who started in the business working for the Joe Simon/Jack Kirby studio and ended up replacing them on Captain America when the legendary duo moved back to DC Comics.
The Boy Heroes were a group of non-superpowered teens who battled everything from spies to ghosts.
Every comics company had at least one such kid group during the Golden Age, almost all of them created by the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, including DC's Newsboy Legion and Boy Commandos and Timely/Marvel's Tough Kid Squad. and, as we see here, Harvey's Boy Heroes!