When
I was about six years old my mother and I visited my aunt in Kentucky. She lived in the country in a two-story
Victorian style home.
They
raised tobacco, corn, cows, pigs and chickens.
For
a small town boy visiting there it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately other than exploring and
hanging around the barn and pastures there wasn’t a lot to do.
About
a mile from the farm was a little hamlet consisting of about dozen
stores. One of those stores was Rexall
Drugstore.
Besides
selling drugs and personal hygiene products the store also had a soda
fountain and a magazine rack including two comic book spinner racks.
About
three times a week I walked to the drugstore, bought a coke or ice cream
cone and perused the spinner rack.
It
was there I discovered Harvey Comic Books.
I
was hooked. I loved reading the
adventures of Casper, Wendy, Spooky, Little Lotta, Dot, Richie Rich, Audrey
and literally dozens of other characters’ adventures.
Mom
loved the Harvey Comics because she considered them ‘safe’ without any
violence, sex, dirty words and the like.
I loved them for the stories (I still do).
As
the years progressed and my tastes changed and I gravitated to super-heroes
(primarily Marvel Comics). I still
occasionally picked up a copy of Harvey Comics.
Over
the years I’ve became something of an expert on the history of comic
books. I thought I knew it all. I even knew that Harvey Comics during its
long history published different types of comic books of all genres. Yeah, I had it all figured out.
Until
I picked up a copy of Mark Arnold’s The
Harvey Comics Companion, published by BearManor Media. Boy, did I get an eye-opener!
I
tip my hat to the incredible amount of Harvey Comics history writer Mark Arnold
has compiled. I never knew there was
so much history, publications and interesting facts about Harvey Comic
Books.
Starting
from its early days back in the late 1930s the book chronicles the many
transformations, changes and ultimately the final publishing of
kid-friendly comics Harvey is famous for.
Included
in the book is a complete history layout starting with conception and on. Sketches, book designs, original art, merchandize
tie-ins, movie and TV projects-it’s all contained in this HUGE paperback
book containing so much comic book goodness that any red-blood comic book
collector will love. It’s a veritable
festival of fun stuff that brings back fond memories and childhood fun.
Writer/director/producer
Irwin Allen produced, wrote and directed a slew of science fiction TV shows
during the 1960s. They consisted of
Lost In Space, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Land Of The Giants and (my
favorite) The Time Tunnel.
While
I enjoyed the other shows The Time Tunnel held a special attraction to
me. I mean, who wouldn’t want to
travel in time?
I’ve
always been fascinated with time travel and The Time Tunnel satiated my
appetite for traveling to the past and the future.
The
story centers on two scientists who become lost in time and the efforts by
their fellow scientists to retrieve them.
Each
jump in time sends the scientists into dangerous territory only to be whisked
away at the last possible moment to another timeline.
Pirates,
aliens, the Old West, a trip to the stars-every possible scenario was
explored at breakneck speed.
Although
the special visuals effects of the time seem primitive by today’s standards
the show’s production were high and producer Irwin Allen always got his
money’s worth and it showed on the small screen.
Martin
Grams Jr.s’ The Time Tunnel A
History Of The Television Program delves deeply into the making of the
show.
Readers
get a real sense as to the complexity, effort and talent that goes into
making a TV program-specifically a sconce fiction show.
The
book is filled to the brim with interviews, behind-the-scenes shenanigans
and workings, stock and candid photos of cast and crew, insights as to how
the special effects were made, production secrets, set designs and so much
more.
Each
episode is examined from stunts, to special effects, direction, pivotal
scenes, bloopers and everything else that had to do with production.