There’s a little confusion on this one. National Action Figure Day is supposed to be the first Friday in March, Sideshow’s self serving Take Your Action Figure to Work Day seems to fall on the same day. Yet, there’s no real determination on which is the official non holiday.

   National Action Figure Day is the first of the two I found, so let’s go with that one.

   To showcase the point this handsome two-pack of Spidey and Mary Jane is the focus of the day. Done for Christmas 1997, it fits the bill perfectly.

   These were released toward the tail end of ToyBiz’s run of Spider-Man the Animated Series action figures. The line featured seven series of figures from 1994 to 1998.

   ToyBiz originated north of the border as Chantex, Inc. It became Charon Industries in 1980 when it merged with Takefman’s Randim Marketing, Inc.

   The toy division would be rechristened ToyBiz in 1988 and become an American firm.

   Ike Perlmutter acquired Charon in 1990 with Avi Arad joining in 1993. That marked the same year ToyBiz for “exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free licenses of Marvel characters for 46-percent of ToyBiz equity.”

   When Marvel Entertainment Group filed for bankruptcy in the late 1990’s, ToyBiz helped save the company. They merged in 1998 becoming Marvel Enterprises. ToyBiz served as a subsidiary.

   In 2006 Hasbro and Marvel Entertainment signed a five-year licensing agreement for $205 million. 

   ToyBiz attempted to continue producing toys, but failed to remain solvent without the Marvel franchise.

   While short lived, it was a magical time offering such prizes as the holiday-inspired  Spidey-Mary Jane featured today.

    Before branding meant something outside of cattle drives, Marvel was slapping its label on any product they could license outside of the four-color field.

   One of those companies that came calling was Topps.

   Under the Comic Book Heroes moniker, Topps produced a set of 40 stickers, each featuring a Marvel character. Each reprinted image sported the equivalent of a “dad joke.”

   Turned over and placed together, nine of the cards reprinted the cover of Fantastic Four 100.

   All for a dime.

  Our trip down memory lane today is sponsored by the non-holiday National Sticker Day.

   January 13 is National Sticker Day in observance of R. Stanton Avery, credited with the creation of the adhesive label with removable back. Happy posthumous birthday R.

   Stickers, so called because they, well, stick, are said to have first been utilized by European merchants. They stuck labels to their products, beginning in the 1880’s, so buyers would notice.

    The first National Sticker Day was celebrated in 2015.

The practice of photo Christmas cards dates back to at least 1891 when Annie Oakley (Google her if you don’t know) mailed a pic of herself from Scotland as holiday greetings.

However it wasn’t till the turn of the 20th century when the practice became a little more common. More economical, mass marketed Brownie cameras allowed middle class Americans to become photographers.

The 1960s marked a boom period for the practice of sending family-photo cards. These may have seen their heyday with the advent of social media and the ease in which photographs can now be sent.

Helping commemorate the tradition is Marvel’s resident shutterbug, er, shutter-arachnid, Spider-Man.

Remember when you really noticed comic books? Not just as bathroom reading material or a quick way to pass a lazy summer evening. No, I’m talking about when you actually started collecting them; putting together story arcs. Seeking out what came before.

For me it was the late 1970s. By the early 80’s I was smitten. The life-long affair was underway.

Amazing Spider-Man was always a first choice. This was about the time Spidey was celebrating his bicentennial. Today that era isn’t highly regarded, but will always be part of my literary pantheon.

I followed his adventures through Mesmero and Kraven and Fusion to the first Hydro Man. The Black Cat made her second appearance and Madam Web began to help our hero.

Along the way we were introduced to Peter’s neighbors. One of which had a hankering for some country and western and would caterwaul loud enough to keep Pete up at night.

Amazing Spider-Man 213

Peter couldn’t be sure who it was, but he had his suspicions. Namely a tall, lanky gentleman with a penchant for cowboy shirts.

Imagine Peter’s surprise when he accidentally knocked a hole in their shared wall only to find the culprit was a short, bearded man he’d seen around the building in a business suit: Joseph Pincus.

Though he went by the stage name Lonesome Pincus.

The awkward meeting led to a passing friendship. When Pincus landed a gig at the Brooklyn western hotspot, Mickey’s, he slipped Peter an invitation and a pass.

The initial outing could not have gone worse. Pinky’s set was booed and jeered until broken up by villain of the week Ramrod. Mad he’d been denied a chance to perform at the same bar, Ramrod had poisoned the beer causing patrons to riot. Switching genre’s, Pinkus turned off the country and poured out the blues. The old adage of music calming the savage beast proved true and Pincus saved the day.

This took place between Amazing Spider-Man issues 213 and 221.

All this to set up today’s non-holiday, International Country Music Day.

International Country Music Day was established some time around 2003 on September 17 to commemorate the birth date of Hank Williams.

Williams is considered one of the most influential country and western recording artists. In a short 29 years, Williams recorded 35 singles, each reaching a top 10 spot on the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart. Eleven of them topped the list.

Even if you don’t turn the dial over to some honky tonk, pick up those Spidey issues and give ‘em another try.

I may have missed my annual post last year, but not my free Slurpee.

Again, if you’ve been following this site for any length of time, you know what July 11 means. This is one of the few days out of the year you can get something for nothing. Head on over to the local 7-Eleven or one of its subsidiaries: A-Plus, Speedway or Stripes Convenience Stores and have ‘em set ya up with a carbonated slushy.

Omar Knedlik is the father of the frozen beverages. When his soda fountain broke, Knedlik was forced to store his pops in a freezer to keep them cool. Extended exposure to the extra cool temperatures caused the pop to congeal. Customers found the semi frozen drink refreshing and a legend was born.

This year’s link between Slurpees and comic books comes from a long mistaken belief I had.

Scratch ticket

Way back in 1981, 7-Eleven and Marvel ran a contest. The convenience store offered a scratch-and-win game. Buy a Slurpee and get a ticket. Match three-in-a-row and you received a prize.

For the longest time I thought the prize was one of four mini comics. Each were two and five-eighths by three and a half inches, 10 pages in length, with a stick of gum. The first was Spider-Man in The Clutches of Doc Ock!

Next was The Hulk in Trapped in the Lair of The Leader!

Issue three featured Captain America in Satellite of the Red Skull with Spider-Woman in To Defy Doctor Doom! rounding out the line up.

One day I happened across The Secret of the Power Crown, a full-size, original Marvel comic book featuring the above four heroes. A little research and I find that what I’ve believed to be promotional mini comics are in reality Amurol’s Bubble Funnies.

The Bubble Funnies were offered in a box much like trading cards to the public at large. In addition, mini Archie and Sabrina the Teenage Witch comic books were sold along with the Marvel books.

I never saw The Secret of the Power Crown at that time.

I still have my Bubble Funnies, even after all these years. They are no less treasured. They can be found on the secondary market fairly easily and are nice – if odd – additions to any collection.

For me, they will still be my rewards for playing the scratchers and niche pieces in my collection.

My mother was a Philatelist and I’m not ashamed to say so.

While there aren’t as many philatelists as in years past, there’s still a core group who will appreciate today. What is today? Today is National U.S. Postage Stamp Day.

The first postage stamp issued in the United States was on July 1, 1847. Prior to the stamp, a letter could be mailed without and paid for upon arrival. That changed in 1855 when stamps became mandatory.

The first two stamps issued featured likenesses of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Since then, stamps have been adorned with everything from flowers to works of art to, yes, even super heroes.

DC Comics heroes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Flash, Plastic Man, Supergirl, and Hawkman were featured on a sheet of stamps issued July 20, 2006.

Marvel followed suit a year later, July 25, 2007, with Spider-Man, Hulk, Namor, Thing, Captain America, Silver Surfer, Spider-Woman, Elektra, Iron Man and Wolverine.

These are an oddity that I ran across on eBay. They’re dated 1991, but I’ve never seen either before.

These are just a couple examples of Marvel merchandising as the comic market was coming of age after the first Batman movie. It was a period before comic books started demanding attention with gimmicks and number ones.

Spidey and Wolverine are made of plastic/PVC and are approximately 1:43 scale.

Turning back the hands of time back to when cable and satellite television was in its Golden Age, there was something called the public broadcasting system.

This was, essentially, what many television pioneers believed television was meant to be. It was commercial free, funded by governmental programs and out of public pockets. With no one to answer to, PBS was able to broadcast programs with a more educational agenda.

One such program was The Electric Company.

Part of the American educational children’s television series, The Electric Company aired from Oct. 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977. In total, 780 episodes were broadcast over the six seasons. It would continue in reruns through Ot. 4, 1985.

Marvel Comics formed a free partnership with the Children’s Television Workshop.  By the fourth season, Spider-Man began to appear in live-action segments.

Spidey would save the day by stopping crimes of a lesser nature; usually muggings, hold ups, etc. Viewers were prompted to read Spider-Man’s thoughts that popped up courtesy of thought balloons. Less than 30 segments were filmed.

To compliment the episodes, Marvel printed a comic book entitled Spidey Super Stories. While the television series was short lived, the comic book lasted 57 issues running from 1974 to 1982. The book was geared toward six- to 10-year olds.

Spidey Super Stories (1974)                    1

Young fans were welcomed to the Marvel U with a guest villain each issue. In addition, other members of the Marvel stable made appearances like J. Jonah Jameson, Mary Jane Watson and many others.

Spider-Man was immortalized on vinyl as part of the Children’s Television Workshop and Peter Pan. His recorded adventures included Spidey Versus the Measles and The Queen Bee, both from The Electric Company. Also included were Spidey’s origin story, The Last Laugh, The Leader of the Pack, 20,000 Feet Under the Ground, Deadly is the Doctor Called Doom and Spidey Versus the Sandman.

Some of Spidey’s electrifying adventures can be found on YouTube and are worth a look for the hardcore Spider-Man fan or just morbidly curious. The once dollar-box fodder Spidey Super Stories are gaining a little traction in the collector’s market and can be found in most third-party shopping spots.

Whatever your predisposition, don’t expect too much and you may not be disappointed this National Public Television Day.

You were probably wondering when we were gonna announce today’s non-holiday.

Welcome to National Joe Day.

Today is designed to serve two purposes: enjoy a cup of coffee – or Joe – with a Joe. Or, Joseph, or Joey or Josephine, Jody, Johanna, fill in your Jo of choice.

For our usage we’re going with plain old Joe. As in Just a Guy Named Joe. That’s the title of Amazing Spider–Man issue 38. While unremarkable story wise, it does mark the end of an era.

Amazing Spider-Man 38 (1963)

Issue 38 is the dissolution of the creative partnership between Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. For 38 issues, and Amazing Fantasy 15 (1962), Stan the Man and Sturdy Steve laid the foundation of a franchise that carried Marvel for decades.

In the first 38, the bulk of Spidey’s rogues gallery was formulated. As were the core cast of characters who have shadowed Spider-Man and his alter ego. Peter Parker’s DNA are in those issues.

So, it is with a whimper the two dissolve their partnership with Joe.

Joe Smith.

A nice enough guy, but a loser. Poor Joe just can’t catch a break. He only wants to be somebody. Whether it be in the ring or in front of the camera.

He gets his wish in merry Marvel misadventure manner. That means Spidey must save the day, yet it’s Joe who wins in the end.

It’s a serviceable comic book. It does bring the promise of action to come. And, Peter almost meets the love of his life.
But, it’s over shadowed by the book that follows. Amazing Spider-Man 39 is the first to feature Jazzy Johnny Romita (Sr) on pencils. It also features the Green Goblin’s real identity.
So, like poor Joe, issue 38 finds itself overlooked except as a swan song for the original team who birthed a legend.
And, like Joe, it has gotten a little respect with the 1:10 scale McFarlane Toys PVC statue. Complete with environmental backdrop.
It actually is cool. I picked one up.
Okay, Back to Joe.
Did you know the name Joe is the 103rd most popular male name in the United States with an estimated population of 508,202.

Joe is used as a first name 99 percent of the time. It is also used as a male’s name 97 percent of the time.

The state with the most people named Joe is Texas where 97,514 can be found. Yet, you are more likely to meet a Joe in New Mexico where there is a person named Joe 477.94 times for every 100,000.

Back in June of 2020 I interrupted Summer with a Christmas tradition from Norway. At the time I had very little information on the book. By accident I was able to find out a little more, so here’s an update:

The julehefter, or Christmas booklets, have been a Norwegian tradition for over two centuries. Lately the term julehefte has become a synonym for comic book. The first julehefte was printed in 1817 and was a collection of social and drinking songs. It wasn’t until 1845 juleheftes were geared more for children. Their popularity grew and by the end of the 19th century they included  a variety of themes including art, literature, recipes and religion.

2009

The first Christmas comic book was based on the U.S. cartoon The Katzenjammer Kids and published in 1911. Eventually other licenses would join the fold such as Donald Duck, Tom & Jerry, Calvin and Hobbes and, obviously, Marvel titles such as Spider-Man.

Apparently there were three published between 2009 and 2011.

Currently there are around 50 Christmas booklets published each season, some selling as many as 150,000 copies or more.

So, while there’s still snow on the ground and portions of Christmas somewhere undiscovered till the spring clean, here’s a little more information on the tantalizing illustration from a couple years back. To see the original post, click here.

2010

2011