Tony Karloff, the "Son of Frankenstein"

So I saw the above ad and I was, like, WHO?? The SON...of Boris? Having read a number of books on Boris, I knew he had only one child and that was Sara. Additional research showed this fella being billed thusly for at least 3 decades beginning in the mid-'40s. Originally, he seems to have been billed as Boris Karloff's stand-in, then later the "Son of Frankenstein." I found a couple of things that sort of explain who he really was--a low-rent nightclub impressionist/magician who supposedly had Boris's permission to use his last name. I can't imagine he would have approved of the billing as the "SON OF BORIS KARLOFF," though. Does anyone know what Boris--or Sara--might have said about this?

Here it says he swore he was Karloff's disowned son. 

Here it tells a very different story.

Blue Beetle-The Comic Strip-1940

I believe these early strips were the ones featuring Jack Kirby art!

Unobjectionable Comic Books-August, 1950

Long Sam Promos

I discovered LONG SAM when I excavated an old suitcase in the mid-1970s where someone had used an old Sunday funnies section as packing material! Been interested in it ever since. Here are some promos from when the strip first started and from later on. 

The First Days of Ambler-1972

Back in 2009, we posted the entirety of the final story of Doug Wildey's short-lied AMBLER comic strip from 1973. Here, we see some promo stuff from the opposite end of the run in 1972. 

Murphy Anderson R.I.P.

Paul Levitz is reporting the passing of the great Murphy Anderson--inker extraordinaire but also quite the penciler in his own right. My earliest memory of his art was on THE SPECTRE in the mid-sixties. He had been arguably the best BUCK ROGERS artist before that and became second only to Kubert in his depiction of HAWKMAN. He is also generally considered the best Superman inker over Curt Swan, to the point where fans coined the one word name, Swanderson.

Rest in Peace, Murph. And thanx for it all!

WWII Era Timely Comics Ads

The Kenley Players 1957-1972

I loved summer stock plays when I was a teenager but it wasn't easy to see them as we had to go all the way to Dayton, Ohio! It was only 50 mies away but it might as well have been in another country. My dad wouldn't drive that far so when i did talk them into going, we had to take a Greyhound.

John Kenley had set up his well-respected circuit that included Warren and Dayton, Ohio a few years before I was born. Take a look at some of these great touring shows!

Below is the one which i didn't SEE but I used the ad to get a letter from Stefanie Powers. I wrote her in care of the theater and she wrote me back on motel stationary.  One thing I asked her to clarify was the correct way to spell her name...which the ad didn't.

And this one below looks awesome! It's one of my favorite plays and some of my favorite folks were to be in it. 

Only they weren't. Chaney was quite ill already when the ad appeared in may and died in July. He was replaced by Peter Lupus who certainly had the imposing build for Jonathan Brewster but perhaps not the required gravitas. Michael Dunn who would likely have played Jonathan's alcoholic doctor buddy, also passed away that summer. On top of all else, Margaret Hamilton backed out for some reason.