[Editor's note: Welcome to the Hoohah!
letters page. We appreciate your comments!]
WOW!!! Thanx for the link. The article on Harvey's Champ Comics features
info on three real obscuros: The Wasp(!), The White Mask (!!), and the Green
Ghost (!!!).
This is great stuff.
Jake
boy am i glad to see this back it is the 1st comic site i visited
often and loved it
thanks joe
NH ernie
Hi Joe,
Excellent website, lots of interesting stuff. A few clarifications: Jon
Henri was a pseudonym for Simon and Kirby. All of the covers (except #22)
are by Jack Kirby, with inks by Simon and some Avison. The page from the auction
is definitely Al Avison.
Jack Kirby used to have the original art to one of the Champ covers hanging
in his house. Simon and Kirby also supplied some Green Hornet covers, and
some Speed covers from the same period. Al Harvey, Simon and Kirby were
good friends, all starting at Fox in late 1939. Joe Simon did the covers
for the first couple issues of Pocket Comics.
The most logical reason for using Jon Henri is that these covers were done
just as Simon and Kirby were beginning work for DC, and they probably didn't
want the editors at DC to know they were freelancing.
The Whirlwind story by Joe Simon is an exceptional find. It will be interesting
to see if Joe did any work in the first two issues. It also appears that
Jack assisted on this story. The two panels on page 6 showcasing the aliens
are Kirby characters from Cosmic Carson, a story done for Fox, and dated
May 1940. Of course with Jack and Joe both at Fox, who knows how much they
were assisting on each others strips.
Holyoke, the company that published Whirlwind was also the company that
published Crash Comics, which featured Kirby's Solar Legion strip. The whole
thing seems very incestuous.
Can you post the address where we can order your CD with the earlier issues?
Thanks
Stan Taylor
Joe,
This is a very good article ["A Completely Marvelous Beginning" about Complete
Western Book] with some nice cover scans. Thanks for posting the link. I
enjoyed looking at the rest of your Website, too.
James
Welcome back, Joe. I missed that site.
Michael Norwitz
It looks great. Nice piece on COMPLETE WESTERN BOOK MAGAZINE. My last issue
is Dec/56 so I think you are correct on that.
Mike Vassalo
It's a great article and it's nice to see those rare early covers -any
chance of higher-quality JPEG's of them?
You mention at the end that "We're not quite sure when CWBM folded. John
Locke's index in Pulp Vault No. 12-13 lists Oct. 1953. But it went as late
as Dec. 1956, (Vol. 21 No. 3) for 23 years of publication. Quite a respectable
run. That issue featured "Saddle Tramp" by Kenneth Sinclair. This may be
the last issue, since it was the last in the Goodman family files.". The
ADVENTURE HOUSE GUIDE lists two issues in 1957 as well (March and June),
and there may be more beyond that.
Regards,
Phil Stephensen-Payne
[JL: Well, since then I happened to come across a copy of the June 1957
Complete Western Book Magaziine. This date is around the time of the
first so-called "Marvel Implosion", so I would take bets that this is indeed
the last issue. Here it is below. Look out, Mr. Drysdale, it looks l ike
Jed Clampett is gunnin' fer ya!].
I was very impressed with your return issue.... especially the Harvey info
since I'm in the process of doing an article/overview of them in an upcoming
issue(s) of Greats of the Golden Age of Comics web page. I have several
issues you might be interested in from Family Pub. such as War Victory Adventures
(The one with Captain Red Cross) and the first two issues of All New Short
Stories and Comics (done by Harry "A" Chesler for the Harvey Bros.), plus
several other Harvey titles in our inventory of comics. I know that your
pics of the Wasp, Green Ghost, and White Mask, and the accompanying info
that went along with it, was very informative, as I've been seeking info
on these three characters for a long time and you’re right....these are very
hard issues to come by. We also have an issue of Whirlwind comics as well.
You might be interested in the history of this book too which you can check
out our Holyoke article (and other related articles) once again on our site
the Greats of the Golden Age of Comics. Again.. Welcome back... stick around
for a while ok? Sites like yours and mine are too hard to come by these days
and we need people like yourself and your compatriots doing this stuff.....Hay....
someone has to preserve the past for the present right? Take care.
Richard Boucher
"Gwen Benson-Lovece"
Subject: Great Stuff
Hey you guys, the site is a great addition to the internet. You don’t see
this kind of work every day, Keep up the good work, I enjoy reading the
articles
"Michael Norwitz"
Subject: Re: Hoohah! is back
Welcome back, Joe. I missed that site.
"Kevin Olson"
Subject: Harvey Champ Comics Character
Hello, I just visited the HOOHAH! website, and I impressed! I enjoyed the
BRUCE BARLOW story immensely, and the Basil Wolverton Bible pictures. I
was specifically intrigued by the GREEN GHOST character out of CHAMP COMICS
#23, and thought to request you post this story in the future, if it is
not too much to ask. I enjoy collecting characters with a skull logo or
skull mask, and this character is right up my alley! Thank you for your
consideration.
Kevin Noel Olson
After seeing a couple of GA sites call it a quits it's nice to see one
decide to make a comeback.
I look forward to reading your new issue very shortly. Don't be shy here.
-Yoc
Fun article, pard!
As it happens, I have one of the novels you mention in your article, William
McLeod Raines' The Black Tolts. It's a 1986 paperback by Popular Library
and my database says that the story was originally published in 1932 as Pistol
Pardners. Either I left off which magazine it was published in or the paperback
didn't list it.
I ought to get around to read that thing one day.
Steve
Joe we're darn glad you’re back! I found your comeback issue a joy and
had a lot of fun reading it! In this day and age where we are seeing online
GA stuff disappear faster than its being replaced, its good to have your
site, the very first one I found on the web way back when, keeping the flame
alive for all things Golden Age. HOOHAH and Bill Nolan's Pure Excitement
Comics were the very first two ongoing web-zines, with PR being the late-comer
3rd online mag, with Good Guys and Gals of the Golden Age, which made its
first appearance on December 15th of 1999! Man, has it been that long already!
Time sure flies when your having fun!
Richard
Thanks, Joe. I'm glad to see Hoohah! back online and I thought the issue
was entertaining and informative. I look forward to more issues.
Take care,
Jon
Harvey Champ Comics You Haven't Seen",
I gotta say, those "Jon Henri" covers DO look an awful lot like Simon.
Hell, even the signature looks like Simon's style.
-Clay
