Animation Congregation: The Openings You Couldn't Resist...

Redartz:  Hello everyone! I know it's been trying times for many of us these days, what with that irritating pandemic and all. So how about a big dose of Saturday morning goodness to lift the spirits a bit? 

For this overgrown kid, the opening sequences and themes for the cartoons were almost as much fun as the shows themselves. Hearing the first notes of the music, seeing the action on the screen; you just KNEW you were in for some great animated escapism. And seeing these today still gets me excited. So for your enjoyment, here are a bunch of my favorite openings, culled from the 60's to the 90's. Of course as an older Bronze Age baby (with apologies to Doug and Karen), my choices are weighted a bit to late 60's and early 70's shows. But the 1967 Spider-man and Fantastic Four cartoons, and certainly Jonny Quest, are classics that were shown for years after their debuts. So grab a bowl of cereal and  meet me in front of the tv...

King Kong (1967)

Spider-Man (1967)

Jonny Quest (1964)

Fantastic Four (1967)

Adventures of Superman (1966)

Batman: The Animated Series (1992)

Scooby Doo (1969)

Bugs Bunny Show (1962)

Drak Pack (1980)

 Josie and the Pussycats (1970)

Valley of the Dinosaurs (1974)

 Emergency Plus 4 (1973)

Now you've had a taste of my tastes; so let's hear about your favorites. What did you think of these intros, and what ones should I have included that got skipped this time?

Riding the Retro Metro: Saturday October 3, 1970!

Redartz:  Greetings; welcome once again to that ever friendly ferry to the past- the Retro Metro. Today we go all the way back to the beginnings of the Bronze age, to the year 1970 (and yes, I know we're off by a day, but such distinctions matter little in time travel, eh?). Most of us were pretty young then, or even only potential humans. Nonetheless, there was much to be enjoyed back then. Being kids, those of us around then were perhaps less caught up in the social turmoils of the time. I was certainly aware of the Big Issues of the day, but my personal world was more centered on entertainment (and dinosaurs, but that's another story).

So, as we begin our excursion, we note the mammoth hit song on top on the US Billboard Pop Chart: Diana Ross, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"

Number one for three weeks now, it is Diana's first chart topper since leaving the Supremes. And it proves the Motown hit machine just keeps on rolling.

Rounding out the top five:

2,  Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Lookin' Out My Back Door"
3.  Dawn, "Candida"
4.  Neil Diamond, "Cracklin' Rosie"
5.  Bobby Sherman, "Julie, Do Ya Love Me"

Neil Diamond, "Cracklin' Rosie"

All these songs are common accompaniment to the daily school bus rides. In particular, I like CCR's hit , with the line "...dinosaur patrolling, listening to Buck Owens...". What a mental picture. And that Neil Diamond song is very catchy.

Others of note:  Jackson Five, "I'll Be There", I know that song primarily due to watching their cartoon show.  The Carpenters, "We've Only Just Begun", a big hit for this breakout brother and sister act. The Spinners, "It's a Shame", some great soul sounds. Eric Burdon and War, "Spill the Wine", some very odd sounds. Ernie (Jim Henson), "Rubber Duckie"- my parents bought my brother, sister and me the Sesame Street LP. This song is on it, and here it is; actually on the radio too!

Tops in the UK:  Freda Payne, "Band of Gold"


But hey, this is Saturday, and you just know where all of us kids will be found this morning; parked in front of the television with a bowl of Cap'n Crunch. Here's some Saturday morning highlights:

ABC:  Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp; Here Come the Double Deckers, Hot Wheels, The Hardy Boys, American Bandstand

I've watched all these shows. Lancelot Link- how can you not like chimps as spies? And the Hardy Boys show features familiar characters from the book series ; my library of those Hardy Boys mysteries is growing. Then there's Hot Wheels: the toy cars are the best; they're all over my room. So naturally watching the show would follow. I made it a point to pick up two of the featured cars from the cartoon- the Demon and the Jackrabbit Special...

Hot Wheels Opening

CBS:  Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour, Sabrina and the Groovie Goolies, Josie and the Pussycats, Archie's Funhouse, The Harlem Globetrotters, Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

There's no better way to start a Saturday morning than with Bugs Bunny and friends! Classic Warner Bros. toons; and an hour of them. Then there's the Groovie Goolies; fun, music, monsters and merriment. It becomes tough to pick  a channel; you want to watch everything. Josie and  the Pussycats are great, too; I actually prefer them to Scooby Doo. Plus two more winners in Archie and the Harlem Globetrotters; CBS has a potent lineup.

The Harlem Globetrotters

Groovie Goolies intro

NBC:  Heckle and Jeckle, The Bugaloos, The Pink Panther, H.R. Pufnstuf, Hot Dog

Ah, then you have NBC. As I don't care for the live-action shows (give me animation every time), the only thing I ever watch here is, occasionally, the Pink Panther. 

Speaking of watching, here's what awaits on the evening tv schedule:



ABC:  Let's Make a Deal, The Newlywed Game, The Lawrence Welk Show, The Most Deadly Game



My parents, grandmother, aunts and uncles all gather around the set for Lawrence Welk each week. It seems to define Saturday nights. But to be honest, it doesn't really excite me much. 









CBS:  Mission: Impossible, My Three Sons, Arnie, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mannix

Now Mission: Impossible, that's cool viewing. On those occasions when I'm allowed to watch it,  I make sure to catch it from the start- don't want to miss the great opening sequence. And what a cast; Peter Graves, Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and Greg Morris make quite a team. 
Much attention is being given to the new show featuring Mary Tyler Moore; no longer teamed with Dick van Dyke. I'd bet this show will be around awhile. Oh, and my Dad still loves to watch Mannix...

NBC:  The Andy Williams Show, Adam-12, NBC Saturday Night at the Movies

 


Another family favorite is the Andy Williams variety show. That's one program I enjoy along with  Mom and Dad, especially the Cookie Bear. Then , Adam-12 carries on the tradition of grounded cop shows, in the tradition of (and by the creator of) Dragnet. 












BBC1:  Here's Lucy, Show of the North, High Adventure Prince Valiant, The Harry Secombe Show, Ben Travers Farces: Turkey Time, Match of the Day

BBC2:  Disco 2, Rugby Special, We Were Caesars, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In


And now, we take our weekly trip to the spinner racks for some comic goodness. My spinner rack of choice is at a nearby drug store, and they actually have two racks full!  Here's some of what we find today...

From the viewpoint of later years, there is loads to pick from. O'neil and Adams's Green Lantern/Green Arrow jumps off the rack. That Hulk has a great cover, and Kang! The Avengers face off against the women, and what a lineup!Then there's Marvel's new title, Conan the Barbarian- sporting great artwork and a whole new direction in comic adventure. And a late issue of Sugar and Spike, to boot! Of course ten-year old redartz was, at this point, buying Archies, and probably the Hardy Boys and Hot Wheels comics too. Amazing what a variety awaits on the comics stand in 1970. 

Alas, the 1970's are history now, and so is this trip aboard the Retro Metro. Thanks for riding along!

Funny Books: The World of Archie...

Redartz:  Hello, everyone! Today we're looking at a big feature of the Bronze Age for many of us, Archie Comics. It's quite possible that some of you may never have picked up an Archie book, so for you, there will be a plethora of covers and a bit of a general overview to clue you in. 



 

The first Archie comic I ever bought was the first issue of "Archie's TV Laugh-Out", from September 1969. At that time I (like many kids) was a big fan of the Archie saturday morning television cartoon, and had also gotten caught up in "Sabrina the Teen-age Witch". Seeing that this new comic featured Sabrina, I gave it a shot. At that time I was buying a scattershot variety of books from Marvel, DC, Harvey and Gold Key, but hadn't tried Archie yet. It turned out this comic was but the first of many.












By the end of 1970 I'd dropped all the Marvel and DC books, and was only buying a couple Disney and Little Lulu books. But I replaced that comic reading with Archie titles, quickly being enticed by the Archie's Band covers, Sabrina, and also Josie and the Pussycats (I was living proof of the merchandising potential of Saturday morning cartoons). I was amazed at the huge number of comics out each month featuring Arch, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, and all the rest. And it didn't take long for me to discern some differences between the books. 

And on that note, let's take a brief look at the array of Archie publications on the stands in the Bronze Age...

 

Since we've mentioned "Archie's TV Laugh-Out", we'll start with that. It basically featured a couple of stories with Sabrina, rounded out with a variety of short features with Archie and the gang. Some issues also featured "Archie's Band" stories. It was one of many "Giant" sized books published by Archie. 












 



Continuing with the tv theme,  "Josie and the Pussycats" was another book I picked up frequently. Starring the characters from the Saturday morning show, it presented adventures and pitfalls aplenty. Incidentally, Josie had been published for years prior to the tv show, but the book really took off when the Pussycats joined in.














 

Adventurous stories were also to be found in two regular-sized Archie books, "Life With Archie" and "Archie at Riverdale High". "Life" began back in the early 60's, and had featured stories with "Pureheart the  Powerful" and the Archie gang as superpowered heroes. The book used many book-length stories, a big difference from many other Archie titles that generally contained several short humor stories. In 1972, "Riverdale High" joined "Life" in carrying these more dramatic tales.




 





 Like Marvel and DC, Archie published a giant-sized Annual each year. This one starred Archie, others highlighted Jughead, Betty and Veronica. These giants were full of stories of varying lengths, generally humor stories and gag strips. 













 


"Archie Giant Series" was an ongoing series with a  rotating lineup of monthly titles. Here are two, "The World of Archie" and "Betty and Veronica's Christmas Spectacular". Each holiday season saw several Christmas themed books, with famously festive covers.










 




 "Pep" and "Laugh" both were long-lived titles originating in the Golden age when Archie was published by MLJ comics. During the Bronze age they contained comic stories of various lengths, gag strips, pin ups, and so forth.









 






"Archie's Joke Book" is a bit different from the other Archie titles. It focused on single panel, multi-panel or single page gags, with no longer stories. Basically it was exactly what it promised: a joke book.











 




"Little Archie" obviously presented stories about Archie and his retinue as children. This book gained a big following for the clever, adventurous tales by writer/artist Bob Bolling...













 


"Archie and Me" was a book devoted to stories involving Riverdale High School's principal Mr. Weatherbee. There also was a "Reggie and Me", starring Archie's perennial rival Reggie. 













 


"Jughead" was the best place to find stories about Archie's best friend, the hamburger-loving Jughead Jones. "Juggie" owns a level of popularity rivaling that of Arch himself. Jug was always my personal favorite character. Maybe it was the hat.














Now how can we discuss Archie comics without mentioning his two loves, Betty and Veronica? The girls have been the stars of several books all their own, primarily "Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica". Betty also starred in "Betty and Me", and in the 80's, both girls had titles of their own. "Betty and Veronica" seems to be a popular title for collectors; vintage issues bringing some premium prices. Incidentally, this issue of "Betty and Me" had an interesting storyline: a parody of the then-current soap opera "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman". Called "Betty Cooper, Betty Cooper", the feature ran over the course of several months, and took Betty through some pretty strange scenarios.  Oh, if you're wondering "Betty or Veronica?"  For me, it's always been Betty. No contest.




























Finally, here's an issue of "Archie Comics Digest". Archie publications made great use of the digest format starting in 1973, and continuing even today. As a matter of fact, the current Marvel Comics digests being sold (finally) in stores and newsstands are actually published by Archie Comics. They know how to do digests..

Okay, so now you've seen some of the massive presence Archie Andrews had on the spinner racks throughout our youthful years. Did any of these, or other Archie titles, find their way into your reading stacks? Which were your favorite characters? Did you watch the tv cartoons? Share your thoughts and memories, and I'll tell Miss Grundy to go easy on you.

Chew the Fat: TV in Comics!

Redartz:  Every now and then, you may see comics appear on television. Not adaptations, but actual comics themselves. Conversely, sometimes you'll see television shows appear in comics.This is the root of our discussion today. 

I have assembled four examples for you today; four instances in which an actual  'real world' television program was an integral part of a comic story. All, incidentally, are very fun, lighthearted stories, and serve as a bit of a departure from the title's regular fare. So, let's turn on our four color screen and see what's on.


 
Action Comics 345- "The Day Candid Camera Unmasked Clark Kent's Identity"
This is an amusing story, a bit far-fetched (it is, after all, a Weisinger era Superman story). In brief, the popular 60's CBS show "Candid Camera" is doing prank stunts on the Daily Planet staff. Host Allen Funt inadvertently catches Clark Kent in mid-switch to his Superman costume, and fears he's exposed the Big Secret. But never fear, Supes had overheard the plans with his super hearing, and at superspeed went to a costume shop and added a pair of Batman pants to his costume. He then gave a rather lame explanation of how he was turning the tables on Funt and the show. Silly, yes, but a charming bit of 60's pop.






 





Josie and the Pussycats 50: "  Quiet on the Set"
You all know Josie and her band from the classic 70's Saturday morning cartoon. Well, they first appeared in comics. In this issue, the group travels to California to visit Hanna Barbera studios, to see how they're about to become tv stars. In the course of their visit, they tour the studio, Alexandra causes her usual mischief, and the band actually meet Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera. And of course the girls make a point of concluding the tale with a plug for the show...

Marvel Team-Up 74:  "Live From New York...It's Saturday Night"
In which Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson  score tickets to NBC's "Saturday Night Live". The truly brilliant original cast of the show make appearances, as do Stan Lee (invited) and the Silver Samurai (uninvited). And, you get Garrett Morris as Thor. Run, do not walk, to your nearest back issue dealer.









 



Avengers 239:  "Late Night of the Super Stars"
Former Avenger Simon (Wonder Man) Williams calls upon the Avengers to help his acting career with an appearance on "Light Night With David Letterman". Most of the team are unavailable, though, so Hawkeye, Beast, Black Panther and Black Widow join Simon on the show. Unfortunately, Avengers nuisance Fabian Stankowitz crashes the show. Oh, and David Letterman helps save
 the day. 









Four comics, four shows, four fun crossovers. Can you think of some others? These were all comedies, as well- have there been any dramatic tv/comic mixups? Perhaps you have a great idea for one of these stories. What character or characters would make an interesting appearance on what program? Pull out all the stops and give us your wildest concepts...

 

The Quarter Bin: $1 Challenge of Catastrophic Proportions!

Martinex1:  Here we go with a brand new $1 Challenge with a theme for the ages.  For all you cat lovers out there, today we celebrate the comic feline.  Pick your four favorites and explain why you chose those issues.   Hopefully the cat won't have your tongue and you will share your thoughts with all of the BITBA fans. 

And if an issue should be used to line your litter box, let us know that also!