Journey to the Sun (1961)

 

The second promotional comic I wanted to share is Journey to the Sun. It is also from Boys’ and Girls’ March of Comics and the only other one I've found that is about space flight.  It was handed to customers of stores that sold Little Yankee Shoes.  

Journey to the Sun is a story about a mission to get close enough to the sun with some instruments to make some important measurements. They use ion propulsion to get there and actually use a solar sail for braking as they approach the sun. Of course things go wrong and the astronauts are subjected to high heat (and drama.) In the end they use the known melting points of several metals to measure their distance from the sun so they can complete their mission. A much more scientific story than I expected.

Journey to The Sun. (Promotional comic.)  Boys’ and Girls’ March of Comics, #219. Poughkeepsie, NY: Western Printing and Lithographing Co. (18 p.) 1961. 

Space Explorer (1960)

 

A promotional comic from 1960 called Space Explorer. It was part of the comic series Boys’ and Girls’ March of Comics, #202. Art was by Ray Bailey, who coincidentally drew the "Tom Corbett" newspaper strip.

These promotional comics were distributer to retailers who would brand them with their name and give them away to customers to attract them to shop at that store (like stores that sell Jumping-Jacks shoes.)

Space Explorer is the story of a brave astronaut who survives trials and tribulations to make it to Phobos (of Mars) to discover via telescope new information about Martian canals. Spoiler alert: Mars has primitive plants but no intelligent life made the canals.

Space Explorer. (Promotional comic.) Art by Ray Bailey. Boys’ and Girls’ March of Comics, #202. Poughkeepsie, NY: Western Printing and Lithographing Co. (18 p.) 1960. 

The Eager Beaver Space Book (1962)

 

As I keep digging in my collection I have found Space Beavers! This was a promotional comic book from Cities Service gasoline. It probably was a give-away with purchase. It reflects the early 60s where the Mercury launches had taken place and we were looking ahead to the future. The whole premise is a beaver who is invited to go on one of the early space voyages. The twist is that his son falls asleep during discussions about space facts and dreams of a moon trip. It is campy and strange in the best way and I am sure unfamiliar to most of you. Just the kind of thing I love to find and share.

The Eager Beaver Space Book. (Promotional comic from Cities Service Gasoline.) (32 P.) 1962. 

Valentina Tereshkova (Mujeres Celebres) (1967)

 

Celebrating 60 years ago when the first woman went into space.

This is a 1967 Spanish comic book highlighting famous women, in this case: Valentina Tereshkova. I last blogged about this in 2009 so it was time for an expansion. It is unusual to find a biographical comic book devoted to a single astro/cosmo naut. My Spanish is poor but the illustrations do a good job showing her background and a history of the event.  She is known for being the first and youngest woman in space, having flown a solo mission on the Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space, and remains the only woman to have been on a solo space mission.

Mujeres Celebres ("Valentina Tereshkova", No. 77) August 1, 1967. Organizacion Editorial Novaro, S.A. 1967 (30 p.)