scans

Was the overwhelming use of brown somehow a comment on the drab existence of Beetle Bailey’s army camp life? A representation of the filth in which he was wallowing while cleaning the trashcans, leaving only the clean green caps upon his and Sarge’s heads? Perhaps it should be noted that the “clean” trashcans appear to be a lighter shade of brown than the dirty one Beetle is currently scrubbing. And why is the only use of red on top of one of the scrubbing brushes? A subtle symbol of past acts of violence perpetrated upon Beetle by Sarge?

…Or maybe this poor kid just had three crayons.

image from Beetle Bailey #106 (July 1974)

These Joe Gill & Sam Glanzman 1960s Hercules comics are something else. I’m not overly familiar with this comic, aside from repeatedly seeing its covers at the shop, but it looks like the series is mostly played straight, with the very occasional bit of seemingly uncharacteristic dialogue:

Though, to be fair, I’d probably exclaim…well, okay, apparently calmly proclaim…”oh golly” under those circumstances, too.

The…shall we say, informal presentation of the sound effects are kind of charming:

I like how the sound effects just sort of fill up all their allotted space in that first panel, there.

Man, now that’s action:

“Zillcch” is a terrible representation of the sound that is made when a sword is plunged into a giant crab by a demigod. And I should know. Okay, how ‘about “THUNK–thwiSSSSSHHH” — hitting the shell, then piercing it and sliding in, you see.

Also, never forget the hydra. I realize a giant monster with multiple heads would be pretty easy to forget, but c’mon, focus here, people.

from Hercules #10 (1978) by Joe Gill & Sam Glanzman – reprinted from Hercules #10 (1968)

And now, some excerpts from the Brady Romance Game:

from Teen Life Vol. 14 #4 (January 1974)

from Strange Worlds #1 (June 1958) – art by Don Heck

If you ever wanted to read a pulse-pounding comic book about Social Security, then get yourself over to the Social Security Administration website to read “John’s First Job” (from 1956).

There’s a lot more here (scroll down).