HAUNTED THRILLS #15 (MAY-JUNE 1954)

Just what you've always wanted in a horror comic -- scads and scads of advertisements!  You can get a high school education at home for only $6.00 a month.  Or. a charming bird house and complete bird station for only a buck, plus a vinyl record of 18 birds calls, a bird picture book, bird food, a double throat bird call, a bird bath, AND an American flag!  How can you lose out?  Or, everything you need for a sportsman's paradise, including a crossbow, crossbow arrows, a throwing tomahawk, a commando knife, French dueling swords, a throwing dagger, a boomerang, a .22 caliber handgun, an oriental battle knife, an army training rifle, a Finnish hunting knife, an arrow sling gun, a swim mask, swim fins, an underwater breathing snorkel, or a watch that measures time, speed, distance, and tells you the date!  Or, you serve the Lord and win fabulous prizes by selling religious wall mottos (SEND NO MONEY...We Trust You).  Or. you can clean your outdoor toilet, septic tank, or cesspool or, you can earn 4500 to a $100 or more just selling our with a remarkable new power.  Or, you can make $50 to $100 or more just by selling our beautiful new Birthday and other Greeting Cards.  Or, you can go from a bloodless, pitiful skinny shrimp to a new, muscular, red-blooded, head-to-toe HE-MAN with just ten minutes of FUN a day.  Or, you can fix any car (well, any car built since 1935), truck, or tractor in a jiffy with simple step-by-step instructions. And, if you are looking for a menstrual shield there's Comfo-Guard from the Malen Mfg. Co.  Or, perhaps you are interested in the a movie projector., the Rocketman Televiewer.

And there's so much more in this issue!  Why even bother with comic book stories?

But there also some tales here, too:  "The Devil Collects," "Terror on Location," "Fear of the Witch," and "Death Is the Jury," as well as a two-page text story, "Dead on Arrival."

Check it out.

https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=96167

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KENNY HOUSE!

Today my younger brother turns older than dirt.  I am not sure how he managed to do this because I remain ever young myself.

It must have difficult for Kenny to come on the scene after I did because I am handsomer, smarter, and more talented than he is.  Or, it would have been difficult if I had not taken pity on him.  So, out of the filial kindness of my heart, I have allowed Kenny to believe he was the handsome, smart, and talented one.  I even let him believe it was he, and not I, who had the musical talent in the family.  Kenny, being gullible, believed me.  I must have been pretty convincing because just about everyone else we knew also believes it.  Just goes to show what a silver-tongued devil I am.  Anyway, I have kept up this pretense to this day, purely because of the filial kindness of my heart.  So, don't go telling Kenny the truth, okay?

Anyway, Kenny has been pretty lucky in life.  He has a wonderful wife, two beautiful daughters, a handsome son-in-law, and a sweet granddaughter, Lily Marie -- the most beautiful little girl on the planet.

Kenny has his faults, though. For one, he doesn't eat cheese.  For another thing...uh, I can't actually think of any other faults he has.  Give me some time, I'm sure I'll come up with something...sooner or later.

Truth to tell, there are few people I have known that I respect more.  When I was a kid, I knew that if I could ever be half the man my father was, I would be more than satisfied.  Kenny comes in second on that list.  I am proud to be his brother and  a (minor) part of me of glad that I have note led him astray.  I feel honored and privileged to have had him in my life for 76 years, and hope for many more to come.

Happy Birthday, bro!

21st PRECINCT: THE NOLEN BROTHERS (JULY 7, 1953)

 21st Precinct started out as summer replacement program for My Friend Irma on CBS Radio.  It lasted until July 26, 1956.  Produced with the cooperation of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York, the fictional 21st Precinct has a historical basis -- New York once had a 21st Precinct but it was eliminated in 1929 during a police department reorganization; the action in the show takes place in territory suspiciously resembling New York's Upper East Side 23rd Precinct.  The episodes are supposedly based on real cases.

Everett Sloane starred as precinct captain Frank Kennelly.  After 109 episodes, Sloan's character was promoted to Deputy Inspector.  Hid replacement was Captain Cronin, played by James Gregory.  For a few months in the final season, the precinct was headed by Captain Keough, played by Les Damon).  The supporting cast included Ken Lynch, Harold Stone, Jack Orrison, and Santos Ortega.

21st Precinct was basically Dragnet set on the East Coast, but it offered more insights into the lead character, making human appear more human than Joe Friday.

In this premiere episode, written and directed by Stanley Niss, the 21sr has to confront three dangerous bank robbers holed up in an apartment building.

Enjoy,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTnDIijG52Q