1967 WHAMO Giant Comic #1
zealtime has added a photo to the pool:
Here's a scan from one of the panels in the Whamo Giant Comic #1 (and the only one they published) - "Vehicles to Suit Your Hobby".
I had this comic book when I was a kid and it's probably my all time favorite.
Luckily I have another copy now.
Tim on 18 Nov 2008 at 8:01 am #
Chronicle Books just released WHAM-O Super-Book: Celebrating 60 Years Inside the Fun Factory! I’m the author and here’s what I wrote about WHAM-O Giant Comic:
At 14 ″ inches by x 21 ″ inches (when closed!), the “World’s Largest Comic Book” was a handful even for two kids. The inside front cover of WHAM-O Giant Comics offered a fantastic chart of airplanes, or, as the editors put it, a “portfolio of far-out aircraft.” The inside, back cover featured an article titled “Flying Saucers Mystify the Air Force.” Laid out in magazine style, this “story” featured first-hand accounts of UFO sightings and close encounters with alien aircraft. A flying saucer beams up a cow in one panel and shears the wing off a fighter jet in another. In between the covers were “over 1,500 action panels” from a variety of comic book artists like Wallace Wood. There were some funnies, but science fiction dominated the offerings because it was released in 1967, at the height of our space race with the Soviet Union.
The copyright notice in the WHAM-O Giant Comics book stated that it was published, appropriately enough, on April Fool’s Day, 1967. It was supposed to come out quarterly thereafter. WHAM-O offered subscriptions and a letter from the editors that urged kids: “Be sure to save this copy! First editions of comic books often become collector’s items and very valuable. Ask your store when the next issue of WHAM-O GIANT COMICS will be in!” Another copy never came. Not because of the content, but because of the comical size of the thing! It was just too cumbersome to handle and too “giant” for its own good.
WHAM-O toys were wacky, wild and wonderful! Thanks for posting on one of my favorites!