Supercool Atomic Age Comic Book and Record Set (by Noel Sickles?) 1 1

[adamstrange]

I spent a summer working at General Dynamics. 

My supervisor asked me, "Do you know what the difference is between General Dynamics and the Boy Scouts?"

Me:  No.

Supervisor:  "The Boy Scouts have adult leadership."

Edited November 12, 2020 by adamstrange

[sfcityduck]

On 11/11/2020 at 7:28 PM, adamstrange said:

I spent a summer working at General Dynamics. 

My supervisor asked me, "Do you know what the difference is between General Dynamics and the Boy Scouts?"

Me:  No.

Supervisor:  "The Boy Scouts have adult leadership."

I am going to be stealing this joke.

[50YrsCollctngCmcs]

This is a fantastic piece and it makes me yearn for the days when America would celebrate our technological and industrial achievements. I worked as an aerospace engineer in the early years of my career before abandoning that life for more creative work. While that career wasn't for me the dedication, talent and innovation of those I worked with were evident. And I'm still proud of the work I did supporting the Gamma Ray Observatory that successfully launched in the early nineties. Hey and the tie in to Hulk wasn't lost on me back then!!

I think your call on Sickles work is accurate; beautiful work at that. I bet this type of work paid better too.

Today you would only find this sort of promotion in the digital realm; nothing permanent on the illustrative side although the media sticks around for awhile. I'm curious if you plan on playing the LP or if you think it has ever been played. If I got this piece I would probably put that disk on my old turntable and listen to it.

Congratulations! Great stuff and thanks for sharing!

[sfcityduck]

2 minutes ago, 50YrsCollctngCmcs said:

This is a fantastic piece and it makes me yearn for the days when America would celebrate our technological and industrial achievements. I worked as an aerospace engineer in the early years of my career before abandoning that life for more creative work. While that career wasn't for me the dedication, talent and innovation of those I worked with were evident. And I'm still proud of the work I did supporting the Gamma Ray Observatory that successfully launched in the early nineties. Hey and the tie in to Hulk wasn't lost on me back then!!

I think your call on Sickles work is accurate; beautiful work at that. I bet this type of work paid better too.

Today you would only find this sort of promotion in the digital realm; nothing permanent on the illustrative side although the media sticks around for awhile. I'm curious if you plan on playing the LP or if you think it has ever been played. If I got this piece I would probably put that disk on my old turntable and listen to it.

Congratulations! Great stuff and thanks for sharing!

I haven't listened to it yet, but I have a back up LP.  The autographed LP looks to be in really nice shape.  My guess is not many people would want to listen to it twice!

[Jayman]

13 hours ago, sfcityduck said:

I haven't listened to it yet, but I have a back up LP.  The autographed LP looks to be in really nice shape.  My guess is not many people would want to listen to it twice!

I heard it talks about nuclear fission but if you play it backwards, you get the formula for nuclear fusion! 

[sfcityduck]

As a footnote, these ads for free single issues of the Atomic Revolution comic book ran in 1957 and 1958 magazines:

[MusterMark]

On 11/14/2020 at 6:23 AM, Jayman said:

On 11/13/2020 at 4:32 PM, sfcityduck said:

I haven't listened to it yet, but I have a back up LP.  The autographed LP looks to be in really nice shape.  My guess is not many people would want to listen to it twice!

I heard it talks about nuclear fission but if you play it backwards, you get the formula for nuclear fusion! 

Play it backwards, play it backwards.

 

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

You always have some amazing posts and this piece of history is no exception.  Congratulations! Thank you for sharing.  

[sfcityduck]

On 11/9/2020 at 4:05 PM, sfcityduck said:

I'm just not entirely convinced from what I've seen of Sam Citron's art this is his, but some panels do appear to have the clean DC style and could be by someone who did a lot of romance.  In fact, it is almost good enough to have followed Raymond on Rip Kirby:

 

Up thread I made that comment.  Now, I'm seeing on eBay sellers claiming that the art for the Atomic Revolution is by John Prentice (who followed Raymond on Rip Kirby).  There is no evidence for this assertion that I know of.  I think it is just some sloppy reading of this thread.

Here's an update on my own pet theory that Noel Sickles was the artist:  Milt Caniff's personal papers include a copy of this comic!  Why?  I'd say maybe because his buddy Noel gave it to him.  Speculation, I know.

[sfcityduck]

I've been meaning to post this comic for some time. Other copies on the internet are out of order, including on Scientific American's website. Curious if anyone else has any thoughts on the artist:

Cover:

Inside front cover:

1:

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[sfcityduck]

5:

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Edited August 25, 2022 by sfcityduck

[sfcityduck]

11:

12-13:

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15:

[sfcityduck]

16-17 (centerfold):

18-19:

20:

 

 

[sfcityduck]

21:

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[sfcityduck]

25:

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30-31:

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Inside back cover:

 GE ad coming soon.

Back cover:

Edited August 25, 2022 by sfcityduck

[sfcityduck]

So why did I post this?  I think the art screams out Noel Sickles!  Sickles had previously worked with Copp, the publisher, and was doing ad work for General Dynamics and other corporations during that time. Some original art by him of nuclear power plant interiors has sold at auction. A copy of this comic is contained in Caniff's personal files - why? maybe Sickles sent it to him. When you look at the totality of the art in this comic, you can see that not that many guys working in comics had the skill set to hit that quality level.  So I ask who are the candidates who could have done this thing?

 

 

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by sfcityduck

[MattTheDuck]

Love these promotional/giveaway items.

[Book Guy]

I'm familiar with the Record you show in the first picture. I'm in the SF Bay Area and I see it a lot. Probably because Lawrence Livermore Lab is located here. I don't remember finding the comic Book in any of the LPs I've seen, but I'll pay more attention in the future. You had a whole promo package and that may be why the comic was with it. I've handled a few signed Teller items over the years too. Neat book!

[Book Guy]

A copy is available on ABE by Ground Zero Books. Here's there descriptive text:

Wraps. Condition: Good. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Format is approximately 7.25 inches by 9.75 inches. Cover has wear. RARE surviving copy. "Industrial" comic book. Mr. M. Philip Copp, a commercial artist-turned-agent-turned-publisher, a Connecticut sailing man from the Ivy League (well, he attended both Princeton and Yale), who set out, quixotically, to win over the leaders of the American Establishment for the "juvenile delinquency"-inducing medium they were, at that very moment, condemning-- comic books. According to a Sept. 1956 profile of "industrial comics," which anointed Mr. Copp as the go-to guy for American Business Interests' comic needs, TAR, which was "largely devoted to the peacetime uses of the atom," was designed as a resource for those "interested in learning something about the fundamentals of atomic life." More than a year in the making, Copp farmed out the creation of the book to "no fewer than eleven free-lance artists and four writers. Oliver Townsend, a one-time aide to Gordon Dean (ex-Chairman of The Atomic Energy Commission) is credited with the "basic text," and Life's science editor Warren Young turned in the final -script. TAR was the brainchild of John Hay Hopkins, the chairman of Groton-based Electric Boat, a WWII submarine manufacturer, which, under Hopkins' leadership, became General Dynamics. Hopkins turned General Dynamics from a shipbuilder to a diversified one-stop-shop for the Cold Warrior, and the atom was a major part of GD's offering. It built the Nautilus, the first nuclear submarine, and launched its General Atomic Division in 1955.

 

[sfcityduck]

On 8/25/2022 at 12:45 PM, Book Guy said:

I'm familiar with the Record you show in the first picture. I'm in the SF Bay Area and I see it a lot. Probably because Lawrence Livermore Lab is located here. I don't remember finding the comic Book in any of the LPs I've seen, but I'll pay more attention in the future. You had a whole promo package and that may be why the comic was with it. I've handled a few signed Teller items over the years too. Neat book!

I'm in SF.  The record came out in a "normal" sleeve and also a "gatefold" edition.  The gatefold editions came had a pocket on the left for inserts and it came with the comic book and the other larger GD insert (and also probably the map).  The "normal" editions had no inserts, or at least I've never found a copy with inserts (I have found several gatefolds with comics). I know the comic was packaged originally with non-promotional gatefolds not only because I've found gatefolds with comics in the wild, but also because I have a library copy from back east which has that sort of "library binding" libraries used to do (lots of tape) and that copy has the comic taped into the package.  My promo copy is unusual because of the CEO letter, not because of the comic. The map is hard to find with the gatefold, the comic next hardest, and the larger publication seems the least likely to be separated over time.

Here's my library copy (cover taped into the assembliage, but the interior pulled away from the cover):

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by sfcityduck