Fight the Enemy

There weren't a lot of gung-ho war comics published during the Viet Nam era but here's one. Two issues were published in '66 with a 3rd limping out some 5 months after the 2nd in March of the following year. Some solid art and story by old pros like Dick Giordano, Jose Delbo and Frank Giacoia but the timing was wrong.

Bob Hope Ad

Julie Newmar Vodka Ad

Bat Stuff # 51

VW Bus

Along with the Ford Mustang and the Batmobile, the Volkswagon bus just screams mid-sixties!

Noel Harrison

At the beginning of 1966, LIFE magazine profiled 31 year old Noel Harrison as an aspiring folk singer trying to get out from the shadow of his famous father, Rex. By the end of '66, however, Noel was on his way to achieving at least a brief cult status of his own as GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. April Dancer's sidekick, Mark Slate.

Bat Stuff # 50

Thanx to D. Weston on Facebook!

The Glass Bottom Boat

Universal Pictures

This was a big 3 page fold-out ad for Universal's big summer films in '66. In retrospect, no really their best year. Click to see bigger.

Batstuff # 49

Soft Drink Ads

I was a Coke and Pepsi kid (with the occasional Royal Crown or Orange Crush). Never tried any of these three at all.

The Man Called Flintstone

I was a huge fan of THE FLINTSTONES as a kid but somehow it never occurred to my parents to take me to see this feature film version that premiered in '66. I never even knew it existed at the time. THE MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE opened up the series and made it a James Bond-style spy spoof with some genuine action and adventure! I didn't catch it until a 1970 re-release double-featured with another Hanna-Barbera production, HEY THERE, IT'S YOGI BEAR.

Caterina Valente

Italian singer Caterina Valente, seen here in a '66 pic, was a frequent guest on American television during the decade and her music was big with the easy listening crowd.

Aftermath-The Rolling Stones

Like the Beatles, the US Stones releases continued to be different from the UK ones as well, in this case, cutting 4 songs completely, changing the cover and shoehorning in a more current single, "Paint It Black."

Beatles-Yesterday and Today

In the US, The Beatles had more LPs out than they did in the UK. How is this possible? Well, it seems that Capitol, the Fabs' US record label, would shave off a few songs here and there and simply release whole new compilation of them. Reportedly, the group was less than happy with this, especially as they were getting closer to their "concept album" phase. so hey decided to send the company a "butcher" cover for the latest compilation. Or maybe they were just stoned and thought the baby-killing pics were funny. Who knows? Capitol actually DID release the album with that cover but quickly pulled it after complaints. The offending image was stripped and replaced with a bored, boring, innocuous one. Well...it was supposed to be stripped, In quite a few cases,  the butcher cover was simply pasted over, thereby creating an instant collectible! In my case, the only version I ever had was on 8 Track...and that wasn't until 1976, a full decade past the debut of YESTERDAY AND TODAY.

I Spy # 2

TV Star Parade

The TV mags pretty much looked at BATMAN as a kids show and/or a fad as they continued their extensive coverage of Lucy, Lawrence Welk and The Lennon Sisters right into the seventies but they did at least acknowledge the BATMAN success here.

Swanson Fried Chicken Dinner

Frozen dinners had been around a while and they were getting better all the time but they took forever to cook! Microwaves? What are those?

Blazing Combat

Arguably one of the best written and drawn comics of all time, the short-lived, uncensored, black and white ANTI-war comics magazine BLAZING COMBAT was at its peak in '66. It was recently reprinted in hardcover.

Kellogg's Sugar Frosted Flakes

My favorite breakfast food in '66 was Kellogg's SUGAR Frosted Flakes! They were, to coin a phrase, GRRRRRRReat! Note that the word "sugar" was actually used as a selling point! Later this cereal and many others such as Sugar Smacks and Super Sugar Crisp, changed that to fit in with more healthy eating habits.

Modesty Blaise

There's certainly a good movie in the plot of Peter O'Donnell's classic UK comic strip spy, Modesty Blaise, but so far no one has made that film. This first cinematic version from '66 is one of those "style before substance" movies that were incomprehensible then and aged badly from there. Although she looks the part above, actress Monica Vitti is blonde throughout most of the picture...and sometimes hard to understand. At times it's awfully pretty but after several viewings over the years, I still say it just isn't any good at all.