Comics Within Comics Month, Day 28: Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1963

Panel from 1963 #1 [Mystery Incorporated] (April 1993), script by Alan Moore, pencils by Rick Veitch, inks by Dave Gibbons, colors by Marvin Kilroy, letters by Don Simpson



Cover of 1963 #3 [Tales of the Uncanny] (June 1993), pencils by Rick Veitch, inks by Don Simpson
The scene in 1963 #1 was of course inspired by similar scenes in Fantastic Four...also "circa 1963":


Panels from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #5 (July 1962), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
Say, why is the Hulk colored purple? (Because he's a giant grape?) A more important observation: didja notice the other comic within a comic?


Cover of The Incredible Hulk (1962 series) #1 (May 1962), pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by George Roussos or maybe Jack Kirby (?), colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
However, the issue of The Incredible Hulk #1 that Johnny Storm is reading has an incorrect back cover. The real Marvel-Deal featured an ad for for the Famous Artist's School on its back cover, not a pin-up. But the back cover of Johnny's mag is similar to the page one title of Hulk #1! Have you got your comic book inside out, Young Mister Storm?


Back cover and page one of The Incredible Hulk #1
But hey, what about that quirky back cover of Tales of the Uncanny that Kid Dynamo is relaxing with in the 1963 panel waaaaay at the very top of this post? Is that accurate? Welllllll...it's close, but no go, Joe. Here's the actual back cover of 1963 #3:


Back cover of 1963 #3 [Tales of the Uncanny] (June 1993), probably created by Rick Veitch
Which is a parody of this frequently seen comic book ad:


(By the way, that hefty "80 lb. stock" that the monsters are printed on? At .011" thick, 80 pound stock is only marginally heavier and thicker than a regular sheet of printer paper. I'm betting these monsters were printed in thin poster paper and shipped rolled up in a tube.)

Actually, the back cover of 1963 #1 (the one in which Kid Dynamo is appearing) has the back cover ad parody that we see on 1963 #3, he one he's reading. Doesn't that blow your puny human brain?!?


Back cover of 1963 #1 [Mystery Incorporated] (April 1993); script, pencils, and inks by Rick Veitch
And yes, "Shamed By You English?" is a take-off on another popular comic book ad:


The deep-drilling into the onion of Comics Within Comics ends for today, but for those of you who care to Read More About It™, you can bike on down to your local library just click on this link to read about the British version of the "Shamed by Your English?" ad! But not me. Nope, I aint click'in on no ad, no way sirree, 'cuz my English-speakifyin' is poifect.