Today in Comics History, October 16, 1973: Lies, dripping off your mouth like dirt / Lies, lies in every step you walk

It's fun to look back now through old issues of Gold Key's UFO Flying Saucers and seeing all the ridiuclius stuff we believed Project: Blue Book was hiding from us (Bigfoot hitching a ride with Elvis on a flying saucers? tghere's no way that couldn't happen!), but every now and then they let us in on the flip side of that star-eyed ignorance: stuff they couldn't believe even back then in the UFO-crammed 1970s. Enter Gold Key's four-color version of Amazing Randi (no relation to my dear Randi): the skeptical, fraud-exposing Hoaxmaster! The first myth busted: that he bought that suit and top hat at retail! (Hoaxbuster never pays full price!)


from "The Hoaxmaster Knows -- and Tells All!" in UFO Flying Saucers #4 (Western/Gold Key, November 1974), pencils and inks by Frank Bolle



Turns out that was just a "clever" plan by the cabbie to defraud his boss. Now there's a sentiment us disgruntled non-union workers of today can empathize with!


Also on this day: the guys in the panel below just can't stop themselves from wrapping up in a shiny protective coat of Reynolds Aluminum Foil™ (or, in the UK, Aluminium) to get their fifteen minutes of fame. Don't chew on that stuff, my dudes!


These fraudster dopes later reaped their own tragic end when they attempted to hide outin a microwave.

Hoaxes, won't you?

This post was suggested by faithful reader and frequent commenter Blam, who's provided a lot of date references in comics that I'll spotlight throughout 2023 in this series. Thanks, Blam!