Never spurn what you learn in the Culture Corner with Basil Wolverton

From Whiz Comics #125

For knowledge you'll never acquire in college, read Culture Corner with Basil Wolverton

From Whiz Comics #66

Complete with dripping horror font

Despite what you may have heard, the surgeon general's report was stronger than most people expected but it basically backed up what everyone had known all along: smoking was bad for you.

When you see those ads from the Fifties with doctors smoking and recommending specific brands, you need to remember that these ads didn't reflect popular perception; they were trying to counter it.

Learn things about stuff!! Always read the Culture Corner -- with Basil Wolverton!!

Just because I haven't mentioned John Stanley for a while

Nor have I recently posted a link to Stanley Stories, which is nearly inexcusable. John Stanley was that rarest of birds. In addition to being a gifted cartoonist, he was a comic book writer who could actually write. His characters were sharp and believable, his plots were beautifully constructed and his dialogue was a joy.

Your source for all things Stanley is, of course, Stanley Stories, presented with loving scholarship that borders on the obsessive, from the early Lulu years to the brilliant curtain call, O.G. Whiz.

One of the essential comic book blogs.

Get polish without the brush -- read Basil Wolverton's Culture Corner

Happy Birthday, Will!

And thanks to the good people at Google.

For a character with magical powers he wasn't very lucky

But he was very good.

Out of the seemingly endless crop of Mandrake impersonators who cropped up in the Golden Age, Mr. Mystic was one of the least successful, but he was possibly the best drawn of the bunch. Bob Powell achieved what might be his personal best on this back feature for the Spirit Section (quite an accomplishment given Powell's portfolio).

Will Eisner created the character and wrote the first run of stories including this memorable tale from 1940.