by Wham-O
front cover
In 1967, Wham-O released a giant comic book with the obvious name, “Giant Comics”. Touted on the cover as The World’s Largest Comic Book, it boasted over 1,500 Action Panels filled with original works from such well know artists as Wally Wood, among others.
Originally intended as a sales vehicle for Wham-O products, this first-and-only issue has become quite the collector’s item in many circles. Besides Wally Wood, contributors include W.T. Vinson (the wraparound cover), John Stanley (Little Lulu), Lou Fine, and Warren Tufts.
back cover
The strips included: Radian, Tor, The Young Eagles, Experiment in Shock, Mark of the Sun, Unexplored, Kaleidoscope of Fear, Galaxo, The Unhumans, Stellar Apes, The Secret Message, The Edge of Time, Goody Bumpkin, Captain Valoren, The Wooden Sword, The Diary of Ty Locke, Super Sibling and His Magic Chokes, Klunker the Misfit Monster, Clyde, Bridget, The Adventures of Melvin the Magician, Wild EarthChild, A Helping Handsome and Flabby and Gabby. Also included were games, puzzles and a six-issue subscription form.
Most collectors agree that, for a comic book, the coloring is poor. However, measuring a gigantic 14 x 21 inches, each single page held as much material as four pages from a regular-sized comic book. At 98-cents, this was a huge bargain considering the going price for the average comic book of the day was 12-cents.
The introduction to Giant Comics states: “The panels of this book placed end-to-end would stretch the length of a football field!”
