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SCOTT SHAW! SATURDAYS!
If you loved the Swingin’ Sixties, the Sizzlin’ Seventies, and Women’s Lib, but never partook in the more controversial side of the counterculture, this is the funnybook for you… or your grandkids.
Whenever Western aka Gold Key ventured into the counterculture, it was entertainingly, ridiculously lame concepts, like The Modniks, Mod Love, Mod Wheels, and Zody the Mod Rob, which I wrote about in the first issue of RetroFan. (Yeah, someone at Western was convinced that the word “mod” was a sales-getter.)
Western already knew how to create comics, so they were in a much better position to thrive. It hung on to most of the licenses, determined what it would publish, and all under a new imprint, “Gold Key,” which had a much more “modern” approach to cover designs and top-quality material between those covers. Indeed, from June 1962 to 1964, Gold Key had some of the hippest cover designs in the history of comics. The ones that came out of the NYC office also had needless full-color panel borders… but not for long. In fact, within two years, the hip approach was abandoned and replaced with simple gag covers like Dell had always asked for.
From that point on, although Gold Key published hundreds of great comics, none of it was anything you might consider hip.
The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril #1, June 1970. Cover art by Jack Manning. Interior pages: written by Del Connell; artwork by Jack Manning.
So how does one create a fun and innocent character for kids who exists in a world teeming with sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll? Snappy dialog, great character designs, outrageous situations and innovative layouts seemed to fill the bill.
It’s very possible that The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril was originally conceived by Del Connell and Jack Manning to be a syndicated comIc strip for newspapers. “Women’s Lib” was a fairly new concept of feminism that was sweeping the country and all forms of its media. TV shows such as 1966’s That Girl (ABC) and 1970’s The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS) were both series with that underlying theme, albeit softly.
The Perils of Pauline – originally a silent film in 1914, with new versions in 1933 and 1947, came back in 1967, as a new feature film starring Pamela Austin as “Pauline,” Pat Boone, and Terry-Thomas. It was originally shot as a television series, which explains why its co-stars included noted character actors of the day, including Edward Everett Horton, Vito Scotti and even Beaver Cleaver’s principal, Doris Packer.
The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril #2, September 1970. Cover art by Jack Manning. Interior pages: written by Del Connell; artwork by Jack Manning.
Friday Foster was a new comic strip about a black “girl reporter” by Jim Lawrence and Jorge Longaron from 1970 to 1974, which spawned a comic book (Dell, October 1972), and even a feature film (1975). Another syndicated strip, created by cartoonists Mell Lazarus as “Fulton” (Miss Peach, Momma) and Jack Rickard (Mad magazine), was The Adventures of Pauline McPeril, starring another gorgeous blonde lady, this time a secret agent. It had a very short run from 1966 to 1967, syndicated by Publishers-Hall.
Then there was “Penelope Pitstop,” introduced in Hanna-Barbera Productions’ Wacky Races (1968). Not coincidentally, Manning drew the Wacky Races comic book for Del Connell at Western Publishing, so it’s not that surprising how many readers (and even vintage comic book dealers) have assumed that Pauline Peril was based on an unsold Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. But that just wasn’t the case. Pauline Peril was definitely a Western Publishing creation, and one that I believe was most likely influenced by Jack’s work on Wacky Races.
Here’s the cast: Pauline Peril is a devoted reporter for The Daily Noose, so intrepid that she often doesn’t even realize that she’s in danger. And when she does, she’s so sure that her mesomorph boyfriend Chester Chesty — usually attracted by her poochie-dog Weakheart’s whining — will show up to save the day. Unbeknownst to anyone but the readers, Snodgrass McViper, the editor of The Daily Noose is the villain who’s out to destroy Pauline.
The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril #3, December 1970. Cover art by Jack Manning. Interior pages: written by Del Connell; artwork by Jack Manning.
The assignments Snoddy gives her, which involve dangerous deep-sea dives, deadly mountain climbs and similar hazards, are designed to eliminate her as her father (and Noose owner) Porterhouse’s heir-apparent, in hopes the old man will bestow his wealth upon his faithful editor instead.
The 15-cent intro issue’s 25-page story, “The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril,” begins with our heroine hanging from the rear axel of a flying bus outfitted with chopper blades, as three citizens on the street below react with a variation of the old “bird-plane-Superman” riff: “Look! It’s a whirly bird!” “No… it’s a whirly girly!” “No, no… it’s Pauline Peril… girl reporter for The Daily Noose!”
Fortunately, the stereotypical blonde lands on a full luggage cart, only to board a nearby jet plane bound for Africa. Missing the flight, faithful Weakheart dives into the Atlantic Ocean, swimming after her. En route, the narrator fills in the reader with Pauline’s back story: The incredibly wealthy Porterhouse P. Peril was disgusted with his beautiful young daughter who was wasting her time languishing around the huge family swimming pool surrounded by ardent teenage Lotharios.
The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril #4, March 1970. Cover art by Jack Manning. Interior pages: written by Del Connell; artwork by Jack Manning.
The old coot kicks the boys off of his estate, then purchases The Daily Noose newspaper and instructs its City Editor – Snodgrass McViper – to hire his daughter for “assignments where she’ll get around and meet the right kind of young men!” McViper resents that he’s been made the babysitter of the carefree and rather oblivious young lady. That resentment – and the possibility that if she’s no longer around, the senior Peril might will the newspaper to Snodgrass – leads to him continually send Pauline out on her the dreaded “right kind” of assignments — which means potentially fatal ones!
The exact cause for the series’ cancellation is unknown. However, due to its more-or-less-quarterly publication schedule, the management at Western Publications had surely received information regarding the sales of the first two issues, which may have not proved to be plentiful. And let’s face it, it’s certainly possible that the series was killed because some corporate higher-up felt that it was too sexy, too unusual, too difficult for kids to read, or too offensive to women. (After all, Pauline’s “lucky dingy” schtick was not only the opposite of a feminist character, she didn’t have much personality in general.) But those are merely scenarios, not fact.
To date, Pauline Peril only exists in the memories and collections of those avid comic book fans who refuse to limit their four-color interests to superheroes. There has been no Pauline Peril merchandise and no usually-inevitable relaunch. I think that’s for the best, but I would love to see a nice hardback reprint collection of all four issues of The Close Shaves of Pauline Peril.
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MORE
— Introducing… SCOTT SHAW! SATURDAYS Presents ODDBALL COMICS. Click here.
— ODDBALL COMICS: 1978’s Marvel Team-Up #74. Click here.
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