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COMIC BOOK REVIEW! O.G. WHIZ #3, AUGUST 1971 ISSUE (Gold Key Comics)

Boy does this comic book dredge up the ol' memories. And by that I mean memories of NOT reading this particular title if you can believe it! Y'see, thanks to the iron fist of parental demand during my adolescent suburban slob days there were words that my cyster and I were definitely not permitted to use, and other than the actual hard breaking the second commandment and various excremental/sexual words oft used by careless elders and those bad kids in the neighborhood the various cheap knockoffs of said words were strictly verboten! That included such seemingly innocent terms like "gosh darn", "cripes", "gol ding ya", "sheesh" maybe and the ever popular "gee whiz"! Sure they sounded rather tame next to the original takes (tho the folk never did catch onto the true meaning of "hot stuff"!) but the utterance of even these rather innocuous exclamations was bound to get either of us the ol' beady eyed look!

So that's why I never did pick up a copy of O.G.WHIZ back when it was up 'n about at the Dimoff's comic book rack way back inna early-seventies. For some reason or another I woulda thought mom 'n dad woulda been more pleased to see an issue of ZAP! than this Gold Key comic with the controversial title lyin' on the bed. And judging from the covers I had espied of O.G. WHIZ I thought this kinda comic woulda been exactlly the thing the elders woulda wanted me to be reading --- funny innocuous cartoons made for kids about kids with lotsa fun gags 'n adventures to be had. Not that you couldn't find any adventures kids woulda liked inna pages of ZAP!...

The title character's a kid who happens to be president of a large toy company and bereft of an origin story I don't know how he acquired such a lofty position. However, a mean grownup appropriately named Mr. Thutnose is doing his underhanded best to have Whiz gone so he can rule the Tikkletoy company naturally flopping about badly as he usually snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. Thankfully there is a grownup on Whiz's side, a Miss Trinket who is young and cute and, like yer very own kindergarten teacher, would definitely win the hearts of any lovesick Wheezer or Chubsy Ubsy who woulda laid eyes on her. She's probably a bitch when off panel but at least it's nice to look at a li'l feminine pulchritude as the days get even more butchier than usual.

The stories are pretty good even if they are worked over themes from the past ninetysome years of highlarious kiddie fodder. "The King and I" reworks the old Prince/Pauper switcheroo as Whiz and Neuresthenia switch identities by wrapping themselves up mummy-like in bandages to see how the other half lives. "The Curse of Tut-Tut-Tut" has the Tikkletoy Company making copies of a prized medallion to make money for flood victims only the real deal one gets mixed in with the bogus efforts. "Love Thy Labor" deals with relations between management and the proles at the company and since labor relations are something that never does come up in kiddie comics this does make for a keen change o' pace. And closing out this particular ish is "The Toy Boy Scout" where Whiz thinks the other kids in his troup are playing up to him because he owns a toy company, and he's right!

Hey, it was a fun comic that went swell on a Saturday afternoon which could have been spent doing something creative. Well, who sez this particular review ain't, but anyhow I will admit I really would have appreciated this comic had I read it while it was fresh rather'n get it handed down to me by Bill Shute. And come to think of it, do you think my parents woulda approved had they found a copy of THE NEW ADVENTURES OF JESUS in my fart-encrusted bedroom?