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At least a few somewhat serious comic book fans and followers out there are smart enough to admit that the Pre-Trend period of the EC comics line ranged from turdburger funny animal swipes to well-honed efforts that foreshadowed future greatness. And really, when that infamous comic book line got off the ground in 1946 who would have guessed that the same publisher that was putting out such innocuous titles as DANDY COMICS and THE HAPPY HOULIHANS would eventually rankle the prissies and prudes of the day with THE HAUNT OF FEAR and WEIRD SCIENCE-FANTASY! I'm sure that the biddies who were responsible for this particular title in question never would have thought so, and if you only got hold of an ish of LAND OF THE LOST way back when you too would have had your own doubts!
Along with TINY TOT COMICS ("Your First Comic Book!"), LAND OF THE LOST was part of the first wave of non "Picture Story" titles that MC Gaines launched after he sold off his All-American line to DC. After a cursory look at this title I'm sure you'll admit that this one had about as much to do with MAD as Little Orphan Annie had to do with Oktobriana (more on her in a future review!).
Judging from the inside front cover of the debut issue featuring biographies and photos of LAND OF THE LOST's creators (a franchise which actually started out as a Mutual network radio program and featured story books amongst perhaps other marketable ephemera) you'd get the idea that writer Isabel Manning Hewson and artist Olive Bailey would have been part of the same mob that would have LOVED to have burned down the EC offices during the days of the comic book purges. In those just post-WWII days the two were cranking out what many would have called a nice innocuous comic book that featured fantasy stories that normal people would have said were perfectly suited for wholesome, well-behaved kids. EC would obviously be catering to the demented teenbo types in a good four or so years and I know, who at least in this audience of mine would have wanted to be some well-scrubbed and behaved bow-tied nimnul anyway.
As the story goes siblings Billy and Isabell are given magic seaweed by Red Lantern, a kinda/sorta cross between a fish and Ed Wynn, which allows the pair to breathe underwater as they visit the Land of the Lost. That's where all lost things go ('cept for my hair and a whole slew of hymens I gather) and a place where the denizens of the deep go anthropomorphic complete with clothing and fins that aren't quite as armlike as Donald or Daffy Duck's but suit their purposes rather doggone well.
The stories really ain't that much to rave about but then again they're aimed at the single-digit types and not us sophisticados. That would sort of be like me complaining about Mister Rogers because he didn't tell dirty jokes!
I'll admit that despite the overhearing kiddietude of this title the sagas are quite original and at times somewhat witty. What I really like about LAND OF THE LOST is Bailey's art. It is somewhat pedestrian even by forties comic book standards, but there are various flashes of brilliance that remind me of the illustrations in books that I remember thumbing through during my own turdler times. Times that continue to bring back a whole load of happy memories before kindergarten and reality began to set in if I do say so myself.
I personally liked the Umbrellaland story which features a bumbershoot that sports a rather feminine set of eyes, as well as a pert nose and lips. I dunno but this one does "something" deep and almost spiritual to me, like reminds me of preschool-era fun things I saw when I was but a mere three years old long before everyone turned on me. Sometimes I believe that my turdler self knew more about life and existence than my current codger form ever will...at least I believed in things that were more on the ball than what others held to their hearts, like that in the hierarchy of life there were humans, dogs and then all of the other animals (canines really did, and still do, hold a special place in the ranking of the living and breathing) and that I had special powers that would allow me to fly, walk on the walls and twist my head around like Charlie McCarthy. Unfortunately all of these supernatural gifts I had suddenly vanished when the authorities decided to infest my life with "reality", and danged if I'll ever get my abilities back!
There are other surprises to be seen, from a story entitled "Desert Dawn" (drawn by ex-Fleisher animator Saul Kessler and originally released as a pamphlet for the American Museum of Natural History) featuring an obvious Bugs Bunny swipe named Johnny Jackrabbit, to more of those tritely-rendered historical dramas that the Picture Story series was famous for. There's even a one-pager by Ed Wheelan of MINUTE MOVIES and FAT AND SLAT notoriety that pops up in issue four injecting a little looniness into the entire properness of such a title as this!
Some might find these comics snoozeville, reactionary and downright fill in the blank whatever "ism" that's popular these days but hey, only a hidebound feminist, male gender lacky or modern day rock critic wouldn't admit that LAND OF THE LOST was a well-produced and pleasant enough read even for someone long past this mag's target audience. It even sports the "Educational Comics" slug logo 'stead of the more familiar "Entertaining" one that would soon come into use on other EC titles. Whatever, an interesting enough entry into the Golden Age canon of comic books that catered to a kid clientele that weren't that particular, but were smarter than most would have been led to believe.
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