Pizzazz #3 - Marvel

Dec. 1977 - It's Christmas time at the House of Ideas!

Its been a little while since I picked up another issue of Pizzazz , and this one is particularly fun!

Starting off with an article on Close Encounters of the Third Kind (written by Mark Evanier!), there's a piece of short fiction by Rad Bradbury, followed by a great article about the then-new Amazing Spider-Man newspaper strip:

There's the usual games and puzzles section, featuring various members of the Marvel Universe. There's a word find with Captain America, a secret code with Thor, and a maze starring Power Man:

...Sweet Christmas!

This issue also features another set of installments of my favorite two features--Young Tarzan and Star Wars:

There's also the usual gag strip features, Magic Tips with Dr. Strange, "Christmas with the Stars" (with John Travolta, KISS, Mary Hartman, and other 70s fixtures), and a piece on Olympic Horses.

There's also a short piece about what to ask for Christmas, which includes a picture of a kid unwrapping presents--which includes Marvel's Superhero Women book, available for purchase via a house ad running a few pages earlier. Marvel never missed a chance to try and make a sale!


I am so in love with the Tarzan and Star Wars features, I am determined to get every issue of Pizzazz so I can read the entire story (stories)!

Pizzazz #5 - Marvel

Feb. 1978 - Best backing band ever!

I've pretty much decided to pick up all the old issues of Pizzazz I don't have, if for no other reason than to follow the regular Young Tarzan and Star Wars installments, two strips I have never seen before.

But even if this issue didn't have those two features, how could I turn down that cover? Captain America, Dr. Strange, and C3PO backing Linda Ronstadt!! There's really no way for this issue to live up to that cover, but Marvel's going to give it the old college try.

After an article about Ronstadt (featuring some kinda sexy photos of her--tame by today's standards, but maybe just a little eyebrow raising for what was supposed to be a kids' magazine). Following that are some TV and movie reviews, some funny poems, and then this sort of out-of-left-field feature--a Star Trek quiz:

After this is some short ficition ("Wings At The Window" by Richard Peck), some more of Dr. Strange's magic tricks, some gag strips, and then a whole mess of Marvel-centric puzzle pages:

Following the Marvel puzzle pages (which featured Hulk, Spider-Man, Captain America, Dr. Strange, The Thing, and Medusa[!]) is an article about a deejay named:

I love this photos--the 'fro, the shades, the leisure suit, the cigarette (in a kids' mag!), and the crotch-centric pose--could this be more 1970s?

There's an article about Mardi Gras, the "Dear Stan" advice column (which sits atop a half-page ad for Shazam! From The Forties to the Seventies, an unusual choice), the other advice column "Dear Wendy", and then our two favorite Pizzazz features:

Following this is a game called "Start Your Own Rock Group", a recipe page for George Washington Bread(?), a piece about basketball, and some more reviews. And so another issue of Pizzazz comes to a close!

Pizzazz #11 - Marvel

Aug. 1978 - Special Fame Issue!

Once you get past the idea of having Woody Allen next to the Hulk (man, Woody would have been a good Bruce Banner, when you think about it), you can see that this issue of Pizzazz is truly "special", since its a little more thematically focused than previous issues.

Yes, this issue is all about being famous, and all the articles inside relate somehow to that concept. It opens with a piece about the legendary rock club CBGB's:

I have to say, I think its a little surprising to see Patti Smith and Television mentioned in what was supposed to be a kids' magazine. Well done, Pizzazz.

There's a long comic strip segment called "Kid, We're Gonna Make You A Star!", followed by a "A Star Is Born" MadLibs-type thing, a "Now That You're A Star" Game, and "How To Act Like A Star Even If You're Not"--all of which is pitched at a slightly older, more cynical audience, as if (for this issue at least), Pizzazz was going after the Mad audience:

There's no Spider-Man or Marvel-centric puzzle pages this time, and not even an installment of Young Tarzan. Gah! Luckily the Star Wars strip is still here (hey, this was the late 70s--Pizzazz knew where its bread was buttered):

This segment was drawn by Walt Simonson and Klaus Janson, a boffo team.

There's a short piece on Travolta--Joey Travolta, that is, followed by a piece on Great White Sharks (hmm, I guess with the Jaws movies they were sorta famous...), and then a fun, Warren-ish article on sci-fi heroes in the movies:

I like how it makes room for Commando Cody and Captain America, but not other, bigger movie serial stars like Superman and Captain Marvel. I wonder why that would be?

The issue ends with a one-page gig strip, an old "Hey Look" by none other than Harvey Kurtzman! Kind of an odd way to go out, but hey, if you can run something by the legendary Harvey Kurtzman, you do it.


And so ends another issue of Pizzazz--a little disappointed there was no Young Tarzan installment (that and Star Wars are the main reason I'm buying these things), but I'm still determined to pick up more of these old mags. All In Black & White For 75 Cents, you are a harsh mistress.

Pizzazz #1 - Marvel

Oct. 1977 - Fun filled first issue!

I am now officially on the Pizzazz bandwagon, which means I'm trying to buy up every issue (as cheaply as possible) just so I can follow the serializes Tarzan and Star Wars strips, which I find utterly charming.

But of course there's more than just that crammed into each and every issue of the mag; as he cover indicates, this inaugural release kicks off with an article about Star Wars, a mini-game called "Monster Trek", a short piece of fiction called "Time Machine", as well as some Marvel character-starring puzzles and games, like these:

...look how sad Silver Surfer looks! Breaks your heart.

There's an article on KISS, a wall calendar, then this way-cool article on magic, starring Dr. Strange what was probably a very lonely kid:

There's some more humor material, plus something called "Literary Landscapes" (featuring the settings of famous books, and you have to name the books). Then we get to the really good stuff:

This issue wraps up with some gag strip material, "Cars of the Stars" (featuring such of-the-moment faces like The Fonz, Kojak, Cher, and The Bionic Woman), ending with a Pizzazz iron-on that says "I've got Pizzazz."

As a great man liked to say, 'Nuff Said!

Pizzazz #4 - Marvel

Jan. 1978 - It's a party, and you're invited!

After I got such an enthusiastic response to this blog's first look at Marvel's Pizzazz magazine, I knew I had to go find another issue to look at, post-haste. Once I saw this cover--featuring Spidey, the Hulk, and Thor mingling with Charlie's Angels, the Fonz, and the Hardy Boys, I knew which issue I'd be buying next.

This issue opens with an article on soccer, called "Soccer: Getting Hot" (I dunno; it always seems like we're being told soccer, as a sport, is thisclose to becoming huge in America, and yet it never seems to happen), some TV, movie, and record reviews, a page on magic tricks, followed by another installment where comic book artist Rudy Nebres interprets readers' dreams:

There's another page of Dr. Doom telling jokes (with little drawings by Marie Severin, beautiful) called "Dr. Doom Cracks Up", followed by this surprisingly serious and pointed cartoon strip by Al Swiller:

After this are the traditional puzzle pages, like a music-centric word find, a Hulk secret code, and this maze where you have to help the Mighty Thor find his way back to Asgard:

...I expect this issue to skyrocket in value once the Thor movie comes out, if I can keep myself from trying out the maze.

There's a monster-centric crossword puzzle, an article on Alice Cooper, followed by a Donny and Marie calendar centerfold (surely the only time these two acts were ever mentioned in the same sentence). There's some short fiction, a poem about when the Cuyahoga River caught fire(!), and then the advice column called "Dear Stan."

After that is the really good stuff: the two serialized comic book strips, "Young Tarzan" by David Kraft and Joe Buscema, and "Star Wars" by Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, and Tony DeZuniga:

Man, are these fun--the format and the content. Kind of makes me want to buy all the Pizzazzs just to read both stories in total.

There's some more gag strips, a piece on O.J. Simpson(!!), and then an article called "Whatever Happened to Vinnie Barbarino?", which sort of morphs Vinnie, Tony Manero, and John Travolta into one person.

Ad-wise, there's some cool stuff here, like this ad from Wonderland Records:

...what is "Bionic Action", exactly?

Wonderland sorta seems like a second-rate Power Records, but they did have the Star Wars license, that's a pretty big deal.

There's another ad, even more perplexing:

...I have no idea what this is, but I know I want it!

And so ends another issue of Pizzazz. Rest assured it won't be the last seen on this blog...

Pizzazz #2 - Marvel

Nov. 1977 - "In this issue: Fun with Spider-Man!"

Every time I go to a comic con, one of the things I always do is pick up at least a couple of old magazines to talk about for new posts here on the blog, and my trip to the 2010 New York Comic Con was no exception!

Most of the dealers are the show didn't have any magazines for sale, so when I found one that did, I quickly rifled through the boxes looking for something interesting. Once I saw the above cover, I knew I had found the subject of my first new post.

I remember reading Pizzazz fairly regularly as a kid; its frequent comic book/sci-fi content always attracted my attention. I don't remember this seeing this issue before; how could anyone forget cover like that?

This issue opens with some standard TV, book, music, and movie reviews (Captains Courageous, Space Academy, the Bay City Rollers(!)) quickly getting to the interesting stuff: a feature called "The Dream Dimension" where comics artist Rudy Nebres illustrates dreams sent in by readers:

...weird, but definitely cool!

There's some short fiction, an article about parents, and then a sort of cynical gag strip called "I Hate Walt Disney", followed by some Spidey-centric puzzle pages, like this one:

Following this is an article about the Man From Atlantis TV show, a November calendar centerfold featuring The Beatles, a sports article, an advice column called "Write Wendy", some more gags, and then the really good stuff: two--two--separate comic book segments, the first being Young Tarzan by no less than Big John Buscema:

...following that, in a neat genre change-up, is Star Wars, featuring adventures of Luke and Co. post the first film:

Young Tarzan is only one page, while Star Wars is three. Both are too damn short, but man are they fun--I love that they had this kind of material in the mag.

There's some more gag strips, then this utterly charming puzzle page starring Marvel characters:

It takes a special kind of fan to spend your time searching for a hidden Volstagg.

Following this is "Dr. Doom Cracks Up", which features corny jokes and spot illustrations by the great Marie Severin, ending with some Marvel-centric recipes and a toys and games review section.

Part of the fun of looking through old mags like this is checking out the ads--sometimes they can be more fun than the magazine's original content. The ads here aren't all that memorable, although I did enjoy this one:

...this computer has over 6k of RAM, retails for $120, and weighs approximately twenty pounds.


While most of this magazine's content is instantly forgettable, its of course important to remember it was meant to be. In a pre-internet age, this was how you communicated--or at the very least read about--kids your own age in other parts of the world.

And those two comic book strip segments are just wonderful; it makes me want to find more old cheap issues of Pizzazz to follow the stories, just like I would have the first time around!