Vintage Comic with Easter Island Tikis (Image Heavy)

Wrong Dimension Boy pointed this out to me:

Thanks Howard!

http://www.wrongdimensionboy.com/

Excerpts from this comic and a half-dozen others from the same era are featured in my book Big Stone Head.

Legendary illustrator Jack Kirby was really into the moai imagery, and used it quite a lot.

You wouldn't believe how much I had to pay for this comic last summer to scan it!

Several publishers are looking at BSH, as you read this.

Stay tuned...

Do you know what year that comic is from? I guess it's a little to much to ask that comic book writers do some research, but it's odd they didn't know that the moai have bodies (well, torsos anyway).

I had this comic when I was 6 or 7 in the early 70s. (I think I may have posted about in in Ye Old Yahoo in the early 00s). Because of it I called Moai "The Things on Easter Island" for years. Back then the story genuinely freaked me out especially as it ends (so I recall ) with the Earthling safe and off to sleep in his own bed, convinced that it was all a dream, not knowing that the Things had found him and were watching through his second story bedroom window. But they are convinced he believes it was a dream and wade back to Easter Island, waiting for their moment to take over the Earth!

"I guess it's a little to much to ask that comic book writers do some research, but it's odd they didn't know that the moai have bodies (well, torsos anyway)." -Sweet Daddy Tiki-

It was from Tales To Astonish!, and astonishing the reader was the point, not historical/scientific fact. (Like those reality based yawnfests Weird Tales, Tales From The Crypt, Spiderman...) C'mon...When you saw the above cover, weren't you astonished?

Hmmm...now we know what the parents of that kid on "The Critic" looked like.

The Critic's Kid From Easter Island

The comic was JUST REPRINTED in the Tales To Astonish Marvel Masterworks collection, available on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0785118896/103-1432712-7502248

Jack Kirby began doing Moai/Easter Island stories just after Thor Heyerdahl published Aku Aku.

Interestingly, Kirby sent the character THOR to Easter Island at least once...!

[ Edited by: tikibars 2006-04-19 10:19 ]

Do you know what year that comic is from?

It was printed in 1959. Here's the link to it at Mile High Comics. It's on sale...only $130! Marked down from $186. I'll take a dozen!

Now I see where the imagery in the tiki tones SUBURBAN SAVAGE CD sleeve came from; the walking stone Moai that is. Thx for the nice pix.

[ Edited by: Sneakytiki 2006-04-20 03:13 ]

This came out about a month ago. You can probably go into most comic shops and pick one up for cover price.

Here's an article published in the comic magazine Alter Ego #58 (Just came out last week) about various times the Moai heads have been used in cheesy horror stories:

ARCHIE #242 from 1962:

[ Edited by: wrongdimensionboy 2006-05-15 13:35 ]

STRANGE ADVENTURES #16

[ Edited by: wrongdimensionboy 2006-05-15 13:36 ]

HOUSE OF MYSTERY #85 from April 1959

[ Edited by: wrongdimensionboy 2006-05-15 13:36 ]

This one is stretching it a bit in terms of being "tiki-related", but it sort of fits the bill.
FOUR COLOR #142 (March 1947)

[ Edited by: wrongdimensionboy 2006-05-15 13:35 ]

Wrongdimensionboy you rock!!!!! Thanks for the awesome post. Somebody has been doing their homework.

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

TALES TO ASTONISH #16 - February 1961

Yup. Someone was definitely reading Thor Heyerdahl. Either Stan Lee or Jack Kirby. Wonder if it inspired the super hero as well:

Is Robert Louis Stevenson considered tiki?

Here's a Hawaiian shirt:

The Bottle Imp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The Bottle Imp

The Bottle Imp (1893) is a short story by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson about a working class native of Hawaii, Keawe, who buys a strange bottle from a sad, elderly gentleman who credits the bottle with his wealth and fortune, and promises the bottle will also grant Keawe his every wish and desire.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Of course, there is a catch - The bottle must be sold at a loss, i.e. for less than its owner originally paid, (or else it will simply return to him). The currency used in the transaction must also be in coin. Another condition of the sale is that all conditions and rules of purchase and ownership must be fully disclosed and understood by the potential buyer. If an owner of the bottle dies without having sold it in the prescribed manner, that person's soul will burn for eternity in Hell.

The bottle was first purchased from the giants by one of the sons of Cain for a "fantastic sum"; at the time of the story the price has diminsihed to eighty dollars, and declines rapidly to a matter of pennies.

[ Edited by: wrongdimensionboy 2006-05-15 16:12 ]

I think it was probably a collaborative effort inspired by the whole Kon-Tiki/Aku Aku craze of that time period, which was seriously peaking right around then. More on Kirbys side, I'd imagine, since the sheer VOLUME of Easter Island imagery kinda indicates he got in a Easter Island TEAR, much like his overkill on Japanese style monsters of the Godzilla era craze( FIN FANG FOOM , anyone?)--that guy was a modern day genius so, of course, he got totally TAKEN by every comic company he ever worked for. I know WAY too much about comics for an adult.......

Here's another one:

And another:

Awesome. Thanks!

I haven't posted here in a while, but found a few more tiki comic books of note and thought I'd share...

We'll start with an issue of Hawaiian Dick, which has already been mentioned in this thread:

[ Edited by: wrongdimensionboy 2007-06-01 16:43 ]

On the Hawaiian theme, how about some Danger Girl cheesecake:

South Seas girl would probably go for a Mai Tai when she's done kicking butt:

This comic came out last year:

Finally, here's a few pages from the latest issue of Betty and Veronica, which has an all tiki theme! This should still be on the shelves (as of 6/07) at most comic stores:

A page from the story:

[ Edited by: wrongdimensionboy 2007-06-01 16:40 ]

Here's Betty and Veronica's tiki party guide! Note how tropical punch has replaced alcohol as the tiki drink of choice. Guess they don't want kids drinking rum:

Wow, that looks like some party! They may say they're drinking tropical punch, but note the hint of stronger stuff provided by the Voodoo Spiced Rum logo:

But while I'm not surprised at the gang having a bit of hooch hidden at the party, I was taken aback by this:

What on God's green earth are those kids roasting!?!?

What on God's green earth are those kids roasting!?!?

Medicine Balls from gym class...Those were all the rage in summer of '62! :lol:

I was more curious about the look on the tiki's face...Constipation or.. :-?

I realize this is a kids comic, but to me it is an example of why I would not consider myself a true revivalist: When certain "qualities" of a times past, like this inane, mindless and indifferent banter are perpetuated today as if there has been no evolution in human consciousness since the 50s, it gets scary to me.

But then, this is just in keeping with the current power elite and its media. Decades of human insight and wisdom seem to have never happened. Those who do not remember the mistakes of the past are condemned to repeat them.

Fully aware of that Tiki is all just about fun, and obviously MEANT to be escapism, I am weary of Tiki-type revivalism when it seems to be bordering on reactionary revisionism.

I am not getting political here, merely philosophical, pondering the age old question: Are you a Betty, or are you a Veronica? :)

And I certainly do enjoy all these amazing old comic book covers, that is some fine research, wrongdimensionboy. Wish I could look into the Adventures of South Seas Girl, and find out about what her super powers were!

What on God's green earth are those kids roasting!?!?

I cannot stop laughing because that was exactly my first thought too!!
Mystery Meat at its finest!!

My thoughts too-It's a politically correct generic roast---no harm to any craetures are dipicted in this Archie comic!

Maybe it's Moose.

The real story.......

Maybe it's Moose.

BAWWHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

I just got that!!!

[ Edited by: Lukeulele 2007-06-03 22:47 ]

Darn! I wish I could do that text inserting, that's funny! The the guy in the yellow shirt would say:

"So we decided to sacrifice this Tiki's phallus..." (note the Tiki's expression) and the girls would chime in:

"Nifty idea! That'll teach 'im to offend good Christian girls with lewd protrusions!"

...and the blonde could continue on the next panel:

"As a matter of fact, that bartender dude made some sexist jokes earlier..." (draw sweat pearls flying of the guy's head)

and the girl in the blue dress would say:

"Yeah, let's see what YOU got, buddy!"

A vintage comic book ad I just found posted on a comic book message board site:

[ Edited by: wrongdimensionboy 2007-06-04 17:25 ]

Like this, BigBro?? :lol:

Ha ha, exactly! Thank you for this excellent service, the lowered eyebrows ad to the drama nicely. If that twisted humor would be applied to the whole comic, it would improve greatly.

Damn, wrongdimensionboy, I wish I would have had the color version of that 'Tiki gods' ad for the Book of Tiki, it's in the surfing chapter in B&W. And I wish I would have had the space to point out the funny way they are referring to Gardner McKay in his TV show "Adventures In Paradise" without naming names, to avoid copyright issues:

"Millions of TV viewers have each week seen the TIKI GOOD LUCK CHARM worn by the romantic Sea Captain" Huh!?

If I would be at home, I would post a photo of McKay with his Tiki amulet, which actually was a small version of the amazing grinning Marquesan Tiki figurehead on his schooner (which was named the "TIKI"). With his ship he plied the South Seas fighting bad guys and romancing a different hot babe in every episode of this James Michener penned kitsch fest.

As a small boy, early Tiki collector Dale Sizer (see his pad in "PAD") was so impressed by Captain Adam Troy wearing that Tiki as an icon of cool that it fuelled his later Tiki obsession.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-06-05 00:19 ]

I was introduced to tiki-lore for the first time in the story "Dokki Sokki in the South Pacific" in the Norwegian edition of Donald Duck Comics and Stories, issue 45, 1967.
I was all there; volcanos, tiki-masks, torches - they even threw a Luau for Donald, serving him a coconut drink. The American version was, I believe, called "Test Pilot Perils". I prefer the Norwegian title.

In the panel Donald asks Gyro: Is it to late to be Donald Duck again now?
Gyro: What´s the matter? Cold feet all of a sudden?

From 1958 Mad magazine had this parody of National Geographic with Nibi Nibi Island located 12750 miles from Sheboygan Wisconsin, no tikis but you have to love the sacrificial skull alter and the souvenir shrunken heads for sale on the right.

The French comic book series about adventurer Bob Morane featured a story in the seventies about a trip to the lost continent of Mu, where our man met up with some Easter Island Moai. The story was called "Les géants de Mu" in French.

Wrongdimensionboy, where are you? We need you here to upload the pictures again!
Tikibars, what happened with the Big Stone Head book?
Thor el poderoso " Un reino perdido"

Made in Spain

Another great story by Jack Kirby from an a old spanish horror comic book.
It reveals the astounding fact that all the exotic decor in the homes of we unsuspected earthlings are nothing but evil alien invaders.

Do not watch the skies, better watch your Coco Joes collection

Luckily, Earth is saved in last minute by a member of the Loyal Order of Water Buffalos.