Children's Comics 002: "Television, The Most Modern Means Of Entertainment!"

Here is the cover story for Science Comics #004 published July 1946, inked by Warren Kremer, who is still fondly remembered for his work on the Harveytoon Comic Books.

As a bonus here I've included an episode of "Panhandle Pete and Jennifer" one of TV's earliest surviving local kids shows. Enjoy!

Panhandle Pete and Jennifer (WNBQ-TV, Chicago 1951)

This was the second Chicago area series to feature actress Jennifer Holt. In this program she plays the role of a rancher housewife with Johnny Coons as the old tale telling Pete. This series was produced by the newly formed CNC Productions (which we can assume stood for Johnny Coons, Bill Newton and Ray Chan). The stories for this series were written by Chan, with illustrations by artist Newton. TV series like this with drawings to tell new stories were commons in the early days of TV. The author of this channel would like to learn more information about Chan as he may have been on of TV's earliest Asian-American writers. CNC Productions would later produce the children's series "King Calico" and episode of which was preserved by the Prelinger Archives.

Children's Comics 001: Mary McLeod Bethune in "Calling All Girls" #037

There is a tendency for some people who specialize in the history of media consumed by children to mock concerned parents, parental groups and the alternatives they created or endorsed for children to enjoy. This is unfortunate because every generation has embraced a movie, comic book or TV program that came some sort of "seal of approval" (Captain Kangaroo, Let's Pretend, Ghost Writer) . Seeing a recent example of that mockery by a professional has motivated me to share some cool examples of fun, adventurous, humorous, instructional, educational and "parents-approved" comic pages from the past.

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955) was the famous Black American educator, civil rights activist and member of FDR's "Black Cabinet". Her story was retold for the first (and possibly only) time in comic/graphic form in Calling All Girls #038, April 1945, a publication of the Parents Magazine Institute.

The artist of this story is unknown but Ralph O. Ellsworth is credited as the art editor.

This comic book is in the public domain and can be freely used for educational purposes.