Fun with Sixties Super-Heroes

In 1966 with the success of the "Batman" television show and the "Green Hornet" and the "Marvel Super Heroes" show, Button World put out several buttons of both the Marvel and DC characters. These buttons turned out to be highly collectible, even in 1966.  

The collection consists of 20 known buttons. 12 of them are numbered on the front (from #3-#16). Numbers 1, 2, 11, and 12 are missing. Research has uncovered a display card for the actual buttons. (see red display stand above picture). The card only advertises the first 10 Super Hero buttons, but you can clearly see that they included #11 as "Sad Sack" and #12 as "Casper." It may be that the #1 and #2 buttons were the "Superman Club" and the "Batman Society" pins. Button World did not have the rights to make the "Green Hornet" button which was neither a Marvel or DC character. They were sued by ABC TV (who ran the TV show), and that lawsuit put them right out of business. 

Finally, of note, four of the original Marvel buttons (Spider-Man, Thor, Submariner, and Daredevil) were considered to have inferior artwork. They were then revised by Marvel artists and reissued, which is why you have two different ones in this set. In the collecting world these revised buttons are considered more valuable than the original versions. One original button in its original poly bag and header card can sell for as much as $200 on eBay. This gives you an idea of their value.

The display stand is a fan's creation. Needing a way to show them off, he created the artwork for the top of the stand, using button artwork to keep the whole concept consistent. Later he found the artwork for the actual banner. He then used that to head a second stand. Using peg board metal posts, the buttons were hung as shown. Perhaps some sort of rack was originally used, as there were holes in the header cards for such a purpose.

Hooray for Wally Wood

Wallace Wood

Thanks to his (literally) stellar work on the EC Comics line, Wallace Allan Wood (1927-1981) is widely considered America's greatest science fiction cartoonist, but he was also one of the brightest lights of the early Mad comic ("Superduperman") and, later, a pioneering alternative/underground cartoonist/publisher with his magazine witzend.

"Wood's work seemed like snapshots of a lush and vibrant reality where even madmen, monsters and mayhem possessed a stately grace. There might be pandemonium but, oddly, the panic never seemed to reach the eyes of Wood's regal heroes." - Geoff Boucher, The Los Angeles Times

"Legendary artist [Wally] Wood mastered every comic-book genre -- humor (he was one of Mad's first artists), horror, superheroes, war — but is best known for the 1950s science-fiction stories he drew for EC Comics, in which, one commentator noted, he 'began drawing things into panels that no human being seemed capable of before.' His heroic spacemen, intricate rocket ships, and frightening aliens embodied classic space opera, and his influence remains visible in the work of many leading comics artists today." - Gordon Flagg, Booklist

Make Mine The Marvel Super Heroes of the Early Sixties

Wally Wood Daredevil #6

Wally Wood's Daredevil is still my favorite version of the Marvel character. Daredevil #6, 1965. This was the first issue I bought off the racks. I was hooked instantly.

Challenger of the Unknown

Felix Baumgartner: Supersonic Skydive 'Like Swimming Without Touching the Water'

Felix Baumgartner of Austria as he jumps out of the capsule during the final manned flight for Red Bull Stratos, Oct. 14, 2012. (AP Photo)

By RYAN OWENS

Oct. 15, 2012

"Fearless" Felix Baumgartner's supersonic skydive from 24 miles above the New Mexico desert was a rousing success, and the Austrian daredevil has described his speed of sound shattering descent as "like swimming without touching the water."

Baumgartner, whose Sunday freefall was watched around the world, was at one point traveling at 833 mph or Mach 1.24, and he shattered the speed of sound during his 4 minute 20 second freefall. He is the only human to do so without the aid of a supersonic jet or space shuttle.
"It's like swimming without touching the water, and it's hard because every time it turns you around you have to figure out what to do. So I was sticking my arm out then it became worse," he said. "I had a lot of pressure in my head. But I didn't feel like I was passing out. I was still feeling ok, I -- I thought, 'I can handle the situation.' And I did."

VIDEO: Felix Baumgartner's Supersonic Skydive
Dangling from a 55-story balloon with a capsule beneath, which took two and a half hours to reach the edge of space, the skydiver and B.A.S.E. jumper leapt after getting the okay from the only voice he heard during his ascent – that of 84-year-old Joe Kittinger, a former air force pilot who in 1960 set the record for longest skydive.

"There it is the world is out there," Kittinger said to Felix as he looked down at Earth below. "Our guardian angel will take care of you."

Baumgartner, 43, then disconnected himself from the capsule, put his hands on the capsule's railing – and then took the leap. He began his fall from 24 miles above -- four times higher than most passenger jets fly.

During the fee fall, Baumgartner was plummeting so fast he was barely a speck on the infrared camera tracking him. For 35 seconds of the fall, he was spinning out of control -- something his team feared could cause him to lose consciousness.

"It started pretty good because my exit was perfect. I did exactly what I was supposed to do, and then I was falling over," Baumgartner said, once safely on the ground. "It looked like for a second that I was going to tumble two more times, and have it under control. But for some reason, that spin became so violent over all axis, and it was hard to know how to get out of that spin."

"If you are in that situation and it spins you around like hell, and you do not know if you can get out of that spin or not. Of course that is terrifying … I was frightened all the way down to regain control, because I wanted to break the speed of sound. And I hit it. I don't know after how many seconds, I could feel air was pulling up, and I hit it," he said.
For a terror-inducing 4 minutes and 20 seconds Baumgartner freefalls, his body plummeting toward the earth at 833 miles an hour.

Baumgartner finally managed to regain control, and deploy his parachute. He somehow managed to land perfectly on his feet in the New Mexico desert.

With the aid of his team, became the only man to achieve a supersonic skydive, and broke two other records, including the highest exit from a platform at 128,000 feet, and the highest free-fall without a drogue parachute, which was measured at 119,846 feet.

Baumgartner said he didn't only do the stunt to set a record. He also did it for science, as the jump could help NASA design better and stronger spacesuits for astronauts.
Doctors said the data from Baumgartner's jump will "break new ground."

When asked what he would do next, Baumgartner said he'd like to be sitting in his mentor's chair.

"Honestly I want to inspire the next generation," he said. "I would love if there was a young guy sitting next to me asking what my advice is, wanting to break my record."

Daredevil by Gene Colan and Jim Steranko

This Gene Colan Daredevil #44 cover had inks by comics legend Jim Steranko.