Big Boy in Big D

Previously:

Texas Stranger  - -  The Red Headed Stranger  - -  Tour of Duty

Even if you haven't eaten at a Big Boy's restaurant, you're probably familiar with its mascot.  The pudgy guy with the checkered overalls and pompadour is seen outside his namesake restaurant hoisting a big burger and beckoning hungry travelers to stop in and take a load off.  Restaurant names tend to vary with geography (Bob's Big Boy, Frisch's Big Boy, or in this instance, Elias Brothers' Big Boy) but that smiling face always remain the same.

What was also common, at least in the old days, was the "Adventures of Big Boy" promotional comic book that was available in the restaurant.  Since Big Boy restaurant were sometimes marketed as a spot for folks on the road, the comics usually dealt with topics or travel or travel destinations.  Today we take a look at Big Boy's journey to Dallas!

It was 1980, there had been a big art theft in Big D and Big Boy had been called in to investigate.  Is Big Boy some kind of detective or criminal investigator?  I have no idea.  I don't really know much about the character but I would guess that he's pretty much whatever a particular issue's story wants him to be.

So as our hero, along with his girlfriend Dolly and his dog Nuggets, wait for their plane at the airport, the case is pretty much cracked right in front of them.   A suspicious cowboy hat wearing traveler essentially confesses to the crime as the gang looks on.  This all happens on Page 2.

So it seems that Big Boy and his crew were called in by his police contact, Captain Crockett, who they meet up with when they land (at DFW, even though they call it "Dallas Airport"...at least it mentions that it was the largest airport in the country at the time). 

So they meet up with their police connection and follow the art thief to downtown Dallas.  The gang decides to split up, as crime-solving groups tend to do, and after a brief stop at the Dallas Farmers Market, they head to...

Dallas City Hall still had that "New City Hall" smell at the time.  It's also the location where the art thief hid the painting.  So apparently he stole it, then hid it, then flew somewhere else, then flew back to Dallas to retrieve it.  Or possibly, his accomplice stole it, hid it and he came to town to retrieve it.   These are the questions the comic brings up but doesn't answer. 

The exact hiding place was underneath the sculpture outside the building...which the comic attempts to draw.  Here's what it looks like in real life:

As our art thief grabs his purloined painting, Nuggets the dog gives him a a round of barking.  And the chase was on!  Like any man of action, Big Boy solves his problems with a tackle that would make a Dallas Cowboy envious.

And there you have it, case closed!  There wasn't a lot of story in this story but there was at least an attempt at some graphic representation of a few Dallas landmarks.  It's an odd addition to the many movies, TV shows and comics that take place in Big D but I'm sure it was a welcome one for kids in the 80s as they wolfed down their burger and fries. 

ZZ Top: The Comic

Previously:

Nolan Ryan: The Comic Book  - -  Tom Landry: The Comic Book

"Rock 'N Roll Comics" was a comic book series in the late 80s/early 90s that retold band origins in comic book format.  They were biographies of groups like Guns & Ross, KISS, Iron Maiden and other hard rock groups from that era. 

For their 25th issue they decided to tell the story of legendary Texas rock/blues band ZZ Top, tracing each member's story from a young age to rock & roll stardom. 

The comic starts out by showing how the thee 'Tops" began their love of music and how they got started.  As is typical in these types of stories, there are many failed attempts to get started and a lot of bands being formed, re-formed, losing members, gaining members and breaking up.  There's an effort to show which other musicians influenced the boys and some of their early collaborations and successes.

Several more versions of the band come and go until Billy gets legendary manager Bill Ham involved.  There's then a few more comings and goings but finally we get to what will eventually become the ZZ Top we all know and love. 

More clubs dates lead to bigger venues and higher profile gigs which lands them a record deal.  After recording their first album, they end up playing with bands like Deep Purple and the Doors.  After their second, they tour with the Rolling Stones.  They extra success means they need to keep touring and keep recording...which leads to the need to do a little "research:" for a particular song:

More albums were recorded and bigger venues played.  With this success, it was time to develop ZZ Top's unique style.  By embracing their roots and pushing the boundaries of showmanship, they began turning their concerts into something a little more unique...almost a stage show:

The road to fame is long and windy.  After a grueling touring and recording schedule, the boys take some much needed down time to recharge their batteries and have a little fun.  During this vacation, shaving didn't seem to be a top priority so when the group got back together, their signature look was born:

More albums, more touring, more success...the boys were a genuine hit!  But there were still worlds to conquer.  The 1980s brought about MTV and the rise of the music video.  With their cool swagger and penchant for casting attractive women, ZZ Top became known for their music videos.

After a few divorces, a gunshot wound, custom cars and a run for president, the band kept on keepin' on.  More albums, more tours and more fame allowed the boys to call the shots and be the group they wanted to be.  The comic ends around the early 90s but as we know there was still plenty of story left to tell about that Little Ol' Band From Texas.  Rock & Roll Comics may be gone but rock & roll music will never die!

Texas Stranger

Previously:

Nolan Ryan: The Comic Book  - -  Nolan's Beef at Dairy Queen

It was the early 90s and the corporate synergy stars aligned when Sports Illustrated, Kellogg's and DC Comics decided to mash themselves together into a chunky paste they called "Tony's Sports Comics."  The concept involved the legendary Frosted Flakes mascot teaming up with sports stars to encourage kids to get active and burn off the calories they racked up from, say...I don't know...various sugar frosted cereals?

I've seen other examples with Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Ozzie Smith but, of course, the one I'm most interested in features the great Nolan Ryan.  He played for both the Astros and the Rangers and is one of the top Texas sports icons of all time.

Our story begins in Cooperstown with Nolan and Tony visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame.  They notice a weirdo talking to the Babe Ruth statue and decide to intervene.  Young Paul wants to make it to the big leagues some day but he's weak in the hitting department.  Nolan tells him about some great former players that also couldn't hit worth a darn but it's hardly a comfort and Paul bolts.

Swing and a miss for the would-be mentor.  But Tony is right there for his bro and he's raring to go track down that kid and bug encourage him some more about baseball.  It's the kind of well meaning enthusiasm that only a sugar-buzzed cartoon tiger could have.  In fact, he's so hyped up he feels the need to go through some of the highlights of Nolan's career.

But enough grandstanding!  It's time to track down that kid whose name I think is Paul.  Let's face it, between the All-Star pitcher and the cereal mascot, he was kind of forgettable. Once they eventually catch up with him they suggest that maybe hitting just isn't his thing...but what about pitching?

Now that these two have totally inserted themselves in this kid's life, it was time to start the hard work.  The comic seems to genuinely try to include actual exercise/training information, or at least I think it does.  But since I don't know anything about training to be a pitcher I couldn't tell you if anything is actually accurate.  But there's something about learning a desirable skill form a freebie promotional comic book that seems very natural to me.  That being said, you'll never guess what training for the big leagues involves starting your day with...

Start the training montage!  If you like stories about weight training, stretching, fastball grips and form on the mound then this is the story for you!  Tony and Nolan (mainly Nolan) go over the fundamentals with Paul and they practice, practice, practice!  Or they just tell him to practice and then go back to their respective ranches.  I know Nolan has a ranch and I assume Tony has one too...filled with delicious sugar frosted antelopes and gazelles (with some sliced bananas to keep it healthy)!

Game time!  Later at a impromptu playground ball game, one of the kids gets called home for dinner (perhaps a cross-over story followed up in a Kraft Cheesasaurus Rex comic?) so Paul gets his big shot at the mound.  And, wouldn't you know it, Nolan & Tony's advice pays off!  Paul struck out the batter and I learned the term "whiffed."  But that's not all...

Looks like Paul made it all the way to State!  And all it took was some personal coaching from one of the best baseball players of all time, encouragement from a professional cereal legend, and (reading between the lines here) bowl after bowl of Frosted Flakes!  Sounds like a winning combination to me!

The Red Headed Stranger

Previously:

Follow the Leaders  - -  Tour of Duty  - -  Under the Dome

My Spidey Sense in Jingling  - -  The X-Men Visit the State Fair

 Texas Marvels  - -  Check Please  - -  Houston Heroes

We've seen several comic book characters visit the Lone Star State over the years, especially the gang from DC and Marvel.  But it was only a matter of time before the kids from Archie Comics wanted to get their piece of the action...which brings us to 1991's Veronica #17.

The story begins with Riverdale rich girl Veronica Lodge on a plane headed to DFW Airport to visit her father who is already there on business.  She passes the time by reading a paperback adventure of "Dusty Marlowe, Rodeo Star."  When a bit of turbulence gives her an old school, sitcomy konk on the head, naturally she gets the type of amnesia where you believe yourself to be the character you were just reading about...very common stuff..

Armed with the confidence that comes with a brand new persona, Veronica (or "Dusty" as she now calls herself) then proceeds to lasso a wild bucking bull who was loose in the airport (They really gloss over the whole "bull is loose in an airport" element of the story) like a champ.

The bull's owners, father and son rodeo organizers, Harry and Matthew Chase, offer her a job in their rodeo which she promptly accepts.  They even seem to be okay with giving the amnesiac teenage girl they just met a ride in their truck.

One bottle of red hair dye later, Matthew starts laying on the charm by taking Veronica out to dinner at whatever the restaurant at the top of Reunion Tower was called in the early 90s.  Check out artist Dan Parent's take on the Dallas skyline:

The house style for Archie comics might seem somewhat simplistic but if you take a minute or two to examine the drawing above you'll see several details of the Dallas skyline were included and not just the obligatory Reunion Tower cameo.  At this point in the story we get into a tour of Texas landmarks.  Since we're starting in downtown Dallas, let's do some side-by-sides from that area:

One of the first sights is the JFK Memorial, a.k.a. the JFK Cenotaph which is unfortunately mostly covered by word balloon.  Making matters worse is that the Old Red Courthouse Museum is featured prominently in the panel but the artist didn't seem to have a good reference pic to work from so the resemblance is not very accurate.

Veronica notices that Dallas founder John Neely Bryan's log cabin was not necessarily matching its downtown Dallas surroundings.  The cabin has been moved around and refurbished several times over the years and always seems to get attention.  You may remember that a few years back another comic book tourist noticed it when Spider-Man teamed up with the Dallas Cowboys.

After a while it was time for the traveling rodeo to start traveling and it was southbound to Houston.  Amnesiac teenager "Veronica/Dusty" continued to tag along and nobody seemed too weirded out about it.  And the tour continued!  This time at NASA in Houston.

While all this is going on there's a few subplots in the story trying to keep the queso spicy.  One involves a pair of rodeo clowns planning to steal from the Chase Rodeo's box office.  Another involves Veronica's father hiring a private detective (who's always eating something for some reason) and Veronica's mother hiring a psychic (who, like all psychics, is faking it til she makes it) to track down their daughter.

And, of course, the tour continues!  This time it's a Texas history lesson at the San Jacinto Monument.  Either Veronica is genuinely interested or she's doing a great job of faking it.  But there's no time to bask in Texas Independence...it's time to head to Austin!

Like most tourists, one of the kids' first stops is the Capitol Building.  It's an impressive sight (and a great drawing) but I can't help but stare at the mustache bro who's looking right at the reader:

Yeah, this guy knows what's up.  He's got a secret...a dark secret.  But that's a story for another day.  Unfortunately, our fate is to continue following Veronica and Matthew on their tour of famous Texas sites:

The last stop on the tour was a quick swim at Hamilton Pool.  Looks like there wasn't a postcard handy for the artist to use as a reference because this one was a little off too.  The real thing is more of a grotto than what you'd think of as a traditional water fall but it was still pretty cool that a natural landmark was included in the issue.  Now all that's left is the wrap up.

The rodeo clown robbers were foiled, Veronica got her memory back, her parents finally caught up with her and they all celebrated with some BBQ and some Texas two-stepping.  All in all, a pretty standard trip to Texas.

Matchbook Memories: Under the Dome

Previously:

Big Texas Steak Ranch  - -  Buckhorn Saloon  - - Pig Stand

Texas Sesquicentennial Wagon Train

Houston's pride and joy (or at least it used to be) has been called the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and was home to a legendary Texas Team.  But the Astrodome has been known for a lot more than just the Astros.  Here's a quick look at a few of the times it's popped up in pop culture:

Starman V1 #25 (DC Comics, 1990)

Starman never caught on the way so many other DC characters did.  Every so often the publisher tries to make a go of the guy and when they do they usually create a character to be the "new" Starman.  That's a common practice in comics and is sometimes used to create conflict.

I mention all that because the plot of this issue involves the son of the original Starman getting pissed at the current (at the time) Starman and challenging him to a fight.  Guess where...

Anyway, during the fracas, the new guy takes a pretty good smack which launches him sky high and gives the artist (Dave Hoover) an opportunity to draw a bird's eye view of the Astrodome:

West Coast Avengers V1 Annual #2 (Marvel Comics, 1987)

Yeah, the Avengers are bi-coastal.  Typically the New York team is made up of A-listers like Iron Man, Thor and so forth.  And the L.A. team has...other people...that being said, occasionally the two groups indulge in some good old fashioned team building exercises like an annual softball game!  Guess where...

This has to make the stadium's insurance rates go way up because the whole gang isn't shy at all about using their powers to win the game.  So when Thor uses his hammer to take a swing at Wonder Man's fastball, he sends it flying straight up to the roof.

That thing "comin' back again!" is the Silver Surfer who is heralding some crazy nonsense and as soon as ya know it, the whole gang is whisked away and are forced to fight each other or somesuch.  But since none of that takes place in Texas...eh.

The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (Paramount Pictures, 1977)

The sequel is fairly forgettable and really only know for two things: 1. There's no Walter Matthau and 2. The kids play at the Houston Astrodome for some reason.  The film does do a good job of showing off what an impressive structure it was.

If you watch the movie, keep an eye open for cameos from some of the Astros at the time.  If not, then just Google it. 

There's lots more fun that's been had under the dome but it'll have to wait until I track down those particular comics and/or movies.  Once I do, let's meet back here.

Follow the Leaders

Previously:

My Spidey Sense in Jingling  - -  The X-Men Visit the State Fair 

Houston Heroes  - -  Spidey Visits Dallas   - -  Sea of Good Cheer 

Check out the headline:  "Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders Missing!"  It's time, once again, to dive into another Dallas Times Herald Marvel freebie comic.  This time it's not just superheroes doing their thing, we get America's Sweethearts as special guest stars!

The year was 1982 and our adventure begins with Peter Parker and his childhood friend Fran finishing up a shopping spree at a north Texas Sanger-Harris (who sponsored the comic).

After the stiff wind of exposition blows through Dallas, it's replaced with the rain storms of plot advancement as the cheerleaders get lost on the way to their performance at Fort Sage (which seems to be in California).

Instead of finding the army base, they find an army base and decide it's probably the one they were looking for.  After all, it's not like the people there were acting suspicious or anything...

By the way, that lady in the cowboy hat appears to be legendary former DCC director Suzanne Mitchell.  I was wondering if "Fran" was also based on a real person, and I found a Francis Roberson that was an assistant director around this time period but I couldn't confirm if she ever knew Spider-Man.

After the "army" guys get the girls situated in the conference room with promises of hot coffee and not being murdered, we get to see what's really going on in this facility.

Yep, it's the Leader, an evil mastermind who was mutated in a similar accident that created the Hulk.  But instead of increasing his physical strength, the gamma radiation increased his mental abilities making him super smart (according to him).

Well, it doesn't take long for Fran and the gals to get suspicious.  She sneaks around the base to find a phone (remember the 80s?) and call her old pal Peter Parker.  So Peter's alter ego, Spider-Man, starts the hunt!  When he turns up nothing, his only recourse to arbitrarily swing around the desert.  It doesn't take too long before he runs into another old friend...

The Hulk was just wondering around the desert (as he does), punching tanks (as he does) when he ran afoul of the fake army guys.  It doesn't take too long for Spidey, the Hulk and the Cheerleaders to all converge on the Leader's compound for a final battle.

Nothing gets things sorted out like a great big explosion.  With the bad guys defeated, the Hulk wanders off and the Cheerleaders were free to go find the actual army base where they put on one their best shows.

And Peter Parker was able to get the pictures.  Although it looks like, instead of the Daily Bugle, he may be freelancing for "Cheerleader Butts Magazine."  C'mon Pete...we know what you're doing...at least try to be subtle.

And the story ends as it begins with Peter and Fran doing some more shopping at Sanger-Harris.  Most adventures end with a sense of relief and maybe a trip to the emergency room but this one ends with a job offer. 

I'll leave you today with a Superman-esque character tempting readers with the idea of a Dallas Times Herald paper route: