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You can see a nice big comic rack at a newsstand at a bus station near the end of Black Like Me (1964). Along with one of the many Coca-Cola signs in the movie.


Among the comics on the rack, you can see..


... Dagwood #134 (Oct.,1963), Flash Annual #1 (1963), Green Lantern #25 (Dec.,1963), Alvin #6 (Jan./Mar., 1964), Wonder Woman #142 (Nov., 1963), and Challengers of the Unknown # 35 (Dec.,1963).

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In La Decima Vittima (The 10th Victim) (1965), Marcello Mastroianni's character reads comic books. We see a few when his furniture is being repossessed, but they're Italian comics, and I don't feel like researching them right now to see if they're legit.



A bit later in the movie, he's reading a comic when Ursula Andress sits nearby.



Unfortunately, you can't see the cover. However, after he puts the book down and leaves, she picks it up, giving us a pretty good look at it.



And it appears to be an American comic: Adventures Into the Unknown #157 (Jun/July, 1965).


Here's the front and back cover for comparison.


Assuming that is the correct comic, it appears we saw page 2 in the early part of the scene.

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In The Nasty Rabbit (Spies-a-Go-Go) (1964), the Russian submarine commander is reading a copy of Millie the Lovable Monster #3 (Aug., 1964) - well, actually it looks like it's just the cover.


There appear to be some more comics on the shelf behind him, but I can't tell what they are.

Ash Ketchum

RE: THE TENTH VICTIM: comic books visible in the first two pictures include Mandrake, The Phantom and Tom & Jerry, Italian editions of American comics.

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Yeah, it's probably safe to assume they're real comics, but I haven't found a good source online to be able to easily scan through covers to find those particular books in the pics to confirm they are real. The PhantomWiki lists a bunch of Italian Phantom (L'Uomo Mascherato) comic books, three of which were being published during 1965 (Avventure Americane - L'Uomo Mascherato, Super Albo - L'Uomo Mascherato, and I Classici dell'Avventura – L'Uomo Mascherato). I looked at the covers there, but didn't see the comics in the screenshots, but the wiki is incomplete (missing some issues), and of course they could be older than 1965. I haven't even bothered to check the Italian Mandrake or Tom & Jerry books.

Edit to add: There's also a MandrakeWiki with a list of Italian Mandrake comics. No luck there either.

I did learn that (according to both wikis) the comics were sometimes new comics by Italian artists, and not just reprints of American books.

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I found one.

Avventure Americane - L'Uomo Mascherato #47 (13 October, 1963).

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Near the end of Intimate Stranger (1991), Debbie Harry's character is packing up her belongings - throwing some magazines into a box - when one catches my eye.



I hadn't noticed any evidence that the character reads comics, but it looked like an X-Men comic to me. Uncanny X-Men #182 (June, 1984), if I'm not mistaken.

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In The Monkey's Uncle (1965), Stanley the chimp appears to be reading a book titled Introductory Physics, but closer inspection reveals he's actually reading a Mickey Mouse comic book hidden within. A little Googling reveals that "Dog Debut" was first published in Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse #79 (Dell - August-September, 1961). The two pages on the bottom right are from a re-colored reprint in Mickey Mouse #184 (Gold Key (Western Publishing) - June, 1978).

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In one scene midway through Orgasmo (Paranoia) (1969), this guy is reading a copy of Batman: The Best of the Original Batman, a paperback collection of B&W reprints of old Batman comics published by Signet at the height of Batmania in 1966.


Comics related, but not a comic book:

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Midway through Entertaining Mr Sloane (1970), Mr. Sloane is relaxing in the back seat of a pink Pontiac Parisienne, perusing a periodical while picking his proboscis. Unfortunately, since he has the book folded over, we can't see the front cover. Then as the POV changes, he turns the page, and we can see that he's looking at the ad on the inside back cover (plus, we get a look at the very top, and a little bit of the edge, of the front cover). The camera shifts again, and we get a good clue as to what he's reading (because the last page of the book is a Marvel house ad).



One of the books in the ad appears to be a Fantastic Four comic. A quick look at Fantastic Four covers from 1969 shows it to most likely be FF #83.



Looking at all the Marvel comics published the same month as FF#83 quickly led me to Captain Marvel #10 (Feb, 1969) which appears to match the book he is reading.

Here (along the top) are the cover, as well as page 17 of the story, the Marvel house ad at the end of the book, and the ad on the inside back cover, compared with shots from the movie.



Then, finished with that comic, he puts it aside and starts reading another one.


And, in case anyone is wondering, the back cover ad of Captain Marvel #10 was indeed a Famous Artist School ad.



Fortunately, this second comic was much easier to identify because we get a pretty good look at its cover.



It's a copy of Teen Titans #20 (March/April, 1969). Here are the cover, along with pages 2 and 3 of the comic compared with shots from the movie (Sorry, I don't have a scan of the back cover for this one).



EDIT: I'm not sure why a British movie has an American car and two American comic books in it, but there is a quick shot of a British comic later in the movie (however it's a reprint of an American comic).



It's Fantastic #13 (May, 1967) - reprints stories from Journey into Mystery #92 (May 1963).

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I had given up on this one, but went back to it last night and found what I'm pretty sure is the correct comic. In I Walk the Line (1970) the Bootlegger's kid is reading a comic at the dinner table.



The chair in the foreground obscures part of the book, but that back cover ad is rather distinctive. A quick search for Schwinn comic book ads pointed me to Dell comics from 1960, then after some looking and digging, I dug up Looney Tunes #224 (June, 1960), which I felt about 75% certain was the right book.



Looking to be more certain before posting this, I went back and grabbed a couple more shots where the kid was closing the book...



I'm pretty sure that's the page in the screenshot.

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It was a Journey Into Mystery comic.

Well, I got a copy of West Side Story (2022). I haven't watched it yet, but I skimmed through it and grabbed a few screenshots.





The better pictures helped a lot. They are indeed real comics (or good facsimiles). Here's a quick look at what I saw (I didn't bother to try to identify every comic visible).



Four Color #644 (1955)
Katy Keene #35 (July, 1957)
Young Men #28 (June, 1954)
Human Torch #37 (June, 1954)
Journey Into Mystery #37 (August, 1956)
Young Men #24 (December, 1953)
Looney Tunes # 222 (April, 1960)
Sub-Mariner #34 (June, 1954)
Young Men #25 (February, 1954)
Looney Tunes # 217 (November, 1959)
Sub-Mariner #35 (August, 1954)

If I see anything else interesting when I actually watch the movie, I might post it. Judging by the copyright notice at the end of the movie, it appears I missed Captain America, Kid Colt, and at least one Tales of Justice comic.


I believe this is the first time I've seen a copyright notice at the end of a movie for any comics I've posted.

EDIT: I forgot I had a shot of this guy reading a comic. It's folded over, but I'm starting to think that's not such a big hurdle.


Looks like page 6 of Mutt & Jeff #69 (March, 1954).

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Nothing new really. I was bored and couldn't sleep a couple times last week, so I identified more comics in West Side Story (2021).

First up, this stray comic I had missed when I scanned through it the first time:


Looks like Journey Into Mystery #18 (Atlas - October, 1954).

Second, what I can identify on the rack (seen in the picture I posted before):


Looks like 2 more copies of Young Men #s 24 & 28, plus Strange Tales #57 (Atlas - April, 1957), Sub-Mariner #38 (Atlas - February, 1955), and Funny Animals #37 (Fawcett - April, 1946). I can't tell which pre-Code issue of Strange Tales that is on the bottom, and most of other sides of the rack appear to be magazines and paperback books, so that's it for the rack...

Now, here's the 47 comics on the wall (I needed multiple shots to see them all)...



On the left side, we have:


Four Color #644 (Dell - 1955)
Love Letters #18 (Quality - February, 1952)
Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica #22 (Archie - January, 1956)
Sweethearts #83 (Charlton - January, 1950)
Sub-Mariner #41 (Atlas - August, 1955)
Katy Keene #35 (Archie - July, 1957)
Sub-Mariner #33 (Atlas - April, 1954)
Strange Tales #40 (Atlas - November, 1955)
Journey Into Mystery #29 (Atlas - December, 1955)
Picture Stories From American History #2 (EC - 1946)
Classics Illustrated #16 Gulliver's Travels (Gilberton - 1943)
Nancy #17 (Dell - October, 1959)
Strange Tales #44 (Atlas - March, 1956)
Journey Into Mystery #37 (Atlas - August, 1956)
Looney Tunes #165 (Dell - July, 1955)
Looney Tunes #170 (Dell - December, 1955)
Classics Illustrated #80 White Fang (Gilberton - 1951)
Classics Illustrated #7 Robin Hood (Gilberton - 1942)
Journey Into Mystery #26 (Atlas - September, 1955)
The World Around Us #1 (Gilberton - 1958)
Sub-Mariner #39 (Atlas - April, 1955)
Andy Panda #27 (Dell - September, 1954)
Funny Animals #42 (Fawcett - September, 1946)
Classics Illustrated #45 Tom Brown's School Days (Gilberton - 1948)
Andy Panda #31 (Dell - August, 1955)
Davy Crockett #2 (Charlton - October, 1955)
Archie #83 (Archie - November, 1958)
Looney Tunes #109 (Dell - November, 1950)

and on the right:


Journey Into Mystery #21 (Atlas - January, 1955)
Journey Into Mystery #30 (Atlas - January, 1956)
Young Men #24 (Atlas - December, 1953)
Jughead #31 (Archie - August, 1955)
Andy Panda #48 (Dell - November, 1959)
Young Men #27 (Atlas - April, 1954)
Young Men #28 (Atlas - Jun, 1954)
Human Torch #37 (Atlas - June, 1954)
Looney Tunes #222 (Dell - April, 1960)
Sub-Mariner #35 (Atlas - August, 1954)
Sub-Mariner #41 (Atlas - August, 1955)
Strange Tales #5 (Atlas - October, 1956)
Journey Into Mystery #35 (Atlas - June, 1956)
Four Color #326 (Dell - 1951)
Young Men #25 (Atlas - February, 1954)
Looney Tunes #217 (Dell - November, 1959)
Archie's Joke Book #27 (Archie - March, 1957)
Wilbur #58 (Archie - January, 1955)
Katy Keene #43 (Archie - November, 1958)

EDIT: Okay I grabbed a shot where I can see more of the cover of that Strange Tales comic on the rack:


I think it's Strange Tales #27 (Atlas - April, 1954).

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Sorry for bumping this again for the same movie, but I noticed this yesterday, and it pertains to something Trevor brought up a few months back... and I think this thread could maybe benefit from some discussion.

I had a couple of screenshots taken of the six comics on the rack from different angles which are interesting when viewed zoomed in. On the left, from the side, the four comics on the top (the Atlas/Marvel comics) appear to be nothing but stiff covers with floppy backs. Comparing the backs of the books (to the right) with the actual back covers from the comics (that I could locate) only turns up one that appears to match: Funny Animals (from Fawcett).



Looking at the pic I posted in my previous post shows the Fawcett book to have some yellowing (and some spine roll), while the Atlas books look mint in comparison.



This, combined with the yellowing present on the pages in the Mutt & Jeff comic the kid was reading in the other shot,


leads me to conclude that some of the comics are real, vintage comics, while some (probably all the Atlas/Marvel comics) are props, which partly supports what Trevor was talking about a while back.
Could the use of facsimiles be why only Marvel comics and characters are mentioned in the copyright notice (and not Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead, or Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny, or Elmer Fudd)? Is it unnecessary to mention actual historical items? (Does that mean the movie posters mentioned in the copyright notice are reproduction?) Maybe a lawyer, or a law student has an answer.

EDIT:
For those keeping score; Captain America appears on the cover (and in a story inside) Young Men #24 and Young Men #25, so I had already found Captain America.

davidh777

I definitely thought of this thread when I saw WSS.

Jaymole

I am not sure if this was posted before by someone but I took this picture and I had forgotten to post it here and now I can’t remember the movie 😂

Nick Danger

This thread has corrupted me. I watched an episode of Peter Gunn which shot a scene next to a real newsstand. I completely missed the dialogue because I was checking for old comics.

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According to this old post
it's from the '40s and you watched it in 2020. It's a movie released after September, 1946 (that's when the Flash Comics #77 he's holding would have first gone on sale). It shouldn't be that hard for you to figure out. We're counting on you.

Jaymole

I think the film is Pitfall. Weird how the brain works...my dad just mentioned he saw Pitfall on TCM this weekend and that made me remember the photo I took.

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Thanks! It is indeed Pitfall (1948). In addition to the copy of Flash Comics #77 (Nov/Dec, 1946) that I already saw in the shot you posted, I saw a copy of Superman #43 (Nov/Dec, 1946) a few moments later in the film (along with a couple of other books which I'll need to grab better, clearer shots to identify).

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Okay, here are some more...



First is the comic on top of the stack in his left hand in the original shot - Planet Comics #45 (Nov, 1946)...


then they got tricky and threw in a few later comics. Archie #25 (Mar/April, 1947) and Super-Mystery Comics #40 (March, 1948).

Jaymole

Excellent work!

That kid had a wide range of taste in comics

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They did say his grandmother bought them for him.

I always wonder about it when the comics don't all look like they were grabbed off a newsstand all at once, as in this case where the first three are from the same month, then the last two are from months later. I suspect that the dialogue about the comics causing the kid's nightmares and subsequent threat to burn them may have been added as an attempt to be topical and weigh in on the anti-comic book crusades which were already starting, even in 1948, and the Super-Mystery Comic was purchased by someone involved as an example of a "bad" comic (maybe to convince others working on the film). I just saw an op ed/house ad on that very subject in a few Marvel comics from 1948 last week that kind of helped push me to this idea. Here it is:

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The kid in Time Bandits (1981) has a few comic books in his room. The only front cover I noticed was in this shot.


Looks like a copy of Flash #286 (June, 1980) to me.

Jaymole

Not sure if this was mentioned already but this was from Farewell my Lovely