Comic Books of My Youth

by Guy Belleranti


Growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s one of my favorite ways to relax was to read. And one of my favorite reading materials were comic books.

Four distinctly different comic series stand out in my mind.

One was Batman. I thrilled to his escapades, enjoying the adventures he and Robin encountered as they battled evil doers and tried to keep Gotham City safe.

I liked how Batman and Robin had secret real life identities, and loved their Batmobile and Batcave headquarters. But most exciting to my young mind were the colorful villains. The Joker, The Penguin, The Riddler, and Catwoman were my favorites. I owned many colorful Batman comics and also owned some paperback book collections filled with the “Caped Crusader’s” illustrated adventures.

On the opposite end of the comic spectrum was Peanuts. There were no superheroes or colorful villains in this wonderful series, but I loved it just the same.

Of course, Peanuts was something I could, and did, read in the daily paper. However, I also owned a number of paperback collections, and read them over and over, laughing at the humor and marveling at the simple yet expressive drawings. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Schroeder – I enjoyed them all, and still do. Charles Schulz’s masterpiece of truth and humor offers something people of almost every age and background can relate to.

A third, and very different, favorite comic of mine was Sad Sack. This series concerned a World War II draftee, and followed the absurdities and events of his army life. It was created by Army Sgt. George Baker. While Baker continued to illustrate most of the comic book’s cover up until his death in the mid-70’s, several other artists were also brought on board to write and illustrate the series as well.

Finally, there was the Classics Illustrated series of comic books. Basically, these were greatly condensed versions of classic novels in comic book form. They may not have been true literature, but I did enjoy them, and many spurred me on to read the novels from which they had sprung.

Favorites that I owned and read included Lord Jim, Oliver Twist, Frankenstein, The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Red Badge of Courage and The Three Musketeers.


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