So, this is an oddity. Sometimes, Marvel & DC would make these promotional books warning kids about the dangers of various social ills, from drugs to child abuse. This one, as you could perhaps infer, is about how you shouldn’t smoke. It was published around this time, so I thought it would be amusing to look at, even though I doubt it’s “canon.” I’ve had this… probably since I was the target audience. I don’t really recall the circumstances of getting it, but it’s been a long time. This comic has no credits in it. I’d guess that’s a Romita, Sr. cover, but aside from that, I have no guesses as to the personnel here.
The inside front cover gives you extremely simplified versions of the three heroes’ backstories, and then we get into it.
This guy Bret and some of his pals go downtown to a place called Southside Social Club, where they meet this charming fellow.
“Have some smokes, kids!” I know the 80s were a different time, but this still seems pretty ridiculous.
Luke recaps that Bret was a great athlete, but he changed when he met this girl Carol, and now he smokes, and Luke thinks they’re in trouble. Spidey alerts them to the fact that some goons are coming to check on the roof, and when they’re alone again…
You know, Spider-Man’s best friend, Storm! The next day, Bret’s science class learns all about the circulatory system and how smoking can mess it up, but he himself is messed up from his wild night, and excuses himself. In the principal’s office, Luke looks at the kids’ records, seeing Carol was a promising student who fell off bigtime, and now his guy Bret is doing the same, and it’s all because of SMOKING! I mean, they don’t say that, but it is. Elsewhere, Bret insults all his non-smoking friends and then heads to that club, and Storm is following overhead.
The chapter break is followed by an activity page letting you know smoking is super expensive, and then, just in case you thought the guy on the cover was way too goofy to be in the book, you’re wrong!
The goons go back to Bret to tell him to throw the race. He said “gambling is illegal, and I’m making the right decision!” which is pretty funny, so one of the goons decides to take Carol hostage to ensure he throws the race. Therefore…
The heroes wrap up the goons in 2 panels, and then they’re back at the track. They say when they didn’t hear from Storm, they knew something was up. The kids are now wise to the evil men peddling cigarettes. Bret says he’s going to train up to win the race, and Luke & Spidey rush off to find Storm, but then…
So it’s been 2 days, and Luke is at the race, but at the same time, Storm is waking up in the basement of that club. I guess Spidey and Luke did a terrible job of looking for her. Storm just zaps a door and leaves. That was easy! Bret only comes in 2nd in his race, but Luke says he did his best. Suddenly, Storm appears. Luke says they’ve been searching the whole city for her (Except the place we last saw you!). She fills them in on how Smokescreen is trying to buy control of the city’s mob gambling, and the 3 heroes rush off to put a stop them.
There ya go, I assume if anyone reading this smokes, this will have ended your habit. I think my guess is Herb Trimpe drew this, and I begin to suspect Romita, Sr. might’ve inked it. The Spidey eyes really look like his in a few places. He also certainly supplies the illustration on the back cover.
This book stayed in publication for almost 30 years! In the late 90s, it got a new, more contemporary cover, but it was reprinted seven times between 1982 and 2010. Pretty amazing. This is not the last PSA book we’ll see on the blog. I very clearly remember having a Superman book along these lines, too, but I don’t have it now. I wonder where that went. Ah, well. Come back next time for a normal post… and yet, not a totally normal post.