I've had my eye on these for a while now, but finally decided to take advantage of my LCS's annual anniversary sale to buy them. Well do I remember the days when my mother used to take me grocery shopping. This was back in the days when I used to fit in the little "seat" built into the shopping cart, which, if you ever seen me, you know was a long, LONG time ago. Then when I went to kindergarten my shopping trips with my mother came to an end, but I recall the highlight of those trips to the local "Hedges & Hafer" grocery store was the ritual of stopping by the row of vending machines on the way out to buy "charms." Sometimes I get a ring and sometimes an animal and sometimes a little joke book published by Creative House Promotions, Inc. In addition to Tiny Tales and Silly Willies and Wise Kwaks (although I didn't know it at the time), "C.H.P." also published six licensed Marvel mini-books: Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, Hulk, Sgt. Fury and Millie the Model. These "books" were about the size of a penny, 50 pages each.
This slipcased set contains seven little hardcover books, one each reprinting the Marvel ones, plus a seventh "mini-history" of Creative House Promotions and their relationship with Marvel written by comic book historian Mark Evanier. Everything I now know about C.H.P. I learned from this book. Most of them are general introductions to the characters, some with origins, but each tells a story... except the Hulk one, which is more in the form of a joke book, with Hulk-related gags and limericks. The Millie one is rife with dated sexism. Despite the claim on the outside of the box ("Created by Stan Lee!"), Evanier's reseach reveals that Stan had nothing to do with them (according to Roy Thomas). Marvel had only four writers at the time (1966): Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Larry Leiber, and newcomer Denny O'Neil. Roy Thomas says that he didn't write any of them. Larry Leiber didn't even remember the mini-books, but when Evanier described them, says he might have written one. Denny O'Neil copped to writing the Captain America one, which may be considered odd because the two main comics he wrote for Marvel at the time were Millie the Model and Modeling with Millie. It was his first super-hero story and the only time in his career he has written Captain America.
So who wrote the others? No one knows for sure, and unfortunately many of the prime candidates passed away before Evanier reseached the history of these mini-comics. Marie Severin certainly drew some of them, but she passed away in 2018. She may have written some as well. Stan Goldberg (who passed away in 2014) drew the Millie the Model one, and production artist Carl Hubbell probably drew the Captain America one. Production manager Sol Brodsky would certaibnly been involved in getting these books done and to the printer, and may have written some as well. Also, Stan's secretary, receptionist and fan liason Flo Steinberg may have written one or more. The lettering looks like Morrie Kuramoto's style, but that's just a guess on Evanier's part. Interesting, "Superman" makes a cameo appearance in the Spider-Man one (a decade before their first official crossover in Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man).Also, there is a "General Roy Thomas" in the Sgt. Fury one.
Although the production of the hardcovers is much larger than the originals, they are all reprinted actual size in the "mini-history" volume. According to Evanier, "Many people, including my editor, told me that the Marvel Mini-Books are identified in the famed Guiness Book of world Records as the smallest comic books ever published. Turns out they're not--but they should be. As we go to press, Guiness is currently bestowing that distinction to Dossier Minimum Bug by Martin Lodewijk, copies of which were sold in the Netherlands in 1999 and were accompanied by a tiny magnifying glass. At 1" by 1.4", Dossier Minimum Bug is actually larger than the Marvel Mini-Books. But it does have panels and word balloons, whereas the Marvel Mini-Books are more idiosyncratic." (Most of the mini-books have text on the left page and a single drawing on the right.)
if you ever come across this unique collectible, you might want to consider buying it if you are interested in Marvel ephemera.
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When joining the MMMS the membership package included a few mini books but I don't think those were 50 pages.
You wouldn't think so but I'll bet they were. (I counted one of them just to make sure.) Mark Evanier mentioned the MMMS membership, but pointed out they weren't necessarily the Marvel ones. "At one point, it was possible to buy them glued to toothpicks as cake and party decorations [pictured], and there are reports (unverified) that one could purchase a kid's bracelet with Marvel Mini-Books as the charms." Non-Marvel mini-books like Laugh-In were produced from 1969 until 1971, and rival companies put out similar-size ones featuring characters from Archie comics and the All in the Family TV show.