SCOTT SHAW! SATURDAYS…
By SCOTT SHAW!
In 1962, Dell Comics and Western Publishing – the company that provided all of the material for Dell for decades — went separate ways due to business reasons, with Gold Key as Western’s new imprint. Dell suddenly had to sink or swim. With far less experience and far lower budgets than its previous incarnation, the publisher hired seasoned comics pro L. B. Cole to oversee many of the new “serious” Dell titles.
Known for his occasional experimental artwork across the industry, Cole’s short regime was quite different from his predecessor’s, with the company’s non-humor titles featuring scripting by Dell’s paperback authors for a more mature audience. Unintentionally, the company bore a resemblance to EC Comics, at least with some titles. Brain Boy was one of its standouts.
Four Color #1330, aka Brain Boy #1. Cover by Vic Prezio.
Created by Herb Castle and Gil Kane, Brain Boy – appearing first in Four Color #1330 (April-June 1962) – had the most Oddball origin ever: a car crash with an electrical power line affected him while he was an embryo still inside his mother.
After growing up with the mental powers of telepathy, levitation/flying, and mind control, upon graduating from high school, young Matt Price was recruited into the U.S. government’s secret Organization of Active Anthropologists – which seems to be the CIA — by a fellow telepath, Chris Ambers. His only weakness was overusing his mental energy when dealing with other telepaths, which made Matt very tired. He wore a suit and had no actual super-identity: “Brain Boy” was a merely term for Matt that Chris used to joke with him.
After Four Color #1330, Brain Boy received his own series with Castle and a new artist, Frank Springer, a former assistant to George Wunder on Terry and The Pirates, who would illustrate Michael O’Donogue’s The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist for Grove Press, and become a huge presence in the pages of National Lampoon.
Brain Boy #2, July-Sept. 1962. Cover by Prezio.
Matt Price’s first assignment was to travel to Xochtan, a small South American country, with Hillary Gomez, a famed classical composer. Matt had to protect Hillary and himself from Ricorta, the telepathic stooge of the Fidel Castro-ish dictator General Droz. Recorta appeared in the next story, as well as the fifth one – “The Metal People” — with militant robots!
Every issue of Brain Boy also included a four-page backup feature called, “The Strange Mr. Ozymandias.”
Brain Boy #3, December 1962- February 1963. Cover by Prezio.
The third Brain Boy tale, “The Frozen Monster,” remains one of my favorite Oddball stories. Matt is sent to an unwelcoming small town near the Arctic Circle. He meets an alcoholic Inuit who explains that the scientists Matt is looking for have disappeared while walking north to nowhere. Brain Boy follows their trails, only to discover a mutated, highly-intelligent Tyrannosaurus rex, which wants the scientists to revive his frozen T-rex buddies so they can re-conquer the planet. Throughout the story, Brain Boy and the man-eater have a tense think-off, with the dinosaur repeatedly referring to Matt as “Little Chicken.”
Brain Boy #4, March-May 1963. Cover by Prezio.
Brain Boy #5, June-August 1963. Cover by Prezio.
“The Mindless Ones,” in Brain Boy #6, is another favorite of mine. Microscopic aliens enslave the Canadian village of Boondocks, where Matt shows up on vacation. An Outer Limits vibe ensues.
Brain Boy #6, September-November 1963. Cover by Prezio.
In 2013, Dark Horse acquired the license for Brain Boy, both for a hardback reprint of all six Dell issues and a new series of three issues written by 13th Dimension pal Fred Van Lente, penciled by R. B. Silva, and inked by Rob Lean.
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For over half a century, SCOTT SHAW! has been a pro cartoonist/writer/designer of comic books, animation, advertising and toys. He is also a historian of all forms of cartooning. Scott has worked on many underground comix and mainstream comic books, including Simpsons Comics (Bongo); Weird Tales of the Ramones (Rhino); and his co-creation with Roy Thomas, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew! (DC). Scott also worked on numerous animated series, including producing/directing John Candy’s Camp Candy (NBC/DIC/Saban) and Martin Short’s The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley. As senior art director for the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, Scott worked on dozens of commercials for Post Pebbles cereals with the Flintstones. He also designed a line of Hanna-Barbera action figures for McFarlane Toys. Scott was one of the comics fans who organized the first San Diego Comic-Con.
Need funny cartoons for any and all media? Click here! Scott does commissions!
His latest project is Kilgore Home Nursing, based on stories that his home-care nurses told him about their jobs. He’ll have lots of copies for sale at the upcoming shows at which he’ll be a guest, including the Burbank Toon Con on September 7, 2025.
August 16, 2025
I remember one story where there was intelligent algae or something in the water. The locals where trying to force him into the water so he could be enslaved. Not sure if that’s the same one you mean.
August 16, 2025
I had one issue of the comic — the one with the robots. But that’s all I recall of it. Unlike other oddballs from the period, like METAMORPHO and SEA DEVILS, BRAIN BOY didn’t stick with me.
September 19, 2025
I remember reading these as a kid when they came out. What remains with me is that he levitates up stairs rather than walking up. Who wouldn’t if they could?