And it includes an interview with the artist behind so many of those bizarre costume designs…
Last fall, artist and historian Jason Young produced one of my favorite publications of 2020: The Wonderful Artwork of Wax Wrappers, a full-color, 80-page digest that shows off trading-card packages from the late ’50s to 1990.
Now, Young has another book that comes from the same kitschy ballpark: An Old School Halloween, which celebrates the days when kids could trick-or-treat on their own at night while wearing outlandish, mass-market, allegedly flame-retardant nylon costumes produced by companies like Ben Cooper.
Anybody who’s read 13th Dimension over the years knows I’m a Ben Cooper nut. Every October, we celebrate the lovably off-model outfits and the memories they bring. We certainly will again this Halloween season but even though it’s midsummer, I highly recommend you check out Jason’s book right away quick.
An Old School Halloween is 200 pages of full-color awesome, featuring art by Richard Rich (including the cover), galleries of vintage costumes, a history of Ben Cooper and old photo-album pictures sent to Jason for publication.
Most compelling though? An interview with Frank Romano, 96, who was the artist behind so many of Ben Cooper’s memorably wacky costumes.
Dig the table of contents and some sample pages:
This is but a tiny sample from the book, which runs $30 plus shipping and handling.
To order — and I have already — click here.
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MORE
— The TOP 13 Trading Card WAX WRAPPERS — RANKED. Click here.
— What If 13 Superheroes Wore BEN COOPER Costumes Instead? Click here.
July 15, 2021
Even though Carmine Infantino had a little bit of a reputation of telling tall tales, once at a convention appearance, he claimed to have personally designed the Batman mask for Ben Cooper. Even if it is a tall tale, I personally prefer to believe the story!
September 17, 2022
Is the Halloween costume book still available? The order website is puzzling.
September 17, 2022
Sold out!
September 28, 2022
Boooo
October 26, 2022
Are they gonna print more of these books?
October 27, 2022
Yes, you can pre-order now.
July 3, 2023
My cousin was FRANK ROMANO who sadly passed away in Nov. 2021 at 97 yrs. old, his wife also died a few months later also at 97. They were an amazing couple. At least he was able to attend his last comic con in NJ in 2021 but almost immediately was hospitalized. So very happy i was able to be related to him.