Bible Stories, 1981

(Continued from 1980)

The latest version of the story of "Samuel" (the 6th time the BOYS' LIFE series had covered the material) continues into the stories of "Saul" and "David".

A number of these latest versions seem to cover their familiar ground in more detail than done in past installments.  Oddly, the August & September episodes seem to be variations of the SAME events, and do not seem (to me) to make sense to BOTH be included. Did Saul change his mind NOT to kill David, TWICE?

Story by (??)  /  Art by FRANK BOLLE
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1981

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1981

(Continued in 1982)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia
Visit Frank Bolle's website!
See a collection of Frank Bolle's TIM HOLT covers at this very blog! 

Bible Stories, 1980

(Continued from 1979)

The latest version of the story of "Moses" (the 6th time the BOYS' LIFE series had covered the material) concludes at the start of 1980, then, as usual, continues headlong into the story of "Joshua".

One thing which some may consider blasphemy for me to ask is, I sometimes wonder why every invading, conquering horde in history are considered evil barbarians... EXCEPT, the Israelites, when they storm across The Jordan, destroy the city of Jericho and kill almost everyone in it, then continue on to conquer the entire surroundng country and occupy it? POV?

This year saw some stories that had not been covered by the series before, including "Hannah" (Samuel's mother), and "The Ark" being captured by The Philistines.

Meanwhile, I've only been able to detect 3 Frank Bolle signatures among the 12 months (January, July & December)-- and I had trouble finding those.  Did someone tell him to stop including his signature, and he decided to get sneaky about it?

When I posted these, I was wondering who was writing these, since Al Stenzel had passed away.  However, since then I noticed that pretty much the entire Frank Bolle run on the series (20 years!) was reusing text verbatim from the previous versions of the same stories.

Story by (??)  /  Art by FRANK BOLLE
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1980

I know this is bound to offend somebody, but here's a song from one of my favorite movies that seems to perfectly fit the above scene.

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1980

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1980

(Continued in 1981)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia 

Visit Frank Bolle's website!
See a collection of Frank Bolle's TIM HOLT covers at this very blog! 

Bible Stories, 1979

(Continued from 1978)

The latest version of the story of "Moses" (the 6th time the BOYS' LIFE series had covered the material) continued all the way through 1979.  The first 2 installments are entirely graphic, no illustrations at all, something the series had not done for some years.

I've read at Frank Bolle's website that he did work for BOYS' LIFE from 1978-1996 on various features, including the BIBLE.  Although I've usually taken note of changes in artists by differences in styles, in this case, the April 1979 installment was the FIRST time I've seen an artist's SIGNATURE on one of these-- albeit done rather sneakily-- since January 1964!!!  The April 1979 installment also happens to be the first one since May 1971-- and then September 1967 before that-- with an individual title listed (even if the new ones tend to feel more like a "description" than an actual "title").

I've had a growing suspicion that Al Stenzel was the one who decided to eliminate artists' names or signatures, from the time he took over the BL comics section account from Johnstone & Cushing.  As it happens, Stenzel passed away sometime in 1979 (BOYS' LIFE printed a memorial page in the September 1979 issue).  I suppose change was once more in the air.

As mentioned before, I've discovered while putting this series together at my blog that the versions of the stories written in the late 70's continued to be reused VERBATIM for the next 20 years!  (Somebody in editorial had clearly gotten lazy.)

By the way, from April-December I've been able to spot Frank Bolle's signature (FWB)... except in the July & August installments.  Can anyone spot his signature, or was it left out (or whited out) on those?

Story by (??)  /  Art by  (??)
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1979

Story by Al Stenzel  /  Art by FRANK BOLLE
BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1979

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1979

(Continued in 1980)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia 
Read about the history of Johnstone & Cushing at the Hogan's Alley site
Visit Frank Bolle's website!
See a collection of Frank Bolle's TIM HOLT covers at this very blog!

Bible Stories, 1978

(Continued from 1977)

The latest version of the story of "Moses" (the 6th time the BOYS' LIFE series had covered the material) continued all the way through 1978.  The pacing of the story is handled differently this time, with more focus on the initial confrontation with Pharaoh, but far less on the various plagues.

The April 1978 installment was done in 2-color printing. In addition, the September 1978 installment-- which lists THE TEN COMMANDMENTS-- was done in 1-color printing (B&W)!  I always wonder why they do that.

Story by (??)  /  Art by (??)
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1978

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1978

(Continued in 1979)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia 
Read about the history of Johnstone & Cushing at the Hogan's Alley site
Visit Frank Bolle's website!
     (Thanks to Luke Blanchard for pointing this one out.)

Bible Stories, 1977

(Continued from 1976)

The latest version of the story of "Joseph" continues.  This one features an epilogue not seen in the previous versions in this series.  After, a new version of the story of "Moses" begins.

The series got another new artist-- along with a new LOGO-- for the October 1977 installment.(although it looks to me like the change in artist was only for that month.)

December 1977 saw the first "limited color" installment in several years.  I wonder what was going on there?

Story by (??)  /  Art by (??)
BOYS' LIFE  /  January 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  February 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  March 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  April 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  May 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  June 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  July 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  August 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  September 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  October 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  November 1977

BOYS' LIFE  /  December 1977

(Continued in 1978)

Copyright (C) BOY'S LIFE Magazine
Restorations by Henry Kujawa

Read the Bob LeRose page at Wikipedia 
Read about the history of Johnstone & Cushing at the Hogan's Alley site