Vintage Computing Comic Books

July 10, 2005 12:03 PM

The Computer That Said NO to Drugs(and the other 7 issues of Tandy Computer Whiz Kid comics.) And if we're feeling nostalgic now, there many more retro computer magazines where that came from.
posted by .kobayashi. (22 comments total)

The computer didn't say anything...

What a gyp...
posted by Samizdata at 12:25 PM on July 10, 2005

That was camp heaven, thank you.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 12:29 PM on July 10, 2005

ah the trash-80

the hours that i spent in radioshack playing text games and making little BASIC loops so the monitor would blink "we computers know more than you think"

as my mom was next door buying me Pop Rocks and soda in returnable bottles.
posted by tsarfan at 12:30 PM on July 10, 2005

PepsiBlue! *buys a Tandy Color Computer 2 with color disk drive*

;)

Love these magazines. Thank you, .kobayashi..
posted by soundofsuburbia at 12:31 PM on July 10, 2005

Bah, these anti-drug things are disappointing if you don't actually see the depravity in practice. Where are the misguided dope-smoking kids?!
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 12:43 PM on July 10, 2005

"The children are quite anxious to hear what you have to say, detective."

"I hope so, Ms. Wilson -- because I'm here to talk to you about a matter of life and death . . . YOUR OWN!"

I just about spit out my Coke when I read that. [This is good.]
posted by brain_drain at 12:44 PM on July 10, 2005

I like how on page 8 when Detective Shaw enters the classroom, he calls Ms. Wilson "Ms. Shaw". Was that a Freudian slip, or could he be... on drugs?!?

Thanks for the link.
posted by trip and a half at 12:45 PM on July 10, 2005

That reminded me of Whiz Kids, the TV show. Man that was awesome, they had a supercomputer the kid made out of spare parts... The computer would talk to them in a funny voice and they'd solve crimes.
posted by nervousfritz at 12:50 PM on July 10, 2005

I remember Whiz Kids fondly -- I watched it religiously, although I can't remember much about it now.

This also made me think of the Schoolhouse Rock cartoon Scooter Computer & Mr. Chips, which I disliked. As one website notes, "[t]his group of vignettes was created under the misconception that kids were afraid of computers and needed help to overcome that fear. Actually children took to computers like ducks to water."
posted by brain_drain at 1:11 PM on July 10, 2005

That archive has a lot of work from our own Greg Knauss. I idolized this guy as a teen.
posted by rcade at 1:15 PM on July 10, 2005

I was hoping it would star the same computer as the one who wore tennis shoes.
posted by Staggering Jack at 1:21 PM on July 10, 2005

Wow. maybe I can pitch a trip to Hawaii with this fine cover...

(I just have to distract from the 'surprising impact of computer violence' story. Now THAT's funny, considering I've just discovered San Andreas, and whatever Hi-Res magazine is bitching about here would now be approved for kindergartners.
posted by Busithoth at 1:23 PM on July 10, 2005

Wow... just seeing the cover art on some of those computer mags takes me back. 70s and 80s tech covers were so cool.
posted by wfrgms at 1:51 PM on July 10, 2005

Oh man. They gave away Whiz Kids #1 at my school. As much as I was interested in computers, I couldn't help being disappointed by what a thinly veiled attempt it was to educate me, and what a downright boring comic book it really was.

(That should not be interpreted as a slight against this post, which is awesome.)
posted by Galvatron at 2:00 PM on July 10, 2005

Sorry, Tandy, but compared to the young geek I think the drug smugglers have the trump card on a fun and interesting lifestyle.
posted by rolypolyman at 2:02 PM on July 10, 2005

Exactly what did Alec do to merit top billing in the cringe-inducing celebration of whizzity? Shannara did everything!
posted by brevity at 2:24 PM on July 10, 2005

For modern retro computer/gaming stuff, I read Retro Gamer whenever it comes out, it's a fantastic magazine and full of good stuff. Wish they had a better homepage though.

Dude... I'm going to go to U Village right now and go read the new one!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 2:43 PM on July 10, 2005

*Retro Gamer link
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 2:44 PM on July 10, 2005

Take a Look at Those
Amazing Computer Graphics

Discover the Suprising
Impact of Video Violence

My, how little some things change... ..heh
posted by mr.curmudgeon at 6:59 PM on July 10, 2005

Great find - these are just...classic. From the smuggling one:
That's right - people your own age are into narcotics these days ... and it's not a problem confined to so-called "junkies" and "poor people". It's good to see someone finally dismiss the urban myth of "poor people".
posted by nTeleKy at 1:52 PM on July 11, 2005

Heh... yeah, it's good that the kids are on guard against the "poor people" though. Oh, and I love the artwork in that panel; it should be titled "They Saved Detective Shaw's Head."
posted by .kobayashi. at 4:27 PM on July 11, 2005

And the really weird thing about this comic is at least two other issues (1, 2) focus on anti-drug messages. Like it's the only sensible plotline for clever sixth graders. What's with that marketing push? Were drugs and computers competing for the same market share at one point there in the 80s?
posted by .kobayashi. at 4:36 PM on July 11, 2005