Albie's Note: If the sub-genre known as "Hot Rod Comics" had a dominating Shakespeare-type figure, it was undoubtedly the late Jack Keller! (1922-2003)
Ol' Jack did not invent the genre, by any means, but he unquestionably mastered it, defined it, refined it, and left by far the largest and finest legacy within it! Although he remains more famous for writing and drawing Marvel's KID COLT series for many years on end, Jack's HOT ROD stories are still widely sought out-- not so much by comic collectors as by automobile enthusiasts [which explains how cheaply one can still purchase those vintage Charlton Car Comics]-- and one can easily see why. He not only had meticulous attention to detail and realism, but always told vivid, exciting stories with valid moral undertones.
"Slow Joe, The Thinker" first appeared in the June, 1965 issue of Charlton's Drag Strip Hot-Rodders (#4)
I really liked the character of "Slow Joe" Hyland as presented here. I have no idea whether Keller was a Christian or not, but characters like this one-- and there are several other examples-- really make me wonder. Joe exhibits so many New Testament Christian virtues it is hard to list them all: Patience, Pacifism, Forgiveness, Peacemaking, Hard Work, Slowness to Wrath... if some publisher would re-release these old comics in a new, hardbound full-process edition-- (as has actually been done more and more with the classic comics of my childhood)-- I would be just about the first patron to shell out my hard-earned money for them, and then gladly hand them down to my own son.
They are just THAT good.
A Great American writer and artist was Jack Keller-- may he never be forgotten:
"Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
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See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men."
-- I Thes. 5:14-15
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PEACE
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