There's only one thing better than comic books, and that thing is FREE comic books. And the only thing better than free comic books is free comic books that are handed out to you IN SCHOOL. Just think, you're sitting there expecting a boring old history or math class, and instead, hey kids, here's some comics, teacher's gonna go take a smoke break while you enjoy some comics. Isn't that great?

There's just one catch.


The catch is these are educational comics. Educational Archie comics. Educational Archie comics compliments of the nerdiest, least cool store in the mall... Radio Shack! Oh well, better than math, I guess.

And yes, it DOES seem like there's an endless supply of these giveaway Radio Shack comics, doesn't it?


But first before we begin our story of electronics, let's take a minute to tell the story of breakfast, the most important meal of the day according to the National Breakfast Council. This pro-breakfast advertising is designed to distract us from the Radio Shack advertising we'll be seeing later.


That's right, back then we were cutting back on fats and cholesterol, and filling up with carbs and sugar instead. Or dog food, which is what it looks like Archie's eating.


Svenson's driving the bus! I look forward to hilarious mechanical mix-ups and his delightful mangling of the English language.


Wait a minute, they get right to the Science Museum without even one comedy bit? Is this REALLY an Archie comic?


This is the point in the comic where your neighborhood steampunk enthusiast shows up to tell you all about Tesla's accomplishments at exhaustive length, the details slowly changing to ridiculous fan fiction, until you start ripping out all the electrical wiring in your house in pure frustration.


Which is better, direct or alternating current? Tesla and Edison fought bitterly over this issue, and the ultimate winner was the American public. The ultimate loser? An elephant named Topsy. Look it up, kids!


If Tesla had been able to get that death ray working, you'd be singing about a different invention, Dilton! Or maybe blasted out of existence like a spaceman on the cover of "Astounding Science Fiction", who knows.


"Thank you for that terrific leading and completely unprompted question, Betty! And yes, I will be giving you that completely unrelated five dollars after the field trip."


Our Sun is actually a large nuclear furnace, maintained by a large nuclear building superintendent, who sends down more heat whenever we bang on the nuclear pipes. And that's how we get seasons.


The solar panels atop George A Towns Elementary were in operation for several years until they were destroyed, as seen here, by a mysterious beam from outer space.


Look at Betty! Two minutes ago she didn't know a thing about natural sources of energy and now she won't shut up about them. What a natural-energy-source-Johnny-Come-Lately!


In California PG&E runs geyser steam through turbines to generate enough power to light up San Francisco, and they also run your power bill through increases that drive everybody crazy! And in the South the TVA dammed every river they could, which brought power to millions while also hiding the body of that hillbilly Burt Reynolds killed in "Deliverance." A double victory.


Wow, don't strain yourself with the teaching here, Ms. Grundy


For some reason I could really go for a bacon, egg, sausage, and tomato sandwich right now


I don't remember giving any globalist surveillance organization the right to stick a satellite over my house to keep track of my own personal weather!


Even the U.S. Postal Service got into the act with "Intelpost", an amazing service that charged five dollars a page (!!) to basically send a fax that would be put into an envelope at the destination city and delivered like regular mail. Unsurprisingly, this was judged a total failure almost immediately, but stayed in operation for twenty (!!) more years. That's it, that's the joke.


A short feature of the history of electricity gives the cast the opportunity to dress up in inaccurate costumes from a wide variety of appropriated cultures!


Ben Franklin also was the guy that invented the idea of asking for your address and phone number every time you want to buy batteries, which is what happened every time you went into Radio Shack because you just needed four "D" cells for your boom box, you couldn't get out of the place without some clip-on tie-wearing Dwight Schrute glaring at you through his birth-control glasses, demanding your personal information before he'd complete the sale. Gosh I wonder why Radio Shack went out of business?


(Joseph Henry, seen here engaging in his favorite hobby, which was torturing his Slinky)


It's called a "reservoir tip" Betty. It's there for a reason.


Jughead says Edison's movies "couldn't be a bad?" Edison's Frankenstein (1910) was a pioneering smash hit! You direct any hit movies lately? I didn't think so!


Real "electronics section of Goodwill" energy in that last panel


That's right Archie, just tell the whole world about Veronica's telephone fetish, why don't you?


Who to thank for those long distance call-center telemarketers ruining your dinner? Lee De Forrest, that's who!


Kids simply won't believe Marconi actually sent that radio message if they don't see a mannequin of Marconi poised at the telegraph key.


And that's how Radio Shack got its name. "I'm sorry Captain, I'm going to need your zip code before I can send this SOS."


"Oh boy! At last the marketing department at Tandy really gets to shine!"


That's right, there aren't lines at airports any more, thanks to computers. Nope, no lines at all, just walk right onto the plane, it's a speedy process that takes no time at all, thanks to computers. By the way, the computer oversold your flight, so you're on standby, and the computer sent your luggage to another airport. But it did both those things VERY QUICKLY.


"Let's not forget computer games" says the comic book in its only mention of computer games. Sorry gamers. Instead let's use this already-obsolete computer to access an electronic encyclopedia! Better than playing "Golden Axe" any day, am I right?


It's super easy to connect to electronic encyclopedias. First connect your modem, insert your modem software floppy into the disk drive, and power on your system. Enter your account number and password at the prompts. Then you simply dial the support number for whichever online service you've signed up for and which is currently not working due to service outages. Easy as pie!


FINALLY you'll be asked which directory of naked celebrity look-alike picture files you'd like to spend hours downloading images from. Remember to holler at Mom to not pick up the phone, and also to stay out of your room!


Wow, that DOES sound easy and fun - when you make Dilton do it, that is. Doing all this DOS-command stuff yourself is a pain in the ass. Somebody invent Windows 3.0 already!


Here's a fun ride where we learn about the billions of taxpayer dollars spent on the Navstar GPS system that can pinpoint locations to a degree of accuracy within fifty miles. Fifty miles?! That's a guess, buddy. Why not just throw a dart at the map?


Pioneer 10 is now in deep space, heading straight for an alien civilization that will find it, use its trajectory to calculate our location, and instantly decide to wipe us out rather than let us potentially rival their dominance of the universe. Thanks Dr. Carl Sagan, thanks a lot


I don't know if whipping the kids up into a "youth revolt, overthrow the government" Wild In The Streets-type frenzy was what Ms. Grundy had in mind, but here we are. Grab your Tandy 1000s and your Color Computers! On to the capital!

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