I really don’t have all that much to say about this comic except (a) I have a sneaking fondness for these kind of department store giveaway comics (as with all promotional comics there was always the chance that some serious weirdness might have sneaked in under the radar) and (b) in spite of the fact I rarely frequented Woolworth’s when the chain was actually in operation (there was just something creepy about a five and dime having a pet department and a lunch counter; in my darkest imaginings the two were somehow connected) I still felt a strange pang of nostalgia upon this strange artifact. Make no mistake, a Woolworth’s always had a desperate kind of seediness but they always seemed to aspire to being slightly better than they actually were. As opposed to the Deals and Dollar Stores of today that have replaced in which hang their desperate seediness on their sleeves.

But I suppose in the end the difference between a Woolworth’s and a Deal’s is the difference between a Friendly’s and a Steak ‘n Shake – no difference at all, really. And as for the comic well, it was free; you get what you pay for, even at Woolworth’s.