Model Heroes: 1974 Aurora Comic Scenes

In 1974, Aurora, that grooviest of groovy toy makers, reissued many of their superhero models from the 60s, and even added a few more to their line-up. Calling them "Aurora Comic Scenes", each model came with its own 8 page comic. One page was a full page background scene that you could stand up behind your completed model to create a "3-D diorama". Heavy duty!

Young Groove got his share of these beauties, you betcha! I started with Superboy, added the Hulk and Robin, then nabbed Batman and Spider-Man. I tried for years to track down Captain America, but had no luck. They came in really cool boxes that were created to yank allowance money right out of a young comic-fiend's pocket. Check out a few:




Here's what your average superhero looked like when you opened the box:


Yep, that's Superman, all over. Kinda gross if you think about it (unless you're Lex Luthor, then you're diggin' it the most).

The ones I had weren't terribly hard to put together except for Batman, whose cape was so heavy it kept pulling his head off his shoulders. Painting them right was the real chore. Each model came in one solid color (like the Superman example above) so you had to paint in all the other colors if you didn't want a monochrome superhero. They were fun, though! Michael Miller, who runs the Molehill Group website has some excellent examples of completed kits on his site. Place your pupils on these:



Far-out, huh?

The comics that came with the kits were pretty awesome, too. Each were written by either Len Wein or Marv Wolfman with art by Dick Giordano, John Romita, Curt Swan, Dave Cockrum, and Herb Trimpe. Dig these crazy Comic Scenes Covers:


Remind me later to give you the lowdown on the Vampirella Torture Chamber model kits. Now that was some funky, freaked-out stuff!

Catch ya on the rebound!