About this publication
The inspiration for this book comes from
the graphic ads found in Johnson Smith
catalogs and adventure comics of the
50’s, 60’s & 70’s. My friends and I were
fascinated by these ads enticing us to
buy some scientific marvel.
Incredible! Unbelievable!
Eyeglasses that let you see
through walls. The secrets to
super-human strength. Scary
seven-foot tall ghosts that do
your bidding. The
promise of X-Ray
vision. The
ability to
throw one’s
voice. Raising
frolicking sea
monkey pets.
It took repeated disappointments and a
dwindling allowance to open my eyes. The
sad fact is that these advertisements
didn’t always tell the truth.
In 2012, I came across a book by artist
and historian Kirk Demarais, who runs
the Gen X nostalgia site Secret Fun
Spot. In his book “Mail-Order Mysteries,”
he reveals what you really got when
you ordered any one of 150 supposed
scientific marvels. Encouraged by his
work, I set out to create a comic book
that celebrates this graphic style of
advertisement. I hope to attract you
to some Totally Thrilling Science that
really does work! The activities in this
comic book and corresponding web page
are a compilation of science activities
that I created or modified over the
years. I hope you en