Okay, I couldn't resist. Earlier this week, I posted an item featuring makeup artist David Ayers from the grocery store checkout line tabloid, the WEEKLY WORLD NEWS. This is the same paper that out of nowhere, published an article about a newly-discovered half-boy, half-bat. The story was a sensation. People loved it. It was all made up!
Bat Boy was the creation of editor Dick Kulpa and writer Bob Lind. The chiropteran child's first appearance was in the June 23, 1992 issue. The story tells of a Dr. Ron Dillon, who discovers the two-foot tall, nineteen pound Bat Boy in a place called Hellhole Cave in Pendleton County, West Virginia. Over his next several appearances, Bat Boy is chased and caught by scientists and government agents, only to escape again.
The legendary Bat Boy issue of WWN was the paper's second-best selling issue of all time. He went on to appear in other formats, such as a cartoon drawn by Peter Bagge, as well as starring in his own musical (!).
Has the story of Bat Boy run its course? Heck, no! Last I heard there was a WWN reporter embedded in the Bat Boy for President 2020 campaign!
More on Bat Boy here at MMW on Sunday!
This paper was sold for many years in the supermarkets of the U.S. There are many crazy stories that were told. I'll be sharing some of them here at MMW as time goes on.
ReplyDeleteI had this issue when it first came out. At a certain point it just turned to dust :-(
ReplyDeleteNow that's what I call a true "pulp"!
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