Every now and then some website or comic YouTuber talks about the Tandy Computer Whiz Kids, formerly the TRS-80 Computer Whiz Kids until Radio Shack decided to expand their scope as an advertisement from more than just their “microcomputers”. Whether teaming with Superman, Wonder Woman, and Supergirl, fighting terrorists, drug dealers, and kidnappers the adventures of Alec and Shanna both with and without their Radio Shack wondergadgets are well known in certain circles. However, maybe because they lack crazy adventures, nobody really talks about the other comic line produced by Radio Shack in the 1980s.
The Science Fair Story Of Electronics was less about promoting the brand name electronic test kits, though ads were present, and more about being a history of technology, a reference comic for kids. There’s no story but there is a framing device with a teacher discussing this stuff with her students, though really it’s just an excuse to have kids asking questions. What you really have is a reference periodical with a few comic panels tossed in.
I happen to own two of these “comics”, The Discovery That Changed The World (a title that seems to have been reused a few times), and Science Exploration!, both of which start with the US space program at the time and then go into other scientific endeavors that actually had Science Fair kits you could mess with. I’m going to take a brief look at both of these to see why nobody talks about them. I’m betting the lack of crimefighting.
Writing credits on both comics are given to William (or Bill in the second) Palmer. The first book, produced for Fall-Winter 1981/Spring 1982, only had the art credit as J&R Weathers/Designers out of Chicago. The second book, the Fall 1986/Spring 1987 edition, gives Jim Weathers as the artist. Also, the teacher is just named “Teacher” in the first book, and I have never heard any kid in real life simply refer to their teacher as “teacher”. The second book does give her the name “Ms. Smith”, and some of the kids have names. As mentioned, they’re just there to ask questions to add some life to the text. Now let’s take a brief look at each book.
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