Dynamite Houdini Punch-Out

By Tom Interval

In my relatively small magic collection, I recently dug up this 1980 Dynamite article about Harry Houdini (1874-1926). What’s scary about this piece, besides the picture of Scott Baio on the cover, is that more than 36 years have passed since its publication. (Let me immerse myself in age denial about that one for a moment.)

The article—mostly about Houdini’s crusade against fraudulent Spiritualists— is just okay. But the Houdini punch-out? Dynamite! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) I didn’t actually punch it out because I wanted to leave the magazine intact, but I was compelled to scan it and animate it for your and my entertainment pleasure.

It’s an illustration of Houdini in his pre-1920s scandalous canary-yellow swim trunks escaping a heavy set of chains, just as he did in real life. Well, not “just” as he did, and his trunks weren’t really yellow, but you get the idea. Pretty cool: All you do is punch out the lot, weave the artwork into the jail-cell bars, use the tabs to move the artwork up and down, and voilà! Houdini sheds the shackles!

But don’t take my word for it:

 

Here’s what the original punch-out looks like:

So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, Houdini once again escapes, this time as recently as 1980, long before this magician was born. *wink*

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