MMM Astronaut Jo Ann Harvey

Space Psychiatrist Jo Ann Harvey

The Astronaut Jo Ann Harvey - Who is she?

Jo Ann Harvey is a character in the Whitman Publishing arm of Western Publishing (now defunct as of 2001) #2022 Big Little Book (BLB): "Major MATT MASON - MOON MISSION", published in 1968. The BLB was written by George S. Elrick with beautiful color illustrations by comic book artist Dan Spiegle. I think of the four characters introduced in the BLB as NPC (Non-Player Characters - it's a gaming term), but I think there's enough information here to introduce them into the world of Major MATT MASON. Based on what was produced and the copyrights presented, I'm sure that Mattel licensed Major MATT MASON to Whitman as a means of spreading the brand into print - Mattel later also did this with Hot Wheels in a similar fashion.

Jo Ann is referenced as a "Space Psychiatrist" in the BLB so we can assume that she's a Mission Specialist assigned to the moon base project. Her first appearance has her putting on her space boots in a somewhat seductive pose - reminds me of some of the cheesecake photography around in men's magazines at that time - it may not have been intentional as the target audience probably had little of interest (as a 7-year old at publication date, I know I had little interest in girls at any rate). She does come in rather strong as the sister Capt. Otto Harvey (the one left on the far side of the moon) so she's full of worry for his safety. She also makes a good damsel in distress in some scenes, conveniently rescued by the good Major.

Jo Ann Harvey with Maj. Mason

She's in quite a few panels, I think the artist Dan Spiegle (who also did the Dell comic, Space Family Robinson), liked to render females. Her suit is noticeably smaller than Matt's and had more hip and narrower shoulders (one of the complaints I have regarding the conversion of MMM figures to female is that the figure is masculine and requires more changes, like shortening the torso and height, to make them look more like the female physique - but I digress).

Jo Ann Harvey with a giant Moon Bunny

Packaging by Catalog Year:

Western Publishing probably offered this Big Little Book for at least two years and probably had it available until the initial print run became too small to solicit.

• 1968 Whitman #2022 Major MATT MASON "Moon Mission"
• Quantity Minimums are unknown at this time
  

John's Notes:

Of course no review of Jo Ann would be complete without discussing the "nap with a giant bunny" panel (above). This book is full of interesting imagery, from the MMM equipment (Space Crawler, Astro Trac, Jet Propulsion Paks, Space Sleds, Cat Tracs, you get the idea), to the giant Moon Worms and Rabbits (the latter to be processed into protein and NOT pets). This panel epitomizes the odd storyline.

I tried to be as thorough as possible with this information but as always, if you see something that's inaccurate, want to have the information updated for some reason or want to contribute, contact John Eaton.

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