Dinky and Donald Duck: "Separated at Mirth" and United by Other Factors!

One of the things I love most about indexing comic books for the GRAND COMIC DATABASE (GCD) is the optional assignation of "Unofficial Titles" to untitled stories and covers.  My unofficial title for the cover of  DINKY DUCK #8 (St. John Comics, Cover Date: February, 1954) is... (wait for it...)

"Schematic for a Good Ski-Medic"

There's a title even *I'm* impressed by :-)  I also LOVE this cover!  Perfectly capturing the characters of obnoxious egotist Rudy Rooster, and his overly-loyal and faithful pup Dinky Duck. 

A similar Carl Barks cover had HD&L "standing-by" with a med-kit as Donald was about to ski, but Dinky actually going down the mountain AFTER Rudy, shows his (oft-misplaced) concern AND much better carries the gag!  

Of course, it could (...and probably SHOULD) be said that, as good Junior Woodchucks, you'd expect the Duck boys to take the more sensible approach!    

WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES #149 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: February, 1953) - one year earlier! 

Whichever one you prefer, I think it's safe to say that it's "snow fun" being Donald or Rudy when they carelessly demonstrate "tropes on the slopes"! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: How Bambi SHOULD Have Turned Out!

 (Sigh!)  If only Bambi and his mother were jungle denizens, rather than of the forest variety! 

...Love the cover anyway!  

From TARZAN #127 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: November-December, 1961) - Painted Cover by the great George Wilson. 

Separated at Mirth: Great Ball's O' Fire!

Well, maybe not exactly Separated at... "Mirth"... unless your idea of fun is being under attack by fireballs - but, for any of you Fireball Fanciers out there, we humbly submit... 

DONALD DUCK #101 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: (May, 1965)...

...And WONDER WOMAN #99 (DC Comics, Cover Date: July, 1958).

One thing they DO have in common is that both are breathtaking images!  DONALD DUCK #101 is by Carl Barks.  WONDER WOMAN #99 is by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.  Each are the most classic artists for their respective characters - and it certainly shows here!  

And, while not a comic book cover, I'd be remiss if I didn't include this striking image from LOST IN SPACE, "Condemned of Space" (1967), with the Jupiter 2 narrowly avoiding a catastrophic collision... with guess what?!  

All three are guaranteed to "light up your life" in their own unique ways!  

I’m Not an Artist (...or Colorist), But… WHAT Massive Fist?!

I am not an artist, nor am I a colorist.  If I WERE a colorist, I would be a worse colorist than I would be as an artist.  

It's not just a matter of specific skills of art and coloring that I have never possessed, it's also my admitted lack of creative imagination in those two areas!  

Oh, I have an almost limitless creative imagination in the area of WRITING!  This Blog, my many APA and fanzine writings of yore, and my professional comics work bear testament to that.  But, even if I had sufficient skills in the areas of art and coloring, my work would at best rank as pedestrian, as I have scant (all together now) creative imagination to apply to said work. 

Art is, of course, a matter of subjective taste.  Meaning that while I (and, presumably, most of you) really like things like THIS...

 ...Or THIS...

 ...Or THIS...

...I do allow for the possibility, remote as it may be, that there COULD BE some folks who actually like THIS...

...Even if it's only the artist himself, and possibly his editor!  

But, when COLORING fails, it's pretty much universal!  For instance, take the cover of HAWKMAN #6 (DC Comics, Cover Date: February-March, 1965) and its titanic struggle between Hawkman and a great winged-gorilla. 

Hawkman says: "Got to bring my mace UP -- before that massive fist comes crashing DOWN!" 

MASSIVE FIST?!  WHAT MASSIVE FIST?!  Without squint-staring really hard, do you see any massive fist?  

Quick aside: It has nothing to do with the quality of the digital image used above.  I have the actual comic here beside me as I write this, and the "real thing" looks exactly the same!  

It would seem to be a matter of too much dark brown concentrated in what should be a critical area of the illustration!  

Let's assume there was insufficient room for artist [The Great] Murphy Anderson to position the gorilla's arm and fist elsewhere on the cover, as the dramatic focus of the piece is the gorilla about to smash Hawkman into a fine Hawk-puree! (Sorry, but my keyboard doesn't allow for the accent mark, and spell-checker isn't offering it either!) 

But, perhaps just the slightest bit of gradation in the dark brown might have made a difference, or maybe a better-defined outline of the gorilla's arm and fist to separate it in depth relative to the  gorilla's wing! 

Then again, the coloring techniques of the Silver Age were far more limited than they would be beginning in the 1980s, so I don't have a definitive solution to offer.  

But, that's why I’m Not an Artist (...or Colorist), But… I'm still left to ask "Massive fist? WHAT massive fist?!"

Oh, and for a "massive fist" that you actually CAN see clearly, try this on for massive-size!  

Oh, THAT massive fist! Got it!  

No, actually Superman got it... right in the super-breadbasket! 

There's Just Something About a Pink Bow...

A universal shorthand technique in creating a female counterpart to a male character - in animation and in comics - is to give that counterpart a HAIR BOW... usually pink!  

But, how would that play out in real life?  Well, Cici's here to show you!  

...And doesn't she look CUTE?  With or without the bow!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: I Wanna BE This Guy!

Man!  Not only does he have ALL THAT going for him, but he even gets to be featured on the the back cover of REAL SCREEN COMICS # 15 (Published by DC Comics, Cover Date: December 1947 / January 1948)!  
 

Why, just reading his list of accomplishments and future aspirations is enough to give an average student an inferiority complex!  (Click to Enlarge for ease of reading!) 

You were OVER SIX FEET TALL... IN HIGH SCHOOL!?  ...In 1947, yet?  

I've been out of high school for over fifty years, and I haven't reached that yet!  And I'm not very... er, "high" on my future chances... 

As this is 1947, he even got to hear President Dwight D. Eisenhower BEFORE he was president!  

...And, while most of the nation "liked Ike", Ike probably "liked HIM!"  

Contrary to the request made above by "The Box in Pink", I cannot "...watch this space for the high school champ of [my] locality", because my high school wasn't built until 1956!  

Yeah, I know... That's exactly the kind of excuse-laden, non-positive thinking that never won me any class honors beyond "Most Likely to Collect a Lot of Comic Books".  

In addition to our esteemed Mr. Friedman, REAL SCREEN COMICS # 15 featured a number of other role-model types for "what passed for the comic book nerds and geeks of 1947" to aspire to.  

On the INSIDE BACK COVER (the REVERSE of Tommy's page) was this...

Then again, if there was anyone I would have wanted to be, had I existed in 1947, it would most likely be the guy in THIS INTERIOR AD! 

Seriously, "Tommy" (or Mr. Friedman), if you're really out there, please accept my kidding in the spirit of kindly humor with which it is intended!  

Hope it all worked out exactly as you planned!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Comics DIGESTS?

 Wrong CAPTION, or wrong PHOTO... You decide...

If they're COMICS, I don't recognize any of the characters!  But the ART seems to be good, even if a tad small!  And wouldn't those POSTMARKS devalue the comic's condition from a FINE/NEAR MINT to a GOOD MINUS?  

But the worst thing about them is that they look VERY DIFFICULT TO READ! ...Kinda skimpy on PAGE COUNT, too!  

...Maybe they're COMICS DIGESTS?  ...But VERY SLIM comics digests!

Unlike this one...

Yeah, that's more like it!

Now, let's just try to keep it safe from those nasty, grade-devaluing postmarks!