It took longer than I expected to obtain a copy of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson
Color Sundays: “Robin Hood Rides Again”, but was it ever worth the
wait!
Beyond the absolute BEST presentation these Floyd
Gottfredson Mickey Mouse Sunday newspaper strips have ever had in the United
States (…I can’t speak for “The World”
-- but, could be!), there are the introductions, essays, and other text features
that continue to make the Fantagraphics Gottfredson Mickey Mouse collected
series one of the finest archival products on the market!
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| It doesn't get better than THESE, folks! |
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| Meet Mortimer! Mickey's sorry HE did! |
I have an introductory piece on the “Mickey’s Rival” (which introduced thorn-in-the-side Mortimer Mouse), and “Helpless Helpers” arcs, with Donald Duck and Goofy hampering “Do-It-Yourself-er-Mickey” (page 18), but some the best surprises are to be found elsewhere in the volume!
And, when you can surprise ME, or teach me something I
didn’t know about this stuff, I call that REALLY special!
For instance, in “Of Blots and Stressed-Out Bodies” (an appreciation by Tom Neely), I learned that the mystery adversary in the issue below of IDW’s recent POPEYE comic book series was actually a homage to the Phantom Blot. (page 15)
And J.B. Kaufman, in his foreword “Mickey’s Sunday Best: Moving On”, tells us that “Helpless
Helpers”, one of the very arcs I wrote about, marked the first appearance
of the post-Dippy Dawg character of GOOFY (“…both his name and his appearance consistent with those of his screen
counterpart”) in the Sunday strip. (page
9)
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| Remember Dippy? |
Wow, if I had only known it was such a milestone for the Goof, I
might not have suggested in my intro that the story as a whole might have seemed
“stronger overall” by eliminating
Goofy’s lone strip and concentrating exclusively on Donald. Yeah, I really said that.
I hope to make up for that misplaced suggestion in the next
volume of Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson,
where I hope to contribute something REALLY special.
It’s the Phantom Blot volume… Don’t miss it!
You wouldn't want to anger the Blot, would you?
UPDATE: Additional illustrations that refer to our Comments Section:
Is this "Dippy" or "Goofy" -- or HALF OF EACH? You Decide!
And, just because he was mentioned in the comments: SUPER GOOF!
ADDITIONAL UPDATE: Another illustration below that refers to our Comments Section! There seem to be as many "surprises" in the Comments, as there are in the book itself! ...And, that's the best thing a Blogger could ask for!
Where's Mickey, in the "purple section" to the left? Find out in out Comments Section!
4 comments:
Blink and you'll miss it, but the first "Mickey's Rival" page captures Dippy midway through his evolution into Goofy. He's literally Dippy from the waist up and Goofy from the waist down.
You'd almost think a Super Goober was wearing off—oops, wrong transformation!
Half-Goof, Half-Dip? Really? I guess that’s why it didn’t occur to me. And it appeared in “Mickey’s Rival”, one of the very arcs *I* wrote about! See the illustration I added to the bottom of the post and decide for yourself.
I guess, back in those days, Super Goobers worked slower at transformation than spinach!
And, besides, why would Super Goof want to have been known as “Super Dip”?!
I thought he looked more like Dippy on that first page. Interesting to see the transformation in progress.
Apparently, there are variant covers on this book. My copy shows the nephews in what appears to be the same pose, but they are looking at Mickey in his Robin Hood outfit.
So--apparently, this is everything for the Gottfredson Sundays. I hope more Sunday Mickeys by other artists will get reprinted some day, although I am grateful to have all of this Gottfredson work contained in two volumes.
When I was a kid, I made a scrapbook of MM and DD comic strips, since our local paper carried both on Sundays (not the daily versions, unfortunately). But alas, those carefully-saved comic strips got thrown out eventually. That's why I am especially delighted to find one that I remember clearly that is reprinted in this book--the one on page 198. Little did I know I had a Gottfredson original!
Looking forward to the next volume--it'll be the first time I've seen the Blot story in its original black and white. I'm also looking forward to "Robinson Crusoe" and the evolution of Mickey's eyes. Where is more shelf space when I need it?
It IS a rather amazing – not to mention “historic” -- transformation, Scarecrow. I could always blame Mortimer and Donald for distracting me from it, while composing my own text piece! …Yeah! That’s EXACTLY what I’ll do! It’s THEIR fault!
I don’t believe there are “variant covers” of this book, as mine is the same as yours – WITH Robin-Hood-clad Mickey to the right of Morty and Ferdie. And, notice I’ve swapped out the original illustration for the proper one – and thank you for catching that! I’ve put the “Mickey-less” version down at the bottom of the post, along with Dippy / Goofy’s sort of “half-transformation”, as if he were in the classic 1950s horror film “The Fly”!
Say, if “Super Goof” were to appear in a version of “The Fly”, could we call it “Super Fly” ? We probably COULD, but would have to duck torrents of rotten tomatoes!
Mostly, I tend to utilize what I believe are appropriate illustrations from the Internet for this Blog, only creating my own scans and DVD screen captures when the exact “thing” I need is not otherwise available. So, I did not scan my copy of “Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson Color Sundays Volume Two”, but plucked a sharp, clear, and suitably sized image from “out there”.
And, in my haste to continue serving the public trust, by updating this Blog with reasonable consistency (as all the best Bloggers do), I violated that very trust, compromising my sworn “Blogger’s Oath of Accuracy”, by failing to notice that this might have been a less than accurate image of the fine book in question!
Maybe I could also blame Mortimer and Donald for that lapse too? Huh? Maybe?
Kidding aside, my apologies to Fantagraphics for posting a less than accurate image of their amazing product!
In the mid-sixties, we had the Mickey Sunday and Donald every day, at least until the New York Journal American folded. Donald found his way into an extremely local paper outside of NYC, and I still have a few clipped Taliaferro dailies from that late-sixties run.
…And, darned if *I* don’t believe that I’ve ever seen Gottfredson’s Blot story in its “original black and white”, either! Not to mention the “eye evolution”, too!
Ohhhh, Shelf Space! Wherefore art thou? Especially these days, with all this great stuff!
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