Our first entry in the "Separated at Mirth" series presented Dell Comics' ANDY PANDA # 44 (1958) and Gold Key Comics' YOGI BEAR # 41 (1970) in corresponding contests of log rolling. You can see that post HERE!
Well, a certain MR. BUGS BUNNY, known for creating prior mischief at this Blog, had "his people" get in touch with us at TIAH Blog to remind us that HE did the "Log-Roller-Skates" gag before any of those "Beary-Come-latelys"! And, indeed he had, on the cover of Dell Comics' LOONEY TUNES # 151 (Cover Date: May, 1954)!
We issue a formal apology to Mr. Bunny, and offer our log-rolling "Separations at Mirth" in a revised and proper chronological order.
Things to note:
Andy and Yogi might as well be rolling on the SAME LOG, given the way it's drawn on both their covers. Bugs must have sourced his from a different type of tree.
Similarly, Andy and Yogi find themselves upon tranquil blue waters, while Bugs rolls upon a churning green!
Charlie Chicken and Boo-Boo skate with their hands behind their backs, while Bugs' arms are confidently folded up front!
While skating, Charlie and Boo-Boo are standing relatively straight-up. Bugs is actually better posed, with his mid-section out and his head back to achieve better balance! Perhaps it's a necessity, because he's taller!
Andy and Yogi's emotional states fall somewhere between panic and bemusement, while Elmer Fudd is outright angry at Bugs over this unexpected turn of events! ...Must be all that "history" between them!
Speaking of "history" our cover artist here is Ralph Heimdahl, who drew the Bugs Bunny newspaper comic strip from 1948 thru the 1970s. That's some "history" too! (Click to Enlarge)
Anyway, better late than never for Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd and Dell Comics' LOONEY TUNES # 151, "Separated (from ANDY PANDA # 44 and YOGI BEAR # 41) at Mirth"!
6 comments:
On a 2nd glance, I found it interesting that Boo-Boo gets to be uncharacteristically cast as a wiseguy in the Yogi cover...nowadays, it would be Yogi on skates and Ranger Smith jogging on the log...and that's assuming they didn't do that.
Swapping positions and poses resembles some kind of dance..swing your partner, do-si-do..
On the subject of Bugs's position: could be you're on the right track with "he's too tall". In fact, I'd even go further: considering the way Bugs is looking, and the strange shape of the title text, I'm wondering if our favorite bunny-eared trickster isn't sneakily breaking the fourth wall by making sure he doesn't hit his head against said loopy logo…
Achille:
You write: “ I'm wondering if our favorite bunny-eared trickster isn't sneakily breaking the fourth wall by making sure he doesn't hit his head against said loopy logo…”
Well, Bugs has ALWAYS been a pro at “breaking the fourth wall”!
So, as Bugs himself would say: “Eeeh… Could be!”
‘Rehab:
As Achille suggests above, about characters being placed in relation to the logo when considering the overall cover composition, Ranger Smith (while perhaps making for a better gag) would alter the composition by having TWO “tall characters” to be fit in relation to the logo.
This could be accomplished by making the entire illustration smaller in scale, but I suspect that (presumed editor) Chase Craig felt the better composition was achieved by a tall and a short character! I tend to agree, even though I’d like to have seen Ranger Smith in the “Elmer Fudd role”!
Finally, while Yogi may be “Smarter than the Av-ver-age Bear”, Boo-Boo can also be “Smarter than you think”!
But, Yogi gets his revenge on THE VERY NEXT COVER for YOGI BEAR # 42 – which, alas would be the last Yogi Bear cover, and the last Yogi Bear comic book, to be produced by Western Publishing before giving way to the horrors of Charlton!
And, to bring this comment full-circle, isn’t this cover ALSO a nice compositional use of a tall and a short character, working around the logo?
Re: Yogi Bear #42 - it IS a good use of composition, but this would seem like a fitting revenge if one-upsmanship between Yogi and Boo-Boo were a regular theme in the cartoons and comics, not the gentle friendship between the two bears. Unless I'm missing something, Yogi and Boo-Boo are one of the few cartoon duos ever officially depicted as being good-natured and kind to eachother without being saccharine..at least in the classic series...I do remember Boo-Boo feeling cast aside when Yogi was hanging around with Secret Squirrel in an episode of "Yo Yogi!", or when Yogi opted to hang out with Scarebear in "Space Race"/"Galaxy Goof-Ups" but that's about it.
..or maybe this is what Boo-Boo is like when he's off his meds...
This shop talk reminds me of that past post about the cover of Uncle Scrooge IDW did with the Beagle Boy jack-in-the-box. I liked the gag, but it would've looked better enlarged with less empty space surrounding it.
‘Rehab:
That is a perfect description of the dynamic between Yogi and Boo-Boo (as you note …“ .at least in the classic series”)! There was “caring” on both sides without being, pardon the (Ugh!) expression, “Care Bears”!
I don’t know if Boo-Boo has ever required “meds” to maintain his equilibrium in response to Yogi’s constant antics… but there was THIS, which I caught on its original airing!
Just to bring it back to a kinder, gentler place, we have another two covers of each bear… um, “getting the upper paw” in a more characteristic manner - HERE and HERE!
Just look at those wonderful covers and tell me that ANYBODY did those comics better than Gold Key and Dell!
And, found deep within THIS LINK is the UNCLE SCROOGE cover ‘Rehab cites, along with one I feel is FAR WORSE!
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