Given the direction of the Woody Woodpecker comics from the mid-1950s onward, where I can recall that version of Woody being described as "the poor man's Donald Duck" (what with adventures with a nephew and niece and domestic comedies), you'd think that Woody and Donald would have more cover gags in common than they actually do.
But, a nice example of "Mirth Separation" occurs with the covers of WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES # 363 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: December, 1970)...
...And WOODY WOODPECKER # 201 (Whitman Comics, Published in 1983).
Take your pick as to your preference... the indignant look of Donald, or the more sly and mischievous look of Woody!
I think they're both great, but what puts the WOODY cover over the top for me is that Knothead HASN'T EVEN REALIZED that his violin has been appropriated - and he continues to bow, completely unaware of Woody's actions... while the DONALD gag is executed more typically in the traditional vein of covers for WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES!
It's a nice little "action piece" for Knothead, well executed in the static medium of comics and, as a perfect final touch, Splinter is also in on the gag - stifling a laugh!
Many extra points are due the WOODY cover, simply because it was a product of 1983, near the very end of the long history of the "Dell/Gold Key/Whitman" line of comics, when things were very rarely as good as they once were!
Things to note:
In composition, the UNCLES and KIDS are switched... with Donald at an upper-left position on the cover and Woody at lower-right.
Conversely, Dewey is more-or-less at lower-right, while Knothead is more-or-less at upper left.
Donald's OIL seems to be thicker and gooier, by the way it spreads across Dewey's violin.
Sheet music litters the floors in both cases.
Donald appears to have no issue with Huey's trumpet or Louie's sax - unless he plans to stuff something in each of them after he's done with the oil can!
WOODY WOODPECKER # 201 was the FINAL issue of that title to emerge from Western Publishing, ending a long line of great comic books that began with this issue from the DELL FOUR COLOR LINE...
...Through MARCH OF COMICS...
...The regular DELL Comics line...
...GOLD KEY Comics...
...And finally WHITMAN!
Oh, there were some very sloppily-assembled WOODY WOODPECKER comics from Harvey Comics in the early '90s, but the less said about those - the better!
I prefer to think of Woody ending his comics career with THIS ISSUE!
Funny thing, with the early success of the IDW Disney comics line in 2015 - and the great things it did for Donald Duck...
...I had hopes that IDW might start a WOODY WOODPECKER title, consisting of DELL reprints, and the Woody comics done overseas. I would have made myself first in line to translate and dialogue those!
But, no... So let's just remember Woody's glory days in comics like these...
...And enjoy Donald Duck and Woody Woodpecker - now and for always - "Separated at Mirth"!
4 comments:
Both of these covers also express the personalities of their subjects well. Donald is a hot-headed reactionary type, so of course he has no reservations about just marching up to Dewey (uncharacteristicly dressed in purple) and oiling his squeaky violin. Woody on the other hand is a troublemaking wise guy, so he’s going to sneak Knothead’s violin away while he’s still engrossed in practicing and then oil it.
That is SO true, Deb! A nice job of characterization, in both cases.
And, naturally, the purple-shirted kid was identified as “Dewey”, strictly by process of elimination!
Dewey’s more characteristic “blue shirt” must have been loaned-out to Mr. Spock or Dr. McCoy!
I can't seem to quite understand what the idea is. What does oiling a violin have to do with anything? Why does Donald and Woody seem to respectively think that it's a sanction, or a hilarious prank? I feel as though I'm missing something obvious and it's extremely irksome.
Achille:
A violin, particularly when badly played, would emit an annoyingly “squeaky” sound!
Oil, particularly as dispensed from such an oil can, is a traditional remedy for squeaky things like door hinges and the like.
Your “Irk” is hereby resolved… Free of charge! :-)
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