Positioned in time nearly-perfectly between the beatniks and the hippies, comes this simultaneously-painful-and-wonderful piece of poetry that appeared in DC Comics during the first-quarter-or-so of 1966...
This particular scan is from DOOM PATROL # 104 (DC Comics, Cover Date: June, 1966), but appeared throughout the line in conjunction with DC's line-wide cover redesign introducing the infamous "Go-Go Checks"!
How do you not love this?!
Or, for that matter, the Go-Go-Checks?
A transcription of the poem, for those reading this on a small screen...
Said a cat suffocating in Squaresville:
"I have moved to the Wide-Open-Airsville,
'Cause those mags from DC
Set me off on a spree,
They are strictly from
None-Can-Comparesville."
7 comments:
We have escaped from Squaresville into the land of Go-Go Checks? So…the land of many tiny squares?
That most erudite of philosophers, namely Fred Flintstone's beatnik nephew Rodney Rocktop, might have this to say:
"Said a saber-tooth tiger in Bedrock
I ain't takin' no more of this dead rock
Gold Key Comics are top
Like the bongos I bop
And they even make my Uncle Fred rock!"
Of course Rodney would have to promote his parent company Gold Key Comics, where he was re-introduced in his beatnik persona. And to which he owed almost as much loyalty as he owed to the Purple Zen Den. I kinda would like to see that ad!
One correction: That first line would march better with the other limerick if it read: "Said a saber-tooth cat down in Bedrock" and thus it would be self-referential to the "poet."
Thanks!
Truly a work of beatnik-y art, Scarecrow! But I expect no less from our resident “Flintstone-Ologist”!
So much so, that I won’t even attempt to play “Dueling Poems” with you this time! You and Rodney should make the rounds on the beat coffee house circuit!
Of course, to do so would require you to travel back in time – and for Rodney to travel forward! On the bright side, your journey would amount to just 55-60 years while I dare not try to calculate Rodney’s journey at this late hour. But, if Rodney is committed to his art, he’ll find a way!
…Though, after such a long trip, he’ll probably be “BEAT”!
Elaine (You write):
"We have escaped from Squaresville into the land of Go-Go Checks? So…the land of many tiny squares?"
HMMM... That DOES make the poem ironically self-defeating, doesn't it?
Well played!
For some reason, I can picture Top Cat reciting this poem. Would not have been out of place in the Scooby-Doo Team-Up issue featuring him.
The checkered motif DC used in this period reminds me of the branding adopted by Cartoon Network years later. Ironically, DC and Cartoon Network would eventually become sister companies.
And kudos to Scarecrow for his Rodney Rocktop poem. I remember seeing him in a Dell Flintstones book, so it definitely sounds like something Rodney would say. What a delightfully original character he was!
Sergio:
Rodney was one of those great characters created BY the comics, FOR the comics! He would have been a fun drop-in guest on the TV show too.
Another fairly unique thing about Rodney is that he actually GREW UP in the comics. In his first appearance, he was a kid… and later he was a full-grown beatnik. Check DELL GIANT #48 (1961), or the reprint in THE FLINTSTONES #39 (April, 1967) for a peek.
He joins ANDY PANDA and the THREE BEEP BOYS (who were actually HATCHED on panel) in that rather exclusive brotherhood!
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