Here is the opening splash panel to "Message in a Nutshell - Part II", the Paul Murry Mickey Mouse serial appearing in WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES #381 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: June, 1972).
No, it's not the presence of Floyd Gottfredson's Captain Churchmouse character, because Cecil Beard used him on various occasions upon writing for Mickey Mouse. And it certainly isn't the "Trademarked Paul Murry Goofy Hand-Crooked-Inward Pose" that Murry made almost-iconic by sheer repetition…
HEY, what about this?!
Why does Mickey's dialogue balloon have a roughly-sketched "inner-circle"?
It can't have been a guide for the letterer as to where Mickey's balloon should be placed, because Paul Murry penciled, inked, and lettered this story himself.
And, even if it was a reminder laid-out by Murry himself, for his own purposes, either he or an editor would have applied "white-out" to the additional outline.
WAIT! I'VE GOT IT!
Mickey's standing in a CAVE...
...And this is just his voice... ECHOING!
Very clever, Mr. Murry!
And that's it, in a... um, er... "nutshell"!
23 comments:
It's probably a paste-up shadow from the lettering in the dialogue balloon. Either it was pasted in later, or Murry may have had to reletter the dialogue in the panel. Your answer is more entertaining, though.
No wonder why Paul Murray was the only “good” Dell/Gold Key comic artist left in the 70s!
Joe, that's the proof camera picking up the edges of a pasteover—and nobody retouching them out of the negative before printing films were made. My Egmont colleagues have had to deal with this kind of problem.
Mickey's original dialogue either had a lettering error, or was judged to be inappropriate in some other way ("She's GONE! And I was finally about to pop the question!"). Either way, Murry relettered it and his correction was pasted into the balloon.
David and Deb:
To paraphrase a certain favorite character from Star Trek… “I’m a WRITER, not a… a… production ‘n’ processing… kinda person… or somesuch!”
I have no doubt that you are correct, and that is indeed the case! I have, on occasion, seen occurrences of this on pages of original art I have (…or used to have). DC’s letterers did it quite often, and sometimes, over the years, that glue would completely dry out, and the revised lettering would become detached from the original art. Thank you for the true technical explanation, though!
But, as Deb suggests, it did make for some good Blog-fodder, as I presented it!
And "Blog-fodder" is precisely what we excel at 'round here!
Anon:
I would largely, but not completely, agree with you that Paul Murry was the last good funny animal artist left at Gold Key during the seventies. Though the non-funny books, such as STAR TREK, BORIS KARLOFF’S TALES OF MYSTERY, TWILIGHT ZONE, RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT, etc., still had great art throughout the decade. One could even argue that the art was IMPROVED on those titles from that of the early-to-mid sixties, as it concurrently declined for the other books.
While Murry may stand atop the crowd during that period, he did not exactly stand alone!
Phil DeLara was there for the first half of the decade (until he died), and John Carey was there throughout. Both were doing their typically good work! And, you could also count Dan Spiegle on SCOOBY-DOO!
Then, there were those who were… less conventional, but “interesting” nonetheless, such as Jack Manning (on pretty much everything – Disney, Warner Bros., Lantz) and Warren Tufts’ lively and funny art on THE PINK PANTHER succeeding Phil DeLara after he passed away. Tom McKimson had also returned to draw Bugs Bunny – and, while better than others who did so (post DeLara, that is), he was not what he was in the 1940s… but still good overall.
But, when you stack up Paul Murry against much of the crowd that remained after Disney raided Western’s talent pool to staff their Studio Program (S-Coded stories) – the awful Kay Wright and Bob Gregory, the misused Lee Holley and Joe Messerli, the declining Pete Alvarado, the also-returning Roger Armstrong who was truly a shadow of what he was in the ‘40s, and others, I must agree with you that Paul Murry was, in comparison, in a class of quality by himself!
At least the post-Eisenberg’s death Tom and Jerry issues contained Eisenberg reprints. (In fact, I have one issue from that time period!)
Plus, I have one Paul Murry Mickey Mouse Whitman comic!
Speaking of Tom McKimson, one of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies issues I recently aquired (#36) had all ( with the exception of the text piece art and the Henery Hawk story drawn by Vive Risto) of the art was drawn by Tom McKimson! The Bugs Bunny story! The Porky Pig story (which spoofed Frank Sinatra)! The Elmer Fudd story! Yes, even the Mary Jane and Sniffles story was drawn by McKimson! Joe, were there any other issues like the one above that had 90% of the art by a single artist? (not unlike many issues of Tom and Jerry where the only non-Eisenberg material was the Barney Bear and Benny Burro by Ken Champin, Flip and Dip by an artist I don’t know his name, Wuff The Prarie Dog by Vive Risto, and Fuzzy and Wuzzy by Ken Champin.)
I *love* David's proposal for the dialogue that had to be removed! (Do you see what I did there? That one's for you, Joe!)
I certainly did, Elaine! ...Thank you!
And, might I add that I had a *marry* old time reading it, too!
Let alone that any questions about what Mickey might have said, would take the form of a "POP-quiz"!
Anon:
WHAT?! Only ONE Paul Murry Mickey Mouse Whitman comic?! You’d better GET BUSY, man! :-)
I don’t think the Eisenberg T&J reprints had anything to do with his untimely death – more that Western began reprinting many different tiles around that time, and TOM AND JERRY was just one of them!
Greetings, Joe, from the Troupe of the Time-Looping Groundhogs! Why are we sending you this message the day after Groundhog Day, you ask? Simple - every day is February 2nd for us! And, with the help of our time-loop clocks, it can be so for you, too! After all, who wouldn't want to relive the most wonderful day of the year over and over and over? We hear it worked wonders on that weatherman guy. And, hey, we have to do something to stay in business - we can't all predict the passing of the seasons for a living, you know! So, whaddya say?
Greetings, Joe, from the - whoops! Caught in our own timeloop! Well, at least it works as a product demonstration...
Groundhogs:
And YOU might be wondering why I am responding to this message on the-day-after-the-day-after-Groundhog-Day.
Well, that’s because I’m in the thick of a 75-page comics translate-and-dialogue assignment, and was unable to look in on the Blog until now!
The funny thing is that I keep writing Page 48 over-and-over-and-over again… since the actual Groundhog-Day! I wonder if there’s any connection with your time-loop clocks that could be behind that!
Groundhogs:
And YOU might be wondering why I am responding to this message on the-day-after-the-day-after-Groundhog-Day.
Well, that’s because I’m in the thick of a 75-page comics translate-and-dialogue assignment, and was unable to look in on the Blog until now!
The funny thing is that I keep writing Page 48 over-and-over-and-over again… since the actual Groundhog-Day! I wonder if there’s any connection with your time-loop clocks that could be behind that!
Groundhogs:
And YOU might be wondering why I am responding to this message on the-day-after-the-day-after-Groundhog-Day.
Well, that’s because I’m in the thick of a 75-page comics translate-and-dialogue assignment, and was unable to look in on the Blog until now!
The funny thing is that I keep writing Page 48 over-and-over-and-over again… since the actual Groundhog-Day! I wonder if there’s any connection with your time-loop clocks that could be behind that!
Groundhogs:
And YOU might be wondering why I am responding to this message on the-day-after-the-day-after-Groundhog-Day.
Well, that’s because I’m in the thick of a 75-page comics translate-and-dialogue assignment, and was unable to look in on the Blog until now!
The funny thing is that I keep writing Page 48 over-and-over-and-over again… since the actual Groundhog-Day! I wonder if there’s any connection with your time-loop clocks that could be behind that!
…Say, did any of you groundhogs ever see the episode of TWILIGHT ZONE (the 2019 version, hosted by Jordan Peele) titled “Try, Try”, where a socially awkward guy has a seemingly infinite number of “repeating chances” – or “do-overs” to impress a gal? Each time, and each new day, he learns something new about the object of his increasingly uncomfortable affections, but still manages to get it wrong… until she finds a rather unconventional way to break the time loop and get on with her life? It’s really a must-see for anyone involved with the looping of time, and…
ZAP!
Hey, I think that broke me out of it! Guys, stop playing with time… It can be dangerous!
…And yes, that’s an actual episode of TWILIGHT ZONE 2019 – and it really is great!
Aw, alright... we'll let you out of the time loop. But only because we can't stand to see a good comic go un-translated! Hmm... maybe we should take a look at this Twilight Zone episode - we have to figure out what kind of time loops are popular these days, after all. It's pretty hard to keep up with the latest trends when you keep reliving the same day over and over again!
If you ever change your mind, we've got plenty of great time loop packages to offer - and a Groundhog's Day sale, too! Of course, that's every day - maybe that's why we don't seem to make any profit...
There's a really excellent time-loop-type story near the end of Peter Capaldi's second season of DOCTOR WHO, but I shan't spill its secrets. You'll just have to get back to watching WHO! Heh, heh! Am I not devious.
Anyway.
As for the subject of this post, I can't help but imagine that, in some sort of cartoon/comic hybrid medium, an echo would be visualised as a speech bubble literally bouncing from one cave-wall to the next. I have no idea how that could be made to look natural, because such a hybrid medium hasn't existed since 1928, but. It would have been a really good gag for an Oswald cartoon, is what I'm saying.
(If those Time-Looping Groundhogs could lend me a bit of their time technology, maybe I could pop round to the 1920s myself, and trade this idea for a fresh reel of one of the lost Oswald cartoons, to bring back to @ramapith! Might also make a quick spot in the 1960s to collect a few of the missing Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell DOCTOR WHOs, while I'm at it.)
(Dig how my last sentence tied back to the subject of the first! It's like a time-loop! Oh, wait… I've ruined it. Drat.)
Groundhogs:
“…maybe we should take a look at this Twilight Zone episode - we have to figure out what kind of time loops are popular these days,”
Well, if that Twilight Zone episode is any indication, I’d say those that keep giving you another shot at the “girl of your dreams” until you eventually get it right (or screw it up beyond all repair) would be a top seller.
I’d sign up for that one myself, except I have the “girl of MY dreams”, and have had since 2003!
Now, if you really want to breach the big time, develop one of those loops that EXPAND the amount of time – that is, give you MORE time – each time you go through it! After all, who doesn’t need more time to get things done!
Maybe with that additional time, I could even watch more DOCTOR WHO!
Achille:
With all the focus on “looping time” around here, I’m tempted to let that Peter Capaldi DOCTOR WHO story “jump the line” (like some rich and privileged person “jumping the line” for the COVID vaccine – and who didn’t think THAT would happen in this morally and ethically corrupt country of ours) in my viewing priority. But only if I don’t have to see a whole bunch of others first, in order to “get the context”!
Though, if those pesky-but-well-meaning Groundhogs manage to develop that “time-expanding loop”, there might even be sufficient time for all of that too… Hmmm….
And, for all those lost Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell DOCTOR WHOs that you’re going to recover as well!
If you do manage such a journey, don’t forget to buy up as many Silver Age comics as you can for 12-cents each!
Oh, no, alack, the story in question is entirely dependent upon its context in the wider story arc.
Aw, shucks!
But, since you whited my appetite - and I had a brief period of time away from my labors this afternoon – I picked-up where I left off with Jodie Whittaker (Series 12) and watched “Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror” and “Fugitive of the Judoon”
The former was a truly great ride… a rivalry between Tesla and Thomas Edison (both inventors very well played by their respective actors), and some repulsive aliens thrown in for good measure! The latter seems to be setting up some serious “context dependencies” of its own – and maybe I better stick with that for the … er, “time” being!
LOL...I love this series. I just re-organized my comics again to account for the 5 dozen Harvey Eisenberg-drawn issues issues (Tom and Jerry, Huck Hound, Yogi Bear....I know, you're jealous ;)) that I picked up. Great fun!
Hey, by the way, I was bored the other night, so I compiled the best Mike Lah animation from Hanna-Barbera. Have a ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiitpObncrk
Austin:
Yeah, I’m jealous all right! …Mostly because you have your comics organized, and I’ve been spending my retirement doing so… albeit at a “retired person’s pace”.
Novel way to do it, organizing by artist… I like it, but I think I’d have a lot of trouble finding things – unless I only collected a few specific artists, like Harvey Eisenberg and Carl Barks. And where would I put Kay Wright – and don’t say “the trash can”, even if you ARE thinking it!
By-the-way-back-at-cha, you should be bored much more often! That compilation is fabulous!!!
Mike Lah is clearly one of the reasons the first season of The Huckleberry Hound Show was SOOO GREAT! …And, for the first time, you can see Lah’s animation set to Hoyt Curtin’s familiar music scores! Wonderful!
If you don’t mind, I’d like to headline your compilation in a post of its own, rather than have it “buried” deep in the Comments Section of an older post, as soon as I have some time to set it up! Let me know!
In the meantime, enjoy the melding of an unheralded animation genius, an underrated musical scoring genius – and the unquestionably mad genius who put it all together - HERE!
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