Adventures in Comic-Boxing: "The Postmark Only Rings (True) Once!"

In order to avoid hazards and arrive safely, Chip and Dale mailed themselves to their uncle's place in CHIP 'N' DALE # 6 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: June-August, 1956)!

They did it again 18.5 years later when the story was reprinted in CHIP 'N' DALE # 31 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: January, 1975)!

But notice that the 1956 version has AN ACTUAL 1956 POSTMARK DATE, and one that was even consistent with the issue's release date...

...While the 1975 version does not UPDATE THE DATE TO 1975, but ELIMINATES it altogether in favor of a more generic "USA"!   

Let alone that the 'munks' FUR also faded to more of a gray-ish brown over the years between original and reprint! ...Showing their age, perhaps? 

Finally, even though the reprint had FEWER CHARACTERS stamped onto Chip 'n' Dale's left hips and thighs... 

...I'm betting it HURT just as much!  

Our powerfully post-pounding panels are by Jack Bradbury!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: WHO ELSE Finds Pirate Gold?

In the beginning, Donald Duck found pirate gold, in the aptly titled early classic "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold"! 

He "found it again" in this more recent issue...

...Along with an intrusive UPC code.

But, along the way, there were others...

Yes, really! See below!

(Click to Enlarge!) 

Forget that "pirate stuff", you mercenary divers, Aquaman delivers the REAL 

"(pirate) golden treasure"! 

Ad taken from SUPERMAN #362 (DC Comics, Cover Date: August, 1981) and probably too many more comics to count!  

Separated at Mirth: Pop (Up) Quiz

Today's "Pop (Up) Quiz": Which animated character was Bugs Bunny's closest successor, or "HARE apparent", if you will?  

If you ask me, I'd say it was The Pink Panther!  

Both were tall, slim, and handsome figures, with a theatrical bent.  

Both were profoundly influenced by animation legend Friz Freleng. 

 

Both confounded the heck out of smaller, often fiery, regular adversaries. 

And both were published by Gold Key Comics!

In fact the only thing missing might be... a SEPARATION AT MIRTH! 

Well, we're here to remedy THAT little bit of business right now... with LOONEY TUNES # 218 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: December, 1959)...

And MARCH OF COMICS # 376 (The Pink Panther) 1973.  Dell, Gold Key, and March of Comics all emanated from good old Western Publishing in Poughkeepsie, New York!  

Beyond the gag, even the layout is almost identical!  ...Screwdriver and all!  

And there you have the answer to our "Pop (Up Toaster) Quiz" - another electrically-powered jolt of SEPARATED AT MIRTH! 

Please Explain This to Me! No. 3: Happy Birthday, Pops!

Here's a one-page gag from DINO #10 (Charlton Comics, Cover Date: June, 1975) that I truly do not understand!

It's the birthday of the "POPS" character who was a regular in the FLINTSTONES newspaper comic strip.  (...and, of course, Charlton called him "GRAMPS" instead of "POPS"!)

He's 80 years old!  

...Um, but... what, now?  

THAT'S IT!  THAT'S THE WHOLE GAG!  

"The fact that I was born in '095?"  Is there something I missed?  If so, anyone wanna explain it to me?  

Fred and Wilma clearly get it!  

Not sure about Pebbles and Dino... but they don't look nearly as puzzled as I did when reading this! 

I don't have an answer, so take your best shot... and "Please Explain This to Me!"  

...And, while you're at it, perhaps you can also explain how this qualifies as a DINO gag!  

Oh, wait... I know! ...It's CHARLTON! ...That must be it!  But, I'd still like your thoughts on the gag itself!  

...And why DINO even got his own comic in the first place!  

R.I.P. Pat McGreal

It's always sad to prepare a "R.I.P." post, as every one of them I create is in tribute to someone who "made my life a little better, or nicer", by either their presence or their accomplishments.  

But, it's all the more so when it's a member of the small creative community that I've been privileged to be a part of - the Disney comic book creative community.  

Pat McGreal passed away May 31, 2021. 

I never met, and know little or nothing about, Pat McGreal, but I DO know that he was too young to be the subject of a post like this!  

With his spouse Carol, Pat McGreal wrote some of the best contemporary Disney comic book stories, which have appeared in comics published by Gemstone and IDW.  

Among my personal favorites were the "Shambor" series of Mickey Mouse tales, and "Ten Little Millionaires", an outer-space version of  "Ten Little Indians" - with ROBBERIES taking the place of murders, of course!   The latter is reviewed in my Blog post on the issue!

In that post, I discuss a few "McGreal-isms" that have worked their way into Disney comic book dialogue - my favorite of which is Gyro Gearloose's exclamation "Great Tesla's Coil!" 

So much so that I integrated it into my own dialoguing work, because it's too perfect not to!  

From Luciano Bottaro's masterpiece "Uncle Scrooge's Money Rocket", as it appeared in Fantagraphics DISNEY MASTERS Volume 2 (2018). 

So, thank you, Pat McGreal, for your place in The Great Continuum of Disney Comics Creators, and for so many inspired and enjoyable moments on the printed page! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: This Can't End Well for Felix!

Sometimes ya just gotta let these darn fool cartoon and comics characters learn a lesson for themselves...

Consider MARCH OF COMICS #24 Felix the Cat (1949)...

It was winter and it was cold, I'll grant you... but, rather than stay up in New York and stick it out, Felix literally WALKS all the way down to Georgia - where (you guessed it), he finds it much too hot!  

Silly cat!  Maybe if you stopped somewhere around Virginia, you'd have saved yourself - and your FEET - lots of trouble.  But, you know how cats are... All or nothing!  

To his cat-credit, he stops complaining and does something about it...

But, what he does... OH, WHAT HE DOES!  

NO, FELIX! DON'T!  ...THINK IT THROUGH FIRST!  

THERE'S STILL TIME TO AVOID DISASTER!  

I CAN SEE IT COMING A MILE AWAY... CANT YOU?  

A LITTLE HEAT AND SUNBURN IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT AWAITS YOU! 

LAST CHANCE!  I'M WARNING YOU! 

OH, WAIT... I'M SITTING HERE IN 2021, AND THIS COMIC WAS PUBLISHED IN 1949 - AND, TO MAKE MATTERS EVEN MORE DIFFICULT, IT REPRINTS THIS FELIX NEWSPAPER STRIP FROM 1932...

 HE CAN'T HEAR ME!  HE CAN'T HEAR ME!  

 FELIX!  FEEE-LIIIIX!  NOOOOOOO!  

I'M SORRY, OLD FRIEND... I CAN DO NAUGHT BUT WATCH IN HORROR, AS NATURE TAKES IT COURSE!  I'M SO SORRY!  

THIS IS IT! 

OOOHHHH!  I CAN'T LOOK! 

NOOOOOOO! 

OH, FELIX... BEING A CAT, I THOUGHT YOU'D KNOW A LITTLE MORE ABOUT BIRDS!  

BUT NO! YOU'RE IN FOR A RATHER RUDE AWAKNING!

IN FACT, YOU MAY EVEN WAKE UP "A CAT OF A DIFFERENT COLOR"! 

Any old CAR knows THAT! 

...It's SNOW on that car, folks... what do you think I am?  

While Felix is washing-off in a nearby creek, we'll end with a link to my GCD Index for this issue!