When I was a car-less teenager, all the kids used to hitchhike to get to the mall, beach, movies, etc.
Even I went along with it once or twice, reluctantly - as a sort of "Boo Boo to a Yogi-like friend"!
"I know, Boo Boo, we'll go HITCHHIKING!"
But that was long before I began to fight for better bus service in my county, and things were like this...
Versus the far better system we have now.
Hicksville-bound busses... then and now!
We lived more dangerously back in the early 1970s, and I'm glad to see that the practice has all but vanished in the decades since.
But hitchhiking was in full force among Long Island's youth when BUGS BUNNY #125 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: September, 1969) was released!
Despite each character displaying his own particular fetishism (be it carrots or money), what we have here - you guessed it - is a hitchhiking SEPARATION AT MIRTH!
Similar layouts with the main character "large, close, and at left" and the approaching vehicle further back and at right.
Of course, these were both 1960s Gold Key reprint covers so that means there were Dell antecedents for each... and here they are!
BUGS BUNNY #36 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: April-May, 1954)
UNCLE SCROOGE #32 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: December, 1960 - February, 1961)
Bugs Bunny covers are by Ralph Heimdahl. Uncle Scrooge covers are by Carl Barks.
As we hope our beloved characters reach their intended destination safely - and that each gets what he wants from their respective approaching vehicles - we give a great big "Thumbs-Up" (...or should that be THUMBS-OUT") to another installment of Separated At Mirth!
EXTRA HITCHHIKING BEAGLE-BONUS!
Here are the covers of BEAGLE BOYS #11 and #17, each with an appropriate hitchhiking gag!
And even another Separated at Mirth!
Beagle Boys covers are by Pete Alvarado.
Gotta love the gag-symmetry: Hitchhiker - Armored Car - Armored Car - Hitchhikers!
12 comments:
Another great post, Joe. One thing I've long wondered: why were reprints of covers -- and stories, as well -- often recolored? Take, for instance, the covers of Uncle Scrooge #32 and Uncle Scrooge #73. Notice that in the latter, the color of Uncle Scrooge's outfit was changed, as was that of the armored car. Why? What was the point of that? Particularly when (in my humble opinion) the original colors were better? This is hardly the first example of this phenomenon I've come across. Why was color-changing such a common practice?
That’s actually a good question, Sergio… and one I’ve never really thought that much about, just accepting it as “the normal state of things”.
I honestly can’t say… You’d think it would be easier and less expensive to go with the original coloring, but maybe the original “color stats” (or whatever the term might be) were not retained and the line art had to be recolored of necessity.
Also, unlike today, any such piece would have to exist physically (not digitally) – and would have to be stored somewhere – and maybe they just weren’t able to store many of them for the long term. I’d also figure that, when the original Dell printings were done, there was no consideration of any future reprintings as that didn’t really begin in earnest until the mid-1960s.
Of course, all is this is really me “just stalling” until I eventually get around to admitting that I don’t know!
Interestingly enough, there is a Beagle Boys one-pager based on exactly the same idea as one of the covers: https://inducks.org/story.php?c=D+98028
Wouldn't it be nice to have that one-pager printed in an issue with exactly that cover? Usually the cover previews the longest, most notable story in an issue -- that would be, I believe, the first Disney comic book with a cover heralding a humble one-pager :)
They also could have changed the colors so that it looked like a different magazine, even though in a few cases, there were many years between reprintings.
One could argue that the closest "separated at mirth" symmetry is between the Bugs cover and the first Beagle Boys cover, since in both cases the hitchhiker is planning to appropriate the cargo of the vehicle in question. We will hope that Scrooge has no such plans; rather, he simply wants to be in the vicinity of cash because it smells so good.
Very good point, Elaine!
Also, Scrooge probably wouldn’t “appropriate the cargo” on his cover, because the money is most likely already his!
“…he simply wants to be in the vicinity of cash because it smells so good.”
Which is why, should I ever need to hitchhike again, I’d hold out for a pizza delivery truck!
Deb:
As Western Publishing goes… anything is possible, and I would never rule anything out – especially because there’s no one left to confirm or deny.
If they could change logos – from Gold Key to Whitman – on otherwise similar parallel issues, they could certainly change cover coloring for similar (or completely dissimilar) reasons.
In fact, now that you’ve got me thinking, perhaps if they offered a different cover coloring on those parallel Whitman issues (as long as they were changing the logo anyway), we’d probably have another series of highly sought after “collectable variants” today!
T.
There are a more than a few of instances of covers sharing the same gag with one-pagers over the length and breadth of the Dell and Gold Key comics. HERE is but one example, albeit Gold Key “sharing” with Charlton.
I’d imagine the same is true for Archie and Harvey comics. I know very little about European or other stories that were not printed in the USA but, if I did know about this one, it would have gotten its own “Separation at Mirth” – or, at the very least been thrown into this post. …And, hey… you just did that for me! Thank you!
HERE is that Beagle Boys link for you reading pleasure…
Joe: "There are a more than a few of instances of covers sharing the same gag with one-pagers over the length and breadth of the Dell and Gold Key comics"
Oh, I didn't know about that! Thanks for the informative link. Guess that I, in turn, don't have such an extensive knowledge of US stories and issues :)
The Beagle Boys one-pager I mentioned was indeed published in my home country and this is how I knew about it... but afterwards, I browsed I.N.D.U.C.K.S. for "hitchhiking" and, to my surprise, found yet another BB one-pager: one which I've never seen before but which perfectly matches the other cover you posted. Fancy that! Truly, many surprises are waiting for us in the world of Disney comics :)
https://inducks.org/story.php?c=B+850052
T:
You write: “Truly, many surprises are waiting for us in the world of Disney comics :)”
And those uncovering those surprises brings me no end of delight! That’s largely why I do what I do on this Blog! I just can’t keep all the joy to myself!
HERE is T’s SECOND Beagle Boys link for your continued reading pleasure…
Notice the subtle touch of having the Beagle Boys change their intended direction of travel in the hope of being picked up by the armored car!
I could see Tony Strobl drawing this exact same gag in 1966!
More Disney hitch-hiking covers for your delight:
https://inducks.org/story.php?c=D++6113
https://inducks.org/story.php?c=D++9383
https://inducks.org/story.php?c=GC+MM1984-29
https://inducks.org/story.php?c=FC+PM+++32 (an interesting remake)
https://inducks.org/story.php?c=HC+DD2002-41
https://inducks.org/story.php?c=W+WDC+450-00
Nothing but “Gobs of Hitch-Hiking Goodness” from you, Spec-Spec!
Note the Barks rip-off one!
I’ll try to come back and properly do the links later – because I’m under the gun, timewise. Meanwhile, as so many other Blogs leave you to do, just copy and paste them in your browser.
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