...Okay, well, maybe not kill... but perhaps just enough to "let 'em know you're really, really... REALLY annoyed!"
Such is the case for Mighty Mouse on the cover of TERRY-TOONS COMICS #63 (St. John Comics, Cover Date: December, 1947), where we find the "Mouse of Tomorrow" having an uncharacteristically difficult day - made only more so by the unwelcome intrusion of Heckle and Jeckle!
I think it's fair to say that Mighty Mouse (and, by extension, his creator Paul Terry) owe a great deal to both the character and concept of Superman. ...Flying, super strength, cape, tights, trunks, "powers far beyond those of mortal men" (...or mice), etc.
But, one power Superman has, and that Mighty Mouse apparently lacks (at least in the comics I've read and the cartoons I've seen - which is not nearly all of them), is heat vision!
Judging by the look in his eyes, if Mighty Mouse had heat vision (...or "laser-vision", if you prefer) like Superman, he'd give those birds "a light" they'd never forget.
But he WON'T... because he's MIGHTY MOUSE! And Mighty Mouse only helps people (...and anthropomorphic variants thereof).
Oh, about that "helping thing"... Weelll... maybe not CATS!
...And, at least in this case... maybe not MAGPIES either!
4 comments:
I believe the appropriate heroic response would be something to the effect of "Mighty Mouse has no match!" (spoken in a deep, resounding voice, with an optional public announcement about the harmful consequences of smoking).
Ha! Well done, T.
Declaring that Mighty Mouse is peerless, and delivering an anti-smoking message at the same time! Bravo!
DON’T BE A MAGPIE, ‘CAUSE SMOKING IS FOR THE BIRDS!
If the reference to a light ain't with regard to heat-vision, then the comment is essentially a non-sequitur. Mighty Mouse could have been battling fire-breathing dragons, and then the question could have tied into something in the picture. But as it is, there doesn't seem to be much connection between the crocodiles and the request. Heckle (or is it Jekyll?) appears to be saying it just to say it, and get exactly the reaction he is getting.
However, the true glory of the cover for me is seeing Mighty Mouse inhabiting the same world as Heckle & Jekyll. I don't believe I have ever seen them sharing a cover before, except possibly in separate pictures on some of the New Terrytoons comics. And if they share a cover, maybe they could share an adventure in an inside story. But it begs the question--if they shared an adventure, how could that possibly work? Unless H & J do the demolition part and MM does the cleanup--in which case they would have to get along much better than they are on this cover. Considering their overall MO's, I don't think it would work to do an MM and H & J combo story. Maybe Mighty Mouse agrees!
Scarecrow:
Heckle and Jeckle’s making the comment – while doing nothing to help – is just them being their bothersome selves! Though uncharacteristically turning their annoying attentions to Mighty Mouse rather than their usual victim, Dimwit.
Living up to their reputation as agents of chaos, their aim is merely to distract and peeve Mighty Mouse while he’s in the thick of a tough situation. The crocodiles are simply there to provide said “tough situation”. Mighty Mouse could just as easily been otherwise occupied by a sword fight with Oil Can Harry, undergoing a massive assault by The Claw’s gang, stopping a runaway train, or straining to slow and divert a meteor before it strikes the Earth.
However, the crocodiles put him in more of a “stationary peril”, allowing the magpies to stand idly by and “do their part”. They probably wouldn’t be chasing after a runaway train, just to “heckle” (pun intended) Mighty Mouse.
In the Dell and Gold Key realm neither Mighty Mouse nor Heckle and Jeckle “inhabit[ed] the same world or shar[ed] a cover.” But, it was quite common in the St. John comics, to the advantage of both features! You can see how frequently it occurred HERE at this GCD Cover Gallery.
As with WALT DISNEY’S COMICS AND STORIES and Donald Duck, Mighty Mouse led off each issue, with the other Terry characters – including Heckle and Jeckle – scattered across the rest of the issue. Unlike Donald Duck, Mighty Mouse was not featured on every cover but was on a very clear majority of them.
As the two biggest draws, Mighty Mouse and/or Heckle and Jeckle graced (…if you can describe whatever Heckle and Jeckle do as “graced”) every cover but for two that featured Gandy Goose and Sourpuss.
I must also note that the entire line of St. John Terrytoons comics is made up of hidden gems that I’ve only discovered in recent years! Stories range from entertaining to absurdly funny, and a continuity of sorts was even set up for Mighty Mouse with recurring villains like The Claw and Professor Ohm, new allies like Professor Edam, and of course the “Lois Lane of the mouse-set”, Mitzi!
And all written and drawn by actual Terrytoons creators such as Tom Morrison, Connie Rasinski, Art Bartsch, and the wonderfully absurdist Jim Tyer. You can click on the “St. John Comics” label to display all of my Blog posts that highlight these tragically underrated comics.
Oh, and while they DID share covers, Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle did not actually cross over in stories… but those covers sure give us some great moments, didn't they?
Post a Comment