TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Thirteen: "OG We There Yet?" Part One!

Welcome to TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Thirteen:  "OG We There Yet?" Part One! 

...Or "A TALE of THREE COVERS!"  ...And our "three covers" are now on the runway, so let's meet them!  

FIRST: From the year 1966... the Pinnacle of Pop Culture (at least if you're ME) hailing from Western Publishing, Poughkeepsie, New York, by way of Gold Key Comics, Los Angeles, California... PLEASE WELCOME...  DONALD DUCK #109 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: September, 1966)...

This prime specimen of Silver Age splendor contains the FIRST PRINTING of the Donald Duck adventure "Og's Iron Bed", one of the best - and most ambitious -  Donald Duck stories of the period!  

Heh! Being a "first printing" you might call it (...wait for it) ...the "OG" "Og"!  ...Get it?  

So "Prime-Silver-Age-y" was "Og's Iron Bed" that it was chosen for the Silver Age section of the Fantagraphics hardcover DONALD DUCK THE 90th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION (2024)!

 

The cover is not reprinted with the story... BUT the original cover illustration is reproduced at approximately 3" by 3" in the book's Table of Contents -- marking the first time the original unaltered cover illustration has ever been reprinted in the USA!  

Oh, no... wait... there IS one tiny difference... the LITTLE BLUE CLOCK STAR (...If you were expecting a pun on "ROCK STAR"... sorry!) that is to the LEFT OF THE CRESCENT MOON  is missing!  Oh, well, ya can't win 'em all!  I guess we now have FOUR VERSIONS of this cover!  

 Sing it with me: "When you MISS upon a star..." 

Here's the GCD INDEX for DONALD DUCK #109!  ...With lots of recent additions made by yours truly, so, unlike like the comic, this index is NOT ...the "OG" "Og"!  Ya gotta milk these jokes for all they're worth! 

NEXT: With a noticeably different take on the same cover... ALSO from Western Publishing, Poughkeepsie, New York, by way of Gold Key Comics, Los Angeles, California... SAY HELLO TO... DONALD DUCK #198 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: August, 1978)...

Aside from many of the cover elements, including the title, moved around or outright eliminated to accommodate the (all together now) INTRUSIVE UPC BOX, the sides of this cover image are not cut-off or trimmed in this illustration... the original (you, know... the "OG" "Og") was simply WIDER and could display more of the vertical edges of the image.  ...Oh, and Gyro has BLUE HAIR! 

FINALLY: Rounding-out our cover competition, from Gemstone Publishing, Timonium, Maryland or York, Pennsylvania (they moved around a bit)... LET'S GIVE A WARM ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO... DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS #342 (Gemstone Publishing, Cover Date: August, 2006)...

A THIRD variation that makes room for the (all together now) INTRUSIVE UPC BOX, but fakes us out by putting it on the back cover instead!  

I've spent so much time introducing our three contestants that it's time for bed (...another one of those late-night ramble-written posts that have become the hallmark of this series), therefore ("and to-wit", as Snagglepuss might say)... 

 ...You can read about their quirks and the reasons for their differences HERE!  

Now, eyeball 'em all in order and send your thoughts to our Comment Section.  

Sorry, later editions... but for our Cover Number Thirteen, we proudly select DONALD DUCK #109 -- the "OG" "Og"!

So, are we finished with "Og's Iron Bed"?  At this late hour, who can tell... Maybe yes... Maybe not-yes... Come back tomorrow and see!  G'night! 

TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Three (x3)!

Everyone has their thoughts on, and their predictions for, THE FUTURE... but how many of them have ever turned out right?  I don't mean "right" in any sort of "general sense", but REALLY, ABSOLUTELY, BANG-ON, GOT-IT-IN-ONE CORRECT?   

...No, can't say that mine have either! 

I never imagined I'd someday be in a situation like my present one.  Rather, I thought that "everybody's-go-to-future-that-never-happened-example", FLYING CARS, was more likely to happen by now!     

...And, on the remote possibility that they DID, mine would most likely be out of Deutronium Hyper-Neucleonic Blend Rocket Engine Fuel!  

...I'd probably look more like the "Charlton Version of Myself", than the "Gold Key Version", as well! 

Nevertheless, predict we do, and we'll do a hypothetical exercise in "future possibilities"...

 ...Yes, "future possibilities"... phrased thusly because, in light of recent developments, and with good reason, we've become somewhat hesitant to use the phrase "What If" around here for a while!  

Indeed, if left unchecked, "What If" shows every indication of becoming the next "Legendary Super-Pickax"...

...And we wouldn't want THAT to happen, would we?  (But, I digress... "legendarily", of course!)

We present a hypothetical exercise in "future possibilities" relating to the 16th birthday/anniversary of TIAHBlog (...do Blogs even have "birthdays", "anniversaries", or some other unit of commemorative measure?)

THIABlog came into being on THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2008... just one day after Wednesday, August 14, 2008 - that is to say "New Comics Day - Wednesday"!

Now, I'll never be able to recreate exactly which comics I bought on that day, but it's a good bet that there would be something from GEMSTONE...

...Something from DC...

And probably some favorite licensed property put out by a small publisher, like JUDGE DREDD or LOST IN SPACE...

BUT, I asked myself because nobody else would, which NEW COMICS would you get on NEW COMICS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2024 (the 16th "DATE" Anniversary of TIAHBlog)?  

...Ya know I didn't really ask myself that back then, but go with the bit, okay?  

Well, to tie back to my opening paragraphs, I would have gotten THAT prediction wrong, too!  

No Gemstone, or any other regularly-published standard-sized Disney comics that would catch my interest yet!  

Little or no DC because, other than their SCOOBY-DOO titles, they seem to have driven me, and my interests, away. 

...But what did I say about "some favorite licensed property put out by a small publisher"?  Well set off the sparklers and drop the confetti because I GOT ONE RIGHT!  

But not exactly that REALLY, ABSOLUTELY, BANG-ON, GOT-IT-IN-ONE type of "right", because I had no idea which "favorite licensed properties" there might be, or which "small publishers" would furnish them.  

Finally, HERE, after all that 16th Anniversary and predictions blather, are our Covers for installment  Number Three - times 3.  Everything else above doesn't count toward the "Anniversary Cover Total" (Sorry, Yogi!), but you get a Three-for-One bonus for August 16, 2024!  Not bad, eh? 

DICK TRACY #4 from  "Mad Cave Studios":

JONNY QUEST #1 from "Dynamite Entertainment":

And, just in time for the Presidential Election Season, RICK AND MORTY FINALS WEEK: CONTESTED CONVENTION #1 from "Oni Press":

All of these "favorite licensed properties from these small publishers" are giving me the Joy-of-Reading that the bigger fish have moved too far away from!  I will be indexing all three at GCD soon!  Stop by and check them out!  

So, with Three-For-One Friday completed, let's see where we go next for installment Number Four!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Tom's Big Turn-Around!

As a follow-up to OUR LAST POST on those pesky (all together now) intrusive UPC Code boxes, we offer for your UPC amusement the cover of TOM AND JERRY #146 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: September, 1956)...

...The cover of TOM AND JERRY #236 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: June, 1967)...

...And finally the UPC-influenced cover of TOM AND JERRY #295 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: June, 1977) - ten years later, and into the intrusive UPC era!

It almost makes you want to play that old kids' game - "Which One of These Doesn't Belong?"... except that it's all too obvious which one doesn't!  

In the interest of efficiency (and laziness), I will reproduce the notes I prepared for my indexing of this cover at GCD:

"Image is flipped from its original printing in Tom and Jerry Comics (Dell, 1949 Series) #146 (September 1956) and its prior reprinting in Tom and Jerry (Western, 1962 Series) #236 (June 1967) which had Tom facing right, to Tom facing left - with all illustration elements flipped accordingly.

"This was most likely done to accommodate the UPC code box, which would have interfered with Jerry and Tuffy's fishing lines as previously rendered. Tom's fishing line is also shortened for the same reason resulting in a change in perspective.

"The separation of the water and sky (now more garishly colored) is delineated with a black inked line, where in the previous printings water and sky simply 'blended into one another'."

Here is the actual GCD link, for anyone that cares to see it! 

Of course, there have been many UPC-alterations performed over the years, but this, along with the two later variations of "Og's Iron Bed" are among the most extreme! 

But, at least everyone here is FACING THE SAME WAY as they were...

...And not looking into a garishly-reflective mirror!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Donald Duck's UPC Problems!

An unfortunate necessity that has, since its inception, marred all comic book covers seen thereafter is the intrusive UPC Code box! 

Publishers have learned to navigate around "that X@!>$@!X'ing rectangle" by allowing for its placement, when designing covers, as seen below.

Sometimes by crowding things around it...

...And sometimes by just leaving a big ol' awkward empty space!  

But what of covers that were designed BEFORE the coming of the UPC Code Box, and were REPRINTED once the lower left portion of the cover was no longer able to accommodate preexisting art or text?   

Well, that WAS a problem, which required a little extra work from the Art Department! 

Here are two examples of DONALD DUCK covers where that "little extra work" was applied! 

DONALD DUCK # 143 (1972)...

And DONALD DUCK # 209 (1979)! 

To accommodate the UPC Code Box, the TEXT had to be completely reconfigured, with that from the lower left now ADDED to that below the logo! 

The Title Logo had already changed independently of the addition of the UPC. 

But, it was not only TEXT that made way for the "bars", but sometimes ART as well...

...As seen in DONALD DUCK # 109 (1966), and it's reprints in...

DONALD DUCK # 198 (1978)...

...And DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS # 342 (2007)

As you can see, comics published since the late 1970s accommodate the unwanted but necessary UPC Code box.  But, it's interesting to see how reprinted covers, as those above, bend, twist, and gyrate to get the job done! 

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! 

The Race Between Donald, Joe (not me)... and Donald?

We briefly interrupt Halloween 2020 (which is STILL not over until I say it is) for this Election Day 2020 update - courtesy of our great friend Debbie Anne Perry!  

A "dark horse of a white-feathered duck" has emerged from nowhere with a "November Surprise" claim that's really just the kind of thing you'd expect from a guy named "Donald"... 

And, before you start crying "voter fraud" or "fake news", here is what inspired both Debbie and our dauntless duck!  

Hey, is it REALLY ANY LESS ABSURD than what's happened already?!  

Halloween 2020 will return soon!  ...I promise!  

In Search of Ancient Bertrams # 1 "Bertram's Boats"!

One of a number of things I've become known for as a translator and dialogue writer/creator for European stories published in American Disney comic books is the use of the name "Bertram"! 

I can't exactly articulate WHY this particular repeating quirk developed, and so pervaded the my body of work, but a very likely reason for HOW it did dates back to now-vague memories of an issue of BUGS BUNNY that I read in the 1960s.  I'm certain the particular story in question was a reprint from an earlier Dell issue.  

In it, the name "Bertram" was used... and I liked it.  It made me smile.  And, for some still unknown reason, it was funny... and it worked!   
"Bertram", in itself, is not an overtly funny name.  Indeed my first exposure to the name was "Bertram Cabot, Jr.", a pivotal character in the classic episode of THE OUTER LIMITS; "The Man Who Was Never Born" (1963), starring the late, great Martin Landau!  

But, somehow, in the context of the Bugs Bunny story (which I hope to identify and post on, when I locate it as part of The Great Comics Reorganization and Storage Retirement Project), the name WAS funny... and that feeling "stuck-with-me" from that point on! 

Once I was finally privileged to become part of the comic book creative process, I thought to "pay back" the writer of that dimly-remembered Bugs Bunny story and use the name in UNCLE SCROOGE # 275 (Gemstone, Cover Date: March, 2008), in the FIFTH story I ever worked on, as a gag-riff on the once-popular "Beefsteak Charlie's" restaurant chain.  

...And, I've been somewhat regularly "paying-it-forward" to readers (whether they want it, or not) ever since!  

 ...From "Burgers to Burgers" with Bertram!  

And so, as part of the aforementioned (...all together now) Great Comics Reorganization and Storage Retirement Project), I will, from time to time run across "ancient and forgotten Bertrams", scattered across my comics collection like a trail of breadcrumbs, and will report their rediscovery here as part of yet a new subset feature... "In Search of Ancient Bertrams"!

First up (or, more precisely, first FOUND) is from MICKEY MOUSE # 153 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: December, 1974) and the opening splash panel of its lead story "The Secret of Drake's Island", written by Carl Fallberg and drawn by Paul Murry (the comic-book-Mouse's most classic team of creators)!

Catch the SIGN at the lower-most right... "BERTRAM'S BOATS"!  

With a presumed extra-special bonus reference to writer and editor Del Connell - "Catch the Big Ones with Delbert"!

"The Secret of Drake's Island" was originally published in MICKEY MOUSE # 67 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: August-September, 1959), though the reprint referenced here was the first version of the story that *I'd* seen!  

We shall return with more "In Search of Ancient Bertrams", as such Bertrams are uncovered!