Separated at Mirth: Leap... FROG?

Or, would that be "Leap 'MUNK", or "Leap BUNNY"?  With funny animal comics, you just never know!

As with CHIP 'N' DALE 78 (Whitman Comics, 1983)...

...And a TRIPLE... er, HEADER from BUGS BUNNY # 144 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: September, 1972)...

...BUGS BUNNY # 208 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: May, 1979)...

...And BUGS BUNNY # 237 (Whitman Comics, Cover Date: May, 1982)!  

I guess this means that Bugs is THREE TIMES THE PEST that Chip 'n' Dale are!  

Though Donald might disagree!

Either that, or bunnies are simply more inclined toward HOPPING!  

Separated at Mirth: Robin Hauls Ascot!

Sure, they've met before... in both animation and comics...

But, ya gotta wonder if Robin (in his secret identity as Dick Grayson) may have met Scooby-Doo's Freddy (in his not-so-secret identity as Fred Jones) before even that!

For this, we turn to the Robin back-up story in BATMAN # 231 (DC Comics, Cover Date: May, 1971)...

...Where Master Dick appears to be emulating the fashion sense of Master Fred! 

Rock that ascot, Dick! 

Since both Dick Grayson and Fred Jones are noted crime-busters and mystery-solvers, perhaps, rather than "Separated at Mirth", we should regards this as an example of "Divided at Detecting"!

Of course, I could be all wet about this, and he probably just took a few fashion tips from Master Bruce!   

Dinky and Donald Duck: "Separated at Mirth" and United by Other Factors!

One of the things I love most about indexing comic books for the GRAND COMIC DATABASE (GCD) is the optional assignation of "Unofficial Titles" to untitled stories and covers.  My unofficial title for the cover of  DINKY DUCK #8 (St. John Comics, Cover Date: February, 1954) is... (wait for it...)

"Schematic for a Good Ski-Medic"

There's a title even *I'm* impressed by :-)  I also LOVE this cover!  Perfectly capturing the characters of obnoxious egotist Rudy Rooster, and his overly-loyal and faithful pup Dinky Duck. 

A similar Carl Barks cover had HD&L "standing-by" with a med-kit as Donald was about to ski, but Dinky actually going down the mountain AFTER Rudy, shows his (oft-misplaced) concern AND much better carries the gag!  

Of course, it could (...and probably SHOULD) be said that, as good Junior Woodchucks, you'd expect the Duck boys to take the more sensible approach!    

WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES #149 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: February, 1953) - one year earlier! 

Whichever one you prefer, I think it's safe to say that it's "snow fun" being Donald or Rudy when they carelessly demonstrate "tropes on the slopes"! 

Separated at Mirth: Great Ball's O' Fire!

Well, maybe not exactly Separated at... "Mirth"... unless your idea of fun is being under attack by fireballs - but, for any of you Fireball Fanciers out there, we humbly submit... 

DONALD DUCK #101 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: (May, 1965)...

...And WONDER WOMAN #99 (DC Comics, Cover Date: July, 1958).

One thing they DO have in common is that both are breathtaking images!  DONALD DUCK #101 is by Carl Barks.  WONDER WOMAN #99 is by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.  Each are the most classic artists for their respective characters - and it certainly shows here!  

And, while not a comic book cover, I'd be remiss if I didn't include this striking image from LOST IN SPACE, "Condemned of Space" (1967), with the Jupiter 2 narrowly avoiding a catastrophic collision... with guess what?!  

All three are guaranteed to "light up your life" in their own unique ways!  

Separated at Mirth: Pick Your Poison(ed Water)!

If faced with a choice of soapy bath water as in POPEYE #50 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: October-December, 1959), or soapy wash water as in YOSEMITE SAM #27 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: April, 1975), what would YOU do to keep from dying of thirst?   

 

The oddball thing about poor Sam's predicament is that Bugs Bunny DOESN'T WEAR ANY CLOTHES, so what is he washing?  

Separated at Mirth: Them's the BRAKES, Pal!

Today's Mirth Separation comes to a FULL-STOP with the cover of MUTT AND JEFF # 22 (DC Comics: Cover Date: June-July, 1946) and a Gandy Goose gag from LITTLE ROQUEFORT # 2 (St. John Comics: Cover Date: August, 1952)!  

CLICK to Enlarge

We've seen the MUTT AND JEFF cover before, as part of THIS POST, but now it BRAKES through again for its second Separation at Mirth! 

In fact, if you arrange them THIS WAY, it looks like a "related-gag head-on-collision"!  

Since this won't end well, perhaps we'd better cut off this post right here...

Separated at Mirth: 3-Ds Come in Threes!

The 3-D movie craze briefly flared-up and died-out in the mid-1950s!  It's apex being the year 1953. 

Now, I'm not about to say that comic books were "behind the times" (...because, far more often than not, they looked forward rather than backward) but apparently, in comic books, the 3-D movie craze held on into the next decade...or two!  

For evidence of this, we need look no further than today's "Separation at..." well, not exactly "Mirth"... but maybe...um, "Delightful Weirdness"?  That okay, with you all?   

AHEM!  And so, we present today's "Whatchamacallit Separation" that brings together the heretofore "Separated" BLACKHAWK #157 (DC Comics, Cover Date: February, 1961)...

...And BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY #35 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: June, 1971).

And, just like those fondly-remembered movies of the '50s, some scary stuff is "comin' atcha!" 

Put 'em together in reverse chronological order, and they're "comin' at each other!"

...Perhaps it's better - and safer - this way!  

Oh, and from (more or less) the heart of the  3-D movie craze, we can add the first page of WONDER WOMAN #64 (DC Comics, Cover Date: February, 1954)... Actual On-Sale Date: 1953-12-21.

...Showing that comic books also did this bit when it was current!  

There we have the 3-D Triumvirate of BLACKHAWK #157, BORIS KARLOFF TALES OF MYSTERY #35, and WONDER WOMAN #64... Separated at (the Third Dimension of) Mirth!  

Separated at Mirth: Throwing the Bull (...Toward One Another)!

From our great friend Debbie Anne Perry comes a primo Mirth Separation with DISNEY COMICS ALBUM #3 (Disney Comics, Cover Date: August, 1990) and CHARLIE McCARTHY #4 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: December, 1949 / January, 1950). 

As Deb pointed out to me, both Donald and Charlie were in Walt Disney's "Fun and Fancy Free" (1947)... and, to bring them still closer together, both are known to have been "dummies"! 

...Especially Donald! 

And, if you put both covers together this way, the bulls would be running smack into each other... POW!

"So, who's the dummy NOW, huh?"  

Deb is thanked for adding another brick to the vast, SIMILARLY-GAGGED wall that is... "SEPARATED AT MIRTH"! 

Separated at Mirth: Donald's Hammock Havoc!

Donald Duck really oughta give up the hammock bit!  

 No, for once this post is NOT about the infamous "Bird Bothered Hero"!  I promise! 

It seems that too many intrusive woodland creatures either use it as a BRIDGE, as in DONALD DUCK # 221 (Whitman Comics, Cover Date: August, 1980)...

...Or, as a LANDING SPOT, as in CHIP 'N' DALE # 50 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: January, 1978)! 

Gotta love those RED SKIES and PURPLE TREES!

At the very least, he should have sought advice from PORKY PIG, who wisely incorporates the woodland creatures INTO his hammock resting! 

Th-th-th-that's all folks!  

 No, wait... Just one more question!  

I've been around a long time, and I've seen many tranquil suburban back yards over those years... AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN A REAL HUMAN BEING SLEEPING IN A HAMMOCK!  

Now, I figure that "sleeping in a hammock" either IS or ONCE WAS a "thing", due to its many depictions in comics and animation... But, have you ever seen it for real?  Just curious!  

It looks as if it would be difficult to get in or out of, yet too easy to fall out of! (Much less be intruded upon from above!) What say you?  

  Just GIVE IT UP, Donald!  

Separated at Mirth: Hickory Dickory Dock - A Mouse Ran Up TWO Clocks!

Yep, SAME mouse, but TWO DIFFERENT CLOCKS! 

As I wrote at Grand Comics Database for the "Little Roquefort Feature Object" entry:  

"Beginning in 1950, Little Roquefort was Terrytoons’ “other starring mouse character (of the non-mighty variety)", during the theatrical amination era. Paired with the requisite “cat-co-star”, Percy Puss, they were Terry’s answer to MGM's Tom and Jerry."

So, lessee... what do mice generally do?  Um, they eat cheese!  They flee from and/or torment cats!  And... and.. and... THEY RUN UP CLOCKS!  Yeah, that's it!  

While most mice usually run up ONE clock (...or maybe run up and down the same one over and over again), Little Roquefort runs up TWO DIFFERENT CLOCKS (and for two different publishers, yet) for today's Mirth Separation!  

Here's "An Olde Rhyme", from DINKY DUCK # 4 (St. John Comics, Cover Date: May, 1952), followed by "Nursery Rhymes", from MIGHTY MOUSE # 70 (Pines Comics, Cover Date: September, 1956).

Pines was the successor-publisher for the Terrytoons properties, following St. John - and I must say that, looking at this 1955-1956 transition, it feels not unlike the transition of the Hanna-Barbera properties from Gold Key to Charlton in 1970 - with Pines in the role of Charlton!  

...But that's another topic for another day... Here's Little Roquefort "Separating Himself at Mirth" first at St. John and then at Pines!  Click to Enlarge!  

In this case, the Pines version may actually be the better gag (even if the rhyme is totally and awkwardly abandoned)... but, ooohh, that LETTERING is so hard on the eyes! 

Separated at Mirth: Bob Hope - "The Monarch Who's Mediocre!"

Surely, at some point, someone must have described BOB HOPE as "The King of Comedy"!  

Whether or not it ever happened, the covers of THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE # 58 (DC Comics, Cover Date: August-September, 1959)...

...And THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE # 89 (DC Comics, Cover Date: October-November, 1964)...

...Make a good case for a "Hope Mirthful Monarchy"!  

Check 'em out side-by-side...

Same layout, but different setting! 

Same guy about to jab Bob... once as a Black Knight, and once as a Centurion! 

SAME EXACT DIALOGUE BALLOON! 

  

The adoring females vary slightly, in both looks and positioning!  

But, most strangely of all... these are TWO VERY DIFFERENT STORIES!  One is not a remake of the other!  Each is unique unto itself!

Yet, they not only share the SAME COVER GAG - thus becoming our latest "Separation At Mirth", but also share the same cover LAYOUT and DIALOGUE!  

You won't see that happen very often!  

THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE # 58 cover is drawn by Owen Fitzgerald. 

THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE # 89 cover is drawn by Mort Drucker. 

Oh, and lest I forget, if anyone doesn't get the gag in our SUBJECT HEADER ("The Monarch Who's Mediocre!"), here's the inspiration for that!  

"Mickey Mouse as The Monarch of Medioka" - a classic Mouse Tale, by the great Floyd Gottfredson! 

See?  We'd never leave you hanging, now would we?  

...Though we may leave Bob Hope "hanging"... until he "gets the point"...

...Which, regardless of historical era, looks to be any second now!  

Before he yelps in pain, let's say so long and leave you with THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE # 58 and THE ADVENTURES OF BOB HOPE # 89... Separated at Mirth! 

PS: Perhaps Bob might not have been "stuck with his fate" (...or whatever you call those pointy things), if HE had also been "SUPERMAN'S PAL" like Jimmy Olsen! 

THAT'S the kind of "pal" I'd wanna have!