The Three Stooges Save… WHAT?!

Had occasion to recently watch “The Three Stooges in Orbit”, a Columbia feature film of 1962, featuring the Stooges as then-constituted:  Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Joe DeRita. 

In it, our boys get to tool around land, air, sea, and even space in a bizarre, yet incongruously cool, looking craft that somehow combines characteristics of a tank, boat, submarine, airplane, and rocket ship. 

Oh, and they also get to fight Martian spies! 

As part of the expected wild-ride climax, those evil Martians take aim at a particularly unexpected target!

Yes, really!  …Disneyland! 

Thankfully, Curly Joe (with a little help from his Stooge-friends) saves “The Happiest Place on Earth” from the “Meanest Men on Mars”, with some quick repositioning of the Martians’ lethal cannon! 

Yeah, you go, Joe!  Think of THAT the next time you “prefer” Curly Howard, Shemp Howard, or even Joe Besser as your "Third Stooge of Choice"!

Of course, the surprising thing about this is that Disneyland would appear, and be specifically referenced, in a Columbia (today, Sony) film, if even for a moment!  In today’s copyright-happy world, imagine such a thing occurring between modern Disney and Sony!

Be that as it may, just remember that, if you’ve visited Disneyland between 1962 and the present day (as I have, and I’ll assume the same for many of you), we may very well have The Three Stooges to thank for that day of Disney Magic! 

THANK YOU! 

YOU'RE WELCOME!

Bringing it all the way ‘round though, The Three Stooges might actually have Disney to thank for the inspiration behind the film’s greatest prop… and, arguably, the greatest prop the Stooges have ever had to work with…

‘Cos lookit whut GOOFY inn-vented… way back in Dell Four Color # 194 "Mickey Mouse and the World Under the Sea" (1948)! 

Look sorta familiar? 

And, before all that, in the Mickey Mouse newspaper strip of 1935 (!), we had this flying-boat-ish-submarine-y-type craft! 

Looking forward to 1965 and beyond, we have the Flying Sub from VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA!  My favorite fictional vehicle of all time! 

Isn’t it great how all this stuff relates!   

And, for one more unusual Disneyland reference, check out THIS POST! 

SO LONG, FOLKS! 

On Sale June 28, 2017: JONAH HEX / YOSEMITE SAM # 1 from DC Comics.

Great horny-toads! Stop a-readin' this here Blog post, an' haul yer gol-danged, lilly-livered, rassa-frakin' carcas down ta yer local comic book shop, an' pick up a copy of JONAH HEX / YOSEMITE SAM # 1 from DC Comics, ya idjit galoot!  

It's th' Shoot-'em-first-iest, Doggone-worst-iest, William-Randolph-Hearst-iest comic this side o' Th' Pecos... or any other side, too... So there!  

...Even if that ornery galoot Jonah Hex gits top billin'! 

As with other issues in this wonderful series that I’ve reviewed, such as LOBO/ROAD RUNNER and BATMAN/ELMER FUDD, JONAH HEX/YOSEMITE SAM features two stories – a lead set in the DC Comics Universe, and a backup set in the Looney Tunes Universe.  

Batman and Elmer Fudd in the "DCU"!

This has made for a very successful format thus far, and this issue is no exception. 

Lobo and The Road Runner in the "LTU"!

For the lead, back in them thar hills of Old Colorado, Yosemite Sam strikes it rich. 

He sure TALKS like the Sam we know!  Nice touch! 

His partners, some real bad lookin' dudes, try to double (...or, would that be "triple") cross him…

But, as one might expect a “realistic” version of Sam to do, he comes out a-shootin’! 

Digression: Of the Looney Tunes characters appearing in issues of this series I've reviewed so far, Sam REALLY looks very much like his Friz-Freleng-Animated-Self...

...Doesn't he?  

Even here in BATMAN/ELMER FUDD...

And he's correctly SHORT, compared to Hex and other characters! 

End of Digression. 

Traveling alone with his gold, he saves the life of a “traveling circus freak” – freaky in that mutant-man-rooster sorta way, who goes by the familiar name of Foghorn Leghorn!  

He stops with this classic Yosemite Sam bit!

The two outcasts become friends, as outcasts in westerns are wont to do. 

He also meets famed (and feared) bounty hunter Jonah Hex…

...Who probably had a similar (but opposite-sided) origin to Batman's "Two Face"!

Sam hires Hex as a bodyguard.

Notice how Sam "looks-up" to Hex?  ...And I don't mean "looks-up" in the hero-worship-kinda-way.  He just LOOKS UP!

And, with that arrangement, the fun begins!  There’s boxing…

…Shooting…

…And lots of other fun, Jonah Hex style. 

If Jonah Hex isn't the life of the party... YOU tell him!

But, no more spoilers.  To our second story…

Just LOOK at the GREAT STUFF Dave Alvarez does here!

While the backup in BATMAN / ELMER FUDD was disappointingly tepid (especially for a series of specials that has otherwise shown remarkable creativity)...

...JONAH HEX / YOSEMITE SAM's backup is utterly amazing for multiple reasons!  Let me count the ways...

Dave Alvarez, whose work I have ALWAYS enjoyed, from DC's LOONEY TUNES to IDW's DISNEY line...

...Really outdoes himself here with...

...Cute little bunnies in the snow...

...Yosemite Sam, as if he leaped off of John Kricfalusi's drawing board...

...A "DC Animated" version of Jonah Hex...

...And, the BEST classic, Bob Clampett style BUGS BUNNY, since the great cartoon "Buckaroo Bugs"! 

We haven't had such amazing comic-book things done with Looney Tunes characters, perhaps since we used to have things like these!

YOU STILL HERE, CRITTER?!  I told ya to GIT A GOIN', ya dad-burn idjit galoot, an' git yerself a copy of JONAH HEX/YOSEMITE SAM!

Just follow Bugs... He's off to get his copy now! 

Then, git yerself to our Comments Section, an' spill yer guts...

...on this great DC Comic!  

...Of course, don't "spill 'em" on YOUR COPY of the comic...

...And, especially, don't "spill 'em" on MINE!

...And, for MORE FUN WITH JONAH HEX, check out SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP # 28 released just one month later!

...Yes, really!