My "hat" is almost always "off" to Sholly Fisch, the extremely talented writer of SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP, for his right-on characterizations of so many different guest-starring characters and putting those characters through such clever bits...
...However, today my figurative writer's hat is not only "off", it's been put in a box, that has been locked in a safe, which has been buried on a remote island - never to be seen (or be "put back on") again!
But, Joe... What could Mr. Fisch have possibly done that would lead to such a display of "extreme de-hatting" on your part?, you're probably asking your fidgety and curious selves by now!
Well, gentle readers, it's simply that after teaming Scooby and the Gang with everyone from Batman, Martian Manhunter, Jonah Hex, and even Bat-Mite, to Top Cat and Yogi Bear, he's outdone himself with SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP # 36, by dumping them smack into the world of DC Comics "Humor Titles Past"!
A feature which, perhaps like "Massachusetts the Monster" itself, grew larger and larger...
...Until it progressively, and literally, squeezed The Fox and the Crow out of existence by the final issue # 108 (1968, above)! Stanley and his Monster took over the book completely, continuing The Fox and the Crow's numbering for issues 109-112, before coming to a quiet end - save a four-issue mini-revival in 1993.
But, that's only the surface of the Delightful DC-Depths Sholly Fisch has plumed!
In order of appearance are such sixties luminaries of laughter as:
Angel and the Ape...
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| Click on all images to enlarge! |
The Inferior Five - not so coincidentally, the subject of OUR LAST POST...
I didn't read Angel and the Ape, so I don't know if Angel and the I-Five's "Dumb Bunny" were originally sisters...
But, I DO notice that, perhaps in consideration of today's more enlightened attitudes, "Dumb Bunny" is now simply referred-to as "Bunny"... Hopefully, not to be confused with this competing sixties humor comic's blonde title character.
Stanley (temporarily without) his Monster, who the kid believes is his DOG...
...And yes, as the cast of Stanley and his Monster expanded, Stanley ALSO gave his room (and board) to Napoleon's Ghost (FOX AND CROW # 97) and a Leprechaun and Gnome (FOX AND CROW # 99, both 1966), all unbeknownst to his disbelieving parents!
Bob Hope (here as "Rob Pope" - all together now - cleverly renamed to fall within fair use for parody)...
And here's the source of Hope/Pope's "...not seeing any monsters since HIGH SCHOOL!" Very clever, Mr. Fisch!
The Maniaks...
...This time without Woody Allen (insert your own joke, if you must)...
...And finally, Sugar and Spike!
If, by now, you haven't figured-out why my figurative writer's hat is not only "off" to Sholly Fisch, but "gone so far, perhaps never to be seen again", is that he both knew these now-obscure DC Humor characters - and HANDLED THEM SO DARNED WELL!
Yours truly, as something of a sixties DC aficionado, as well as being known for writing good characterizations for beloved comic book characters of the Disney stable, can only stand back in awe of this particular work!
I didn't even READ all of those DC titles, much less be able to make their characters work so perfectly!
For instance, how wonderful is THIS BIT, referencing both Bob Oksner (artist of ANGEL AND THE APE) and Mike Sekowski (artist of THE INFERIOR FIVE), by characters of each title!
And big props to artist Dario Brizuela, who I often feel relies too much on stock model sheets when drawing Scooby and the Gang, but who really breaks-out in his renderings of all these disparate 1960s DC characters!
We won't go too deeply into the plot for fear of revealing spoilers, but I'll just highlight two more things, one great and one a little odd...
This wonderful sequence where Shaggy and Scooby cower and inadvertently find Stanley's Monster...
"Loud hippie person!"? GOTTA LOVE THAT!
...And, from the "odd side of things", what's not quite right about this page?
Is it just me, or does that "third panel of Daphne", with its thick outline and green background coloring inconsistent with the rest of the page -- and (all together now) "stock model sheet pose" -- look as if it were taken from a DIFFERENT SOURCE and plopped-down into this page, with an added dialogue balloon?
Perhaps there are some mysteries even those meddling kids cannot solve!
But, even if Daphne is speaking to us from some other realm (...perhaps the late 1960s, from whence she originated, and these DC characters abounded?), SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP # 36 is a marvelous trip back through the largely forgotten (alas) 1960s DC Humor Period, and a superb job by all involved!
Get a copy, and groove with it, today!
44 comments:
This is a blast for those of us who remember these characters, but may be somewhat esoteric for everyone else.
AFAIR, the idea of Angel and (Dumb) Bunny as sisters was never mentioned in the 1960s. It was a retcon introduced in the 1991 Angel & Ape mini-series.
To paraphrase the poet Shelley:
"If Sugar and Spike come, can Bernie the Brain be far behind?"
I'm hoping this story line spills into the next issue, or any future issue, for a team-up with the Scooby team and the SM gang! Imagine an adventure with Sugar & Spike, Bernie the Brain, Raymond, Little Arthur, and maybe even the Plumms and Wilsons along for good measure. (The parents did appear in this issue, I didn't miss that!)
This story feels like the S & S cameo at the end is a teaser for more to come--maybe even a little mini-series within the series. I was halfway interested in purchasing this issue when I discovered Stanley and his Monster were in it...but the deal-maker for me was in flipping the pages and discovering my favorite infant duo. Then my "maybe" became a "must."
Just think what this creative team could do with such a team-up. A multi-parter for sure! The wackiness and adventure of Scooby and company mixed with the wackiness and adventure of SM's most glorious creations. It boggles the mind! I'll be on board for it if, no, WHEN it happens!
The last time Bunny was referred to as "Dumb Bunny" was probably in "Ambush Bug: Year None" where she and Amubush Bug had a drunken shotgun wedding in Vegas that only she might've remembered. The wedding ring had a diamond-studded horseshoe on it.
I think Ambush Bug is probably next..along with Blue Beetle and Booster Gold - though I wonder if Keith Giffen will want to guest-write those two.
TC:
You write: “AFAIR, the idea of Angel and (Dumb) Bunny as sisters was never mentioned in the 1960s. It was a retcon introduced in the 1991 Angel & Ape mini-series.”
Ah, thank you! I was wondering if Fisch actually drew upon something pre-existing, or added that on his own.
As I said, I never read ANGEL AND THE APE, but don’t recall seeing any such reference in INFERIOR FIVE.
But, thanks strictly to this issue of SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP, I’ve just ordered the first two issues of the ANGEL AND THE APE sixties series, the series debut in SHOWCASE, and the four-issue 1991 series, as it looks to be something I’d enjoy.
Finally, it is precisely BECAUSE these characters are “somewhat esoteric”, as you say, that I regard this as such a great achievement! On both the part of writer Sholly Fisch for his KNOWLEDGE OF these characters, and DC for devoting an issue TO these characters!
I say this (…hoping I’m not talking too loudly “out of school”) in contrast with my own thus-far-unsuccessful lobbying efforts to get a favorite “obscure and esoteric sixties character”, Moby Duck, published at IDW. On the plus side, we have gotten occasional glimpses of Super Goof, another of my sixties-faves, so I remain optimistic!
For a publisher I very often accuse these days of ignoring (if not outright burying) its past, I commend DC for standing behind such a glorious nod to a period in its history that, like that wonderful period of mid-sixties television, is never likely to occur again!
…If only DC owned THE FOX AND THE CROW for a cameo! How perfect would THAT have been!
Scarecrow:
It most certainly was a wonderful treat to see SUGAR AND SPIKE again, especially as (…and I don’t consider this a “spoiler”), Fisch saved them to be the “pièce de résistance” of his tale!
Stanley and his Monster ALONE would have been enough for me… Awww, who am I kidding! I gladly buy EVERY ISSUE, and so should everyone reading this who shares my sensibilities. ...Or, just make that everyone - PERIOD!
Even as a writer/translator for the great IDW line of Disney comics, I have to say that no single comic book title of this time-period delivers the sheer amount of fannish-fun, sly references, and knee-slapping in-jokes of SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP, try as we might to inject such things into our work at IDW. …And I lay all of that at the feet of Sholly Fisch! I hope DC keeps him very busy, happy, and fulfilled, because I’d like to KEEP my job with IDW, and never have to compete with a writer of his caliber. :-)
Alas, no SUGAR AND SPIKE next issue – but let’s hear it for Supergirl and Streaky the Super-Cat! I can’t wait to see how Fisch has Streaky and Scooby interact!
‘Rehab:
OMG (as the young-uns say), I actually DO remember that AMBUSH BUG issue!
And, since SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP and the animated series BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD are analogous (as the recent “direct-to-DVD feature” made perfectly clear) – and Ambush Bug did such a memorable turn in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD’s series finale – why not have an issue with Ambush Bug! It would be SOOO much fun!
And, speaking of Giffen characters, how about an issue with LOBO?!
"in contrast with my own thus-far-unsuccessful lobbying efforts to get a favorite “obscure and esoteric sixties character”, Moby Duck, published at IDW"
Well, I hope you succeed in that! I, too, like Moby Duck.
Angel and the Ape was definitely a product of the 1960s, the decade that gave us Adam West as Batman, Dean Martin as Matt Helm, Woody Allen as Jimmy Bond, and Jane Fonda as Barbarella. And the Inferior Five, Captain Nice, Captain Klutz, and The Monkees.
Some of the gags, IIRC, were probably influenced by Mad Magazine.
And wait until you get a load of "Stan Bragg"!
Lupan:
I will keep trying to secure a safe berth for Moby Duck’s ship at IDW! I like the character too much to ever give up.
And welcome to our Comments Section!
TC:
“Stan Bragg?” Hmmm… Could he and “The Funky Flashman” have a common real-life counterpart?
I think I’m gonna enjoy Angel and the Ape! Of course I’ll have to wait until sometime later next week… “Economy Shipping”, you know!
Lobo is an altogether different kind of Spooky Space Kook..but they've already shown him chasing the Road Runner, so why not?
As I write this, a new batch of crossovers was announced with the following:
Aquaman & Jabberjaw
Black Lightning & Hong Kong Phooey
The Flash & Speed Buggy
Super Sons & Dynomutt
My choices will depend on what's actually happening in the book..I'm surprised they've avoided an obvious "canon" Batman & Scooby-Doo team-up, since that's the only team-up for Batman and Scooby-Doo they haven't tried..well, maybe "Batman '66 meets Scooby-Doo" is another.
A couple of crossovers they have yet to do that seem obvious: Batgirl & Penelope Pitstop, The Joker & Dick Dastardly, The Atom & Atom Ant, Mister Miracle & Devlin, Killer Croc & Wally Gator, Zatana & Winsome Witch, Gorilla Grodd & Magilla Gorilla...
That looks amazing, although I don't know any of these characters (except inasmuch as you have mentioned them previously on the blog). The exception is Stanley's Monsters, for whom I used to see ads in the French Fox and Crow digests — it was published as a separate title, one I never got to read. I remember that "kiss" cover extremely vividly, since it was quite discombobulating for one who knew nothing of the comic, and I am overjoyed that this finally brought me an answer to this childhood question I'd, in truth, forgotten about several years ago.
Also noticed "Goody Rickles" got name-dropped - Evan Dorkin tried pitching a script for an episode of "Superman: The Animated Series" that would've teemed Goody with Funky Flashman in an adventure, but it was rejected..probably because Don Rickles might've been too expensive to get after the success of "Toy Story"...and I'm not sure if Stan Lee would've been available...I kinda imagined John Astin would've been a suitable replacement.
I don't know how this issue would've rated with readers unfamiliar with these characters, but it's nothing a Google search or glance at Wikipedia wouldn't fix..regardless, it was rather ingenious show of integrating all those characters in one story. Nothing basic here; this is top-notch stuff.
‘Rehab:
I’m a little less connected with the comics world in general than I used to be, so any new batch of DC / HB crossovers is news to me. But, if they are anything like last year’s series of DC / WB crossovers, I most certainly will be there.
And, it is precisely with the LOBO / ROAD RUNNER crossover in mind that I suggest Lobo for SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP! Lobo could easily be looking to collect a bounty on “The Spooky Space Kook”, or whatever ghost or monster has attracted the attentions of the Scooby gang! It’s a natural!
As I said back when Space Ghost appeared on BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD, this is one upside to a giant media corporation absorbing many different studio’s characters under its massive umbrella!
I’m all for Magilla Gorilla meeting Gorilla Grodd! And I’d have died on the spot, if I saw Goody Rickles and Funky Flashman on SUPERMAN THE ANIMATED SERIES!
Finally, I’d like to think that this issue of SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP inspired a few folks to “look up” these characters – and, as I’ve just done with ANGEL AND THE APE, give some of them a try!
Achille:
Glad to help, regarding “Stanley and his Monster”! At least in France, I’ll assume, it was published as a separate comic title from “The Fox and the Crow”, and didn’t encroach-upon and literally bring an end to Fauntleroy and Crawford!
Just curious about how long “The Fox and the Crow” ran in France. Did it, more or less, use up all the material published here in REAL SCREEN COMICS and THE FOX AND THE CROW and end? Did it end before printing all of the American material? If not, did it continue on with reprints of that material, or even new material created in Europe like the Disney stuff?
More DC/HB crossovers coming? The only question is, with whom would I team up Touché Turtle? I don't know the DC universe very well at all. Though there does appear to be an obscure DC character known as The Musketeer....
Looking forward to S-D T-U #37. Supergirl? Who's Supergirl? I'm here for Streaky the Supercat! Streaky was the only reason I bought some DC comics in my '60s childhood. I would have been all about Action Lab's "Hero Cats" comics if they had existed then! Later, in adolescence, I bought "Legion of Super-Heroes" for a while (but I can't think of any good match-up for Touché Turtle among the Legionnaires).
As far as I know, it was all just reprints, no new material. But the main Foxie title went on from 1956 to 1985, with 200 issues. I don't know if that number accounts for the later Fox et Crow title or not. Fox and Crow were also published for a few years more in the Three Mousketeers (is that their Enligsh name? must be) book after Fox et Crow stopped.
And yes, the Stanley and his Monster comics were piublished separately, in a book just known as… Stanley. Yeah, clearly the boy Stanley was the essential selling point of that title! Well done, Old French Editors!
Elaine:
Hmmm… whom would *I* team up Touché Turtle?
Well, there’s always the old Batman villain The Cavalier.
I always said that, if Malachi Throne hadn’t played “Falseface” in the 1966 BATMAN TV show, he would have been perfect as The Cavalier, given his wonderfully over the top roles in “The Thief from Outer Space” and “The Return of Blackbeard”, in LOST IN SPACE and VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, respectively!
But, beyond that, you’ve just inspired me to think creatively! Follow this…
Touché Turtle’s shtick is that he often gets a phone call (on the telephone he keeps inside his shell) from some character(s) in need of help or rescuing. He gets one of these phone calls from a REALLY DEEP AND OBSCURE CORNER of the “DC Humor Universe” – TWIDDLE AND TWADDLE!
To digress, once upon a time in the DC Humor Universe, there was a comic book title called REAL SCREEN COMICS, which begat eponymous titles for TWO of its three regular features – the better-known THE FOX AND THE CROW, and the lesser-known FLIPPITY AND FLOP!
Check your air supply and clear your masks, because we’re now going to make a deep dive into DC obscurity!
Per the same postal regulations that were responsible for the “Gyro Gearloose guest stories” in Dell’s UNCLE SCROOGE title we find “The Hounds and the Hare” in THE FOX AND THE CROW (…until the title was eventually consumed by “Stanley and his Monster”) – and, in that same manner, FLIPPITY AND FLOP hosted “Twiddle and Twaddle”!
“Twiddle and Twaddle” were a pair of “Hubie and Bertie-like mice” (So much so that I would “hear” their dialogue in Hubie and Bertie’s voices!), only one was fat and the other skinny. But, there is one unique twist…
Twiddle and Twaddle were chased, not by a cat, but a DOG! (I’m not certain if the dog even had a name!)
Twiddle and Twaddle are also SO OBSCURE, I could only find THIS to link to!
Okay, history lesson over! Touché Turtle and his aptly named sheepdog sidekick “Dum-Dum” respond to a call from Twiddle and Twaddle, who need protection from the dog!
After the requisite failed attempts where Touché “gets the business” from the Dog, Dum-Dum decides to step up and speak to their antagonist “Dog-to-Dog”. Whatever he says (…and I’ll only work that out when someone decides to pay me to write this story – which would be “never”) inadvertently turns the Dog toward chasing TURTLES instead of MICE! (It makes almost as much sense, after all!)
Twiddle and Twaddle’s problem is solved, as the Dog chases Touché off into the sunset, and we iris out!
…Hey, DC! Any interest in this?!
Achille:
You write: “And yes, the Stanley and his Monster comics were published separately, in a book just known as… Stanley. Yeah, clearly the boy Stanley was the essential selling point of that title! Well done, Old French Editors!”
“Stanley?” …“STANLEY?!”
With a cast that included a funny huge purple hairy monster (…whom I sometimes heard “speak” with the voice of Joe Besser), Napoleon’s Ghost, a Leprechaun, and a Gnome, they elected to call the title just …“STANLEY?!”
If you didn’t know what kind of comic it was, you might not differentiate it from …“ARCHIE”!
Interesting that France’s FOX AND CROW title ran thru 1985(!) seventeen years after the demise of the American F&C title! Over such a span, I’d guess that they used-up all of the American stories, or pretty close to it.
Meanwhile, I must say how much fun it is to be discussing these characters!
Just popping by to add (since you brought them up) that Flippity and Flop (under the title Flip et Flop) were, along with Hound and Hare, the 'Mouse Musketeers" series I mentioned earlier, and a Li'l Wolf-type feature whose Enlighs name is unknown to me, a regular back feature of the Foxie books.
Also, I should probably warn you that I will be in Sicily for all of this week, starting tomorrow, and bereft of a working computer for the duration. So Joe, don't be surprised if I don't comment on any insightful posts you may put up before Sunday.
We always enjoy it when you “pop by”, Achille!
I’m guessing the “ Li'l Wolf-type feature” you refer to was “Peter Porkchops”. I don’t believe I ever read that one, but I know it from the ads in REAL SCREEN, FOX AND CROW, etc, and from the imaginative use of the characters in the 1980s CAPTAIN CARROT AND HIS AMAZING ZOO CREW.
Did you have “Twiddle and Twaddle” under some other name as well?
Enjoy your trip!
Concerning Twiddle and Twaddle: I've never seen them, but they might well have been anyway. I came a bit late to that party, and only know of those old books what I could find in secondhand bookstores and the like — nobody ever reprinted that stuff, see.
Alas, nobody ever reprinted it here either! I just know it from my old back issues!
Any clue about those Mouse Musketeers, though? There were three of them, gray, real-mouse-sized…
You know which DC character I would team up with Touche Turtle?
Jimmy Olsen!
It's a good match because...well, it has something to do with Jimmy's extra-curricular activities during the 1990's.
That's my one hint for now.
Bring it on...Jimmy and Touche! All for one and one for...ouch!
Achille:
I can only guess that it was THIS DC SERIES!
I didn’t read this one either. It ended about the time my grandmother began buying comics for me, and setting me on a life-long trajectory that resulted in whatever it is that I do today! Along with most Dells, and some Harveys, she DID buy me THE FOX AND THE CROW, SUGAR AND SPIKE, and the next to last issue of FLIPPITY AND FLOP! ...Throughout my childhood, I occasionally wondered why I never saw another FLIPPITY AND FLOP – and never would see it again until I discovered back-issue dealers.
Interesting that THE THREE MOUSEKETEERS and THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB came into being at just about the same time. Each used the word “Mouseketeers” in its own way… and there were no issues of copyright of which I’m aware. …I don’t think that series would be able to appear under its original name today!
Awww, Scarecrow… Why didn’t *I* think of this! …Like Sylvester Junior, “I’m SO ashamed!”. Anyone got a bag to cover my head?
Clearly, THIS is what we’re referring to!
DC's also published a Three Mouseketeers comic in 1970; IIRC, it ran for seven issues, and reprinted the Sheldon Mayer stuff from the late 1950s.
But wait...Scarecrow said "during the 1990's" and the issue you show is from 1961...I'm confused!
Since the Three Mouseketeers were DC characters, *they* could actually team up with Touché, in theory. Unless Disney lawyers were to prevent them from using the name. Since they used it in print contemporaneously with The Mickey Mouse Club, though, it's not clear to me how Disney could complain. Unless the comic stopped publishing back in the day because Disney lawyers fired a warning volley at DC....
Have you ever run into that obscure DC character known as The Musketeer? http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Musketeer_(New_Earth)
It does occur to me that any contemporary comic or cartoon featuring Touché would have to deal with the fact that carrying around a phone concealed on your person which works despite not being connected to any physical network is no longer particularly funny. I suppose Sholly Fisch could come up with appropriate jokes to handle the problem, though.
It could be fun to see Dum Dum interact with Bouncing Boy....
TC:
Yes, you must mean THIS later reprint series!
Funny thing was that I NEVER SAW IT! If I had, I might have given it a try! Coincidently, if the cover dates – and DC’s advance use of them – is any indication, this series appeared at pretty much the same time that Charlton (Shudder!) wrested the classic Hanna-Barbera character license from Gold Key… so perhaps I was “too traumatized” to notice!
But, more likely as to WHY I never saw it, this might seem odd to the younger members of our readership, or those who live in countries with different – often better – sensibilities than ours (Wink to our friend Achille Talon!), but here goes...
In my youth, in the near eastern suburbs of New York City, comic books were found only on newsstands, or in what we used to call “candy stores” or “luncheonettes”. Unlike the sparsity of today’s modern comic-book shops, these stores were EVERYWHERE, with many of them in reasonable walking distance of most kids, so comic books were easy for everyone to find.
However, no one such outlet ever “got them all”, nor would any shopkeeper of the time expect to devote that much of his or her small store space to such a low-margin, high-return, item. So, once I became more diligent in the pursuit (…You probably all know by now, as a result of THIS), I expanded my search well beyond my “corner store” and my immediate environs, walking to the furthest reaches of the four corners of my town, hitting multiple outlets in my (not always successful) quest.
My original “Peak” comics-reading years as a young lad were 1964 to about 1971. …Then, girls took over and that was a whole ‘nother story! But, for the last 3-4 years of that period, I was not just covering my town and my county on foot and transit… but regularly taking busses into the NYC Borough of QUEENS, including the still-memorable “Earth Day 1970”, which I just noticed that I never wrote about here (though I did so in the old “paper hard-copy days of TIAH”), so I can’t link to it now!
Still, there were many things that managed to elude me, until the day in 1980 (!) that I discovered that I could recover those “lost treasures” as back issues. I gotta write about THAT too…. I also did so in the “paper hard-copy days of TIAH”!
And, despite ALL THAT, which was going on during the 1970-1971 time period of these THREE MOUSEKETEERS reprints, I still don’t recall seeing them! Maybe I’ll at least give the (presumably cheaper) reprint series a try, as I did with ANGEL AND THE APE! …Still waiting on delivery of those, so can’t report on ‘em yet!
Elaine:
My guess was that Scarecrow meant “Giant Turtle Boy Jimmy Olsen” all along! So much so that, not only was I quite ashamed for not thinking of it, but I even *saw* his comment as reading “…During the 1960s” in my mind’s eye.
I suppose the only true clarification would have to come from him but, as this was a recurring part of the “wild and wonderful sixties that I love” (…especially for Jimmy Olsen, even more so than most other characters), I think my presumptuous leap was not all that unreasonable.
My guess is that, Disney would claim “ownership” of the term “Mouseketeers”, and certainly most ordinary persons would likely see it that way as well. If DC had any interest whatsoever in reviving those characters, they would have to rename the feature, because it simply wouldn’t be worth the expense of defending a series name that few folks even remember.
So, “Three Wild Mice”, anyone? Best I could do on such short notice…
On that subject there IS the case of the 1953 Dell MGM Tom and Jerry spinoff title MOUSE MUSKETEERS, the first three issues of which were titled THE TWO MOUSEKETEERS , before rebranding itself as MOUSE MUSKETEERS IN LATE 1955!
Perhaps, not so coincidently, THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB began airing in 1955. You decide…
Actually, I do have some vague memories of “The Musketeer” as part of “The Club of Heroes” that is mentioned in YOUR LINK.
Yes, when (presumably Michael Maltese, because the animated series has him “written all over it”) did the “unconnected-yet-fully-operating-take-anywhere-personal-phone-bit” in the early sixties, it was actually a good gag. Especially at its most improbable, like when Touché once received a call from a meek Julius Caesar (!) to request help in vanquishing Brutus!
And, double-yes, Sholly Fisch could ABSOLUTELY make a contemporary gag work from that! I hope he someday gets the chance!
In the 1990's, Jimmy Olsen had a gig as "Turtle Boy" on his own TV show. This played a minor role in the early part of the "Doomsday" storyline. But, yes, it was the "turtle" reference to Jimmy Olsen to which I was referring! So your leap was not at all "unreasonable!" Close, as a matter of fact...only missed it by 3 decades!
And Sheldon Mayer's "Three Mousketeers" has got to qualify as one of the funniest comics ever!
Scarecrow:
Well, at least we were on the same wavelength.
Very glad to hear that about THREE MOUSEKETEERS because, literally moments before receiving your comment, I just ordered four issues of the reprint series, which I will be experiencing for the first time! …I’ll let you know what I think, once they arrive.
Though, I'd say they have an uphill battle vs. Harvey Eisenberg's TOM AND JERRY - especially of the early/mid 1950s! THAT, I would say is one of the "funniest comics ever!"
However, given our other "known commonalities" in comics, I have no doubt I'll enjoy it, if you recommend it so highly!
Hey, I just noticed that this comment section now has the same amount of comments as the most recent post on Duck Comics Revue: http://duckcomicsrevue.blogspot.com/2018/04/astro-pooch.html
(well, I mean, it won't now, but it did before this comment was posted).
And, thanks to your comment, and my response, this post currently has two more than his!
GeoX is a friend who hosts a great Blog. I’d never think of competing with him for accumulated comments…
…Unless there’s some sort of cash prize involved! :-)
Yup, these are those Mouseketeers alright. (Of course, in France, they were just called the Three Musketeers — the Mouse/Mus pun just doesn't work.)
Achille:
But, if they were just “three mice and a cat in a domestic setting”, as is indicated by the series covers, and not unlike Tom and Jerry, Herman and Katnip, or Pixie, Dixie, and Mister Jinks, how is the “Musketeer angle” in any way applicable? Their comradery, perhaps?
While that title was a very good pun, as long as it didn’t run afoul of Disney lawyers, I still like my suggestion of “Three Wild Mice”, or some other such derivative of “Three Blind Mice” which, due to the nursery rhyme, I’ll assume translates into most languages.
I guess I’ll soon see, when I get four copies of the reprint series delivered during the coming week. I got the earliest copies of ANGEL AND THE APE before the weekend too – but, quite characteristically for me of late, have not found any time to look at them yet.
Seems I’ll have a lot of fun reading ahead of me.
Well, they do dress up as musketeers and have a sort of musketeer code/comradery, don't they? With how famous The Three Musketeers is in France (in a simplified, kid-friendly version of the story, at least), the impression one gets — of these three (mouse) kids dressing up and playing musketeers — is quite believable, and not too different from what Barks's Junior Woodchucks felt like before they were made into the hypercompetent dogooders we know and love.
While Three Wild Mice is a very good pun (could it possibly be otherwise in your hands?), you're wrong in thinking it would translate any better than the "Mouseketeers" pun. Nursery Rhymes, as their name implies, are heavily based on rhyme, rhythm and wordplay; as a result, they are far from international. Frenchmen have never heard, under any version, of Three Blind Mice, any more than I presume you've heard of our Ne pleure pas, Jeanette/Don't Cry, Jeanette. And assuming some such songs made their way across borders, they'd do so with the same tune but completely changed lyrics to match the syllable count. For instance, it is unavoidably true, yet objectively hilarious, that Jingle Bells is quite famous in France… with a completley different set of lyrics that are an ode to the winter winds, known as Vive le Vent/Long Live the Wind.
Achille:
If The Three Mouseketeers “dressed up as musketeers”, there’s nothing to indicate that by viewing the covers of the 1970-1971 reprint series, issues of which I’m still waiting to receive, or the covers of the 1956-1960 original series which I might later consider, based upon both price and my enjoyment of the reprint series (…once I somehow find the time to read it)!
…In fact, the fat one even dresses like Donald Duck! I guess wearing a “sailor suit” was once “a thing” for kids to do in bygone days, just like those ubiquitous “white gloves” worn by so many characters created before the 1960s!
Perhaps they “dressed as musketeers”, maybe even regularly, in the interior stories. If so, I will eventually see that, as opposed to this spin-off of Tom and Jerry where Jerry and Tuffy (not to mention Tom) ACTUALLY WERE “Musketeers” – and (per the sub-series of animated shorts from which this series was derived, if not explicitly in the comics themselves) in France, yet!
And, I guess my presumption of “Three Wild Mice” as a suitable “non-musketeer-ish” alternative to “ The Three Mouseketeers” once the Disney lawyers (again, presumably) came a-knockin’, is just one more reason (…of VERY, VERY many) why I will never find myself “editing comics internationally”, as David Gerstein does so superbly!
I absolutely love the notion of Vive le Vent/Long Live the Wind” as an alternative to the festive Jingle Bells”!!! I must hear that, someday! And, of course no words are sung in this example but, when The Three Stooges play in France, you are getting “Three Blind Mice” as their opening theme in many of their shorts – unless the soundtrack is altered.
Completely shifting gears, I’m so glad you and so many others have given this comment thread such an “extended life”, as I’ve simply been unable to move ahead with my plans for the next “milestone post”, due to a never-ending series of commitments!
Whod’a thunk there would be such great interest in this unfortunately now-obscure collection of DC characters and titles. Speaking of which, I’ve actually found enough time to read “the first six pages” of the first appearance of ANGEL AND THE APE in SHOWCASE # 77 (1968) and, so far so good! “Golly, there sure are a lot of links in this comment!”
…And ANGEL AND THE APE (all together now) “would have gotten away from me, if not for those meddling kids” (…of SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP)!
I… you're right, boxdamnit, they don't dress as musketeers; but kid-me, unfamiliar with such sailor suits as regular wear, and not making the connection with Donald's — because Donald's suit is black in comic-lore, and his hat is rather different, and smaller — just kind of "saw" the blue suit and big blue hat as a clumsy Musketeer costume. Huh. That's really how I remember it.
Normally, I don't read any comics that aren't Disney comics, but your review of this comic made me come very close to purchasing "Too Many Kooks" last time I was at my local comic store. I say "very close" because it turned out the store also had many back issues of Gladstone's Uncle Scrooge Adventures which I didn't own, so I bought those instead, but still, it was the closest I'd ever come to buying a non-Disney comic, so I'd still consider it a win on your part.
Achille:
You write: “…I… you're right, boxdamnit, they don't dress as musketeers…”
Whew! That’s a relief!
Glad to know I’m not “…seeing things that aren’t there”, or much WORSE “…NOT seeing things that ARE there”! Such things CAN happen when one spends too much time with your head down inside one’s old comic boxes! Or, spends too much time translating and dialoguing new ones! Every now and then, I must come up for air! …And sanity!
…Then, I look around at the world at large, listen to a little news, and decide there’s very little sanity out there, and dive right back in to the boxes and translating! Gosh, it’s a wonderful life! …Not to mention a great title for a movie!
Regardless of dress, I expect The Three Mouseketeers to be a good “cat and mouse” romp, a la the Tom and Jerry comics. I’ll soon see…
Lupan:
You write: “ …it was the closest I'd ever come to buying a non-Disney comic, so I'd still consider it a win on your part.”
I’ll take that “win” and be happy with it!
Besides, I would never argue against purchasing any Gladstone comics!
And, one great thing about comics is that, if you don’t buy SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP # 36 today (…and assuming all copies do not sell out), it’ll still be around next week, the week after, and so on for about a month. Even after that, it will be available as a back-issue, perhaps slightly higher-priced, but with a bag and backing-board. But, it will be there for you, when you decide to try a non-Disney comic.
And, of ANY current non-Disney comics that I presently read, I would give SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP my highest recommendation. Every issue is, in one way or another, a gem!
As a postscript to previous comments, I have read both the first appearance of ANGEL AND THE APE in SHOWCASE # 77, and the first issue of the 1970 reprint series of THE THREE MOUSEKETEERS, and enjoyed them both thoroughly!
ANGEL AND THE APE was what I was expecting. Good humor and comics-genre satire, not unlike INFERIOR FIVE. But, THE THREE MOUSEKETEERS was something else entirely – and, at least based on that first reprint issue (which reprinted EVERY story that appeared in the first issue of the original 1950s series), very UNLIKE TOM AND JERRY, or any of the other DC funny animal series with cats or mice in them like FLIPPITY AND FLOP or TWIDDLE AND TWADDLE!
It was a very funny – and META – experience! I will definitely be reading more of both!
…And, all thanks to the great people who comment here, for recommending them!
…More posting soon… once I become less (all together now) “horrifically busy”!
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