Here is an untitled one-page gag from DAFFY DUCK # 4 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: January-March, 1956) that I called "Butterfly Tie" for purposes of my personal indexing.
Art is by Warner Bros. animator and Dell and Gold Key Comics stalwart Phil De Lara.
Here is "Butterfly Tie" once again, when it was later reprinted in BUGS BUNNY # 104 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: March, 1966)...
...Reformatted down to HALF-SIZE to allow page space for the required STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION, which was once part of the magazine publishing biz.
Western Publishing rarely indulged in this type of reformatting-shrinkage in its Dell and Gold Key Comics - save reformatting older classic material for reprinting in their later comics digests.
But here's an example of how they "compwessed a duck" to "conform with wegulations"!
"I feel the PANEL WALLS cwosing-in!"
(Click to Enlarge!)
"Wegulations, BAH!"
3 comments:
You may know this, but “noeud-papillon” (literally “butterfly-knot” or… “butterfly-tie”) is the default French term for a bowtie — making this a sort of accidental pun! (A French adaptation of the gag, which would necessitate changing the art, might therefore have Daffy advertising that he sells “noeuds papillons” without letting customers peruse the ware — and handing Elmer a tie with a butterfly on it *after* he forks over the cash!)
Achille:
Well, how do ya like that!
I’m such an inveterate punster that I even make ‘em when I DON’T KNOW I’m making ’em!
…And yes, your suggestion *would* make a good French adaptation of the gag! I can see it happening to Walter Melon!
The "compressed" version is actually the more aesthetic of the two. This is exemplified in the second tier with the picture of Elmer looking at the ties and then the one of his walking away with his purchase, each picture places more distance between Daffy and Elmer and each looks a little more appropriately spaced. Also, it makes much more sense for that very odd picture of Daffy sliced off so much he is barely seen. When that picture is at the end of the row, as it is in the "compressed" version, it seems more reasonable for Daffy to get "cut off" at the very end rather than in a panel that is next to another one, as in the original example. I have scrutinized the panels very closely and the only ones that really feature a noticeable difference are those middle two in the second example. However, the coloring of the ties is more garish in the first and more muted in the second, which I think, added to the other "improvements", gives the overall advantage to the remake. Maybe not so much "compressed" as "more satisfactorily spaced." Compare the Elmer walking away panels and you'll see what I mean.
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