Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Charlton Aims "HIGHER"!

This is an Internet scan of the cover of THE FLINTSTONES #20 (Charlton Comics, Cover Date: January, 1973). 

This is MY COPY of THE FLINTSTONES #20.

Now, I can't speak for the Internet scan, which may have been cropped when scanned, or maybe its FAR LEFT SIDE is rolled or even missing.  Note below, the Charlton Logo and Ray Dirgo's signature are cut off... (...No comments on whether or not that's a "good thing", please!) 

...But MY COPY is definitely "cut" incorrectly!

The TOP is CUT OFF...

...And the BOTTOM has TOO MUCH BLANK PAPER below the cover image!

 

Note the Side-by-Side Comparison! 

(Click to Enlarge to see the differences)

Charlton had their own press and printing plant in an old factory-like building in Derby, CT... I actually saw it from my car, where they printed, bound, and cut-to-size their own comic books.  

And, at least for MY copy - as far as that "cutting" goes - (which brings everything higher and closer to the top, to the point where some of it is even CUT OFF), ya gotta say... "Charlton Aimed HIGHER!", perhaps a bit TOO high... and characteristically missed the mark! 

Separated at Mirth: KNOT Now, Boys!

The various and sundry "Scouting Organizations" that tend to pop-up in comics may be good for young boys, but they can be murder on a guy's lawn! 

Just ask Oswald the (one-time "lucky") Rabbit and Donald Duck, as they find themselves... "Separated at Mirth!" 

DELL FOUR COLOR # 541 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: April 1954).

WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES # 260 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: May 1962) - By Carl Barks.

There's an ADDITIONAL INSTANCE for Donald...

HUEY DEWEY AND LOUIE JUNIOR WOODCHUCKS # 9  (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: April 1971) - By Kay Wright.

Things to note: 

Carl Barks CREATED the concept of the super-scouting JUNIOR WOODCHUCKS organization in the 1950s, but HIS 1962 cover gag depicts the boys as more generic scouts!  

Kay Wright, by the positioning of EVERY ELEMENT of his cover for HUEY DEWEY AND LOUIE JUNIOR WOODCHUCKS # 9, clearly based his cover on that of Barks for WDC&S # 260.  

Ironically, it was Kay Wright, and not Carl Barks, who properly depicts the boys as Junior Woodchucks...  Though, considering the TITLE of the series, how could he not?  

Kay Wright really wasn't THAT terrible an artist... when he was copying Carl Barks' layouts as above, that is!  ...Of course, I will never forgive him for stuff like THIS...

Though Huey, Dewey, and Louie have been most associated with scouting over the decades, it was Oswald's adopted sons (NOT NEPHEWS!), Floyd and Lloyd, who did the gag first! 

The adoption occurs... 

From WALTER LANTZ NEW FUNNIES # 135 (Cover Date: May, 1948).  Art by Lloyd White.  (Gotta wonder if one of the bunny-boys was named after Mr. White, as he first drew them!) 

But, as noted, Donald Duck and his nephews have long been associated with scouting, as evidenced by this cover from WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES # 11 (Cover Date: August 1941) and the animated shorts.  

And, what was Oswald doing in his more-carefree, pre-parenthood days?  

And, with that hearty raspberry from Oswald (...back in his "Lucky Rabbit" days) you have DELL FOUR COLOR # 541 (1964), WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES # 260 (1962), and HUEY DEWEY AND LOUIE JUNIOR WOODCHUCKS # 9 (1971) - Separated at Mirth! 


Oh, no... wait!  Here comes Charlie Chicken... yes, THAT "Charlie Chicken"...

...To remind us that HE, TOO, did the "Garden Hose, Knot Tying" cover gag in ANDY PANDA # 35 (Cover Date: August/October, 1956)!  

And, having done so in 1956, he did it before any of those "Ducky-Come-Lately" scouts... Junior Woodchucks, or otherwise!  

Also, Charlie was SO SLY that he was the only one NOT TO GET CAUGHT IN THE ACT!  

...SEE? 

There he goes, innocently tying a piece of string... proving to a suspicious Andy that (...wait for it) he "Knows Knotting!" 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: The Enchanted Mountain Becomes a "Slippery Slope" for Doc!

 ...Or, "What a Difference One Letter Makes"!  

For instance, take the 1947 Cheerios Giveaway Mini Comic "The Seven Dwarfs and the Enchanted Mountain"...

 

In it, Snow White's Prince Charming is missing, after a hunting trip on Emerald Mountain.  The Dwarfs seek information from a wise old owl, who gives them a "wise old warning" in return. 

Doc rallies the troops...

...And, after reading this panel, I can only breathe a sigh of relief, considering what might have been...

...If Doc had employed the letter "B", rather than the letter "D"!  (WHEW!) 

Indeed, "BELLS" would have made even more humorous sense than "dwells"... but not nearly enough to counter "the other word" that would have resulted from that "nearly-fatal faux-pas"!

If I were writing this, I would have Doc simply botch a different pair of words in this quote - and sidestep the whole thing entirely... "...bar me? -- er -- I mean ARE WE?" 

 ...And Sleepy would have said "(Yawn!) NO!", giving the gag "that little extra push" that I like to do! 

Nevertheless, Doc came "chew like a tramp" -- er -- "through like a champ" when it counted most!   

I say we all celebrate his close call with a great big, ice-cold "Bitcher of Lemonade"!  ...WHOOPS! 

YES, that's an actual restaurant sign I photographed in 2017!  

And, NO... Dopey didn't letter it!  

Please Explain This to Me! No 4: A Non-Red Letter Day!

Here is the cover of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161 (DC Comics, Cover Date: December, 1978.  

And here is the cover of MY COPY of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #161. 

Notice anything odd?  

...No?  Let's look a little closer...

A regular copy...

MY copy... 

"Please Explain This to Me", why selected letters are YELLOW on MY copy...

...And NOT on the "regular" copy! 

Clearly, I will never know, but I can always guess...

The   YELLOW LETTERS   were set as a trap by Sinestro to neutralize Green Lantern - taking full advantage of that Silver and Bronze Age "impurity" in GL's Power Ring that fails to work against anything yellow!  

Think fast, GL!  Here comes a payload of bright yellow death! 

A desperate plea for help in the form of a cryptically-color-coded message from a captive worker in the DC Comics Production Dept. (...Probably worked for Mort Weisinger!) 

Or perhaps the most incredible specifically-targeted SUN-FADE in history!   

I'm open to theories... 

...And, if they can't "make sense", then let 'em "make with the imagination"!  We always appreciate imagination 'round here!   Have at it... 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: "Heee-re He Comes to Save... eBay?"

So, I was just lookin' for some MIGHTY MOUSE comics on eBay, ya know... an' I get this e-mail from eBay, and was almost as surprised as this cat...

...But considerably more amused than he!

[Click to Enlarge]

Yes, it's the "Apple Mighty Mouse"!  

...Sent to me (as the e-mail says) "Because [I] searched mighty mouse"!  

I shudder to think what I'd get if I searched for Yakky Doodle's regular nemesis, FIBBER FOX!  

Um... THIS, maybe?  

 Sorry, the pun-potential was too irresistible!  

Let's just get back to Mighty Mouse and Apples, okay?  

Yeah, that's better!  ...Much better!  

Unless you're that poor apple tree that now has a broken back!  

I'll bet it's wishing that it was one of those squash and stretch animation bendable trees about now!  

At this point, I've come to the conclusion that, try as I might, there's really no good way to artfully get out of this post, so let's just close on a picture of my favorite brand of turkey cold cuts and call it a day, eh?  

Mmmm... turkey cold cuts... Ahhhh.