Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Judy, Judy... JUDY?!

There are a bunch of famous "Judys" scattered across our pop culture zeitgeist (Gosh, I've always wanted to use "zeitgeist" in a sentence - and now I have!  Yay for me!).

Judy Jetson...

Judy Robinson from Lost in Space...

Judith Grimes from The Walking Dead...

Judy Garland...

Judy ("Sock-It-To-Me") Carne from Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In...

Judge Judy...

And, of course, "Judy, Judy, Judy" herself, Rita Hayworth - as (not exactly) spoken by Cary Grant!  

I'm certain you can name more.  But, to paraphrase a popular Christmas song... "But, do you ree-calll... the most INFAMOUS Judy of allll"?  

Yes, from SNUFFY SMITH #2 (Charlton Comics, Cover Date: May, 1970)...

...It's the inflatable "Judy" doll! "Made of soft, smooth, pliable vinyl.  Judy looks and feels amazingly lifelike.  INFLATABLE - Just add air and instantly you have a Life Size Beauty. 

Judy comes with a money-back guarantee... "GUARANTEE: This is the ULTRA deluxe model, there is no other inflatable doll as LIFE-LIKE as Judy.  You must be delighted or your money refunded." [..."Delighted", heh!]  As the little white rectangle above says: "Just Add Air Life Like in Every Detail" ["Every", heh, again!]   

Judy speaks to us, via the ad copy:  "I'm Judy, the Life-Size inflatable London doll made with startling detail. ["Startling", heh x 3!] I'm formed from [WORD OBSCURED BY ILLUSTRATION] smooth vinyl, with a human-like softness and feel that will amaze you and your friends." ["Amaze", heh x 4!]

"INFLATABLE - Just add air and instantly I become a 5'4'' beauty who wears size 8 clothes. You can dress me up for any occasion. ["Occasion", heh x 5!]  Take me riding [NO! Even *I* won't go there! no "heh" this time!], or to a party, boating or swimming (I FLOAT).  [I would HOPE SO!  If not, I'd want my money back!]  Around the house, I'll be the ideal burglar deterrent; prowlers will see that someone is home - me." 

Judy now gets to the heart of the matter:  "Just let your imagination go and you will see that I can be the most exciting thing ever invented ["Exciting", heh x 6!] for party gags Your [sic] bound to find hundreds of exciting and unusual uses for me."  [NOPE! NOPE! Not touchin' THAT either - in ANY sense you can come up with!] 

Judy starts to walk-back her more outrageous claims: "Give your daughter a Judy Doll and she'll be the talk of the neighborhood [NO DOUBT!] with the largest doll in town." 

Aw, but Judy just can't let it go completely: "I'm the most unusual gift that you can give to yourself (or to a friend if you can bear to part with me)."

Judy tosses it back to the ad-copy writer:  "COMPLETE PACKAGE... For the ultimate enjoyment of your London Doll order Judy complete with pajamas, bikini and wig in blonde or brunette." [At THIS POINT, I'm simply going to censor myself and move on!]

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I'm at something of a loss as to what to say about this, so maybe the best thing to do is throw it over to the book's lead character - Snuffy Smith himself!  

If Snuffy were to read this copy of his comic (assuming Snuffy can read ANYTHING AT ALL), he'd probably say it was "bodacious"!  Then, he'd probably forget it and take a nap under some tree.  

As for me, even at the time, I had enough of an inkling of what Judy was trying to tell us through her "inflated" double-talk to wonder why such an ad would appear in a comic like this...

...Oh, no... wait... I've got it... It's CHARLTON!  

"Nuff said!" ...Or, in this case "Snuff said!" 

GOLD KEY IS BACK!!

From our great friend Austin Kelly (by way of the also-great GeoX) comes THIS AMAZING NEWS!

Obviously, I have no idea how successful (or not) this launch will be but, as an original "Gold Key Kid", I wish them all the good fortune in the world - nay, universe - and I will be there to support their product!  

If their intent is to recreate as much of the "Classic Gold Key" as possible, consider the possibilities... like maybe the next home of regular Disney comics?  

I tend to doubt they'd be able to get the STAR TREK license, as it would likely be too expensive at this point (with Paramount going full-bore on making it a multi-series streaming franchise), but I'd certainly be on board as a consumer for a new BORIS KARLOFF title, or TWILIGHT ZONE!  

Note the (non) "gold key" on that TWILIGHT ZONE COVER!  And, in the comics they inspired, Karloff and Serling can live forever! 

Warner Bros. and Hanna-Barbera are sewed up by DC who, with the exception of the wonderful BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES...

...frankly isn't doing all that much of note with some of the greatest properties of all time... ya know, like THESE! 

...And didn't Gold Key do them WELL, folks?! 

But there are also other former Gold Key licensed properties not presently beholden to larger publishers such as TOM AND JERRY and WOODY WOODPECKER...

...Just waiting to be plucked from their undeserved comic-book obscurity!  

Wherever it goes, it'll be interesting... and, if their efforts live up to the great GOLD KEY name, they will have my support every step of the way!  

...Just don't revive the "Gold Key Comics Club"... PLEASE!  

Separated at Mirth: The Old Rockin' Chair's Got... Ski!

It's difficult to imagine two relationships in comics as different as Mickey Mouse and Goofy and Fauntleroy Fox and Crawford Crow, but they still managed to pull off the same cover gag, becoming "Separated at Mirth", in MICKEY MOUSE # 23 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: December, 1952 - January, 1953) and REAL SCREEN COMICS # 107 (DC Comics, Cover Date: February, 1957)!

Things to Note:

Goofy is merely being his simple and eccentric self, while Crawford takes great delight in besting Fauntleroy.  

Mickey and Goofy are skiing right to left, while Fauntleroy and Crawford are skiing left to right.  If you were to place these comics next to one another, with REAL SCREEN COMICS # 107 on the LEFT and MICKEY MOUSE # 23 on the RIGHT - and set their characters into motion - Mickey would run over Fauntleroy, and Crawford (on his downward arc) would slam into Goofy! 

Fauntleroy could just as easily have been SKIING DOWNHILL, as was Mickey, only to have Crawford pass him in the rocking chair.  There was seemingly no need for the SKI JUMP aspect of the gag, except maybe to give Fauntleroy an ADDITIONAL PRATFALL to go with his defeat.  

Crawford may be smiling now but, if he lands "forward-rocking-rungs-first", he's looking at a far worse pratfall than Fauntleroy!  Whoever laughs LAST, you know...  

The cover of MICKEY MOUSE # 23 was reprinted as the cover of MICKEY MOUSE # 140 (Gold Key Comics,Cover Date: February, 1973).

The covers of MICKEY MOUSE # 23 and REAL SCREEN COMICS # 107 were drawn by Dick Moores and Jim F. Davis, respectively.  

Unlike Crawford, if Goofy just CONTINUES TO LEAN BACKWARD, he will be okay.  ...Unless, being Goofy, he leans TOO FAR BACKWARD!  

There you have MICKEY MOUSE # 23 and REAL SCREEN  COMICS AND STORIES # 107 - Separated at Mirth!