Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Our Changing Language: Unfunny Then, Funny Now!

The English language is (as modern languages tend to be) a living and evolving tongue!  We see examples of it every day.  Older comics often provide inadvertent examples of this, as seen on the cover of SPOOKY SPOOKTOWN #65 (Harvey Comics, Cover Date: October, 1976)! 

In 1976, and up until more recent years of "real-time", this would have been just another unfunny gag cover, that relies on the presence of a needless dialogue balloon to pull off what little of a gag there might be. Such was all too typical of Harvey in its later years!   

That's not to say that the gag, as such, could not be somewhat funnier with no dialogue and different staging!  Leaving it as-is, but silent, would be a slight - but immediate - improvement.  

Or restage it in such a way that still has the guy looking aghast into his fridge at the chicken bones - but angle it from his back... and, in the foreground, have Spooky walking away from the fridge... still carrying the largely-bitten drumstick!  You could even have Spooky drawn in those "outlining-dotted-lines" that were used as visual shorthand for him being invisible. Have a look of satisfaction on his face, and maybe even a "burp!" for added effect!   

To be fair, I'll even present an example of when a similar gag worked!  From SPOOKY #45 (Harvey Comics, Cover Date: (July, 1960)... 

... With a SILENT COVER GAG that also worked, I might add! 

"GHOST TOASTIES" works because (A) it rhymes, and (B) Post Toasties was an actual breakfast cereal of the time! 

But, back in the American Bicentennial Year, this superfluous spook-said sentence was simply not funny.    

However, let's jump ahead to the 21st Century to find that "GHOSTED" carries an additional - and altogether different - meaning:

"In slang, "ghosted" means someone has suddenly and abruptly ended all communication with you without explanation, typically in the context of a relationship or dating. They stop responding to texts, calls, or other forms of communication, effectively disappearing from your life."

Indeed, Spooky has, quite literally, made the roast chicken "disappear" from the unfortunate midnight-snacker's life!  

It would seem that all has gone well for our "Tuff Little Ghost"... at least until he "washes down his ill-gotten foodstuff" with a few too many strawberry sodas! 

And you can bet that Spooky wishes this bad karma would GHOST HIM!  

TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Twelve: The Long Arm (and Legs) of the Law!

Many years before JUDGE DREDD was THE LAW...

...It was personified by DICK TRACY!

And, while Judge Dredd could - and would - do many amazing things to  (intentional oxymoron alert) "violently keep the peace"...

...Could even HE equal this astounding feat demonstrated by Dick Tracy?! 

...An astounding FEAT with his LEGS!  (...feat, legs... that's a JOKE, son!) 

Yes, if one can believe his or her comics-reading eyes, the cover of DICK TRACY #135 (Harvey Comics, Cover Date: August 1959) would seem to show Tracy's "wide stance" straddling a CITY BLOCK!   

In contrast, here is the cover of DICK TRACY # 4 (Mad Cave Studios, Cover Date: August 2024), showing a more proper perspective between Tracy and the city streets he strives to keep safe!  

How 'bout that... Cover Dates of AUGUST 2024 (above) and AUGUST 1959 (below)!  I guess times DO change!  

Were the STREETS MUCH NARROWER in 1959, or were POLICE DETECTIVES MUCH TALLER?  I wouldn't hazard a guess!  

But, in defense of Dick Tracy's creator, writer, and artist the great Chester Gould (...as if he needs me to defend any aspect of his work), this cover that appears to have gotten its perspective so wrong (...hey, maybe I should have saved this for a future installment of "I'M NOT AN ARTIST BUT...") was NOT drawn by Gould, nor was it constructed from any Gould interior reprint panels!

Yes, this issue, and many like it, was filled with Chester Gould Dick Tracy newspaper strip reprints, in this case from April thru July 1939!  And there is no such actual corresponding scene in Gould's work of 20 years prior.  Let's take a look at what Chester Gould DID give us...

NOPE! No street-straddling going on here!  

But, we needn't be so hard on the uncredited cover artist for DICK TRACY # 135, because even the best manage to blow-their-perspective once in a while.  And here is one each from two of the greatest comic book artists ever to set pencil to paper, or illustration board, or whatever they use.  (...Maybe Deb can help me out here?)  

FANTASTIC FOUR #26 (Marvel Comics, Cover Date: May, 1964): 

 I know Marvel heroes are supposed to be "Larger Than Life"... but, Sheesh! 

Many of them are TALLER THAN THE DIFFERENT FLOORS of this skyscraper under construction! We'll give Giant-Man a break on this, but look at SUE STORM at cover's middle! She could NOT FIT into the space of that next-to-top-floor - even before the available space is further shortened by any "below-floor" or "above ceiling" wirings or other necessities!  

She'd have to BEND OVER just to walk down that building's halls!  Same pretty much goes for the others!  ...Poor perspective on the part of... the great JACK KIRBY! 

WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES #174 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: March, 1955) ...And, given the differences in cover dates vs. release dates,  the issue most likely on sale at the time of my birth!  

Donald Duck has always had a "big head", but enlarging-and-simultaneously-scrunching it is painfully uncharacteristic of the great CARL BARKS!  Even as the nephews are done with his "usual" superior level of skill! 

I've always had some doubts about this cover being completely penciled and inked by Barks!  Donald's head is just so WRONG!  But both INDUCKS and GCD say it's Barks, so I'll have to ACCEPT IT... but I don't have to LIKE IT... and I DON'T... Nyaaah! 

But, if two of the faces on the theoretical "Mt. Rushmore" of comic artists (...or, would that be "Mt. BRUSHmore"?) can have these covers on their resume, who am I to quibble over the cover of DICK TRACY # 135?  

I'll just award it the honor of being Cover Number Twelve... even it if is "quite a stretch!" 

 That's a JOKE TOO, Son!  

TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Eight: A Gag So Funny, It Overcomes Poor Art!

By their very nature, comic books have sported lots of FUNNY COVERS! 

For instance, the classic comedy stylings of MUTT AND JEFF and "imitative brother act" FAT AND SLAT!   ...Copied right down to having a CAT and a DOG, respectively! 

Archie even published a comic literally titled LAUGH...

...Which, alas, did not always live up to its name!  

But many of them did, including this unlikely instance of Donald Duck doing the same gag as Mutt and Jeff! 

Even such favorite characters as JUDGE DREDD and LOBO  got into the act!  

...And Lobo didn't even HAVE TO APPEAR ON THE COVER to pull off a good gag!  

But, here's today's question?  (Um... did we have one yesterday, or the day before, or the day before that?  ...Help me out here... I'm DAFFY from "eight posts in eight days"!) 

...NO, NOT YOU!!!

...Where were we?  You know I'm doing all of these ON THE FLY (...and is it ever a STRAIN on that insect's back!), without my usual meticulous pre-planning - so, small wonder I'm so DAFFY!   

 Are we doin' THAT BIT again?! Scwam, you cwazy Duck! 

Okay (finally), our QUESTION Of The DAY:  "Have any comic book covers ever made you LAUGH OUT LOUD?"

If so, feel free to tell us in our Comments Section!  

I can easily think of one offhand that DID make me laugh out loud when I first saw it... and STILL DOES on the rare occasions that I pull it out...

DONALD DUCK #167 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: November, 1975)!  A slapstick gag I find SO FUNNY that it even OVERCOMES BEING DRAWN BY KAY WRIGHT!!!

...NOW, THAT *MUST* BE A FUNNY GAG!  

 Don't ask me how the guy responsible for THIS...

...And ESPECIALLY THIS...

...Could have brought out the amount of mirth he did in that one cover illustration.... but, somehow, it happened!  GCD says that BILL WRIGHT (...who did amazing stuff like THIS)...

...INKED THE COVER, but the figurework (note Donald's squared-off beak) is KAY'S, not BILL'S!  

Larry Mayer was sometimes able to "save" Kay Wright's art into something remotely resembling respectability, but there's no sign or evidence that he was involved.  

There's also no known evidence that he was working off another artist's rough layouts, as he did with some of the JUNIOR WOODCHUCKS stories that were written (and sketched) by CARL BARKS in the early 1970s.  

Despite all this, THE GAG REMAINS FUNNY! Which owes much more credit TO THE GAG ITSELF, than to the pencil artist!  

But, WHY is this gag so funny!  I have an answer to that question but, with humor being as subjective as it can be, you may see it differently... OKAY, HERE GOES...

It is the relative POSITIONS OF POWER between the two characters that makes it work!  

The fact that Uncle Scrooge can exact CONSEQUENCES from the accidental indignity he suffers at the (literal) "hand" of Donald - accounting for Don's "almost afraid to look" expression - is what makes it funnier than if it occurred between two characters of EQUAL STATURE, or if the "power character" is the one inflicting the pain!  

As an example of the latter, would it be as funny if BUGS BUNNY had done this to Elmer Fudd?  Not really *as* funny, because you'd expect that from their dynamic.  

...And it really wouldn't be funny at all, if Elmer were to do it do Bugs!  

Just as Stan Laurel would be able to do it to Oliver Hardy, but not vice-versa!  

 An ad for a comic that never happened! 

This is the type of gag that would work well for George Jetson and Mr. Spacely... (A Charlton panel illustration, of course! - Note that they (poorly) copied Gold Key's "The End" logo! 

...But, oddly enough, not so much for Fred Flintstone and Mr. Slate - because their "relationship", such as it is, functions at a "less familiar" level and at a much greater distance!

That said, it would also work for the rarely-acknowledged-but true-nevertheless prototypes for George Jetson and Mr. Spacely - Dagwood Bumstead and his boss Mr. Dithers!  

They certainly have a SCROOGE/DONALD or JETSON/SPACELY type of relationship!  They may have even invented it!  

So, while I wonder what it might have been like if it had been drawn by Carl Barks, Don Rosa, or William Van Horn, let's hear it for Cover Number Eight (and the, Puff! Pant! halfway point of our 16th Anniversary marathon) DONALD DUCK # 167...

...One of those rare covers that makes me laugh out loud! And, despite its artistic shortcomings, manages to do its job well!  

.....................................................

PS before I go: What I said about doing these 16th Anniversary posts "on the fly" is true (...okay, maybe not that part about the "insect's back"). 

Each morning I have NO IDEA of what I'm going to do (...that's kinda like every morning, whether I Blog or not! COFFEE, please!).  Don't know which cover I'm going to select and don't know what I'm going to write about the cover that I don't know I'm going to select. 

Uncharacteristic of me, I truly WING IT, often fighting back sleepiness as I end up doing these late at night.  

It makes for a more rambling - but organic - type of post!  Don't know if I like that approach as a general rule, but I think its sorta fun for this special occasion!  What do you all think? 

Separated at Mirth: What's at STEAK Here?

Keep your friends close, and your MEALS closer would appear to be the message behind this SEPARATION AT MIRTH between the cover of THE BEAGLE BOYS #28 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: March, 1976)...

...And this gag, found in MUTT AND JEFF NEW JOKES #3 (Harvey Comics, Cover Date: October, 1964)...

...Reformatted from a MUTT AND JEFF daily newspaper strip.  

The Beagle Boys cover shows that "There's No Honor Among Thieves"... even if they're brothers, and especially at dinnertime! 

The Mutt and Jeff gag, with its opportunistic tramp, is exemplary of the "Depression-era styled humor" that pervaded the strip in its heyday!  

And isn't it great that they can BOTH PULL OFF THE SAME GAG with such skillful humorous dexterity! 

NICE SUBTLE DETAIL: Notice the overflowing mess surrounding Beagle 176-167's coffee cup!  

Not only is he a steak-snatcher, but perhaps he's also "copped some coffee" from his jailbird bro!  

In addition to watching his hat, Beagle 176-176 ought to "mind his PEAS and Qs" before they migrate to the adjoining plate as well!

The cover of THE BEAGLE BOYS #28 was drawn by Pete Alvarado. 

The MUTT AND JEFF daily newspaper strip was written and drawn by Al Smith. 

Both made possible this "Separation at Mirth" between The Beagle Boys and Mutt and Jeff... and, hey, Mutt got off easy this time - he wasn't even in the strip!  

He's better off at the baseball game... at least until a cop pinches him for not buying a ticket!