TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Eleven: PHANTOM BLOT #8!

There were SEVEN issues of Gold Key's PHANTOM BLOT comic series.  

But, you're probably asking yourself, why do I see EIGHT comics in this photo of Joe's PHANTOM BLOT series collection?  

True, there were only SEVEN issues of the original run (1964-1966).  Although PHANTOM BLOT #7 (Gold Key Comics: Cover Date: November, 1966)...

...Was indeed the final issue though, back in those "information-less days", I would not *definitively* know that for YEARS - finally confirming the sad news upon purchasing my first OVERSTREET COMIC BOOK PRICE GUIDE in the early 1980s!  

So, completely unaware of the (unknowable) facts, I would search fruitlessly for PHANTOM BLOT #8 and any issues beyond for the later part of 1966, all of 1967 - and even into early 1968, before finally giving up on what was one of my most favorite comic book titles!

But, oh yes... that issue in the lower right corner of the photo... 

...If you spent 1966-1968 on the "Blotty-Grail Trail" of PHANTOM BLOT #8, and never found it, then why is there an EIGHTH issue in the photo?  

Because the issue that would SERVE AS PHANTOM BLOT #8 would be released in 2018 (!) as WALT DISNEY SHOWCASE #6 (IDW, Cover Date: June, 2018)... and (oddly, but appropriately) it would be the LAST ISSUE of that series, just as PHANTOM BLOT #7 was to its own run.  

And, in one of those AMAZING THINGS that happen every so often, your humble Blogger had a major hand in the creative effort of the comic that would more-or-less "BECOME" the one I'd been seeking for the PREVIOUS FIFTY-TWO YEARS!   

You can read more about that, and a very special personal contribution to that issue, HERE!  

In fact, my copy of IDW's WALT DISNEY SHOWCASE #6 even sported the Gold Key PHANTOM BLOT logo below it's own series logo!  

The story itself, fit in so perfectly with the stories that (mostly) Bob Ogle created for the original PHANTOM BLOT title that it was a natural for it to become the de-facto PHANTOM BLOT #8!  

...And in MY collection, that's exactly what it's labeled as!  

...With just a small, but well-placed, surface modification to the comic-bag involving a Sharpie and an Avery Stick-On Label!  

Therefore, and in honor of a fifty-two year quest finally fulfilled, COVER NUMBER ELEVEN of our Sweet Sixteen is the comic that "never was" but, to me, "will always be" PHANTOM BLOT #8!  

 A shining example of what can happen... "When You Wish Upon a Blot!" 

Public Domain Mickey with Deb!

It's been too long since we showcased any artwork from our great friend Debbie Anne Perry and, with (one very specific version of) Mickey Mouse in the public domain, Deb has delivered her unique commentary on the subject - along with her wonderful characters FLUFFY AND MERVIN! 

GOTTA LOVE THAT!  

"Whistle?" "Play 'Turkey in the Straw' on farm animals?" ...YAWN!  

Wake me when he becomes a DETECTIVE...

...Or a SPACE EXPLORER...

...Or a SUPER SECRET AGENT...

...Or a PILOT...

...Or a TIME TRAVELER...

...Or DRIVES A GHOST CAR...

...Or becomes an UNDERWATER EXPLORER... 

...Or even a (sorta sloppy) LUMBERJACK!

But, especially when he meets THIS GUY!   

...Um, "SteamBLOT Willie", anyone?  

Until then, Fluffy and Mervin can probably put him to good use...

...Um, g-good use?  

...Then again, maybe not!  

Perhaps we should wait around until PETE joins Mickey in the public domain...

After all, if "Steamboat Willie" is in the public domain... wouldn't that also apply to PETE (...and, of course, Minnie) - those specific versions, that is!  ...And Pete, whatever version, would certainly liven things up!  

 

Right, as usual, Mickey! "There IS only one flaw!" It'll be quite a while until THESE VERSIONS fall into the public domain!  ...Pete never figured on that, th' big lummox!  

But, hey... If I just tap my foot through another decade or so, will THE PHANTOM BLOT (...OR "The Blot", as he was originally called) be there as well?  

...THIS VERSION anyway?

Maybe then, I can REALLY do "SteamBLOT Willie"!

Oh, there's just so much to "unpack" from Steamboat Willie's Steamer Trunk!  ...Sorry, couldn't resist.  

Let's do so in the Comments Section... and have a great time, as we did so often in those good old days... before they, too, eventually become public domain!  

For instance, can PD Mickey even be presented IN COLOR... or with a COLOR BACKGROUND like this?  

Even if not, Deb's fully in compliance, as we all knew she would be...

REALLY GREAT JOB, DEB! 

The Future is (almost) Now!

Coming soon is another wonderful book from Fantagraphics (...they sure have some track record, don't they?) MICKEY AND DONALD: FANTASTIC FUTURES collecting the stories that fall under the group title "Once Upon a Mouse in the Future"! 

Another superb effort done for the Disney 100th Anniversary and available to everyone on or about February 06, 2024!  

This is a very interesting book, and not just because I did four stories for it, but because it's a whole bunch of different takes on Mickey and the Gang - different types of story, and different types of art - each of which takes a classic Disney animated short and reimagines it "100 Years From Now"!  

But, there's more to it than just Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and sometimes Pluto cavorting around as they often did in those classic shorts... While the cover doesn't show it, you'll find Dr. Einmug, Chief O'Hara, and the Phantom Blot in these pages! 

...The classic shorts were never like this!  

I'd just gotten my contributor's copy as I write this post, so I really haven't dug into it beyond a cursory reviewing of my four stories - but I must say that the best of those four is "Mr. Mouse Takes a Space Trip", which magnificently turns "Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip" on it's great big round ears!  

...And there's even a hilarious "great big round ears" gag in the story! I cracked-up even while translating it from it's original Italian!  

I'll say no more beyond it having art perfectly suited to its setting and subject matter, but enough!  I want you all to enjoy it - and the whole darned book - to the fullest!  

And, you WILL enjoy it, too, from the editing expertise of The Incomparable David Gerstein, to the the dialogue stylings you love by Thad Komorowski, Jonathan Gray, and yours truly, this Future's looking Fantastic indeed! 

Between "Fantastic Futures" and THIS, 2024 is off to a great start, comics-wise!  

(The Return of the Phantom) Blot, Out!

 ...Or "Blot, Out! II - The Sequel"!  

In THIS POST we looked at "DISNEY MASTERS Vol. 15 MICKEY MOUSE: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF THE PHANTOM BLOT" from Fantagraphics Books.  Now, let's look at it again - but through the lens of the GRAND COMICS DATABASE, and with yours truly as your host and indexer - HERE!  

Try and top THAT for detail, I.N.D.U.C.K.S!  ...Aw, we're just kidding... We love I.N.D.U.C.K.S!  It's the most valuable source for information on the world-wide totality of Disney comic books!

But GCD is no slouch either... and it's got me and a bunch of other dedicated folks bringing you the best coverage of comic books in general.  Both should be prime components of any comic book fan's arsenal! 

I don't know if I'm "The World's Number One Phan" of the "Phan-Tom Blot", but if I'm not somewhere in the top ten, I've really been squandering my life since 1964!  

As part of my overall dedication to "Blot Boosting", I also wrote the "Feature Object" for The Phantom Blot at GCD .  You can see that HERE!  

And, if you dare, you can even check out my own GCD "Creator Object" HERE! 

...Yeah, that last one is a little much to ask, but indulge me, okay? 

However, the REAL focus of this post is The Phantom Blot, and the wonderful, new Fantagraphics book dedicated to him - and one of his most classic artists, Paul Murry.  

For anyone who's read the book by now - or would like to - now's the time, and here's the place, to leave your comments and have a good old time "talking Blot"!

  

See ya in the Comments Section!  

Blot, Out!

 Let this wonderful image speak (or "blot") for itself!  

The entire seven-issue Gold Key series (1964-1966) by classic Mickey Mouse artist and Disney Master Paul Murry, with writers Del Connell, the tragically underrated Bob Ogle, and Vic Lockman!  Even if the published credits therein are not quite as complete, as they could be!  ...And even two one-page gags by Tony Strobl!  

Speaking of those mostly-Murry one-page gags that inhabited the inside front and back covers of each issue...

They now appear IN COLOR for the first time in the USA!  ...And I even got to create titles for some of them, including this one!  (Titles, of course, appear only in the Table of Contents, and are not appended onto the original gags themselves - as it should be!) 

As for what this gag looks like in color, and what I might have titled it, you'll have to buy the book and see for yourself... Whaddya think this is, kid, a LI-BERRY, or sumpthin'!   

The original Gold Key cover for PHANTOM BLOT # 7, selected for this volume's cover!

Another reason to... um, "do things BUY the book" is the included TEXT ARTICLE by one of THE PHANTOM BLOT TITLE'S biggest fans, during it's original run - and today... yours truly!   

Editors David Gerstein and Mike Catron allowed me the privilege of recounting the (all-too-short, but very interesting) history of the single comic book title I most looked forward to during the glorious Silver Age of comics!  

Here are ALL SEVEN Gold Key issues of THE PHANTOM BLOT - with my "unofficially added PHANTOM BLOT # 8", which I also had the privilege of "translating and dialoguing" for IDW, at bottom right!  ...No, that last one's not in there, but a GAG I came up with in 1966, just after reading PHANTOM BLOT # 7, did make it's way into the story!  ...Isn't it wonderful how all this stuff is somehow connected?   

From THIS...

To THIS...

To THIS...

To THIS...

To THIS...

And finally... To THIS! 

Don't let this happen to you...

...Get your copy before they're all... "BLOTTED-OUT"! 

You don't want the DOOR TO CLOSE on this opportunity, do you? 

Of course not!