Dinky and Donald Duck: "Separated at Mirth" and United by Other Factors!

One of the things I love most about indexing comic books for the GRAND COMIC DATABASE (GCD) is the optional assignation of "Unofficial Titles" to untitled stories and covers.  My unofficial title for the cover of  DINKY DUCK #8 (St. John Comics, Cover Date: February, 1954) is... (wait for it...)

"Schematic for a Good Ski-Medic"

There's a title even *I'm* impressed by :-)  I also LOVE this cover!  Perfectly capturing the characters of obnoxious egotist Rudy Rooster, and his overly-loyal and faithful pup Dinky Duck. 

A similar Carl Barks cover had HD&L "standing-by" with a med-kit as Donald was about to ski, but Dinky actually going down the mountain AFTER Rudy, shows his (oft-misplaced) concern AND much better carries the gag!  

Of course, it could (...and probably SHOULD) be said that, as good Junior Woodchucks, you'd expect the Duck boys to take the more sensible approach!    

WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES #149 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: February, 1953) - one year earlier! 

Whichever one you prefer, I think it's safe to say that it's "snow fun" being Donald or Rudy when they carelessly demonstrate "tropes on the slopes"! 

Separated at Mirth: Them's the BRAKES, Pal!

Today's Mirth Separation comes to a FULL-STOP with the cover of MUTT AND JEFF # 22 (DC Comics: Cover Date: June-July, 1946) and a Gandy Goose gag from LITTLE ROQUEFORT # 2 (St. John Comics: Cover Date: August, 1952)!  

CLICK to Enlarge

We've seen the MUTT AND JEFF cover before, as part of THIS POST, but now it BRAKES through again for its second Separation at Mirth! 

In fact, if you arrange them THIS WAY, it looks like a "related-gag head-on-collision"!  

Since this won't end well, perhaps we'd better cut off this post right here...

Separated at Mirth: Hickory Dickory Dock - A Mouse Ran Up TWO Clocks!

Yep, SAME mouse, but TWO DIFFERENT CLOCKS! 

As I wrote at Grand Comics Database for the "Little Roquefort Feature Object" entry:  

"Beginning in 1950, Little Roquefort was Terrytoons’ “other starring mouse character (of the non-mighty variety)", during the theatrical amination era. Paired with the requisite “cat-co-star”, Percy Puss, they were Terry’s answer to MGM's Tom and Jerry."

So, lessee... what do mice generally do?  Um, they eat cheese!  They flee from and/or torment cats!  And... and.. and... THEY RUN UP CLOCKS!  Yeah, that's it!  

While most mice usually run up ONE clock (...or maybe run up and down the same one over and over again), Little Roquefort runs up TWO DIFFERENT CLOCKS (and for two different publishers, yet) for today's Mirth Separation!  

Here's "An Olde Rhyme", from DINKY DUCK # 4 (St. John Comics, Cover Date: May, 1952), followed by "Nursery Rhymes", from MIGHTY MOUSE # 70 (Pines Comics, Cover Date: September, 1956).

Pines was the successor-publisher for the Terrytoons properties, following St. John - and I must say that, looking at this 1955-1956 transition, it feels not unlike the transition of the Hanna-Barbera properties from Gold Key to Charlton in 1970 - with Pines in the role of Charlton!  

...But that's another topic for another day... Here's Little Roquefort "Separating Himself at Mirth" first at St. John and then at Pines!  Click to Enlarge!  

In this case, the Pines version may actually be the better gag (even if the rhyme is totally and awkwardly abandoned)... but, ooohh, that LETTERING is so hard on the eyes! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: If Looks Could Kill...

...Okay, well, maybe not kill... but perhaps just enough to "let 'em know you're really, really... REALLY annoyed!"  

Such is the case for Mighty Mouse on the cover of TERRY-TOONS COMICS #63 (St. John Comics, Cover Date: December, 1947), where we find the "Mouse of Tomorrow" having an uncharacteristically difficult day - made only more so by the unwelcome intrusion of Heckle and Jeckle! 

I think it's fair to say that Mighty Mouse (and, by extension, his creator Paul Terry) owe a great deal to both the character and concept of Superman. ...Flying, super strength, cape, tights, trunks, "powers far beyond those of mortal men" (...or mice), etc. 

But, one power Superman has, and that Mighty Mouse apparently lacks (at least in the comics I've read and the cartoons I've seen - which is not nearly all of them), is heat vision! 

Okay, okay... so the cover says "laser-vision", but you know what I mean - so let's move on!  

Judging by the look in his eyes, if Mighty Mouse had heat vision (...or "laser-vision", if you prefer) like Superman, he'd give those birds "a light" they'd never forget.

But he WON'T... because he's MIGHTY MOUSE!  And Mighty Mouse only helps people (...and anthropomorphic variants thereof).  

Say, there's almost a "Separation At Mirth" going on up there!  

Oh, about that "helping thing"... Weelll... maybe not CATS!  

...And, at least in this case... maybe not MAGPIES either! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Custom Made Diving Suits

Something that has probably never crossed your minds - and, perhaps, anyone's minds ever - is the amount of custom-design that must go into creating deep-sea diving outfits for distinctively-shaped  comic or cartoon characters. 

Consider this great page from TERRY-TOONS COMICS #65 (St. John Comics, Cover Date: February, 1948), so well drawn by Terrytoons animator Art Bartsch.

How much are you willing to bet that those diving pirates are CATS?  

The tell-tale EARS at the top of their helmets give the game away! 

MEEEEOOW!

And you probably DON'T NEED any dialogue, to figure out who's in THIS diving rig... 

 HINT: It's by Carl Barks - and from WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES #97 (1948)! 

Finally... Just imagine the fitting-session that went on for this one!

Th' "fitting" is enough ta gives ya "fits"! 

From the POPEYE cartoon "Dizzy Divers" (1935)! 

Still, I can't help but wonder what would have to be created for THIS GUY...

Expansion both forward AND sideways, I'd imagine!  

He'd be better off just remaining on land! 

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: Quash and Stretch!

On the cover of MIGHTY MOUSE COMICS #12 (St. John, Cover Date: August, 1949), Mighty Mouse QUASHES an assassination attempt by merely STRETCHING from a yawn!  

Cover art by Terrytoons animator Art Bartsch

"What a Mouse!", as the cartoons used to say!  He's so great that, some days, he doesn't even need to try!   

Or, perhaps, in Mighty Mouse's world, evil cats are SO plentiful that you don't even need to throw the proverbial stick to hit one... just stretch your arm - but be sure to have a clenched fist, just in case! 

Oh, yes... the animation term "Squash and Stretch", which forms the basis for our title's pun, is discussed in THIS POST!  

Finally, if anyone wishes to know more about MIGHTY MOUSE COMICS #12 (... and, honestly, WHO WOULDN'T?), you can read more at my index for this issue at GCD! 

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In case you're wondering why there are two images from LOST IN SPACE below, please read Achille Talon's comment and my response.  

Separated at Mirth: Mayday! Mayday!

Could we have found a more appropriate "Mirth Separation" than this, for the First of May?  I think not!  

Below is the cover of WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES #92 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: May, 1948)...

...And, from HECKLE AND JECKLE #23 (St. John Comics, Cover Date: June, 1955), we find this Terry Bears one-page gag titled "Playful Papa", which just adds another indignity to the many frustrations of the Terry Bear boys' put-upon patriarch.  ...Seen as a full-page below - and then "segmented into a larger whole" for your viewing pleasure.  

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And, of course, you can CLICK TO ENLARGE any image! 

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So, what's our May Day Takeaway, here?  I'd say, be you an "Unca" or a "Papa", no one escapes Maypole Duty!  

There you have Donald Duck and Papa Terry Bear Separated At Maypole Mirth!

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. 

Adventures in "Just Boxing": A Tale of Two Boxes!

One fine spring day, I woke to find two boxes had been delivered to my front door (...no, not really, but go with the bit, okay?), and decided to keep one and give the other to my cat!  

...Um, I have a CAT?  Anyway...   

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Eenie, meenie, miney, mat... One box for me... one for my cat!

I picked-out mine... and left the other... to be opened by... my feline brother!  

Tension followed... o'er what I chose... when my cat's box bopped him... on the nose!

My fears turned to... unbridled glee... when from MY box... popped A-ver-i!   

Should you have... a similar choice... please listen to... this rhyming voice! 

And try to pick... the one that "pops"... and steer clear of... the one that "bops"!  

Separated at Mirth: Duck! Duck! Duck! Goose!

I'll assume most readers of this humble Blog to be familiar with Carl Barks' ultimate classic Donald Duck story "Lost in the Andes" (1949).  If not, read more about it HERE! 

In it, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, per the strange laws of a lost land, are forced to find a way to blow SQUARE BUBBLE GUM BUBBLES in a public ceremony, or face a lifetime of imprisonment!  

They do find a way to perform this seemingly impossible feat... with a little judicious duplicity.  

But, a mere FOUR YEARS LATER, in MIGHTY MOUSE # 47 (St. John, Cover Date: December 1953),...

...We find Gandy Goose doing the very same thing effortlessly!

Just look at this!  You GO, Gandy!

So, did the creators of the Gandy Goose story have the climax of Unca Carl's classic in mind, when they... um, "goosed" this story into print?  Or was it just another of those coincidences? 

You decide as we leave Huey DUCK, Dewey DUCK, Louie DUCK... and Gandy GOOSE "Separated at Mirth"!