Popular Comics #131

(January 1947)

[There's No Such Thing as Bad Publicity... Then Again...] (Table of Contents: 1)

Smokey Stover / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Bill Holman (signed)

Pencils

Bill Holman (signed)

Inks

Bill Holman (signed)

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Bill Holman (signed)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hey, chief - did you see the big story in today's paper?

Genre

humor

Characters

Smokey Stover; Chief Cash U. Nutt

Synopsis

Smokey is enthusiastic over a newspaper story about his fire department. The Chief takes a different view.

Reprints

• From Smokey Stover Sunday newspaper strip (News Syndicate) 1944-xx-xx.
  
  The original date of this strip is likely to have been 1944-01-09, as the date in the "newspaper" Smokey is holding is "Sunday January 9 1944".

Keywords

fire department; newspaper; newspaper strip reprint; publicity

Indexer Notes

Black, white, and red on inside front cover.

Among Bill Holman's typically wild visual gags is a device that allows Smokey and the Chief to simultaneously smoke the same cigar. (panel 3)

[Felix the Cat and The Merry Midgets] (Table of Contents: 2)

Felix the Cat / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script

Otto Messmer (see notes)

Pencils

Otto Messmer (see notes)

Inks

Otto Messmer (see notes)

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Otto Messmer (see notes)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

I'll keep an eagle eye on you.

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Felix the Cat; The Merry Midgets; Dolly (anthropomorphic doll); Cap Woody (nasty toy commander of an army of wooden toy soldiers); Cap Woody's army; Simple Simon; Easter Bunny; ostrich;

Synopsis

In Toyland, Felix rescues Dolly from the clutches of Cap Woody with the help of the Merry Midgets.

Reprints

• From Felix the Cat daily (King Features Syndicate) 1939 - with additional new panels added

Keywords

art or lettering modification or omission; fantasy setting; kidnapping; newspaper strip reprint; Toyland

Indexer Notes

Though credited to Pat Sullivan, the work here is largely by Otto Messmer, but with some panels added by Dell staff artists - presumably to facilitate the formatting of this collection of 1939 Felix daily newspaper strip reprints by Otto Messmer to the pages of a comic book. These added panels are easy to identify as both the art and lettering is noticeably different from Messmer's work.

This is a portion of Otto Messmer's longer 1939 Felix newspaper continuity called "Felix the Cat and The Merry Midgets" - presented in a more complete form in Felix the Cat Winter Annual #2 (Toby Press, 1954 Series). https://www.comics.org/issue/274581/#3524595

Prior and subsequent segments of this story are presumed to be in adjoining issues of Popular Comics, #129 thru #137.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 3)

Smilin' Jack / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Zack Mosley (signed) (see notes)

Pencils

Zack Mosley (credited) (see notes)

Inks

Boody Rogers

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Boody Rogers

First Line of Dialogue or Text

They've brought Cindy to court -- is th' trial about to start?

Genre

adventure; aviation

Characters

Smilin' Jack; Cindy Cider; Zeke Rusty; Fuzzwuzz; Cherry Cider; Stretch Martin; Col. Price; Downwind Jaxon; minister; prosecutor; judge

Synopsis

Cindy's murder trial begins. Stretch and Cherry get married. Stretch is summoned to appear as a witness for the prosecution against Cindy (now his mother-in-law).

Reprints

• from Smilin' Jack (Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate) 1942-05-XX - 1942-05-31

Keywords

aviation; newspaper strip reprint; trial; wedding

Indexer Notes

The Sunday page of May 17, 1942 appears on page 3. The second half of the Sunday page of May 24, 1942 appears on page 6. The Sunday page of May 31, 1942 appears on page 8.

Zack Mosley's signature appears on page 4, panel 5, presumably the final panel of a strip from which his signature was not removed for multi-strip comic book formatting.

[No Man Could Axe for More] (Table of Contents: 4)

Smokey Stover / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Bill Holman

Pencils

Bill Holman

Inks

Bill Holman

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Bill Holman

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hot diggity! Today's my birthday...

Genre

humor

Characters

Smokey Stover; Chief Cash U. Nutt; Cookie Stover; Spooky (cat)

Synopsis

The Chief gives Smokey an axe for his birthday - a gift the birthday-boy soon sours upon.

Reprints

• From Smokey Stover Sunday (News Syndicate) 1944-xx-xx.

Keywords

abrupt change of mind or attitude; axe; birthday present; newspaper strip reprint

Indexer Notes

The first of five consecutive Smokey Stover strip reprints strung together to look like a five-page story (less 0.20 of a page carved out of the third strip for the annual Statement of Ownership) - and the only strip of the five to retain its feature logo.

The four subsequent entries are stripped of their logos to create the illusion of a five-page story, though there is no throughline of continuity among the strips.

[If Ya Can't Beat It, Trumpet!] (Table of Contents: 5)

Smokey Stover / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Bill Holman

Pencils

Bill Holman

Inks

Bill Holman

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Bill Holman

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Greetings, Mrs. Stover - I thought I'd horn in and see how Smokey's getting along with his trumpet practice!

Genre

humor

Characters

Smokey Stover; Chief Cash U. Nutt; Cookie Stover; Spooky (cat)

Synopsis

Cookie has a unique solution to the awful noise of Smokey's trumpet practice.

Reprints

• From Smokey Stover Sunday (News Syndicate) 1943-xx-xx.

Keywords

need-for-peace-and-quiet; newspaper strip reprint; title or logo modification; trumpet

Indexer Notes

No feature logo for this strip.

[Jingle Bells, Jangled Nerves!] (Table of Contents: 6)

Smokey Stover / comic story / 0.8 page (report information)

Script

Bill Holman

Pencils

Bill Holman

Inks

Bill Holman

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Bill Holman

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Goodness gracious - that child has been hollering and yelling all day - I can't stand much more of this!

Genre

humor

Characters

Smokey Stover; Cookie Stover; Earl Stover; Spooky (cat)

Synopsis

Smokey's belated Christmas present to his loudly crying son Earl, only serves to generate more noise than the yowling kid himself.

Reprints

• From Smokey Stover Sunday (News Syndicate).

Keywords

best of intentions; Christmas present; need-for-peace-and-quiet; newspaper strip reprint; title or logo modification

Indexer Notes

No feature logo or copyright date for this strip. Strip is interrupted at the bottom right by a vertical Statement of Ownership of about 20% of the total page space.

Statement of The Ownership, Management, Circulation Etc. (Table of Contents: 7)

statement of ownership / 0.2 page (report information)

Script

Helen Meyer (credited) (business manager)

Letters

typeset

Keywords

government reporting; regulations

Indexer Notes

Statement of Ownership for October 1, 1946. No circulation figures appear as part of this report. Published vertically, occupying about 20% of the lower right page space of the previous Smokey Stover strip reprint.

[Earl Spins Some Platters] (Table of Contents: 8)

Smokey Stover / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Bill Holman

Pencils

Bill Holman

Inks

Bill Holman

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Bill Holman

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Happy yule, lug - Did you have a nice Christmas?

Genre

humor

Characters

Smokey Stover; Chief Cash U. Nutt; Cookie Stover; Earl Stover; Spooky (cat)

Synopsis

Smokey receives a deluxe four-record album set as a Christmas present, only to find that son Earl has gotten to them first.

Reprints

• From Smokey Stover Sunday (News Syndicate).

Keywords

alternative uses; Christmas present; newspaper strip reprint; record albums; title or logo modification; wagon

Indexer Notes

No feature logo or copyright date for this strip. Middle left page of centerfold.

[The Contagious Cab] (Table of Contents: 9)

Smokey Stover / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script

Bill Holman

Pencils

Bill Holman

Inks

Bill Holman

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Bill Holman

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Gosh, Chief - you mean to say Smokey's been gone all day?

Genre

humor

Characters

Smokey Stover; Chief Cash U. Nutt; Thimble Simon; cab driver

Synopsis

Smokey is quarantined with the measles... in a taxicab with the meter running.

Reprints

• From Smokey Stover Sunday (News Syndicate).

Keywords

measles; newspaper strip reprint; quarantine; taxicab; title or logo modification; wrong-place-at-wrong-time

Indexer Notes

No feature logo or copyright date for this strip. Middle right page of centerfold.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 10)

Terry and the Pirates / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Milton Caniff (signed as Milton Caniff)

Pencils

Milton Caniff (signed as Milton Caniff)

Inks

Milton Caniff (signed as Milton Caniff)

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Frank Engli

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The truck drivers will sleep by their machines.

Genre

adventure

Characters

Terry Lee

Reprints

• from Terry and the Pirates Sundays (Chicago Tribune) xxxx-xx-xx - xxxx-xx-xx

Keywords

newspaper strip reprint

[An Inside Job] (Table of Contents: 11)

Gang Busters / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Office in a large Western bank.

Genre

crime

Characters

Sam Slater; Mr. Bennett; Kingpin Talhoun; Talhoun's gang; Mike (railroad employee); Pat (railroad employee); state trooper; Inspector Blake; Sneed (Inspector Blake's assistant); Sherman M-4 Tank soldiers

Synopsis

Bank employee Sam Slater provides Kingpin Talhoun with information that a $500,000 payroll is to be shipped by train. Talhoun's gang derail the train, make off with the payroll, and murder an intervening state trooper in the process. Inspector Blake and his assistant Sneed suspect Talhoun had an accomplice inside the bank and proceed to interview all of the bank's employees - settling on Sam Slater as their man. As the cops close in on Slater, Talhoun has him murdered in a drive-by shooting. In the subsequence police chase, Talhoun and his thugs meet a grizzly end.

Keywords

car chase; murder; payroll robbery; police procedural; Sherman tank; train wreck

Sassafras Tea (Table of Contents: 12)

text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Oskar Lebeck (credited as copyright holder)

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The backs of Frank Gilroy's hands were dirty, and his fingers were stained with dark blue juice.

Genre

drama

Characters

Frank Gilroy; Miss Carrie Mitchell; Miss Bessie Mitchell

Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Frank Gilroy is lost in the woods of the Adirondack region of New York State.

Keywords

Adirondack region; fear; forest setting; getting lost; New York State

Indexer Notes

Story is "Copyright 1946 by Oskar Lebeck".

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 13)

Gasoline Alley / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Frank King (signed as King)

Pencils

Frank King (signed as King)

Inks

Frank King (signed as King)

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

What's new, Skeezix?

Genre

drama; domestic

Characters

Skeezix; Sally Snipe; Wilmer; Mr. Chigger; Horace; Angela (Mr. Chigger's separated wife); Nina; Tops Topper; Mitzi

Synopsis

The question of whether or not Mr. Chigger wears a toupee is abruptly answered by Angela, Mr. Chigger's soon to be divorced wife. Skeezix's down-on-his-luck pal Tops Topper becomes a burden on Skeezix.

Reprints

• from Gasoline Alley Sundays (Chicago Tribune) 1941-xx-xx - 1941-xx-xx

Keywords

annoying visitor; newspaper strip reprint; toupee

[The Secret of Big Taboo] (Table of Contents: 14)

The Gumps / comic story / 0.67 page (report information)

Script

Gus Edson

Pencils

Gus Edson

Inks

Gus Edson

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Well, I might as well see what the crater looks like anyway

Genre

adventure; humor; domestic

Characters

Chester; Bull Moose

Synopsis

Chester and Bull Moose discover a hot-springs-fueled jungle in a volcanic crater.

Reprints

• from The Gumps Sundays (Chicago Tribune) 1941-xx-xx

Keywords

exploring; jungle; newspaper strip reprint; volcano

Indexer Notes

Black, white, and red on inside back cover.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 15) (Expand) /

Dell Comics; New Funnies / promo (ad from the publisher) / 0.33 page (report information)

A Christmas Gift That Comes 12 Times a Year (Table of Contents: 16) (Expand) /

Dell Comics; New Funnies / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)