Tom and Jerry #238

(November 1967)

Do You Need Extra Money? (Table of Contents: 1) (Expand) /

Cheerful Card / Cheerful House Cards and Stationery / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Cat and the Cornstalk (Table of Contents: 2)

Tom and Jerry / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

Vic Lockman

Pencils

Phil De Lara

Inks

Phil De Lara

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Rome Siemon

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Scat, mice! That's Big Tom's favorite reading chair!

Feature Logo

Tom and Jerry Western Interior Logo 1

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Tom; Jerry; Tuffy; TV pitchman; zoo-keeper; Igore (gorilla)

Synopsis

Jerry and Tuffy douse a cornstalk with Magic Grow plant food. When the cornstalk grows high enough to disappear into the leaves of an adjoining tree, the mice decide to pull a "Jack and the Beanstalk" hoax on Tom.

Reprints

• in Top Comics Tom & Jerry (Western, 1967 series) #3
• in Tom & Jerry (Semic, 1979 series) #4/1981 (uke 16 1981)

Keywords

"Jack and the Beanstalk"; hoax; unwelcome surprise

Indexer Notes

New story.

Droopy the Rock Hound (Table of Contents: 3)

Droopy; Wuff the Prairie Dog / text story / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Harvey Eisenberg

Inks

Harvey Eisenberg

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Harvey Eisenberg (title lettering only); typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

One day, as Wuff and Sammy were walking in the mountains, they heard strange noises behind a large hill of rocks among them.

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Droopy; Wuff the Prairie Dog; Sammy Squirrel; Charlie Coyote

Synopsis

While assisting "rock hound" Droopy in his search for valuable rocks, Wuff and Sammy are nabbed by Charlie Coyote.

Reprints

• from Tom & Jerry Comics (Dell, 1949 series) #145 (August 1956)
• in Top Comics Tom & Jerry (Western, 1967 series) #3

Keywords

desert setting; MGM character crossover; one-character-desiring-another-as-a-meal; rock hounds

Indexer Notes

A rare instance of characters appearing in one of the comic stories in the issue (Wuff, Sammy, and Charlie) also appearing in the required text story - seemingly in violation of the postal regulations that then governed the mailing of second-class matter (for mail subscriptions). Usually, Bertie Bird, a character that rarely appeared in comic stories, was the subject of the regularly published text stories in Tom and Jerry Comics.

[The Pains of Painting] (Table of Contents: 4)

Tom and Jerry / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Harvey Eisenberg

Inks

Harvey Eisenberg

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Rome Siemon

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Yaaa--you can't squirt me!

Feature Logo

Tom and Jerry

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Tom; Jerry; Tuffy

Synopsis

Jerry and Tuffy blame their mischievous ways on their being "underprivileged", so Tom takes them to an art museum to "bring out their better qualities". There, the mice are taken with a mural of modern art and Tom, in an unusual gesture of generosity and kindness, buys them a complete set of paints and other art supplies to stimulate their newfound creativity. For his troubles, Tom is driven daffy by the art-obsessed mice painting their modernist-murals all over the house.

Reprints

• from Tom & Jerry Comics (Dell, 1949 series) #145 (August 1956)
• in Top Comics Tom & Jerry (Western, 1967 series) #3

Keywords

best of intentions; modern art; painting; too-much-of-a-good-thing

Indexer Notes

"Reprinted by popular demand". Uncharacteristically, Tom is the story's sympathetic character.

Story is interrupted between pages 8 and 9, for two pages of “Gold Key Comics Club” material and a two-page ad for the CBS Television Network, comprising the four pages of the centerfold.

Can You Create a Monster? (Table of Contents: 5)

Gold Key Comics Club / illustration / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Help? Can you do it?

Feature Logo

Gold Key Comics Club

Keywords

drawings; monsters; reader participation

Indexer Notes

Readers are invited to submit drawings of monsters for possible publication. Six reader-contributed drawings of monsters are printed.

See All the New Saturday’s Super Heroes (Table of Contents: 6) (Expand) /

CBS Saturday Cartoons / advertisement / 2 pages (report information)

The Joke's on You (Table of Contents: 7)

Gold Key Comics Club; Joke's On You / text article / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

What has two feet and hangs on a shakey [sic] tale?

Feature Logo

Gold Key Comics Club

Genre

humor

Characters

Gold Key Kid

Keywords

jokes; reader participation; riddles

Indexer Notes

Jokes and riddles submitted by readers.

[Puppy Dogged] (Table of Contents: 8)

Big Spike and Little Tyke / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Harvey Eisenberg

Inks

Steve Steere

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Rome Siemon

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Spike, I'm getting a bunch of dogs together to go cat hunting today - want to join us?

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Spike; Tyke; Eddie (dog); squirrel; Lazy Bones (huge lethargic hound)

Synopsis

Tyke feigns helplessness and getting into trouble so that Spike won't leave him home alone, when the grown-up dogs go cat hunting. Will Spike be able to get away with the guys, or be doomed to baby-sitting?

Reprints

• from Tom & Jerry Comics (Dell, 1949 series) #163 (February 1958)
• in Top Comics Tom & Jerry (Western, 1967 series) #3

Keywords

baby-sitting; best-laid-plans; dogs; helplessness; trickery

Indexer Notes

"Reprinted by popular demand".

[Mexican Jumping Mice] (Table of Contents: 9)

Tom and Jerry / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Harvey Eisenberg

Inks

Harvey Eisenberg

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

Rome Siemon

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Those snoring mice kept me awake all night!

Feature Logo

Tom and Jerry [Dell Harvey Eisenberg Logo 1]

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Tom; Jerry; Tuffy; Mexican customs officer; Mexican mice; Mexicat

Synopsis

Fed up with Jerry and Tuffy's snoring, Tom scoops-up the mice and dumps them in Mexico, locking them in a shed with a bunch of Mexican mice. He then learns that a Mexican cat's master will pay one peso for each mouse caught, and doubles back for Jerry and Tuffy and their new Mexican mouse friends - who've become much harder to catch for having swallowed Mexican jumping beans. To complicate matters, the mice have hopped across the border into the United States.

Reprints

• from Tom & Jerry Comics (Dell, 1949 series) #145 (August 1956)
• in Top Comics Tom & Jerry (Western, 1967 series) #3

Keywords

best-laid-plans; cat; customs; desert setting; jumping beans; Mexico; mice; sleep problems

Indexer Notes

"Reprinted by popular demand".

Readers Complete the Comic (Table of Contents: 10)

Gold Key Comics Club / illustration / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

We knew you could do it!

Feature Logo

Gold Key Comics Club

Keywords

cartooning; reader participation

Indexer Notes

Readers provide the third and final panel illustration to a three-panel cartoon. Six reader submissions are included.

What's Your Line? (Table of Contents: 11)

Gold Key Comics Club / activity / 0.67 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

Western Publishing Production Shop

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Try your Humor I.Q.

Feature Logo

Gold Key Comics Club

Keywords

captions; reader participation

Indexer Notes

Readers are invited to submit gag captions for a series of provided single-panel cartoon illustrations. One finished examples is provided.

The Joke’s on You (Table of Contents: 12)

Gold Key Comics Club; Joke's On You / text article / 0.17 page (report information)

Letters

typeset

Genre

humor

Keywords

ad coupon; cover art preservation; jokes; reader participation; riddles; unusual use of page space

Indexer Notes

A true oddity on interior page 32. A little more than half of this space contains additional reader-submitted riddles and jokes from “The Joke’s on You” Gold Key Comics Club feature – but with no feature title or heading whatsoever. Just three reader-submitted riddles and jokes on the left side of the page space as a non-sequitur. A little less than half of this space, on the right side, contains the cut-out coupon for the “Cheerful Card Company” ad seen on the inside front cover – but completely separated from the main ad itself. Placing the coupon here ensures that the cover would remain intact, even if the coupon was clipped. The flip side of this unusually-placed coupon contained a “Gold Key Comics Club” submissions page that could be seen in other such comics.

Fill Out and Mail This Handy Coupon (Table of Contents: 13) (Expand) /

Cheerful Card / Cheerful House Cards and Stationery / advertisement / 0.16 page (report information)

204 Revolutionary War Soldiers (Table of Contents: 14) (Expand) /

Revolutionary War Soldiers / advertisement / 1 page (report information)

Nationally Famous Prizes at No Cost to You! (Table of Contents: 15) (Expand) /

Junior Sales Club of America Cards / advertisement / 1 page (report information)