(October 1947)
- Volume
- 1
- Price
- 0.10 USD
- Pages
- 36
- Indicia Frequency
- monthly
- On-sale Date
- 1947
- Indicia / Colophon Publisher
- Archer St. John
- Editing
- Tom Morrison (editor)
Issue Notes
No ads in this issue. All 36 pages are comics or comics-related text material.
Benny the Lazy Beaver
Benny the Lazy Beaver / text story / 2 pages
- Script
- Tom Morrison (co-writer of original cartoon); John Foster (co-writer of original cartoon)
- Pencils
- ?
- Inks
- ?
- Letters
- typeset
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- TIM--BER!! Old Man Beaver's shout rang loud and clear through the forest.
- Genre
- anthropomorphic-funny animals
- Characters
- Benny the Lazy Beaver; Old Man Beaver; Mrs. Blue Jay; Mr. Blue Jay; Fisheye Fox; Foulball Fox; Griswald Grizzly
- Synopsis
- Benny the Lazy Beaver isn't interested in gnawing-down trees and building dams like the other beavers. Instead, he is alternately lazy and overly artistic. Feeling that he'll never fit in with the other busy-beavers, Benny takes off for the Big City. He never gets there because, en-route, he encounters Fisheye and Foulball Fox, operators of a fur shop that specializes in beaver hats and coats.
- Keywords
- beavers; being-different; coats; dam; forest setting; foxes; fur; hats; learning one’s lesson; story-adapted-from-a-cartoon; there’s-no-place-like-home; trees
Indexer Notes
Begins on the inside front cover (page 1) and concludes on the inside back cover (page 2). One black and white illustration on page 1.
This is an expanded text adaptation of the 1947 Mighty Mouse theatrical cartoon "Lazy Little Beaver" - though, oddly, excluding Mighty Mouse, and having a wolf as the villainous furrier. Without Mighty Mouse to "save the day" in this text version, Benny must rely on his wits to escape the felonious fox furriers.
The cartoon was co-written by Tom Morrison (the editor of this comic), so this story was very likely adapted/written by him as well. The cartoon was directed by Connie Rasinski, who almost certainly contributed to the interior story art of this comic.
The Flying Disc
Mighty Mouse / comic story / 8 pages
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- I'm going now, Professor. Are you sure you'll be all right alone?
- Feature Logo
Mighty Mouse [St. John Logo without Character]- Genre
- anthropomorphic-funny animals; superhero
- Characters
- Mighty Mouse; The Claw; proto-version of Professor Edam; Joe (mouse lab assistant), various mouse citizens of Terrytown; cat fighter pilots
- Synopsis
- Mighty Mouse agrees to be the test pilot for an experimental saucer-like spacecraft intended to take the Terrytown mice off-Earth, and away from the cats forever. The Claw gets wind of this and leads a cat fighter-squadron to obliterate the spacecraft.
- Reprints
-
in Giant Comics Editions (St. John, 1948 series) #3 (October 1948)
-
- Keywords
- aerial battle; cats; fighter planes; heroics; mice; notable coloring modification; prototype of recurring character(s); space ship
Indexer Notes
A tall (for a mouse), lanky, bearded mouse character, referred to only as "The Professor", appears in this story. This would seem to be the prototype for the later, recurring mouse scientist Professor Edam. The Claw's fur is colored brown, rather than its usual gray.
Lunch for Bunny
Heckle and Jeckle / comic story / 8 pages
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- I say old bean, it looks like that bunny is in a bit of trouble.
- Feature Logo
Heckle and Jeckle [St. John Logo without characters]- Genre
- anthropomorphic-funny animals; humor
- Characters
- Heckle; Jeckle; Bunny; Mrs. Bunny; three Bunny kids; Fido (bulldog)
- Synopsis
- With their trademark slapstick trickery, Heckle and Jeckle help a bunny get needed vegetables for his family from a vegetable garden guarded by a mean bulldog.
- Keywords
- angry bees; beehive; bulldog; bunnies; glue; heckling; magpies; mallet; scarecrow; shotgun; trickery; vegetables; wreaking havoc
Indexer Notes
The bunnies in this story are particularly cute, and the violence particularly cartoony.
Adventure in Arabia
Mighty Mouse / comic story / 8 pages
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- Far away, in an ancient mystic land, the cruel leader of an outlaw gang, prepares to attack a peaceful little city.
- Feature Logo
- Mighty Mouse [St. John Logo without Character]
- Genre
- anthropomorphic-funny animals; superhero
- Characters
- Mighty Mouse; The Great One (Arab-cat bandit leader); goony-eyed Arab-cat sorcerer; various Arab-cat bandits; Arab-mouse sultan; various Arab-mouse citizens and soldiers; Mitzi Mouse
- Synopsis
- The Great One, leader of a tribe of Arab-cat bandits, overruns a peaceful Arab-mouse city, collecting all the mice for a sumptuous celebratory meal. Before the celebration can begin, The Great One commands his goony-eyed sorcerer to deliver to him the most delectable, tender young mouse of all, which he will consume to mark his victory. The sorcerer's crystal ball reveals Mitzi, far away in Terrytown, to be that prized mouse - but not if Mighty Mouse has anything to say about it.
- Keywords
- bandits; cats; crystal ball; desert setting; far-off land; flying carpet; heroics; hypnotism; magic; mice; Middle East; notable coloring modification; one-character-desiring-another-as-a-meal; sorcerer; walled city
Indexer Notes
This story shows an early St. John design of Mitzi with greyish fur, and long, flowing hair.
Open Season
Dinky / comic story / 4 pages
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- A toast to our departing friend!
- Feature Logo
Dinky [Duck] [St. John logo without character]- Genre
- anthropomorphic-funny animals
- Characters
- Dinky Duck, Chesty; Dimwit; duck hunters; turtle; dog catcher
- Synopsis
- Chesty and Dimwit count down the minutes until duck season opens, and they can blast Dinky.
- Keywords
- best-laid-plans; duck; hunting; notable coloring modification; reversal of fortunes; uncharacteristic situation
Indexer Notes
Dinky is colored gray (as he occasionally is), as opposed to his usual black. He is also uncharacteristically cast as a duck-in-the-wild that can be hunted, vs. his usual situation as a barnyard duck.
The Secondhand Taxi
Gandy Goose / comic story / 4 pages
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- Here's ten dollars, my good man. Keep the change.
- Feature Logo
Gandy Goose [St. John Logo without Character]- Genre
- anthropomorphic-funny animals
- Characters
- Gandy Goose; Sourpuss; two con-men; businessman in a hurry; De Soako Motor Car Co. representative
- Synopsis
- Gandy and Sourpuss are conned into buying an old broken-down taxicab.
- Keywords
- buyer beware; con; series of mishaps; suckers; taxicab
Indexer Notes
"De Soako" is a parody reference to the then-famous "DeSoto" automobile brand of the Chrysler Corporation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeSoto_(automobile)
[Gandy Drops His (Rear) Guard]
Gandy Goose / comic story / 1 page
- First Line of Dialogue or Text
- What's going on here?
- Genre
- anthropomorphic-funny animals
- Characters
- Gandy Goose; Sourpuss
- Synopsis
- Would-be prizefighter Gandy demonstrates his "perfect defense against any blow", which Sourpuss quickly counters ending yet another aspiration for Gandy.
- Keywords
- aspiration; defensive strategy; prizefighting; unwelcome surprise
Indexer Notes
Color story on back cover. Gandy brags of his defensive strategy "In this position even Joe Louis couldn't hurt me!" Sourpuss saves Joe Louis the trouble.
-
0.
[Taking a Little Off the Top]
Mighty Mouse -
1.
Benny the Lazy Beaver
Benny the Lazy Beaver -
2.
The Flying Disc
Mighty Mouse -
3.
Lunch for Bunny
Heckle and Jeckle -
4.
Adventure in Arabia
Mighty Mouse -
5.
Open Season
Dinky -
6.
The Secondhand Taxi
Gandy Goose -
7.
[Gandy Drops His (Rear) Guard]
Gandy Goose
- Del Gruber
- Merlin Haas
- Joe Torcivia
- Len Wolinsky
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