(October 1964)

Western, 1964 Series
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Price
0.12 USD
Pages
36
On-sale Date
1964-07
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
K. K. Publications Inc.
Brand
Gold Key
Editing
?

Issue Notes

Cover code: 10010-410. Publication date from cover code.

No ads in this issue. All 36 pages are comics or comics-related text material.

First in a series of issues of this title to be primarily reprint.

Previous numbered issue was published one year prior (Cover Date: October 1963).

Edited out of Western Publishing's New York offices.

This issue is a rare instance of Western Publishing reprinting comic book material originating from a source other than itself (St. John Publishing). Such is the case for Mighty Mouse (Western, 1964 Series) #161-165 (1964-1965).

The Invasion of the Bat Cats! (Table of Contents)

Mighty Mouse / cover / 1 page (report information)

Pencils
Dan Gormley
Inks
Dan Gormley
Colors
Western Publishing Production Shop
Letters
typeset

Genre
anthropomorphic-funny animals; superhero
Characters
Mighty Mouse; Mitzi Mouse; Bat Cat (originally one of the "Raiders From Saturn")
Synopsis
As a Bat Cat carries Mitzi off in a net, Mighty Mouse socks the winged feline in the jaw.
Keywords
alien invader; character name modification; kidnapping; net; sock-on-the-jaw; title or logo modification

Indexer Notes

New cover illustrating a reprinted interior story. On this cover, the Bat Cat is colored green as they all were in the original printing of this story (named on it's cover as "The Raiders From Saturn") from Paul Terry's Mighty Mouse Comics (St. John, 1951 Series) #35 (November 1952). For the interior reprint of this story the Bat Cats are primarily colored in varying shades of gray.

The Light Fantastic (Table of Contents: 1)

Heckle and Jeckle / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Fred Fredericks
Inks
Fred Fredericks
Letters
?

Genre
anthropomorphic-funny animals; humor
Characters
Heckle; Jeckle; hotel desk clerk
Synopsis
At a seaside hotel, Heckle and Jeckle read comic books by the glow of a lighthouse.
Keywords
alternative uses; dark of night; hotel; lighthouse; reading

Indexer Notes

New story. Pantomime. Black and white on inside front cover.

The Invasion of the Bat Cats (Table of Contents: 2)

Mighty Mouse / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
Western Publishing Production Shop
Letters
?
Editing
Tom Morrison (original editor of reprinted story)

First Line of Dialogue or Text
Far above the town, the mail plane roars through the clear peaceful night sky on the last leg of a routine flight, when suddenly a strange gigantic creature looms up in front of it... Something that no pilot has ever seen before!
Feature Logo
Mighty Mouse [Western Publishing Logo]
Genre
anthropomorphic-funny animals; superhero
Characters
Mighty Mouse; Mitzi Mouse; The Claw; Professor Ohm; giant bat-winged gray cats (the Bat Cats); two mail pilots (mice); various mouse citizens and police; various cat citizens
Synopsis
An epic adventure in four chapters pitting Mighty Mouse and his archenemy The Claw against an invading force of monstrous bat-winged gray cats from the planet Saturn. The Claw comes to Mighty Mouse in good faith, seeking aid against the terrifying alien-cats - a move that displeases The Claw's scientific ally Professor Ohm. Ohm double-crosses mice and cats alike, forging a secret alliance with the Saturnians.
Reprints
Keywords
alien invasion; enemies-joining-forces; flying saucer; heroics; laboratory; mysterious ray; notable coloring modification; outer space setting; Saturn; size differential; title or logo modification

Indexer Notes

This story was originally known as "The Raiders From Saturn", an unofficial title that never actually appeared as part of the story itself, but was derived from the cover caption of the story's original printing in Paul Terry's Mighty Mouse Comics (St. John, 1951 Series) #35 (November 1952). The story was published untitled.

For this Gold Key reprint, Western Publishing provided a new “Mighty Mouse” logo, added the title “The Invasion of the Bat Cats” to the opening splash panel, and produced its own coloring for this story.

The new coloring rendered the formerly green "Raiders From Saturn" as primarily colored in varying shades of gray for their revised identity as “The Bat Cats”.

The Lava Men (Table of Contents: 3)

Mighty Mouse / comic story / 12 pages (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
Western Publishing Production Shop
Letters
?
Editing
Tom Morrison (original editor of reprinted story)

First Line of Dialogue or Text
Help! The mountain's exploding!
Feature Logo
Mighty Mouse [Western Publishing Logo]
Genre
anthropomorphic-funny animals; superhero
Characters
Mighty Mouse; citizens of Mountain Village (mice); lava men; Professor Adam (name changed from "Professor Edam"); Professor Adam's assistant; The Claw; Professor Ohm; citizens of Claw Territory (cats); troops of Cat Army
Synopsis
Lava Men, flaming bipedal creatures from "another world beneath the crust of the Earth", emerge from suddenly-created volcanoes and proceed to overrun and destroy the territories of both mice and cats. Mighty Mouse finds these magma-made monsters too hot to handle.
Reprints
Keywords
art modification or omission; character name modification; extreme heat; heroics; lava; monsters; notable coloring modification; panic; title or logo modification; volcanoes

Indexer Notes

This story was titled "At Grips with the Lava Men" for its original printing in Paul Terry's Mighty Mouse Comics (St. John, 1951 Series) #40 (April 1953).

For this Gold Key reprint, Western Publishing provided a new “Mighty Mouse” logo, shortened the title to “The Lava Men”, and produced its own coloring for this story.

Western also edited the story from its original 14 pages, down to 12 pages, to fit within the standard 32 interior pages of the prevailing format, thus allowing it to back up the 20 page "Bat Cats" lead story.

The entire original page four was omitted. Also deleted were page 7 panels 4-5, page 8 panel 4, page 9 panel 5, page 10 panels 1-3. The remaining panels were reformatted over several pages to accommodate this surgical editing.

The new coloring rendered the formerly orange Lava Men as solidly-colored as a consistent shade of brown.

Most inexplicable of all was the renaming of Professor Edam (a recurring mouse-scientist character in the St. John comics - and whose name was a "cheese-pun") to "Professor Adam". Two panels were re-lettered by Western to accomplish this. Yet, when the character appeared in subsequent Gold Key reprints of St. John material, in issues #163-164, he was properly referred to as "Professor Edam".

Shears-Ka-Bob (Table of Contents: 4)

Heckle and Jeckle / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script
Paul S. Newman
Pencils
Fred Fredericks
Inks
Fred Fredericks
Letters
?

First Line of Dialogue or Text
Hey, buddy! This hedge could use a trimming!
Genre
anthropomorphic-funny animals; humor
Characters
Heckle; Jeckle; café owner; female diner
Synopsis
Heckle and Jeckle clip the hedges of an outdoor café, and derive some culinary benefits while doing so.
Keywords
clippers; enterprise; hedges; ingenuity; outdoor café

Indexer Notes

New story. Black and white on inside back cover.

Helping Hand (Table of Contents: 5)

Mighty Mouse / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Dan Gormley
Inks
Dan Gormley
Colors
Western Publishing Production Shop
Letters
?

Feature Logo
Mighty Mouse [Western Publishing Logo]
Genre
anthropomorphic-funny animals; superhero
Characters
Mighty Mouse; Mitzi Mouse
Synopsis
Mitzi's backyard hammock cannot fully stretch between two trees. Enter Mighty Mouse.
Keywords
doing-something-their-own-way; hammock; satisfaction; trees

Indexer Notes

New story. Pantomime. Color on back cover.

Editing
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. The Invasion of the Bat Cats!
    Mighty Mouse
  2. 1. The Light Fantastic
    Heckle and Jeckle
  3. 2. The Invasion of the Bat Cats
    Mighty Mouse
  4. 3. The Lava Men
    Mighty Mouse
  5. 4. Shears-Ka-Bob
    Heckle and Jeckle
  6. 5. Helping Hand
    Mighty Mouse
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Joe Torcivia
  • Jim Van Dore