Our Gang Comics #1

([August-September] 1942)

[Hello Kids!!!] (Table of Contents: 1)

Our Gang / foreword, introduction, preface, afterword / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

? (photographs)

Inks

? (photographs)

Colors

?

Letters

?

Genre

humor; children

Characters

Our Gang (photograph); Spanky (photograph)

Synopsis

Spanky (or rather: the editor of the title) greets readers to this new magazine.

Indexer Notes

Inside front cover. Black and white with one pink area. Photos of Our Gang and Spanky McFarland, plus a table of contents.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 2)

Our Gang / comic story / 10 pages (report information)

Script

Gaylord Du Bois

Pencils

Walt Kelly

Inks

Walt Kelly

Colors

?

Letters

Walt Kelly

First Line of Dialogue or Text

This meeting is called...

Genre

humor; children

Characters

Our Gang [Mickey; Buckwheat; Froggy; Janet; Spanky]; The Gashouse Gang [Feeney; Ham (as yet unnamed); Iggy]; Mr. Johnson (junk dealer)

Synopsis

The gang members look for a place to play baseball but find an available vacant lot is covered with junk. They decide to collect the junk and sell it but are opposed by The Gashouse Gang who want the junk, and money, for themselves.

Reprints

• in Walt Kelly's Our Gang (Fantagraphics, 2006 series) #1 - 1942-1943 ([May] 2006)

Indexer Notes

Du Bois script credit per Funnybooks (UC Press, Oakland) 2015 by Michael Barrier, p. 65: "Kelly drew the first 'Our Gang' story from a script by Gaylord Du Bois, Lebeck's principal writer ... The first two stories--Du Bois may have written the second as well as the first--have Our Gang involved in conflicts, the first with a rival gang that ends when a misunderstanding is cleared up, very much a Du Bois marker, and then one with criminals. The third story, though, is a slapstick comedy of the kind that became a Kelly specialty." (Previous indexer credited the script to Walt Kelly.)

The children are drawn in a much more realistic style than in later stories.

Proving Bears Don't Go For Gophers and Gophers Can Barely Bear Bears (Table of Contents: 3)

Barney Bear / comic story / 3 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Walt Kelly

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Barney Bear; a gopher

Synopsis

Barney finds that his beet garden has been invaded by a gopher.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 4)

Tom and Jerry / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script

Gaylord Du Bois

Pencils

Dan Gormley

Inks

Dan Gormley

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Everybody's in bed...

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Tom (a cat); Jerry (a mouse); Tuffy (Jerry's little brother)

Synopsis

Jerry and Tuffy try to raid the refrigerator.

Indexer Notes

Tom is colored brown in this story instead of the traditional gray.

Gaylord Du Bois script identification by David Porta, February 2014.

First appearance of Tuffy, a character created by Oskar Lebeck and Gaylord Du Bois, designed by them specifically for the comics, as per page 34 Reflections on The Eyrie; by Gaylord Du Bois. Eyrie Publications, Essex, N.Y. 1984. First appearance and character creator credit identification by David Porta, May 2014.

The Story of Johnny Mole (Table of Contents: 5)

Johnny Mole / text story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

? (spot illustrations)

Inks

? (spot illustrations)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Johnny Mole; Dr. Primrose Skunk; Mrs. Mole

Synopsis

Nearsighted Johnny Mole is given glasses by Dr. Skunk and can see the world clearly for the first time. He still manages to get in trouble, especially when he breaks his glasses.

Indexer Notes

Story is in text form which is framed by wordless cartoon panels on the sides and bottom of the pages.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 6)

Flip 'n' Dip / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Gaylord Du Bois

Pencils

H. R. McBride

Inks

H. R. McBride

Colors

?

Letters

H. R. McBride

First Line of Dialogue or Text

I'll climb up and give you some slack, Dip!

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Flip; Dip; Ma; Pa

Synopsis

The monkey family moves into a new treehouse.

Indexer Notes

Gaylord Du Bois script credit as per page 179, Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [Books] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series, Volume 40 for the Year 1943 By Library of Congress, Copyright Office. Gaylord Du Bois script identification by David Porta, February 2014.

Pete Smith's Lions on the Loose (Table of Contents: 7)

Pete Smith / text story / 2 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

? (spot illustrations)

Inks

? (spot illustrations)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Characters

A family of lions in the zoo

Synopsis

The lion family finds life in the zoo to be to their liking.

Indexer Notes

Text story with two spot illustrations.

The Donkey in the Lion's Skin (Table of Contents: 8)

Benny Burro / comic story / 3 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

H. R. McBride

Inks

H. R. McBride

Colors

?

Letters

?

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Benny Burro; various barnyard and forest animals

Synopsis

When Benny pulls a lion skin off a clothesline and it falls on top of him, the other animals think he's a real lion on the loose.

Reprints

• in Famous Fairy Tales (Western, 1942 series) #[1943] (1943)

Barney Bear Wants a Good Plan for Hiber-national Defense! (Table of Contents: 9)

Barney Bear / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script

Gaylord Du Bois

Pencils

Walt Kelly

Inks

Walt Kelly

Colors

?

Letters

Walt Kelly

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

Barney Bear; a gopher

Synopsis

Barney settles in for a winter's hiberation but a pesky gopher tries to mooch his food.

Indexer Notes

Du Bois writer credit per Funnybooks (UC Press, Oakland) 2015 by Michael Barrier: "[Du Bois] was called upon to write ... 'Barney Bear' in the first issue," pg122. Previous indexer credited Kelly. (1943 Copyright Entries, Pamphlets, credits the entire publication to Lebeck, Du Bois, and Kelly, without specifying who did what. The surviving Du Bois Account Books compiled by Randall Scott pick up with entries of stories written Aug. Sept. Oct. &c. for issues 2,3,4 &c. with no Barney Bear stories.)

The Milky Way (Table of Contents: 10)

Three Little Kittens / comic story / 7 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Irving Tripp

Inks

Irving Tripp

Colors

?

Letters

?

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals

Characters

The Three Little Kittens; Mama

Synopsis

The Three Little Kittens have lost their mittens and are sent to bed without supper. They decide to use balloons to fly to the Milky Way for some milk.

Indexer Notes

Adapted from the 1940 Academy Award-winning cartoon of the same name.

Jimmy Wells Explorer (Table of Contents: 11)

Jimmy Wells / text story / 4 pages (report information)

Script

Gaylord Du Bois

Pencils

? (spot illustrations)

Inks

? (spot illustrations)

Colors

?

Letters

typeset

Genre

nature

Characters

Jimmy Wells; Professor Tubbs

Synopsis

Professor Tubbs' magic stereoscope shrinks Jimmy and transports him in the backyard world of nature.

Indexer Notes

Text with spot illustrations. Similar to Warner Bros.'s Mary Jane and Sniffles series in which the hero shrinks and has adventures with animals and learns about nature.

Gaylord Du Bois script credit as per page 179, Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [Books] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series, Volume 40 for the Year 1943 By Library of Congress, Copyright Office. Gaylord Du Bois script identification by David Porta, February 2014.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 12)

King / comic story / 9 pages (report information)

Script

Gaylord Du Bois

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Swollen by late spring rains, the river fought like a wild horse...

Genre

adventure; nature

Characters

King (dog); King's master

Synopsis

When the canoe of a young Quebec sportsman hits the rapids, his dog King is thrown into the river. They become separated and King must learn to survive on his own in the wilderness.

Indexer Notes

Comic story with captions.

Gaylord Du Bois script credit as per page 179, Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [Books] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series, Volume 40 for the Year 1943 By Library of Congress, Copyright Office. Gaylord Du Bois script identification by David Porta, February 2014.

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

text article / 1 page (report information)

Pencils

?; ? (photographs)

Inks

?; ? (photographs)

Colors

?

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

These pictures from the Pete Smith story on page 34

Genre

nature

Indexer Notes

Inside back cover. Black and white with pink borders around photos. Photos of lion cubs featured in this issue's Pete Smith story, plus a lion cartoon drawing.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 14)

illustration / 1 page (report information)

Pencils

?; ? (photograph)

Inks

?; ? (photograph)

Colors

?

Genre

anthropomorphic-funny animals; children

Characters

Our Gang [Froggy; Spanky; Janet; Buckwheat; Mickey]; Barney Bear; Tom; Jerry

Reprints

• in Walt Kelly's Our Gang (Fantagraphics, 2006 series) #1 - 1942-1943 ([May] 2006)

Indexer Notes

Back cover. Black and white photo of Our Gang, framed by color illustrations of Barney Bear and Tom and Jerry.