Back Issue 129 Online

COMICS’ BRONZE AGE AND BEYOND
2021
August
o . 1 2 9
N $9.95 ™
TV TOON TIE-INS!
BONUS: SCOTT SHAW! DIGS UP CAPTAIN CARROT’S ROOTS!
All characters TM & © the respective copyright holders.
All Rights Reserved.
1 82658 00446 0
THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!
TM
Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ER

EISN RD
ISSUE magazine celebrates comic AWA NER
!!
WIN
books of the 1970s, 1980s, and
today through recurring (and rotating)
departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue
between professionals), “BackStage
Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comics- BACK ISSUE #112 BACK ISSUE #113 BACK ISSUE #115
NUCLEAR ISSUE! Firestorm, Dr. Manhattan, BATMAN MOVIE 30th ANNIVERSARY! SCI-FI SUPERHEROES! In-depth looks at JIM
based media), “Greatest Stories DAVE GIBBONS Marvel UK Hulk interview, Producer MICHAEL USLAN and screenwriter STARLIN’s Dreadstar and Company, and the
Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized villain histories of Radioactive Man and SAM HAMM interviewed, a chat with BILLY dystopian lawman Judge Dredd. Also: Nova,
Microwave Man, Radioactive Man and DEE WILLIAMS (who was almost Two-Face), GERRY CONWAY & MIKE VOSBURG’s
comics series or stories), and more! Fallout Boy, and the one-shot Holo-Man! plus DENNY O’NEIL and JERRY ORDWAY’s Starman, PAUL LEVITZ & STEVE DITKO’s
With PAT BRODERICK, GERRY CONWAY, Batman movie adaptation, MINDY NEWELL’s Starman, WALTER SIMONSON’s Justice
JOE GIELLA, TOM GRINDBERG, RAFAEL Catwoman, GRANT MORRISON and DAVE Peace (from the pages of Thor), and GREG
McKEAN’s Arkham Asylum, MAX ALLAN
Go to www.twomorrows.com for KAYANAN, TOM MANDRAKE, BILL
MORRISON, JOHN OSTRANDER, STEVE COLLINS’ Batman newspaper strip, and JOEY
POTTER & GENE COLAN’s Jemm, Son of
Saturn! With a Dreadstar and Company
other issues, and an ULTIMATE BUNDLE, VANCE, and more! PAT BRODERICK cover! CAVALIERI & JOE STATON’s Huntress! cover by STARLIN and ALAN WEISS!
with all the issues at HALF-PRICE! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95
(Digital Edition) $4.99
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95
BACK ISSUE #116 BACK ISSUE #117 BACK ISSUE #119 BACK ISSUE #121 BACK ISSUE #122
SUPERHEROES VS. MONSTERS! Monsters SUPERHERO STAND-INS! John Stewart as GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ISSUE! A CONAN AND THE BARBARIANS! Celebrating Celebrates the 40TH ANNIVERSARY of
in Metropolis, Batman and the Horror Genre, Green Lantern, James Rhodes as Iron Man, galaxy of comics stars discuss Marvel’s white- the 50th anniversary of ROY THOMAS and MARV WOLFMAN and GEORGE PÉREZ’s
DOUG MOENCH and KELLEY JONES’ Beta Ray Bill as Thor, Captain America sub- hot space team in the Guardians Interviews, BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH’s Conan #1! The New Teen Titans, featuring a guest editorial
Batman: Vampire, Marvel Scream-Up, stitute U.S. Agent, new Batman Azrael, and including TOM DeFALCO, KEITH GIFFEN, Bronze Age Barbarian Boom, Top 50 Marvel by WOLFMAN and a PÉREZ tribute and
Dracula and Godzilla vs. Marvel, DC/Dark Superman’s Hollywood proxy Gregory Reed! ROB LIEFELD, AL MILGROM, MARY Conan stories, Marvel’s Not-Quite Conans art gallery! Plus: The New Teen Titans’ 40
Horse Hero/Monster crossovers, and a Baron Featuring NEAL ADAMS, CARY BATES, SKRENES, ROGER STERN, JIM VALENTINO, (from Kull to Skull), Arak–Son of Thunder, GREATEST MOMENTS, the Titans in the
Blood villain history. With CLAREMONT, DAVE GIBBONS, RON MARZ, DAVID and more. Plus: Star-Lord and Rocket Warlord action figures, GRAY MORROW’s media, hero histories of RAVEN, STARFIRE,
CONWAY, DIXON, GIBBONS, GRELL, MICHELINIE, DENNIS O’NEIL, WALTER Raccoon before the Guardians, with CHRIS Edge of Chaos, and Conan the Barbarian and the PROTECTOR, and more! With a
GULACY, JURGENS, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, SIMONSON, ROY THOMAS, and more, CLAREMONT and MIKE MIGNOLA. Cover at Dark Horse Comics. With an unused NEVER-BEFORE-PUBLISHED PÉREZ TITANS
and a cover by MICHAEL GOLDEN. under a cover by SIMONSON. by JIM VALENTINO with inks by CHRIS IVY. WINDSOR-SMITH Conan #9 cover. COVER from 1981!
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95
(Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99
TwoMorrows.
The Future of
Comics History.
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Drive
BACK ISSUE #123 BACK ISSUE #124 BACK ISSUE #125 BACK ISSUE #126 Raleigh, NC 27614 USA
SUPERHERO ROMANCE ISSUE! Bruce Wayne HORRIFIC HEROES! With Bronze Age CREATOR-OWNED COMICS! Featuring “Legacy” issue! Wally West Flash, 919-449-0344
and Tony Stark’s many loves, Star Sapphire histories of Man-Thing, the Demon, and in-depth histories of MATT WAGNER’s BRANDON ROUTH Superman inter-
history, Bronze Age weddings, DeFALCO/ the Creeper, Atlas/Seaboard’s horrifying Mage and Grendel. Plus other indie view, Harry Osborn/Green Goblin, Scott
STERN Johnny Storm/Alicia Pro2Pro interview, heroes, and Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) sensations of the Bronze Age, including Lang/Ant-Man, Infinity Inc., Reign of E-mail:
Elongated Man and Wife, May-December rides again! Featuring the work of CHRIS COLLEEN DORAN’s A Distant Soil, STAN the Supermen, JOHN ROMITA SR. and [email protected]
romances, Supergirl’s Secret Marriage, and… CLAREMONT, GERRY CONWAY, ERNIE SAKAI’s Usagi Yojimbo, STEVE PURCELL’s JR. “Rough Stuff,” plus CONWAY, Order at
Aunt May and Doc Ock?? Featuring MIKE COLON, MICHAEL GOLDEN, JACK KIRBY, Sam & Max, JAMES DEAN SMITH’s Boris FRACTION, JURGENS, MESSNER-LOEBS, twomorrows.com
W. BARR, CARY BATES, STEVE ENGLEHART, MIKE PLOOG, JAVIER SALTARES, MARK the Bear, and LARRY WELZ’s Cherry MICHELINIE, ORDWAY, SLOTT, ROY
BOB LAYTON, DENNY O’NEIL, and many TEXIERA, and more. Man-Thing cover by Poptart! With a fabulous Grendel cover by THOMAS, MARK WAID, and more.
more! Cover by DAVE GIBBONS. RUDY NEBRES. MATT WAGNER. WIERINGO/MARZAN JR. cover!
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95
(Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99
Volume 1,
Number 129
August 2021
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Michael Eury
PUBLISHER Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

John Morrow
DESIGNER
Rich Fowlks
COVER ARTIST
Ray Dirgo and friends
(Cover art from
Charlton’s Hanna-
Barbera Parade #10,
with some character
substitutions by
other artists.)
COVER COLORIST
Glenn Whitmore
COVER DESIGNER
Michael Kronenberg
PROOFREADER
Rob Smentek
SPECIAL THANKS
Mark Arnold Maddy Madrazo
Jerry Beck Jim Main
Nate Butler Dave Manak
John Byrne Richard Maurizio BACKSEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Ed Catto Fabian Nicieza
Robert V. Conte Luigi Novi OFF MY CHEST: The Secret Origins of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! . . . . 3
Tom DeFalco Jerry Ordway Scott Shaw! hops into the rabbit hole of history
Jim Engel Ross Pearsall
Mark Evanier Joe Rockhead FLASHBACK: Bullwinkle and Rocky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Stephan Friedt Steve Schanes “I Read the Moose Today” or “What’s a Nice Squirrel Like You Doing in Comics Like This?”
Michael Gallagher Keith Scott
Grand Comics Scott Shaw! BACKSTAGE PASS: Underdog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Database Evan Skolnick There’s no need to fear! TTV’s canine crusader is here!
Hanna-Barbera Merrie Spaeth
Productions Joe Staton FLASHBACK: The Bronze-tastic World of Hanna-Barbera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Heritage Comics Mary Vigliante
H-B’s comic adaptations, from Bedrock to Orbit City and beyond
Auctions Szydlowski
Kelley Jarvis-Maclay Roy Thomas
Mike Kazaleh Steven Thompson FLASHBACK: Gold Key’s The Hardy Boys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Stephen Keeter Greg Walker The Filmation toon and tie-in comic that should have been a hit
Milton Knight Mike Zeck
Ed Lute BACKSTAGE PASS: The Pink Panther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
DePatie-Freleng’s fuschia feline, on screen and in funnybooks
Don’t STEAL our WHAT THE--?!: Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
From public service announcements to comic-book stardom
Digital Editions!
C’mon citizen, FLASHBACK: Mighty Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
DO THE RIGHT Here he comes to save the day, in a trivia- and creator-loaded comics history
THING! A Mom
& Pop publisher
like us needs
BACKSTAGE PASS: Battle of the Planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
every sale just to The comic-book adventures of G-Force!
survive! DON’T
DOWNLOAD BACK TALK will return next issue.
OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE!
Buy affordable, legal downloads only at
www.twomorrows.com BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC
or through our Apple and Google Apps!
27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury,
Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: [email protected]. Eight-issue
subscriptions: $90 Economy US, $137 International, $36 Digital. Please send subscription orders and funds
& DON’T SHARE THEM WITH FRIENDS to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Ray Dirgo and friends. Fred Flintstone © Hanna-
OR POST THEM ONLINE. Help us keep Barbera Productions. Other characters © their respective companies. All Rights Reserved. All editorial matter
producing great publications like this one!
© 2021 TwoMorrows and Michael Eury. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.
Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins • BACK ISSUE • 1

by Michael Eury
Longtime BI readers, when surveying this issue’s contents, may notice [insert your favorite animation-inspired comic title here]?”, many
the absence of a Bronze Age comic adaptation of a popular Saturday other toon-comics have been covered in previous issues. Please
morning cartoon: Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. I wanted to include Gold consult the checklist that follows to find your faves.
Key’s Fat Albert comic book, which ran 29 issues In the meantime, there are so many Saturday
throughout much of the 1970s, for the historical morning memories in this content-crammed
record, but after much consideration dropped it edition that you might be craving a bowl of sugary
from the lineup. I’m sure you know the reason. breakfast cereal as a snack. Indulge yourself. (But
The groundbreaking animated series, which don’t blame us for your cavities!)
premiered on CBS in the fall of 1972, was one
of the first cartoons to feature a predominantly Next issue: Bronze Age Promos, Ads, and Gimmicks!
African-American cast, a cast that included Who was the mystery writer of those zany Hostess
characters that grew out of the standup comedy Comic Ads? Plus: the aborted DC Super-Stars
of Bill Cosby. With Cosby’s fall from grace and Society fan club, DC 16-page Preview Comics,
prison conviction as a sexual predator, Fat Albert the DC Hotline, Popeye Career Comics, Marvel’s
became a hot-button topic. Can we still love Fat little-seen Quarterly Reports, and more. Featuring
Albert and the Cosby Kids in the #MeToo world? MIKE W. BARR, KURT BUSIEK, MIKE CHEN,
If you’re like me, you can separate the message GLENN HERDLING, PAUL KUPPERBERG, PAUL
from the messenger, and from my perspective LEVITZ, DAN MISHKIN, TOM MORGAN, MARK
Fat Albert remains one of the most important kids PACELLA, JIMMY PALMIOTTI, BOB ROZAKIS,
TV shows of its era. It’s unfortunate, however, SCOTT SHAW!, TERRY STEWART, ROY THOMAS,
that Cosby’s crimes have forced us to exclude his MARV WOLFMAN, and more. With a previously
entertaining and influential body of work, and unpublished 1979 5-Star Super-Hero Spectacular
as such the Gold Key tie-in series is much too cover by DICK DILLIN and DICK GIORDANO.
controversial for inclusion here. Don’t ask—just BI it! See you in thirty!
If you’re also scratching your head over the Your friendly neighborhood Euryman,
table of contents, wondering, “Hey, where’s Wonder Woman and characters © DC Comics. Michael Eury, editor-in-chief
BACK ISSUE TM & © TwoMorrows.
TV CARTOON TIE-IN COMICS PREVIOUSLY COVERED IN BACK ISSUE

This checklist will allow you to dig deeper • Firestar (Spider-Man and His Amazing • Mr. T: BI #26
into our backlist for more information Friends): BI #33 • Muppet Babies: BI #77
about the comic books based upon, • The Flintstone Kids: BI #77 • Plastic Man: BI #3, 77
or the comics/TV connections to, the • Foofur: BI #77 • Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: BI #107
animated shows listed below. • Fraggle Rock: BI #77 • Sam and Max, Freelance Police:
• G.I. Joe: BI #16, 118 (Fury Force) BI #124
• Adventures in the DC Universe: BI #99 • Gumby: BI #16, 85 • Scooby-Doo: BI #52
• Animax: BI #77 • Hanna-Barbera Marvel Comics: • Silverhawks: BI #77
• The Archie Show, the Archies: BI #59 • Space Ghost: BI #2, 30 (Gary Owens
BI #33 (the Archies’ Ron Dante • Heathcliff: BI #77 interview), 59
interview), 107 • H.E.R.B.I.E. the Robot: BI #25 • Spidey Super Stories: BI #44
• Astro Boy: BI #30 • Hong Kong Phooey: BI #105 • Star Blazers: BI #59
• Batman: The Animated Series: BI #99 • The Incredible Hulk (1982 cartoon): • Star Comics (Marvel imprint): BI #77
• Bullwinkle and Rocky (Star Comics): BI #70 • Super Friends: BI #30, 38, 61, 83
BI #77 • The Inhumanoids: BI #77 • Superman Adventures: BI #99
• Camp Candy: BI #77 • James Bond, Jr.: BI #33 • Swamp Thing: BI #36
• Chuck Norris and the Karate • Jonny Quest: BI #59 • Teen Titans: BI #5 (unrealized
Kommandos: BI #77 • Josie and the Pussycats: BI #40 New Teen Titans cartoon), 122
• Defenders of the Earth: BI #77 • Legion of Super-Heroes (unproduced • Thundarr the Barbarian: BI #31
• Droids: BI #77 animated series): BI #5 • Thundercats: BI #40, 77
• Dynomutt and Blue Falcon: BI #97 • Marvel Productions, Ltd. (animation • Transformers: BI #16
• Ewoks: BI #77 company): BI #59 • Visionaries: BI #77
• Fantastic Four: BI #74 • Masters of the Universe: BI #16, 77
2 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

[Editor’s note: While most of this issue explores Bronze Age comic books
based upon Saturday morning cartoons, ye ed didn’t want to leave you
superhero fans high and dry. So here he comes to save the day! Not Mighty
Mouse (although the Mouse of Might does appear later this ish), but Scott
Shaw!, the Emmy and Eisner Award-winning cartoonist/animator/comics
historian, who’s got something he’d like to get off his chest….]
The first time I met Roy Thomas was at the 1972 San Diego Comic-Con.
by Scott Shaw! Roy was basking in fandom’s overwhelmingly positive reaction to
Conan; I was hawking my first professional comix, “The Turd” in Ken
Krueger’s Gory Stories Quarterly. The second time I met Roy was in
1977 at the American Comic Book Company in Studio City, California.
Roy had recently moved to Los Angeles to work in film; I had recently
moved to Los Angeles to find work in comics and animation while
managing a comic shop that was conveniently near the studios,
including Hanna-Barbera Productions, located right down the street
from my store.
Understandably, Roy didn’t recall me from our first encounter,
but as Roy became a regular customer at the ACBC, we became
more familiar with each other, then friends. That lead to Roy
assigning me to write and draw a backup story for a new series
he had recently created for Marvel. What If? vol. 1 #8 (Apr. 1978)
featured “What If the Spider Had Been Bitten by a Radioactive
Human?,” which introduced “Man-Spider.” (Marvel keeps reprinting
it, they just stopped paying me for it, because as we all know,
Disney’s broke.) Soon after (but unconnected) I also worked on
many of Marvel’s line of Hanna-Barbera comics, edited through
the studio’s offices. The gig directly led to me working at Hanna-
Barbera on their SatAM cartoon shows for years.
Meanwhile, Roy and I were working on a number of concepts
to “pitch” to newspaper syndicates and cartoon studios. When Roy
finally left Marvel for more creative freedom at DC, it wasn’t long
before we were talking about developing a new concept to pitch to
Roy’s new bosses. Of course, DC was eager to license their myriad
IP to TV networks. That got Roy Thomas and I thinking up concepts
that would be appropriate for licensing, especially because Roy’s new
deal was signed during DC’s short-lived era of creator participation
in certain titles. Since I had already done a number of funny-animal
stories for Quack! from Mike Friedrich’s “ground-level” Star*Reach,
we starting thinking about funny animals. I think that Roy must have
mentioned that he and North Carolina cartoonist Sam Grainger had
once co-created a rabbit superhero named “Captain Carrot” who
was in the vein of Mighty Mouse. (I didn’t see Sam’s drawing until
many years later.) To incite DC’s interest, Roy, his spouse Dann, and
I decided to pitch a team of funny-animal superheroes based on
DC heroes, “Super Squirrel and the Just’a Lotta Animals,” a parody
of the Justice League of America. Our gimmick, developed over
many spaghetti dinners, was a simple one: “What if Jack Kirby
drew Mighty Mouse?” In other words, funny-animal superhero
stories written and designed with humorous intent but told
with Kirby-esque storytelling. The plots would be serious with
real consequences rather than Tex Avery-style gags but scripted
with plenty of comedic versions of superhero tropes. Jack was
(and is) my favorite “straight” cartoonist, so I knew what to do.
We submitted a premise, character designs, and two sample pages of
dynamic pencil story art. DC expressed interest, but ultimately decided
that although they—especially publisher Jenette Kahn—liked the
World’s Furriest Comics concept, they wanted new funny-animal characters, not ones based
on pre-existing superheroes. Back to the drawing board, literally.
Circa 1982–1983, a Captain Carrot and Pig Iron sketch While designing these new characters, my primary influences were
by our guest columnist, Scott Shaw! Courtesy of cartoonist Wallace Wood’s somewhat obscure kid-leading-a-team-of-
goofy-heroes concepts Bucky Ruckus, Goody Bumpkin, Miracles Inc.,
Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). and Fearless Ferris and the Misfits. I was also a huge fan of Gilbert
Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew TM & © DC Comics.
Shelton’s Wonder Wart-Hog [see RetroFan #15, now on sale—ed.]
Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

and Marvel’s Not Brand Echh’s stories by Jack Kirby should look like. One thing was certain—the desired
and Marie Severin. Animated superhero cartoons of style was nowhere near my own. Joe—the original
The Original the 1960s also influenced me: Terrytoons’ The Mighty “Sea-Monkeys” artist and the DC cover editor who
Captain Carrot Heroes (created by Ralph Bakshi); Hanna-Barbera’s would roam its bullpen shouting “Sex sells!”—never
Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles; DePatie-Freleng’s worked in animation and added a lot of bulging
(top) Captain Super 6; and Jay Ward’s George of the Jungle. (Oh, you muscles and decorative details that would add more
Carrot, as originally never noticed that all three of that show’s segments “line mileage” and make the characters much more
are about heroes? Keep watching the pages difficult to animate. He drew “Alley-Kat-Abra”
envisioned by of RetroFan!) I kept the designs simple (note the new spelling) and Yankee Poodle
co-creators artist because a major aspect of DC’s interest with much sexier bodies than I felt neither
was to animate our characters in a DC competent nor comfortable to draw.
Sam Grainger and TV series. In fact, my experience as an (Looking at Joe’s superfluous sketches
writer Roy Thomas. animation designer was one of the of Yankee Poodle, I’m convinced he
reasons that Roy wanted to work with was a closeted furry!) And for some
Courtesy of Alter Ego me on this ongoing pitch-project. reason, Mr. Orlando hadn’t received
In 1981, Roy, Dann, and I created a the memo about “original character
#72, via Scott Shaw!
new batch of funny-animal superheroes concepts” memo and reimagined
(bottom) Penciled to replace the anthropomorphic Super the super-speeding turtle (now named
Friends. “The Critter Commandos” “Fastback”) as the Flash! Frankly, I
pitch pages starring consisted of Captain Carrot (revived still wish DC would have allowed me
Roy Thomas and in name only), Rubberduck, Alleycat- SCOTT SHAW! to employ the cleaner, sleeker style
Dabra, Yankee Poodle, Blue Streak, I used on the Super Squirrel pitch.
Scott Shaw!’s Big Cheese, and Whirlibird. I added Joe Crawford.
It was not only truer to my own style
Super Squirrel and Pig-Iron. DC still wasn’t convinced. We did a makeover of cartooning, the disparity between the cartoony
with a new name—“The Zoo Crew”—with a slightly designs and the Kirby layouts and posing would have
the Just’a Lotta different look, a few new names, and fewer teammates. been funnier. But these drawings by Joe Orlando make
Animals. Courtesy Around this time, DC’s creative director Joe Orlando it clear that “funny” was not DC’s goal. Apparently,
became involved, probably at Dick Giordano or Jenette they wanted to “cheat” the concept and make it look
of Scott Shaw! Kahn’s instruction. He sent me sketches of what he as much as possible like a standard superhero comic...
© DC Comics. thought Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew and up to then, most of the print material I’d worked
with so far were underground comix.
I was confused (to say the least), panicked (I’d quit
my gig at H-B so I could give my full attention to my
new project), and felt more than a bit intimidated.
I had every reason to be. Why was I being given the
runaround? Or was this how mainstream comics were
really created?
Unknown to me, DC approached Joe (Dick Tracy)
Staton to draw the book. Fortunately (for me), since
I’d recently inked Joe’s contribution to Eclipse’s
Destroyer Duck #1, Joe told them that he thought I was
more suited to the assignment. And at some point,
Joe Orlando even asked a college student with no
professional experience to submit his own designs for
the characters. (I only learned of that fact last year!)
We finally got the green light, and with the aid of
penciled Superman art by Ross Andru (one of my favorites
since Metal Men and “The War That Time Forgot” in Star
Spangled War Stories), inking by Bob Smith, coloring by
Carl Gafford, lettering by Todd Klein, and editing by Dick
Giordano and Dave Manak, the Captain Carrot preview
in New Teen Titans #16 (Feb. 1982) and Captain Carrot
and His Amazing Zoo Crew! #1 (Mar. 1982) hit the racks.
We didn’t receive our contracts until we were working on
the third issue, but the IP’s ownership was split four ways:
80% to DC, 5% to Roy Thomas; 5% to Gerry Conway;
and 10% to me. You’ll note that the fur of “Alley-
Kat-Abra” (note the new spelling) made a dramatic
change from white-to-black between issues. A
year later, Ruby-Spears Productions pitched a Captain
Carrot cartoon show to ABC, which optioned the property
for two years in a row. The second version featured
Wonder Woman as their token human being. R&S
never contacted any of us to work on the pitches,
but we did receive checks. (Since then, other than an
appearance on Robot Chicken DC Comics Special in a
rehash of The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s “Chuckles the
Clown’s Funeral” episode, there has been no further
attempt to animate Captain Carrot, Super Squirrel, or
any of the other characters from the funnybook series,
very possibly because WB only owns 80% of the IP.)

Evolution
Shaw! and Thomas’ original “Critter
Commandos” pitch art (with some characters
that didn’t make the first cut), plus early
character prototype sketches by Scott,
all from 1981. Originally seen in Alter Ego
#72 and shared with BI by Scott Shaw!
Note how the characters evolved by the time
the core group premiered in CCAHAZC #1.
Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew and Superman TM & © DC Comics.
Stretching my abilities, I toed the line regarding

the more complicated approach to the art, despite
the fact that the thinking behind it wasn’t at all
what we had pitched. Looking back, it was apparent
that DC didn’t trust a “bigfoot” cartoonist to sell
comics. Between the anatomy (at that time in my
career, kinda daunting) and the George Pérez-ish
detail that were expected, I was
always late for deadlines and
eventually lost the gig of
writing and drawing the
comic I’d co-created.
The Zoo Crew
returned in 2007 for
Bill Morrison’s and
my Captain Carrot and
the Final Ark, featuring
slightly revised costumes
I designed, although a
new and simpler
insignia for Captain
JOE ORLANDO Carrot was nixed at
the last minute. Since
Michael Catron. © DC Comics.
then, various versions
of the Zoo Crew have made infrequent appearances
in DC multiverse, with a variety of iterations,
costume alternations, and stylizations with which
they were depicted.
At least I can’t blame Joe Orlando for those!
Special thanks to Roy Thomas.
See BACK ISSUE #93 for our previous coverage of Captain

Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! And Shaw! fans, there’s
more from Scott in this issue’s “Bronze-tastic World of Hanna-
The Zoo Crew of Earth-O
Barbera Comics” article, plus he’ll be back next ish as we Joe Orlando’s interpretations of DC’s Captain Carrot characters,
explore DC’s Preview Comics of the 1980s. And don’t forget his
“Oddball World of Scott Shaw!” column in each and every issue courtesy of Scott Shaw!
of our sister publication, RetroFan! Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew TM & © DC Comics.

by Steven Thompson
jay ward
june foray
bill scott
When we last left our stalwart heroes, Rocky the flying squirrel and Bullwinkle Moose had been
“Get Moose and Squirrel!” seemingly safely ensconced at Western Publishing’s Gold Key Comics. That was at the (squirrel)
tail end of 1962. Suddenly, as if by some existential form of four-color magic, the dauntless
Those no-goodniks Boris and Natasha duo turned up again, in—of all places—Derby, Connecticut, some eight years later, for a
are up to… well, no good in this 1989 seven-issue run at Charlton Comics before continuing on their Western way with numbering
as if nothing had ever happened! To find out what mystery caused this bizarre sidestepping,
Rocky and Bullwinkle hand-inked, hand- don’t miss our next episode, “I Read the Moose Today,” or “What’s a Nice Squirrel Like You
painted scene cel originally sold at West Doing in Comics Like This?”
Hollywood’s Dudley Do-Right Emporium. Well, no mystery, actually, and you don’t really need to wait until the next episode, either.
Also shown are creator Jay Ward, June Look at it this way. If Rocky and Bullwinkle had been a comedy team in old Hollywood,
they might have started their careers at the top with MGM making their classics, but
Foray (voice of Rocky), and Bill Scott then, after diminishing box-office returns, gone on to release new, if somewhat lesser
(voice of Bullwinkle), excerpted from a quality, pictures through Monogram. Then, when the public’s fickle tastes took them up
again, MGM would come calling to take them back into the fold. Not that that would
1985 group photo of the three. last long, either, and yet even here in the 21st Century, new adventures and reprints have
Cel and photos courtesy of Heritage arisen for Rocky and his friends, both in print and in animation.
What’s all the fuss about, you ask? Just who are Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle
Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). J. Moose, anyway, and why do they simply refuse to stay in the past? The answer to that
Bullwinkle and Rocky © Ward Productions, Inc. lies in the waning days of the Eisenhower Administration of the late 1950s.

Kil-glorious Art
(top left) The first appearance of
Rocky, Bullwinkle, and pals in comics,
in Dell’s Four Color #1128 (Aug.–Oct.
1960). (top right) Bullwinkle horns
in as the title star in the first issue of
his own ongoing comic (Nov. 1962).
Both covers by Al Kilgore. (bottom)
This Bullwinkle daily comic strip (from
Nov. 4, 1964) may predate B I’s
Bronze Age purview, but Al Kilgore’s
artistic wizardry is too good not to
share. Courtesy of Heritage.
© Ward Productions, Inc.
al kilgore
WOSSAMOTTA U’s BULLWINKLE HISTORY 101 Fatale, and sometimes their more Nazi-like fearless leader, Fearless
The middle initial “J” in both characters’ names stands for Jay Ward. Leader. Basic good vs. evil adventures… with lots of puns and
Ward and Alex Anderson, who had earlier teamed on early cartoon occasional breaking of the fourth wall.
hero Crusader Rabbit, created Rocky and Bullwinkle as part of an Every episode of the TV series was structured like an old-timey
unproduced TV series concept called The Frostbite Falls Review, about Vaudeville act, with a short, serialized, farcical adventure chapter
animals running their own television station. Ward and former Looney with our main characters followed by brief “on-stage” shtick, then
Tunes writer Bill Scott refined the characters and Ward’s company, one of several hilarious backup features such as Dudley Do-Right, a
Jay Ward Productions, created and produced Rocky and His Friends dead-on sendup of the once-popular adventure genre that included
for ABC-TV beginning in 1959 and The Bullwinkle Show for another O’Malley of the Mounted, Renfrew of the Mounted, and Sgt. Preston of
four seasons on NBC after it was determined that viewers felt more the Yukon. The Do-Right segments proved to be popular enough that
empathy for the big, dopey moose than for the plucky little squirrel. Dudley got his own spinoff TV series and eventually his own spinoff
As noted, Rocky was a flying squirrel, seen perpetually in an comic-book series as well.
aviator’s cap. Unlike real-life flying squirrels that can merely glide Amongst the other well-remembered backup features were Fractured
short distances, Rocky was a flying fool. He could buzz around like Fairy Tales (narrated by the great character actor Edward Everett Horton),
Superman and was, in fact, described in the show’s original opening Aesop and Son (with Aesop played by Hollywood star Charlie Ruggles
as a “supersonic speedster.” In those days of sonic booms all over and Junior by Daws Butler), and Peabody’s Improbable History, featuring
America, “supersonic” was quite the buzzword. Rocky was a boy cartoon dog genius Mr. Peabody and his “pet boy,” Sherman.
scout type, a do-gooder, a moral compass, and a pretty smart young Without really trying, Ward and his multitalented writer-director
lad. In other words, although a heroic role model, he was actually Bill Scott, who also voiced Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Mr. Peabody,
kind of a dull character. This is why Bullwinkle, the lovable doofus with and other Ward characters, created a slow-building mini-phenomenon.
his own portable hat rack, became the favored POV character. Their cartoon series proved to be immensely popular with kids, of
A character biography credited to Jay Ward and Bill Scott states, course, but eventually intrigued and attracted the college-age and
“Despite his obvious sophistication, Rocky still retains his squirrel’s adult audiences that were appreciative of the humor of Nichols and
penchant for collecting nuts, as witness his partner, Bullwinkle.” May, Ernie Kovacs, Stan Freberg, and MAD magazine.
Bullwinkle is the everyman character, seemingly not quite all there and The show’s writing, led by Scott and future MTM writers Chris
yet a goodhearted and lucky soul, a loyal, goofy friend with a penchant Hayward and Allan Burns, was the key, with satirical silliness and puns
for stumbling into adventures, many of which pitted him against spies. being the order of the day. Equally important, though, were veteran
At the time of the series’ debut, the world was in the throes of the radio performers June Foray, Paul Frees, William Conrad, Hans Conried,
Cold War with the Soviets, and it seemed like spies were everywhere. and Walter Tetley providing most of the other voices alongside Scott.
Spies were especially big in popular fiction of the 1950s such as Ian Actress June Foray portrayed Rocky so well and in so many projects
Fleming’s James Bond novels. Thus it was that Jay Ward’s fictional for so many years that her 2009 autobiography, Did You Grow Up With
Frostbite Falls also had antagonistic spies, in the person of diminutive Me, Too? (for which I, myself, did transcription work!), features her
Communist-type Boris Badenov, his taller female sidekick, Natasha squirrely alter ego posing with her on its front cover.

Paul Frees was, in the long run, arguably the most successful voiceover artist of
them all, doing everything from dubbing Godzilla movie characters into English to
providing the computer voices in the movie, Colossus: The Forbin Project, and helping
to bring to life beloved ad mascot Poppin’ Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy, in hundreds
of TV commercials over a 20-year period beginning in 1965.
Hans Conried was one of the great ham actors, and was known for both voice acting
and live-action appearances such as starring roles in 1950s movies like The 5000 Fingers
of Dr. T and The Twonky. On television, he was a semi-regular as “Uncle Tonoose” on
Danny Thomas’ Make Room for Daddy, but also memorably guested on The Monkees,
Gilligan’s Island, and many other television programs of the 1960s and 1970s. He was
also the host of Jay Ward’s surreal silent comedy series, Fractured Flickers.
Finally, we come to William Conrad. Conrad was unquestionably one of the greatest
radio actors, able to play both gangsters and heroes so well that sometimes he was cast
as both in a single episode of some series! His deep, commanding voice was perfect
for his longest-lasting role as Marshal Matt Dillon in the original radio version of the
perennial Western favorite, Gunsmoke. The problem was that he was kind of short and
always rather hefty, thus his prospects in live-action roles were limited. By the 1970s,
when gimmicky detectives were in, William Conrad finally became a star as the fat
detective, Cannon. After that, he also played the portly literary detective Nero Wolfe,
and I’ll let you guess which character he played on another hit series, Jake and the Fat
Man. In between his radio and TV successes, though, Conrad was also the all-important
mile-a-minute narrator of Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons!
FROM FROSTBITE FALLS TO FOUR COLOR

Why should you care about who did the voices when we’re supposed to be talking
about comic books? Because the quickest way to determine if a Jay Ward comic book is
well-done and successfully reflects its source material is to decide if you can “hear”
the TV voices as you read along. The amazing voice work supplemented the self-aware
writing and made the limited animation come off as charming rather than cheap.
At the height of the show’s original TV success, the moose and squirrel appeared
on the cover of a 1962 issue of the magazine TV/Radio Mirror. By that point, they had
already appeared in comic books, popping up first at Dell, in that company’s legendary
Four-Color Comics series, along with several tie-in spinoffs such as The Bullwinkle Mother
Moose Nursery Pomes and Rocky and His Fiendish Friends. Along with children’s books and
coloring books, there was also a surreal and memorably inventive Bullwinkle newspaper
strip by Al Kilgore with humor that seemed aimed more at teens and grown-ups.
It even featured guest appearances by Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie from the Warren
Publishing black-and-white horror mags!
Just prior to Western Publishing’s split with Dell Comics, which led to Western’s
continuation as Gold Key Comics, Dell published one issue of Bullwinkle in his own
title (July–Sept. 1962). Gold Key retained the license in the divorce case and published
two more issues of Bullwinkle immediately following the split. Rocky and Bullwinkle
also popped up in a couple issues of the long-running shoe store giveaway, March of
Comics, also packaged by Western, but then the publisher retired the characters,
even before the TV show went into syndicated reruns.
It was those endless reruns, though—as well as General Mills cereal print ads,
TV commercials, and the ever-present and beloved giant Bullwinkle hot air balloon in
the annual televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade—that kept the characters in the
public consciousness.
Throughout the remainder of the 1960s, however, Jay Ward was represented in
the comics format only in a series of Cap’n Crunch promotional mini-comics, a similar
series featuring his other cereal mascots Quake and Quisp [see RetroFan #11], and two
Gold Key issues headlining Ward’s last great cartoon character, George of the Jungle
[see RetroFan #17, coming in October 2021], and George’s TV co-features, Tom Slick,
and Super Chicken. (Hoppity Hooper, Ward’s 1964–1967 follow-up series to Bullwinkle,
never made it into comics at all!)
It was toward the end of the 1960s when the notoriously cheap Charlton Comics,
thinking that the trend had passed, cancelled all of its original superheroes—Captain
Atom, Peacemaker, Thunderbolt, etc.—and, instead, began surprisingly paying for
various licensed characters such as Beetle Bailey, Underdog, Popeye, Snuffy Smith, and,
yes, Bullwinkle and Rocky. The company even took out an ad in the trades, touting its
new tie-in titles for “New Explosive Profit Power in the ’70s.”
Being from Charlton, which was notorious for not paying its writers and artists very
well, it goes without saying that those tie-ins varied widely in quality, with the cover
gags often being the best parts of any issues.
Dropping in At Derby The very first thing one notices about the Charlton run of Bullwinkle and Rocky
(top) Charlton’s Bullwinkle and Rocky #1 is that it suffers from a distinct lack of William Conrad. As noted, the voices were
(July 1970). (bottom) This fan club ad ran in all-important to the series. Granted, there’s also no sign of Foray, Scott, or Frees, but it’s
still easy enough to read all the characters’ dialogue in their familiar voices anyway.
Charlton’s Bullwinkle comics. But Conrad’s rapid-fire narration can’t even be heard in the reader’s head as there
© Ward Productions, Inc. simply aren’t many omniscient narrator captions anywhere to be found.

The very first tale in Bullwinkle and Rocky #1 (July 1970) does open Surprisingly, sometimes Dudley Do-Right’s nemesis, Snidely
with a caption but it’s a simple, non-descript caption just to set the Whiplash, is there as well! In three separate stories, in fact, Snidely and
scene: “Rocky and Bullwinkle have been summoned to the Metropolis Boris are working together to nefarious ends. In issue #3 (Nov. 1970),
Museum by Professor Fossal, a famous archaeologist…” Try hearing Rocky stumbles on them at an auction house. After giving them the
that in Conrad’s frenzied voice. Doesn’t work. There are only five once over at the bottom of one page, he’s conked on the head by
more captions in the entire issue. They didn’t even try. Natasha at the top of the next. In one of the few Charlton instances
Still, character voices are a different story. The reader has no of “meta” of the type that abounded in the cartoon, Snidely asks,
problem whatsoever being able to hear the comic dialogue in the “Why didn’t you join us one page earlier?”
stories in the voices of the show’s stars. Bill Scott IS Bullwinkle, Paul Snidely turns up next in Bullwinkle and Rocky #5 (Mar. 1971) in
Frees IS Boris Badenov, and June Foray IS Natasha Fatale and Rocky! a story called “The Frivolous Fish,” drawn by Paul Fung, Jr. He can
Best of all, the dialogue is so fun that presumably one could enjoy it also be seen in Fung’s “Gold Giving Gadget” in issue #6 (June 1971),
even without ever having seen or heard an episode of the TV show. albeit only in six panels and never mentioned by name. He’s nowhere
According to Greg Walker, son of Mort Walker and currently one to be seen at the end as the villains are captured. I suspect he may
of his Beetle Bailey newspaper strip creators, it was he who wrote some have been added in as an afterthought for some reason. He was
issues of Bullwinkle and also Dudley Do-Right for Charlton. Around that definitely more than an afterthought to Dudley Do-Right, though,
same time, Greg was also doing work on other Charlton titles including and appeared regularly in Dudley’s own Charlton title.
the Flintstones spinoff Barney and Betty Rubble and—naturally—the
Beetle Bailey spinoff title, Sarge Snorkel, for which he was the main GOTTA DO-RIGHT
writer/artist throughout its entire run. Greg wasn’t able to access his There are five major characters in the Do-Right cartoons. Dudley
records to find out exactly which Bullwinkle issues he did but told me, (voiced by Bill Scott) represents the ultimate stereotype and cliché
“I wrote a few scripts for the comic books. I don’t know who drew of the boy scout-ish Canadian Mountie, although he is very much
them.” He suggested that cartoonist Frank Johnson, who was doing a a world-class coward at heart. Dudley’s commanding officer is
lot of work for Charlton at that time, as well, may have done at least Inspector Fenwick (Paul Frees, also generally the narrator of Dudley’s
one with him. (A few later stories, drawn in a more detailed style, adventures), whose daughter Nell (June Foray) is the apple of
were signed by Paul Fung, Jr.) When asked if he had received any guide- Dudley’s eye. Nell, however, consistently prefers Dudley’s horse,
lines at all from Jay Ward Productions or was left to his own devices, Horse. (Please don’t go there. This is a family magazine.) Meanwhile,
Greg replied, “I had no direction from Jay Ward on the scripts.” the evil—and you know he’s evil because he dresses all in black with
Bullwinkle in particular is better drawn at Charlton than he had a big ol’ twirly mustache—Snidely Whiplash (Hans Conried) is the
been in some of the earlier comics. There, artists seemed to have bane of Dudley’s existence and Snidely’s dull-witted minion, Homer
real trouble getting his antlers consistently the right size, with some (Scott again), is the bane of Snidely’s.
making them so small as to make the character look silly. Well, Although Dudley Do-Right had appeared in his own stories in
even sillier than he’s normally meant to look. Others even gave him many of the Dell Rocky and Bullwinkle-related titles, they were always
what looked almost like a moose attempt at a pre-Beatles moptop, a drawn in a strange, almost expressionistic style. Oddly enough,
look he had actually had in the original concept art by Alex Anderson. his Charlton stories, by adhering more to the TV model, would have
Most of the Charlton stories pit our heroes against Boris and Natasha to be described as better drawn. Cartoonist Frank Johnson signed all
and simply change the settings. They’re in a museum, in a park, in a the Dudley Do-Right covers and most likely did the interiors as well
play, in a zoo, in a cave, or in a barbershop, always with Boris and (with a few non-Ward filler strips by the likes of George Wildman and
Natasha there attempting to capture our friends or do them in. the Nicholas/Alascia team).
Yukon Count
on Me
(left) Charlton’s first
issue of Dudley
Do-Right (Aug.
1970). Cover by
Frank Johnson.
(right) Dudley
Do-Right foil
Snidely Whiplash
drops in to join
Boris Badenov in
making trouble for
our intrepid heroes.
From Charlton’s
Bullwinkle and Rocky
#3 (Nov. 1970).
Pencils by
Paul Fung, Jr.

The reason that Dudley even got his own comic book
Back at Gold Key here was undoubtedly because he had his own cartoon
After Charlton’s short- series at that time as well. Based on the continued
lived run, Bullwinkle popularity of the character in syndicated reruns of The
Bullwinkle Show, ABC revived the early ’60s Bullwinkle
and Rocky returned to spinoff series The Dudley Do-Right Show for one year in
Gold Key and resumed its 1969–1970 Saturday morning season. After that, the
show went into perpetual syndication with newly edited
Bullwinkle’s numbering episodes. Charlton’s bimonthly Dudley Do-Right comic
with issue #3 (Apr. 1972), book also ran one year, from issue #1 (Aug. 1970) to issue
7 (Aug. 1971), and every story in every issue was a direct
but the series reprinted adaptation of one of the TV episodes.
old Dell covers and One can’t help but think that “Flicker Rock,” the first
stories. With this issue, story in the first issue, was purposely chosen first out of a
perverse desire to use the word “flick,” long frowned upon
Bullwinkle #8 (July 1973), in comic books (but, despite rumors to the contrary, never
the title featured all-new actually banned) lest the ink run or a dark speck of wood
grain be embedded in the printed page between the “L”
covers and stories (for and the “I.” This, of course, would prompt unsuspecting
a while). Note that parent readers to see it… then say it!
The almost word for word adaptation—with lots of
while its cover logo is appearances of “flick” and numerous variations thereof—
“Bullwinkle and Rocky,” seems to have run out of space toward the end as the final
the title was officially page rushes to its anticlimactic punch line in an entirely
different setting than that of the episode as aired.
named Bullwinkle. As with their sister book, every issue of Dudley Do-Right
© Ward Productions, Inc. was rounded out with a number of poster pages and
coloring pages. Black-and-white 17x22 posters for
coloring were even offered through mail order.
Never known for their all-out
marketing efforts, Charlton made an
exception when it came to their licensed
titles at that time, going so far as to set
up separate official fan clubs for both
Bullwinkle and Rocky and Dudley Do-Right.
For $1.50, new members of each club
could get a ring, a membership card,
and a T-shirt “manufactured by a top
maker!” For 75 cents more, a fan could
choose to instead get a sweatshirt with a
different character image.
THE ROCKY RETURNS OF

MOOSE AND SQUIRREL
Presumably both clubs died out when
Charlton let the license lapse, most
likely due to less-than-expected sales
in spite of their efforts. Barely missing a
beat, though, Gold Key once again picked up the license
that the publisher had dropped nearly a decade earlier and
the first new quarterly issue of Bullwinkle, #3 (Apr. 1972),
hit the stands featuring reprints from the earlier Dell
comics. Rocky gets billed in a smaller font on the covers,
but not at all in the official title.
The cover art for that first issue is reprinted from the
characters’ first comic book, Four-Color #1128 (Aug.–Oct.
1960), and the entirety of the contents also come from that
issue. The main story features Gidney and Cloyd, the Moon
Back at Gold Key… Again!

After a hiatus, Bullwinkle returned to Gold
Key with issue #20 (Apr. 1979). Courtesy of
Heritage, shown here is the original art
to that issue’s cover, by an unnamed artist,
guest-starring popular Jay Ward drop-in
characters Gidney and Cloyd.

Moose and
Squirrel at
Mighty Marvel
(left) Bullwinkle
and Rocky #1
(Nov. 1987), part
of Marvel’s Star
Comics imprint.
Art by Ernie Colón
and Jacqueline
Roettcher. (right)
Series writer
Dave Manak was
illustrating the
title by the end of
its run. Page 1 from
issue #9.
Men who appeared from time to time in the cartoon, attempting to offered in a series of regularly published trade paperbacks as
use magnetism to bring popular TV moose, Bullwinkle, to the Moon. well as a comic-book reprint series popular enough to go weekly
While the Grand Comics Database credits the late, great Al at one point. While most of the company’s original material was
Kilgore with most of the writing, they are quick to point out forgettable, they did hit it big briefly by cashing in on the 1980s
that he did not always do the artwork in spite of speculation to 3-D revival. Blackthorne combined its licensing with its 3-D books
the contrary. Reprints from the long-ago Dell comics continued and put out 3-D editions of Kull, Star Wars, Sheena, Transformers,
in the Gold Key series until issue #8 (July 1973), when readers Sad Sack, the Flintstones, the California Raisins (their biggest-
were greeted by two new Bullwinkle and Rocky stories and two selling and longest-lasting 3-D title!), and, yes, two issues of our
new Dudley Do-Right stories. All of them were very traditional, old Moose and Squirrel friends.
with the only thing close to a modern reference being Natasha The first, 3-D Bullwinkle and Rocky #1 (a.k.a. Blackthorne 3-D
making a recycling joke. After that there were more all-new but Series #18), is dated March of 1987 and is written by Blackthorne
not particularly memorable issues and then Gold Key dropped the editor John Stephenson and drawn by Kubert School graduate
title once again with issue #19 (Mar. 1978). Jorge Pacheco.
Apparently, Western Publishing still held onto the license, “Bullwinkle and Rocky holds a special place in my heart,”
though, as Bullwinkle #20 (Apr. 1979) showed up on the stands says Pacheco, who adds that that first 3-D issue was also his first
about a year later, only to sputter to a quick and final halt after major professional job. “I did all the artwork, including hand
only four more issues of early 1960s reprints by Kilgore and lettering. I also colored the covers by hand with Doc Martin
others. With Gold Key Comics as a publisher following to its own dyes/watercolors.”
demise soon afterwards, and Charlton, too, giving up the ghost, I asked the artist what it was like to start out having to draw in
it seemed as though Bullwinkle and Rocky were being put out to 3-D and he replied, “There was no difference in drawing in 3-D than
pasture for good. non-3-D. However, I did try to think three-dimensionally. I was still
But the original, hip Jay Ward cartoons were still in syndication very green/young in my career. I’d just graduated from the Joe Kubert
and new audiences, young and old, continued to discover and School and was very excited to work on the books. I was a fan of the
rediscover them. Something else that was rediscovered in the Bullwinkle and Rocky cartoon, and the style of the show truly fit my
1980s was the concept of 3-D comics, drawn with red-and- emerging style.”
blue linework that pulled together when viewed under special Stephenson must have been a fan as well, as he does an impressive
red-and-blue glasses to give the effect of panels bursting right job of adapting the TV series’ most famous (or perhaps “infamous”
off the printed page. The trend had originally caught on in the as there was a lawsuit at the time) storyline, the story of the “Kirward
1950s, pioneered by Joe Kubert and Norman Maurer at St. John Derby,” to fit the comics format.
Publishing. It became a major craze throughout the industry but
quickly ran its course and was largely forgotten. Although DC “JUST LIKE DOING THE SHOW AGAIN!”
Comics released a 3-D Batman title at the height of Batmania Less than a year after Blackthorne’s 3-D one-shot, another Bullwinkle
in the mid-1960s, the craze never caught fire again and was #1 (Nov. 1987) turned up as part of Marvel’s short-lived Star line of
relegated to the history books until the 1980s. kids’ comics [see BACK ISSUE #77]. Writer Dave Manak tells BACK ISSUE,
But then along came Blackthorne. Blackthorne Comics “Bullwinkle and Rocky hold a very special place in my heart.” He opens
was a short-lived publisher that rose from the ashes of his first story with a very Conrad-esque caption that is interrupted by
Pacific Comics, one of the earliest publishers of the 1980s Rocky and Bullwinkle breaking the fourth wall. “I could hear Conrad in
independent comics boom. Blackthorne typically specialized my head when I wrote it,” Manak says. “I was channeling the whole
in licensed properties, most famously Dick Tracy, which they show!” Sure enough, seven pages later, after no less than 21 captions,

the story ends on a cliffhanger, with the narrator giving us two possible Was There Russian Election Interference?
titles for the next episode, just like on the cartoon. Before that next
episode begins, we even get a Fractured Fairy Tales and a Bullwinkle’s And you thought Howard the Duck’s run for the Oval Office
Corner, again mimicking the TV show’s format. was nutty! Photo cover to Blackthorne’s 1988 one-shot 3-D
Manak successfully captures all the familiar character “voices” right
out of the gate. He throws in puns and little off-plot asides just like Bullwinkle for President #1, with art insert by Jorge Pacheco.
the series, too. In fact, the only disappointing factor in this reboot of © Ward Productions, Inc.
Bullwinkle and Rocky is its artwork. The great comics artist Ernie Colón
was certainly no stranger to children’s
comics, having been the main artist chapeau (named after the largely
associated with Richie Rich for many forgotten comedian Durward Kirby)
years by that point. His simple, stylish while introducing the reader to a
penciling had also enlivened sci-fi more up-to-date punny hat, the “Pia
and horror tales at Warren as well as Fedora” (named after controversial
DC’s Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld. but now-forgotten starlet Pia Zadora).
As inked here by longtime Harvey Although the fact that it was
Comics inker Jacqueline Roettcher in 3-D no doubt scared many fans
(and by Al Milgrom in later issues), away, the 28-page story found in
his Bullwinkle and Rocky are given a the 3-D Bullwinkle for President issue
less traditional, if still recognizable, turns out to be the most accurate
look. “I’d known Ernie for years,” says and familiar portrayal to date of
Manak, “and had as much respect Ward’s now legendary characters in
for him and his art as anyone. Ernie the comic-book format!
had his own slightly different version The story opens with the
of the Ward style, but he could Narrator leading us into the White
practically pencil and ink a whole House, with Bullwinkle already
story in one night! I really couldn’t occupying the Oval Office. When
complain about it a bit!” his Veep, Rocky, asks what’s on the
According to Manak, it was Ernie day’s agenda, the President replies,
Colón who was behind his ending “First we have to do one of those
up on the new Bullwinkle and Rocky nifty flashbacks so’s the readers
title at Star Comics in the first place. will know how we got here.” The
“I left my editorial job at DC after disappointed Narrator says, “I was
three years, not because I didn’t supposed to say that.” And away
like it but because I wanted to start we go, with all the familiar tropes,
freelancing again. At Ernie Colón’s all the good and bad guys, puns
urging, I met Sid Jacobson, who and in-jokes galore, an epic plot,
was running Star Comics for Marvel, and Waldo-like full-page panels.
with the intent of starting a writing Disappointingly, no more
career. After showing my writing Bullwinkle comics were forthcoming
mettle on some other Star titles. from Blackthorne, but Marvel’s
Sid mentioned to me that Star was Bullwinkle and Rocky comic continued
getting the rights to do Bullwinkle. on until issue #9 (Mar. 1989), which
I jumped at the chance to write it! featured Manak’s funny take on
Rocky and His Friends was absolutely Bullwinkle as the superhero the
my favorite show way back when! Masked Avenger.
“For the most part,” he
continues, “we did ‘visual scripts’ which were literally storyboards of After that, it seemed once again that the Ward characters were
each comic page, so we got quick feedback from anyone who had perhaps played out and would finally be retired. Still to come,
to give approval. After seeing my first script, Peter Piech—Rocky’s though, were DVD releases of the classic episodes, two live-action
TV producer at the time for Ward and in charge of our Bullwinkle feature films (Boris and Natasha in 1992 and The Adventures of Rocky
comic—told Sid that it was just like doing the show again!” and Bullwinkle in 2000), author (and later Bullwinkle voice himself)
The various side features also turn up again, of course. Dudley Keith Scott’s bestselling book, The Moose That Roared: The Story of
Do-Right returns in “The Return of Dudley Do Right Snidley Whiplash” Jay Ward, Bill Scott, a Flying Squirrel, and a Talking Moose, several
in Bullwinkle #3 (Mar. 1988), written and drawn by Manak (with well-received new cartoon shorts, June Foray’s autobiography,
Milgrom inks) and again so true to its source, one can almost hear and a rebooted, modernized streaming series, as well as trade-
the old-timey silent movie music accompanying the story. The head paperback reprints of the original Bullwinkle and Rocky comic
scratcher, though, is why Snidely’s skin is colored such a dark green books and finally all-new stories featuring the venerable Jay Ward
throughout. While his skin had always been a bit pale and tinted in properties—some even drawn once again
the cartoons (if not always in his earlier comics appearances), here he by Jorge Pacheco! Hokey smoke!
looks as if he had wandered in from a Munsters story! But all that’s behind us now, and retirement
After the first two Star Comics issues, the remaining seven simply had once again seems eminent.
“Marvel” in the corner box, even though the stories inside continued Ah, but to quote the immortal words
to say, “Star Comics Presents” or “A Star Comics Presentation.” By the of Rocket J. Squirrel, himself, “That trick
end of the too-brief nine-issue run, Manak himself was doing the art never works!”
as well as the writing.
Even before the end of the Star/Marvel run, though, a second 3-D STEVEN THOMPSON is Booksteve of Booksteve’s
issue surprisingly appeared from Blackthorne! Also by Stephenson and Library (http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.
Pacheco, this one was 3-D Bullwinkle for President #1 (a.k.a. Blackthorne com) and a dozen other blogs. He has written
3-D Series #50, Fall 1988) and is a follow-up to the team’s earlier for Fantagraphics, TwoMorrows, Yoe Books, Bear
“Kirward Derby” adaptation. It features the return of that spectacular Manor Media, and Time Capsule Productions.

TTV or Total TeleVision productions was created as an
answer to Jay Ward Productions in Hollywood in 1960.
Jay Ward had begun as an advertising vehicle for General
Mills and its initial offering was Rocky and his Friends,
starring Rocky, the flying squirrel and his pal, Bullwinkle
Moose. The series premiered in 1959, and although
popular, was not exactly what General Mills was really
looking for in regard to a cartoon show to advertise its
cereals. They were expecting a cute and kid-friendly funny-
animal show, and instead they got a show that featured
hard-hitting satire of the Cold War and espionage.
The people at General Mills’ advertising agency,
Dancer Fitzgerald Sample or DFS, were in a quandary.
They didn’t want to upset what Ward Productions was
doing in Los Angeles, but at the same time, they didn’t
by Mark Arnold trust some of the stuff they were doing. Indeed, some
of the story ideas that Ward had come up with like
Truthpaste were soundly rejected, and others that did
go through, like the idea of counterfeit box tops, was
not greeted well by General Mills, for fear that people
might do the same with their box tops for promotions.
THERE’S NO NEED TO FEAR, TTV IS HERE

So, TTV was formed in New York, with four principals
who had advertising backgrounds, three of whom
came from DFS. Their initial offering was a show called
King Leonardo and His Short Subjects in 1960, which
contained three segments. The first was The King and
Odie, where King Leonardo and his handler Odie
Cologne were constantly at odds with the King’s
sibling Itchy Brother and his mob boss, Biggy Rat.
The second segment was The Hunter, about a
detective dog out to capture the Fox and stop
him from doing his latest crime and inadvertently
defeating him and sending him to jail with the help
of Officer Flim Flanagan.
The third segment was of Tooter the Turtle, a meek
turtle who consistently wished he was something he
wasn’t like an astronaut or a baseball player. Tooter
would go visit Mr. Wizard the Lizard, who would grant
him his wish, but always warn him of consequences.
Tooter would invariably get himself in trouble in his
new guise and always call out, “Help! Mr. Wizard!” for
Mr. Wizard to rescue him and bring him back home.
King Leonardo and his Short Subjects was syndicated
as The King and Odie Show. Similar to how The Rocky
Show was syndicated from Rocky and His Friends, The
King and Odie Show was designed to be shown in either
a 15-minute or a half-hour format.
Early in the series’ NBC run, selected Columbia
Pictures theatrical cartoons were aired on the program,
some featuring The Fox and the Crow and Li’l Abner.
These shorts were added to fill time when production
of the early shows was delayed. The Columbia cartoons
were featured during NBC showings of Hanna-Barbera’s
Ruff and Reddy, but not included in subsequent
syndicated versions of the series.
Another segment of the original King Leonardo show
Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog, just little ol’ me… was Twinkles (an orange elephant), which simultaneously
appeared as a feature on Jay Ward’s Rocky and His
…Underdog. And the series’ main cast and crooks, as illustrated by Friends. The title character served as the mascot of
Jim Engel for an issue of Spotlight Comics’ Underdog series Twinkles Cereal, a product of the show’s chief sponsor,
General Mills. The 90-second Twinkles segments
that went unpublished. Courtesy of the artist. continued to air in syndication during the 1960s, and
Underdog © Classic Media, LLC.
were presented in a 15-minute format under the title

The King and Odie, but later phased out after a firefighter character THE UNDERDOG SHOW
replaced the elephant as the cereal’s mascot. The segments also During Tennessee Tuxedo’s success, TTV was able to sell their third
appeared during some NBC network rebroadcasts of Underdog. hit series. At first they weren’t sure what they were going to do
King Leonardo was a hit show and did become a comic-book series for another encore. DFS and General Mills gave TTV a cryptic clue.
and was heavily merchandised in many other ways. Two issues Gordon Johnson of General Mills said that “TTV’s next series had
appeared under the Four Color banner (#1242 [inset] and 1278), an better be super and also to stay away from frogs.” TTV creators
issue with no number from 1962, and then a four-issue series that Buck Biggers and Chet Stover weren’t sure what they meant, but
was issued during 1962 and 1963. for a grand total of seven issues. they eventually discovered that Jay Ward’s next series after Rocky
After King Leonardo ran its course in 1963, TTV sold its second and His Friends and The Bullwinkle Show had run its course was to
series, titled Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales. This featured be a series called Hoppity Hooper, starring a frog! Ironically,
some of the same old segments, plus the new segment Jay Ward’s Hoppity Hooper is the one Ward show that
featuring Tennessee Tuxedo, a penguin, and his walrus most closely resembles a TTV show in style and tone,
pal, Chumley, who are constantly trying to escape from despite the fact that they were created on opposite
the Megapolis Zoo or invent some sort of get-rich- coasts of the country. They did still share the common
quick scheme or find an easier way to do assignments bond of being animated at Gamma Productions in
given by Zookeeper Stanley Livingstone. Mexico City.
When Tennessee and Chumley did get into some As for the super part, they figured that a super-
sort of fix, which usually happened at the midpoint hero should be their next offering, but a super what?
of each two-part episode, they almost always escaped Chet Stover explained that he was in the room when
the zoo in order to seek out the advice and help of a rerun of the I Love Lucy episode came on that featured
Mr. Whoopee, the man with all the answers. Whoopee George Reeves as Superman. Inspiration struck him
would explain their problem on the 3DBB, or
three-dimensional blackboard. Tennessee and joe harris
Chumley would then leave prematurely because
they thought they had enough information. Other
times, when they did heed Whoopee’s warnings
of “But wait!”, they came up with an intelligent
solution to their problems.
Amazingly, there was never a Tennessee Tuxedo
comic book, even to this day, although the
concept would lend itself well to a comic.
Even American Mythology, which has published
new Underdog comic books in recent years, has
never issued a Tennessee Tuxedo book, although
Tennessee has appeared on occasional covers.
New short episodes of Tennessee Tuxedo and
Chumley were created in 2014 for YouTube by Chuck
Gammage Animation in Toronto and Cartoon
Lagoon Studios in New York. While creating these
episodes, in 2013 the studio took a stab at a new
Underdog episode called Underdog: The Adventure
Continues. This episode was not completed, but
one can view the results on YouTube.
“There’s no need to
fear… Underdog will
soon be here!”
(top) Our courageous canine
crusader is interviewed
by Sweet Polly Purebread
in this undated original
illustration by Underdog
character designer Joe Harris.
Also shown are character
sketches, storyboard
drawings, and production
materials related to the
development of the
TV show. Courtesy of
Heritage Comics Auctions
and iCollector.
© Classic Media, LLC.

as he watched to go with the opposite of a super man, and instead to Look! Up in the sky!
a dog, an under dog. Underdog! That was it!
Underdog character designer Joe Harris explained further in Underdog soars over the awestruck populace in this
an interview that was published in Created and Produced by Total undated photo from New York City’s Macy’s
TeleVision productions, “My partner Chet was watching television
one night. I Love Lucy was on. Desi Arnaz had just told Lucy that Thanksgiving Day Parade… with a certain noteworthy
he was inviting George Reeves over for dinner. George Reeves was cartoon Moose on his tail.
the man who did Adventures of Superman on television. So Lucy
said, ‘Oh, my God,’ and immediately
made a Superman costume. Later, to stay to listen to McBragg’s tall tale.
she walked out on the fire escape so After the tale is told, the guest says
that she could come back through the a punny summation of the story, to
window and surprise George Reeves. which McBragg responds with a
She never got in because the window subtle “Quite.” These segments also
was locked, and she was out there all aired on Jay Ward’s shows.
night. As I said, my friend and partner Klondike Kat gets its cues from Jay
Chet Stover saw the episode, and Ward’s Dudley Do-Right, who was also
he never watches television. He just a Canadian Mountie who “always gets
happened to watch it that night. The his mouse” and loudly proclaims, “I’ll
next day he said, ‘We’ve just got to make mincemeat out of that mouse!”
create a superhero. A dog, and we have The mouse is Savoir Fare, who in turn
to animate him into these stories. It’s loudly proclaims that “Savoir Fare is
the perfect idea. So, he conceptualized everywhere!” Fare’s mute assistant is a
the idea for Underdog. We all loved it, dog named Malamutt. Klondike Kat’s
and started to do the production.” superior is Major Minor, who gives
The Underdog Show turned out to be Klondike his assignments.
TTV’s most successful series, originally Following all of this, the 62-episode
running for three years from 1964– syndicated Underdog Show series that
1967, and then reruns on Saturday ran from approximately 1973 through
mornings through 1973. The show 1995 through the DFS Program
debuted at 10 a.m. on October 3, Exchange. This version also incorporated
1964, on NBC. For its third season, Tennessee Tuxedo episodes, plus added
Underdog switched networks to CBS, the originally unaired pilots of Gene
beginning on September 10, 1966, Hattree and Cauliflower Cabby from
through September 1, 1968. It then 1964 and the three Singalong Family
returned to NBC, in reruns, from segments that originally aired on
September 7, 1968 through September The Beagles.
5, 1970, and again from September 9, 1972 to September 1,
1973, ending an incredible nine-year run, even though no new UNDERDOG FLIES HIGH
episodes were produced after March 1967. Underdog was definitely TTV’s biggest hit, so much so that a gigantic
As with Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, the series almost didn’t balloon was commissioned to debut at the 1965 Macy’s Thanksgiving
happen. General Mills only greenlit each succeeding show if the Day Parade, along with an accompanying float, plus the premiere of a
proceeding show was a success. So, if King Leonardo and His Short brand new Thanksgiving themed four-part Underdog episode debuted
Subjects was a flop, there would have been no Tennessee Tuxedo. after the parade that same day.
Likewise, if Tennessee Tuxedo was a flop, there would have been no Bill Smith, who works with the balloons and is a Macy’s Thanks-
Underdog Show. giving Day Parade Historian, contributed much valuable information
Original Underdog Shows from 1964–1966 consisted of two about the balloon for the upcoming book, The TTV Scrapbook. In an
Underdog segments each week, a Go Go Gophers segment, a World interview excerpt, Smith said, “The project originally began as NBC
of Commander McBragg segment, and a Hunter segment each week. television (who held broadcast rights to the Macy’s Parade) was also
For the 1965 summer rerun months, there were two Underdog the network which broadcast the animated series The Underdog Show.
segments each week, a Jay Ward Aesop and Son segment, a “In the spring of 1965, conversations began with NBC and
Commander McBragg segment, and a Hunter segment each week. TTV about the prospect of Underdog becoming a balloon. Upon
The 1966–1967 season consisted of two Underdog segments each negotiating a deal, TTV artist Joe Harris submitted a series of drawings
week, a Go Go Gophers segment, a Commander McBragg segment, and a model sheet of the pose that would lend itself well from an
and a Klondike Kat segment each week. When Underdog went into aerodynamic standpoint, while capturing the spirit of the animated
reruns beginning in Fall 1967 through 1970, the show consisted cartoon character, the flying pose.
of four Underdog episodes to form a complete story. Presumably, a “Macy’s sent the artwork and some color renderings of the character
repeat Commander McBragg was also part of the show. over to Goodyear at the end of June 1965. The mechanical drawings
Go Go Gophers featured the two remaining gopher Indians on a were done and approved on July 25, 1965. Goodyear Engineer Sid
reservation. Colonel Kit Coyote and Sergeant Okey Homa were in a Smith added the final touches and on July 29, 1965, the balloon
constant battle with them over territory rights. Chief Running Board began its production at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s
had to constantly translate Ruffled Feather’s gibberish talk for the Rockmart, Georgia, facility. Two and a half months later—the finished
Colonel and Sergeant. The Colonel was based upon President canine superhero was packed in a large wooden crate and trucked to
Theodore Roosevelt shouting “Bully!” as often as possible. Akron, Ohio, and the waiting hands of Goodyear.
The World of Commander McBragg was loosely based upon “Underdog [was] completed and ready for his first helium test
British actor C. Aubrey Smith, particularly in his role in the flight at the Goodyear Wingfoot Lake blimp hangar in Akron, Ohio…
1939 film The Four Feathers. Smith specialized in portraying rotund held on Monday, October 11, 1965. It was a sunny yet windy morning
and pompous English military leaders. The idea behind and Underdog was inflated inside the very same hangar which was
McBragg’s propensity to lie or exaggerate came from The home to the Goodyear Blimps. A private inflation with all parties
Adventures of Baron Munchausen. McBragg’s disinterested guest present and Goodyear’s photographers and film crew on the scene,
“really must be going,” but McBragg always coerces his guests Underdog awakened from the hangar and like a dog emerging from

a colossal doghouse, and Underdog sailed out into the sunshine for
his ‘test flight’ [with] 31 strong volunteers, many the production crew
and Goodyear employees.
“A vast amount of footage was shot in color and from this extensive
footage, approximately one minute was edited for a film that would
be distributed by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to NBC
and other media sources and Macy’s for pre-parade publicity.
“Underdog the balloon flies around the airfield and then returns
to the hangar, where he is deflated and packaged for his big trip to
New York for the his big day, as Underdog will become the 85th
balloon constructed by Goodyear for the 39th Annual Macy’s Thanks-
giving Day Parade on November 25, 1965.
“Underdog made his debut in the parade joined by other Good-
year balloons of Sinclair Oil Company’s Dino the Dinosaur, Borden’s
Elsie the Cow, Bullwinkle, Donald Duck, Linus the Lionhearted,
Popeye the Sailor Man, and the Happy Dragon. Eight balloons in all.”
The balloon was so popular that it appeared on the cover of The New
Yorker magazine the following year, and made appearances in such
TV shows as Friends, movies such as Woody
Allen’s Broadway Danny Rose, and a later TV
commercial for Coca-Cola. The balloon was
in the parade virtually every year until 1984.
Some swear that they’ve seen the balloon in
more recent times in the parade, but it isn’t
true. Sadly, the balloon no longer exists.
UNDERDOG IN COMICS
Strangely, no Underdog comic-book series
would appear during the series original
run, but the merchandising for TTV shows
was done by a man named Peter Piech of
P.A.T. He also did the merchandising for the
Jay Ward shows, and after King Leonardo and
Rocky and His Fiendish Friends and Bullwinkle,
comic books were apparently off the agenda
as no comic books appeared for Hoppity
Hooper or, as stated before, Tennessee Tuxedo.
Comic-book fortunes were to change for Jay Ward when two issues
were attempted for their next series, George of the Jungle, but this
series had nothing to do with General Mills or DFS or Gamma
Animation. Ward had freed himself from all of those restraints, and
after George had much success and comic books of various Quaker
cereal characters including Cap’n Crunch and Quisp and Quake.
TTV meanwhile, continued with General Mills, DFS, and Gamma,
and produced The Beagles, their first flop. Precious little merchandise
came out from this series, much less a comic book. About the only merch-
andise that saw the light was a soundtrack album and 45 RPM single.
Bizarrely, TTV’s final sale ended up only being issued as a comic
book. The Colossal Show was scheduled to become TTV’s next series,
and before the order to produce a comic book was cancelled, the TV
series was, and so the comic book is the only piece of evidence that
the series even existed. A pilot film was supposedly made through
New York’s Terrytoons studios as opposed to Gamma, but to date this
film has never surfaced, either lost in the vaults or possibly destroyed.
Et tu, Brute? There are four main Colossal Show stories in the comic book: “The
Emperor’s Birthday” (10 pages), “A Day in the Life of…” (4 pages),
(top left) TTV’s The Colossal Show never made it onto the “The Banquet” (6 pages), and “The Sport of Emperors” (6 pages).
air, but that didn’t stop this Gold Key tie-in from being Judging from the four stories, The Colossal Show probably would have
been a colossal dud, as it’s not particularly funny and relies on the
published! Cover to issue #1 (Oct. 1969). (top right) G-rated cliches of the Roman Empire showing how Mr. Colossal would
Hanna-Barbera’s similarly themed The Roman Holidays was book acts to see in the Colosseum. The acts were typically imperson-
ations of 20th Century celebrities. Mr. Colossal was supposed to be a
aired, and got its own tie-in comic, which launched with Sgt. Bilko con artist type, but without the snappy dialog, it just falls flat.
this issue, #1 (Feb. 1973). (inset) A costume-change The comic book must have sold well, as plenty of copies are
available for sale and it doesn’t command that high of a price, so if
conundrum for Shoeshine Boy on artist Frank Johnson’s you want to check out what almost was, it’s fairly easy to get.
cover to Charlton’s Underdog #1 (July 1970). (bottom) To see what an animated show might have turned out like, one
can check out Hanna-Barbera’s Roman Holidays, which suspiciously
Charlton’s Underdog Fan Club page, from inside. crept onto the Saturday morning schedule three years after The
The Colossal Show © Classic Media, LLC. The Roman Holidays
Colossal Show fizzled. There was also a Gold Key comic book for
© Hanna-Barbera Productions. Underdog © Classic Media, LLC. this series as well.

Simon Says…
(top) Original Frank Johnson cover art to Charlton’s Underdog
#8 (Sept. 1971). (bottom) Original pencil layout for the cover
of Gold Key’s Underdog #1 (Mar. 1975). Artist unknown.
Courtesy of Heritage. (inset) Note that there were considerable
alterations made to the rendering of Underdog and the
position of the phone booth on the final, published cover.
Then, an amazing thing happened. Although new TV series were

not being produced by either Jay Ward or TTV, their reruns were doing
exceptionally well in the ratings. So much so that P.A.T. took it upon
themselves to merchandise the characters much better than they ever did
during each series’ original airings.
Underdog #1 debuted with a cover date of July 1970 from Charlton Comics.
The series lasted for ten issues through January 1972. The stories were taken
from original TV scripts by Buck Biggers and Chet Stover and drawn by Frank
Johnson. Johnson is best known for his lengthy run on Mort Walker’s Boner’s
Ark comic strip, and was well-suited to draw the Underdog characters.
As Underdog’s popularity continued to grow, a second series, this time
through Gold Key Comics, was issued. A Kite Fun Book starring Underdog
was given a test run in 1974, and the success of this led to a new series
that began with the issue cover-dated March 1975, which ran for 23 issues
through February 1979. Four Underdog issues of March of Comics also
appeared during this period. The majority of these issues were written
by Steve Skeates or John Albano. Art was mostly by George Wildman,
especially on the later issues.
Skeates explained his involvement with the title in
highlights from an interview with John Schwirian from
BACK ISSUE #33 (Apr. 2009): “I may have been indulging
in a bit of hyperbole when I suggested that Underdog was
my favorite of all the characters I’ve ever written for, but
then again, the characteristics of this humble superhero
had so much to offer—a gentle character, gentle stories,
short tales, and a foregone conclusion, and best of all, the
rhymes! It was so obvious that I was having so much fun
here that Steve Gerber (who was in the group I was palling
around at the time) created in his Howard the Duck book
the character Winky-Man, so that he too could experience
the fun of writing someone who spoke in rhyme.
“Furthermore, the relative shortness of these stories
combined with the rhyming-ness to make each adventure
into a poem.”
Though Skeates was having fun with the series, he
explained why he left. “There were occasional downsides
to this series as well. The main reason being a certain amount of
editorial dumbheaded-ness with editorial changes would affect the
poetry I was shooting for, like (for example) in ‘Antler’s Away’ in
Underdog #22 (Dec. 1978), a tale in which our hero actually grows antlers
and where Underdog is supposed to say, ‘Simon and Cad are going to jail!
It’ll be some time before they get loose! It’s great to be Underdog again!
For a while there I looked like Under Moose!’ Some brilliant editorial block-
head decided to change the word ‘loose’ to ‘out.’ Do you see what that
does? That one still stings!”
Two new issues of Underdog appeared in 1987, produced by the short-
lived publisher Spotlight Comics. There was supposed to be a third issue that
was advertised, but it was never published.
Spotlight editor Jim Main discusses how they obtained the rights:
“Spotlight acquired the Total Television package simply by purchasing
the rights to use the characters. [Publisher] Richard Maurizio met with
those in charge of the company and showed what Spotlight was doing
with the Terrytoons characters and they liked what they saw. The package
was good for a two-year period, with the option to renew. Sadly, it only
lasted for two issues. There may have been stories in development for
the next couple issues.”
Artist Jim Engel adds his experiences while freelancing for Spotlight:
“I don’t actually know how Underdog ended up at Spotlight. I can’t even

Spotlight on Underdog
(top) Courtesy of artist Jim Engel, his original cover art to
Spotlight’s Underdog #1 (1987). (bottom) Engel’s art for the cover
to Spotlight’s Underdog #3 appeared in this ad, which announced
the renumbering of the series to a new #1, but Spotlight folded
before it could see print. Ye ed was slated to script at least one
story in this unrealized issue.
recall how I got connected with them, though I think they approached me,
and I was thrilled. What really appealed to me was doing cover art for comics
featuring theatrical and (particularly) TV cartoon characters I’d grown
up with. Some of them (mostly the TV ones), in my view, had never
been in comics that were drawn very well, and I felt my style
could enhance them. I was also totally free to come up with
whatever I wanted to draw for the covers.”
Main continues by explaining his duties on the series: “If memory
serves, I believe I scripted one of the stories for the second issue that
had Underdog meeting up with Fearo again. I liked the character
and since I’m a big classic King Kong nut, I enjoyed doing that.
I believe that I had editorial duties at that point with issue #2 as well.
Much of my position at Spotlight was traffic control—seeing that
assignments were on time... pairing creative teams… checking out
submissions and that sort of thing!”
Engel adds, “I did the cover for Underdog #1 (which was
jim engel
published), and also for #3, which wasn’t (though they ran my
© Jim Engel. final art for #3—uncolored—as a teaser ad in #2). For what it’s
worth, I hated the ‘coloring’ on my Spotlight covers. I’d supplied
color guides for all of them, but…
“I also did the cover to Mighty Heroes #1, which was published, and the
cover for #2, which wasn’t. I painted a color cover for the Mighty Mouse and
Friends Christmas Special, which was published. I did the covers for Heckle &
Jeckle #1 and Tom & Jerry and Friends #1 (neither of which were published; I’d
also penciled T&J #2’s cover).”
So, what happened to Spotlight Comics? Even Main doesn’t completely
know. He recalls, “I wish I knew the answer myself! The company was expanding
too quickly! Just prior to this Spotlight was greenlighted to bring the MGM
cartoon characters into comics under its banner! I was excited to get a chance
to script Droopy and Screwy Squirrel! I just think the bottom line was that
funds were being dispersed to pay three different companies, Viacom, ITV,
and now MGM or whoever owned those characters then, and not realizing what
the repercussions would be. “I was proud though to see books I was involved in
available in various newsstands and comic shops! It was a dream come true for
this old fanboy!”
Engel adds, “As to why Spotlight folded, I don’t know. I do know there are people
who were owed money for stories and art and never got it, and/or didn’t get art
returned. I’m pretty sure I was paid for everything I did, but I was very tenacious
about getting my never-published originals back, and I did.”
[Editor’s note: Spotlight Comics publisher Richard Maurizio discusses the
company’s rise and demise in this issue’s Mighty Mouse article.]
Blackthorne released an Underdog in 3-D one-shot in 1988 (with art by Jorge
Pacheco), reprints of the Charlton Comics series appeared under the Harvey
UNDERDOG BRONZE AGE Comics banner in the early 1990s, and in recent times, American Mythology has
reprinted both the Charlton Comics and Gold Key Comics series, along with some
COMIC CHECKLIST brand new stories. American Mythology even published a
• Underdog (Charlton) #1 (July 1970)– story originally intended for the unpublished Underdog #24
10 (Jan. 1972) from Gold Key.
• Underdog (Gold Key) #1 (Mar. 1975)– The success of Underdog lives on, with the character
23, (Feb. 1979) even appearing in a live-action film from Disney in 2007.
• Kite Fun Book (1974) If you ever think that the memories of Underdog are on the
• March of Comics #426, 438, 467, 479 wane, have no fear, Underdog is here!
• Underdog (Spotlight) #1–2 (1987)
• Underdog in 3-D (Blackthorne) #1 (June 1988) MARK ARNOLD is a pop-culture historian with over 15 books to
his credit on subjects ranging from The Monkees, The Beatles,
Note: Later Underdog comic books were Underdog, Pink Panther, Cracked, Disney, Dennis the Menace,
published by Harvey and American Mythology, and more. He is currently at work on another Disney book and a
but they fall outside the scope of this article. book on the history of MAD.

by Michael Eury
Anyone who attempts to produce a comic book based for Ruff and Reddy, the first of what would become From the Stone Age
upon a Hanna-Barbera television cartoon is working a legion of Hanna-Barbera Productions cartoon
from a deficit, as H-B’s cartoons are as distinguished series for television. Curtin’s snappy music blended to the Bronze Age
by their audio tracks as much as they are their iconic perfectly with Bill and Joe’s lyrics, inciting viewers to (left) Charlton’s
characters and limited animation. “Get set, get ready, here come Ruff and Reddy.”
Hanna-Barbera sound effects are legendary. As the H-B family of shows grew, their sing-along The Flintstones #1
If I mention “Kabong,” “Scrambling Feet,” themes wisely identified their stars for the kids of the (Nov. 1970). Cover
“Falling Object Whistle,” “Bugle Charge,” 1960s growing up in front of the tube:
or “Bongo Feet and Zip,” chances are “The biggest show in town is Huckleberry by Ray Dirgo. (center)
you will “hear” those sounds and Hound for all you guys and gals. The Marvel’s The Flintstones
remember specific scenes from old biggest clown in town is Huckleberry
cartoons, even though these sound Hound with all his cartoon pals.” #1 (Oct. 1977). Cover
effects were often interchangeable “Yogi Bear is smarter than the by Roger Armstrong
among H-B series. average bear. Yogi Bear is always in
Equally important, if not more the ranger’s hair.” and Joe Prince. (right)
so, are the Hanna-Barbera theme “Flintstones. Meet the Flintstones. Blackthorne’s The
songs. While their later show themes They’re the modern Stone Age family.
might not be as well remembered, From the town of Bedrock they’re a Flintstones 3-D #1
each of the earlier H-B toons page right out of history.” (1987). Cover by Jorge
boasted a theme song that you Everything you needed to
simply cannot forget. Most were know about these characters was Pacheco. Who did it
hoyt curtin
composed by the late, great Hoyt laid out for you in song. And while best? That’s up to
Curtin, who was scoring music for The Adventures of Jonny Quest’s
television commercials when he was tapped in 1957 theme had no lyrics, none were necessary thanks to Yabba Dabba You.
by animation pioneers Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, Curtin’s jazzy score, with its pulse-pounding drum TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions
who had just left MGM and their Academy Award®- and trombone intro that screamed, “Excitement
winning creation Tom and Jerry, to score their lyrics awaits ahead!”

Smarter Than the And the voices! From the main characters—often adults, particularly programs like The Flintstones, The
a takeoff of an established television or film star—to Adventures of Jonny Quest, and The Jetsons, which were
Average Barbera the incidental characters, and even the hilarious asides originally produced for primetime, nighttime viewing.
(and Hanna, too) from The Flintstones’ prehistoric beasts doubling as No wonder the world of comic books came
household appliances, no speaking part on an H-B calling, especially once H-B’s TV properties became
(left) Animation cartoon, always performed by A-list voice talent, was popular in the early 1960s. But was it a fool’s errand
miscast or wasted. Their witty dialog was courtesy of to attempt to translate these sensory-stunning
pioneers William
top-notch writers like Charles Shows, Tony Benedict, cartoons into the quiet confines of the four-color
Hanna (seated) Warren Foster, and Mike Maltese, which, according to world, where the only sound produced by a comic
cartoonist Scott Shaw!, “was essential to all those book is the rustling of a page turn?
and Joseph Barbera scenes where characters were only moving their
(standing) meeting mouths and eyelids.” H-B COMICS IN THE SILVER AGE
Sure, it’s easy to take potshots at the produced-on-a- Before we begin with our roundup of the Bronze Age’s
with some of their shoestring budget of these early H-B toons (really, how Hanna-Barbera comics library, let’s detour back to the
fabled toon titans in many times is Dino going to chase Fred past that same Silver Age, where Joe and Bill’s babies first ventured
living room chair and window?), but each character’s onto magazine racks when comic books were bountiful
a publicity photo respective world—from the homey cave dwellings of in newsstands, drugstores, and grocers (oh, how we
from the ’60s. The Flintstones to the cloud-piercing domiciles of The miss those days).
Jetsons—conveyed a universe among itself of smartly Discounting MGM’s Tom and Jerry, the first comic
Courtesy of designed figures and creatures (where most males, book published to feature Hanna-Barbera characters
Heritage Auctions including animals, had five o’clock shadows) and their was Dell’s Four Color #937 (Sept. 1958), starring Ruff
environments. H-B cartoons may not have been as and Reddy. And what a beautiful comic it was, thanks to
(www.ha.com). lushly animated as Disney’s opulent theatrical releases, the artwork of Harvey Eisenberg, who had come from
(right) The first but from the cactus-dotted prairies of Quick Draw the world of animation, originally hired by Joe Barbera
McGraw to the colorful aquatic park of Squiddly Diddly himself at the MGM cartoon studio. In rendering Ruff
Hanna-Barbera to the mind-blowing galaxies of Space Ghost, each H-B and Reddy’s encounters with funny animals ranging
toon was packed with eye appeal. from a pink elephant that’s run away from the circus
comic book, Four
And let’s go ahead and address the elephant (or, to a big brown bear bullied by a baby-sized bruin,
Color Comics #937 in The Flintstones’ case, the wooly mammoth) in the Eisenberg’s artistry was a sheer delight, illustrating the
room: Many have criticized Hanna-Barbera for their characters perfectly on-model and employing a range
(Sept. 1958), starring appropriation of live-action sitcoms and other media of camera angles and brisk storytelling that replicated
Ruff and Reddy. Art as subject matter for their series (The Flintstones = the often-frenetic pace of your typical H-B TV toon.
The Honeymooners, Top Cat = Sgt. Bilko, Quick Draw Over the next few years, as Bill and Joe rolled out
by Harvey Eisenberg. McGraw’s El Kabong = Zorro, Scooby-Doo = The Many new characters on the tube, those TV funny animals
TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Loves of Dobie Gillis, and the list goes on and on). quickly followed in Ruff and Reddy’s pawsteps to
What some consider a lack of inspiration was, in my the pages of comic books, including Yogi Bear,
estimation, a brilliant modus operandi: adapting a Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Top Cat,
concept familiar to adults to a medium that catered to and Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks. The modern Stone
kids, thereby attracting a dual demographic. Like the Age family joined in on the fun when the Flintstones
theatrical Looney Tunes shorts that preceded them, the debuted in comic books in Dell Giant #48 (Sept. 1961)
early H-B toons were watched by both children and and soon spun off into their own title. Each comic

GO FLY A KITE!
From the late 1950s through the 1970s, Western Publishing produced
numerous Kite Fun Comics, miniature (seven-by-five inch) 16-page full-
color comic books about kiting that starred licensed television and movie
characters, and in a few cases, historical figures. These were giveaways
by major utilities companies and included images of spokes“person” Eye-Catchers
Reddy Kilowatt. Kite Fun Comics’ stars were varied, including Ben Franklin
and Thomas Edison, Disney’s Donald Duck and Brer Rabbit, the Fonz, Early Gold Key
Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner, Underdog, Pink Panther, the Brady Hanna-Barbera
Bunch, Popeye, Smokey Bear, and Eight Is Enough. releases employed
At least eight Hanna-Barbera Kite Fun Comics were produced: flashy cover
Ruff and Reddy (1957), Huckleberry Hound (1961), Yogi Bear (1962),
Top Cat (1963), Magilla Gorilla (1964), Mr. Jinks, Pixie, and Dixie (1965), graphics and colors
Secret Squirrel (1966), and Dastardly and Muttley (1969). © HBP. to capture readers.
TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.
featured multiple short stories, some starring the headliner and

others featuring other H-B properties such as Augie Doggie, Yakky
Doodle, and Snooper and Blabber. Instead of being stilted by the
soundless, static medium of comic books, the H-B critters and cutups
thrived in their Dell Comics adaptations.
But you really can’t thank Dell itself for that. In BACK ISSUE in #52’s
Scooby-Doo and #59’s Hanna-Barbera at Marvel Comics articles,
writer/interviewer Mark Arnold reported that the editorial content for
Dell’s H-B books (and Dell’s other animation-inspired comics such as
the Disney and Warner Bros. franchises) was produced by Western
Publishing and Lithography.
As explained by comics and cartoon writer (and pop culture
historian extraordinaire) Mark Evanier on his News From Me blog
(www.newsfromme.com/iaq/iaq07/), Western obtained the animation
licenses and produced the comic books from their Los Angeles and
New York offices. Shepherding the production of the H-B comics
was Western’s West Coast editor, the legendary Chase Craig. In the
mid-1940s Craig segued from working at Warner Bros. Cartoons to
Western Publishing and began a long career writing and editing for
the company, until retiring in the mid-1970s. Much of what comic
collectors herald as the best animation-based comic books of the
Golden and Silver Ages, including Carl Barks’ lauded Disney Duck
tales, were produced under Craig’s editorial guidance. Western
Publishing’s L.A. office afforded Craig access to the same writers
and artists known for producing the cartoons themselves, including
the aforementioned Harvey Eisenberg, whose beautiful work on
everything from Ruff and Reddy to The Flintstones epitomized him as
the premier artist of Hanna-Barbera comic books. “Harvey gave all
of the characters volume and weight, important but very difficult to
do,” says Scott Shaw!
Other animators, such as Kay Wright, Pete Alvarado, Phil de
Lara, and Tony Strobl, also produced H-B comic book stories during
the 1960s. As Mark Evanier told Mark Arnold in BI #52, “Western
Publishing often would employ a guy who wrote on a TV show
to write the comic book and, money aside, I think move of them
preferred the comics. They didn’t have the network overseeing
everything and making them change this or that. They didn’t have…
the Hanna-Barbera story unit decreeing how the show would be
done. They didn’t have the animation restrictions.”
Those freedoms at times unshackled the Hanna-Barbera
pantheon from its traditional settings, and under the Dell Comics A financial dispute led Dell’s president Helen Meyer to sever
banner readers would see specially themed H-B comics (in the pages ties with Western Publishing and Lithograph in 1962, the results
of Four Color or Dell Giant) such as Huck and Yogi Winter Sports and being Dell’s establishment of its own comics editorial department
Yogi Bear Birthday Party. Another interesting example is Four and Western Publishing’s launch of its Gold Key Comics imprint.
Color #1349 (Jan. 1962), titled Yogi Bear Visits the U.N. Its cover With Western maintaining the licenses for most of the animation
is a mash-up of an illustration of the smarter-than-the-average bear powerhouses, Dell introduced other cartoon properties to its line,
wolfing down a sandwich (from a briefcase, but probably pilfered such as Larry Harmon’s Laurel and Hardy (predating the Hanna-
from a pic-a-nic basket) while seated in front of a photo of New Barbera-produced Laurel and Hardy TV cartoon), Alvin, and Millie
York’s United Nations building. Inside, Yogi petitioned the U.N. for the Loveable Monster. Meanwhile, the Hanna-Barbera (and Warner
sovereignty for Jellystone Park as the nation of Bearsylvania. Bros., and soon, Disney and other television properties) comics

New TV Shows, New Comics transitioned from Dell to Gold Key, with ongoing titles
maintaining their existing numbering.
Among the final Hanna-Barbera titles published by Western The cover designs of Gold Key’s new H-B titles
(Gold Key): Wacky Races, Scooby-Doo… Where Are You!, often differed from the gag-oriented covers previously
released by Dell. Splashy uses of colors, altered titles
The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, and The Funky Phantom. and graphics, and inventive layouts attracted the
eye to these funnybooks amid the crowded racks.
Occasionally, a superbly illustrated painted cover
would grace one of the H-B books.
Gold Key’s H-B line quickly expanded, with one-
shots or ongoing titles such as The Jetsons, Yakky Doodle
H-B’s FANTASTIC FOUR AND SUPER FRIENDS and Chopper, Snagglepuss, Pebbles Flintstone, Lippy the
Are Space Ghost and Birdman Hanna-Barbera’s most famous Lion and Hardy Har Har, the anthology Hanna-Barbera
Bandwagon, and Magilla Gorilla added (how many
superheroes? Original ones, perhaps, but let’s not forget H-B’s of you remember Magilla’s presidential bid, against
forays into the Marvel and DC Universes. opponent Yogi Bear, in 1964?). Obscure H-B concepts
First came Hanna-Barbera’s Fantastic (failed show pitches, actually) such as the Flintstones-
ish Cave Kids and spooky, kooky, Charles Addams-
Four, which premiered in ABC’s Fall inspired Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist also headlined
1967 Saturday morning lineup and comic titles (Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist did
stuck around for years in reruns and manage a few appearances in H-B shorts, starting
with Snagglepuss). And interestingly, Warren
syndication. Alex Toth streamlined Publishing, best known for its horror magazines
Jack Kirby’s characters for television, Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella, had the World’s Fair
nicely complementing Toth’s other comic-publishing license in 1964 and released a
Hanna-Barbera one-shot, The Flintstones At the New
H-B “Super Adventure” characters. York World’s Fair, although its editorial contents
No comic book was published based were created by the Western/Gold Key office.
upon the FF TV series, outside of a Stan As Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera developed new
series for television, Gold Key continued to adapt
Lee/Kirby truncated reprint tying in to Fantastic Four © Marvel. their adventures in print. In the mid-1960s, Hanna-
the show’s debut in the 1967 one-shot comic Super Friends © DC Comics. Barbera Productions twice partnered with other
book America’s Best TV Comics. companies to produce syndicated cartoons featuring
new, kid-friendly adventures of two classic comedy
Toth and Hanna-Barbera adapted duos from a previous generation—and both series
DC’s Justice League of America into its inspired spinoff comic books.
long-running Super Friends, adding H-B joined forces with Larry Harmon, the man
behind Bozo the Clown, to produce 39 episodes
teenage heroes in training (Wendy of The Laurel & Hardy Show for the 1966–1967
and Marvin, the Wonder Twins) and season, with several animated shorts comprising
H-B-mandated cute pets (Wonderdog, each episode. Harmon himself voiced whimpering
Stan Laurel, while Jim MacGeorge voiced grumpy
Gleek) to the mix. Super Friends Oliver Hardy. (Harmon and MacGeorge would
premiered in 1973 and continued in later reprise those roles on another H-B series
several incarnations through 1985. when Laurel and Hardy guest-starred on The New
Scooby-Doo Movies.) David L. Wolper Television Sales
DC published a Super Friends tie-in distributed the show.
comic from 1976 through 1981, where writer E. Nelson Bridwell, Gold Key Comics produced two issues of a Laurel
notoriously a stickler for continuity, interwove the Hanna-Barbera and Hardy tie-in comic in late 1966 and mid-1967,
with Pete Alvarado among the series’ artists. Neither
and DC Comics concepts. issue featured the Hanna-Barbera legend on its cover,

FANTASY TEAM-UPS
Ross Pearsall’s excellent blog
Super-Team Family… The Lost Issues
(braveandboldlost.blogspot.com) features
a different fantasy cover each and every
day, teaming characters from different
companies. In the fall of 2020, for
“issue” #3100 (!), Ross united Silver Age
Marvel characters with Hanna-Barbera’s
Super-Adventure heroes for this amazing
cover, headlined by a Galaxy Trio/
Fantastic Four combo!
Characters © HBP/Marvel. Courtesy of Ross Pearsall.
instead bearing Larry Harmon’s name, although the artwork was ZOINKS! IT’S THE BRONZE AGE!
clearly Hanna-Barbera-inspired. Fast forward to 1972, when DC As the calendar turned to 1970, beginning what we now call the
Comics picked up the license and produced one issue of a Laurel and Bronze Age of Comics, at first it seemed like business as usual for
Hardy comic, produced by John Albano, Mike Sekowsky, and Henry Western’s Hanna-Barbera titles at Gold Key.
Scarpelli. A second issue (its Joe Orlando-drawn cover guest-starring The success of Saturday morning’s Scooby-Doo… Where Are
Superman) and a digest were planned by DC but were not published. You!, which debuted in 1969, created a wave of H-B (and other)
Hanna-Barbera Productions also partnered with RKO and Jomar Saturday morning TV shows featuring ghost-chasing young
Productions to produce 39 episodes of the syndicated The Abbott people solving not-too-scary mysteries. Gold Key’s line reflected
and Costello Cartoon Show, which first aired during the 1967–1968 this craze, adding on December 18, 1969 the first issue of the
season, each episode featuring a collection of shorts. Bud Abbott comic book Scooby-Doo… Where Are You! (retitled Scooby-Doo…
voiced his straight-man character, with Stan Irwin screaming Mystery Comics with issue #17), which ran for 30 issues (before
“Aaaaa-bbott!” as the voice of loveable bumbler Lou Costello, being revived elsewhere, time and again). Later joining Scoob and
since Costello himself had passed away. his far-out friends in the Gold Key lineup were the H-B properties
Charlton Comics picked up the Abbott & Costello license in The Funky Phantom in 1972 and The Amazing Chan and the Chan
1967—predating its licenses for the classic Hanna-Barbera properties, Clan in 1973. Funky Phantom cribbed unabashedly from Scooby-
which you’ll read about shortly—and published 22 issues of the Doo, adding a Revolutionary War-era poltergeist to its cast of
series, concluding in 1971, branding the comic “A Hanna-Barbera trouble-tackling teens, and Chan Clan was H-B’s updating of the
Production” on its covers (see above). Then-fledgling writer Steve classic enigna-buster of novels and movies, Charlie Chan, where
Skeates was the series’ original writer and provided scripts that some the venerable Asian sleuth (voiced in the cartoon by veteran actor
considered funnier than the TV cartoon, to the delight of original Keye Luke, who played Number One Son way back when in those
editor Dick Giordano. Artists on the comic included Henry Scarpelli, old Charlie Chan movies) was joined by his large family of with-it
Bill Fraccio, Tony Tallarico, and Frank Johnson. teenage and preteen offspring. All three comics adeptly translated
America’s fascination with caped crusaders in the mid-’60s their source material to the four-color pages thanks to the efforts of
inspired the creation of numerous superhero cartoons, followed creative personnel including Phil de Lara, Jack Manning, Frank Hill,
by Gold Key one-shots of Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Frankenstein Jr. Warren Tufts, Dan Spiegle, and Mark Evanier.
and the Impossibles, Atom Ant, and Secret Squirrel. A beloved Gold As he explained in BACK ISSUE #52, Evanier had just started
Key series among superhero collectors was Hanna-Barbera Super writing cartoon comics for Western editor Chase Craig when he
TV Heroes, an ongoing anthology featuring short stories of Space was tapped to script the first issue of Chan Clan. Before long, the
Ghost, the Herculoids, Birdman, Mighty Mightor, Young Samson, Scooby-Doo assignment landed in his lap, where he was first paired
Shazzan, and the Galaxy Trio. The superhero craze was followed with Dan Spiegle, with whom Evanier would often collaborate in the
by H-B Saturday morning action/adventure series, some animated, years to come. “The [first Scooby] story I wrote was called ‘Scream
some a hybrid of animation and live-action. As a result Gold Key Star,’” Evanier said in BI #52, which appeared in Scooby-Doo #21
released a New Adventures of Huck Finn one-shot and two issues of (Oct. 1973). “Scream Star” featured the gang’s encounter with
Hi-Adventure Heroes, an anthology starring the Three Musketeers, old-time horror actor Winston Shocket—a character that, 11 years
the Adventures of Gulliver, and the Arabian Knights. Other H-B later, would resurface in another Evanier/Spiegle collaboration,
Gold Key titles premiering in the late 1960s were The Banana Splits, Crossfire #3 and 4. Evanier wrote the majority of the remaining
Wacky Races, and the anthology Hanna-Barbera Fun-In (home of Western Publishing Scooby stories, all illustrated by Spiegle.
Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, Penelope Pitstop, BACK ISSUE readers familiar with Dan Spiegle’s reality-based
Motormouse and Autocat, the Harlem Globetrotters, Butch Cassidy comic-book art on features such as Blackhawk (with Evanier), DC
and the Sundance Kids, and more). Comics’ “Nemesis” (the Brave and the Bold backup scribed by Cary
Amid these new properties, several H-B stalwarts continued Burkett), and the aforementioned Crossfire, as well as Hollywood
throughout the late 1960s under the Gold Key imprint, The Flintstones, adaptations on everything from TV’s The Green Hornet to the Disney
The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Top Cat, Huckleberry Hound, and Magilla Gorilla. sci-fi film The Black Hole, might be scratching their heads over the
It’s unlikely that the little kids just discovering those books realized it, choice of Spiegle to draw Hanna-Barbera comic books. As the artist
but their new content, including cover art, was disappearing, with himself confessed to Mark Arnold in BI #52, he had reservations
reprints from earlier issues filling their pages. when Chase Craig assigned him Scooby-Doo. “…When I was asked

Shocket Theater
(top) Evanier and Spiegle’s Winston Shocket, the creepy
antagonist in their “Scream Star” story in Gold Key’s
Scooby-Doo… Mystery Comics #21 (Oct. 1973), was
resurrected in (bottom) their creator-owned series Crossfire #4
(Aug. 1984), from Eclipse Comics.
Scooby-Doo © Hanna-Barbera Productions. Crossfire © Mark Evanier and Dan Spiegle.
to do Scooby, I said, ‘I am not a real cartoonist!’ They said it was semi-

cartoony and that I’d be fine”… and “they” were right. Spiegle’s Scooby-Doo
adroitly walked the line between the realistically drawn
environments you’d expect from the illustrator
and his softer interpretations of principal and
incidental characters, although at times his
renderings of Scooby and the gang were
somewhat off-model.
Other H-B tie-in titles published by Gold
Key in the early 1970s were The Harlem
Globetrotters (a CBS co-production significant
for being both a Saturday morning TV series
and a comic book starring an African-American
cast), Help… It’s the Hair Bear Bunch! (a riff on
Hogan’s Heroes set in a zoo), The Roman
Holidays (an Ancient Rome twist on The
Flintstones), and The Addams Family (based mark EVANIER
upon Hanna-Barbera’s animated version of Gage Skimore / Wikimedia Commons.
the classic Charles Addams cartoons and
live-action series). And let’s not forget Where’s
Huddles, a made-for-primetime animated sitcom
by Hanna-Barbera which aired for ten episodes
in 1970 as a summer replacement series. This
toon about the family life of a professional
quarterback managed a three-issue Gold Key
run. Each of these titles admirably brought
their characters to life thanks to stories
and arts by seasoned talent including Don
R. Christensen, Frank Hill, Bill Ziegler, Roger
Armstrong, and the versatile Dan Spiegle.
Despite the humor and wholesomeness of
these as-seen-on-TV American funnybooks, dan spiegle
events were transpiring overseas that would
soon threaten to dramatically alter the world
of Hanna-Barbera on your neighborhood spin rack and newsstand shelf.
THE GOLD KEY HANNA-BARBERA LOCKOUT

Eagle-eyed readers might have noted signs of an impending change in the
winter months of early 1970. The only fresh H-B material released by Gold
Key appeared in the newer titles, Banana Splits, Scooby-Doo, and Fun-In. No
kid buying The Flintstones #60 in mid-June 1970 had an inkling they were
holding in their hands the final Gold Key issue of the series. Even if they had
been informed of its cancellation, they would have little time to mourn, as
The Flintstones #1 premiered on July 2, 1970. But this was no renumbering or
reboot… this was a jump to an entirely different publisher: Charlton Comics.
The Flintstones #1 was joined that week by the release of Charlton’s Top
Cat #1 and Yogi Bear #1. The next week, Charlton released Huckleberry Hound
#1, The Jetsons #1, Magilla Gorilla #1, and Quick Draw McGraw #1. Seven
classic Hanna-Barbera series with all-new material, from a publisher in Derby,
Connecticut, that was best known for its perpetually operating in-house
printing press and its quickly produced music-lyrics rags—excuse me, mags.
Curiously, after Charlton’s July ’70 Hanna-Barbera rollout, a pair of
remaining issues of series’ previous Gold Key incarnations trickled onto the
racks. Less than a month after their Charlton premieres, Gold Key’s Huckleberry
Hound #43 and Jetsons #36 were released, concluding those books’ original
runs. Yet that same month, Gold Key came out with Hanna-Barbera Fun-In
#4, followed in September by Scooby-Doo #4 and in October by Banana Splits
#5, with more H-B product following, amid the releases of the second and
subsequent issues of Charlton’s H-B titles. Different Hanna-Barbera properties

Globetrotters! Oh Oh, Yeah!
Hanna-Barbera and CBS-TV’s Harlem
Globetrotters cartoon made Saturday
morning stars out of the popular
basketball players—(left) and hitmaker
Don Kirshner brought them to the
charts with this LP. (right) Gold Key’s
Harlem Globetrotters was the Bronze
Age’s first ongoing comic with a
predominantly black cast, and issue
#1 (Apr. 1974) hit the stands over two
months before Marvel’s Luke Cage,
Hero for Hire! Cover art by Dan Spiegle.
© CBS/Hanna-Barbera.
simultaneously published, by two different comics houses? How odd,

when considering that Western Publishing had previously been the
sole producer of Hanna-Barbera-inspired comics, first through Dell
and later through Gold Key.
How did Charlton land the classic H-B licenses, when Western had
done such an admirable job on the properties for over a decade?
We return to Mark Evanier for the story.
As he told Mark Arnold in BACK ISSUE #52, “In a manner not
dissimilar to the Disney foreign comic-book department, Hanna-
Barbera was making a lot of money selling stats [of comics stories]
overseas,” Evanier said. “Every time Gold Key had a new issue of
Scooby-Doo [or other H-B series], Hanna-Barbera would receive stats of
the material and they’d sell copies of those stats to Peru to reprint, and
to France to reprint, and to Mexico and Luxembourg and I don’t know
where else, but it was an enormously lucrative source of income for
the studio.” As Evanier explained, Hanna-Barbera pressured Western/
Gold Key to increase its H-B comic-book output for exploitation in the
foreign market, but “the folks at Gold Key kept saying no. They were
having massive problems at the time with distribution and sales were
falling and they couldn’t sell any more H-B comics than what they
were then publishing.” Dueling Hucks
This led an executive at parent corporation Taft Broadcasting, which
had acquired the H-B studio at the end of 1966, to shop around the Charlton’s Huckleberry Hound #1 and Gold Key’s
H-B licenses elsewhere, to other comics publishing houses. “Charlton Huckleberry Hound #43 were on the stands at roughly the
was willing to put out a lot of [Hanna-Barbera comics] and, of course,
to have Charlton writers and artists produce all these pages,” Evanier
same time. If you had only 15 cents in your pocket, which
said. So goodbye Harvey Eisenberg, Pete Alvarado, and Phil de Lara, would you buy?
and hello, Joe Gill, Ray Dirgo, and Frank Johnson. TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.
This came at a time when Charlton was undergoing a rapid
expansion of its comic-book line, augmenting its existing line of
cowboy, romance, war, and hot rod clones with licensed titles. YABBA DABBA DOO! FROM DERBY TO YOU
In 1968 it had acquired from King Features publication rights for While Charlton might be dubbed “The House of Borrowed Ideas”
Popeye, The Phantom, Beetle Bailey, and Blondie. “On top of this because of its exploitation of popular trends, it is unique in the industry
coup, in 1969 we also landed the rights to produce the comic in that it managed every aspect of the trade (editorial, production,
books featuring the Hanna-Barbera characters from the Screen printing, and distribution) under a single roof spanning over six acres
Gems organization—The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Top Cat, The Jetsons, (and including its own bowling alley). Charlton even once owned its
Huckleberry Hound, etc.,” Charlton editor/cartoonist George own paper mill!
Wildman told interview Jud Hurd in CARTOONIST PROfiles #12 As one-time Charlton artist/editor Dick Giordano told me for my
(Dec. 1973), reprinted in TwoMorrows’ Comic Book Artist #12 (Mar. 2003 TwoMorrows biography Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One
2001). “Screen Gems, incidentally, handles all of the merchandising Day at a Time, the formation of Charlton had its roots in a criminal
of the Hanna-Barbera creations,” Wildman said. “These acquisitions enterprise. In the 1930s, New York bricklayer John Santangelo, who
opened a lot of distributors’ doors for us.” founded the company, “met and fell in love with a woman who
The transition of Hanna-Barbera properties between publishers said to him that she had to buy sheet music to get the lyrics for her
wasn’t instantaneous. Gold Key continued to publish issues of favorite songs,” prompting Santangelo to print quickly produced
Scooby-Doo, Fun-In, Harlem Globetrotters, Funky Phantom, and several magazines featuring unauthorized lyrics from copyrighted music.
other additional H-B titles through the early 1970s, the final Gold Key He was convicted of copyright infringement and served one year and
Hanna-Barbera release being The Addams Family #3, which went on one day behind bars, where he met a disbarred lawyer, Edward Levy.
sale on January 9, 1975. After that, Charlton Comics controlled the Santangelo and Levy, upon their release, partnered in 1942 to launch
H-B properties (for a while). the long-running magazine Hit Parader—which published song lyrics

H-B Hit Parade
A sampling of Charlton’s early Hanna-Barbera comics. Note that Ray Dirgo’s cover art to Hanna-Barbera Parade #10
was repurposed, with alterations, as the cover for this edition of BACK ISSUE.

with permission. Following in 1945 was their establishment of Charlton Publishing
in Derby, Connecticut, and a long publication history that would stretch to 1986,
with hundreds of issues of music magazines, comic books, coloring books, puzzle
mags and books, and other periodicals following.
Santangelo was a shrewd businessman who was, according to Giordano, “a great
gambler, a numbers man.” George Wildman agreed, crediting Santangelo’s craftiness
for the establishment of Charlton’s all-in-one-house publishing
setup. In an interview with Jon B. Cooke in Comic Book Artist
#12 (Mar. 2001), Wildman said of Santangelo, “[H]e soon
figured, why pay all this money out to distributors, to
wholesalers, to sales people, to engravers, to printers,
to outsiders—so he thought along the lines of Henry
Ford. ‘I’ll get all of my own equipment and I won’t
have to pay anything to anybody.’”
From the get-go Santangelo established as a
cost-cutting measure that implemented some of
the industry’s lowest page rates for artists, writers,
and colorists. As a result, over the decades Charlton
generally became a training ground for new talent
hungry enough to work for lower pay. Conversely,
george wildman Charlton offered creative freedom an artist might
not find at the bigger publishers like DC and Marvel,
and as such it became an occasional oasis for talent
like Steve Ditko, most famously in the mid-1960s when he departed Marvel’s hottest
new title, The Amazing Spider-Man, for Charlton… where he worked with editor
Dick Giordano. Ditko’s Captain Atom was part of Giordano’s celebrated “Action
Heroes” line that one might argue revolutionized the comics medium as a whole
by its eventual inspiration of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1986 opus Watchmen
(check out BACK ISSUE #79 for the Bronze Age history of the Charlton Action Heroes
at their second publisher, DC Comics).
Sal Gentile was the company’s managing editor in 1970 when Charlton began
releasing its Hanna-Barbera comics. As part of the company’s aforementioned
expansion, books like Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, Bullwinkle and Rocky, Underdog,
Hee Haw, and Ronald McDonald were also joining the Charlton lineup. Charlton’s Flintstones, Meet the Flintstones
seven Hanna-Barbera titles launched in July 1970 were among 28 titles released by
the company that month, quite an output for a small publisher! Promotional poster for Charlton’s The
With Charlton’s first Hanna-Barbera releases, a discerning eye could note that… Flintstones (a.k.a. The Flintstones and Pebbles),
well, something was a little off. The characters didn’t quite look the way they were
supposed to and some of the situations seemed abnormal (since when did Pixie and 1972. Art by Ray Dirgo. 11.625 x 17.875
Dixie become pestering sidekicks to Huckleberry Hound?). Complicating matters
were the books’ often-poor production values. Even the most ardent Charlton
inches on heavy textured stock, printed black
supporter will admit that the production quality of the company’s comics paled in with red spot color; signed in green marker
comparison to DC, Dell, and Gold Key comics of the era, the result of the publisher’s
crank-’em-out mentality and its mandate to keep its printing press rolling 24 hours by Dirgo. Courtesy of Michael Ambrose.
a day (it cost more to stop and restart the presses, hence their perpetual operation). TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.
Sloppy color registration, crooked pages, and misaligned staples were common in
THE “OTHER” HANNA-BARBERA COMIC BOOKS

Once Filmation Studios made Riverdale’s favorite teens Saturday morning superstars beginning in 1968 with
The Archie Show—with Don Kirschner turning the bubble-gum pop group The Archies into a hit-making
sensation—Hanna-Barbera Productions followed suit with a partnership with Archie
Comics when premiering Josie and the Pussycats on CBS-TV in 1970, repurposing
Archie Comics’ Dan DeCarlo-created Josie title into a Scooby-Doo-like series featuring
a rock band pulled into mystery adventures. The show gave Archie’s Josie comic
a much-needed shot in the arm. (Two years later, H-B reimagined the toon as
Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, with the girls’ long tails and ears for hats
boldly going where no cartoon rock band had gone before… until 1974, when
Hanna-Barbera was at it again with The Partridge Family 2200 A.D.)
Animation historian Mark Arnold points out of few other instances where comic
books were publishing during the periods Hanna-Barbera was producing animation
series based upon established characters. “Gold Key published Popeye when H-B did
Archie Comics Publications.
their series, The All-New Popeye Hour [see RetroFan #12—ed.], and Harvey published Casper
and Richie Rich when H-B did those cartoons [Casper and the Angels, Casper’s First Christmas, Richie Rich, and The
Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show],” all in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Was This a Boo-Boo?
(top) Sample story page from Charlton’s Yogi Bear #2
(Jan. 1971), with Yogi in particular quite off-model.
(bottom) The always-industrious Charlton also hawked H-B fan
clubs and products, as seen in this example from Yogi Bear #2.
Charlton books—although to many collectors these flaws have become part of

the company’s charm.
What started as a sweetheart deal soon broke some hearts at Hanna-Barbera.
According to Mark Evanier, as he told Mark Arnold in BI #52, “The guy at Taft
thought they were going to make a fortune [selling comics stats to foreign
publishers], and they might have except that the foreign publishers didn’t like the
Charlton material and many of them refused to buy it. They felt the characters
were off-model, that they didn’t look right, and they didn’t like a lot of the scripts.
Many of the foreign publishers decided that for what they were being charged
for this Charlton material, they could hire local artists who would do a better job
and be more faithful to the cartoons, and some of them did.”
Scott Shaw! remarks to BACK ISSUE, “Most of the scripts and artwork for
the Charlton stuff seems as if the people creating them never saw the source
material. It’s especially obvious in the Flintstones-related titles and The Jetsons.”
Charlton historian Michael Ambrose, publisher of the fanzine Charlton
Spotlight (www.charltonspotlight.net), agrees with Evanier and Shaw! Ambrose
tells BACK ISSUE, “I get the impression H-B was less than pleased with Charlton’s
treatment of their characters and, I would guess, less than pleased with the
often indifferent printing of the titles.”
Who were the creators that produced the material that earned the
dissatisfaction of Hanna-Barbera’s overseas clients? Since the many of the early
Charlton H-B comics were uncredited it’s difficult to be definitive, but the lion’s
share of scripts have been attributed (and some credited) to longtime Charlton
staff scribe Joe Gill, the indefatigable workhorse with the smoking typewriter,
renowned for his prodigious body of work. Gwen Krause’s writing credit also
appeared in some of Charlton’s early H-B issues.
Ray Dirgo, this issue’s cover artist, was the primary artist for Charlton’s
early Hanna-Barbera titles, producing stories and covers for the majority of the
books. A Bridgeport, Connecticut, advertising artist and one-time editorial and
sports cartoonist for his hometown newspaper, the Bridgeport Sunday Herald,
Dirgo’s body of comic-book work was almost exclusively relegated to Charlton’s
Hanna-Barbera series of the early 1970s, although he completed a few non-H-B
jobs for Charlton (Sick, Popeye). Dirgo also drew a Mighty Mouse story for
Spotlight Comics in 1987.
Illustrating Huckleberry Hound was Frank Johnson, famous for his comic-strip
work including assisting Mort Walker and his own strips, most notably Boner’s Ark.
Aside from Huckleberry Hound he produced art for some of Charlton’s other H-B
books as well as the company’s Underdog, Tiger, and Dudley Do-Right licensed series.
And the aforementioned George Wildman’s work can be found in issues
of Quick Draw McGraw.
While the artwork of Dirgo, et al. was kid-friendly and generally nicely
rendered, its adherence to the established Hanna-Barbera style was inconsistent.
For example, sometimes Dirgo’s Flintstones covers and stories were close to
being spot-on model, while at times they were way off the mark, perhaps the
result of less-than-generous deadlines and Charlton’s lackadaisical policing of
character models. Two particularly egregious covers appeared on Flintstones
#6 (Sept. 1971) and 10 (Jan. 1972), where their figures of Pebbles and Fred
Flintstone are, to be charitable, amateurish.
Gill’s stories sometimes suffered, skewing so specifically into generic kid
lit that they lacked the not-so-secret ingredient that made the first decade
of Hanna-Barbera’s television cartoons so magical: they were conceived to
be enjoyed by both children and adults. An adult reader other than a H-B or
Charlton fanatic might be hard pressed to appreciate most of the early stories
in Charlton’s H-B library.
THE FLINTSTONES: BIGGER AND BOULDER

In addition to his work on Quick Draw McGraw, George Wildman had
established himself at Charlton as the artist of its Popeye title. In 1971 he took
a desk job as assistant editor to Sal Gentile, while still drawing for Charlton
(and other publishers). Before long he rose up the ranks to head Charlton’s
editorial department, hiring Nicola (Nick) Cuti as his assistant, a gung-ho

Stone Age and
Future Families
Courtesy of Heritage,
Ray Dirgo original
cover art to (left)
The Flintstones #11
(Feb. 1972) and
(right) The Jetsons
#11 (July 1972).
Note that the Jetsons
cover was planned
for issue #10, but
actually published
two months later
as issue #11.
young editor/writer who had previously worked with the amazing Meanwhile, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera produced the first
Wally Wood. “[Wildman] and I didn’t always get along, but I think Flintstones television spinoff, The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show,
that was more my fault than his,” Cuti told interviewer Jon B. Cooke for the 1971–1972 Saturday morning TV season. Appearing on
in Comic Book Artist #12. “George was very businesslike and liked to CBS, the show fast-forwarded the Flintstones’ timeline to star
have everything done properly. And I, unfortunately, was the brash teenaged versions of Pebbles (voiced by All in the Family’s Sally
young kid. … I had worked for the great Wally Wood, and Charlton, Struthers) and Bamm-Bamm (voiced by former Dennis the
at the time, was a comedown, and I kind of acted that way. Menace Jay North), and their pals Penny, Moonrock, Wiggy,
So, unfortunately, the rifts between George and I were, I would say, Cindy, Fabian, and the unlucky Schleprock; like the Archies,
90% my fault. Because any person who has to put up with a brash a success story in Filmation cartoons, top 40 hits, and Archie
young kid has to put up with a brash young ego. And that I had. comic books, the teens had their own pop band, the Bedrock
Eventually, George and I came to a good understanding.” Rockers. This also began a spate of Flintstones Saturday morning
In late March 1971, Charlton released a new H-B book, Hanna- series—The Flintstones Comedy Hour followed the next season,
Barbera Parade, issue #1 cover-dated September 1971. This anthology with other permutations rolling in and out of the schedule
series allowed lesser-known characters a chance to appear in through the 1970s.
stories, with the Flintstones anchoring the festivities in a short story. Charlton debuted a (Teen-Age) Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm series
While Parade shone the spotlight on B-characters such as Touche in October 1971 (issue #1 cover-dated Feb. 1972), with art by Frank
Turtle, Wally Gator, and Peter Potamus, perhaps its most significant Roberge and other uncredited cartoonists. It was a vast improvement
contribution was its stories written and illustrated, or scripted for over the earlier Charlton H-B titles, being closer in tone and look to
another artist, by Phil Mendez, an animator known for his work for the Saturday morning cartoon show. Additionally, its focus on teenage
Hanna-Barbera, DiC, and Marvel Productions, Ltd. A decade later, antics allowed it to comfortably straddle the line between the cartoon
Mendez would create the cartoon shows Kissyfur and Foofur. and Archie audiences.
Hanna-Barbera Parade #3 (Summer 1971) can be puzzling to The success of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm was followed by the
collectors, as it bears a different logo, Hanna-Barbera Summer expansion of Charlton’s Flintstones franchise. Television’s second
Picnic. However, it retains the Parade numbering while bumping most famous couple next door (after Fred and Ethel Mertz) got
up its page count to a 52-page giant priced at 25 cents, at a time their own book in November 1972 with the release of Barney and
when the traditional 32-page comic was increasing its price from Betty Rubble #1 (Jan. 1973). Six months later, in May 1973, two
15 to 20 cents. This issue went on sale in July 1971, when DC unlikely Flintstones supporting cast characters received their own
Comics had similarly upped its page counts and prices, fleshing titles—no, not Mr. Slate and Joe Rockhead, but the Flintstones’
out new lead stories with carefully curated reprints, in an effort to loveable pet dinosaur, Dino, and extraterrestrial little green man,
make their titles more profitable for news dealers; Marvel followed The Great Gazoo. Hiram Walker, Richard Reichert, and Fred Himes
suit shortly thereafter but sucker-punched DC a month later by were among the artists on the Barney and Betty and Dino books
reverting to the 32-page format and undercutting DC by selling amid this slew of mostly uncredited stories. Flintstones diehards
its books for 20 cents each. In addition to the random selection might have appreciated the quantity of Bedrock books to collect,
of H-B tales, Hanna-Barbera Summer Picnic included a selection of but as the overall comics market was embroiled in a war for shelf
coloring book and activity pages, most of which appear to be the space, with Marvel and DC in particular increasing their output in
work of artist Ray Dirgo. These pages were in conjunction with a an attempt to crowd each other off the racks, this glut of material
line of Hanna-Barbera coloring books released by Charlton, which began to stumble into distribution blockades and stretch the
featured the work of artists Tony Tallarico and Ray Dirgo. wallets of fans.

CHANGES COME TO CHARLTON
Changes were afoot in Charlton’s editorial offices that would favorably affect the
quality of the company’s final wave of Hanna-Barbera product. George Wildman
assumed an editorial administration role, and the young and enthusiastic Nick Cuti
began an infusion of improved quality to the Charlton line. Long-running romance
titles bit the dust in 1973, affording the comics division more time to devote to
other products. While the company continued to milk popular trends, the latest one
being mystery titles, a wave of new talent including artists John Byrne, Joe Staton,
and Mike Zeck entered the fold. As revealed in detail in BACK ISSUE #100, a group of
fans-turned-pro (Bob Layton, Roger Slifer, and Roger Stern), the CPL (Contemporary
Pictorial Literature) Gang, produced the in-house zine Charlton Bullseye, in the vein
of similar self-promotional magazines from Marvel (FOOM) and DC (The Amazing
World of DC Comics). New titles such as Cuti and Staton’s E-Man, Joe Gill and Warren
Sattler’s Yang (followed by Sanho Kim’s House of Yang), and Byrne’s Doomsday + 1
gave Charlton a much-needed shot in the arm.
Cuti left staff in 1975 to freelance, and Bill Pearson—an illustrator and art teacher
perhaps best known for his work with Wally Wood on witzend and elsewhere—
replaced him in the editorial department. Things continued to buzz at Charlton:
Don Newton was hired as the artist of The Phantom, and popular television series
Emergency!, Space: 1999, and The Six Million Dollar Man became Charlton titles,
published in both comic-book and magazine formats.
This energy spilled over onto Charlton’s Hanna-Barbera series. The final Gold Key
H-B books had trickled onto the stands and were followed by a new wave of H-B books
at Charlton: Scooby-Doo… Where Are You! and Valley of the Dinosaurs in January 1975;
Hong Kong Phooey, Korg: 70,000 B.C., Speed Buggy, and Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch
in February 1975; and a latecomer, The Great Grape Ape, premiering in June 1976.
Readers disenchanted by the off-model renderings of the majority of Charlton’s
previous Hanna-Barbera output couldn’t help but be impressed with these new titles,
as each either better mirrored the looks and subject matter of their host television series
or featured extraordinary artwork by seasoned professionals or talented newcomers.
Scooby-Doo, written by Joe Gill (and a few others)
with art by Alfred O. “Bill” Williams, ably tread the TV
show’s not-too-scary mystery terrain, with the easily
frightened Great Dane and his pals encountering
vampires, mummies, skeletons, ghosts, lost gold mines,
and the like. Artist Williams’ whimsical style nicely fit
the book, although his Scooby was a bit off-model at
times and his Velma several pounds overweight.
Future Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco
was one of those “other” writers on Scooby-Doo, and
other Charlton Hanna-Barbera books, and shares his
recollections with BACK ISSUE. “My memory is always
untrustworthy, but I think I started writing for them
somewhere around the summer of 1974,” DeFalco
says. “I was working on staff at Archie Comics and
also doing some freelance writing for them. I seem to
remember getting into some goofy tiff with [Archie]
editor Richard Goldwater—we often squabbled in those
days and quickly made up. Writers and editors have a
grand tradition of butting heads. Anyway, I decided to
reach out to Charlton and sent them some samples.
I soon heard from George Wildman, who offered me
eight bimonthly titles—the biggest assignment I had
ever been given. The titles were Scooby-Doo, Wheelie
and the Chopper Bunch, Flintstones, Dino, Pebbles and
Bamm-Bamm, Hong Kong Phooey, Speed Buggy, and
Valley of the Dinosaurs. That’s the good news. The bad
news was, they were paying about $5 per page, about
a third of what I was getting at Archie. (By the way,
Hanna-Barbera Hullaballoo
(top) Original cover art for Charlton’s Hanna-Barbera Parade #1 (Sept. 1971), penciled by Phil Mendez and
inked by George Wildman. Courtesy of Michael Ambrose. Charlton also produced a variety of coloring books
featuring Hanna-Barbera characters. (bottom left) Original Tony Tallarico art for the cover of the Hanna-Barbera
All Star Coloring Book, the only Charlton H-B project to include Jonny Quest. (inset) Covers for Jetsons and
Yogi Bear coloring books, with Tallarico cover art.

Hit and Miss
From the Heritage
archives: (top left) Fred
Himes’ rendition of
Betty on this original art
page from Charlton’s
George Wildman seemed like a great guy and a fun
editor. We may have only spoken a half dozen times Barney & Betty Rubble
while I was working for him. We had much longer #12 (Mar. 1975) is
conversations years later while I was at Marvel.)”
DeFalco’s writing assignments helped Charlton, inconsistent. (top right)
and its main scribe Joe Gill, manage their growing The unattributed artist
H-B line, but for the writer they posed a time-
management challenge. “I had to script one (possibly Henry Scarpelli,
book a week for Charlton,” DeFalco recalls. “I also
according to Heritage)
had a fulltime job working in Archie’s editorial
department, plus I had made up with Richard so of this cover art for
I had my regular Archie scripting assignments,
plus I had a few non-comic-book assignments.
Charlton’s Pebbles and
Yeah, crazy days, but not my craziest.” Bamm-Bamm #19 (Feb.
In addition to managing his workload, DeFalco had to juggle different scripting methods. “At that time,
Archie scripts were done storyboard style—the writer would sketch out the story and add the balloons so that 1974) is much more
the artist had a visual guide for the story. (I know Harvey also used the storyboard style.) Charlton employed on-model. (inset) Note
full scripts—the writer would describe the action and dialogue in prose. When I first began writing for
Charlton, I’d sketch out a quick storyboard and then translate it into a full script—a technique I used when the background added
I started scripting for DC Comics a few years later. I later translated those storyboards to to the published cover.
plots when I went over to Marvel—a technique I occasionally still use today.”
Amid this mound of work, DeFalco also had to squeeze in his personal life. (bottom) The CPL Gang!
“I set up my schedule so that I would write my Charlton stuff on Saturdays From the 1975 fanzine
and Sundays before the Jets game,” he says. “I dealt with other assignments
after the Jets game and at night during the week. Sleep was a precious Charlton Bullseye #3, a
commodity in those days. convention panel photo
“I planned to get married in the summer of 1975 and had to double my
output for a few weeks so that I could take some time off for a honeymoon,” taken by Hilarie Staton.
DeFalco adds. “I remember working like mad the day before my wedding,
(left to right) Charlton’s
finishing my final Charlton script (I think it was a Hong Kong Phooey) and
dropping it off at the post office on my way to my wedding rehearsal. Bob Layton (standing),
Like I said, crazy days. I eventually had to give up my Charlton work,
but still remember those days with a lot of fondness.”
Roger Stern (leaning on
tom defalco Valley of the Dinosaurs, a short-lived (16 episodes) H-B Saturday table), Joe Staton, and
morning cartoon from the fall of 1974, later returned in syndication for
© Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.
a few years but scored a Charlton tie-in that premiered not long after Nick Cuti, plus
the TV show’s last episode aired. Its premise was basically Swiss Family Robinson meets Dino Boy, with Paul Levitz and
the contemporary Butler family being whisked via a bizarre whirlpool into the Stone Age, where they
are befriended by… no, not the Flintstones, but a family of Neanderthals. The Mexican-born Fred Marv Wolfman.
Himes, who directed and animated TV advertisements before writing and drawing for Charlton (Fightin’ Flintstones TM & © Hanna-Barbera
Marines, Ghost Manor, and even Top Cat), was the writer/artist of Valley, although as mentioned earlier Productions.
Tom DeFalco contributed some stories to the run (possibly issue #1 and 11). Himes’ clean, crisp work on
this title was Alex Toth-like in its effective storytelling and simplicity.

MASONRY’S THANKSGIVING PARADE
…make that Macy’s, since we’re not living in the decided not to fund the project.” Shown here is a sketch
Stone Age. for a proposed float connected to the project, originally
Back in 1974, Charlton’s George Wildman attempted to provided to Charlton Spotlight by Bill Pearson but shared
broker a deal with New York with BACK ISSUE courtesy
City’s legendary department of Mr. Ambrose.
store to promote Charlton’s Unrelated to the
Flintstones comic book Charlton proposal, the
in a special float that Flintstones finally made it
would appear in Macy’s to the Macy’s Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day Parade Parade in 1978, with
that year. As Michael a “walk-around” Fred
Ambrose reported in Flintstone and Barney
Charlton Spotlight #7, Rubble, as well as Yogi Bear.
“According to parade A Hanna-Barbera Christmas
balloon historian and float appeared in Macy’s
designer Bill Smith, the idea 1983 parade, followed by
only got as far as detailed Flintstones TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions. a Hanna-Barbera’s
cost proposals from Macy’s, which were then presented Scooby-Doo Celebration float in 1984. Macy’s featured a
to the powers at Hanna-Barbera, who ultimately Fred Flintstone balloon in its 1993–2000 parades.
Comin’ Alive in ’75

Improved H-B titles began appearing from Charlton in
1975, including (top) Scooby-Doo… Where Are You! and
Valley of the Dinosaurs, followed by (bottom left) Hong
Kong Phooey. (bottom right) The Great Grape Ape,
bowing in 1976, was Charlton’s last H-B book. Scooby
and Grape Ape covers by Bill Williams, Valley cover by
Fred Himes, and Phooey cover by Paul Fung, Jr.
Hong Kong Phooey, a superheroic martial-artist hound voiced

by Scatman Crothers, premiered on Saturday mornings in the fall
of 1974. (See BACK ISSUE #105 for Mark Arnold’s history of the TV
show, with interviews with animators Willie Ito and Jerry Eisenberg,
and details about the Charlton comic.) Its straightforward setup of
police-station janitor Penrod Pooch transforming to the “Number
One Super Guy” by zipping into a file cabinet, was nicely mined by
Charlton’s writers and artists. Bill Crouch, Jr., Michael J. Pellowski, and
Tom DeFalco were the series’ writers, with covers and some interior
artwork by Paul Fung, Jr., a former actor and advertising artist with a
long history (following in his father’s footsteps) as a comic-strip artist
and art assistant for King Features. Other Hong Kong Phooey artists
were Frank Roberge (whose art was described in BI #105 by Nick Cuti
as being “very slick and professional”) and Jim Hanley.
Korg: 70,000 B.C. was a rarity for Hanna-Barbera, a live-action
television series, although H-B produced several others, including The
Banana Splits, Danger Island, and The New Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn, as well as the Adam West-starring, infamous Legends of the
SuperHeroes, which we covered in BI #25. Unlike Valley of the Dinosaurs,
which thrust contemporary people into a primitive age, Korg explored
the travails of a family of Neanderthals (Korg, Mara, Bok, and Tane)
during the Ice Age. As Mark Arnold (him again!) reported in his Korg
article in BI #43, the series was filmed in the hills of the Palos Verdes
Peninsula in California in early to mid-1974, and aired 19 episodes
on ABC during the 1974–1975 season (the animated Valley of the
Dinosaurs aired on CBS).

Producing Charlton’s Korg series was Pat Boyette, a Charlton artistic
mainstay who got into the comics field in middle age after working as a
radio and television broadcaster, comic-strip artist, and filmmaker. Boyette
painted the covers for Korg’s nine issues, and wrote, illustrated, and lettered
the interiors. Korg was one of Charlton’s better H-B efforts thanks to Boyette,
the overall effect being reminiscent of Howie Post’s Anthro for DC Comics,
without Post’s humorous flair.
Speed Buggy was H-B’s hybrid of Disney’s The Love Bug (while in development,
the show’s original title was “Speed Bug”) and H-B’s own Scooby-Doo. Speed
Buggy itself, or “Speedy” (with apologies to Green Arrow’s sidekick and a certain
Alka-Seltzer TV pitchman), was intelligent and could talk, and was voiced by
the amazing Mel Blanc. The “Shaggy” to Speedy’s “Scooby” was mechanic/
driver Tinker, and the Fred and Daphne-like Mark and Debbie comprised the
rest of the mystery-solving gang. Speed Buggy was produced by H-B legend
Iwao Takamoto. Sixteen episodes ran during the 1973–1974 season before
spinning their way into syndication. With its history of producing hot rod
comics, Charlton was the perfect comics house for Speed Buggy, and the show
translated well to comics, mostly thanks to the fluid, fun artwork of Bill Williams,
over scripts by Joe Gill and Tom DeFalco.
Hanna-Barbera’s Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch (another Iwao Takamoto
production) was a bit bolder in its appropriations from Disney’s The Love Bug,
as its star, Wheelie, who “spoke” in automotive sound effects, like Disney’s
Herbie, was clearly a Volkswagen Beetle (although not identified as such); he
had a car girlfriend, Rota Ree. H-B also cribs from Hollywood’s The Wild One,
the real world’s Hell’s Angels, and America’s fascination with motorcycles,
(Easy Rider, Then Came Bronson) in Wheelie’s high-octane “villains,” the
Chopper Bunch, a trio of trouble-making two-wheelers fronted by the Frank
Welker-voiced Chopper (Hi-Riser and Scrambles were the other two). Amid
these speeding buggies were a police car and bumbling
police motorcycle often in hot pursuit.
Charlton’s adaptation of Wheelie and the Chopper
Bunch is most famous for being among the earliest
work of John Byrne, who wrote and drew issues
#2 and 3. Byrne politely declined my request to
pen a guest editorial for this issue (“Oh! Too long
ago!”), but told Jon B. Cooke in Comic Book Artist
#12, “Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch is what I
consider my first ‘full book’—entire issues with
nothing but my work on the main pages. It was
the most work Charlton was able to offer at the
time (a short while before Doomsday +1), and I
took it with the intended approach that, if I was
john byrne going to do a book like this, then I would be
Self-caricature from Charlton Bullseye #2.
the Carl Barks of Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch!
Unfortunately, H-B thought my drawings were
too ‘scary’ (they were published unchanged in my first issues, so judge for
yourself), and insisted that Charlton order me to tone it down. That kinda
sucked the fun out of the book, and I became very robotic in my approach,
just drawing the pictures and not really putting anything into them. I found
myself unable to work that way, and quit the book to concentrate full time on
Doomsday, which was in the offing by then.” Gill and Staton, who produced
the first issue, returned with issue #4, and Tom DeFalco scripted later issues.
Regarding the “scariness” of Charlton’s Wheelie comic, artist Joe Staton
observes, “Some of those motorcycles were pretty threatening.” Of Charlton’s
main writer, Joe Gill, and his ability to script Hanna-Barbera tie-ins as well as…
well, just about any genre imaginable, Staton says, “Just more proof of Joe Gill’s
amazing ability to write anything at the drop of a hat.”
Joe Staton has fond memories of Charlton’s Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch
for two reasons: “For a long time, Wheelie was the best-paying job I’d done,
per hour. That’s even with Charlton’s rates. I penciled, lettered, and inked at least
one issue over a weekend. [And] Wheelie was my mother’s favorite of my books.
For years after, she’d ask me if I was ever going to draw those ‘cute cars’ again.”
The summer of 1976 saw the release of Charlton’s final Hanna-Barbera
tie-in, The Great Grape Ape, based upon an H-B comedy-adventure toon that Those Meddling Kids
premiered during the 1975–1976 season then continued for a few more seasons,
sometimes packaged and co-billed with other characters. Its star was a gentle, (top) Original Bill Williams art to the title page from
simpleminded, inadvertently dangerous 40-foot purple gorilla (voiced by Bob one of Scooby-Doo #1’s stories. (bottom) Original
Holt) who tended to terrify just about everyone he encountered because… well,
he was a 40-foot purple gorilla. Great Grape Ape’s confidant and sidekick was
art page from Speed Buggy #6 (May 1976). Possible
a dog named Beegle Beagle (voiced by Marty Ingels), and the pair took off on artist: Frank Roberge. Both, courtesy of Heritage.
their roaming exploits in a van driven by Beegle, with the series’ super-sized TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.

star sitting on top. The two issues of Charlton’s Great Grape Ape
feature no creator credits, but their delightful artwork might be
the work of Bill Williams.
Some sources have credited artist Mike Zeck for his
contributions to Charlton’s Hanna-Barbera comics, but as the
talented illustrator tells BACK ISSUE, he never drew any H-B
characters for Charlton… although his artwork did appear in
Charlton’s H-B (and other cartoon) titles! Confused?
As Zeck shares with BI, “My illustrations for the Charlton
Comics’ animated titles are my first professional color comics
work. The Charlton editorial crew, George Wildman, Nick
Cuti, and Bill Pearson, saw potential in my art when I peddled
my portfolio during the early ’70s. Each issue in the Charlton
animated line featured an interior two-page text story with
accompanying spot illustrations. Those spot illos were my first
assignments, and I imagine the editors were considering those
as something of an audition before moving me into sequential
art for their horror titles. The experience I gained at Charlton
was instrumental in prepping me for a long career in the comics
industry.” Zeck collectors can find his spot illos in these Charlton
H-B books: Barney and Betty Rubble #11, 16; Dino #12, 13; The
Flintstones #36, 40, 41; Great Gazoo #14; Hong Kong Phooey #2,
3; Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm #26, 29; Scooby-Doo #4; Wheelie
and the Chopper Bunch #2, 3; and Yogi Bear #28.
A Charlton subscription ad running in the company’s late
1976 titles including listings for Dynomutt (listed as “Dyno-Mutt”)
and Jabberjaw (listed as “Jabberjaws”), indicating that the
company was planning titles based upon those then-popular
Saturday morning cartoons. Since this announcement came
shortly before Charlton’s loss of the Hanna-Barbera license, it
is unclear if the publisher actually had earlier agreements with
H-B for those new titles, or if Charlton actually produced any
Dynomutt or Jabberjaw material. “Odd that they’d include the
titles in a sub ad without actually having anything in the pipeline,”
Charlton Spotlight publisher Michael Ambrose remarks, adding,
“I’ve never to my recollection seen any unpublished Charlton art
of those characters, and I’ve made it a habit for many years now
to monitor as much Charlton original art passing through the
marketplace as I can. Of course, there’s no accounting for what
might be in private hands. For that matter, some work could
have been commissioned by George Wildman, but cancelled.”
Born to Be Wild
(top) Korg: 70,000
B.C. #5 (Feb. 1976)
original cover
painting, by Pat
Boyette. Courtesy of
Heritage. (bottom
left) John Byrne
original cover art to
Charlton’s Wheelie
and the Chopper
Bunch #2 (Sept.
1975). (bottom right)
Joe Staton original
art (with story by Joe
Gill) from Wheelie #4
(Jan. 1976). Both,
courtesy of Heritage.

SCOTT SHAW! ON CHARLTON’S
HANNA-BARBERA COMICS
Cartoonist/animator/RetroFan columnist Scott Shaw!
(www.shaw-cartoons.com) is certainly no stranger
I Got You, Babe to Hanna-Barbera properties, from his childhood
With this one, fascination with H-B TV shows to his professional forays
illustrating H-B comic books, cartoons, advertising,
Charlton got it
and merchandising. What did he
right. A funny, think of Charlton’s H-B books?
nicely rendered “Although I collected
page from Great a lot of off-the-rack
Charlton comics, and had
Grape Ape #2 a fascination with most
(Nov. 1976). Art by of the classic Hanna-
Bill Williams. Barbera characters, I felt
TM & © Hanna-Barbera.
a mild revulsion to a lot
of Charlton’s H-B output
when the comics were on
newsstands, due to the scott shaw!
Did Marvel Comics, who would soon pick up the Hanna-Barbera crude and poorly planned
comics licenses and would indeed publish a Dynomutt title, inherit © Scott Shaw!/Shaw cartoons.
from Charlton any unpublished Dynomutt or Jabberjaw material? artwork of Ray Dirgo and
Mark Evanier, who wrote and edited much of Marvel’s H-B output, others on The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, and
tells BACK ISSUE, “I have no idea. I certainly never saw anything.” other funny animals, including the stars of the Hanna-
Whether or not Charlton actually produced any material for those Barbera Parade anthology series. I think that the editor
books, their Dynomutt and Jabberjaw were not meant to be. Charlton
must have assumed that it was somehow easier to
Comics was in trouble during this period, suffering from weak sales
and distribution woes, and many of its titles were being cancelled in draw the cast of biped critters. It was their low quality
the mid-1970s, including some of the H-B tie-ins. “Charlton’s boss, of material that caused Charlton to lose the H-B
John Santangelo, Sr., directed that all comics production be halted license that was turned over to Marvel.
around September 1976, and what came out after that was either “Oddly, their results on then-recent H-B cartoon
already too far along in the process to stop or already on its way out
of the plant,” says Michael Ambrose. “The last H-B title to appear was
properties were somewhat better: Hong Kong
Flintstones #50 (Feb. 1977).” Phooey by the versatile ghost-artist Paul Fung,
The publisher temporarily suspended its comics line for much of Jr.; Dino, The Great Grape Ape, and teen-age Pebbles
1977. And at Hanna-Barbera Productions, dissatisfaction with the and Bamm-Bamm were drawn by Frank Roberge
quality of Charlton’s handlings of their properties was leading to a in a style that (for once) actually aped H-B’s;
major change.
and Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, first drawn by
STAN LEE PRESENTS… BILL HANNA AND JOE BARBERA John Byrne (who has made the crackpot assessment
Marvel Comics was beginning to take licensed comics seriously in that Wheelie was better conceived than Pixar’s Cars),
1977—that was the year the publisher launched its long-running followed by the great Joe Staton. Two of Charlton’s
Star Wars title, after all—but to many fans at the time, the House
of Ideas becoming the bedrock (excuse the pun) for Hanna-Barbera
H-B titles were based on more realistic properties: the
comic books seemed to be a stretch that even the elongating Reed live-action show Korg: 70,000 B.C. by Pat Boyette and
Richards would consider a long reach. the animated Valley of the Dinosaurs by Fred Himes
Yet in the summer of ’77, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear, (who seemed to enjoy drawing prehistoric creatures)
and Dynomutt became the first four titles in a short-lived, but fondly were both quite well-executed.
remembered, run of Hanna-Barbera comics bearing the “Marvel
Comics Group” banner. The books’ cover graphics made no secret “But for me, the standouts are the genuinely
of their television heritage, with each issue number and cover date funny Abbott and Costello stories written by Steve
month being boxed inside the shape of a TV set, and each cover being Skeates and drawn by Henry Scarpelli (all early issues)
bordered by an illustrated filmstrip showcasing headshots of the H-B and the outstanding cartooning of Bill Williams
pantheon, from familiar faces like Quick Draw McGraw to fresher ones on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Speed Buggy (two
like Jabberjaw. The art looked slicker and more on-model than much
of Charlton’s output, and the characters were once again acting like H-B properties I don’t even care for very much).
their classic selves, as evidenced on the first page of The Flintstones #1 Williams did a lot of great work with the great John
(Oct. 1977) where Fred, atop his work-brontosaurus at the rock quarry, Stanley, and although the writing in these books don’t
slides down the beast’s tail (just like in the classic opening of the cartoon match up, Williams’ artwork rivals that of Warren Tufts
show!), and belts out a buoyant “Yabba Dabba Doo!,” after apparently
striking it rich. Sidekick Barney Rubble quickly appears, and in a mere
on Gold Key’s Scooby-Doo... Where Are You! It’s also
three panels on page 1, Marvel’s Flintstones #1 series is truer to form noteworthy that some of the Charlton H-B books’
than some entire issues of Charlton’s books. It’s almost as if Hanna and ‘filler’ pages feature early artwork by fan artist Alan
Barbera themselves had personally sanctioned these comics. Hanley and future animation designer Phil Mendez.
And in a manner of speaking, they did.

As Mark Arnold explained in BACK ISSUE #59, in his highly recommended and detailed
examination of Marvel’s H-B comics line (which includes a checklist, with story titles and
credits, of every Marvel H-B book published), Hanna-Barbera Productions, dissatisfied with
both the quality of Charlton’s comics based upon their properties and the foreign market’s
rejection of Charlton stories for licensed reprints, toyed with starting its own comic-book
publishing wing, Hanna-Barbera Comics. Taft Broadcasting, H-B’s owner, commissioned
former Western Publishing editor Chase Craig to consult about reshaping the content of
Charlton’s H-B books, but Craig reportedly felt they were beyond repair. So Taft hired Craig
to oversee a new line of H-B comics… which were rejected from the distribution network
controlled by the major comics publishers. So a deal was brokered to have Marvel publish
the H-B-produced books and include them in their distribution system.
With his mentor once again at the helm of H-B funnybooks, Mark Evanier was drawn
back into the picture. “I got to write Scooby-Doo [reuniting the writer with artist Dan
Spiegle], Dynomutt, Yogi Bear, and even The Flintstones,” Evanier said in BI #59. “And then
they decided they wanted to increase the number of comics to have a Laff-A-Lympics
comic. Chase didn’t want to work that hard, so he asked me, ‘Why don’t you be the
editor of this?’” Evanier’s editorship of the newly launched Laff-A-Lympics, based upon the
’70s H-B toon (a Battle of the Network Stars lampoon) pitting the company’s pantheon
against each other in athletic competitions and related adventures, soon expanded to his
overseeing the entire line when Craig Chase retired.
Marvel’s H-B books cross-promoted each other by including a two-page preview of one
of the other books, plus one-page “Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera” text features that
shared animation trade secrets and histories. This was the era of Marvel Treasury Editions
(see BI #61), and a trio of Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera treasuries were published.
Two additional titles, both anthologies, were added by editor (and main writer) Evanier
in 1978. Hanna-Barbera Spotlight allowed the classic characters to shine, with Huckleberry
Hound headlining issue #1, Quick Draw McGraw in #2, the Jetsons in #3, and Magilla
Gorilla in #4. Spotlight included short backup stories that brought back old friends
like Hokey Wolf, Snooper and Blabber, and Yakky Doodle. (Spotlight #4 featured a fun
crossover between Snagglepuss and Huckleberry Hound, written by Evanier, penciled by
Scott Shaw!, and inked by Carol Lay.) Hanna-Barbera TV Stars was the other anthology
book, mostly but not exclusively starring newer H-B characters then on the air. Issue #1
starred Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, #2 starred the C.B. Bears, and #4 featured
the Clue Club. Particularly noteworthy is TV Stars #3, a Superhero Special co-starring
Dynomutt, the Herculoids, and Space Ghost, the latter in a tale by future Comico Space
Ghost scribe Mark Evanier (keep reading) and drawn by the character’s creator, the
legendary Alex Toth. Evanier’s office even produced stories featuring Jabberjaw and other
H-B characters for the foreign market, stories that were not published by Marvel.
Back in BI #59, cartoonist Scott Shaw! called Marvel’s Hanna-Barbera books “very
smart-looking” and remarked that they “are now highly sought-after by both Hanna-
Barbera and ‘classic’ Marvel fans, and now command a premium price, especially the
Scooby-Doo series for their excellent Mark Evanier/Dan Spiegle stories and the treasury-
sized Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera for their scarcity.” Among the stellar talent recruited
for the books by Chase Craig and Mark Evanier, in addition to the aforementioned Lay,
Shaw!, Spiegle, and Toth, were a mix of animation and comic-book greats, some at
the time newcomers, including Pete Alvarado, Dick Bickenbach, Pat Boyette, Don R.
Christensen, Reg Everbest (a pen name of Steve Gerber), Jack Enyart, Carl Gafford, Fred
Himes, Willie Ito, Jack Manning, Will Meugniot, Paul Norris, Mike Royer, Art Scott, Dave
Stevens, Tony Strobl, and Kay Wright (see BI #59 for a complete creator list, with credits).
Not quite two years into the venture, Marvel Comics delivered the “Ka-Bong!” to the
Hanna-Barbera titles. Despite being told by Marvel that the H-B books were performing
well and earning royalties, “The people at Marvel told us they sold terribly,” editor Evanier
said in BI #59. “I wouldn’t stick to that because those people didn’t like Marvel publishing
comics that were not using their talent pool anyway.” For whatever reason, however,
the Marvel H-B books ended with issues cover-dated early 1979.
A BRIEF RETURN TO MARVEL

The Way to Yabba-Dabba-Doo-It In 1982, Marvel published a three-issue Smurfs miniseries, adapting Hanna-Barbera’s
1981 popular Saturday morning cartoon based upon the internationally popular comic
(top) Marvel heroes welcome Hanna- feature by Belgian artist Pierre “Peyo” Culliford. Marvel’s Smurfs featured a mix of new
Barbera characters in this page from Marvel’s stories illustrated by Dan DeCarlo and Marie Severin and vintage Peyo work.
As reported by Mark Ciemcioch in BACK ISSUE #77, our “When Comics Were Fun”
Flintstones #1. (bottom) The opening page issue, from the mid- to late 1980s, Marvel produced its Star Comics line. Helmed by former
from Marvel’s Flintstones #1 (Oct. 1977) Harvey Comics editor Sid Jacobson, Star Comics was a mixture of adaptations of
then-popular children’s television and mass-media properties (including Ewoks, Fraggle Rock,
was truer to form than the Charlton Muppet Babies, Heathcliff, and Strawberry Shortcake) and Marvel creations in the vein of
efforts. Script by Mark Evanier, pencils by Harvey characters (Planet Terry, Royal Roy, etc.), with Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham
(who had earlier premiered in the one-shot Marvel Tails) tossed in for good measure.
Roger Armstrong, inks by Joe Prince. The line evolved to include such books as Masters of the Universe (He-Man’s second outing
Marvel characters TM & © Marvel, except Red Sonja © Red Sonja LLC.
in comics, after a short-lived earlier run at DC Comics), Defenders of the Earth (gathering
Hanna-Barbera characters TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.
King Features’ heroes), and Bullwinkle and Rocky (detailed elsewhere in this issue).

Marvelous
Comebacks
(left) Scooby-Doo #1
(Oct. 1977). Cover
by Dan Spiegle.
(center) Yogi Bear #1
(Nov. 1977). Cover
by Pete Alvarado
and Scott Shaw!
(right) Charlton’s loss
was Marvel’s gain:
Dynomutt #1
(Nov. 1977). Cover
by Paul Norris.
Joining the Star line in 1987 was Flintstones Kids, based upon the
heavily merchandized H-B Saturday morning cartoon featuring the
childhood adventures of Fred, Barney, Wilma, Betty, and their pint-sized
pals. This TV toon was produced during a time when baby versions
of established characters were in vogue (Super Jrs., anyone?). Michael
Gallagher and Tony Franco wrote the Flintstones Kids comic, which
featured artwork by Harvey expatriates Ernie Colón and Warren Kremer.
Another latecomer to the Star firmament was 1987’s Foofur, based
upon the 1986–1988 cartoon starring a blue bloodhound, created by
Phil Mendez, formerly a contributor to Charlton’s H-B line. Television’s
Foofur was co-produced by Hanna-Barbera and SEPP International S.A.
Marvel’s Foofur featured scripts by Gallagher and Franco of Flintstones
Kids acclaim, with art by Ben Brown and Jacqueline Roettscher.
Honorable mention must be made of Marvel’s six-issue “As seen
on TV!” Fish Police miniseries of 1992, a tie-in to a Hanna-Barbera/CBS
Television partnership adapting Steve Moncuse’s indie comic book to
animation targeting an older viewership (sort of an early toe in the
Adult Swim waters). Despite its stellar voice talent lineup including
John Ritter as Inspector Gill and Ed Asner as Chief Abalone, TV’s Fish
Police sunk in the ratings and was deep-sixed after three episodes.
It was too late to stop Marvel’s hopeful tie-in, which reprinted
Moncuse’s 1980s Fish Police comics.
TEMPORARY LODGING IN NORRISTOWN

The next Bronze-tastic appearance of Hanna-Barbera comic books
appeared at Comico (pronounced Ko-mee-ko) the Comic Company,
the Norristown, Pennsylvania, independent publisher that produced
a range of creator-owned and licensed titles throughout the second
half of the 1980s, including Matt Wagner’s Grendel, Bill Willingham’s
Elementals, Mike W. Barr’s The Maze Agency, and licensed Robotech
comics (see BACK ISSUE #2 and 125 for more Comico history).
Administrative director Bob Schreck and editor-in-chief Diana Schutz,
then a couple, were the powerhouses behind Comico during its brief
but celebrated heyday.
As Schreck explained in BI #59, Comico co-publisher Phil LaSorda
mentioned his fondness for Hanna-Barbera’s Jonny Quest cartoon, the
Jack Armstrong-inspired 1964 primetime series (which ran for only
one season in its original incarnation, but was shown in reruns and
syndication for years) about the titular boy hero, his scientist father Dr.
Quest, their bodyguard Race Bannon, and Jonny’s friend Hadji—and
let’s not forget the H-B-mandated loveable dog, Bandit, a character
added to the show despite the protestations of Doug Wildey, the artist Dig That Crazy Zoo Crew
who developed the characters and original TV series. Bob Schreck shared
LaSorda’s love of Jonny Quest, and the company obtained the rights Opening page from Marvel’s Laff-A-Lympics #4 (June
to produce an ongoing monthly JQ title. William Messner-Loebs, then 1978), written by Mark Evanier, penciled by Jack
known for his American frontier indie title Journey, voiced interest in
writing Jonny Quest once news broke about Comico’s acquisition of the Manning, and inked by Scott Shaw! Courtesy of Heritage.
license, and editor Schutz, a fan of Messner-Loebs’ writing in Journey TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.

The Adventures
Continue
(left) This gorgeous
Doug Wildey-
illustrated poster
from 1986 promoted
Comico the Comic
Company’s Jonny
Quest ongoing series.
(right) Original
artwork (sans copy)
from Comico’s Space
Ghost one-shot of
1987. Pencils by Steve
Rude, inks by Willie
Blyberg, and colors
by Ken Steacy, from a
script by Mark Evanier.
(which Messner-Loebs also drew), thought he would be perfect due to Comico’s other venture into Hanna-Barberadom was the prestige
“Bill’s historical knowledge and aptitude for research—both of which format one-shot Space Ghost #1 (Dec. 1987), written by Mark Evanier
were essential to a series like Jonny Quest, which takes place in exotic with Steve “the Dude” Rude (and a Darrell McNeil plot assist), penciled
locales, often using the myths and legends of those locales as a starting by Rude, inked by Willie Blyberg, and colored by Ken Steacy. This was
point for the development of a given story,” Schutz said in BI #59. a labor of love for Rude, whose sci-fi indie title Nexus, which he
Editor Schutz’s suspicion was correct, as Messner-Loebs proved the co-created with writer Mike Baron, was inspired in part by the Dude’s
perfect writer for Jonny Quest, also providing character development affection for Space Ghost. The story gathers Space Ghost’s rogues
and backstories to the title, which launched with a June 1986 cover- gallery to challenge the intergalactic caped crusader and his young
dated first issue. Diana Schutz recruited JQ show creator Doug Wildey allies Jan and Jace (and, of course, space-monkey Blip), and its lush,
for a painted wraparound cover for issue #1 and to write and illustrate vibrantly hued artwork evokes the look of the original television series
its 12-page lead story, which was accompanied by a 12-pager scribed (you could almost hear those H-B sound effects in this tale!). As revealed
by Messner-Loebs and drawn by Steve Rude (a huge fan of H-B in a “Greatest Stories Never Told” feature in BACK ISSUE #2, a follow-
cartoons) and Mike Royer, colored by Matt Wagner. The first issue up was planned which would team Space Ghost with the Herculoids,
featured JQ pinups, by Rude, Marc Hempel and Mark Wheatley, written by McNeil, penciled by Rude, and edited by yours truly. The
and Bill Willingham and Terry Austin. What an array of talent! project was tabled when Rude was hired to pencil DC’s World’s Finest
Schutz and Comico continued to attract comics luminaries to its new miniseries, then died once Comico declined to renew its Hanna-Barbera
Jonny Quest series, which with its second issue began featuring rotating licenses. (See Max Romero’s excellent “Space Ghost in Comics” article
artists to illustrate Messner-Loebs’ full-length tales. Issue #2, drawn by in BI #59 for more information about this ghostly guardian.)
Wendy Pini and Joe Staton under a Steve Rude cover, is memorable for
its poignant revelation of the story of Dr. Benton’s Quest wife, Jonny’s late YABBA DABBA DOO, THREE DIMENSIONS FOR YOU
mother. Dave Stevens illustrated #3’s cover, and the issue was drawn by The final stop on our tour of the Bronze-tastic World of Hanna-Barbera
the Hempel/Wheatley team. Other all-star artists, including Dan Adkins, Comics is Blackthorne Publishing, the comics house of the mid- to
Adam Kubert, Dan Spiegle, and Carmine Infantino, illustrated early late 1980s that was primarily known for its reprints of Dick Tracy and
issues, but deadline concerns led Comico to abandon the popular but other classic comic strips and its widely distributed line of 3-D comics,
difficult-to-manage rotating-artist formula. Beginning with issue #14 featuring 3-D adventures of a range of properties including California
(July 1987), the Hempel/Wheatley duo became Jonny Quest’s regular Raisins, Rambo, Bullwinkle and Rocky, Red Sonja, Star Wars, and…
art team and produced the majority of the series’ issues. …Hanna-Barbera’s The Flintstones. Blackthorne, headed by Steve
Fan-favorite Jonny Quest ended its run with issue #31 (Dec. 1988), Schanes (formerly of Pacific Comics) and wife Ann Fera, released in
a cancellation forced by declining sales not warranting the book’s 1987 and 1988 four issues of Flintstones 3-D, adapting episodes of the
licensing fees. Along the way, Comico published supplemental miniseries: classic Flintstones TV series (including the birth of Pebbles, in issue #4) to
three issues of Jonny Quest Classics, with Doug Wildey adapting three black-and-white comics, with 3-D effects. Scripts were by Blackthorne’s
of the TV series’ episodes to comics; a Jezebel Jade miniseries, starring editor-in-chief, John Stephenson (not to be confused with the voice
the series’ supporting cast member (and Race Bannon love interest), actor of the same name who played Mr. Slate and other characters on
which was explored in BACK ISSUE #90; and two issues of Jonny Quest The Flintstones and in its later iterations). The Flintstones 3-D artist was
Special, inventory stories penned by sci-fi scribe Arthur Byron Cover that Jorge Pacheco, a children’s book author also known for his comics work
were published when Comico knew its JQ license was about to expire. on Hollywood tie-ins including Slimer, Beetlejuice, and Saved by the Bell.
All of these comics were edited by Diana Schutz with the exception of “I had just graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon Art,”
Jonny Quest Special #2, edited by the author of this article. (Please see Pacheco recalls to BACK ISSUE, “and I was looking for work when I
BI #59 for a detailed history of Comico’s Jonny Quest, and ye ed’s other found out there was a small comic-book publisher in my hometown of
TwoMorrows magazine, RetroFan #7, for Will Murray’s Doug Wildey El Cajon, California. I grew up in El Cajon and went in for an interview
interview about the original animated series.) at Blackthorne Comics, showed the ‘editors’ my portfolio, and walked

out with my first professional job, a book called Laffin’ Gas, and was soon Coining a
given my very first whole book to illustrate, which was Bullwinkle & Rocky
[covered elsewhere in this issue—ed.]. Then, after that, I illustrated four Catchphrase
issues of The Flintstones. I was truly in heaven given these incredible, (top) Hanna-Barbera
famous licensed characters, and well-known books to illustrate. I colored
all these comic-book covers by hand, with Dr. Ph. Martin dyes, long before returned to Marvel,
computer coloring was the thing. I remember the staff and editors saying via its kid-friendly Star
about me: ‘Jorge walked off the streets and is now one of our top artists.’
“I must admit, I was very flattered by all the praise, but not everyone Comics imprint, with
was a fan of my Flintstones work. At one of the San Diego Comic-Cons, The Flintstone Kids #1
I ran into Scott Shaw!, ‘the king’ of the Flintstones. He told me,
‘I loved your Bullwinkle & Rocky work, but your Flintstones books were
(Aug. 1987). Cover
sh*t! [laughs] I’m not sure what my reaction was since this was in the late art by Ernie Colón
’80s, but the funny thing about all of that was that Scott contacted me
and Al Milgrom.
a few years later when I was the staff artist at Harvey Comics. He asked
me if I would ink a couple of Jetsons mini-comic books he was drawing (bottom) Original
for Denny’s Restaurants. Then, another few years later, I helped Scott Jorge Pacheco cover
get a job at Harvey Comics drawing dozens of new covers of the H-B
reprint books Harvey was publishing, including The Flintstones and The art to Blackthorne’s
Jetsons, just to name a few.” Obviously, Shaw!’s assessment of Pacheco’s The Flintstones 3-D #4
Flintstones in 3-D books did not tarnish their relationship.
“By the way, Scott and I are good friends now, and I never took (Mar. 1988).
his early criticism badly,” Pacheco says. “All I know, I was so fortunate TM & © Hanna-Barbera Productions.
to illustrate The Flintstones for Blackthorne Comics. Those
books truly helped launch my career and helped me get
the biggest break in my career, which was to get the staff
artist position at Harvey Comics. The H-B characters
have been a big part of my career when I worked on
books such as Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Scooby-Doo,
The Jetsons, and, of course, The Flintstones. I grew up
watching H-B cartoons. Never could I have imagined
that I would become a small piece of the H-B world.”
Hanna-Barbera comic books didn’t die with the Bronze

Age or early Copper Age. In the 1990s, Archie Comics
published The Flintstones and other H-B books, under
the watchful editorial eye of Sid Jacobson. A highlight jorge pacheco
of the Archie H-B run was the anthology Hanna-Barbera
Presents; superhero collectors should note that Atom
Ant and Secret Squirrel co-starred in HBP #1 and Frankenstein, Jr. and
the Impossibles teamed up in HBP #8, the final issue.
Once company acquisitions brought the Hanna-Barbera
characters under the same corporate umbrella as DC Comics, DC
began publishing Cartoon Network-inspired material in the 2000s,
including, of all things, the insanely hilarious Space Ghost: Coast to
Coast, and conversely, a realistic, and violent, Space Ghost miniseries
revealing the character’s origin, scripted by Joe Kelly and featuring
gorgeous painted art by Ariel Olivetti.
In 2016, DC began an ambitious initiative to update classic H-B
material for contemporary readers, intriguing some readers and critics
but alienating many diehard fans of the classic toons. Series included
an adult-oriented The Flintstones by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh, a
gathering of H-B’s action stars and superheroes in Future Quest by Jeff
Parker and Evan “Doc” Shaner and other artists, and The Ruff and Reddy
Show by Howard Chaykin, which featured the lead duo as has-been
TV stars. Certainly the most controversial of these short-lived H-B
re-imaginings was Mark Russell and Mike Feehan’s Exit, Stage Left!:
The Snagglepuss Chronicles, wherein the star was a outrageously gay
playwright. There were even a series of DC/H-B crossovers branded as
“DC Meets Hanna-Barbera,” including the logical (Green Lantern/Space
Ghost, Adam Strange/Future Quest) and the way-out (Suicide Squad/
Banana Splits, Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey).
Wherever Hanna-Barbera’s time-honored stable of characters next
end up in comic books is anyone’s guess, since, at this writing, no plans
have been announced for new H-B comics. And with the comics market A tip of the Water Buffalo Lodge hat to the helpful Michael Ambrose, Mark
reeling, like so many other businesses, from the coronavirus pandemic, Arnold, John Byrne, Tom DeFalco, Mark Evanier, Ross Pearsall, Scott Shaw!,
one might consider the prospects for new H-B comics to be slim. But in Joe Staton, and Mike Zeck. Yabba Dabba Doo to each of you!
this era of real-world doom and gloom, maybe the antics of a modern
Stone Age family or a pic-a-nic basket-thieving park bear are just what BACK ISSUE editor-in-chief MICHAEL EURY edited Comico’s Jonny Quest
Special #2 and wrote Flintstones and Atom Ant stories for Archie and DC
we need to bring a smile to our faces again.
Comics. He and his wife have decorated their bedroom with Flintstones
Cue “Bongo Feet and Zip,” I’m outta here! original art and collectibles.

NEW BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS
OLD GODS &

A COMPANION TO
NEW
JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD
For its 80th issue, the JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine presents a double-sized 50th anniver-
sary examination of Kirby’s magnum opus! Spanning the pages of four different comics starting
in 1970 (NEW GODS, FOREVER PEOPLE, MISTER MIRACLE, and JIMMY OLSEN), the sprawl-
ing “Epic for our times” was cut short mid-stream, leaving fans wondering how Jack would’ve
resolved the confrontation between evil DARKSEID of Apokolips, and his son ORION of New
Genesis. This companion to that “FOURTH WORLD” series looks back at JACK KIRBY’s own
words, as well as those of assistants MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN, inker MIKE ROYER,
and publisher CARMINE INFANTINO, to determine how it came about, where it was going, and
how Kirby would’ve ended it before it was prematurely cancelled by DC Comics! It also examines
Kirby’s use of gods in THOR and other strips prior to the Fourth World, how they influenced his
DC epic, and affected later series like THE ETERNALS and CAPTAIN VICTORY. With an overview
of hundreds of Kirby’s creations like BIG BARDA, BOOM TUBES and GRANNY GOODNESS, and
post-Kirby uses of his concepts, no Fourth World fan will want to miss it! Compiled, researched,
and edited by JOHN MORROW, with contributions by JON B. COOKE.
(160-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $26.95 • (Limited Edition HARDCOVER) $35.95
Digital Edition) $12.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4 • NOW SHIPPING!
OR
-COL
FULLDCOVER
HAR RIES
SE nting
me f
docu ecade o
d y!
ea h s histor
c
comic
AMERICAN COMIC BOOK

CHRONICLES
The 1950s The 1990s
BILL SCHELLY tackles the Atomic Era of KEITH DALLAS & JASON SACKS detail the
Marilyn Monroe and Elvis: EC’s TALES decade X-MEN #1 sold 8.1 million copies,
MARVEL COMICS REED CRANDALL FROM THE CRYPT, MAD, CARL BARKS’
Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge, the
IMAGE COMICS formed, Superman died,
Batman broke his back, Neil Gaiman’s
IN THE 1970s ILLUSTRATOR OF THE COMICS
(Softcover Edition)
FLASH in Showcase #4, return of Timely’s SANDMAN led to the VERTIGO line of
(Expanded Edition) CAPTAIN AMERICA, HUMAN TORCH &
SUB-MARINER, & FREDRIC WERTHAM!
adult comics, and gimmicky covers, skimpy
costumes, and mega-crossovers ruled!
ROGER HILL’s history of Crandall’s life and
PIERRE COMTOIS’ sequel covers how STAN career, with never-seen photos and unpub-
LEE became publisher, JACK KIRBY left (240-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) (288-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER)
lished artwork! NOW IN SOFTCOVER! $46.95 $48.95
Marvel, and ROY THOMAS rose as writer &
editor! New edition with 16 extra pages! (256-page FULL-COLOR (Digital Edition) $15.99 (Digital Edition) $15.99
TRADE PAPERBACK) $39.95 NOW SHIPPING! NOW SHIPPING!
(240-page trade paperback) $29.95 (256-page Digital Edition) $13.99
(Digital Edition) $12.99 NEW SOFTCOVER EDITION
INCLUDES 16 EXTRA PAGES!
NOW SHIPPING!
NOW SHIPPING! Other
volumes
available:
Coming Fall 2021: 1940-44
American Comic 1960-64
Book Chronicles: 1965-69
1945-49 and The 1970s
Charlton Companion 1980s
TwoMorrows.
Phone: 919-449-0344
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.twomorrows.com
The Future of Comics History. Don’t miss exclusive sales, limited editions,
and new releases! Sign up for our mailing list:
https://groups.io/g/twomorrows
TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA
It should have been a huge hit.
After all, it had everything going for it. The effort was based on
a long-running property that was loved by generations. The original
books were bestsellers in the field of juvenile fiction. The characters had
even appeared on the screen before, so non-readers would know them.
These characters were ready for their renaissance with a hip update.
They looked “now” and they looked “wow,” with current fashions and
haircuts. The cast was broadened to include an independent woman
and the first black character on a Saturday morning program.
Most importantly, they followed the animation studio’s successful
formula. Just as Filmation Studios had done with their hit Archie
program [see BACK ISSUE #107—ed.], they took well-loved characters,
made them hip, and injected bubble gum music into the mix.
This effort provided the opportunity to learn from past mistakes.
They developed a plethora of merchandise (toys, Halloween costumes,
board games) for store shelves coordinating with the show’s debut.
And another correction: a real band would be ready and available to
record and tour to capitalize on the program’s success.
But then… something happened. All these plans of pop-culture
supremacy were undone by a stoner, his dog, and his three best friends.
What happened? Why didn’t the show click? Why isn’t Gold Key’s
by Ed Catto The Hardy Boys comic lovingly collected and revered today? How did
it instead become just a footnote, a curiosity, and a perennial
pop-culture trivia question? Like the characters themselves, let’s solve
the mystery of The Hardy Boys’ Gold Key Comics!
HARDY HISTORY
The Hardy Boys were created by Edward Stratemeyer for his Stratmeyer
Syndicate. It’s hard to understand the impact of this publishing house
by today’s standards, but suffice it to say that they brought juvenile
fiction, a precursor to today’s Young Adult/YA trend, to the forefront
of American pop culture. Stratemeyer published numerous series,
including Tom Swift, The Bobbsey Twins, The Rover Boys, and The Hardy
Boys. And from The Hardy Boys template came Nancy Drew.
The Hardy Boys were also rebooted
many times. Periodically, the book
series would be updated. The Hardy
Boys characters came to life on screen
on Disney’s The Mickey Mouse Club.
There was an ABC pilot that debuted
in September of 1967, but it failed to
gain traction.
Meanwhile, Filmation Studios was
enjoying success with their adaptation
of Archie comics. It’s not unimaginable
to surmise that Filmation thought that
The Hardy Boys would simply be their
next big hit. The Riverdale teenagers
were similar to Joe and Frank Hardy
and their friends.
© Disney.
But did the studio really put
enough effort into it? So much of the
animation production and rotoscoping
was repurposed from their Archie show. And The Hardy Boys cartoon
program employed an astonishingly small company of vocal talents—
notably Byron Kane, Dal McKennon, and Jane Webb. Each would play
several parts in every episode.
In some ways, Filmation tried to do new things, learning lessons
from Archie. While the Archie gang would always exist only as comic
characters or cartoons, or as Don Kirshner-controlled studio musicians,
Filmation created a live touring band version of The Hardy Boys.
Lookalike actors were hired to play the characters in the opening
and closing credits of the show and to perform at live concerts.
C’mon, Get Happy The “real” Hardy Boys were Jeff Taylor as Joe and Reed Kailing as
Gold Key’s groovy first issue cover to The Hardy Boys #1 Frank. Bob Crowder, the drummer, had played with several groups,
including the Shirelles. Norbet (Nib) Soltysiak was the brothers’ friend
(Apr. 1970), featuring Dan Spiegle art. Chubby, and Devin English, a former Playboy Club Bunny, became
© Filmation Associates. the live incarnation of the band’s female dancer.

THE MYSTERY OF THE
GOLD KEY
Gold Key’s The Hardy Boys series
debuted with an April 1970 cover date.
This short-lived series, just four issues,
was written by Don R. Christensen.
More than just a writer, Christensen
was an animator working for studios
such as Walt Disney, Warner Bros.,
Hanna-Barbera, and DePatie-Freleng
Enterprises. His comics work included
Magnus Robot Fighter, Daffy Duck,
and Uncle Scrooge. He also adapted
other Saturday morning heroes to the
comics, including Space Ghost, the
Herculoids, and Moby Dick, in the
pages of Gold Key’s Hanna-Barbera
Super TV Heroes.
Dan Spiegle, a fantastic artist with
an enduring career, never seemed
to miss a beat. Spiegle started on
adaptations of screen favorites like
Hopalong Cassidy, Maverick, Sea
Hunt, and The Untouchables. Like
Christensen, he also was assigned to
comics featuring Saturday morning
cartoons, such as Space Ghost.
Known for his ability to draw ordinary people in adventurous
situations, Spiegle was the perfect choice for Gold Key’s Hardy Boys
series. He was able to draw any setting and even the gang’s car, a
vintage 1912 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, never looked better. Spiegle had
an uncanny ability to populate every page with myriad unique characters,
without it ever looking crowded.
And with all this, somehow Spiegle was able to channel the signature
Filmation style into the Hardy Boys comics. He also did the very same thing
when he illustrated other cartoon characters from other studios. Spiegle’s
version of Space Ghost, for example, looked like the Hanna-Barbera cartoon.
It was subtle. In 1970 few readers would have ever even noticed or vocalized
his craftsmanship. Enjoying the art from the vantage point of today, one can
only have more respect for the talented Mr. Spiegle.
OH, BOY, WE’RE HAVING A PARTY

The cast was a classic group of friends. They were all affable and upbeat.
Memorable? Well… that’s for you to decide.
Brothers Joe and Frank Hardy were the sons of “famous” detective Fenton
Hardy. They often dropped his name to gain credibility with and access to
the adult community.
In issue #2’s “The Mystery of the Catacombs,” Joe meekly told the
beleaguered owner of an amusement park, “Sir… y’see, our sideline is the
detective business!”
Wanda Kay explained further, “Their Dad is Fenton Hardy!”
“Fenton Hardy!?” exclaimed the man. “Then you’re those Hardy Boys!”
But unlike any other brothers in America, they never fought or bickered.
And the teen friends were all very collaborative in creating music, making
decisions, and solving mysteries, although the brothers led the gang.
Wanda Kay Breckenridge was a platinum-haired beauty, even though

actress Devin English, who played the real-life version, clearly was a brunette.
Wanda Kay was a part of the gang, although often relegated to the role of the
quintessential damsel in distress. While undeniably the hot chick of the band,
Musical Mystery Tour her musical contribution, beyond dancing, was unclear.
Of note: Wanda Kay had so much marketable potential she earned her
(top) The “real” band, the Hardy Boys, made a own action figurine (from Corgi) and a Collegeville Halloween Costume.
blip on the bubblegum charts in 1970. (bottom)
Pete Jones, the drummer, was a smart and competent friend of the Hardy
Man of mystery Fenton Hardy and his boys, and Boys. This trailblazing character was the first African-American cast member
their band, on page 1 of Gold Key’s Hardy Boys #1. on a Saturday morning Show.
Story by Don R. Christensen, art by Dan Spiegle. Chubby Morton, based on Chet Morton from the book series, was the
© RCA. © Filmation. comic relief. He was the upbeat but often cowardly group member.

CHICKS DIG THE CAR
It’s seems that everyone, fans and non-fans alike, loves UK-based Corgi created their version of the Hardy Boys’
Batman’s Batmobile and James Bond’s Aston Martin. Chitty 1912 Roll Royce during the TV series’ marketing blitz.
Chitty Bang Bang, the titular car from a story also written The company based the design on their previously released
by 007 author Ian Fleming, is also a favorite. The engine Silver Ghost but added “pop-art-sy” colors to the car. Corgi
roar of the Green Hornet’s Black Beauty was first heard also included small figurines with musical instruments,
on the radio in the 1940s and is fondly remembered. although they were slightly out-of-scale. (The “wrong
These were all part of the Corgi diecast car toy line, which scale” bothered me to no end as a boy.)
featured many cars from movies and TV programs. Sales of this toy were lackluster for Corgi. Only 40,000
So how is it that the mostly forgotten Hardy Boys’ 1912 units were reportedly sold in a two-year period, rendering
Rolls Royce Silver Ghost is one of the most collectible of all it the lowest-selling entry in the Corgi line.
Corgi cars? Ironically, an ad for Mighty Miniatures by Corgi appears
In the Gold Key comic and in the Filmation cartoon, in The Hardy Boys #1. It features several cars, including
the Hardy Boys zoomed from mystery to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the new
mystery in a vintage, albeit refurbished, Corgi Junior set with the Batmobile,
Rolls Royce. It seems that originally 007’s Aston Martin, and the missile-
they were to be driving a mini-van, à la firing Man from U.N.C.L.E. car. Even the
Scooby-Doo’s Mystery Machine, but the Monkees’ Monkeemobile made the
creators shifted gears at the last minute. scene. Sadly, the Hardy Boys’ vintage
The comic series’ artist Dan Spiegle Silver Ghost didn’t make the cut for this
was skilled at rendering cars (one could ad page. Talk about a cross-marketing
say he was skilled at rendering everything missed opportunity. Bummer, man.
and not be wrong). Spiegle’s depictions
were always spot-on. It should be noted
that the car was often miscolored through
the comic, without the gaudy hues of
the cartoon or the Corgi toy.
In “The Headless Horseman” (Hardy Boys #3, Oct. 1970),
the car plays an important role in the unmasking of the
villain. “All because we drive a snazzy, ancient car with
good heavy seat cushions,” noted Chubby.
joe hardy frank hardy wanda kay breckenridge pete jones chubby morton
In “Secret Mission” (The Hardy Boys #2, July 1970), it seemed LIFE’S FULL OF MYSTERIES (BUT THAT MAKES IT BETTER)
as though a waitress likes Chubby. She passed him a note— Each issue was stuffed with two fair play mysteries—all the clues were
a plea for help—on the check. “Looks like you’re her favorite, there for readers. If you were as smart as Joe and Frank Hardy (it went
Chubby!” teased Frank. The adventures would often end with a without saying that readers were smarter than Chubby), you could
gag featuring Chubby. solve the mystery. For young readers, these comics, like the Hardy
Sometimes in the Gold Key series, Chubby was portrayed against Boys prose mystery books, were a perfect entry point to the genre of
character, as clever and competent. In “The Guise of Medusa” (The mystery and detective thrillers.
Hardy Boys #4, Jan. 1971), Chubby said, “I’m getting a detective- The plots from the Gold Key series have such great potential. They
type inspiration!” are full of saboteurs, criminal gangs, and deceptive adults. The Hardy
When Frank Hardy teased him, chiding “Sherlock Bones, they Boys—undeterred by the normal constraints of school, finances, or
call him!,” Chubby pushed back. “Cut it out, Frank!” And then he adult supervision—traveled cross-country and internationally.
revealed the solution to the mystery, a secret that had eluded the And the premise for each story was clever, including:
Hardy Boys and their detective father. • Mysterious events sabotaging the opening of a Catacomb
Amusement park, seemingly by disgruntled Native Americans
Fenton Hardy was the brothers’ famous detective father. He was • A dinosaur mystery in a swamp
a looming presence and to reinforce that, he was featured in the first • In Venice, Italy, a statue of a goddess is missing
story in the first issue. • A robbery at the circus—including a classic locked-room mystery
Thankfully absent from this entourage was what would soon Clearly, this incarnation of The Hardy Boys was “safe” for children
become, for Saturday morning shows, mandatory and obsequious: a and non-threatening to adults. The gang looked like the Sears catalog
humorous sidekick or charming pet. version of hippies. They wore bellbottoms, vests, scarfs, and loud colors.

Those Meddling Kids…
(left) A photo cover on #2. (center) Hanna-Barbera’s
similar concept, Butch Cassidy. (right) The Hardy Boys
solve the mystery of the Headless Horseman in
issue #3. By Christensen and Spiegle.
Hardy Boys © Filmation. Butch Cassidy © Hanna-Barbera.
They didn’t do drugs. There was no sexual tension, neither overt nor
implied, between Wanda Kay and her friends. And the gang was always
respectful when speaking to adults—even when capturing the villains.
COVER TUNES
You’d think that with just four issues, there would be some cohesive
uniformity to Gold Key’s Hardy Boys series. But as with so many
expectations about the ’60s Hardy Boys, you’d be wrong.
The first issue’s cover is a collage that looks as if it was designed
by the same groovy artist who painted the Partridge Family’s bus. And if you were a kid who was passionate about this particular
It sports a series of panels repurposing the Dan Spiegle artwork from reboot, you had a lot of things you could buy—record albums, 45s,
the series. One panel, however, showcases a photo of the live-action sheet music, View-Master reels, Halloween costumes (featuring Frank,
Hardy Boys actors playing their instruments. Joe, or Wanda Kay), a Milton Bradley board game, and a Corgi car.
The second issue’s cover is a friendly group shot of the actors To the world in 1970, The Hardy Boys comic series was just another
smiling on a sunny day. The lighting looks natural and the poses look licensing tactic. Unlike The Walking Dead or Batman, comics weren’t
natural—without a whiff of playing concerts or solving mysteries. driving this property’s effort.
It’s surprisingly warm and upbeat.
The penultimate issue, #3, offers up a spooky cover of the SO, WHAT WENT WRONG?
headless horseman, in typical Scooby-Doo fashion. The cover copy It would seem that this incarnation of The Hardy Boys was destined
provided prospective readers with everything they needed to for pop-culture greatness. But it all fizzled pretty quickly. The biggest
know: “Returning from a Western Rock Festival, the Hardy Boys problem seemed to be that right after The Hardy Boys debuted,
encounter the Headless Horseman!” ABC introduced its own group of mystery-solving teens that would
The Hardy Boys #4 cover takes us full circle, as it’s back to the travel the country in a counterculture vehicle. Scooby-Doo, Where
Partridge Family layout. Interestingly, the photo montage of the actors Are You!, complete with bubble-gum rock songs, spookier mysteries,
show them all sharing an ice cream soda, in that “almost trademarked” slicker animation, and an iconic canine, became a huge hit that
pose of Archie, Betty, and Veronica! continued season after season. The Hardy Boys and friends, by no
The logo is the one constant. It’s a typical, albeit innocuous, groovy fault of their own, seemed like also-rans by comparison.
font. And on most of the covers, it’s augmented by the additional The mystery is solved. The Hardy Boys should have been a
tagline, “On the Beat!” hit but it wasn’t. Joe, Frank, and the gang
But the odd part is that this isn’t the logo used on the cartoon. would have gotten away with it, too,
The show and most of the merchandise used a clever logo in the if not those (other) meddling kids… and
shape of two boys with a guitar, well communicating the premise and their dog.
potential of The Hardy Boys.
ED CATTO is a marketing and start-up strategist, with
MERCHANDISE a specialty in pop culture. As founder of Agendae, Ed is
In the modern era, we often think of comics as the starting point dedicated to helping brands and companies innovate
for character merchandise. There wouldn’t be The Walking Dead and grow. As part of the faculty at Ithaca College’s
School of Business, Ed teaches entrepreneurial courses
T-shirts or Batman pajamas if the characters didn’t originate in the
and one unique class focusing on comic conventions
comics. But with The Hardy Boys, it’s a bit more convoluted. They
and Geek Culture. Ed’s also an illustrator, having won
characters had been merchandised via the books and TV shows the 2019 Pulp Factory Award and a retropreneur,
long before this incarnation. rejuvenating brands like Captain Action.

THE PINK PANTHER’S ORIGINS
David DePatie was the final head of the original Warner Bros. cartoon
studio, makers of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, before it
was shut down for good in 1963.
With nothing left to lose, DePatie and his partner, Isadore “Friz”
Freleng, founded their animation studio and officially called it DePatie–
Freleng Enterprises Unlimited, Inc. A formal six-page memo introducing
the company was issued on Warner Bros. stationery on March 19,
1963 and appears to be the first printed mention of DFE anywhere.
In the inter-office communication, DePatie details plans for DFE to
take over cartoon production for Warner Bros. by leasing the cartoon
building and using many of its employees. The new company was
publicly announced in the May 31, 1963 edition of Daily Variety.
There was an overlap of the two studios. Warner Bros. was still
doing the final touches on the animation for The Incredible Mr. Limpet,
a Don Knotts comedy that combined live-action with animation.
Work on the animated portion of this film was completed by April 19,
1963, as evidenced by an internal Warner Bros. memo that
also mentions everyone’s termination from Warner Bros.
including DePatie’s. Cartoon Studio upon completion
by M
ark Arnold of this work. No mention of DePatie–Freleng is
mentioned or referenced.
DePatie recalled, “Basically the entire staff was
pretty much left intact until we ultimately closed
down. When Friz and I formed our company, we
literally had the cream of the crop, the pick of anybody
we wanted, because they were all gonna get laid off.
“There was a five-year lease on the building
plus all the equipment for $500 a month. That
really put Friz and I on the map. We had a beautiful
david depatie facility, all ready to go.”
DePatie explains how the Pink Panther came to
Los Angeles Public be: “One day the telephone rings, and on the other
Library/Valley Ties
Photo Collection. end is [filmmaker] Blake Edwards. I had known Blake
through an uncle of his by the name of Owen Crump.
Crump was a producer at Warner Bros., and through that relationship
I had met Blake two or three times. He said, ‘David, I understand that
you are in the animation business. I’d like to
see you.’ I go over to see Blake and he hands
me the script of The Pink Panther. He said,
‘This is a live-action movie. I really don’t know
where there’s a place for animation, but I’d
like you to design me a pink panther.’
“We had a character designer by the name
of Hawley Pratt. Hawley must have done at
least 100 different renditions of a panther.
The only thing we had to go by was in the
script itself, the thing about the jewel that
gets swiped back and forth, and in this—this
diamond—is an imperfection that looks like
a pink panther. We designed some stuff and
one Sunday we took it over to Blake’s house
and spread them out over his living room
floor. He walked around, and he’s a pretty
decisive guy, and he said, ‘That’s the one I
want!’ The Panther was born.
“Blake went off to Rome to shoot the movie, and the only thing he
used the Panther for was on letterheads and business cards. Friz and I
Congratulations! It’s Pink! didn’t have any idea of where it was going to go from there. After the
picture was completed, I got a call from Blake and he said, ‘I have the
(left) Pink-matted original art, by Phil DeLara, for the cover film in the can now and I would like to tell you my thoughts, so come
of (inset) Gold Key Comics’ Pink Panther #1 (Apr. 1971). on over.’ I went over to see him and he said, ‘I want you to create a
main title sequence for my movie.’
Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). “We went on to create a storyboard with the character involved in
Pink Panther © MGM Studios, Inc. all of the main title credits and he thought it was great. He had to take

it over to the Mirisch Company, and get the budget Germany. The UK premiere was on January 7, 1964,
Mad Monster okayed. It was expensive, but he got the budget and the US premiere didn’t occur until March 18, 1964.
Party cleared and we went ahead and made the main title. The Pink Panther appeared in the opening and closing
“The reception for the titles was magnificent. Wecredit sequences of every film in the Pink Panther series
Title page art from took the picture out to preview at Village Theatre inexcept A Shot in the Dark (1965) and Inspector Clouseau
“Pinkenstein,” from Westwood and when the titles came on, people got (1968). His popularity spawned a series of 124 theatrical
up and they were jumping around and screaming shorts and later at least ten TV series featuring new and
Pink Panther #31 and yelling. They had to turn off the projector and repeat episodes and three primetime specials.
(Jan. 1976). Art turn on the house lights because people were just The first entry in the animated cartoon series was
going really crazy about it. I had the idea that “The Pink Phink,” released on November 14, 1964,
by Warren Tufts. maybe there was life in this Pink Panther featuring the Panther harassing his foil in his very
Original art scan after this main title sequence. I was first appearance, the little white mustached
able to get a very large contract from man officially known as “The Little Man”
courtesy of Heritage. United Artists that surprised me at and/or “Big Nose.” In the initial entry, the
(inset) Cover to the time. We got a contract for 156 Pink Panther annoys the little man by
six-minute theatrical shorts.” painting his blue house pink. This simple but
The Inspector #2 The Pink Panther feature film effective cartoon won the 1964 Academy
(Oct. 1974). Artist starred David Niven, Capucine, Award® for Animated Short Film, giving
Claudia Cardinale, and the incompa- Friz Freleng his fourth and final Oscar.
unknown. rable Peter Sellers. The film premiered DePatie-Freleng continued to make
© MGM Studios, Inc. on December 19, 1963 in West Pink Panther cartoons throughout 1965,
and initially the quality was of the same
high standards of “The Pink Phink,”
friz FRELENG but there were no more Oscars. DFE
was ahead of schedule and now
Marvel Animated
Universe Wiki. contemplated other theatrical cartoon
series. Panther cartoons were regularly
released until 1969, when the series debuted on TV.
THE PINK PANTHER AND THE INSPECTOR

ON TV
The cartoons made their way to NBC on Saturday
mornings as part of The Pink Panther Show. For this
series, NBC added a laugh track to the original cartoons,
and brought on Marvin Miller as an off-camera narrator
talking to the Pink Panther
during bumper segments.
Production of new theatrical
Panther cartoons resumed
in 1971, and then only on a
sporadic basis theatrically
through 1977. The final 32
Pink Panther theatricals actually
appeared on television first
as part of The All-New Pink
Panther Show during the 1978–
1979 season on ABC, and
then slowly released to theaters
from 1978 through 1981.
Once the Pink Panther
cartoon series took off, it
seemed inevitable that a series
based on Peter Sellers’ charac-
ter, Inspector Clouseau, would
follow. The new series was titled The Inspector. The
character design was restructured to have a prominent
chin, little hair, and a slight mustache, so as to not
so closely resemble actor Peter Sellers for fear of him
claiming a copyright. This redesigned Inspector was the
one used for the titles of the Inspector Clouseau (1968)
feature film starring Alan Arkin. Later Panther titles
redesigned the character again to resemble Peter Sellers,
Roberto Benigni, and Steve Martin, depending on the film.
The series featured the Inspector portrayed by Pat
Harrington, Jr., who was best known from The Steve
Allen Show and later from One Day At a Time. His Spanish
assistant named Deux Deux joined the Inspector as
they tackled a number of strange and bizarre villains.
Similar to the live-action counterpart as portrayed
by Herbert Lom, there was a Commissioner, who
was always annoyed with the Inspector and also

sent him out on his assignments.
The first cartoon in the series was called “The Great DeGaulle Stone
Operation,” and was released with the James Bond film Thunderball in 1965. PINK PANTHER AND
The theme music for the cartoon series was the song “A Shot in the
Dark” by Henry Mancini, which was the same song used for the title
INSPECTOR BRONZE AGE
theme for the motion picture of the same name. COMIC CHECKLIST
THE PINK PANTHER IN COMIC BOOKS • The Pink Panther #1 (Apr. 1971)–87 (1984)
So popular was the Pink Panther by this time that Gold Key Comics
began a successful comic-book series that ran from 1971–1984 and lasted • The Inspector #1 (July 1974)–19 (Feb. 1978)
87 issues. The cover to the first Pink Panther comic book had artwork by • The Pink Panther Kite Fun Book (1972)
Phil DeLara. Later on, Warren Tufts took over after DeLara passed away
• March of Comics #376, 384, 390, 409, 418, 429,
in 1973. Bob Gregory also worked on these later books.
There was also a mini-comic that appeared in 1976 and a Kite Fun 441, 449, 461, 473, 486
Book from 1972 by Pete Alvarado. The Pink Panther series spun off The • The Pink Panther 1976 trick or treat pack giveaway
Inspector comic book in 1974 that ran for 19 issues, through 1978.
Harvey Comics reprinted the Gold Key Pink Panther series during 1993–
1994 with a Summer Special and a nine-issue series. Note: Pink Panther has since been published by
For the international market, cartoonist Fernando Llera worked on a
Pink Panther comic book for a number of years, more than any other artist Harvey Comics and American Mythology.
on the title. Llera remembers, “My association with the Pink Panther
began in mid-1973. I was doing a comic book about a character I had
created named El Mafioso Nick (Mobster Nick) as part of four different
weekly titles published under the banner of Domingos Alegres (Happy
Sundays) at Editorial Novaro, which was at the time one of Latin America’s
largest publishing houses. They held the publication rights for all of the
Dell and Gold Key titles as well as the rights for DC and Marvel comics for
distribution in every Spanish-speaking country.
“After a seven-month run, Novaro Publishers
cancelled Mobster Nick, along with the three
other titles of Domingos Alegres, and began
publishing The Pink Panther and Beep Beep
the Road Runner as part of their Domingos
Alegres title instead. However, since both
US titles were only published bimonthly,
they needed, extra issues to fill out the rest
of their schedule, which was two new issues
every month for each.
“Somebody at Novaro decided my drawing
style resembled that of the Pink Panther
cartoons and they hired me to draw and write
the extra issues. The Road Runner was included FERNANDO LLERA
in the package for no apparent reason, too.
I was then given character model sheets for
both titles as reference and given a few bylines to follow concerning each.
“Every two weeks I had to draw a pencil rough for the entire issue,
letter it in English and send it for approval to Western Publishing Company,
which had an office in L.A. at the time. Once the script and artwork were
approved (by Chase Craig or Zetta DeVoe), it was then mailed back to
Novaro for me to ink and color.
“That was pretty much the routine from 1973 to 1986, when suddenly,
Editorial Novaro went bankrupt and folded. I had done about 156 issues
of The Pink Panther and about the same for The Road Runner by then.
“As luck would have it, another publisher, Editorial VID, acquired the
rights for the Gold Key characters and hired me to continue The Pink
Panther series early in 1986. I had to churn out two complete 28-page
issues every month, but by this time I didn’t have to send my work for
approval to the US so I worked a lot faster on each one. I managed to
produce 220 Pink Panther issues between 1986 and 1992. Then the pro-
duction stopped and VID concentrated solely on the DC and Marvel lines.
“Fortunately, I was also working on a radio show and doing editorial
cartoons for some local newspapers by then, so I was not left completely
unemployed!
“A few years later, I received a letter and a few Pink Panther collector’s
items from somebody at DePatie-Freleng or Mirisch-Geoffrey
productions—I can’t remember—thanking me for my contribution to Going Fishing
the world of the Pink Panther. And that was my small part in the Pink
Panther story. I still get mail from comic-book collectors in Central and Courtesy of the artist, a Fernando Llera Pink Panther
South America and even Spain who own some of the titles I drew.”
Strangely, no comic books were ever attempted for any other DFE cover from 1981.
cartoon properties. © MGM Studios, Inc.

Environmental
Protectors by Ed Lute
These Gold Key
comic books
shared their
characters’ public
service messages
and entertained
young readers in
the process. (left)
Smokey Bear #6
(June 1971). (right)
Whitman variant
of Woodsy Owl #5
(Nov. 1974). Cover
by Paul Norris and
Larry Mayer.
© USDA Forest Service.
Many comic books are set within a city, whether it be the New York of SMOKEY BEAR
Marvel Comics or the fictional Metropolis, Star City, or Gotham City “Remember – Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires!”
of DC Comics. Those words helped propel Smokey Bear (not Smokey the Bear as
However, during the 1970s Gold Key Comics went in the opposite some people think) into one of the most iconic characters ever.
direction when they produced a pair of comics set within the woods. Smokey Bear is a fictional character used in advertising by the
These comics didn’t feature big-name superheroes but instead two US Forest Service to help remind youngsters (and oldsters, for that
widely known advertising icons: Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl. matter) that their actions could prevent forest fires. He first appeared
While neither is as popular as Superman, Batman, or the Amazing in 1944 (Smokey’s official birthdate is August 9, 1944). His first slogan
Spider-Man, most kids and adults still know who they are to this day, was “Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires.”
and some can even recite their catchphrases. His most famous slogan made its debut in 1947 and remained the same
The popularity of the characters meant that fans would want to until 2001 when it was changed to “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires!”
see Smokey and Woodsy in a variety of formats. This included comic However, Smokey Bear is more than just an icon of the Fire Service,
books, and Western Publishing (under their Gold Key imprint) was as he has been featured in cartoons, comic books, toys, and other
happy to oblige them. While Gold Key Comics had its own stable merchandise. Smokey Bear’s first comic-book appearance was in Dell’s
of characters including Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom; Magnus Robot Four Color #653 (Oct. 1955).
Fighter; and Turok, Son of Stone, the company was mainly known for The Smokey Bear comic book that many collectors are familiar
its use of licensed characters including Disney, Star Trek, and many with is a promotional comic first published in 1959 called The True
others, so Smokey and Woodsy fit right in. But these two comic-book Story of Smokey Bear. It contained the first 16 pages of Dell’s Four
series would stand apart from the other licensed titles: instead of Color #932 (Aug. 1958) and recounted the “true” story of Smokey
simply providing entertainment, they would also provide readers with Bear and how he got his name. The story is based on the true story
a message of either fire safety or pollution control. of a black bear cub that was saved during a fire in New Mexico in

1950 and given the name of Smokey Bear after the fictional character.
The promotional comic has been reprinted many times, with very
little to no change to the cover or in the content. Reprints of the
promotional comic can easily be found and are regularly given out to
children to promote fire safety.
In addition to those comics, Smokey was also featured in issues #708
(June 1956), 754 (Nov. 1956), 818 (July 1957), 1016 (Aug. 1959),
1119 (Aug. 1960), and 1214 (Aug. 1961) of Four Color. Dell’s
Four Color which ran for over 1300 issues, was an anthology that
featured a plethora of characters including Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny,
Flash Gordon, Little Lulu, and Tarzan amongst many, many others.
Remember when I said that the name is Smokey Bear and not
Smokey the Bear? Well, Dell’s Four Color comics featuring Smokey
were called Smokey the Bear Nature Stories. Even Dell didn’t get the
memo on his name. Thankfully, his next comic-book series would
correct this oversight.
In 1969, Rankin-Bass Productions, famous for holiday-themed
stop-motion television specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Reindeer [see RetroFan #12] and Frosty the Snowman, amongst
many others, produced the animated series The Smokey Bear Show
for ABC’s Saturday morning lineup. The show ran for one season of
17 episodes, but continued in reruns.
The cartoon was the basis for Gold Key’s Smokey Bear comic book.
The cartoon itself was based on the Smokey Bear comics from Dell’s
Four Color. So Gold Key’s Smokey Bear was based on Rankin-Bass’ The
Smokey Bear Show, which was based on comic-book stories published
by Dell Comics. Got it? A comic based on a television show based on
a comic based on an advertising icon. Whew!
Each issue of the Gold Key Smokey Bear comic contained several
stories that varied in page length but usually ran approximately eight
pages, giving readers a mix of stories containing fire-safety tales and
fun kid-friendly stories. The Comic Code Authority seal was nowhere
to be found on the books, but that didn’t matter since they were
aimed at children and contained inoffensive material that parents
wouldn’t mind their children reading.
The comic lasted for 13 quarterly issues published between 1970
and 1973. Let’s look at a random sample of issues to get a feel for the
series and the types of stories published.
Smokey Bear #2 (May 1970) contained four stories plus an
instructional page. The first story found Smokey Bear helping
Mrs. Grizzly wake up her husband who is an off-season hibernator in
“The Big Pushover.” “Too Many Cooks” had Smokey helping Jethro
Coyote and his family put out a fire that they started in the woods.
Mayor Owl wanted to turn the town into a convention destination
but the idea backfires in “An Unconventional Town.” There is an
instructional page with Smokey Bear discussing how to set up
a campsite. The issue ended with “A Bad Sport,” in which Smokey
encountered a bald eagle with a wig.
Issue # 9 (Mar. 1972) once again featured four stories. In the first
tale, “Heaven’s Devils,” Jethro Coyote and his family were back,
but this time they took up riding motorcycles and Smokey used them
as roving fire-spotters. Of course, Jethro and his family ended up
causing a fire. In “Here’s Randy,” TV personality Randy Otto came
to interview Smokey. Randy’s manager started a fire in the woods
that Smokey put out. Floyd Fox wanted to bird watch in peace so
he dressed up like a tree so no one would see him in “A Moving
Experience.” The final story, “The Natural Thing to Do,” had Smokey
instructing artist Pierre La Tulipe about fire safety.
Four stories also made up the contents of Smokey Bear #11
(Sept. 1972). The first one, “The Meanest Man in Town,” had Weasel Smarter Than the Average Bear
J. Googe trying to kick Jethro Coyote and his family off of Googe’s (top) PSA poster for Smokey Bear’s fire-prevention
property for not paying rent. Smokey helped to keep them from
getting evicted. “Private Eye Clem” was a starring vehicle for Smokey’s campaign, circa mid-1980s. Courtesy of Heritage
deputy Clem. The story saw Clem go undercover as his favorite Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). (bottom left) The first
fictional TV detective, Barney Bomb, to stop an unscrupulous carnival
owner who didn’t take care of fire hazards that Smokey had pointed Smokey Bear comic (incorrectly titled “Smokey the
out. Smokey attended a Fire Fighter Convention in “What in Blazes?” Bear”), Dell’s Four Color #653 (Oct. 1955). (bottom right)
and taught the children why protecting the forests are important and
that preventing fires in cities and towns are important as well. Smokey
Western Publishing’s popular and oft-reprinted The True
showed the kids some everyday things that could cause fires such as Story of Smokey Bear.
an unattended grill and frayed wires. In “Growing Pains,” Mayor Owl’s © USDA Forest Service.

niece, Olivia Owl, came for a visit and helped Smokey WOODSY OWL
put out a fire. This also issue contained a page that Not to be outdone by Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl also
reminded children to tell their parents the proper way has one of the most popular catchphrases ever: “Give a
to put out a cigarette in order to prevent a forest fire. Hoot – Don’t Pollute.”
While comic books today usually feature the Woodsy Owl is the official mascot of the United States
names of their creative teams on their covers and Forestry Service. First appearing in 1970, Woodsy was
interiors, some comic books from the Bronze Age created to help instruct children about the importance
didn’t list credits at all. This was the case with Gold of protecting the environment. He appeared in
Key, making it hard to determine just who wrote or many commercials throughout the 1970s and ’80s.
illustrated the stories. His vocals were performed by several famous voice
The Green Team As revealed in last issue’s article about Gold Key’s actors including Sterling Holloway (the original voice
Dark Shadows adaptation, writer Merrie Spaeth worked of Winnie the Pooh) and Frank Welker (who has voiced
(left) Courtesy of for Gold Key Comics during the late Silver Age and early many cartoons characters but is probably best known as
Bronze Age. “I wrote for many of their comics,” she tells the voice Fred Jones in various incarnations of Scooby-
Heritage, original
BACK ISSUE, but when asked about Smokey Bear responds, Doo starting with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! in 1969).
cover art to Smokey “I don’t recall how many, if any, Smokey Bear stories I did Like Smokey, Woodsy was also featured in a comic
for them. I wrote for a lot of different books for them book published by Gold Key. Unlike Smokey, Gold
Bear #10 (June 1972, and I just can’t remember everything I did back then. Key’s Woodsy Owl comic was the feathered character’s
artist unknown), “For years, I would pay my bills by how many pages first comic-book excursion.
I was writing that month,” Spaeth continues. “I got Similar to Gold Key’s Smokey Bear comic, Woodsy’s
and its published $10 a page. Dark Shadows was my favorite to write for comics each contained several stories that alternated
version. (right) because they were full stories and not short ones. So, if I between message tales of protecting the environment
did another book and only did one story that would be (usually involving pollution) and cute, funny stories that
Storyboards for eight pages at $10 a page, so $80. With Dark Shadows, would appeal to young children. The comic lasted for
a PSA television I would write an entire 20–22-page comic, so it would ten quarterly issues published between 1973 and 1976.
be $200–220. These were the most in demand, so you Once again, we look at a random sample of Woody
commercial didn’t usually get them. Also, these were full stories so Owl comics to obtain a feel for the series.
featuring Woodsy you could write more involved ones. I really liked that. Woodsy Owl #1 (Nov. 1973) introduced Woodsy
“Eventually I got to the point where I didn’t need and his companions including Nutsy Squirrel, the
Owl, signed by artist the money from writing comics, so I stopped doing it. Hillbilly Beavers, John and Martha Condor, Loose
Bob Kurtz. Courtesy I liked doing it though. It was a fun time.” Moose, Punky Possum, Little Benjie Bear, and Hot Lion.
The Grand Comics Database (comics.org) lists artist Like Smokey’s comic book, this book contained several
of Heritage. John Constanta as the artist on issue #11 and as possibly stories, but in a break from what was presented in the
working on issues #2, 6, and 10 as well. The GCD also other comic, contained a full-length 20-page story (“A
© USDA Forest Service/
National Association of State
lists artist Fred Fredricks (1929–2015) as the probable Most Egg-Citing Event”) along with a four-page backup
Foresters/The Ad Council. artist on issue #3. No writer credits are listed. tale (“Big Treasure Hunt”). The main story saw Woodsy

Barking from a Tree
Original art to the first page of Gold Key’s Woodsy Owl
#1 (Nov. 1973, courtesy of Heritage; note Woodsy’s
missing paste-up word balloon. Art by
Al Hubbard, script by Don R. Christensen.
© USDA Forest Service.
promote his mission to stop pollution, along with planting new trees
and helping endangered species when he and his friends helped Mr.
and Mrs. Condor start a family. The backup tale found Woodsy and
friends on a treasure hunt to find people who were doing something
to help the environment. An eco-list just like Woodsy’s was included for
readers so they could play along at home with their family and friends.
The full-length tales wouldn’t continue, however, as witnessed
in issue #3 (May 1974), which contained three stories. The issue
contained a 13-pager, an eight-pager, and a four-page tale. In “The
Recycle Roundup,” Woodsy and friends helped an alien who had
crash-landed in the woods. They used recycled materials like
aluminum cans to power his spaceship so he could leave Earth.
The cover story, “The Millstream Mystery,” had Eli Fox tricking Hot
Lion and the animals (except for Woodsy, that is) into thinking
there was gold in the mill. Woodsy discovered it was a trick and
chased Eli away. Just like in Smokey’s book, some of Woodsy’s stories
didn’t involve any message but just provided a good, enjoyable
story. “Woodsy Battles Littersville,” the final story, involved Woodsy
educating a town of litterers.
Issue #4 (Aug. 1974) once again featured three stories.
“Bulletin Board Bugaboo” saw Woodsy and Hot Lion deal with
a group of ants. “The Frizzled Feathers” introduced Rip Van
Wrunkle, a miner who had just woken up after sleeping for 100
years, who wanted to continue his mining but was destroying
the environment in the process. Of course, our feathered friend
Woodsy stepped in to stop him. “The Rambunctious Ranger” saw
Woodsy’s nephew Bitsy Owl become an official Ecology Ranger
and then go overboard with his ecological mission. Promos, and Gimmicks!—ed.]. During the 1970s and 1980s, some
By issue #8 (Aug. 1975), Woodsy Owl had gone the route of comics from various companies contained centerfold ads promoting
Smokey Bear. It now contained four short stories along with two Mark Jewelers. Don’t worry if you don’t remember them, because they
pages of “Woodsy Owl’s Helpful Hints.” As with the previous issues, were only placed inside of comics sold near US military installations.
however, the comic contained a mix of fun stories and those dealing The hope was that the military personnel would read the comic, see
with ecological awareness. The helpful hints in this issue were to make the ad, and then purchase jewelry for their loved ones. Nothing on
sure that you turned off a dripping faucet to conserve water and not the cover would indicate that the issue contained this ad insert.
to start smoking because not only was it bad for you, but it was also The comics themselves were the same as those without the ad;
bad for the environment. only the centerfold ad insert was different. Gold Key, Marvel, and DC
Once again, the Comics Code Authority seal was nowhere to be were known to have produced comics with these special ad inserts.
found on this title, not that it mattered with such wholesome material. Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl comics were no exception to this
As with Smokey Bear, it can be hard to determine who worked on marketing strategy. Smokey Bear #12 and 13 and Woody Owl #1–3
Gold Key’s Woodsy Owl. According to the GCD, Don R. Christensen are known to have been produced with these special ad inserts.
(1916–2006) wrote the stories that appeared in issues #1 through 4, Collectors, good luck finding the Gold Key and Whitman versions of
artist Al Hubbard (1915–1984) did the artwork for issue #1, and artist each Smokey and Woodsy comic, as well as the Mark Jewelers copies!
Paul Norris (1914–2007) did the pencils for issues #2 through 6.
Both Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl remain popular to this day.
VARIANTS AND EVEN MORE VARIANTS Their comics from Gold Key (or Whitman, if that’s your preference)
Many Gold Key Comics were also published with a Whitman logo in offered readers fun, wholesome adventures with environmental
place of the Gold Key logo. Both variants were published by Western messages thrown in for good measure,
Publishing and their contents weren’t different; they were the same amusing entertainment for the whole family.
comic with a different cover icon. The Gold Key editions were sold
on the newsstands and the Whitman versions sold in grocery stores The author would like to thank Merrie Spaeth
and retail stores, often bagged with several other comic books. All 13 for her assistance with this article.
issues of Smokey Bear and ten of Woodsy Owl were published in both
Gold Key and Whitman versions. Welcome to the wonderful world of ED LUTE gives a hoot, doesn’t pollute, and
variant comic-book covers. knows that only he can prevent forest fires.
You say that a different logo isn’t enough of a variant for you? He had a blast visiting with old friends
Well, as they say in infomercials… but wait, there’s more! Smokey and Woodsy and was glad to be able
Comics have always had ads in them, promoting the sale of brine to share that visit with BI readers. He is a
shrimp (sold as Sea Monkeys), X-ray glasses, and many, many, many full-time educator, fulltime geek, and part-
other things [come back next issue as BI explores Bronze Age Ads, time freelance writer.

Try all the
magazines from
TwoMorrows
Publishing:
THE PROFESSIONAL “HOW-TO”

MAGAZINE ON COMICS, CARTOONING
& ANIMATION
ALTER EGO #164 ALTER EGO #165 ALTER EGO #166 ALTER EGO #167
Spotlight on MIKE FRIEDRICH, DC/Marvel WILL MURRAY showcases original Marvel FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA Salute to Golden & Silver Age artist SYD
writer who jumpstarted the independent publisher (from 1939-1971) MARTIN (FCA) Special, with spotlights on KURT SHORES as he’s remembered by daughter
comics movement with Star*Reach! Art by GOODMAN, with artifacts by LEE, KIRBY, SCHAFFENBERGER (Captain Marvel, Ibis NANCY SHORES KARLEBACH, fellow
THE CRAZY COOL CULTURE WE GREW
UP WITH NEAL ADAMS, GIL KANE, DICK DILLIN, DITKO, ROMITA, MANEELY, BUSCEMA, the Invincible, Marvel Family, Lois Lane), artist ALLEN BELLMAN, DR. MICHAEL
IRV NOVICK, JOHN BUSCEMA, JIM EVERETT, BURGOS, GUSTAVSON, and ALEX ROSS on his awesome painting of J. VASSALLO, and interviewer RICHARD
STARLIN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, FRANK SCHOMBURG, COLAN, ADAMS, the super-heroes influenced by the original ARNDT. Plus: mid-1940s “Green Turtle”
BRUNNER, et al.! Plus: MARK CARLSON- STERANKO, and many others! Plus FCA, Mr. Captain Marvel! Plus MICHAEL T. GILBERT’s artist/creator CHU HING profiled by
GHOST on Rural Home Comics, FCA, and Monster’s Comic Crypt with more on PETE “Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt” on Superman ALEX JAY, JOHN BROOME, MICHAEL
Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Justice League MORISI, JOHN BROOME, and a cover by editor MORT WEISINGER, JOHN BROOME, T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster on MORT
of America cover by NEAL ADAMS! DREW FRIEDMAN! and more! Cover by SCHAFFENBERGER! WEISINGER Part Two, and more!
THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE FOR
LEGO ENTHUSIASTS (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95
COMIC BOOK CREATOR #23 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #24 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #25 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #26 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #27
WENDY PINI discusses her days as Red TIMOTHY TRUMAN discusses his start at BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH discusses his Career-spanning interview with TERRY Extensive PAUL GULACY retrospective by
Sonja cosplayer, & 40+ years of ELFQUEST! the Kubert School, Grimjack with writer new graphic novel MONSTERS, its origin DODSON, and Terry’s wife (and go-to GREG BIGA that includes Paul himself,
Plus RICHARD PINI on their 48-year mar- JOHN OSTRANDER, and current collabo- as a 1980s Hulk story, and its evolution inker) RACHEL DODSON! Plus 1970s/’80s VAL MAYERIK, P. CRAIG RUSSELL, TIM
riage and creative partnership! Plus: We rations with son Benjamin. SCOTT SHAW! into his 300-page magnum opus (includes portfolio producer SAL QUARTUCCIO talks TRUMAN, ROY THOMAS, and others. Plus
have the final installment of our CRAIG talks about early San Diego Comic-Cons a gallery of outtakes). Plus part two of our about his achievements with Phase and Hot a JOE SINNOTT MEMORIAL; BUD PLANT
YOE interview! GIL KANE’s business partner and friendship with JACK KIRBY, Captain SCOTT SHAW! interview about Hanna- Stuf’, R. CRUMB and DENIS KITCHEN dis- discusses his career as underground comix
LARRY KOSTER talks about their adven- Carrot, and Flintstones work! Also PATRICK Barbera licensing material and work with cuss the history of underground comix char- retailer, distributor, fledgling publisher
tures together! PABLO MARCOS on his McDONNELL’s favorite MUTTS comic book ROY THOMAS on Captain Carrot, KEN acter Pro Junior, WILL EISNER’s Valentines of JACK KATZ’s FIRST KINGDOM, and
Marvel horror work, HEMBECK, and more! pastiches, letterer JANICE CHIANG profiled, MEYER, JR. looks at the great fanzines of to his wife, HEMBECK, and more! mail-order bookseller; our regular colum-
Cover by WENDY PINI. HEMBECK, and more! TIM TRUMAN cover. 40 years ago, HEMBECK, and more! nists, and the latest from HEMBECK!
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Fall 2021 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95
(Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping! (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Winter 2021
TwoMorrows.
The Future of
Comics History.
KIRBY COLLECTOR #78 KIRBY COLLECTOR #79 OLD GODS & NEW: KIRBY COLLECTOR #81 Raleigh, NC 27614 USA
SILVER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! How Kirby See “THE BIG PICTURE” of how Kirby A FOURTH WORLD “KIRBY: BETA!” Jack’s experimental ideas, 919-449-0344
kickstarted the Silver Age and revamped fits into the grand scheme of things! His
Golden Age characters for the 1960s, the creations’ lasting legacy, how his work COMPANION (TJKC #80) Jimmy Olsen,andKamandi,
characters, series (Fighting American,
and others), Kirby E-mail:
fights illiteracy, a RARE KIRBY INTERVIEW, Looks back at JACK KIRBY’s own words, as [email protected]
Silver Surfer’s influence, pivotal decisions interview, inspirations for his many “secret
well as those of assistants MARK EVANIER
(good and bad) Jack made throughout inconsistencies in his 1960s MARVEL
and STEVE SHERMAN, inker MIKE ROYER, societies” (The Project, Habitat, Wakanda), Order at
his comics career, Kirby pencil art gallery, WORK, editorial changes in his comics, big
and publisher CARMINE INFANTINO, to non-superhero genres he explored, 2019 twomorrows.com
MARK EVANIER and our regular columnists, concepts in OMAC, best DOUBLE-PAGE Heroes Con panel (with MARK EVANIER,
SPREADS, MARK EVANIER’s 2019 Kirby show how Kirby’s epic came about, where it
a classic 1950s story, KIRBY/STEVE RUDE MIKE ROYER, JIM AMASH, and RAND
Tribute Panel, PENCIL ART GALLERY, and a was going, and how he would’ve ended it
cover (and deluxe silver sleeve) and more! HOPPE), a pencil art gallery, UNUSED
new cover based on OMAC #1! before it was cancelled by DC Comics!
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 JIMMY OLSEN #141 COVER, and more!
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (160-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $26.95
(DELUXE EDITION w/ silver sleeve) $12.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95
(Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $14.99 • Now shipping!
(Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Fall 2021
ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4
by R o b e r t V. C o n t e
In the comics and cartoon worlds, where anthropo- Comics, coincidentally debuting in 1942. Reportedly, Mighty Mouse in
morphous characters (that is, illustrated and animated Terry himself decided to change the name to
beings who behave as if they were human) exist including “Mighty Mouse” and, after his animation staff the ’70s Through
Donald Duck, Droopy Dog, and Felix the Cat, one tested various color schemes, permanently changed the ’90s!
particular muscle-bound murine reigns supreme— his new star’s costume to yellow and red. By the
MIGHTY MOUSE! time Mighty Mouse first appeared in Terry-Toons (left) Western/Gold
For almost 80 years, Mighty Mouse has entertained Comics #38 (Nov. 1945), his popularity skyrocketed Key’s Adventures of
generations of children and adults worldwide through to become one of the most victorious superhero
theatrical cartoons, syndicated and all-new animated animals in pop-culture history. Mighty Mouse #168
shows for television, a plentitude of merchandise Retiring in 1955, Paul Terry sold Terrytoons (July 1979), featuring
including apparel, board games, plush dolls, playing Studios and its vast 25-year inventory of cartoon
cards, story records, and, of course, comic books. characters to CBS Television. His decision to do so cover copy playing
would break ground in the industry; it paved the
off of ’70s Jawsmania.
WHO IS MIGHTY MOUSE… AND HOW HE way for theatrical cartoons of the past to be shown
CAME TO BE! to a new generation inside their homes. For a Cover artist unknown.
Originally created in 1942 by Paul Terry’s Terrytoons dozen years, Mighty Mouse Playhouse was, arguably,
Studios as “Super Mouse,” the character first appeared the show that introduced American children—boys (center) Spotlight’s
in the animated short, “The Mouse of Tomorrow” and girls alike—to superheroes. Mighty Mouse Adventure
—a parody of DC Comics’ archetypal hero, Superman Throughout this time, Mighty Mouse and other
(just a year before, cartoons produced by Max Fleischer Terrytoons appeared in hundreds of comic-book Magazine #1 (1987).
Studios were released through Paramount Pictures) stories by multiple publishers including Timely (later Cover by Nate Butler.
and Walt Disney’s iconic Mickey Mouse, who had Marvel, with stories written and edited by a young
already reached a decade-and-a-half of multimillion- Stan Lee!), St. John Publications (including the (right) Marvel’s Mighty
dollar prosperity. first-ever three-dimensional comic book—reportedly Mouse #1 (Oct. 1990).
Super Mouse was flying high after the release selling over 1.25-million copies!), Pines, Dell, Gold
of several more well-received Terrytoons. But some Key, and again, Dell. For 23 years, Mighty Mouse Cover by Ernie Colón.
changes were necessary; another “Supermouse”— comics were consistently published throughout Mighty Mouse, Deputy Dawg,
sporting a similar red-and-blue costume—regularly the Golden and Silver Ages—eclipsing well-known and Heckle and Jeckle
appeared in Nedor Publishing Company’s Coo Coo superheroes including Marvel’s Captain America and © CBS Operations, Inc.

ARE GOLD KEY/WHITMAN COMICS REALLY GOOD COMICS?
When asked how the Bronze Age of Terrytoons comics books, these artists actually signed their names to the work!
compare with the characters’ Golden Age and Silver Age The comic stories were drawn based on [Connie] Rasinski’s
predecessors, three well-known animation and comics model sheets, and the comic adaptations of the cartoons
experts clearly expressed their opinions: were sometimes better! The whole run of the St. John’s
era is amazing. The kooky, looseness of Jim Tyer—Robert
• MILTON KNIGHT Crumb once parodied Gandy Goose in that style! And later,
“The Gold Key/Whitman comics weren’t the same; all their Gene Deitch’s Tom Terrific and Clint Clobber were just
adaptations were sanitized. Imagine discovering a coverless fantastic!”
copy of a St. John’s Mighty Mouse comic; I loved a story by
[Terrytoons animator and director] Connie Rasinski with a • SCOTT SHAW!
sexy Mitzi Mouse. Seeing a Heckle and Jeckle comic by “the “They’re kinda tepid. The Dell stuff is not memorable, at
Stretchy Artist”—Jim Tyer—was a dream come true. Up to least not to me. The ones that were packaged by Western
then, I had never seen a ‘funny comic’ that actually looked Publishing are competent but unremarkable. Those that
like animation. From then until the 1980s, a bias against followed, after the split between Western and Dell, are
authentic animation style had arisen; cartoons were one quite poor, Dell’s equivalent to Charlton’s substandard line
thing, but comics were supposed to be comics. Dell had of Hanna-Barbera titles.
always had that going, and so did the others. I had my “I love Timely’s Mighty Mouse funnybooks written and
own differences with the publishers for this reason; though drawn by Al Jaffee in a style that displays his cleverness,
they were doing animated characters, the styles were not versatility, and draftsmanship. I’m not crazy about Al Fago’s
authentic.” work. I don’t know if he was the editor or not, but there
seemed to be a directive to draw every opening splash
• JERRY BECK page with a huge image of the feature star’s face. The con-
“Mighty Mouse comics from the 1950s were done by cept is bland and a rather lazy solution to what could have
Terrytoons Studios and, unlike the Dell/Gold Key/Whitman been impressive, as in Al Jaffee’s stories.”
DC Comics’ the Flash, whose adventures ceased publication

in the 1950s but returned for the 1960s. But all good
things eventually come to an end and, in 1968, Dell’s
Mighty Mouse #172 would be the last issue to appear on
newsstands for nearly a decade…
Now we fast-forward to flash back to discuss Mighty
Mouse’s comics comeback during the Bronze Age!
Early known Mighty Mouse art created sometime in the
1970s includes two gags pitched for an unrealized comic
book or newspaper strip. Written and illustrated by Tony
Tallarico, this veteran cartoonist’s immense body of work
includes other Terrytoons properties used in children’s
books and advertising.
Sadly, Paul Terry passed away in 1971. But Mighty
Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, Deputy Dawg, and other
studio creations remained alive and well through
nationwide television syndication during the 1970s.
Children who once watched Terrytoons and read the
comics were now adults—and all too happy to share
those same experiences with their own families. Mighty
Mouse merchandising was in full force, too: buttons,
cereal bowls, chalkboards, puffy stickers, Super-8 films,
trace-and-paint sets, daily vitamins, and more were
readily available at the local grocery stores, five-and-
dimes, and toy-and-model shops.
One company in particular reigned as the proud,
powerhouse licensee for the character—Western Publishing!
The Early Years

(top left) The former “Super Mouse” as he first appeared in 1942’s “The Mouse of Tomorrow,” and (top right)
Mighty Mouse’s final look. To help remedy possible confusion with Standard Comics’ Supermouse (bottom left),
Paul Terry insisted for years that Mighty Mouse’s revised name appear on posters, publicity, and licensing
materials. (bottom right) A publicity photo of Paul Terry, promoting Mighty Mouse and other Terrytoons
characters from his animation studios, in New Rochelle, New York.
Mighty Mouse and Terrytoons characters © CBS.

THE GOLD KEY/WHITMAN YEARS
Western Publishing Company, Inc., mostly known for creating its iconic line of
Little Golden Books, Big Little Books, jigsaw puzzles, clean drawing slates, and
other products for the children’s market, had two production offices in the 1970s:
one in Los Angeles, California, and the other in Poughkeepsie, New York. Most
of Western’s mammoth line of television- and movie-licensed comics was created
in the former, but the Terrytoons comics were compiled from the latter location.
Presumably, it was more convenient as Terrytoons Animation Studio was based
in New Rochelle, New York, and that CBS Enterprises, renamed Viacom in 1970,
had executive offices in Manhattan.
Western, via its partnership with Dell Comics, had been involved with Mighty
Mouse and other Terrytoons since the late 1950s after St. John’s Publishing’s
last issue #144 (mistakenly, Dell’s series starts with #144—now cited as #144-B).
After both companies went their separate ways in 1962, Western formed its own
comics imprint, Gold Key, and published Mighty Mouse #156–165. Soon after,
the Terrytoons license briefly returned to Dell; it published a second, brief run
of Mighty Mouse, issues #166–172, without “Western” influence, later causing
confusion among comic-book collectors.
Although the Mighty Mouse title went on hiatus, other Terrytoons
properties—specifically two magpies—would take the forefront in Gold Key’s
anthology series, New Terrytoons (vol. 2). A couple of songbirds named Heckle
and Jeckle—also part of TV’s heavy rotation of cartoons during the 1970s—
took center stage and appeared on 44 covers of the entire 54-issue series.
Published between 1962–1980, New Terrytoons would be the sole Terry-verse
publication for almost a decade.
Western started printing comics for non-traditional markets under its Whitman
brand, where the company’s other products were sold. Other than the imprint
changes on the front cover, the interior comics were unchanged. This decision
was made for two “key” reasons: so newsstand distributors would not accept
returns on comics that were not branded “Gold Key,” and so the “Whitman”
comics, poly-bagged in twos and threes, had a potentially indefinite shelf-life.
It was not uncommon for some retailers to carry both brands—Gold Keys on
spinner or wall racks with several other publishers, and the Whitman multi-packs
hanging from pegboards as part of the Western Publishing products display.
“Western’s take on comic books was quite different than
that of any other publisher,” notes animation historian
and professor Jerry Beck (cartoonresearch.com)—who
wrote over a dozen books on the subject, published an
essay celebrating Mighty Mouse’s 75th Anniversary
for 2017’s San Diego Comic-Con’s Souvenir Book,
and, as once-Vice President of Nickelodeon
Movies, tried to green-light a feature-length film
starring Terrytoons’ top star, albeit unsuccessfully:
“DC, Archie, Harvey, and other companies
truly saw comics as respectable periodicals,” says
Beck. “Western viewed theirs as ‘just another
item’—one more SKU [stock keeping unit] as
part of a decades-long, mass-product offering.
jerry beck
Their comics were one small component
of a broader licensing deal to support their
massive, supermarket distribution model. They were just creating cheap,
throwaway entertainment for kids.” Mighty Mouse vs. the Syndicate…
By early 1977, sales figures on New Terrytoons had waned and the book was
under threat of cancellation. Interest in Heckle and Jeckle as the main feature was …newspaper, that is. (top) Two tryouts possibly
on the decline. Viacom International, now in charge of all Terrytoons consumer for an unrealized Mighty Mouse newspaper strip.
products, advised its licensees of a forthcoming Saturday morning cartoon
show starring both Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle. Western soon reached
Illustrated by artist Tony Tallarico circa 1970s, these
a deal for the mightiest of all super-animals to return to comics—now as the panels (available at coollinesartwork.com) appeared
starring feature in the bimonthly anthology series and once again in his own title,
for auction but remain unsold as of this writing.
Adventures of Mighty Mouse.
According to a 1994 conversation with Howard Berk, then-Viacom’s Director Note that Pearl Pureheart appears instead of Mitzi
of Licensing and Merchandising, comics were an important component of its Mouse. (bottom) Not seen in comics since 1968,
Terrytoons roster of characters:
“TV syndication of the older Terrytoons material kept merchandising Mighty Mouse returned to take over the prime
viable, but many of those original theatrical shorts did not air [in the 1970s]. spot in New Terrytoons #44 (May 1977), replacing
Packages were usually geared for stations to have several weeks of programming,
and then they would be repeated ad infinitum. This was before cable and Heckle and Jeckle as the cover feature. With the
home-video tapes and [laser]discs. [Viacom] realized that fresh cartoons on exception of #47, he would appear on every
network television were needed to reinvigorate interest in our children’s
properties. In the meantime, comics and storybooks were the best avenues cover until the series’ final issue, #54, in 1979.
for new editorial [content].” © CBS.

And so, the first all-new Mighty Mouse comic-
SPOTLIGHT ON HOWARD BERK book story of the 1970s, “The Cheese Fair is Unfair,”
debuted in New Terrytoons #44 (Mar. 1977). Until
Over several decades, Mighty Mouse and other Terrytoons had issue #52, Heckle and Jeckle tales dominated the
reached incredible success with hundreds of official consumer series, with additional backups shared between Silly
products. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Howard Berk was Sidney, Hashimoto San, and Hector Heathcote. With
Vice President of Merchandising at Viacom. He authorized licenses exception of issue #47—a complete reprint of #23
for thousands of items featuring intellectual properties (IPs) including from four years before with a different-colored cover
(also the last to feature Heckle and Jeckle on it)—and
Captain Kangaroo, Dark Shadows, and The Honeymooners.
#51 (republished stories selected from Dell’s Mighty
Berk was known to have a soft spot for those who were particularly Mouse #145 and 146 with a retraced, recolored
knowledgeable about the Viacom archive. In the mid-to-late 1980s, cover from #155), all other covers and
he was one the first licensors that would give independent stories are believed to have been freshly
comic-book companies a chance to prove themselves. produced with possible inclusion of
Although Berk was around during the tail end of Viacom’s unpublished Dell file inventory.
arrangement with Whitman Comics, the first time an all-new Meanwhile, Viacom granted-
Terrytoons license for the category took place under his Filmation rights to produce one
management was with Spotlight Comics. season of The New Adventures of
“I liked those guys because they knew the characters Mighty Mouse and Heckle and Jeckle.
so intimately,” he said to me in 1994. “They just ran out of With Filmation known for producing
money before they could establish themselves.” a cornucopia of Saturday morning ani-
mated and live-action programming
“Those guys” Berk referred to were Richard Maurizio including Archie, Star Trek: The
and Jim Main. They also recall working with him on Animated Series, Ghost Busters, and
approving various Terrytoons stories including Mighty howard berk
Shazam!, Berk made an interesting
Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, and Deputy Dawg. comparison to Paul Terry:
“Mr. Berk was not one to mess with!” laughs Main. “This was right before my time [at Viacom], but we
“If you brought him a script or copies of a work-in-progress and he went with Filmation for a few reasons, one of which
saw something he thought was amiss, he would circle it and request was the promise of a theatrical Mighty Mouse cartoon,”
a change. I made quite a few trips to the Viacom offices in New York
just to have things green-lighted!”
“After we drew the first issue of Mighty Mouse and submitted it to
Viacom, Howard made us redraw several panels,” adds Maurizio.
“He would say things like, ‘Oh, no. Mighty Mouse looks too determined’
or ‘He can’t look angry—ever!’ Funny, though… Milton Knight’s story
was the only one that was approved on first submission. After that,
I let Jim meet with Viacom for approvals.”
One of the most perhaps frustrating experiences Maurizio had with
Viacom was a lost opportunity during the holidays in 1988:
“Howard contacted us about creating an all-new Mighty Mouse
costume for someone to wear while passing out our comics during the
Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. We asked artist and puppeteer Tony
Basilicato, who did Prime Slime Tales [for Mirage] and worked with Jim
Henson on The Muppet Movie, to help us. He put together this awe-
some, padded outfit with a perfect head based on the classic Terrytoons
model sheets drawn by Connie Razinski—complete with Mighty Mouse’s
eyelashes that were drawn on with magic marker. For reasons I still don’t
understand today, Viacom killed it for that reason. It was devastating.”
Years after the Spotlight Comics and Marvel licenses had run their
course, I met with Berk at the 1994 Licensing Expo in New York City.
I had just started Studio Chikara, a custom comic-book packaging
Berk and colleagues with with Terrytoons merchandise, circa 1990s.
company, and left an envelope at the Viacom booth stamped with the
words, “MIGHTY MOUSE VS. HECKLE AND JECKLE.” Later, his assistant
contacted me to discuss the idea. I presented the story with concept art
and Berk seemed impressed, asking, “Why didn’t anyone do this before?”
Viacom’s asking price for the Terrytoons comics license was too
high for viability, and the caveat to distribute titles on newsstands
killed the deal. But Howard and
I kept in touch until he retired
from Viacom.
I have been fortunate enough
to meet some wonderful and suc- Promotional Rarity
cessful people in product licensing
throughout my career. Howard A scarce house ad for Adventures of Mighty
Berk was one of those people, and Mouse that appeared in a select few Western
he has my gratitude for providing
his valuable advice and time. Publishing comics of the day.
— Robert V. Conte © CBS.

Double Trouble?
(top left and center) New
Terrytoons #23 (Nov.
1973) and 47 (Nov. 1977),
examples of Gold Key/
Whitman’s infamous
practice of reprinting
comic books in the same
series to save money and
catch up on production
time when creating new
content. Other than
updated color separations
and ad swaps, the stories
inside are identical—
frustrating then-longtime
collectors and subscribers.
(top right) This extremely
rare, New Terrytoons comic
“2 pak” was sold at K-Mart
Canada in the late 1970s.
Note: “Gold Key” is
the imprint instead of
“Whitman,” without
title or issue number on
said Berk. “The company struck me as a modern-day Perhaps more astounding was the run’s issue top of the logo. (bottom)
Terrytoons Studios in its never-ending quest to save numbering; instead of starting at #173 where
a buck and churn out as much product as humanly Dell’s second series left off, Western just continued Look familiar? Western
possible. They did produce the program later than from Gold Key’s #165, published in 1965.
we wanted, and released a Mighty Mouse ‘movie’— Whether an oversight, through some leftover
Publishing’s cost-and-
by splicing together enough clips from their shows hostility from the friction between Dell and time saving practices
to make it. [Paul] Terry would have been proud! Western’s 1962 split, or simple negligence,
[laughs]” many comic-book collectors who mistakenly included creating “new”
The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle believe they have an entire collection of Mighty comic-book covers.
and Jeckle did not premiere until Fall 1979—over Mouse, in fact, may not.
two years after the new Western/Viacom agreement. Another unfortunate aspect of the Terrytoons How? By having a staff
This late tie-in to the comics did little to increase comics published by Gold Key/Whitman are that artist trace line art from
Whitman’s sales on both its Terrytoons titles. the majority of stories and art are uncredited.
Adventures of Mighty Mouse hit shelves with a “One reason it’s hard to identify the artists an existing piece in
March 1979 cover date but, unlike its companion and writers on those Terrytoons comics from the
title, the first two of this seven-issue series exclusively 1970s–’80s, is that they were produced out of the
storage published years
contained (without stating so) Dell and Gold New York office,” says veteran animator, illustrator, before (middle, 1962’s
Key reprints from the 1960s. Issue #166 reprints and writer Scott Shaw! (shaw-cartoons.com). “I think
stories featuring the character from Dell #149, and that Wally Green and Bill Harris were the editors Adventures of Mighty
#167 does the same with Dell #154. (Heckle and there. It was likely all local talent.” Mouse #155), then modify
Jeckle, Silly Sidney, and other ancillary characters At that time, Shaw! worked for the competition’s
from the original issues were excised in favor of kids’ comics of that period including The Flintstones, and recolor it. Courtesy of
advertising.) This mishmash of reprints and all-new Laff-A-Lympics, and Yogi Bear, as reported in this Heritage Comic Auctions
stories could usually be distinguished by what issue’s Hanna-Barbera article. “I never worked
logo was used on the first page of each tale. Six for Western, just for Los Angeles’ Chase Craig at (www.ha.com). (right) The
out of the seven published covers were completely Hanna-Barbera on the Marvel books,” he says.
new; the last issue, 1980’s #172, reprints the cover Perhaps it was Western’s business practices of not
cover of Gold Key’s reuse,
and lead story “Panic in the Sky” from Gold Key’s crediting artists, low-grade pay scale, and keeping published in 1978 as
Mighty Mouse #160 and “The Pied Piper,” with the original art produced for their titles that kept
two bonus Heckle and Jeckle stories—all originally creators who admired Terrytoons like Shaw!—who New Terrytoons #51.
from #148—with minor alterations. was inspired by Ralph Bakshi’s The Mighty Heroes © CBS.

Mighty Mouse vs. and Gene Deitch’s Tom Terrific— to focus his the latter of whom had records indicating so in
talents elsewhere. Robin Snyder’s History of the Comics vol. 2 #8
the Punisher (?!) “Those who worked at Western New York (Aug. 1991).
(left) Wait… Did Mighty were mostly young cartoonists, like Gary Terry Fortunately, in 2005 Heritage Comics
or Mark Mayerson, trying to get into the Auctions auctioned material from the Random
Mouse actually fight the business,” adds Jerry Beck. “Some classic artists House Archives, including an incredible
including Marty Taras, who worked for Famous amount from Western Publishing. Longtime
Punisher? Well, not quite. Studios Animation in its heyday and drew artist John Costanza, whose wealth of
This “Punisher” was actually Baby Huey and other comics, were likely illustration and lettering work for virtually
involved, too.” every major publisher has made his name
Professor Theorem, who, in Mark Mayerson (mayersoncreative.com), a synonymous with classic comics, was credited
this story by writer Paul S. writer and cartoonist who, in 1989 created with covers for Adventures of Mighty Mouse
a Terrytoons parody named “Flighty Mouse” #162, 166, and 169 and New Terrytoons #45,
Newman, suffered from (published in Apatoons magazine), confirms 46, 48, 49, 50, 53, and 54. The auctioneer
that Gary Terry indeed contributed to the Gold has sold other original covers and interior
sleepwalking and used that Key/Whitman comics and addressed an inquiry images from these books, but most contributing
name as his calling card! But, about a possible relation to another “Terry”: artists remain unknown. Unless business
“I worked with [Gary] in 1976 at a New York records or cancelled checks from Western
as Marvel’s Punisher once animation studio called Teletactics. So far as I Publishing are revealed one day, this information
met Archie and his gang from know, Gary was no relation to Paul Terry. I’m may never see light of day.
sure he would have mentioned it since we were Western’s final Terrytoons publications
Riverdale, one never knows… working in an animation studio and he was were in 1981, part of the company’s long-
drawing Mighty Mouse.” time March of Comics promotional booklets.
Published in Gold Key’s
Another animator, illustrator, and human Featuring all-new art and stories, they were
Adventures of Mighty Mouse encyclopedia of cartoon knowledge, Milton distributed at various retailers including
Knight (miltonknightsitemenu.blogspot.com), Buster Brown, Sears, and others. By then the
#171 (Nov. 1979). (right) John concurs with Beck: “Taras drew Heckle parent company was Mattel Toys, which had
Costanza original art, and Jeckle [cited as ‘Farmer Boys’ for New since shut down the Gold Key line of news-
Terrytoons #46 on the Grand Comics Database stand books and, eventually, ceased publish-
courtesy of Heritage, for (comics.org)] and I believe John Stanley wrote ing Whitman Comics, too.
the cover of New Terrytoons some, too.” So Mighty Mouse and other Terrytoons
Creators who are speculated to have characters would be dormant for just over five
#50 (May 1978). contributed to Western’s Terrytoons comics, years. That is, until the Spotlight shone upon
via the Grand Comics Database, include Gene them once again…
© CBS.
Fawcette, Frank Johnson, and Paul S. Newman, continued on page 61

MIGHTY MOUSE COMICS THAT ALMOST WERE…!
Many Mighty Mouse comics were published during the • JIM ENGEL
Bronze Age. However, several unreleased issues were “I drew a cover for The Mighty Heroes #3 that was planned
planned, solicited, and, in some cases, completed. To to be published in full-color. Then I wrote a Mighty Mouse
date, these stories remain unavailable. Few are reported story named ‘Pyramid Life Crisis,’ where Oil Can Harry sets
to be in the Viacom archives, while others lie with their up shop in Egypt. Cats are sacred there, so Mighty Mouse
original creators. Sadly, a few were destroyed, too! couldn’t beat him up without being arrested!”
Here’s a look at some of the unpublished Mighty
Mouse comic stories. • RICHARD MAURIZIO
“Both Mighty Mouse #3 and Heckle and Jeckle #2 had
WHITMAN COMICS – TERRYTOONS 40th completed covers by Joe Staton. Gary Fields drew at
ANNIVERSARY least one story and Ray Dirgo drew another. The Mighty
“Mattel Toys owned Whitman in the early 1980s, and Heroes #2 had two stories. I drew the first, written
we discussed a big collection of Mighty Mouse and the by D. G. Bishop. The other was by Joe Gill and Pete
other Terrytoons,” recalled Howard Berk, then Viacom’s Fitzgerald, titled ‘From the Shrinker, with Love.’ If all
Head of Licensing in 1994. “I think we wanted all-new had worked out, #3 would have been published in
material, and they did not want to pay for it because full-color with Engel’s cover. Two projects I regret not
the Filmation show was not renewed for a second publishing were Mighty Mouse #4 with Jerry Ordway’s
season. Anyway, the idea fell through but there was cover and Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures based on
either a cover or promo art made.” the late-’80s television show.”
SPOTLIGHT COMICS • STEPHEN KEETER

Although the company had only five published comics “I wrote several scripts that were never published.
featuring Terrytoons characters, editor Jim Main, Unfortunately, I no longer have most of them… just a few
publisher Richard Maurizio, and various creators remember snippets. I do have the complete, but never published,
others in production: artwork for a Mighty Mouse story called ‘Long John
Catnip,’ written by yours truly and illustrated by the
• JIM MAIN enormously talented Nate Butler and Dennis Yee.”
“There were a few scripts left unassigned on my desk at
the time everything ended. Some comic stories and • MIKE KAZALEH
covers were finished or almost done. I have copies of them. “Buried in my closet somewhere is a Mighty Mouse comic-
A really wonderful piece by Jim Engel comes to mind for book story that I had illustrated for the ill-fated Spotlight
the proposed first issue of Heckle and Jeckle. I’m saddened company. It was never published, and I was never paid.
to even think about it, as that was my baby!” This was a little before Marvel had the license.”
(left) Jim Engel’s

cover art for
Spotlight’s The
Mighty Heroes #3,
which was to
upgrade from black-
and-white interiors
to full-color.
Unfortunately,
Spotlight had
closed before #2
was printed. (right)
Heckle and Jeckle
#1 cover art by Joe
Staton, unpublished
by Spotlight.
© CBS.

(top) Intended to be the cover of Spotlight’s Mighty Mouse
#4, famed Adventures of Superman artist Jerry Ordway creat-
ed this masterpiece using Duo-Shade. (bottom) Two years
before Ralph Bakshi’s Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures TV
show was adapted into comics, Spotlight had its own series
in development with stories written by BACK ISSUE big cheese
Michael Eury! Unfortunately, the scripts and art from this
series seem to be lost forever…
Mighty Mouse © CBS.
• JERRY ORDWAY
“I was living in West Haven, Connecticut, in the late-1980s, and
was not under any exclusive contract to Marvel or DC at that time.
I liked superheroes and Mighty Mouse was one, or a parody of
one. I was drawing Superman at that time and was either asked,
or inspired, to draw the hero standing on the Moon with Earth in
the background—similar to what was in the credit sequence on the
1950s Adventures of Superman TV show. I drew the artwork on art
board called Duo-Shade. When you apply a rather smelly chemical
to it, reproducible shading lines would appear. You’d dip your
brush in and paint the chemical to simulate a three-dimensional
shading effect, in addition to the ink lines I had already applied.
This was very popular among the EC artists of the 1950s.”
• MICHAEL EURY
“Spotlight was among my very first comics work! All of my
scripts were typed on an IBM Selectric typewriter, back in
the days when computers were the domain of scientists,
and I did not save them. I did indeed write two of the three
scripts planned for the unpublished Mighty Mouse: The New
Adventures. One was a League of Super-Rodents story that I
don’t really recall, but I suspect it was a parody of the Legion
of Super-Heroes. And I wrote a story pitting Mighty Mouse
against the Cow—a villain from the show I utterly (udderly?)
adored—becoming a rock star (Bellvis, with a cowbell medallion)
in a ruse for his criminal enterprises. That was well over 30
years ago, though, and that’s all I recall about the subject
matter. I do remember being thrilled when I got news that
Ralph Bakshi himself had approved my scripts! That was quite
exciting for this fledgling comics pro!”
• NATE BUTLER
“I painted a cover for Mighty Mouse Adventure Magazine #2, but
Spotlight went out of business before it was ever published in
color. I also inked one or maybe two other guys at Spotlight,
I think. I also got them to hire Tom Moore, an old-timer who
had worked for Archie in the 1950s–1960s. He came out of
retirement to work with me on the revamped Jughead book for
Archie. Tom also inked a Mighty Mouse story called ‘The Terrible
Tiger,’ penciled by George Broderick.”
MARVEL
“I was at my drawing board working on Mighty Mouse Issue
#11 when the phone rang and the axe fell,” says series writer
Michael Gallagher. “In the lead story, Mighty Mouse was
going to get his version of Spider-Man’s black costume from
Secret Wars. The only other concept I barely remember scribbling
down was a story where an anthropomorphic ‘He-Man, Master
of the Universe’ comes to town to challenge our hero… I
may have called him ‘He-Mouse,’ but I really can’t recall.

continued from page 58
MIGHTY MOUSE’S AND OTHER
TERRYTOONS’ COMEBACK!
A new decade had started and, by the end of 1981,
Western Publishing printed its last Terrytoons stories
inside March of Comics #483–484. With exception of a
small, lackluster theatrical release of Filmation’s Mighty
Mouse and the Great Space Chase in 1982 and fading syn-
dication of Mighty Mouse Playhouse on television, Viacom
had to face that demand for Terrytoons was dwindling.
Meanwhile, the comic-book market had changed.
While the majority of publishers still sold monthly issues
on newsstands on a fully returnable basis, another venue
was now available: the comic-book store. There, collectors
could buy titles on a consistent basis and purchase back
issues to help complete their favorite series. Such shops
purchased their product through a non-returnable
business model that supported a loyal customer base.
Known as the Direct Market, this sales method created
opportunities for would-be creators-turned-publishers
and small press to solicit their proposed titles in advance—
thereby reducing the guesswork and financial risk
associated with the traditional distribution method.
(left) Nate Butler’s painted cover for Spotlight’s unpublished The early-to-mid-1980s also led to the “black-and-
white comics boom”—hundreds of new publishers
Mighty Mouse Adventures Magazine #2. (right) A cover by Milton offering their anthropomorphic wares including Cerebus,
Knight for a proposed Heckle and Jeckle in 3-D comic book. Usagi Yojimbo, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Fortunately, the advent of home-video players and
© CBS.
subscription television created new opportunities for
Viacom and Terrytoons. Children’s Video Library Corp.
You can see the Charles Vess cover in issue #10’s letters page. obtained an official license to release the aforementioned
Mighty Mouse film and a Best of Terrytoons compilation.
All my Marvel Mighty Mouse correspondence, notes, plot outlines, Other companies, believing some of the original Terry-
fully drawn scripts, and stats of original art now reside with toons shorts were now in the public domain, had issued
the rest of my archive at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and a multitude of videotapes. An expanded, high-quality
Museum (cartoons.osu.edu/) on the campus of Ohio State channel selection on pay television, soon to be known
University in Columbus.” as “cable,” allowed Viacom to open its Terrytoons vaults
to air cartoons not seen in a generation. These platforms
HECKLE AND JECKLE IN 3-D encouraged Viacom to offer Mighty Mouse and other
Reportedly, an all-new special was planned at some point Terry-verse licenses during the annual Licensing Show
during the 1980s, but it is unclear what company would have and Toy Fair, then held in New York City—and would
soon lead to the return of Terrytoons comics!
published it.
Spotlight Comics was founded in 1986 by cartoonist
“I did a cover for a 3-D Heckle and Jeckle comic that didn’t Richard Maurizio, who loved Terrytoons growing
happen,” recalls Milton Knight. “They didn’t have the rights for up—particularly The Mighty Heroes (created by Ralph
those. I also had a Mighty Mouse script, but Spotlight closed Bakshi) during the bungling superteam’s syndicated
shop not long after that.” run. But other factors helped set his career path, too:
The first Spotlight press release does list a 3-D Heckle and Jeckle “I grew up reading Superman, but was more
comic. However, that specific format was considered a different interested in animation and cartoons,” says Maurizio.
licensing category that Viacom did not grant the company.” “My father was a staff photographer at Famous
“I don’t remember planning any 3-D comics,” states Richard Maurizio. Artists Schools in Westport, Connecticut. He brought
“Maybe Blackthorne Comics or Ray Zone was, not us.” home some of the mail-correspondence course
books taught by Milton Caniff,
Former Blackthorne Comics publisher Steve Schanes does not
Al Capp, and others. Dad shot
recall if the company had the Terrytoons license from Viacom: that photo of [art school
“We had G.I. Joe 3-D, Transformers 3-D, Star Wars 3-D, and founder] Al Dorne drawing
other profitable licenses,” he states. “I recall we did an Underdog a puppy on back of
3-D comic, but I have no specific memory of a Mighty Mouse 3-D. various comics. The ad
It could have been us.” was originally his printed
photograph, then was
POW! ENTERTAINMENT later converted to line
Apparently, Stan “The Man” Lee had a soft spot for Mighty Mouse; art. I became interested
he contributed to the character during his early days—the Timely era in cartooning after that
and, when I was about
of comics published in the 1940s.
13 years old, took class-
“I worked on a Mighty Mouse pitch for Stan Lee›s POW!, but it es at the local YMCA.”
didn’t go anywhere,” states Scott Shaw! “The last I heard, Smilin’ richard Maurizio
Maurizio’s decision
Stan had someone design an anime version of Mighty Mouse.” to pursue his love of
Perhaps one day the existing stories may be published. Oh, what cartoon art would be fortuitous: “My classes were
could have been… taught by Dick Giordano and Frank McLaughlin,
both of whom worked for DC Comics then.

Super Cover Art! Frank was a judo instructor whose knowledge influenced the creation of the series Judomaster
for Charlton. This was fascinating to me, so I enrolled at the School of Visual Arts (SVA)
(left) Stat for Spotlight’s The in New York City and commuted to take basic art classes. I wanted to become a comics
Mighty Heroes #1 cover, professional.”
After being published for the first time inside JC Comics’ T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #2 (Jan. 1984)
complete with logo-and-type- and later contributing to various periodicals including Comics Collector and Toys Values Monthly,
paste-ups! Not seen since Dell’s Maurizio felt frustrated by the ups-and-downs prevalent in the comics industry:
“Deals would happen, then not happen, after a lot of time was
Mighty Mouse #171 in 1967, invested in creating materials. After putting together an issue of
Strongman, Cuckoo Man, Ghostbusters (still unpublished to this day) for another publisher—
only to later lose the license to Now Comics—I thought it was
Diaper Man, Rope Man and
best to start my own company. But I knew it couldn’t be done
Tornado Man return for one without help—a lot of it. [laughter]”
black-and-white adventure. As fate would have it, Maurizio would meet Kelley Jarvis-Maclay
(jarvisarts.com), an aspiring animator who would help him realize
Art by Jim Engel. Issues #2–3 his dream of becoming a comics publisher:
were planned but unpublished. “Growing up in the ’70s, my sister took me to see Disney’s
The Jungle Book in a theater—the first time I saw an animated,
(right) Black-and-white cover feature-length movie,” recalls Jarvis-Maclay. “I was mesmerized by
with paste-ups for Mighty Mouse how the characters had feelings—very different than that of the
slapstick humor seen on Saturday mornings. From that point on,
#1, featuring three all-new I wanted to tell stories by bringing drawings to life.” KELLEY jarvis-Maclay
stories. Cover by Concrete creator Inspired by multiple animators including Don Bluth, Friz
Freleng, Chuck Jones, Walt Kelly, and Disney’s “Nine Old Men,”
Paul Chadwick who, reportedly, Jarvis-Maclay wanted to follow in their footsteps. But if that did not work out, she had a backup plan:
illustrated this image in “Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, and other characters I loved had stories being
told in printed form. I educated myself how to draw these famous cartoon faces, and collected old
exchange for an ad for his Dell comics to learn about the artists who illustrated them. I first met Richard, who was teaching my
character on the inside back cover. first art class in the comic-book field, ‘How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way,’ at a local art-supply store
© CBS.
in Connecticut. It was there that I learned about storytelling, figure art, perspective, and staging.”

The two hit it off, and soon started collaborating guarantee based on a gross royalty of 10% of cover
together as publishing partners. Spotlight Comics’ price, and that was it.”
first titles included Lt. Caper (story and art by Maurizio Spotlight’s agreement with Viacom permitted
with inks by McLaughlin), Samurai Squirrel by the company to create and publish all-new comics
Jarvis-Maclay, and reprinting a 1960s newspaper including Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, Deputy
strip, Stern Wheeler, by Ralph Kanna and Jim Aparo. Dawg, and The Mighty Heroes. Once word got out to
Enjoying their slice of the black-and-white comics pie, the comics industry, a familiar company contacted
Maurizio and Jarvis-Maclay had higher aspirations: Maurizio with an opportunity:
publishing full-color, licensed comic books featuring “Charlton offered [Spotlight] newsstand distribution
characters they enjoyed growing up with. after we announced the Terrytoons and Underdog
“By then all kinds of funny-animal comics hit the deals,” he recalls. “I thought this would bring more
scene,” states Maurizio. “Boris the Bear, Adolescent attention to the company, give us equal status
Radio Blackbelt Hamsters, Gnatrat, GI Jackrabbit, with all the majors, and make us more
so many more. Their [sales] numbers were money. Viacom wanted the books
good, but those characters were new. available this way, too.”
There were few classic kids’ comics at Producing the comics would be the
that time. Archie and Harvey were still next step. Originally, Maurizio had
around. DC had the Warner Bros. hoped his partner, Kelley Jarvis-Maclay,
characters. Marvel’s Star imprint was would handle all the art chores while
mostly newer funny-animal charac- he ran the business. But the sudden
ters like Heathcliff and Care Bears. I demand to meet production and dis-
thought if we brought back some tributor deadlines made that impossible:
of the classic animated characters, “I penciled two stories and was
our sales would triple.” supposed to be the lead illustrator,
Maurizio’s dream was to recreate but just wasn’t able to due to other
the massive title offering of classic
milton knight
cartoon characters that Western
Publishing once controlled less than a
decade before with one exception: to make the quality
of the stories and art better than Spotlight’s predecessor.
“I had the Whitman/Gold Key Underdog and Adventures
of Mighty Mouse comics but wasn’t a fan,” Maurizio
muses. “I loved Terrytoons, especially The Mighty Heroes,
which was an underrated show and hadn’t appeared in
comics since the 1960s Dell series. I wanted to do those
comics—Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, Deputy
Dawg—all of them. I also enjoyed Underdog and Ten-
nessee Tuxedo, so I was determined to get the licenses.”
Spotlight secured rights to publish Underdog
via Peter Peach at Filmtel Lts. (see Mark Arnold’s
article in this issue) and the Terrytoons license through
Howard Berk at Viacom (see sidebar). Maurizio fondly
recalls negotiating with Berk inside the company’s
Manhattan offices:
“I was at one of the trade shows and learned that
Viacom had the Terrytoons property. So I called the
main office and was forwarded to Howard. He told me
to come up with a business plan, so I did and we set up
a pitch meeting. That was an interesting experience,
as I had to explain to Howard that Viacom owned the
entire Terrytoons library—not just those in recent
memory. [laughs] The company’s legal team checked
it out, and I was right. I signed a crazy, high-money
contract with a $10,000 advance against a $20,000
Shining Knight
Spotlight’s Mighty Mouse #1 included
“The Mind of Mighty Mouse,” written and
illustrated by animator, artist, scribe, and
cartoon-encyclopedia extraordinaire, Milton
Knight. Knight has not only the distinction
of having his work approved by Viacom
without a single change or correction, he is
also the only talent who drew the character
for Spotlight and Marvel!
© CBS.

licensing obligations,” Jarvis-Maclay recalls. “I didn’t have much say in pool of talented writers, artists, letterers, and colorists who were familiar
the stories or the art direction for the [Terrytoons] comics.” with the characters and would create stories while Maurizio focused
Maurizio adds, “Kelley’s pencils retained the feel of the original, on growing the company. It would not be long before an immensely
1940s animated Mighty Mouse. Her artwork was among my favorites talented roster had been formed. Classic creators including Joe Gill
of all the comics Spotlight published.” (Captain Atom, Popeye, The Phantom), Win Mortimer (Battle of the
Fortunately, Viacom’s approval process was relatively simple. From Planets, Spidey Super Stories), and Ray Dirgo (multiple Hanna-Barbera
the company’s previous experiences with Western Publishing and its comics for Charlton) joined the team, soon followed by relative new-
employ of multiple artists that illustrated New Terrytoons and Adven- comers such as Bill White (Roger Rabbit, Sonic the Hedgehog), Rusty Haller
tures of Mighty Mouse, the licensor understood its characters would be (Alf, The Flintstones), Gary Fields (Biker Mice from Mars, TMNT), and others
depicted in a variety of who recently reflected on
styles. Spotlight was provid- their work for Spotlight:
ed a four-stage submission
process: script, pencils, inks, JOHN A. WILCOX (find
and colors. Upon approval him on LinkedIn): “I have
of all four steps, the publish- been a professional color-
er could go to press. ist (Amazing Spider-Man,
“There were two caveats Indiana Jones), writer (Elvira–
that we had to learn the Mistress of the Dark, Felix the
hard way: Mighty Mouse Cat), and editor since 1983.
could never, ever look angry, Jim Main was a breeze
and his eyelashes had to work with as an edi-
to go,” laughs Maurizio. tor. He gave us room to
“There was no modern style explore our creativity with-
guide, so we generally had out constraints. Mark Scott
free rein. After contracts Marcus was a pal I asked to
were signed, Berk gave us co-write Mighty Mouse in
a couple of VHS tapes with “The Island of Dr. Felinus”
various Terrytoons shorts with me for Mighty Mouse
and said, ‘Have fun!’” Adventure Magazine #1.
Realizing that Spotlight During our writing ses-
had huge potential, sions, we laughed a lot
Maurizio brought in and ate lots of pizza and
colleague Jim Main doughnuts! Doug Cushman
([email protected]) and Nate Butler were
to oversee the production all absolutely awesome
of the creative elements. to work with, too—an
Main, whose background absolute dream team. They
includes writing and editing truly elevated my scripts,
various small press and as did Susan Dorne’s fine
fanzines such as Brain lettering—icing on the
Freeze, *Ppfszt!, and What- cake! I felt they all did a
ever, warmly recalls: knockout job with that
“I worked with Rich on story. It felt... cinematic. A
other projects before Spot- cross between an adventure
light Comics. We enjoyed film and a Golden Book. A
the same things in pop great combination, if you
culture and, when the ask me. I’d work with them
company had formed, he all again in a heartbeat!”
asked me if I’d be interest-
ed in a position. I agreed SUSAN DORNE: “I was a
and was in charge of traffic comics letterer at the time
control—working with staff of Mighty Mouse, which
and freelancers, assign- was one of my favorite
ing stories to teams, and characters as a child. I
dealing with licensing folks. quit the business with the
It was quite… interesting!” advent of computer fonts,
With Main on board, it so it was an honor to work
was time to put together a on the comic book.”
JIM MAIN: “Shortly after I

The Mouse of Steel joined the company I was asked to pitch stories. My scripts for ‘Plan
Feline from Outer Space” in Mighty Mouse #2, Heckle and Jeckle in
(top left) Famed Superman artist Curt Swan penciled this ‘Defective Detectives’ for Mighty Mouse Adventure Magazine #1, and
cover for Spotlight Comics’ Mighty Mouse #2 (1987). “Coo-Coo Carolers” for Mighty Mouse and Friends Holiday Special were
a lot of fun to write. I enjoyed seeing how the artists turned my words
(top right) Swan’s cover as inked by Frank McLaughlin. into pictures—they made me proud of our accomplishments!”
Courtesy of Heritage. (bottom left) The published
version. (bottom right) Swan signing comics at San Diego MIKE TIEFENBACHER: “The appeal for me in doing the Spotlight
work was the excitement of working on established characters I’d
Comic-Con, 1984. Photo by and © Jackie Estrada. loved as a kid,” says the longtime writer, artist, and co-founder of The
Mighty Mouse © CBS. Comics Reader. “It was a joyful experience.

“It was also a learning experience, as it was the first time I’d inked and satiric aspects (and operatic—with Oil Can Harry in the original
someone else’s pencils [for ‘The Spy is Falling,’ penciled by Kelley cartoon series!). Full-color comics with newsstand distribution were
Jarvis-Maclay, in Mighty Mouse #1], and I still feel a pang of retroactive an excellent incentive as well. My dad bought up every single copy in
guilt over instances where I’d altered the pencils.” the small North Carolina town where I lived! [laughs]
“I was flattered when I learned legendary artists Curt Swan
MILTON KNIGHT: “I forgot exactly how I connected and Frank McLaughlin illustrated the cover featuring my
with Spotlight; possibly at a con or it may have been story, ‘The Devil You Say.’ These men were legends,
through friends. ‘The Mind of Mighty Mouse’ for and working with artists Ray Dirgo and Kelley Jarvis
1987’s Mighty Mouse #1 was a way to explore the on the interiors was great, too. They both did such a
character fighting a unique challenge; his basic tremendous job; Kelley’s coloring was so effective and
goodness manipulated by Oil Can Harry, whom I Ray did a brilliant job capturing the spirit of the original
really dig. Through using the stupidity of the media, Mighty Mouse theatrical cartoons, which is exactly
he gets away clean at the end. That story closed with a what I was trying to achieve. Everyone did such an
‘To Be Continued…’ as a gag based on the Pearl Pure- amazing job of cementing that nostalgic feel, and I still
heart cartoons that pretended to be serial chapters.” enjoy re-reading this story these many years later!”
JIM ENGEL (jimengel.net): “It was great illustrating NATE BUTLER (find him on LinkedIn): “My remem-
jim main
covers of Mighty Mouse and Friends Holiday Special and brances of working with Spotlight Comics on the
The Mighty Heroes for Spotlight. Those [Ralph] Bakshi Terrytoons comics, as I recall, started when Doug
characters were relatively unknown, and I felt this was an opportunity Cushman [see sidebar] connected me with Spotlight. We went
to create some quality illustrations in a way that comics readers could together to Richard’s home (I think it was in Danbury, Connecticut)
appreciate them. My sensibilities in approaching new images with those where we met him, Jim the editor, plus Rich’s ‘significant other,’
characters were not only inspired by the great classic funny-animal artists Kelley. I can’t remember what artwork we showed them, but I was
but also by Will Eisner, John Buscema, and others. Doing those covers working for Archie and Marvel’s Star Comics at the time—maybe on
was manageable with my workload. I was a fan of old Dell and Gold Key Looney Tunes for DC already, too [for DC’s Looney Tunes Magazine,
comics because their covers were usually nice, self-contained vignettes which ran from 1989–1991—ed.]—and they liked what they saw.
that could also be used on a T-shirt or album cover. That’s the approach “Doug was put to work writing and penciling ‘Junk Man’ for the
I took—iconic, standalone illustrations instead of ‘just comics art.’ first issue of Mighty Mouse. I can’t remember what they assigned to me
“One regret was how the printed versions of my covers look. My first; it was either the cover for the Mighty Mouse Adventure Magazine
color guides were not followed on The Mighty Heroes, and Mighty #1 (I liked how the final cover looked but it was cropped wrong and the
Mouse and Friends Holiday Special was horribly washed out. Fortunately,
the painted cover led to a phone call from Ralph Bakshi himself!
He liked that piece so much he commissioned me to create some
Deputy Dawg pitch art for a possible spinoff of his Mighty Mouse: The
New Adventures Saturday morning cartoon on CBS. Bakshi never returned
the original to me [laughs],
but my piece was later
published as a full page in
his book, Unfiltered.”
STEPHEN KEETER: “Jim

Main contacted me with
an opportunity to write
the Terrytoons characters,
and Mighty Mouse came
to mind immediately. (I
was also interested in Tom
Terrific, one of the most
fun and unusual animated
characters in history, but
this didn’t happen, unfortunately.) Here I was, being offered the
chance to write the adventures of a character I’d loved all my life,
one that I grew up with and was inspired by… both by the heroic
Meet Mr. Cartoonist

Spotlight’s Mighty Mouse #2 was printed in color and
contained two stories, including “The Devil You Say?,”
written by Steve Keeter, drawn and lettered by the late
Ray Dirgo, and colored by Kelley Jarvis-Maclay. (inset)
Known best for Charlton’s Hanna-Barbera comics—and
this issue’s cover!—is Ray Dirgo (1908–2000), signing a
children’s book he illustrated, I Can’t Talk, I’ve Got
Farbles in My Mouth, published by Greene Bark Press in
Dec. 1995. Photo courtesy of Mary Vigliante Szydlowski.

printer did a poor job on the color reproduction. It was disappointing!) Distribution. Former CDC Solicitations Director Wayne Markley recalls:
or maybe inking Doug’s pencils for the lead story in that issue, ‘The “I was very excited for Mighty Mouse from Spotlight. As a kid,
Island of Dr. Felinus.’ I remember liking Doug’s pencils a lot. Since the I had read a few of the St. John and Dell comics, so I was thrilled to see
art would print in black and white, I wanted to do a nice job with the him return. At Capital City Distribution we spotlighted the book and
tones, too. This was all pre-computer, of course, so I spent many hours recommended it because its contributors included Milton Knight,
cutting Zip-A-Tone! The final result pleased everybody, but I probably who I was a fan of. Plus, issue #2 had a Curt Swan cover!”
spent way too long on it. As we all know, comics page rates are typically According to Maurizio, non-returnable sales averaged between
not the best. I made more doing coloring books! (Later, Doug and I 7,000–8,000 copies per title. Then Charlton’s newsstand projections
did a Mighty Mouse coloring book together for Marvel. I did layouts, arrived—appearing quite substantial: 100,000 copies of Mighty Mouse
he finished penciling most of the pages, and then I inked everything.”) #1 and 50,000 copies each of Mighty Mouse #2 and Mighty Mouse
Adventure Magazine #1. While these numbers were certainly attractive,
As production continued on all the Terrytoons titles and Under- they were 100% returnable and, in time, would prove to be a fatal
dog—including fantastic covers by Butler, Engel, Concrete creator Paul mistake for Spotlight.
Chadwick, and consummate Superman artist Curt Swan, Spotlight “I did not completely understand how newsstand distribution
solicited orders from over 15 comic-book distributors including worked,” says Maurizio. “I had hoped we would make money by
Diamond Comic Distributors, Heroes World Distribution, and Capital City having a 15–25% sell-through or more on each title. When I first met
with Charlton, the sales reps gave me a lot of encouragement as our
licenses were internationally proven successes. Months later, they
called me to visit their offices and gave me crushing news…”
Maurizio was provided an Affidavit of Sales, a statement showing
monthly sales versus damages for each title. Ultimately, sales figures for
all titles distributed to newsstands were below 10% of each print run.
Worse, he learned that the unsold copies were supposedly stripped
of their covers and destroyed as the bar codes printed on them were
the “most accurate” way to manage inventory. Maurizio walked out
of Charlton’s offices with a check in-hand—for under $5,000 total.
“After the Charlton debacle, a few comic-shop distributors closed
and we were stiffed there, too,” says Maurizio. “Royalties would soon
be due to Viacom and money was owed to some creators. Later I
learned that several newsstands and bookstores never put our books
on the racks—they just sat in boxes as store owners and managers
didn’t want to displace their regular sellers in favor of an unknown
company. The realization Spotlight would have to close hit me like a
ton a bricks. It was the lowest point in my professional life. No one
wants to fail, and no one wants to financially hurt people who
believed in you and what you were doing.”
Sadly, Spotlight Comics filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and
permanently closed its doors by early 1989. In hindsight, Maurizio
wishes to keep positive memories of that time, particularly when
thinking of three creators who are no longer with us:
“Win Mortimer drew his stories for us on 10x15 and 11x17 copy
paper. Copy paper! [laughs] Frank McLaughlin had to ink his story on
boards using a light-box. Ray Dirgo was funny, too. Anything he said
ended with ‘Right on!’ In Mighty Mouse #2 he was wrongly credited
as ‘Ray DIRGG.’ When we told him, his reply was, ‘Do you want me to
pay for paper? Charlton used to charge us for paper.’ Bill White drew
a great version of Deputy Dawg but was uncredited on the splash
page because the credits spray-mounted on it fell off. Ah, the good
old days… [laughs]”
Maurizio would later work on other iconic cartoon characters includ-
ing Animaniacs, Mister Magoo, and Tom and Jerry. He recently contrib-
uted his inking, editing, and writing skills on a new hardcover featuring
classic Jetta Raye (jettaraye.com) adventures with all-new stories.
Although Spotlight published only a handful of titles during its
short time in business, collectors look back at its comics as perhaps the
most faithful Terrytoons stories during the Bronze Age. Some creators,
however, don’t necessarily agree:
Something Special SCOTT SHAW!: “The writing was nothing special in any of those
comics, but I loved the covers by Jim Engel and the interior stories
Jim Engel’s original art for Spotlight’s last Terrytoons by Nate Butler, Bill White, Gary Fields, and Milton Knight. I think
publication, Mighty Mouse and Friends Holiday Special that luring Curt Swan and Paul Chadwick to draw covers was a
poor choice (although I love their ‘straight’ material), and I’m not
#1 (1987), as it was meant to be seen in its full, a fan of Ray Dirgo’s work.”
vibrant color. The actual comic-book printing is
MILTON KNIGHT: “To be honest, [Spotlight] didn’t strike me as any
washed out. That, however, did not stop famed more ‘loving’ than any other publisher. But it’s not so surprising,
animator and director Ralph Bakshi from contacting as they were licensing so many properties. I preferred Spotlight
over Marvel because I was allowed to write, draw, and ink Mighty
Engel to create new art for his studio. Mouse myself.”
Mighty Mouse, Deputy Dawg, and Heckle and Jeckle © CBS. continued on page 68

MEET DOUG CUSHMAN
Doug Cushman (doug-cushman.com) is a longtime children’s For me, the apex of my time with Spotlight was with
book author and illustrator with more than 130 titles included their Mighty Mouse Adventure Magazine #1. I penciled the
on his list of amazing, artistic accomplishments. According to story “The Island of Dr. Felinus,” and my good friend Nate
Doug, a certain cartoon mouse had something to do with it… Butler inked it. I dove head first into really getting detail
and humor into the pencils, caricaturing the villains after
DOUG CUSHMAN: I lived in Connecticut at the time, writing Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. Nate went far and
and illustrating like a madman back then (as I still do today). beyond amazing with his inks, adding Zip-A-Tone textures
I grew up loving cartoons and comics, especially the and detail (it was a totally black-and-white story). I lived in
newspaper Sunday Funnies, as we called them back Connecticut and Nate lived in New Mexico, so it was a
in the Stone Age. I followed pretty much all of long-distance project. (Nate also created the cover
them: Dick Tracy, Katzenjammer Kids, Snuffy for the issue.) I loved every second of it. For
Smith, Beetle Bailey, Peanuts, The Phantom, the two of us, it was a pure act of love and joy
etc. But when I saw my first Mighty Mouse working on the story. And it showed.
cartoon, I was hooked. I loved him. The Jim, Rich, and Kelley Jarvis[-Maclay], a
first toy I remember owning was a little wonderful artist herself, were true fans of
stuffed doll of Mighty Mouse. The very first these old characters. They were all great
drawing I remember doing was of Mighty to work with. It was really an act of love
Mouse. He was a HUGE influence (might producing these comics. Money was tight
explain why I was never a cat person, eh?…). and, frankly, I was surprised that they lasted as
About that time, I’d already written and long as they did. But it was fun, no regrets
illustrated my first book (at eight years old, at all. I’d do it again, no question.
doug cushman
an edition of one, on lined paper with a I’d been collecting Mighty Mouse mem-
construction paper cover. I still have it). orabilia for years before I met Rich and Jim.
It was about fourth grade when, while parents were Secured in a storage shed, I still have some Golden Age
visiting some friends (the friends had daughters and who Mighty Mouse comics from Timely, 3-D comics, 8mm films, a
wants to play with GIRLS!), I discovered Pogo and Walt painted cel, pins, buttons, all kinds of plush toys, bubble bath
Kelly in his book Uncle Pogo’s So-So Stories on their soap bottles, and most of the original art from “Dr. Felinus.”
bookshelves. It was a revelation, incredible stuff. Didn’t For me, the original cartoons from the 1940s are the real
understand it all, but it made me laugh. Mighty Mouse. I’ve no favorite, though “The Perils of Pauline
Fast forward now to the ’80s. I was fully involved in Pureheart” stands out; I love watching her sing “Carry Me
children’s books, which I loved, but still kept a foot in the Back to Old Virginny” while under hypnosis as Mighty Mouse
comic-art field. For a couple years, I wrote gags for the great battles Oil Can Harry. It’s delightfully goofy. What I loved
Frank Johnson (of Boner’s Ark fame) when he penciled and about these early cartoons is that they never took themselves
inked the daily and Sunday strip Bringing Up Father. While seriously. They were pure parody, spoofing tropes of opera,
wandering around a comic-con in New York City, I spotted superheroes, silent film plots, and even cartoons themselves,
a small stand displaying Mighty Mouse comics with NEW e.g., Mighty Mouse using his own orange “speed lines” to tie
stories and art! Rich Maurizio manned the stand. I introduced up villains or pull ships from dangerous waters. He symbolized
myself and told him how much I loved Mighty Mouse. what was good and true, a “pure heart.” And of course he
He was looking for some artists, and turned out he lived in sang pretty well too. I enjoyed the Ralph Bakshi reboot; it kept
Connecticut as I did. I’d never done any comic-book art but the spoof element and updated Mighty Mouse for the ’80s
thought it’d be fun. We met a few weeks but kept the heart of the character.
later and the rest, as they say, is history. All in all, Mighty Mouse was an
Even though I’d been illustrating books important influence on my own work
for over ten years by that time, I was new as an author and illustrator. Many of
to the comic-book process. I approached the books I’ve published involve
it as I did with my book illustration. I wrote parody, anthropomorphic animals, goofy
and penciled “Junk Man,” basically writing situations, breaking some walls in the
the dialogue as I drew the pictures (pic- genre, and making sure justice is served
tures usually come first for me). Rich and (my own picture books, Mystery at the
editor Jim Main liked it, so it was accepted. Club Sandwich or Mystery of King Karfu,
I confess I was vaguely aware of [inker] a Reuben Award winner, are good
Frank McLaughlin (I knew a few names examples). Mighty Mouse gave me all of
in the superhero comic world, but not those qualities and more.
many). We’d only met a few times, but
he was always kind and encouraging. My
pencils for “Junk Man” were minimal, not Splash to Spotight’s “The Island
much background, for example, so he of Dr. Felinus,” penciled by Doug
added a few details. That brief encounter
taught me a lot. I’m sorry I didn’t get to Cushman, from Mighty Mouse
know him better; I would have loved to Adventure Magazine #1.
hear his stories of “the old days.” © CBS.

continued from page 66 Those titles were printed as Prestige Format specifically for those
MIGHTY MOUSE REVISITS HIS EARLY DAYS stores; that format is more durable for them and easier to display,
One of the four founders of the now-defunct Malibu Comics Entertain- and also gave us an opportunity to push a bit on the price point
ment, former Creative Director Tom Mason (currently an animation and increase profitability. I picked the stories, and I wanted stuff
writer, children’s book author, and Emmy winner), reminisces on the that was fun and interesting selected from the public-domain
1989 two-issue series Video Classics: The Adventures of Mighty Mouse: comics that I could acquire from back-issue dealers.
“Malibu had started publishing comics in 1987, months after the “The process used to create the covers for the two volumes and
black-and-white ‘boom’ had ended. Once a week my partners and to scan the color comics to reprint in black and white was before the
I would meet for breakfast to brainstorm. Adding public- age of scanning and Photoshop, and since the original art for
domain titles was a group strategy to expand the line and completed stories from that era just isn’t around, we had to
to boost cash flow each month. Titles included were work from the printed comics. I pulled stories from vari-
Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges, Sherlock Holmes, ous Mighty Mouse comics we had and used a really nice
Perry Mason, Brenda Starr, The Saint, Charlie Chan, stat camera. I would take the comics and shoot one
The Shadow, Huckleberry Finn, lots of things. page at a time and see how well I could keep the colors
“Regarding reprinting some of the Golden from muddying while still retaining the integrity of the
Age Mighty Mouse comics [from the St. John and printed black lines. For the cover art, I found images in
Pines era], we were trying to make a push into individual panels that would look good when blown
bookstores and video stores (remember those?), up to cover size.
and we kept looking for public-domain material “Video Classics was designed to be an umbrella
that had name recognition, specifically for people title, so if the series had found alternative spaces
in a video store. We had a bookstore rep at the outside the direct market, then we could’ve used
time, and we were creating products for them to the title for other material. But our bookstore rep
tom mason wasn’t able to get any of our material into alternative
try to sell. The Mighty Mouse name is still under
trademark, but those comic-book stories that we markets and the program was ended.”
reprinted were in the public domain. So legally we could reprint
them, but we didn’t have the legal right to create new artwork MIGHTY MOUSE FLIES AGAIN—AT MARVEL!
or use the Mighty Mouse name as the title. Ultimately, the push Spotlight Comics license with Viacom for its Terrytoons characters
into alternative markets proved to be a publishing unicorn for us. had terminated when the company filed for bankruptcy. Marvel had
recently retired its Star imprint of comics geared towards children
but remained successful with some classic characters including
Bullwinkle and Rocky. As Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures was a
critical success (albeit with some controversy) on Saturday morning
TV, Marvel quickly added Mighty Mouse #1 (Oct. 1990) to the
company’s publishing schedule.
The Marvel series’ debut was not fast enough to coincide with
the Ralph Bakshi-produced show that had already run its course.
The ten-issue comic-book series, however, featured stories told in
the newer continuity—with Mighty Mouse’s alter ego, Mike Mouse,
and his companion, Scrappy Mouse. Marketed as “A Rodent for
the ’90s!,” Marvel’s series also incorporated parodies of large
storylines of the day including Secret Wars and DC’s Crisis on Infinite
Earths. A clever “Chronology” detailing our hero’s evolution (and
costume change) appears in issue #2, too!
Covers were mostly illustrated by Ernie Colón, with occasional
surprise covers by George Pérez, John Byrne, Milton Knight, Steve
Lightle, and Kevin Maguire with Joe Rubinstein.
Writer Michael Gallagher’s scripts [see sidebar], illustrated by
the late Ernie Colón (1931–2019) and Marie Severin (1929-2018),
occupied the majority of these comics, with exceptions of issue
#s 6 and 10.
Arguably, this series is the funniest Terrytoons comics of the
Bronze Age.
Other creators and editorial staff graciously recall their time
contributing to the Mouse of Steel’s canon. Let’s start with the editor
of the entire run, veteran comics writer, editor, and Deadpool
co-creator, Fabian Nicieza!
Classics Revisited
In-between Spotlight Comics and Marvel’s licensed
Mighty Mouse comics, Malibu Graphics took a different
path in 1989 when it published two prestige-format
collections of public-domain stories from the Golden
Age. Packaged as Video Classics: The Adventures of
Mighty Mouse, comics once published by St. John and
Pines in full color now appeared in black-and-white.
© CBS.

FABIAN NICIEZA
ROBERT V. CONTE: What do you recall about working on Mighty Mouse?
FABIAN NICIEZA: Outside of giving Dan Slott his first published work,
my memory on that series is beyond minimal. I inherited the title from
Sid Jacobson, who had hired the key creative team, but I don’t remember
much in the way of detail about the issues or the licensing
process. Evan Skolnick was Sid’s assistant and then
mine. He handled the day-to-day grunt work
with the licensor. His memory is much better
than mine!
CONTE: What did you see in Dan Slott as a
writer? Discovering new talent that skyrockets
to success is a wonderful trait of a good editor.
NICIEZA: Because Dan was our intern, Evan
and I could tell right away how sharp he was in
terms of story and character, but especially smart
in a unique aspect of comic-book writing that is
intuitive, rather than learned: being an “idea
man.” Having lots of ideas and not worrying
fabian nicieza if all of them are “just right.” Pitch a lot to see
what sticks that can then evolve into a story.
© Luigi Novi / Wikimedia Commons.
So when he pitched his [Late Night with David]
Letterman issue [#10], we knew it was the right place to see if he could work
those ideas out into a full story. But more importantly, we got him to shut up
for almost five minutes after we said yes. [laughs]
EVAN SKOLNICK (evanskolnick.com)

A BAFTA and D.I.C.E. Award-nominated videogame
writer and narrative designer, Evan Skolnick’s 25+
years of combined story-and-game development
experience can be found in over 50 games including
Star Wars 1313, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, and
The Walking Dead: A New Frontier. While at Marvel
Comics, Skolnick contributed to several titles
including Doctor Strange, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-
Man Unlimited, and, of course, Mighty Mouse!
CONTE: What was it like working with former
Marvel executive editor and key Star Comics
legend Sid Jacobson?
EVAN SKOLNICK: I was Sid’s assistant editor from
mid-1989 until he left Marvel in late-1990 or early
1991 (I’m not 100% sure on the exact timing). He
was a great mentor to me, and we had a wonderful working relationship.
Sid had been doing this kind of work for a very long time, so for him a lot
of the job seemed like it was almost automatic. He was
supremely confident and comfortable in his role.
Sid had a stable of talent that he was familiar with
and knew he could count on, and he would tend
to use them again and again on his various proj-
ects. These folks were highly capable and very
versatile, so it generally worked well, but it also
may have occasionally contributed to a bit of
sameness across the titles we were editing.
CONTE: What was it like to work with both the
late, legendary Ernie Colón and Marie Severin,
who penciled and inked many of the stories?
SKOLNICK: I had already been working with
Ernie and Marie on prior comics (Alf, Damage Does Whatever a… Mouse Can?
evan skolnick Control, etc.), so this was just a pleasant
continuation of those relationships. Both were
(top left) Milton Knight returned to Mighty Mouse
wonderful people and incredibly talented. I in a big way, starting with issue #6 (Mar. 1991)
knew they had both done a huge amount of high-profile work in the past,
—a parody of (top right) 1990’s Spider-Man #1
and I felt lucky to get to interact with them so frequently and learn as much
as I could from them. by Todd McFarlane. (inset) He later recreated this
CONTE: And how about Michael Gallagher, Dan Slott, and other writers on image for a gallery showing. (bottom) Knight would
this series?
SKOLNICK: I first worked with Michael Gallagher on Alf, on which his scripts also create backup stories in the series featuring
were laugh-out-loud funny and perfectly structured. Mike would send in these perhaps the second most popular character from
visual scripts—essentially roughs of the entire comics, with pencil art, word
balloons, and everything. He was a good cartoonist in his own right, and so the Ralph Bakshi-produced TV show, Bat-Bat!
continued on page 72 Mighty Mouse and Bat-Bat © CBS. Spider-Man TM & © Marvel.

MEET MICHAEL GALLAGHER
Michael Gallagher is one of several professional cartoonists However, the editorial credits in issue #1 list Fabian and
in his family, known for comics and newspaper strips Evan Skolnick, who was Sid’s assistant for some time.
including MAD, Spider-Man, Archie, Alf, and Sonic the Hearing that I was going to be writing new adventures
Hedgehog. Here, he fondly recalls writing Marvel’s brief run for my all-time favorite cartoon character was absolutely
on the Mouse of Steel… thrilling. I couldn’t wait to get started!
CONTE: From where did you draw inspiration to write stories
CONTE: Let’s take a trip inside a time machine and go for the ten-issue series?
back to the early 1990s. How did you become involved GALLAGHER: In a word: satire. It all goes back to some
with Marvel Comics? early MAD parodies including Superduperman, Mickey
MICHAEL GALLAGHER: Wow, this time machine is bigger Rodent, Starchie, Woman Wonder, Melvin of the Apes,
on the inside! Actually, we need to go back to the mid-’80s, etc. Those incredible sendups are the foundation of my
when Marvel first announced the creation of Star Comics. admittedly warped sense of humor and storytelling style.
I had been helping write gags for the Heathcliff news- When I lecture to kids about writing and cartooning, I
paper feature. Created by my Uncle George “Gately,” always advise them to try a satire because you already
Heathcliff was chosen to help launch the line. have something to work with and it forces you to
My name came up as a potential writer for analyze the source material in detail.
the [Heathcliff] comic books and I flew up Mighty Mouse was no exception. Right
to New York from Florida and met with from issue #1, I riffed on Frank Miller’s clas-
Star’s veteran editor, Sid Jacobson. My first sic with “The Dark Might Returns.” It didn’t
comic-book story, “Ghost in the Outfield,” stop there: “Mices on Infinite Earths,” “Bat-
appeared in Heathcliff #2 (June 1985), Bat, Year One,” and “Samor the Sub-Plot-
penciled by Warren Kremer. I was off and ter,” which lampooned lots of Marvel
running. threads followed.
CONTE: What do you recall about being hired CONTE: What was it like to work with the
to write Mighty Mouse? legendary Ernie Colón and Marie Severin?
GALLAGHER: My memory is a little fuzzy GALLAGHER: It’s sublime and surreal when
on the exact moment I was told. I was michael gallagher you get to work with people you’ve long
writing several titles at the time and admired from afar. Speaking of satire,
changes were happening. The Star imprint was being Marie was the undisputed queen, from little cartoons left
phased out and the few remaining books, like Alf, were on her co-worker’s desks to Not Brand Echh. I had already
being folded into the regular Marvel line. Also, Sid’s tenure gotten to know and love her as the primary inker on Alf.
was coming to an end and Fabian Nicieza was taking over Meanwhile, Ernie was a true master. He could draw anything
for him. Fabian was easy to work with, extremely and it was always elegant. I was privileged to see bursts
knowledgeable and obviously a major talent on the of his genius; I’d get full-size copies of his pencils which
rise. I’m pretty sure the decision to publish new Mighty not only had incredible renditions of my story, but just
Mouse stories was made while Sid was still in charge, off the outer margins of almost every panel, Ernie would
so it was his choice to let me be the initial writer. scribble notes and tiny little drawings, caricatures,
complaints, observations, and more, mostly directed to
Marie. They were incredible. Marie always hated to have to
erase them after inking the page. I had the extraordinary
experience of working with both of these Hall of Famers
on separate projects afterwards.
CONTE: In hindsight, Mighty Mouse fans cite this series as
a Marvel-ized, loose adaptation of the Ralph Bakshi Mighty
Mouse Adventures animated show from that time. Do you
agree and, if so, care to elaborate?
GALLAGHER: I wasn’t privy to any of the legal negotiations
between Marvel and the representatives of Mighty Mouse
at that time regarding the characters that Ralph Bakshi
created. I knew I had the freedom to incorporate them,
but don’t recall any requirements beyond what I was used
to with other licensed properties. My goal with the title
was to try and create an amalgamated Mighty Mouse
Michael Gallagher (right) dressed as his favorite super-

mouse in a homemade costume, proudly standing next
to his father, John Gallagher—a two-time winner of the
National Cartoonists Society’s “Best Gag Cartoonist of the
Year” award and primary illustrator for Sport Magazine.

Gallagher’s writing style embellished the
satire of Marvel’s Mighty Mouse series, including a
parody of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in #1.
Art by Ernie Colón and Marie Severin.
© CBS.
with aspects of his Terrytoons persona, some new,

original players, and a heavy dose of the very successful
CBS show. I certainly cherry-picked many of Mr. Bakshi’s
madcap gallery of heroes and villains, mixing and
matching them with our other cast members within
the framework of a self-aware comic book. If that’s
“Marvel-izing,” then I’m guilty as charged!
CONTE: It seemed unusual to parody Crisis on Infinite
Earths, a storyline published by DC Comics, as opposed
to a huge Marvel event such as Secret Wars. What was
the thinking behind this decision?
GALLAGHER: There’s a long history of Marvel poking
fun at DC and (to a lesser degree) vice-versa. Marvel
always enjoyed satirizing themselves as well, like in Not
Brand Ecch. DC’s epic crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths,
was a monumental industry event. To me, that series
had more “lampoonable” concepts plus lots of new
and unusual characters. It opened the door to featuring
alternate versions of the Mouse of Steel and had
the extra benefit of tweaking the “Distinguished
Competition,” which I think fans enjoy. We’d already
gotten away with “The Dark Might Returns,” so why
not push the envelope a little more? Secret Wars was
also a big deal, but didn’t seem as ripe for parody as
Crisis. I used the pun “Secret Chores” to frame the
Samor story in issue #3, but that’s all.
CONTE: There are a few issues of Mighty Mouse that
you did not write. Did you need a breather or was it very encouraging to me, and how incredible was it
time to move on? that they got all those fan-favorite artists to draw
GALLAGHER: I think it was a combination of things. Mighty Mouse covers: John Byrne, George Pérez, Steve
I was writing other titles at the time. I had been Lightle, Kevin Maguire, and Charles Vess! Although I
scripting kids comics for quite a while at this point. never met Jacqueline Roettcher or Milton Knight,
Plus, why wouldn’t Fabian want to let other clever, I always admired their work. When I moved on to
creative people take a crack at this beloved, iconic Guardians of the Galaxy, I became (and still am) good
character? Deep down, I probably wanted to have friends with Kevin West.
Mighty Mouse all to myself, but that’s egotistic and CONTE: In your opinion, what is Mighty Mouse’s impact on
not realistic. I never resented any of the other writers American pop culture?
or their stories. Meanwhile, I had also been making GALLAGHER: Whenever I mention my tenure on
contacts around the rectangle of editor’s offices Mighty Mouse, I am inevitably serenaded by someone
that surrounded the Bullpen, so I was beginning to joyfully singing that famous line, “Here I come to save
contemplate my future in what was and is a volatile the day!” That theme song’s a pretty powerful
business. Freelancers may want or need a breather, cultural touchstone, if you ask me, as well as his heroic,
but it can be dangerous to take one. This may sound a unselfish raison d’etre firmly ingrained in hundreds
bit corporate and cold, but as I always have my students of thousands, if not millions, of minds. I was an avid
repeat after me, “That’s show biz!” comic-book memorabilia collector and am still very
CONTE: Who did you enjoy working with the most at Marvel? proud of my many Mighty Mouse toys and collectibles,
GALLAGHER: I moved back to New Jersey from Florida including his featured appearance in the very first 3-D
soon after I started writing for Star, so I made the trip comic. Who can forget Andy Kaufman lip-syncing to
to the Marvel offices on a regular basis. That’s when the record on the first episode of Saturday Night Live or
I got to meet and hang out with many of the people Mighty Mouse’s “Power of Cheese” commercials circa
I was working with on the comics. Those I remember 2001? The Mouse of Steel’s staying power is a testament
most fondly; Sid, Warren Kremer, Laura Hitchcock, to his firmly rooted status as a major American cartoon
Howard Post, Ernie Colón, Angelo DeCesare, Marie icon. I’d venture to say that he’s the second most
Severin, and my longtime collaborator, David Manak. famous cartoon mouse of all time, and there’s certainly
Fabian and Evan (who also did the coloring) were always been a lot of them!

Hot Collectible
Issue!
(left) A hidden gem
found in the vast
comics work of writer
Dan Slott is his first
published script
in the pages of
Mighty Mouse #10
(July 1991)! Today
we know and respect
Dan for his ground-
breaking runs on
Amazing Spider-Man
and Fantastic Four.
Don’t be surprised if
prices for this comic
skyrocket and start
being slabbed every-
where. Remember,
BACK ISSUE told you
first! (right) Marvel’s continued from page 69 MILTON KNIGHT
when these scripts came in it was pretty much like CONTE: You are the only writer and artist that
last attempt to revive receiving an original, hand-drawn comic book that no successfully transitioned from Spotlight’s Mighty
Terrytoons was 1999’s one else had seen before! I loved getting to read them. Mouse to the Marvel series, starting with #6. How
Sometimes the crazy energy in those roughed-out did that happen?
The Mighty Heroes comics was far beyond what ended up in the final version MILTON KNIGHT: I had done freelancing for
#1 but, like Spotlight as penciled by Dave Manak—not because of any failing Marvel before (one of my first jobs was Crazy
on Dave’s part; he was amazing—but because the magazine in 1980, and later, Heathcliff) and I
and Dell before, these requirement of getting Alf and the other characters to was always hanging about trying to get work.
characters’ comic- be on-model would inevitably pull a little of that manic Somehow I connected with the editor [Fabian
energy out. I always wished we could have published Nicieza]. Everyone who knew me knew I sang
book adventures a compendium of Mike’s crazy visual scripts for Alf. the praises of Terrytoons. There was no connection
were doomed. There Mike had a very clear, very punny vision for Alf, and between the jobs. Many animators worked on
we felt that his stories were much better and funnier licensed characters and ended up returning to
are devout followers than what was on the TV show. I remember we were them years later. It just happened.
always worried that the TV show producers would CONTE: You parodied Todd McFarlane’s
of this Terrytoons
notice this and steal him away. Spider-Man #1 when you illustrated the cover
cartoon series so, Sid assigned Mike to write Mighty Mouse, but in for Mighty Mouse #6. Was that your choice or an
retrospect he might not have been the best fit for editorial directive?
perhaps one day, they adapting the surreal, post-modern Bakshi TV show KNIGHT: Believe me, everything on those jobs
will return. [Editor’s to comics form, because Mike had a very traditional was editorial directives. That parody was so
“setup-punchline” approach to comedy. I didn’t specific, I didn’t know half the gags I was drawing.
note: See my question it at the time, though. I disliked Marvel’s need to tie superheroes into all
TwoMorrows book But then Sid left Marvel for Harvey Comics, and my the humor they did.
new boss Fabian Nicieza (a great friend and one of the CONTE: What was it like to work with the late,
Hero-A-Go-Go for a most important professional mentors I’ve ever had) legendary Marie Severin, who inked your Marvel
Mighty Heroes history hired our then-intern Dan Slott to write the tenth and art?
final issue of Mighty Mouse. Once I saw Dan’s brilliant KNIGHT: She didn’t like my work and wrote
and interview with script, I realized what this series probably should have negative, hurtful comments… in ink… on the
creator/animator been from the start. To frame it in a period-appropriate borders. I don’t mean instructive; she actual-
way, with a nod to Dan’s story itself: We had been ly wrote, “I can’t believe this art” on one; she
Ralph Bakshi. And evoking Johnny Carson when we should have been didn’t find a page parodying [editor-in-chief] Tom
one of these days, pulling a David Letterman. DeFalco was funny (which I had not written), and
Speaking of Dan, this was his first published comic- said so on it. Totally unnecessary; she knew I’d be
we’ll cover the book story, and right from the start you could see his getting half the art back.
superteam in our incredible talent and sense of humor coming through. Marvel had a superhero agenda I didn’t care
This set him up for the regular writing gig on the for at all. The three Bat-Bat backups I did for them
sister mag, RetroFan!] hugely successful Ren and Stimpy comic that came out were a Batman parody I didn’t get either.
© CBS.
later that year.

MICHAEL KAZALEH
Mike Kazaleh has had a long career both writing and drawing animated TV cartoons
including the Bakshi Mighty Mouse, Ren and Stimpy, The Simpsons, Krypto the
Superdog, Gumby, and Bugs Bunny. He has also created his own independent comics
including The Adventures of Captain Jack and Zorch Comics.
CONTE: How did Marvel Comics approach you after the company became publisher
of Mighty Mouse?
MICHAEL KAZALEH: Fabian Nicieza called me on the phone and asked if I wanted to
pencil a Mighty Mouse story, and of course I said yes. I was told later that Marvel wanted
to use me earlier, but [the previous editor] Sid Jacobson wouldn’t allow it. When Sid
left Marvel to return to Harvey, they contacted me. This last bit has always mystified
me, as I did not personally know Sid, nor did I even know that he’d ever heard of me.
CONTE: Who did you work with closely on the series, and what was your dynamic
with them?
KAZALEH: The first two stories I penciled were written in what I considered “the normal
way,” which is to say that the writers had roughly sketched out the story, dialog and
all. The first was by Michael Gallagher, and second was by the team of Tom Brevoort
and Mike Kanterovitch. I didn’t personally have contact with Gallagher, but I did have
a few phone calls with the other two, and they were very nice.
The next story I drew would end up being the last one. It was to be done “the
Marvel way,” meaning that the writer would write a plot, the artist would draw it, then
the writer would write the copy. He said he was using a new writer and this was his
first story. I read the plot, and I asked Fabian if I could edit it before I drew it. He said
that would be fine, and then he asked me if would talk to the writer to tell him what
I wanted to do. I said fine, and Fabian had him call me on the phone. The writer was
Dan Slott, and we ended up becoming good pals after that. It was a short time later
that we were back together and working on the Ren and Stimpy comics, and we had a
grand time bouncing ideas back and forth.
As I recall, Marie Severin did the inks for the whole series. I did not have any
personal contact with her. I was a fan of her drawings, but I would have been happier if
I could’ve done my own inks. Some time later, I was back working for Ralph Bakshi on
Cool World. I had a Mighty Mouse splash page pinned up in my cubicle. Ralph looked at
the page and was incredulous that Marie had inked my pencils.
Another note about the last issue, it almost wasn’t published. The direct sales pre-orders
were low—about 50,000 copies. (That would’ve been considered low by the standards
of the day. Now such sales would be considered wonderful. And at the time there were
additional sales from the newsstands.) Fabian liked how the issue turned out, and
convinced the management to go ahead with it anyway. Because issue #10 was done in
Marvel-style, I had more input into the content. Also it was on that issue that Fabian want-
ed the series to get even more like the TV show, and we went a little broader as a result.
CONTE: What was it like working with editor Fabian Nicieza?
KAZALEH: I liked Fabian very much. He was smart and easy to get along with, and he
was supportive of the work we were doing.
CONTE: Some Mighty Mouse fans cite this series as a Marvel-ized, loose adaptation
of the Ralph Bakshi New Mighty Mouse Adventures animated show that you worked
on. Do you agree and, if so, care to elaborate?
KAZALEH: It was based on the show in the sense that it used some of the characters
that were created for it, like Bat-Bat and Scrappy. But some of the Marvel stories were
specific parodies of other superhero comic-book stories, which is something we would
have avoided on the CBS network series. With issue #10, Fabian expressed a desire to
move away from the comic-book parodies and, were the series to continue, the stories
would likely have gone after other targets.
As Marvel’s Mighty Mouse came to a close, the series—like its predecessors—

met with mixed reactions from some comics creators:
JIM ENGEL: “I saw the Marvel stuff, but it frustrated me; taking on the license was
just another title added to their roster. I would have loved to do that series because
I believe I would have done it better. Marie Severin was one of my absolute favorite
cartoonists ever, one of my inspirations, but I think that stuff didn’t fit her. Not a
big slave to the on-model approach. Funny animal characters should have the same
Mighty… and Flighty

(top) Page 2 of the Mike Kazaleh-drawn MM/Bat-Bat team-up from Marvel’s Mighty Mouse #3 (Dec. 1990).
(bottom) A year earlier, animator Mark Mayerson parodied Mighty Mouse as Flighty Mouse, a satire on the animation
industry’s then-“outsourcing and a general sense of corruption,” for Apatoons magazine. Read the entire story at
mayersoncreative.com/comics/flighty_mouse.html. Used with permission.
Mighty Mouse and Bat-Bat © CBS. “Flighty Mouse” © Mark Mayerson.

freedom that superhero comics do. Spider-Man is ONE LAST, UNTIMELY TERRYTOON…
recognizable as Peter Parker, whether it’s drawn by Steve In 1999, Marvel made one last attempt to revive The
Ditko, John Romita, or Todd McFarlane. That same Mighty Heroes when it published a one-shot special as
Chain Reaction flexibility should apply to iconic cartoons, too.” part of its short-lived Paramount Comics line. Written
Comics superstar by Scott Lobdell with wraparound cover and interior
SCOTT SHAW!: “I think the 1990s series was a wasted art by Rurik Tyler and Larry Mahlstedt, Strong Man and
Neal Adams helped opportunity for Marvel not to exploit the popularity his silly, sad sacks of a team return to face their worst
of Ralph Bakshi’s then-recent Mighty Mouse: The New villain ever—low sales!
spark new interest in
Adventures. Instead, the cover of every issue seemed to
our rodent hero by be catering to hardcore comic fans. I got the impression MIGHTY MOUSE IN THE MODERN AGE
illustrating this al- that the editor assumed that no one was interested Just over 25 years after Mighty Mouse’s last appearance
in Mighty Mouse and that fannish references to The on the four-color page, Dynamite Entertainment
ternate cover art for Dark Knight Returns, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and Image licensed rights from CBS Operations, Inc. for all-new,
Dynamite’s Mighty Comics were the only way to sell this series to Marvel comic-book adventures. From 2017–2018, the company
readers. It’s too bad; cartoonist Mike Kazaleh drew a published five issues (with multiple variant covers
Mouse #1 (June few stories for Marvel’s Mighty Mouse, but they bore illustrated by Neal Adams, Alex Ross, and others), collect-
2017), a salute to little of the popular outrageousness of Bakshi’s TV series ing them into a trade paperback titled Saving the Day.
for which Mike actually did a lot of work, so why not On modern-day Earth, a latchkey child named Joey,
(inset) Adams’ iconic exploit that? Instead, covers by John Byrne and Steve regularly bullied at school, finds solace in watching
cover for Superman Lightle, and Kevin Maguire? Yeah, like they’re funny- cartoons featuring his favorite superhero. Suddenly,
animal specialists. Their versions were drab and lifeless. Mighty Mouse is transported out of Joey’s television set
#233 (Jan. 1971). At least Mike and Dan Slott were hired to create most from Mouseville—along with cat-like aliens intent on
of the run of Ren and Stimpy. I think that Ernie Colón’s taking over the planet!
Superman TM & © DC Comics. and Milton Knight’s efforts were wasted, too. As usual, our superpowered mouse beats his
adversaries and remains triumphant—teaching
his human sidekick the importance of self-
confidence and not to tolerate bullying. This
story contains elements of classic Terrytoons
and was received well by some longtime fans.
WHAT A MOUSE!
In today’s world, where our youth feeds on
“retro” fashion, accessories, and collectibles,
Viacom licensees continue to sell Mighty Mouse
apparel, lunch boxes, tin signs, and vinyl figures.
Although new Mighty Mouse animated series
and films have been conceived and announced
in various stages of development, none have
materialized. Reportedly, Paramount Animation
is producing a hybrid, live-action/CGI motion
picture slated for a possible 2022–2023 release.
While we wait, perhaps the studio’s
parent company CBS/Viacom—now owner
of the entire Terrytoons library—will stream
the original shorts from the 1940s through the Bakshi
cartoons from the 1980s for today’s audiences. After all,
our newest generation should know everything there
is to know about the character from Mouseville, right?
Mighty Mouse, please come and save the day
again—we need you!
In Tribute: There were two artists that I had intended to interview

for this article who, sadly, passed away. May Frank McLaughlin
(1935–2020) and Steve Lightle (1959–2021) rest in peace. You
both, and your contributions, will always be remembered.
ROBERT V. CONTE’s 32-year comics career includes writing

Chuck the Rabid Dog for Heavy Metal, and editing Tex
Avery’s Droopy, Screwball Squirrel, and Wolf & Red for
Dark Horse Comics. He fondly
remembers Mighty Mouse and
other cherished Terrytoons via
syndication during the 1970s—
the days when television offered
less than 13 channels! He kept
missing the episode where Super-
mouse evolved into Mighty Mouse
and, after writing this article,
finally understands that such a
cartoon never existed! Now Robert
edits an all-new cartoon comic
book, Cosmo Cat! Check it out at
www.cosmocatcomics.com!

by Stephan Friedt
Here Comes
G-Force!
Win Mortimer cover
art intended for
Gold Key’s Battle
of the Planets #1
(June 1979). (inset)
Animation-based
art was used on
the cover instead.
Courtesy of Heritage
Comics Auctions
(www.ha.com).
© Sandy Frank Film Syndication Inc.
Battle of the Planets was an Americanized version of a popular Superman and the realm of superheroes proved to be the spark that
Japanese cartoon series known as Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. brought out Tatsuo’s artistic talent of. He supplemented his family’s
It followed a team of young heroes called G-Force in their battle to income by selling his drawings during his teen years. In 1954, now
protect Earth from intergalactic threats. Their use of a giant ship made married, Tatsuo packed up his art supplies and, with his wife beside
up of smaller ships would inspire other popular series like Voltron. The him, moved to Tokyo, where the manga phenomenon was just
G-Force team was to kids and young adults of the 1970s what Jonny starting. The publishing house Akita Shoten recognized his talent
Quest had been to the kids and young adults of the 1960s. and hired him on. From 1955 to 1957, he was a prolific artist for
the company. His workload eventually became overwhelming, and
TATSUO YOSHIDA’S VISION he convinced his brothers to join him. Toyoharu was also a talented
It started in the imagination of Tatsuo Yoshida. Tatsuo was born in artist, so he helped lighten the load, taking on the pen name Ippei Kuri
1932 in Kyoto, Japan. He and his two younger brothers, Kenji and to distinguish himself from his brother. Brother Kenji got a job in in
Toyoharu, spent a portion of their childhood during the American production. From 1957 to 1962, the three brothers were instrumental
occupation of Japan, where they were often gifted with well-read in producing more than 40 titles for the company. If that was not
copies of comic books from the soldiers. This early exposure to enough, Tatsuo also provided art for the publishing house Shonen

Gaho Sha, where he illustrated his childhood favorite, Superman,
from September 1959 to October 1960.
In 1960 Tatsuo became more interested in developing projects
than drawing them, so he formed a studio and began producing
comics for several publishers. In 1962 Tatsuo named his new company
Tatsunoko Productions.
From 1962 to 1969, Tatsuo bounced back and forth between
providing comics and working in the fledgling animation studios
that were springing up. He created a comic called Boy Ninja Squad
Moonlight, which ran from 1963 to 1965. In 1964 it was developed into
the animated series Ninja Squad Moonlight, which ran for 130 episodes
from 1964 to 1966 and was the first animated series to include Tatsuo
in the credits. Boy Ninja Squad Moonlight would have many of the
seminal features of what would become Battle for the Planets.
During this time, he illustrated the comic book for Mach Gogogo,
which became a cartoon and ended up in the US as Speed Racer.
From 1969 to 1971, Tatsuo worked more in animation than comic
books, striving to increase the realism of the artwork involved and being
instrumental in the trend to include as much science as possible.
In 1971, working with a core group of professional friends, Tatsuo set
out to create a science-based series that would appeal to an older set.
After all, the fans of his many comics series were growing older. Ippei
Kuri (brother Toyoharu) pointed out that one of the most popular
series they worked on was Tatsuo’s Boy Ninja Squad Moonlight…
so why not blend ninjas and science? Ippei and Tatsuo still had their
love for superhero comics and wanted to bring the same love to
a Japanese hero… better yet, a team of heroes in colorful costumes!
Further inspired by the popularity of the Godzilla movie franchise
and its emphasis on the hazards of pollution, their team would be
melded with science (including bringing in a teacher as their Science
Fiction Consultant) and the team of hardy heroes would guard Earth
from pollution and a horrendous evil from space in the form of an
organization called Galactor, led by the gender-fluid villain, Berg Katse.
The original draft, Science Ninja Squad 5, incorporated various
hooks popular in previous Tatsunoko Productions series—a team,
orphans, some comedy, etc. The five characters were: Ken (The
Eagle) Hayabusa, the passionate and headstrong leader; Jun (The
Swan) Shiratori, the sensitive but strong member; Joe (The Condor)
Takano, the nihilistic and impulsive one; Ryu (The Owl) Washio, the
big-hearted and brave member; and Jinpei (The Swallow) Tsubakuro,
the comedic and dependent one.
All had last names that were types of birds, setting the bird motif
of the series. They all had distinct, different-colored uniforms with
built-in wings, different individual weapons, different powers, and
modes of transportation unique to each, which could transform
into one large vehicle. They were a space police force that operated
from Phoenix Headquarters and a giant submarine/airship also called
Phoenix, to continue the bird theme. Production model sheets and
notes show that the name mutated through production: Secret Seven,
Shadow, and Birdman pop up on original notes, production cannisters,
and model sheets. But it was decided they needed something catchy,
something that would get people’s attention… and Science Ninja
Squad Gatchaman was born! Some of the merchandise would change
it to Science Commando Gatchaman.
This was Tatsuo Yoshida’s baby from the beginning. He was
responsible for all the original character designs and drawings, which
were later turned over to the team of professionals to adapt and
adjust to produce the series. While most animated series at the time
were allotted somewhere in the mid to high 3000 cels per episode,
Gatchaman was given a budget of 4500 to 6000 cels per episode and
as much as 7000 cels if needed to maintain the amount of realism to
the animated flow to satisfy Tatsuo’s vision.
INNOVATION ANIMATION
BotP Creator Tatsuo Yoshida The series strived to be different from anything before it. They included
(top) Kenji Yoshida, Tatsuo Yoshida, Tatsuo’s wife, and special effects not seen in other production companies, from a major
use of airbrush (95% of the helmets, the visors, the smoke, shine on
Ippei Kuri. (bottom) The Japanese version of Superman, the mechanicals, etc. were airbrushed, according to Sadao Miyamoto,
one of the animators), to live-action plates. Experimental lighting and
as illustrated by Tatsuo Yoshida. photography techniques that had been perfected in earlier Tatsunoko
Photo: Lambiek.com. Superman TM & © DC Comics.
works were used to give Gatchaman its own unique identity. And the

Battle of the Planets Cover Gallery
Issues #2–9 of Battle of the Planets, from Gold Key/Whitman
(Western Publishing). Covers by Win Mortimer.
© Sandy Frank Film Syndication Inc.
staff was determined to perfect the look of explosions… not the spikey blasts
you see in most animation, but something much closer to reality. Thanks to
rivalries between the animators, all masters in their field, the realism of the
art evolved as the show progressed, becoming more and more a realization
of Tatsuo’s vision of an ideal animated series.
The staff was encouraged to see as many movies as possible, always
looking for things to emulate and ideas to use to improve the art of the
series. Elements from 2001 and Planet of the Apes were incorporated thanks
to this policy. The staff thought the series would last for a year, when in
fact the demand for new episodes from fans were so strong it lasted three
years until 1974, for a total of 105 episodes. Tatsuo’s company always hoped
to take their various series to the international market and had a booth at
the Marché International des Programmes de Télévision, which took place
around the first quarter of every year in Cannes, France. Starting in 1975 they
offered Gatchaman, but it did not get any takers in 1975, 1976, or 1977.
But in April of 1977 it was seen by a young American television executive
by the name of Sandy Frank. When Star Wars broke in May of that year, the
young executive remembered the show from Tatsunoko Productions that
had impressed him. He decided he had to have it to ride the wave of science-
fiction popularity exploded on the American public.
Sandy Frank had spent 20 years in the business of television production
and distribution, and had run his own company for 13, when he came
across Gatchaman. Over a considerable period of negotiations between
Sandy and Tatsuo, Mr. Frank obtained almost complete international rights
to Gatchaman… everywhere but Italy, which was already under contract.
Tatsunoko would benefit greatly from the partnership, as their strengths
were in production and not distribution or monetizing their products.
Sandy immediately gathered a crew together to work with all the materials
that they received from Tatsunoko. On the advice of his friend, director Irvin
Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back), he contacted writer Alex Lovy of Hanna-
Barbera Productions for assistance. He also brought on Fred Ladd, who was
instrumental in bringing the Japanese children’s programs Astro Boy, Kimba the
White Lion, and Gigantor to America. Ladd advised Sandy on several aspects
of bringing foreign series to the US but had no faith in Lovy’s abilities to work
with foreign material and decided this project was not for him. His advice also
led to the release of Alex Lovy and Frank replaced him with Jameson Brewer
(The Incredible Mr. Limpet, The Addams Family, and Branded). Jameson had worked
at Universal in animation, moved to Disney, and ended up at Hanna-Barbera.
After viewing several episodes, Brewer realized they had a lot of work
to do. The series had far more violence than was allowed on American TV,
the gender-fluid villain would never fly in America, and the language was
too adult as was the occasional nudity. Removing the objectionable aspects
would create shortages in the running times, so they had more work to do
to fill the gaps than originally anticipated. Brewer set to work on revising the
series’ scripts. The violence was removed and explained away (cities were
“evacuated” before they were destroyed); a new robot character, 7-Zark-7,
was added to fill story transitions and time shortages caused by the cuts;
and the gender-fluid villain became a brother/sister team.
7-Zark-7 was roughly designed by Brewer and was turned over to newly
added production person, Alan Dinehart, one of his buddies at H-B.
Alan was friends with famed comic-book and animation artist Alex Toth,
who whipped up a model sheet for the character.
Even though parts of all 105 episodes of Gatchaman were used, only 85
episodes of Battle of the Planets were produced.
Other changes included changing the character’s names. Ken became
“Mark,” Joe became “Jason,” Jun became “Princess,” Jinpei became “Keyop”
and was given a vocal tick, and Ryu became “Tiny.” Gender-fluid villain Berg
Katse became “Zoltar” and his sister became “Mala Latroz.” And the evil
organization bent on world domination changed from Galactor to “Spectra.”
Besides Alan Dinehart, Brewer also brought in more talent from H-B:
composer Hoyt Curtin, and voice actors Janet Waldo and Casey Kasem, with
the additions of Alan Young and Ronnie Schell [see RetroFan #12 for a Ronnie
Schell interview—ed.]. The series, Battle of the Planets, was ready to sell.
But that did not mean it would sell.

Sandy took the completed pilot to Marché International des THE LEAP TO COMIC BOOKS
Programmes that year (March of 1978) where it generated interest, Sandy Frank did not stop there. He had the merchandising rights
but no buyers. Sandy was not deterred. He spent the rest 1978 as well, and as the series began to air he made sure there was
traveling the US pitching it to program buyers around the country. merchandise available… including a TV tie-in comic book through
Sandy started in May, with a personal deadline of August. His first Western Publishing.
month of pitches was met with a dismal reception. Programs buyers A concise look at the issues produced by Western Publishing under
were impressed, but only a handful were willing to commit to the Gold Key and Whitman logos includes these ten issues:
something so different than anything they had seen before. This was Battle of the Planets #1 (June 1979) was issued first as a Gold Key
not the Bugs Bunny or Tom & Jerry cartoons they were used to buying. comic, but was also printed as a Whitman comic for inclusion in a
After a month of pitching and less than a handful of takers, far too few rack-pack bag of the first three issues. The cover art appears to be taken
to replace their investment, Sandy submitted it to audience research from the animation artwork. The interior art is by longtime comic-
firm and had it tested on both coasts. Reaction among kids and their book artist Win Mortimer. The story is by Gary Poole, who scripted
parents were favorable, so Sandy hit the road again. many comics for Western, including the adaptation of King Kong.
Finally, in mid-July of 1978, with his The stories appear to be new stories loosely based on the characters
personal deadline fast approaching, WNEW of and plot threads of the cartoon and include “Operation Decoy,” where
New York, an influential network and one Zoltar kidnaps 7-Zark-7, and “Undersea Threat,” where G-Force battle
of the original TV stations in the country, a giant robot turtle built by Zoltar.
committed to the series. A powerhouse in Battle of the Planets #2 (Aug. 1979) was issued as a Gold Key and
the industry, Metromedia Group, heard was also printed as a Whitman comic for inclusion in a rack-pack. This
about the commitment and jumped on time the cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer. Stories are again
the bandwagon. Their national affiliation by Gary Poole. In “Ice Creature,” Zoltar attacks Earth’s polar security
of major market stations sealed the deal. base with a giant snowman robot, and in “The Flaming Menace,”
Now stations were coming to Sandy a giant torch creature attacks a village in India.
to get on board, and what looked like a Battle of the Planets #3 (Oct. 1979) was issued as a Gold Key and
potential failure became a multi-million- was also printed as a Whitman comic for inclusion in a rack-pack.
dollar success. The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer, with stories by Gary
Poole. In “Solar Blockade,” Zoltar builds a giant lens to block the sun
win mortimer
from Earth, and in “The Lake Monster!,” while on vacation, G-Force
encounters a giant lake monster (another Zoltar robot).
Battle of the Planets #4 (Dec. 1979) was issued as a Gold Key and
was also printed as a Whitman comic. The cover and interior art are
by Win Mortimer and the stories are by Gary Poole. In “The Creeping
Forest,” the island of Malu is in the clutches of Zoltar, his thugs, and
a variety of robots; and in “The Earthquake Menace,” an earthquake
hits California and Zoltar threatens to cause an even bigger quake.
Battle of the Planets #5 (Feb. 1980) was the last issue printed as a
Gold Key and was also printed as a Whitman comic. The cover and
interior art are by Win Mortimer and the stories are by Gary Poole.
“The Hidden Enemy” is Part One of a two-part story. While on holiday,
Zoltar foils Tiny’s chance in the Mr. Galaxy contest, captures Princess,
and buries G-Force in a mine. “The Vulture Menace” is Part Two of a
two-part story. G-Force escapes and battles a giant robot vulture.
Battle of the Planets #6 (Apr. 1980) was published only as a Whitman.
The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer and the stories are by
Gary Poole. In “Ghost Ship Part One,” G-Force investigates mysterious
happenings in the Bermuda Triangle and are captured by Zoltar and
his robot whale, and in “Ghost Ship Part Two,” G-Force escapes and
takes control of Zoltar’s robot whale.
Battle of the Planets #7 (Oct. 1980) was published as a Whitman.
The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer (as Winslow Mortimer)
and the stories are by Gary Poole. “Enemy Within” is Part One of a
two-part story where Zoltar sends an agent to infiltrate the G-Force
headquarters. “Invasion of the Ant Creatures” is Part Two, where
Zoltar’s plans to infiltrate G-force fall apart, so he sends an army of
mechanical ants to invade.
Battle of the Planets #8 (Nov. 1980) was published as a Whitman.
The cover and interior art by Win Mortimer and the stories this time
are by Bob Langhans, a regular writer of Western’s Disney comics.
In “Surprise Surrender,” Zoltar surrenders, or at least a booby-trapped
robot version does, and in “The Tidal Wave,” while investigating a
problem at Tiki Atoll, Zoltar attacks the G-Force.
Battle of the Planets #9 (Dec. 1980) was published as a Whitman.
The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer and this time the story is
by Ms. Charlie (Char) Seeger, who wrote primarily for DC during her short
run as a comic-book writer. “G-Force Divided” features Zoltar attempting
to divide and conquer G-Force with the use of look-alike robots.
Zoltar’s Revenge Battle of the Planets #10 (Feb. 1981) was the last issue and published
Original Mortimer cover art, courtesy of Heritage, to the as a Whitman. The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer (as
Winslow Mortimer) and the story was again by Ms. Charlie Seeger.
unpublished 11th issue of Gold Key’s tie-in. In “Pioneer Planet,” G-Force tries to find a new home for a race whose
© Sandy Frank Film Syndication Inc. planet has been destroyed by Zoltar.

THE CREATIVE TEAM
Artist James Winslow (Win) Mortimer (May 1, 1919–
January 11, 1998) was born in Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada. He learned his craft from his father, a
lithographer, and at the Art Students League in
New York. When Win discharged from the Canadian
Army at the end of WWII, he designed posters for
a living, then became employed at DC Comics in
1945. He rapidly became the go-to artist for covers
for Superman, Superboy, and Batman. Win is credited
along with writer Don Cameron with creating the
Batboat. He would take over the Superman newspaper
strip from Wayne Boring in 1945 and would go on to
create the newspaper adventure strips David Crane
in 1956 and Larry Bannon in 1960. Win would also
return to DC to work on Swing with Scooter and
co-create the series Stanley and His Monster with
Arnold Drake. Many DC comics were graced with his
art over the years.
By the 1970s, Win was freelancing at other
publishers. At Marvel he was the primary artist for all
57 issues of Marvel’s Spidey Super Stories, and the cult
favorite Night Nurse series, as well as providing stories
for many of Marvel’s black-and-white magazine line.
At Western he worked on Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery,
The Twilight Zone, several issues of Doctor Solar, and
every issue of Battle of the Planets. Win was inducted
into the Canadian Joe Shuster Hall of Fame in 2006.
Writer Gary Poole was an editor at Western
Publishing from 1970–1975. He would later be a writer
for several series: Flash Gordon, Grimm’s Ghost Stories,
Twilight Zone, most of the Battle of the Planets series,
and several of Western’s cartoon tie-ins. Gary was
editor-in-chief at Golden Magazine and Golden Press.
Gary became a graduate of the American Academy
of Dramatic Arts in New York, and went on to be a
successful performer, writer, author of over 20 books,
artist, and MC. He still performs to this day.
Writer Bob Langhans worked on many cartoon-
related series for Western and Disney, and provided
scripts for cartoon shows like The Smurfs and Richie
Rich/Scooby Doo Show.
Writer Charlie (Char) Seeger wrote scripts for
several of DC’s mystery comics as well as two issues
of Battle of the Planets. Ms. Seeger would leave
comics and become a successful TV scriptwriter, In 2002, Top Cow would release a miniseries and G-Force in the UK
songwriter, independent film producer, and several one-shots in a short-lived revival that was best
commercial insurance producer. known for its Alex Ross covers. (top) Cover and title
page from TV Comic
A DURABLE CONCEPT The interconnectivity of life is exemplified in the
history of Gatchaman/Battle of the Planets. If not for the Weekly #1543 (July
Battle of the Planets was not done with the cancelling
of the Gold Key/Whitman series. exposure of Tatsuo and his brothers to the comic book 17, 1981), featuring
From 1981–1983, the British weekly magazine TV Superman, Gatchaman might never have come to be.
If not for the success of Star Wars, Gatchaman might
Battle of the Planets.
Comic from Polystyle Publications ran two-page story
sections of all-new, uncredited stories in issues #1530 never have been brought to the US in the guise of Battle Scans courtesy of
through 1671. Story arcs ran for two to five weeks, with of the Planets. And if not for the success of Battle of the Stephan Friedt.
most of them running four weeks. Issues #1530–1655 Planets, the second wave of Japanese animation with
were full color, with the balance published in black such popular series as Starblazers, Robotech, and others (bottom) Signed,
and white. Polystyle would also reprint much of the might never have happened. numbered Alex
American series in a selection of annuals and specials
during the same time. STEPHAN FRIEDT has been around Ross limited edition
A large assortment of merchandise was produced in comics for a long, long time. A print from Dynamic
the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, and former columnist for The Buyer’s
Guide for Comic Fandom, he has Forces, 2001.
the Netherlands, from toy guns, models, and vehicles
contributed to Alter Ego and the
to coloring books, activity books, and sticker books. Grand Comics Database and is the
Courtesy
That was still not the end of Gatchaman/Battle of senior database administrator for of Heritage.
the Planets… www.comicspriceguide.com. And
Nearly a dozen spinoffs, variations, and companion he still finds time to hold real jobs and Battle of the Planets © Sandy Frank
cartoon series exist. A live-action movie was rumored be at the beck and call of a wife and Film Syndication Inc. Tom and
for years and now appears to be in the development two daughters in his secret identity Jerry © Warner Bros. Animation/
Hanna-Barbera Productions.
hands of the Russo Brothers (Avengers: Endgame). as a resident of the Pacific Northwest.

RetroFan:
Pop Culture
You Grew Up
With!
If you love Pop Culture of the Sixties, RETROFAN #15 RETROFAN #16 RETROFAN #17
Seventies, and Eighties, editor MICHAEL Sixties teen idol RICKY NELSON remem-
bered by his son MATTHEW NELSON, The
An exclusive interview with Logan’s Run
star MICHAEL YORK, plus Logan’s Run
Dark Shadows’ Angelique, LARA PARKER,
sinks her fangs into an exclusive interview.
EURY’s latest magazine is just for you! Man from U.N.C.L.E., rural sitcom purge, novelist WILLIAM F. NOLAN and vehicle Plus: Rankin-Bass’ Mad Monster Party,
EVEL KNIEVEL toys, the Fabulous Furry customizer DEAN JEFFRIES. Plus: the Aurora Monster model kits, a chat with
Freak Brothers, Saturday morning’s Super Marvel Super Heroes cartoons of 1966, Aurora painter JAMES BAMA, George of
SUBSCRIBE! 7, The Muppet Show, behind-the-scenes
photos of Sixties movies, an interview with
H. R. Pufnstuf, Leave It to Beaver’s SUE
“Miss Landers” RANDALL, WOLFMAN
the Jungle, The Haunting, Jawsmania, Drak
Pack, TV dads’ jobs, and more fun, fab
$
68 Economy US (with free digital editions) The Sound of Music’s heartthrob-turned-
bad guy DANIEL “Rolf” TRUHITTE, and
JACK, drive-in theaters, My Weekly features! Featuring columns by FARINO,
MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW,
Reader, DAVID MANDEL’s super collection
$
80 Expedited US • $87 Premium US more fun, fab features! of comic book art, and more! and MICHAEL EURY.
$
103 International • $27 Digital Only (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95
(Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping! (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships August 2021 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Oct. 2021
RETROFAN #10 RETROFAN #11 RETROFAN #12 RETROFAN #13 RETROFAN #14
NOW BI-MONTHLY! Celebrating fifty HALLOWEEN ISSUE! Interviews with DARK CHRIS MANN goes behind the scenes of Exclusive interviews with Lost in Space’s Holy backstage pass! See rare, behind-the-
years of SHAFT, interviews with FAMILY SHADOWS’ DAVID SELBY, and the niece TV’s sexy sitcom THREE’S COMPANY— MARK GODDARD and MARTA KRISTEN, scenes photos of many of your favorite
AFFAIR’s KATHY GARVER and The Brady of movie Frankenstein GLENN STRANGE, and NANCY MORGAN RITTER, first wife Dynomutt and Blue Falcon, Hogan’s Sixties TV shows! Plus: an unpublished
Bunch Variety Hour’s GERI “FAKE JAN” JULIE ANN REAMS. Plus: KOLCHAK THE of JOHN RITTER, shares stories about the Heroes’ BOB CRANE, a history of Wham- interview with Green Hornet VAN
REISCHL, ED “BIG DADDY” ROTH, NIGHT STALKER, ROD SERLING retrospec- TV funnyman. Plus: RICK GOLDSCHMIDT’s O’s Frisbee, Twilight Zone and other TV WILLIAMS, Bigfoot on Saturday morning
rare GODZILLA merchandise, Spaghetti tive, CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST, TV’s making of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED sci-fi anthologies, Who Created Archie television, TV’s Zoorama and the San
Westerns, Saturday morning cartoon pre- Adventures of Superman, Superman’s pal REINDEER, RONNIE SCHELL interview, Andrews?, oddities from the San Diego Diego Zoo, The Saint, the lean years of
view specials, fake presidential candidates, JIMMY OLSEN, QUISP and QUAKE cere- Sheena Queen of the TV Jungle, Dr. Seuss Zoo, lava lamps, and more with FARINO, Star Trek fandom, the WrestleFest video
Spider-Man/The Spider parallels, Stuckey’s, als, the DRAK PAK AND THE MONSTER toys, Popeye cartoons, DOCTOR WHO’s MANGELS, MURRAY, SAAVEDRA, SHAW, game, TV tie-in toys no kid would want,
and more fun, fab features! SQUAD, scratch model customs, and more! 1960s U.S. invasion, and more! and MICHAEL EURY! and more fun, fab features!
(Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99 (Digital Edition) $4.99
TwoMorrows.
The Future of
Pop History.
RETROFAN #6 RETROFAN #7 RETROFAN #8 RETROFAN #9 Raleigh, NC 27614 USA
Interviews with MeTV’s crazy creepster With a JACLYN SMITH interview, as we NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with the NOW BI-MONTHLY! Interviews with 919-449-0344
SVENGOOLIE and Eddie Munster himself, reopen the Charlie’s Angels Casebook, and ’60s grooviest family band THE COWSILLS, ’70s’ Captain America REB BROWN, and
BUTCH PATRICK! Call on the original visit the Guinness World Records’ largest and TV’s coolest mom JUNE LOCKHART! Captain Nice (and Knight Rider’s KITT) E-mail:
Saturday Morning GHOST BUSTERS, with Charlie’s Angels collection. Plus: interview Mars Attacks!, MAD Magazine in the ’70s, WILLIAM DANIELS with wife BONNIE [email protected]
BOB BURNS! Uncover the nutty NAUGAS! with LARRY STORCH, The Lone Ranger Flintstones turn 60, Electra Woman & Dyna BARTLETT! Plus: Coloring Books, Fall Order at
Plus: “My Life in the Twilight Zone,” “I in Hollywood, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Girl, Honey West, Max Headroom, Popeye Previews for Saturday morning cartoons, twomorrows.com
Was a Teenage James Bond,” “My Letters a vintage interview with Jonny Quest cre- Picnic, the Smiley Face fad, & more! The Cyclops movie, actors behind your
to Famous People,” the ARCHIE-DOBIE ator DOUG WILDEY, a visit to the Land of With MICHAEL EURY, ERNEST FARINO, favorite TV commercial characters,
GILLIS connection, Pinball Hall of Fame, Oz, the ultra-rare Marvel World superhero ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT BENNY HILL, the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia
Alien action figures, Rubik’s Cube & more! playset, and more! SAAVEDRA, and SCOTT SHAW! Convention, 8-track tapes, and more!
(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $8.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95
All characters TM & © their respective owners.
ED
AND
EXP COND
SE ION!
EDIT
THE WORLD OF JACK KIRBY’S KIRBY & LEE: MAC RABOY

TWOMORROWS DINGBAT LOVE STUF’ SAID Master of the Comics
ROGER HILL documents the life and career of the
25th anniversary retrospective by publisher JOHN The final complete, unpublished Jack Kirby stories Examines the complicated relationship of Marvel
MORROW and COMIC BOOK CREATOR maga- in existence, presented here for the first time, in Universe creators JACK KIRBY and STAN LEE artist of BULLETMAN, SPY SMASHER, GREEN
zine’s JON B. COOKE! Go behind-the-scenes with cooperation with DC Comics! Two unused 1970s through their own words (and Ditko’s, Wood’s, LAMA, and his crowning achievement, CAPTAIN
MICHAEL EURY, ROY THOMAS, GEORGE KHOURY, DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales, plus unseen Romita Sr.’s and others), in chronological order, MARVEL JR., with never-before-seen photos, a
and a host of other TwoMorrows contributors! TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE and SOUL LOVE magazines! wealth of rare and unpublished artwork, and the first
from fanzine, magazine, radio, and TV interviews!
definitive biography of a true Master of the Comics!
(224-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $37.95 (176-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 (176-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $26.95
(Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-092-2 (Digital Edition) $14.99 (160-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95
(Digital Edition) $12.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-094-6 (Digital Edition) $14.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8
(240-page ULTRA-LIMITED HARDCOVER) $75 ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5
HERO-A-GO-GO! IT CREPT JACK KIRBY COMIC BOOK MIKE GRELL THE MLJ
MICHAEL EURY looks at comics’
CAMP AGE, when spies liked their FROM THE TOMB CHECKLIST IMPLOSION LIFE IS DRAWING
WITHOUT AN ERASER
COMPANION
wars cold and their women warm, and Digs up the best of FROM THE CENTENNIAL EDITION Documents “The DC Implosion”,
Career-spanning tribute to a legend!
Complete history of ARCHIE COMICS’
TV’s Batman shook a mean cape! TOMB, the acclaimed horror comics Fully-updated, 256-page defin- one of the most notorious events in “Mighty Crusaders” super-heroes,
history magazine! itive edition listing every release comics, with an exhaustive oral history (160-page FULL-COLOR trade with in-depth examinations of each
(272-page FULL-COLOR up to Jack’s 100th birthday! from the creators involved! paperback) $27.95 era of the characters’ history!
trade paperback) $36.95 (192-page trade paperback) $29.95
(Digital Edition) $10.99 (136-page trade paperback (Digital Edition) $12.99
(Digital Edition) $13.99 (256-page LIMITED EDITION (288-page FULL-COLOR
with COLOR) $21.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-088-5
ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1 ISBN: 978-1-60549-081-6 HARDCOVER) $34.95 trade paperback) $34.95
ISBN: 978-1-60549-083-0 (Digital Edition) $10.99 (176-page LIMITED EDITION (Digital Edition) $14.99
ISBN: 978-1-60549-085-4 HARDCOVER) $37.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-067-0
Big Discounts! Final Copies! ISBN: 978-1-60549-087-8
CARMINE INFANTINO THE INCREDIBLE DON HECK MARIE SEVERIN AL PLASTINO STAR*REACH TITANS COMPANION BEST OF ALTER EGO
PENCILER, PUBLISHER, HERB TRIMPE A WORK OF ART MIRTHFUL MISTRESS LAST SUPERMAN COMPANION VOLUME 2 VOLUME 2
PROVOCATEUR (160-page FULL-COLOR (192-page FULL-COLOR OF COMICS STANDING (192-page paperback (224-page paperback) (160-page paperback)
(224-page paperback) Hardcover) Hardcover) (176-page paperback) (112-page paperback) with COLOR) $26.95 Only $10 $19.95 Only $8
$26.95 Only $12 $34.95 Only $20 $39.95 Only $15 $24.95 Only $10 $17.95 Only $7 $27.95 Only $10
All MODERN MASTERS books: $8 each!
ALTER EGO: BEST OF DRAW SAL BUSCEMA:

CENTENNIAL VOLUME 3 COMICS’ FAST &
(160-page trade (256-page trade FURIOUS ARTIST
Alan Davis • John Byrne • Charles Vess • Michael Golden • Jerry Ordway • Mike Allred
paperback with COLOR) paperback with COLOR) (176-page paperback
with COLOR) $26.95 Lee Weeks • John Romita Jr. • Mike Ploog • Kyle Baker • Chris Sprouse • Mark Buckingham • Guy Davis
$19.95 Only $10 $29.95 Only $12
Only $15 Jeff Smith • Frazer Irving • Ron Garney • Eric Powell • Cliff Chiang • Paolo Rivera
Download our Free Catalog of all our available books and back issues!
https://www.twomorrows.com/media/TwoMorrowsCatalog.pdf
New Comics Magazines!
ALTER EGO #168 ALTER EGO #169 ALTER EGO #170 ALTER EGO #171 ALTER EGO #172
Two RICHARD ARNDT interviews reveal- Spotlight on Groovy GARY FRIEDRICH— JACK KIRBY is showcased cover-to-cover PAUL GUSTAVSON—Golden Age artist ALFREDO ALCALA is celebrated for his
ing the wartime life of Aquaman artist/ co-creator of Marvel’s Ghost Rider! ROY behind a never-before-printed Kirby cover! of The Angel, Fantom of the Fair, Arrow, dreamscape work on Savage Sword of
co-creator PAUL NORRIS (with a Golden/ THOMAS on their six-decade friendship, WILL MURRAY on Kirby’s contributions Human Bomb, Jester, Plastic Man, Alias the Conan and other work for Marvel, DC,
Silver Age art gallery)—plus the story wife JEAN FRIEDRICH and nephew to the creation of Iron Man—FCA on Spider, Quicksilver, Rusty Ryan, Midnight, and Warren, as well as his own barbarian
of WILLIE ITO, who endured the WWII ROBERT HIGGERSON on his later years, his Captain Marvel/Mr. Scarlet Fawcett and others—is remembered by son TERRY creation Voltar, as RICH ARNDT interviews
Japanese-American relocation centers to PETER NORMANTON on GF’s horror/ work—Kirby sections by MICHAEL T. GUSTAFSON, who talks in-depth to his sons Alfred and Christian! Also: FCA
become a Disney & Warner Bros. animator mystery comics, art by PLOOG, TRIMPE, GILBERT & PETER NORMANTON—Kirby RICHARD ARNDT. Lots of lush comic art (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL
and comics artist. Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. ROMITA, THE SEVERINS, AYERS, et in 1960s fanzines—STAN LEE’s colorful from Centaur, Timely, and (especially) T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt,
GILBERT, JOHN BROOME, and more, al.! FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. quotes about “The King”, and ROY Quality! Plus—FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, PETER NORMANTON’s horror history From
behind a NORRIS cover! Monster, and more! MIKE PLOOG cover! THOMAS on being a Kirby fan (and foil)! JOHN BROOME, and more! The Tomb, JOHN BROOME, and more!
(Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping! (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping! (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping! (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships August 2021 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Oct. 2021
All characters TM & © their respective owners.

BACK ISSUE #127 BACK ISSUE #128 BACK ISSUE #129 BACK ISSUE #130 BACK ISSUE #131
SOLDIERS ISSUE! Sgt. Rock revivals, BRONZE AGE TV TIE-INS! TV-to-comic TV TOON TIE-INS! Bronze Age Hanna- BRONZE AGE PROMOS, ADS, AND THE KIRBY LEGACY AT DC! Explores Jack
General Thunderbolt Ross, Beetle Bailey in adaptations of the ’70s to ’90s, including Barbera Comics, Underdog, Mighty Mouse, GIMMICKS! The aborted DC Super-Stars Kirby’s post-Fourth World Bronze Age
comics, DC’s Blitzkrieg, War is Hell’s John Bionic Woman, Dark Shadows, Emergency, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Pink Panther, Battle of Society fan club, Hostess Comic Ads, DC DC characters! Demon, Kamandi, OMAC,
Kowalski, Atlas’ savage soldiers, The ’Nam, H. R. Pufnstuf, Hee Haw, Lost in Space the Planets, and Smokey Bear and Woodsy 16-page Preview Comics, rare Marvel Sandman, and Kirby’s Odd Jobs (Atlas,
Nth the Ultimate Ninja, and CONWAY (with BILL MUMY), Primus (with ROBERT Owl. Bonus: SCOTT SHAW! digs up custom comics, DC Hotline, Popeye Manhunter, and more). Plus: the SIMON
and GARCIA-LOPEZ’s Cinder and Ashe. BROWN), Sledge Hammer, Superboy, Captain Carrot’s roots! Featuring the work Career Comics, early variant covers, & KIRBY Reunion That Wasn’t! Featuring
Featuring CLAREMONT, DAVID, DIXON, V, and others! Featuring BALD, BATES, of BYRNE, COLON, ENGEL, EVANIER, and more. Featuring BARR, HERDLING, BISSETTE, BYRNE, CONWAY, GIBBONS,
GOLDEN, HAMA, KUBERT, LOEB, DON CAMPITI, EVANIER, JOHN FRANCIS FIELDS, MICHAEL GALLAGHER, WIN LEVITZ, MAGUIRE, MORGAN, PACELLA, GOLDEN, GRANT, RUCKA, SEMEIKS,
LOMAX, DOUG MURRAY, TUCCI, and MOORE, SALICRUP, SAVIUK, SPARLING, MORTIMER, NORRIS, SEVERIN, SKEATES, PALMIOTTI, SHAW!, TERRY STEWART, THOMAS, TIMM, WAGNER, and more.
more. BRIAN BOLLAND cover! STATON, WOLFMAN, and more! STATON, TALLARICO, TOTH, and more! THOMAS, WOLFMAN, and more! Demon cover by KIRBY and MIKE ROYER!
(Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping! (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping! (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping! (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Aug. 2021 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Sept. 2021
SUBSCRIPTION RATES ECONOMY US EXPEDITED US PREMIUM US INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL ONLY

Alter Ego (Six issues) $68 $80 $87 $103 $27
Back Issue (Eight issues) $90 $103 $113 $137 $36
2021
BrickJournal (Six issues) $68 $80 $87 $103 $27

Comic Book Creator (Four issues) $46 $56 $60 $69 $18
Jack Kirby Collector (Four issues) $49 $59 $63 $72 $18
RetroFan (Six issues) $68 $80 $87 $103 $27
TwoMorrows.
Phone: 919-449-0344
E-mail: [email protected]
PRINTED IN CHINA
Web: www.twomorrows.com
The Future of Comics History. Don’t miss exclusive sales, limited editions,
and new releases! Sign up for our mailing list:
https://groups.io/g/twomorrows
TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA
Download our Free Catalog of all our available books and back issues!
https://www.twomorrows.com/media/TwoMorrowsCatalog.pdf

Back Issue 129 Online

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Back Issue 129 Online

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Back Issue 129 Online

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

COMICS’ BRONZE AGE AND BEYOND

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ER

PUBLISHER Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins • BACK ISSUE • 1

TV CARTOON TIE-IN COMICS PREVIOUSLY COVERED IN BACK ISSUE

2 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 3

4 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Stretching my abilities, I toed the line regarding

Special thanks to Roy Thomas.

See BACK ISSUE #93 for our previous coverage of Captain

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 5

6 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 7

FROM FROSTBITE FALLS TO FOUR COLOR

8 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 9

THE ROCKY RETURNS OF

Back at Gold Key… Again!

10 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 11

12 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

THERE’S NO NEED TO FEAR, TTV IS HERE

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 13

14 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 15

16 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Then, an amazing thing happened. Although new TV series were

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 17

18 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 19

20 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

featured multiple short stories, some starring the headliner and

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 21

22 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Characters © HBP/Marvel. Courtesy of Ross Pearsall.

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 23

to do Scooby, I said, ‘I am not a real cartoonist!’ They said it was semi-

THE GOLD KEY HANNA-BARBERA LOCKOUT

24 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

simultaneously published, by two different comics houses? How odd,

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 25

26 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

THE “OTHER” HANNA-BARBERA COMIC BOOKS

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 27

Charlton books—although to many collectors these flaws have become part of

THE FLINTSTONES: BIGGER AND BOULDER

28 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 29

30 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 31

Comin’ Alive in ’75

Hong Kong Phooey, a superheroic martial-artist hound voiced

32 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 33

34 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue • BACK ISSUE • 35

A BRIEF RETURN TO MARVEL

36 • BACK ISSUE •Br onze Age TV Toon Tie-ins Issue

TEMPORARY LODGING IN NORRISTOWN