Category Archives: comics

I haven’t had much time or interest for blogging lately. So to keep things fresh, here’s one of the great John Stanley written Woody Woodpecker stories, from 1946’s New Funnies #118.

Judging by his scoffing of the idea of ghost animals, I’m guessing Woody went to Catholic school, where they teach you all sorts of things that deny natural science, but immediately shun the idea that you’ll see Rover or Mittens in heaven one day. Only this sort of harsh upbringing would cause Mister Woodpecker to develop the narcissistic tendencies he’s well known for.

And how about that ending? No ending you say? Exactly. An anti-ending. A device many authors try to use, but only Stanley can make it work every time.

Here’s a terrible story from Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #50 (Nov. 1944), written by Chase Craig, and drawn by Carl Buettner. I guess Craig “invented” some personalities for José and Panchito without having seen either of them in actual action, or else mistook their rowdiness from the film for stupidity. Whatever. Still a lame story. I just like it for the slick art and inking. Watch for an unauthorized appearance by Daffy as the soda jerk.

I don’t like the artwork of Paul Murry (an artist associated with primarily the Mickey Mouse comic books). For me, it’s one of the nadirs of Disney comic books in general (along with Tony Strobl). His work just screams the inability to capture appeal, structure, or even a facial expression. The second I’d see his mushy style in one of the old Dells or Gladstones, I would always skip past it. That’s why it pains me to find out that the guy who usually drew things like this:

Was actually capable of things like this:

Sad, ain’t it?

.. or one of Jack Bradbury’s lovely Flippity & Flop stories, taken from Real Screen Comics #24 (1949). They were usually a little funnier than this, but you’ve gotta love the art, which is a pure cartoonist’s dream. It’s obvious one of the Warner guys, most likely Mike Maltese (who freelanced for ACG regularly during the 1940s) wrote this (see page four, panel three for all the evidence you need).