Let's love two more stories from Coo Coo Comics No. 54, December 1950. Our first Butch and Buttercup story, "Plane Crazy," is unsigned, but I believe it's the work of Ken Hultgren. Of course, alternative opinions are welcome. As for the second story, I have no doubt: "Way Out West," featuring Cuffy the Cat, is the work of Ellis Holly Chambers (who often signed his work "EC"). In a genre and era of forgotten comic art masters, Chambers (of whom little is known) is one of the more severely and sadly forgotten.Oh, and don't forget to soak up that ad at the end of the post from the same issue, which warns young men and women aganst being too skinny. Times, tastes, and fashions sure change, don't they?
I've never heard of this comic. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteIt took me about 30 years to figure out that the artist on Plane Crazy is Don Gormley. I learned this by finding a signed page of Butch and Buttercup!
ReplyDeleteHi! Happy new year.
ReplyDeleteWell, okay. the artist is Gormley, but... DAN Gormley. Isn't he?
Ciao!
Luca
I would've guessed KH on an off day, but I will accept the other commenters' assertions.
ReplyDeleteThe second story's art has some really wonky panel compositions, but people in glass houses...
Nice, solid stories and art. Coo Coo Comics had a nice long run, if I remember correctly. I wonder if there will ever be collections of things like this?
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments, folks! sorry for the slipshod response, but I'll been gloriously out of touch only able to get to a computer intermittently for a bit (vacation)! I'll go along with Gormely, although I wouldn't have guessed that (obviously) and many artists did Butch and Buttercup. Thanks SangorShop, for the info!
ReplyDeleteLuca, right the first name is Dan. In my files, I had his work listed as "LKDG" for those 30 years. And the difference in his work at Dell, made me not make the connection (although Alberto B had). Jack Bradbury drew a couple of years of Butch and Buttercup - didn't Frazetta draw one?
ReplyDeleteSangerShop: Thanks for the information. Gormely is one of my favorites, and I've posted a ton from him. I love his work on the Walter Lantz characters, particularly Andy Panda.
ReplyDeleteMykal:
ReplyDeleteSorry to contradict other people's assumptions, but the Butch & Buttercup story is the work of Don Gunn. Gunn was one of the last artist to contribute original stories to the Sangor Shop, alongside his brother-in-law, Lynn Karp.
Best,
Alberto
Well Alberto is the expert. I do need to ask him about that story with Gormley's name on it though... Also, Alberto, I note that in the Bradbury letters online, he's told the previous Butch and Buttercup artist didn't work out. Which one of them was that?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alberto!
ReplyDeleteButch and Buttercup remind me of Flack and Tubbs from "Pound Puppies".(And the latter of whom, BTW, reminds me nothing of his namesake from "The Powerpuff Girls". LOL!)
ReplyDelete