Today we have two great stories from Coo Coo Comics No. 41 - September, 1948. Our first story starring the ever-wonderful Supermouse is by an artist I can't immediately identify. I don't believe it is the work of the usual Soupie artists I'm familiar with (Milt Stein, Al Hubbard, Dan Gordon, Gene Fawcett) but I'll take a shot anyway and say this looks like the work of Chad Grothkopf, creator of Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. Needless to say, my capacity for being wrong is profound and any other thoughts are welcome. Whomever it is, it's gifted bigfoot work.
Our second story has the artwork of Bob Wickersham (Bob Wick); who worked as an animator for Disney, Warners, and Fliescher studios during his career. I find Colonel Punchy and odd character - a penguin with southern confederacy roots. Well, it's a unique concept at any rate!
Love this 2nd story. I'll bet Bob Wick is a big George Herriman/Krazy Kat fan. As far as the climatic (pun intended) ending... That Boundary Sign is my Home !
ReplyDeleteDunno who that first story is drawn by, Mykal, but I'm pretty sure it's not Chad. But again, otherwise I haven't a clue as to who may have drawn it. Anyone?
ReplyDeleteLysdexicuss: I see what you mean about the Herriman comparison - I noticed this entry was much more angular than most of his work - which makes it very interesting. Living on the boundary line, eh?
ReplyDeleteStephen: You are more than likely correct. The line seemed much like Grothkopf; and something in the roundness, the eyes and expressions of the characters made me think of Grothkopf's Hoppy work. Something in the character poses, too. Yet the backgrounds seem more detailed here.
Anyway . . . hopefully someone will come up the answer. Thanks for your thoughts. Boy, the more I look at it, the better I like it!!
Thanks for your comments, gentlemen!
Fun stuff as always. I love your blog. On a relevant note, I always wondered you drew the Supermouse at the bottom of your page. I love that pig.
ReplyDeleteMark
Mark: That bottom bit with Supermouse is the work of my favorite Supie artist, Milt Stein. He was amazing. Do yourself a favor and do a search for Stein in my "Search" feature in my sidebar. You will love what you find.
ReplyDeleteThe "Supermouse" 9-pager in 'Coo Coo Comics' #41 has always been listed in Frank Frazetta checklists.. If he indeed worked on it, he showed a very light touch. The Witch was definitely drawn by him.. To my eyes, I see evidence of his working the Trees and BG's in the first couple pages. And especially the inside of the Whale panel. The characters are beautifully inked. But I'd be hard-pressed to identify where else Frazetta may have had a hand in it.. There are a few 'Funny Animal' examples on my Blog, for comparison's sake.. --Rich
ReplyDeleteRich: Thanks for the cool info. Now that you say it, I can see a touch of Frazetta here and there. As you say, all is so beautifully inked. Speaking of Frazetta - next post is a Frazetta (signed) story from the same comic.
ReplyDeleteBTW - You have a great blog. I will be adding it to my sidebar soon. Thanks for joining in!
Rich (and anyone): PS - maybe Frazetta on the Shark?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind comments, Mykal!
ReplyDeleteYup, I'd agree about the Shark.. And on the last page,-- I can definitely see it in the wood door and (specifically) the latticed-style window.. Both appear in all of his other Funny Animal stories!
Overall though, the pencilling still doesn't show much of his Frazetta's sense of Staging or Layout. So I still have no idea who he worked with..
I would hate to seem threatening, but your personal safety might depend upon how quickly you can pack the original Supermouse issue up top in a box and send it my way.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see animators do comic book stories and the work they put into each panel to make the characters move -- or, seem to move. Every part on the character's body is jiggling or jumping or moving in some manner.
ReplyDeleteTwo terrific stories, sir!
Chuck: I've already taken steps. Upon completing my posts for this issue, it goes straight to my private vault deep within Mount Banta, where it will be under 25 hour guard.
ReplyDeleteGary: Thanks! And weren't the pages of comics from this era full of the work of animators! I think that is the main ingredient in what made this era the greatest for kids' comics.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, fellas (or in Chuck's case, bodily threats)!!
Hi Mykal.
ReplyDeleteThe Supermouse artist is neither Frazetta nor Grothkopf. I do have that issue and have been wondering myself... Something about the art reminds me of Don Gunn, but lettering is not his. It also looks like Al Fago a bit, but Fago's standard work was worse than this
So... Don Gunn (pencils?) is my best guess.
Keep up the excellent work.
Alberto
Alberto: Thanks for your thoughts. Something in the way Supermouse's eyes and ears are drawn really reminded me of Grothkopf - and something in the roundness of things. Yet, it seems no on Chad.
ReplyDeleteI thought of Fago as well but, as you say, the brushwork and general panel composition seem a bit too refined (I love Fago's Atomic Mouse, but his panels were never this busy or active).
I can see a little Gunn here (per his Little People work) but nothing like his work on Francis the Talking Mule. For me, this work has a certain 1930s feel to it that isn't Gunn - a sort of "old fashioned" look in some of the characters. Yet, Gunn it may very well be!
Hi! I'd like to clear up any confusion that may have been caused by the previous comments. I began collecting Frazetta's funny animal work in the early 1960s. I had developed a relationship with him that lasted more than two decades. It began to be my practice to discuss much of his funny animal work with him. One of the stories that I talked to him about was this particular "Supermouse" story. I sent the comic to him and asked him if he had had any hand in drawing it. I then called him after I thought he had had time to receive the comic. Frazetta told me that he had penciled and inked the story by himself with no assist from anyone else. This is the reason that this story has appeared on Frazetta checklists. Regardless of what some checklists state, this was the only Supermouse story that Frazetta drew.
ReplyDeleteRobert: Thanks for the clarification and the info. That sounds like it came right from the horse's mouth!
ReplyDeleteLove this Supermouse Comic! The little puppy, kitty, and bear(Wendy, Fluffy, and Brownie) are just adorable! I'm glad Supermouse was able to save Wendy's friends, and I thought it was humorous how he tricked the witch.
ReplyDeleteNo offense to earlier posters, but this Supermouse story seems to me the work of Carl Wessler, who drew quite a few. Compare with other work of his, and you may see what I mean.
ReplyDeleteAddendum: Drawings of the witch and some drawings of the whale do look like Frazetta's. I think this is a team work. Again, please compare the cute characters with Wessler's other work. It's simpler and more naive than Frazetta's.
ReplyDeleteP.S.: Wessler did similar teamwork with Jim Tyer on a Daffy Dragon story in HI-HO #3, in which Wessler drew only the Bodkins Bunny character, and Tyer did the rest.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the thoughts, Milton!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for your wonderful blog!
ReplyDelete