George of the Jungle #1

Some heavy reading for a cold December Saturday! George of the Jungle remains one of my favorite cartoons ever...I loved the humor in all the cartoons that came out of Jay Ward Productions. It's too bad you can't make those kind of cartoons these days; they'd have to remove the slapstick violence, guns, super sauce, bombs, knives, ex-Nazi Fearless Leaders, dogs owning boys, subversiveness, and double entendres that make your Dad snicker while flying right over your head. Worst of all, they'd probably have to cover up Ursula!

As in the second issue, the stories are adapted from the television series...specifically, "The Malady Lingers On", "Monster Rally", and "One of Our States is Missing" from episode 1, and "The Sultan's Pearl" from episode 17.

The artwork is probably by Paul Fung, Jr, who penciled and inked the second (and final) issue. You can read George of the Jungle #2 by clicking here.

 

 

Below is Paul Fung, Jr's NCS bio from 1980; He drew all the Blondie comic book stories (starting in 1960) for over 40 years!

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4 comments:


Mykal said...

Doug: What a great comic! They did a great job of retaining that great Ward sense of humor, and the art was perfect! Paul Fung, Jr. eh? Excuse me. I have to go look someone up.

December 11, 2010 10:46 PM


Doug Gray said...

Mykal: Yeah, this is one of the better translations of a cartoon into comics; it only really loses those great quick-cut visual gags that happen during the narration in the cartoon.

I have an old National Cartoonist Society annual that has Paul Fung's bio in it, but I couldn't find it this week...that's what I get for straightening up my work area! But I'll scan it and add it to this post as soon as it turns up!

December 12, 2010 12:32 AM


Gabriel said...

At last a cartoon character a Catalan dude like me can understand easily.

Love Dr. Kilimando! It's a character with multiple personality stratums. I can imagine a world where this series lasts several years cover with gold and Dr. Kalimando gets a spin-off. Paul Fung's art looks a little bit stiff to me, but that's exactly why I think his style makes looking George of The Jungle so funny.

I've been following the comments thread of the last post between you and Mykal (I know, I'm a terrible gossip!) and as for me you can take as long as you want-you need to post, since every time you do, it's a gem in the blogosphere.

PS: I am also completely unknown about Fung's art. We'll wait to that bio!

December 12, 2010 3:01 AM


Doug Gray said...

Thanks, Gabriel!

I agree, the stiffness lends the comic a deadpan quality that works well with the style of humor...especially the bad puns. (Although, I love how in the cartoon some of the characters, especially Ape, are noticeably embarrassed when they have to deliver a corny punchline...they didn't translate that element over to the books)

I'll try to get that bio posted this week!

December 12, 2010 2:58 PM