Barney Bear by Carl Barks

When I was a boy there were many cartoon characters that frustrated me terribly. Characters like Hong Kong Phooey, Jabberjaw, the Great Grape Ape...I liked those characters. They were, in my opinion, successfully realized: the design and voice casting were top-notch. But the shows themselves were so badly written they infuriated me! Alas, Barney Bear was another character that caused me such distress in my cartoon-consuming youth. He would show up in the middle of the Tom & Jerry show, win me over with his great design and appealing persona, then proceed to bore me to tears. Why, Barney, why???

A lot of mind-numbing mediocrity can be forgiven when you happen to have the Duck Man drawing your comics, however.

I mentioned in an earlier post how Barney and Benny act like an old radio comedy team. In this story that comedy team is Abbott and Costello. Benny acts as Bud Abbott, the straight man/instigator to Barney's Lou Costello, the patsy and victim of all the cartoon violence. Although the ending, with Barney coming out on top, doesn't come from the Abbott & Costello dynamic, but rather from Barks' trademark sense of ironic comeuppance.

Here is Barney Bear and Benny Burro from Our Gang Comics #24 (July 1946):

2 comments:


Mykal said...

Doug: Great post. Thanks for sharing this non-duck Barks! You make such a good point about this story having the Barksian ( a pompous word, I know) sense of irony. Also, the panels of them driving into the park on the second page had so much of the Barks sense of accuracy and reality. I bet there was an actual sign like that in Bark's day, welcoming visitors to Yellowstone.

Bark's lettering was so unique. That "crash" on page 5. If I remember right, his wife did his lettering.

I really enjoyed this. -- Mykal

November 8, 2009 3:04 AM


Doug said...

Thanks, Mykal. I would bet you're right about the accuracy of those drawings. I believe Barks had quite a file of reference photos, made up of mostly issues of National Geographic. There certainly would have been photos of Yellowstone in there!

November 8, 2009 3:20 AM

Sugar and Spike by Sheldon Mayer

Here's a bit more Sheldon Mayer!

For those of you unfamiliar with Sugar and Spike, the two children communicate with each other through baby-talk...so no adults can understand what they say to each other. But the kids can't understand anything the adults say either! A neat concept for a very funny series.

"Boppo's Narrow Escape", "Better Late Than Never", and "Spike Solves Another Mystery" are all from Sugar and Spike #54 (Aug-Sept 1964):

    3 comments:


Mykal said...

Doug: Great post. Mayer's understanding of children was so uncanny and touching. With regard to his art, you have already said all that needed saying in your last post. Such dear stuff. More please. -- Mykal

November 7, 2009 7:29 AM


Gabriel said...

I love Boppo. What a great character design it is! The second panel of the page 5 (first story) is really brilliant. It catches the reader unawares. I mean-- it takes a little to understand what's happen, and when you get it, you have already arrived in fourth panel. Tempo in Mayer's stories always work perfectly, doesn't it? You gave me a good time!
Thanks!

November 7, 2009 8:33 AM


Doug said...

Gabriel: Tempo, yes! Great point, these stories don't waste any time, do they? You get the setup, and then right into the gags. And a funny "punchline" at the end. Expert stuff.

Mykal: I have a bit more S&S comics I can post...I have some other stuff lined up first (Barks, Kelly, Briefer, Dan G) but then I will add some more Mayer!

November 7, 2009 11:41 AM

Scribbly by Sheldon Mayer

My brother and I were talking recently about all the great reprint projects that have been happening, and how many old cartoonists are being discovered by new fans. Even old-timers like us have new favorites! Five years ago I had no idea who FletcherHankswas. I didn't know Dan Gordon's name, but had enjoyed some of his unsigned work in books I had bought. And there were many artists like Boody Rogerswhom I had heard of but never saw much of their work. I just learned about Jimmy Thompson's Robotman comics about a month ago!

With all the great comic book reprints scheduled (Milt Gross, Dick Briefer, Basil Wolverton, Jack Cole, EC artists, Archie artists, etc), I think it's only a matter of time before we get some sort of archival set of Sheldon Mayer's various works for DC Comics. Scribbly and Sugar and Spikeare no-brainers, but thanks to Gabriel's recent posts at Joyville, I think Mayer's funny animal comics need to be collected as well. I think full-color trade paperbacks (similar to the Superman Chroniclesand Batman Chronicles) of Mayer's various titles would be ideal, especially given the volume of the work being discussed here.

In Mayer's NCS bio, he writes that he "resigned editorial directorship [from National/DC Comics] in 1948 to do a "novel" in comic book form..."Scribbly", the kid who wants to be a cartoonist. Had fun with it until 1950." On the surface, some of these stories look like just another entry in the "teen comedy" genre. But Mayer energizes these stories with his dynamic drawing; the body language, facial expressions, and physical comedy give the stories an animated look that would continue to serve him well in Sugar and Spike. These characters are rarely at ease...and when they move, they move fast!

Here are two stories from Scribbly #3 (Dec-Jan 1948):

 

2 comments:


Gabriel said...

Hey, Doug! Thanks for linking!

I'm afraid you're not the only one who's discovering such artists. There's a good handful of them I had never heard about (or I had hardly seen some stories here and there). Hanks was for me a total disclosure! And Jimmy Thompson... I didn't even know him. I think we owes a lot to this digital era, which has driven to the publishing houses edit this terrific material. Anyway, I hope to see Mayer's works on stands someday in a not distant future. As you well say, it's only a matter of time. He's a top-quality cartoonist beyond all doubt.

By the way, I always found certain similarities in Mayer's art for Scribbly and Al Capp's Lil' Abner. Character designs and facial expressions mostly, and they're inked in a more stylized way than he does in his funny animals and Sugar & Spike.

Great post!

November 6, 2009 9:19 AM


Doug said...

You're right about the digital era, Gabriel. I've learned of so many new cartoonists thanks to bloggers sharing their old books...and also finally seen old comics (like Milt Gross Funnies, as an example) that I had never been able to find when I was collecting.

That's a good point you bring up about Mayer and Al Capp. Although I think that was conventional for a lot of comics (mostly humor) at the time to have cartoonish guys and pretty girls---Wash Tubbs, Archie, Alley Oop, Babe, Powerhouse Pepper, Moon Mullins, Blondie, Fritzi Ritz, etc. Works for me!

November 6, 2009 10:46 AM