Friday Holiday Fun EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Humpty Dumpty"

 An Easter-themed combination of a pair of classic nursery rhymes...

... courtesy of legendary writer/artist Walt (Pogo) Kelly...who really knew how to freshen up an old concept!

This never-reprinted short from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose (1948) expands on the nursery rhyme with a new adventure of the accident-prone ovum!

Walt Kelly also used Humpty in other Mother Goose comic stories.

Oddly, the cover, also by Walt Kelly, features a radically-different version of Humpty...

Weird, eh?

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Goldilocks and the Baby Bear's Basket"

Here's a classic fairy tale everybody knows...

...adapted, with a couple of twists, for the Easter season by Walt (Pogo) Kelly!

A never-reprinted tale from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #140 (1947) demonstrates how Walt Kelly could take even a tale you didn't think would work in this context and make it seasonally-appropriate!

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Lost Chick"

Some of Walt (Pogo) Kelly's Easter tales were totally-new...

...not just reworkings of classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales!

This never-reprinted short from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #185 (1948) takes characters who had not appeared together before and also explains where the Easter Bunny gets his supply of eggs from.

Monday Celtic Madness: He's NOT Who You Think...Banshee!

Before a certain Marvel villain-turned X-Man...

Original pen & ink art by Dave Cockrum

...acquired the title, there was this guy...who also used the name of a female Irish demon!

(And yes, I know Sean Cassidy's daughter now uses the name, but this is Atomic Kommie Comics, not Heroines!)

Illustrated by Louis Cazeneuve, this premiere/origin of the Banshee plays more off the classic "Criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot..." shtick with a costumed athlete than the later, sonic super-powered mutants from Marvel.
Of course, I'm curious as to why a villain named "The Scorpion" is wearing a Devil mask instead of, say, a hood with an embroidered scorpion image....like this baddie from the Republic Studios serial Adventures of Captain Marvel...

Was he working on a really tight budget?

Debuting in Fox's Fantastic Comics #21 (1941) and continuing until the book was cancelled two issues later, the Banshee migrated to a new book, V... Comics, for it's brief two-issue run, then disappeared into comics limbo.

BTW,
HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Shorts"

Several one-pagers by Walt (Pogo) Kelly...

...from various issues of Dell's Four Color Comics' Easter with Mother Goose annual issues!

Note, none have ever been reprinted!

From Dell's Four Color Comics #103 (1946), #140 (1947), #185 (1948), and #220 (1949)

Enjoy!

Friday Holiday Fun / Easter Reading Room TICK-TOCK TALES "Koko and Kola Meet the Red Easter Bunny!"

Walt (Pogo) Kelly didn't have a monopoly on Easter-themed stories...

...in fact, Magazine Entertainment's Tick Tock Tales #4 (1946) presented both a cover and several stories (including this one) featuring it's ongoing characters teamed-up with the Easter Bunny!

The artwork is by Leon Jason Comic Art Studios who supplied funny-animal art to numerous publishers including Magazine Entertainment, Spotlight Publishing, Novelty Press and EC Comics (before they did horror) during the 1940s and '50s.

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Easter Egg Hunt with Mother Goose"

Here's a never-reprinted example of Walt (Pogo) Kelly's superb art (and puzzle-creating skills)...

...from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #220 (1949)!

Imagine getting one of these 52-page annuals in your Easter basket along with jellybeans, chocolate bunnies and marshmallow Peeps!

Several 7-10 page stories, a number of 1-2 page features, games, and, usually, a wraparound cover!

Would've kept the 5-8 year-old me occupied in those dark days before TV (much less the Internet)!

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Buddy Bunny's Problem"

Here's a kool short story by Walt (Pogo) Kelly...

...about the Easter Bunny bringing his son into the family business!

This story from Dell's Four Color Comics #103: Easter with Mother Goose (1946) was written and illustrated by Walt Kelly, whose signature series Pogo wouldn't debut for another three years.
Trivia:
While Pogo as a stand-alone series began in 1949, various characters, including Pogo himself and Albert the Alligator had appeared as supporting characters in other Walt Kelly-written and illustrated strips since 1941!