Happy Easter! EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Easter Egg Party!"

For All Those Who Couldn't Afford to Have One Themselves...

...a classic tale written and illustrated by Walt (Pogo) Kelly with a gentle moral message!

What's the moral?

You decide!
It's there!

A never-reprinted tale from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #140 (1947)

Happy

Easter

Good Friday Fun / Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE Featurettes #2

Since We're Almost to Easter, here's a few more short pieces from Walt (Pogo) Kelly...

...including an obligatory one based on a classic nursery rhyme adapted for the holiday...

...and a couple of gentle, sweet ones!

Be Here Easter Sunday, When Mother Goose Hosts an Easter Party with Guests Galore!

Easter Reading Room LIFE OF CHRIST: EASTER STORY "Resurrection"

Under this Scott McDaniel cover...

...is one of the most unusual tales Marvel Comics ever told!

(And that's saying a lot!)

Written by Louise Simonson, pencilled by Mary Wilshire and Colleen Doran, and inked by Bill Anderson, this 1993 one-shot, co-published by Thomas Nelson Publishers is a companion volume to The Christmas Story by the same creative team, published earlier that year.

Easter Story tells the tale from Christ's entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to this final chapter, though we're running only the section taking place on Easter itself here.

If you'd like to buy a copy of the HTF comic, you can find it HERE.

Interestingly, Marvel.wika.com postulates Christmas Story and Easter Story link Jesus Christ into the Marvel Comics Universe!

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE Featurettes

Here's several shorts showcasing Walt (Pogo) Kelly's Versatility...

...and they didn't always feature fairy tale or nursery rhyme characters!

But, could we run a post like this without at least one nursery rhyme adapted to the season?

Hell, no!

From Dell's Four Color Comics' #185 (1948) & #229 (1949)

Monday Madness / Easter Reading Room SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Great Three-Flavored Blizzard"

Wait!
"Santa Claus Funnies"?
Isn't it Almost Easter???

Yes it is..for us!

But, it seems the Easter Bunny has lost track of time!

And that's why this is our final Monday Madness entry for the Easter season...

Published in Dell's Four Color Comics/Santa Claus Funnies #175 (1947), Walt Kelly wrote and illustrated this tale of holiday confusion with what I believe is the first Santa Claus-Easter Bunny crossover comic story!

If I'm wrong, let me know, and I'll credit you on this blog when I run the story you cite!

Easter Egg-citement with Walt Kelly!

Easter is Next Sunday...

...but we don't believe in waiting , especially since getting real eggs has proven so difficult!

This centerfold from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #103 (1946) is, perhsps the closest some families will have to an actual hunt this year.

Can you find the bunnies, chicks, and eggs hidden in the art?

Space Hero Saturdays STAR TREK Did You Know the Very First Captain of the USS Enterprise...

...was Jesus Christ?

Jeffrey Hunter as Jesus Christ in King of Kings (1961)

 Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike with Leonard Nimoy as Mr Spock in Star Trek "The Cage" (1964)

Here's"six degrees of separation" trivia in only five degrees:

• John Huston, who later did a prequel movie, The Bible: In the Beginning, directed Moby Dick, using a screenplay adapted by legendary science fiction author Ray Bradbury from the Herman Melville novel.
• Ray Bradbury wrote the scripts for the voiceovers in King of Kings spoken by Orson Welles.
• Welles' The Shadow and Mercury Theatre radio series co-star Agnes Moorehead served as dialogue coach to Jeffrey Hunter (Jesus Christ) in King of Kings.
• Jeffrey Hunter later played Christopher Pike, the first captain of the Starship Enterprise in the pilot episode of Star Trek, "The Cage".
• Star Trek did an episode, "Bread and Circuses", about a planet where parallel evolution produced a society that resembled a 20th Century version of the Roman Empire, complete with it's own "Christians" and a Jesus Christ (who doesn't appear on-camera, but is mentioned in dialogue)!
  
  
  How's that for an "Easter Egg"?

Friday Holiday Fun EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE

Here's a short story featuring a plethora of fairy tale characters...

...as presented by a (then) future superstar of the comic strip or, (if you want to be pretentious) graphic novel form!

The title 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 drawn strips since 1941.
Besides doing an annual comic of Easter stories featuring fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters celebrating the holiday, Walt also did an even-more popular series of annual Christmas comics utilizing the same concept!

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Little Bunny"

Walt (Pogo) Kelly went into full-on "cute" mode with his holiday stories...

...including this never-reprinted one from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #185 (1948)!

Besides doing an annual comic of Easter stories featuring fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters celebrating the holiday, Walt also did an even-more popular series of annual Christmas comics utilizing the same concept!

Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Mother Hubbard's Cupboard"

It's March!

Spring is, well, springing, and Easter is only a couple of weeks away!

So, here's a holiday goodie by Walt (Pogo) Kelly!

This never-reprinted feature from Dell's Four Color Comics #220: Easter with Mother Goose (1949) was typical of Kelly's holiday offerings.

He would either retell a fairy tale or nursery rhyme with added holiday elements, or craft a new tale based on the characters!