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?

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!

Monday Madness / Easter Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Easter Bunny and the Dwarf"

To be clear, "dwarf" is not politically incorrect...

...so just sit back and enjoy the never-reprinted tale from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #140 (1947) without any guilt!

This story, written and illustrated by Walt (Pogo) Kelly features a number of nursery rhyme characters including Jack and Jill (who went up a hill), Little Jack Horner, and Mother Goose herself.

But, it is not, as was often the case with Kelly's holiday pieces, an adaptation of existing nursery rhymes, but a totally-new tale!
It's also a prequel to the book's main tale featuring an Easter party...which you'll see on Easter Sunday!

Holiday Reading Room EASTER WITH MOTHER GOOSE "Candy Egg"

Here's a (literally) sweet, never-reprinted Walt (Pogo) Kelly short...

...from Dell's Four Color Comics: Easter with Mother Goose #220 (1948)!

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 1-3 page features, games, and, usually, a wraparound cover!

Would've kept a 5-8 year-old me occupied in those dark days before TV (much less the Internet)!
Good thing I was born after that era...

Friday Holiday Fun OSWALD THE RABBIT "Prehistoric Egg" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

...actually, we haven't see this yet...but we're about to, as Doc Weskit is called upon by a couple of Amazons to help stop a civil war!

All together now...

IT WAS JUST A DREAM!

Written by John Stanley, illustrated by Dan Gormley, it didn't make a whole lot of sense!

But, you can't deny it was fun!

Easter Reading Room OSWALD THE RABBIT "Prehistoric Egg" Part 3

When Last We Left Oswald, Toby, and Doc Weskit...

...they had just been brought before the Queen of the Lost City of Oakie Doakie!

How can Doc help against robots and tanks?

I offer one word...

Dinosaur

...as we shall see Friday!

And you thought this tale couldn't get any weirder!