Space Hero Saturdays SPACE MOUSE "Beauty Contest!"

In the 1950s, both funny animals and sci-fi were popular comics genres...

...so, it was inevitable that someone would combine the two!

Though it is the cover-featured story in Avon's Space Mouse #1 (1954), "Beauty Contest", written and illutrated by Frank Cairn, is not the origin of the Rocketing Rodent.

That tale, "Atomic Attack", comes later in the book...and we've already presented it in Space Hero Saturdays, HERE.

Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Fleischer Story

A history of the Cartoon Studio in the Golden Age of Film Animation

(covering the studio where writer/artist Frank Carin got his start)

Space Hero Saturdays SPACE MOUSE "Atomic Attack!"

Before the Space Mouse We've Already Re-Presented HERE and HERE...

...there was an earlier one whose adventures ran for several years!

And this is as close as you'll get to an origin for him featuring the introduction of equipment and plot elements that'll pop up over time in the series!

Oddly, this Frank Cairn-written and illustrated story was neither the lead nor the cover-featured tale in Avon's Space Mouse #1 (1953)!

Go figure!

Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Golden Treasury of

Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics

Space Hero Saturdays SPACE MOUSE II "Secret Weapon"

Space Heroes take many forms...not all of them human!

 ...as shown in this never-reprinted introductory tale from Dell's Four Color Comics: Space Mouse #1132 (1960).

Writer Carl Fallberg and artist John Carey did such an amazing job on this intro to the character, that when it was adapted in 1963 into a cartoon short (May be NSFW/NSFS due to racial stereotyping of Siamese cats using "Asian" accents) directed by Alex Lovy shown HERE, most (but not all) of the plot, script, and visuals were kept intact!
Though the cartoon didn't result in a Space Mouse TV series (or even additional cartoon shorts featuring the character), it did spawn a number of additional comic book stories as well as a five-issue Space Mouse comic!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Woody Woodpecker and Friends
Volume 2
(Which has the Space Mouse "Secret Weapon" cartoon!)
Paid Link

Friday Fun with SPACE MOUSE II!

He's not this rodent...

...whose strip ran through several Avon Comics funny animal titles in the early 1950s!

In 1959, a year after Avon ceased publishing comics, Dell Comics introduced a new Space Mouse...

...who was published as a Walter (Woody Woodpecker) Lantz project, though Lantz had no input into the character's creation or direction!

Note: In many cases, I'm skeptical of the accuracy of Wikipedia articles, the one about this character (click HERE) rings true, so, unless anyone can disprove it, I'm sticking with it!
Movie-tv animator/comic book artist John Carey designed the character and illustrated almost all his appearances including covers, stories, and one-page features and text pieces!
Along with the cover shown above, here's a few examples of Carey's work from Space Mouse's premiere in Dell's Four Color Comics: Space Mouse #1132 (1960)...

The b/w pages are from the inside covers of the comic, which were printed without color (or just black and one other color) to save money...a standard practice in comics until the 1970s.

Ironically, the last page would've benefitted from using color to play up the bulls-eye/target joke!

Tomorrow in
Space Hero Saturdays...
The Introductory Comic Story!
Plus
A Link to the Animated Version
(which is not available on YouTube!)
Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics
Visit Amazon and Buy...

Woody Woodpecker and Friends
Volume 2
(Which has the Space Mouse "Secret Weapon" cartoon!)
Paid Link

Friday Fun FUNNY TUNES "Space Mouse in 'Mister Fix-It' " and "Peter Rabbit in 'Parking Space!' "

Let's get back to non-disease-oriented humor...

...with a decidedly Earth-bound Space Mouse one-pager...

...and an oddly space-bound Peter Rabbit short!

I'd say somebody gave the artist for these pieces from Avon's Funny Tunes #1 (1953) the wrong scripts...except the writer and artist are the same person...Frank Carin!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Golden Treasury of

Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics

Friday Fun SPACE MOUSE "Land of the Giants!"

While the similarly-named 1960s-70s tv series had some "juvenile" (to put it politely) stories...

...they didn't even come close to being this silly!

So, the heroic Space Mouse just wanted to go somewhere and "make out" with his girlfriend?

Creator/writer/artist Frank Carin might want to reconsider the example this tale from Avon's Peter Rabbit #30 (1955-56) set for impressionable young children of the 1950s!

Please Support Atomic Kommie Comics!

Visit Amazon and Order...

Golden Treasury of

Klassic Krazy Kool Kids Komics