Friday Fun PETER RABBIT "Trouble on the Moon!"

As Artemis prepares to launch, we wanted to present a Moon-themed Space Mouse story...

but all we could find was this strip also by Space Mouse's writer/artist/animator Frank Carin!

This never-reprinted tale from Avon's Peter Rabbit #30 (1955-6) isn't based on the classic Peter Rabbit character created by Beatrix Potter.
Avon Comics had been running a comic since 1947 reprinting the similar Peter Cottontail newspaper strip by Harrison Cady (based on books by Thornton Burgess) under the name Peter Rabbit Comics.

Perhaps due to not wanting to pay to license the Harrison Cady strip, the series was rebooted with a totally-new, very Americanized, contemporary version of the character, as of #7 (1950), which continued until #34 (1956).

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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.

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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)

Friday Holiday Fun CHRISTMAS CARNIVAL "Twas the Night Before Christmas and All Through the House..."

It's a pretty long title for a one-pager...

...but the pay-off makes it worthwhile!

The writer and artist for this piece from the one-shot anthology Christmas Carnival (published by Ziff-Davis in 1952 and reprinted by St John in 1955) are, sadly, unknown.

But we didn't want this piece, unseen for 70 years, to be forgotten...so here it is for your enjoyment!
In fact, since this 100-page comic hasn't been reprinted in almost 3/4 of a century, we're going to run more material from it for the rest of December, with the finale on the day after Christmas being a story by Dave (MAD magazine) Berg!

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Friday Fun HARRY HOTDOG "Peevy Over TV"

He's not a dachshund, but a generic canine with no self-control...

...who just can't understand what's going on with the then-"newfangled" tech known as "television"!

For those under 70, when TV was introduced to the American public in the early 1950s, it featured news, old movies, and low-budget original programming which this never-reprinted story from Magazine Enterprises' Hot Dog #1 (1954) aka A-1 #107 satirizes!

If you're wondering why the comic has two titles and numberings, let me explain...

Like Dell's Four Color Comics, A-1 was an anthology title which served as a tryout platform for various concepts, so it had both the strip's numbering and the title's numbering.

That way, if the strip didn't sell well, the publisher wouldn't have to pay for another second-class mailing permit (which was required for each title published) for a new series!

Numerous ME series were published this way, including Cave Girl, I Am a Cop, Trail Colt, Manhunt, Ghost Rider, and Thun'da!

This issue was the first of four Harry Hotdog-starring issues!

Writer/Artist George Crenshaw began as an animator for Walt Disney, then MGM before going to comic strips and books.

Besides being a longtime "ghost" on Dennis the Menace, he created his own long-running strip, Belevdere, about (surprise) a dog...but not an anthropomorphic one like Harry!

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Friday Fun MARVIN MOUSE "Not-So-'Honest John' "

The creator of Prince Namor: the Sub-Mariner, Bill Everett, was an amazing writer/artist...

 ...who could do almost anything he was asked to do.

Unfortunately, funny animals, weren't exactly his "cup of tea"!

This never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Marvin the Mouse #1 (1957) was scripted by Stan Lee and illustrated by the aforementioned Bill Everett.

I believe Everett was instructed to make the characters as different as possible from other cartoon mice such as Mickey and Mighty, which resulted in rodents who looked more like rats than mice!

Bill had shown a knack for humor as shown HERE and HERE, but this was a major disappointment!

A caption at the end of the book read "And remember, every issue Marvin Mouse magazine brings you the best in laughs, adventure, and fun ... don't miss a single issue!"

No problem!

The book ended up a one-shot and the already-completed stories intended for #2 became filler in the backs of other humor titles.

(Editor Stan Lee was very frugal and didn't let anything go to waste!)

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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!

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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.