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's the cover-featured story in Avon's Space Mouse #1 (1954), "Beauty Contest" is not the origin of the Rocketing Rodent.
That tale, "Atomic Attack", comes later in the book.
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(covering the studio where Frank Carin got his start)