Spend The Holiday Season With The Roman Holidays!

Posted on December 24, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. For this update I have decided to cover another comic series that is based off of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon series and have chosen a mostly forgotten one called The Roman Holidays! Wait what, you have never heard of The Roman Holidays? Well don’t feel bad as it was a very short-lived cartoon that disappeared as fast as it appeared on Saturday Mornings and barely made its mark when it comes to Hanna-Barbera cartoons. When planning these updates for 2025, I knew that I wanted to cover more comics based on the toons of Hanna-Barbera as they were such a big part of the entertainment for kids of the 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s, and I have been slacking a little here showcasing them so if you have not read my past updates about Yogi Bear, Grape Ape, Inch High Private Eye, FooFur and Go-Bots make sure to do so. But if you are ready, let’s head to Ancient Rome and spend some time with The Holiday Family. Oh and Merry Christmas Eve to you all!!

The Roman Holidays was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon that was made to air on NBC for Saturday Mornings and would follow the Holiday Family who was living in Ancient Rome and dealing with all the crazy things going on around them. The cartoon would run from September 9 – December 2, 1972, with the series running for one season and a total of 13 episodes. The toon would have many classic voice actors working on it with names like Dave Willock, Daws Butler, Judy Strangis, Harold Peary and Shirley Mitchell making up most of the main cast. The show would end up being rerun in the 1980’s as part of the USA Cartoon Express that of course ran on the USA Network. And after that it would be shown on Cartoon Network through the 90’s and Boomerang in the 2000’s with it finally getting a home media release in 2013. The cartoon is mostly forgotten and is mostly remembered by those big fans of the cartoons created and released by Hanna-Barbera. I for one barely remember it thanks to its time on the Cartoon Express! I should note that The Holiday Family did appear as manatees on the HBO Max series Jellystone in 2022, allowing them to be discovered by a new generation of cartoon watchers.

Lets now talk about the Holiday Family as this Marble Age Family was the main focus of the cartoon series. Gus Holiday is the father who is a good natured and a very stressed man who works for the Forum Construction Company and is always on the bad side of his boss. Laurie Holiday is the mother and they have two children teenage son is Happius Holiday and Precocia Holiday is their young daughter. They also have a pet lion named Brutus who is a troublemaker. The Family lives in the Venus DeMilo Arms Apartments in A.D. 63 and their neighbors are Herman along with his wife Henrietta and teenage daughter Groovia who is dating Happius. The landlord is Mr. Evictus who has a daughter named Snobbia, and they are rude and hate Brutus who they do not want living in the building. And Mr. Tycoonius is the boss at Forum Construction Company and is the stress in Gus’s life. This is a crash course of the cast of The Roman Holidays, and really you should track down the DVD Complete Series that was released by Warner Archive to get the full dose of who these characters are.

The Roman Holidays was clearly Hanna-Barbera trying to capture the magic that they had with The Flintstones and The Jetsons that were set in the Stone Age and The Future respectively, but unlike those two very iconic cartoons, The Roman Holidays just never caught on with the viewers. But while the cartoon was very short lived that did not stop Gold Key Comics from giving it the comic book treatment. I would like to thank Lone Star Comics and an Amazon Seller for having these issues in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that, let’s head to Ancient Rome and spend some time with the Holidays Family.

The Roman Holidays # 1 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .15 Gold Key # 1 of 4

“Double Date” The Holiday Family are home with Gus trying to watch the football game, but things get crazy for them when Brutus, the pet lion, runs across and even smashes Mr. Evictus into wet cement as the family’s landlord was putting in a sidewalk at the apartments, and he is not happy and storms to the Holiday’s apartment and after the family lie to try and cover for Brutus, with the lion being caught with cement on his paws Mr. Evictus decides that they are being evicted! That is unless the Holiday’s can find a date for his daughter Snobbia to the prom and she must have a great time, and Gus takes that deal and sets out to find his landlords daughter a date with the help of his son Happius and his girlfriend Groovia. As Gus talks to the teens of the town he finds out that none of them are willing to date Snobbia, so he even gets desperate and calls his nephew Clodius who turns out to be a goofy hillbilly and they worry he is not right for this prom date. So the new plan is for Gus to dress and act as a teenager complete with wearing a metal girdle, wig and sunglasses and calls himself Smoothius. After picking up Snobbia they all arrive at the prom and Smoothius is proving to be a lame date, and it gets worse when he tries to dance and his metal girdle flies off and smashes the bands amplifier causing their to be no music! The Prom is a bust as is the date and it looks like The Holidays will be homeless, that is until Clodius fixes the amp and Snobbia falls for him and the two are now each others dates and their home is now safe, and Brutus shows up to the Prom and even wears the metal girdle and dances around.

This is a pretty fun first issue as it is just an adaptation of the first episode with a few additions to help flush out the story. The plot of this kids comic has The Holiday Family in trouble with their landlord over the actions of their pet lion and must find a way stay in their home and that is by finding a date for his daughter, and for father Gus that means trying to become a teenager again! The humor for this issue is truly that classic Hanna-Barbara style with goofy situations and characters that are all around silly like Gus Holiday is a goof, but also a very good man. Speaking of Gus Holiday, he is a husband and a father who really cares about his family. He has a pet lion who, while a troublemaker, Gus still cares about and will eve lie for to cover up his antics. Gus also likes sports and will even be willing to make a fool of himself in order to try and protect his family from living in the park. Mr. Evictus is a heartless man, who has no issues of throwing people out of their homes in the apartments he owns and seems to almost take pride in his meanness towards people, plus I have the feeling that he really does hate animals! The hero of this issue is the silly hillbilly Clodius who while is a big goofball is the one who saves the day as he not only gets the music back playing at the prom but also has Snobbia fall for him and his good nature attitude. On a side note I want to point out that Happius Holiday is willing to have himself and his family go homeless because he does not want to not play in the band at the Prom and break his date with Groovia…what a sport willing to put himself out to help others…well doing the opposite of that. The main comedy and drama of this issue comes from The Holiday’s threat of being kicked out of their home and having to make their landlord’s daughters prom a good one. The cover for this issue is very cool and eye catching and the interior art by Unknown Artist is really great and captures the look of the cartoon! And if I had to pick a favorite character from this issue I would say that it would be Gus Holiday as he is just a likable dad who is even willing to act like a teenager and make a fool of himself in order to save his family from having to live in a park. And some of the changes I noticed from the cartoon that this comic made is Brutus is shown running through the wet cement and even smashes Mr. Evictus into it being the biggest one I noticed. Over all this is a pretty good first issue of Roman Holiday’s and really does do the cartoon series justice, so let’s see what issue two has in store for us.

The Roman Holidays # 2 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .15 Gold Key # 2 of 4

“Friends, Romans And Cassius” Happius and Groovia are teaching Brutus how to dance and it’s clear that Happius is starting to get a cold, and as Gus gets home he informs them that work gave him free five tickets to the Davey Cassius concert! So Gus, along with his family head to the concert and are caught in a traffic jam, and once at the arena Happius’s cold gets worse and he heads home with Brutus by his side, when they run into Davey Cassius who is tired of all the fame and just wants a small break! And when Davey’s wig falls onto the head of Happius the fan girls come flocking and the three have to run back to Davey’s dressing room were Davey’s manager comes up with an idea that will allow Davey to get some needed rest and for Happius to take his place on stage by wearing the wig and lip synching to a record…and it works as the fans don’t catch on and go home happy! But Happius and Brutus are stuck at the arena as Davey ends up going home with The Holidays as they think he is their family member and treat him well as they think he is sick from the cold. Meanwhile Happius is having a terrible time as being famous is more work than he thought and he quits and goes home only for the Holidays to discover that Davey Cassius has been living with them, he thanks them for a fun and relaxing time and heads to the TV Station to be the music star he is.

The second issue is really the third episode of the cartoon turned into a comic book and is a pretty fun and entertaining read that’s plot has pop rock star Davey Cassius needing some time off from performing as his agent Max is just running him ragged, and when they find that Happius Holiday looks like the star the two switch places for a short time in order for Davey to get rest and Happius to get a taste of fame. This issue truly focuses on Happius and Brutus as the two are stuck in the arena and having to take orders from Max who is all about fame and money and does not seem to care about the wellbeing of his stars. And poor Happius was kind of conned into being the stand in (or Shemp if this was a Sam Raimi project) as he is sick with a cold and being forced to dance around and lip synch another persons songs! And Brutus The Lion is kind of just stuck as he was with Happius when this discovery and plan was made. The rest of The Holiday Family are around but do truly play bit parts to the storyline and that’s a shame as Gus Holiday is the man and should have been in the story more. The downside to this issue is that while it is a fun one, it also slightly drags as much of it is the same thing over and over and that’s Happius having a bad time while Davey is having a good time, plus I just don’t find the character of Happius that entertaining. The cover for this issue is fun with Brutus in the bathtub and Gus looking mad as this was to be his bath water, and due to the coloring it really is eye catching. The Unknown Artist did the interior art once more and its great stuff as it again looks just like the cartoon, and it’s a shame that many of these old Gold Key Comics do not have credits on who wrote, drew or inked the issues. Over all another good issue that I would say is slightly not as good as the first issue, but does make me want to read issue three and also does show that Hanna-Barbera really was trying to push The Roman Holidays as their next big hit.

The Roman Holidays # 3 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .20 Gold Key # 3 of 4

“Switch Is Which?” Gus Holiday stays up all night working on blueprints for Mr. Almalgamated the biggest client the company he works for has, but cause he stayed up all night he is fast asleep by the early morning and his family can not wake him up! So his wife Laurie and their young daughter Precocia head to the construction site and hand over the blueprints, but soon find that if Gus does not make it to work soon he will be fired! While at home Gus is so tired that he is half asleep when his landlord does an inspection, and even takes the phone off the hook in order to get more sleep and this blocks the call from Laurie who is trying to call him to go to work. So Laurie thinks fast and cuts some of her hair to glue to her face and acts as Gus for Mr. Almalgamated and does such a good job that she gets her husband a raise and gets his blueprints passed. When Gus finally wakes up he rushes to work in a panic only to get the good news and later that night The Holiday family have a big party. “Lost But Not Leashed” Brutus is being chased around by the tiny dog of Snobbia who acts as if the lion is a bully and has to go, and Mr. Evictus agrees with his daughter and tells Gus that either they get ride of Brutus or the whole family is being thrown out of the apartment! Gus is thinking of ideas for Brutus with one being sold to the coliseum in order to be a fighter and this causes the lion to run away from home, unknown that Gus is really going to fight this threat and being forced to get ride of his pet. Brutus has an idea to sneak on a ship headed to Africa so that he can return to his birthplace, but he is quickly ran off by a mouse and finds himself by accident in the coliseum were he by accident beats a Bull that is a championing! And once back home Mr. Evictus welcomes him back with open arms as he is a champion and even charges the public to enter the building of a champion….but then also ups the rent for the Holidays cause they live with a champion!

This issue is based on episode 7 of the cartoon series and also has a second story that is short and is all about Brutus The Lion, with the first being about Gus’s wife having to save the family and his job by acting like a contractor when he is to worn out to get to work. And with the first story the true hero really is Laurie Holiday as she is the one who gets the blueprints to his job on time, and then even cuts her own hair to make a mustache so that she can act like her husband around a top client from his job…plus she does such a good job that she gets him a raise and the plans he drew up are now in motion! While Gus who stays up all night to draw up the blueprints is dead to the world with sleep and it takes him almost all day to wake up and realize he might have just made a terrible mistake by sleeping in! The second story poor Brutus can not catch a break as once more they family’s landlord is on their case and is hating their pet lion, and this causes Brutus to try and run away but ends up finding himself a champion when by accident he wins a match in the fighting coliseum making the landlord finally find respect for him. And with this issue we also see that while Brutus is a lion he is very goofy and also scared of all types of things like even small mice. The humor of these two stories work very well as like before it’s that classic Hanna-Barbera style and the stuff with Gus being so sleepy that he misses work and sleepwalks through interaction with people is the kind of silliness us kids of the 70’s and 80’s laughed at. The cover for this issue is good and eye catching as it shows Brutus hiding as a painting in order to avoid The Holidays landlord who is telling Gus that he is making a new rule no pets allowed! And like with the past issues the Unknown Artist did a fantastic job on the interior art. And with two stories instead of one this issue is entertaining and leads us to the fourth and final issue in the series, so let’s see what it has in store for us.

The Roman Holidays # 4 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .20 Gold Key # 4 of 4

“The Man-Tamer” the morning scroll is delivered to The Holiday Family and Gus is happy to see that his old school friend Hammus Terrificus the world famous lion-tamer is in town with the circus and while Gus and his family are exited to see his act, Brutus gets scared as he does not like the idea of a lion-tamer and stays home. While at the carnival Gus and Hammus talk about the old times, but their old club house handshake goes wrong and Hammus throws out his back, and this forces Gus to have to take his place for the lion-tamer act. So they rush home and get Brutus to be the lion for the act and soon while in the center of the ring Gus and Brutus get into it and the lion ends up using the whip and Gus does the tricks and the fans love it! After the show Hammus wants to take Brutus on the road with him and call him the Human-Tamer…but Brutus rejects this once he finds out it will be hard work with poor food to eat. “Father Of The Year” Gus gets home from a hard day’s work and finds that his kids have nominated him for the Father Of The Year award and his only competition is Mr. Evictus who threatens that if Gus beats him for the award he will throw the Holiday Family out of their apartment! Happius, Precocia and Groovia are campaign for Gus as he is worried about winning and loosing his home, so he tries his best to throw the election. In the end Gus and Evictus both win via a tie and both are now Fathers Of The Year!

This comic’s first story is based off episode 8 of the cartoon that is called “That’s Show Biz” with the second story being episode 13 that used the same name, and its fitting that the final issue in the series also featured the final episode. The Man-Tamer is a very silly story that has Gus hurting his friend with a handshake and this causes him to have to make a fool of himself in front of a live audience, all with the help of his pet lion Brutus who hams it up for the people. We get to also meet Hammus Terrificus, the old school friend of Gus who has made it as a big time circus performer, he also seems a little annoyed by Gus who is clearly trying to impress his family by knowing him and speaking of their past adventures as kids. I do also like how this story allows Brutus to show that when pushed with threats of having to sleep outside he will fight back in anger, showing he is not always a scaredy cat. The second story is all about Gus and Mr. Evictus both going for the Father Of The Year award and having to try to win it with of course Evictus threatening to toss the Holiday Family out of the home if Gus one ups him…but in the end they both win the award in a tie. In this one it is great to see just how loved and respected Gus by his family. Both of these stories in this final issue are about Gus Holiday and that is fitting as he really is the main character of the cartoon series, and it is also cool that this comic series was released a year after the cartoon had been canceled showing that Hanna-Barbera was still trying to push this series, or I guess it could also be that Gold Key Comics was just that far behind. I would say that throughout this comic series I would say that Gus Holiday and Brutus The Lion are my two favorite characters as they really did remind me of a off brand version of Fred Flintstone and Dino. While the humor in these comics is very dated in spots, it still does kind of have that classic silly kid kind of humor that is timeless making for a very odd read when it comes to comedy. The cover for this final issue is pretty cool and showcases Brutus making Gus to silly circus tricks and you guessed it the Unknown Artist once more did the interior art and did a fantastic job with it as they really did capture the look of the cartoon. Over all this really was a pretty fun kids comic series that should make the fans of the cartoon happy. Check out the artwork below to see the style used by Unknown Artist for this comic series.

I am not going to lie when first doing this update I barely remembered The Roman Holidays but during the writing of this update I found myself really enjoying it as it really is a bizarre cartoon that I am not sure why Hanna-Barbera would think it would become their next mega hit. But for me I could see Gus Holiday sitting at a bar having a drink with Fred Flintstone and George Jetson as they talk about sports, family and work. But with that its time for use to leave Rome and head to the world of cinema, as it will be my best of 2025 films I saw in the theater. So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. Also make sure to spend a little time this Holiday Season with your family, friends, pets and planets! See you next update as we talk the cinema of 2025!

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: Escape To Witch Mountain (1975)

Posted on February 12, 2025 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. For this “From Horror Movie To Horror Comic” update we will be taking a look at a sci-fi fantasy family film that has a tiny dash of horror that was unleashed on young moviegoers by Disney! The film is Escape To Witch Mountain, about two siblings who have psychic powers and are being tracked down by a rich man who wants to use their powers for his own gain. This one is a strange one as growing up and at school, this film was looked at as a horror film but as I grew up, the film was more looked at as a fantasy one, but for me and my memories as a kid this will be viewed as a semi kiddy fright flick. So just roll with it and have fun while reading this update. So if you are ready, grab your star case, head to the Rotten Ink Motor Home and let’s start our quest to Witch Mountain as I heard that that’s where witches come from as well as a few U.F.O’s have been spotted around the peaks.

So before we get too deep into this update, let’s take a look at the villains of this film and how they deal out their evil ways. The main villain is Aristotle Bolt, who is a very rich man who is stricken with greed and a massive ego as he thinks his money can buy him whatever he wants, and because he has an obsession with the occult and paranormal, he thinks that he can even own humans and will use his blackmailing ways to do so. He is also very mean as his greed makes him feel untouchable and he also has people that will do his bidding for a price and that includes kidnapping and lying to children. One of the people under the money control of Bolt is Lucas Deranian, his attorney who is a lair, yes man and will do whatever he is told as long as money comes his way, and because of his job of being an attorney he is able to con people into listening to him and even fakes being the orphans’ uncle. In fact Deranian is the one who sets the ego driven Bolt onto the track of the young kids with powers. And finally you also have the hired hand and muscle of Bolt named Ubermann, who is cold and does what he is told and is looking for the kids with the powers. While none of them are killers per say, all of them I think would kill in order to get what they want, and at one point Ubermann does have a gun! Bolt and his men are just mortal and have many weaknesses that include their own greed, egos and mortality as they can be killed like any normal person so by gun, knife, fire, water, force and fists. And while Aristotle Bolt and his men might be the weakest baddies we have ever covered on a From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update, they are still dangerous and can strike fear into the hearts of the poor and those who are in their way.

Now that we took a look at the baddies of Escape To Witch Mountain, I think that it’s time we take a look at the film itself. Like always the film’s write up will be taken from our good friends at IMDB, and after that I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts about the film. So if you are ready, let’s make our way to Witch Mountain and see what is in store for us.

Escape To Witch Mountain (1975)

“Tia and Tony are two orphaned youngsters with extraordinary powers. Lucas Deranian poses as their uncle in order to get the kids into the clutches of Deranian’s megalomanical boss, evil millionaire Aristotle Bolt, who wants to exploit them. Jason, a cynical widower, helps Tia and Tony “escape to witch mountain,” while at the same time Tia and Tony help Jason escape the pain of the loss of his wife.”

The Walt Disney Company was riding high in the 1970’s and besides working on classic animated films and shows, they also did live action films and some of these films had hints of horror and sci-fi as those genres of films have always been popular with movie goers. Disney wanted to make some of these type films for their audiences, and so they decided to adapt the 1968 novel by Alexander H. Key called Escape Of Witch Mountain! The film’s script was written by Robert Malcolm Young and would be directed by John Hough who was known for directing the horror films “Twins Of Evil (1971)”, “The Legend Of Hell House (1973)” and after Escape To Witch Mountain the films “The Watcher In The Woods (1980)”, “The Incubus (1982)”, “Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)” and “American Gothic (1988)” showing that he knew how to make horror. The film would bring in Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann to play the orphans Tia and Tony Malone and other names being Donald Pleasence, Eddie Albert, Ray Milland and Walt Barnes. The film was scored by Johnny Mandel and would be released on March 21, 1975 and would go on to bring around $20,000,000 at the box office, making it a success. The film was well received by both fans and critics, and over the years it has spawned sequels, remakes and has built itself a pretty big cult following. The film would release the same year as other sci-fi/horror films as The Devil’s Rain, Jaws, Legend Of The Werewolf, Night Of The Seagulls, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Trilogy Of Terror and The Werewolf And The Yeti. And while this is not a full fledged horror film and only has very small elements of it, this is a great semi spooky adventure film that has made it’s mark on the youth who grew up watching it.

When I was a kid I can remember watching this film in school. It was around Halloween time when it was shown, and this always made me think of this film as a kids horror flick; plus I mean at times the kids are even blamed for being witches, they make a ghost like creature out of a broom & a coat, animals attack people and the kids are really aliens from another world. So as you can see, this film does have elements of sci-fi and horror and you can see how a young kid could see it as a horror film. While the kids are the stars, I always liked all the animals that helped them through their journey like the bear, horse, cat and dogs, all of whom talk to Tia and all help run off the humans on their trail. You have to also like that the film’s main villain is a rich creep who is obsessed with the occult and wants to use psychics as his key to become more rich and wants to exploit people with powers as well for his own gains, and it’s nice to see in the end him not get what he wants and to have to return to his mansion a defeated man. Besides showcasing alien kids and their powers, the film is also about not allowing sadness to take over your life as the two young kids teach widower Jason O’Day how to love again and how to let go. Another fun aspect for younger viewers is that in the end it becomes a chase film as Bolt’s men give chase of the kids and O’Day across the back roads of small towns, plus you get to see a motorhome fly and I can remember it getting a laugh at school. While by today’s standards the eerie and spooky elements of this film are lost, the sci-fi ones are still very much present and add for a great watch for the young and young at heart. Also I have to point out that seeing veteran actor Donald Pleasence in this film as Lucas Deranian was also very cool the first time I saw this film I knew him from films like Halloween, Land Of The Minotaur and Tales From The Crypt. If you are looking for a kid friendly sci-fi/fantasy/horror film to watch give this classic film a chance as it’s a fun one for sure.

Now that we have taken a look at the film Escape To Witch Mountain and Mr. Bolt and his yes men of money loving goons, I think that it’s time we review the comic adaptation done by Gold Key Comics. This will be a first time read for me, and I am very much looking forward to seeing how close it sticks to the film as well as how well the art captures the likeness of the characters. I want to thank Bell Book And Comic for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I want to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comic stays to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that, let’s get into the Gold Key motorhome and get even closer to Witch Mountain. And I should also note this comic is from the Walt Disney Showcase line that showcased comics based on Disney films, cartoons and shows.

Escape To Witch Mountain # 1 **1/2
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 Gold Key # 29 of 54

Tia and Tony live at the orphanage and are getting ready to get on a bus after seeing a movie when Tia has a vision of a car across the street getting into an accident and warns the passenger not to get inside the car. A few moments later, a tow truck crashes into it. The man is attorney Lucas Deranian who rushes to tell his rich boss Aristotle Bolt about the young kids and their powers, and they set up a way for Deranian to forge records in order to act as the kids’ uncle and take them to now live at Bolt’s castle mansion. Tia and Tony along with their black cat Winkie now live in the mansion and unknown to the kids they are being watched by Bolt and Deranian via hidden cameras who witness the kids use their powers to control puppets as well as talk to a horse! That night at dinner Bolt confronts the kids about their powers, and they do answer and hear later that night that Bolt does not want them to ever leave and locks them in their room! As Tia and Tony escape the mansion they get the help of Winkie as well as the guard dogs and a horse that Tia talks to for assistance. They get into town, and Tia and Tony sneak aboard the motorhome of Jason O’Day who unaware talks to Deranian about the missing kids before driving off with the runaways onboard. Once Jason finds the kids, they have breakfast and they tell him about their powers and that they found a map in the star case that Tia carries and that they need to get to Witch Mountain! Jason agrees to take them and on their drive there Deranian has found them and gives chase, as Tia and Tony sneak out of the motor home so that Deranian will chase Jason they are captured by the town sheriff. Tia and Tony use their powers to escape the jail and even free a caged bear that helps them get to the home of Jason’s brother that he told them about and meet back up with Jason who was waiting for them there. Jason gets Tia and Tony to the mountain as Bolt as well as all of his men, the sheriff and townspeople are given chase, but after the motorhome starts to fly in the air from the help of voice that turns out to be the uncle of the kids and some of the cars wreck…it’s Jason as well as Mr. Bolt that watches as the kids get into a U.F.O. and fly away, Mr. Bolt and his goons leave to head back home as Jason who has Winkie sets out to find more kids with Star Cases to bring them to Witch Mountain.

This adaptation is a fun read but does also remove lots of moments from the film and as well tells them slightly different and sometimes that works and others it seems to rushed in storytelling and takes a little away from the moment. For instance, they cut the whole moment of Tony using his powers at the orphanage in order to play baseball as well as fight a bully. The bulk of the story is there and is about Tia and Tony, two kids with supernatural powers escaping the grip of a rich man who wants to use their powers for his gain, and when escaping they meet an older man on a cross country trip in his motor home who helps them get away from Bolt and gets them to Witch Mountain. And of course the fact that the kids are aliens and get on a U.F.O with their uncle to get back to space is intact. Our heroes are Tia and Tony, who are sister and brother that have supernatural powers that allows them to move things and talk to each other with their minds, can communicate with animals, can see future events, can get glimpses of the past as well as unlock doors and locks. They are good kids who just want to find their way home and to their uncle who they thought was dead, and along the way they end up helping save the lives of animals by giving them freedom as well as help a man deal with his grumpy attitude. Jason O’Day is a good man who takes a chance to help two runaway kids get to a place they feel is were they belong. The odd thing is they do not mention that he lost his wife and that he wished he had kids. Lucas Deranian is a thorn in the kid’s sides as he is following them all over and while in the comic Aristotle Bolt is a little more downplayed as he is around but not as a major part of the sinister plan. The film is bloodless and does not have any real frightful moments as it’s a very basic watered down version of the film’s plot. They also change the ending that has Jason driving on the search for more alien kids as the U.F.O. lands on Witch Mountain that is now the home of the aliens. The cover for the comic is ok and is your typical Gold Key style for that time that just has stills of the movie put together, and the interior art is done by an unknown artist and is pretty good and very basic and yet it works, but I also have to say that most of the characters very loosely look like the actors who played them. Over all if you are a fan of Escape To Witch Mountain and like family friendly sci-fi films with a dash of horror, then give this a read. Checkout the artwork below to see the style the unknown artist used in the issue.

Escape From Witch Mountain is a really fun film and while dated by today’s standards, still does deliver a fun adventure film for the whole family to enjoy. After watching the film again after all these years for this update, I can see were my classmates and myself thought it was a kid sci-fi horror film as it does have some elements of both. And it was also great to see that the Gold Key Comic adaptation was a good read that while cut out many parts of the film still maintained all the major plot elements even with the art being a little rushed throughout. With that I think that it’s time we leave Witch Mountain and head to back to the world of silent cinema as we will head to the Rotten Ink Theater and talk about the 1921 film The Blasphemer that is a downbeat religious film with a dash of horror supernatural elements! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a Western film or two and as always support your local horror host. See you next update for a silent cinema chat!

Thanksgiving Looney Tunes Style Starring Sylvester & Tweety

Posted on November 28, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. As you can see, it’s Thanksgiving 2024, and I think it’s time to once more take a walk into the world of cartoons and more specifically Looney Tunes as these cartoons were such a big part of so many people’s childhood and make for a fun holiday update. Who doesn’t want to talk about the likes of Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, all characters we have covered before here on Rotten Ink, but for this Turkey Day update, we will be talking about Sylvester and Tweety, who are some of the biggest stars in the world of cartoon duos. This will be a fun and silly update that will add some fun and silliness to your Thanksgiving, and as the turkey and ham are still in the oven and the potatoes have yet to be mashed, let’s sit back enjoy this holiday and see what Tweety and Sylvester have in store for us. I also want to thank you all very quickly for spending apart of your Thanksgiving with me here at Rotten Ink, and I truly hope that these Thanksgiving Day updates make your holiday just a little more fun.

Sylvester Pussycat Sr. first appeared in 1939 as an early version of the character in the cartoon “Naughty But Mice,” and the Sylvester we all know and love came around in 1945 in the toon “Life With Feathers,” and the character was created by Friz Freleng. Sylvester is the sworn enemy of Tweety Bird and is a tuxedo cat whose fur is black and white with a red nose. He has a speech impediment and has several different personalities. Sometimes he’s sneaky and other times he’s more of a caring feline. He is has son named Sylvester Jr. and also is the mentor for Furrball. Besides starring in the regular Looney Tune cartoons, he is also featured in the films “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, “Space Jam”, “Lonney Tunes: Back In Action” and “Space Jam: A New Legacy”. Sylvester over the years in his many different appearances has been voiced by the likes of Mel Blanc, Bill Farmer, Jeff Bergman, Terry Klassen and Eric Bauza, to name a few. Tweety is a yellow canary who has a high pitched voice, big blue eyes and long eyelashes and made his first appearance in 1942 in the cartoon “A Tale Of Two Kitties” and quickly became one of the series most loved characters. Tweety is a sweet character for the most part, but also really does love getting cats that are trying to eat him in trouble or even causing them harm! Tweety was created by Bob Clampett and over the years has been voiced by such actors as Mel Blanc, Jeff Bergman, Bob Bergen and Billy West. Tweety has appeared in films as well as many other merchandise and even at one point a very popular tattoo for women. So as you can see, both Tweety and Sylvester are very iconic and popular characters in the Looney Tune universe and are at the top of the pack just behind Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig for most toon fanatics.

Both Sylvester and Tweety have had their fair share of cool merchandise for fans to collect that include shirts, posters, trading cards, action figures, plush dolls, drinking glasses, board games, video games, coloring books, key chains, home media, comic books, candy, masks, hats, stickers, buttons, school supplies and so much more! No joke, if you are a fan of either of both of them you can have so many cool things to collect. Growing up I had lots of cool things that mostly were Sylvester as I was never a fan of Tweety, but I do know I had a Tweety drinking glass from Pepsi. For Sylvester, I had the Pepsi drinking glass, a big plush doll, a figure from an Arby’s kid meal, an eraser and trading cards. And stuff that featured them both I had the comics, coloring books, giant Sylvester stuff doll as well as some video games, they appeared in as well as home media releases of the cartoon. I have lots of great memories of being a kid and drinking chocolate milk from my Sylvester glass! So if you are a fan and a collector, make sure to check out some of the stuff I mentioned above.

Growing up I watched lots of Looney Tune cartoons on TV as well as on VHS that we would rent from the public library as well as buy at garage sales and dollar stores. I always enjoyed the antics of Sylvester as I am a cat person and his silly lisp and plans on how to capture and eat Tweety always cracked me up…and come on, we all know that Tweety was a pain in the ass and we all wanted to see him get eaten. Sylvester is in my top 5 favorite Looney Tune characters of all time! There was always something very special about pouring a bowl of cereal as a kid and watching a Tweety and Sylvester cartoon, and even to this day when I see an episode it makes me remember back to those days, and I get really nostalgic for not only them but for Looney Tunes in general as they were a big part of my childhood as the cartoons and comics always seemed to be on and around. In fact, I can even remember reading a Tweety & Sylvester comic one year right before a SuperBowl Game, and right before we chowed down on some chicken wings…while I can remember the comic, I cannot remember who played and won the game that year, showing that Sylvester and Tweety was bigger than the NFL Superbowl that year for me. The thing is Looney Tune characters like Sylvester & Tweety are kind of immortal when it comes to their impact and longevity in the world of entertainment as they seem to always be able to reinvent themselves in new cartoons or films that make that day and age kids become fans.

One of my favorite episodes of Sylvester and Tweety was called “Hyde And Go Tweet” that is super funny and ads a dash of horror to the humorous nature of a Looney Tune Cartoon. And honestly when you think about it Horror and Looney Tunes have crossed over lots in the classic days of the series with all types of monsters and ghosts making appearances and scaring the characters silly. But back to the cartoon at hand in this one Tweety is being chased by Sylvester and finds himself in the lab of Dr. Jekyll and after drinking some of a formula Tweety turns into a giant Hyde like monster bird and laughs and chases Sylvester around all the while turning back and fourth between regular Tweety and Monster Tweety. In the end it turns out have been a terrible nightmare that Sylvester was having but while awake it looks as if Tweety could get into the lab and turn into the monster and this cause Sylvester to run through a brick wall in order to escape the situation. Such a goofy spooky watch as Tweety as the Hyde Monster looks crazed and like he really could kill a cat and laugh while doing it. It’s great that Sylvester at the end of the cartoon is so overtaken by fear that he is willing to run through a brick wall in order to get away from a possibility. If you have never seen this episode, make sure to do so as you can find it on DVD, VHS and even streaming. Also they made a figure of the Tweety Hyde Monster and it was awesome as well.

As you can see, Tweety And Sylvester are true icons when it comes to the world of cartoons and just American culture in general as they have entertained for decades now and have proven to still be popular to this day. And talking about them both really has brought me back to my childhood and made me feel like a kid again, and reading these comics will also be a flashback to my youth as between my brother and I growing up we had so many of these Looney Tune comics that we would get from garage sales. I would like to thank Bell Book And Comic, Game Swap Kettering and Mavericks for having these issues in stock and making this update possible. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, their entertainment value and their art and story. So with that, let’s get ready to laugh at the zany adventures of these two cartoon icons.

Tweety & Sylvester # 21 **1/2
Released in 1971 Cover Price .15 Whitman # 21 of 121

“Survival School” Sylvester is a nervous wreck as Tweety has opened a school for birds to be able to defend themselves against cats and every time Sylvester tries to capture a bird with his old tricks, the birds fight back and always escape with him looking like the fool. Sylvester gets an idea to dress as a bird and enroll so that he can have a chance to capture and eat some birds, but during classes Tweety uses the disguised Sylvester as an assistant and beats him up as it’s clear he knows its his enemy. “South Pole Cat” winter is coming and Tweety is about to head south to stay warm. Sylvester is upset that he has to stay and freeze so he buys a bird call whistle to use and keep Tweety around as he knows he will try and help a fellow injured bird! Tweety dodges Sylvester’s attacks and finds out that his feline friend is making the calls with the whistle and messes with it’s settings and this causes Sylvester to call all types of birds, who end up taking him south with them…but his joy in the sun is short lived as the larger birds run him off and he ends up in the South Pole running from penguins! “The Relaxed Cat” poor Sylvester is stressed and not sleeping well, and after reading a book he finds out that the tweeting songs of a Tweety Bird will help relax you, so he tries to force Tweety to sing for him so he can sleep. Tweety refuses to do so and gets Sylvester to all types of favors for him, from getting him seeds to taking him to the bird bath. Finally Sylvester climbs under a table and Tweety is about to sing and lets out a loud screech that causes Sylvester to jump and bump his head on the table and knocking him out cold.

This issue has three silly tales that features Tweety and Sylvester doing what they do best and that is entertain! And what is shocking is that this issue has zero guest appearances from any other Looney Tune characters and for this time for these comics, that is very shocking! Tweety in this issue is a teacher of self-defense, a would be savior to an injured bird, a tool to relax to and a little bird who is able to hold his own against a very hungry and angry cat. Sylvester in the issue tries his best to trick, capture an eat Tweety and is foiled at every attempt and even gets beat up by not just Tweety but other birds. The best of the three stories is South Pole Cat for me as I found it fun that Sylvester does not want to be the only one having to suffer through the cold weather of winter and tries to trick Tweety into having to stay and deal with it as well, and instead he gets taken south with the birds and gets bullied by them and forced to hide out in the South Pole that is colder than the winter he fled from. To be honest, I could not pick a weak story as I found the other two stories to be very fun as well and were on equal ground of fun. The cover for this issue is cool and has Sylvester trying to eat a plate of spaghetti as Tweety is playing a pungi and making the noodles act like hypnotized snakes. The unknown artist does the interior artwork and who ever they are they did very good job of bringing Tweety and Sylvester to the pages of comics. Reading this issue for this update was a lot of fun and made me feel like a kid again, and I am looking forward to reading the next issue.

Tweety & Sylvester # 33 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .20 Whitman # 33 of 121

“Look Before You Leap” In the living room of Granny, she and Tweety watch as Sylvester shows them is dance moves as he is going to ballet dance classes. As Sylvester and Tweety take naps after he danced for them, Granny heads out to try and get a surprise for her well behaved cat. But when she is away, Sylvester goes after Tweety who uses a firecracker to hurt his hand and this causes Sylvester to leave the home and blow off steam. As Sylvester dances down the ally, two cats trick him into jumping over a fence and get chase by a guard dog so that they can get inside the house and steal food from the refrigerator, and this causes him to even crash into the home owner and hurting the man. Meanwhile Granny gets home and tells Tweety that she has signed Sylvester up to be on a TV Show’s talent show…and Tweety finds him and once at the station Sylvester leaves in a hurry when the injured home owner was the sponsor. “Good Friend Charlie” Sylvester is hanging out with his owl friend Charlie Wiseowl in a tree, and Charlie tells Sylvester that the stars say that today is going to be his day and this causes the feline to go after Tweety who keeps dodging his attacks and causing Sylvester to be an annoyance to the people around him, all who end up beating him up! When Tweety makes it home to Granny’s he finds that a giant red parrot is in his cage as Granny is babysitting the mean bird for the neighbors, and Sylvester going on the good luck statement from Charlies rushes in and grabs the Parrot thinking it was Tweety and the mean bird beats him up! In the end Sylvester, who is injured, is told by Charlie Wiseowl that he misread the stars and that today is a bad day for him. “The Model!” Tweety is going to model for a marble statue for artist Jim, and Sylvester is hungry and tries to eat Tweety but things goes wrong for the feline as he keeps getting crushed by the chunks of marble, but in the end Jim wins a contest an the Tweety statues is now on display at the local museum.

Man in this issue poor Sylvester gets beat the heck up by so many different things as besides Tweety he also gets beat up by a dog, a red parrot, normal humans including a baby and he gets crushed by lots of marble. It is almost like in this issue Sylvester has switched place with Wile E. Coyote on the amount of abuse he takes throughout it. Tweety also goes from being a “friend” to Sylvester to being kind of cruel to him and enjoying watching him get smashed. It is nice to see Granny in this issue as she was a big part of many of the cartoons we all grew up watching so it was nice to have her in the mix. The best story in this issue for me had to be “Look Before You Leap” as it is a really zany story that has Sylvester learning how to dance and by accident ruins his chances of winning a contest all because he allowed some ally cats to con him into being a distraction while they steal food and the main judge is the man the cats robbed and Sylvester by accident is injured. And for my least favorite, while it is a fun read, it would be “Model!” as it is a very basic and quick story with a silly ending of Sylvester being booted out of the museum cause he wants to eat the marble statue of Tweety. The cover this time around has Tweety stealing the cherry off the top of a cupcake that Sylvester is trying to eat, and the unknown artist returns and does another great job of drawing these characters. Two issues in, and so far these comics hold up how I remember them and while they are different from the cartoons, they do have that touch that makes them feel like they sort of fit in.

Tweety & Sylvester # 54 ***
Released in 1976 Cover Price .25 Whitman # 54 of 121

“Afraid Of Flying” both Tweety and Sylvester are watching the news and they show a new roller coaster ride and this causes Tweety to be afraid to fly as he is dizzy and don’t want to crash! Sylvester comes up with an idea to keep scaring Tweety from wanting to fly again that way he can capture him and eat him! But all attempts backfire on the hungry cat as he keeps getting hurt in trying to chase the running Tweety. In the end Tweety is cured of his fear of flying, and Sylvester becomes afraid of walking but is cured quickly by the smart ass Tweety who gets the cat to once more chase him. “Door To Door Dummy” Sylvester decides that he wants to become a door-to-door salesman as he applies for free samples of the product that is little birds. Sylvester does not want to sell the samples but eat them and when the box arrives inside is one mean and angry vulture who is wise to the cats plan and picks him up and drops him off in front of a bulldog who wants to beat up the cat, and as the vulture flies off Sylvester is running from door to door trying to sell himself to a safe home to get away from the dog. “Nine Lives To Live” after chasing Tweety for around three hours Granny yells at them for making so much noise and Sylvester decides to watch some Soap Operas with Granny and falls asleep while watching them, and in his dream Tweety is like Cinderella and being mistreated by others and keeps getting bad news and when he wakes up he feels bad for Tweety and treats him well and stops chasing him around. “In The Middle” has Tweety being chased by Sylvester who is being chased by a dog when a scientist uses his change gun on the running animals that changes them in size it soon turns into Tweety chasing Sylvester who is running after the dog and poor Sylvester is still in the middle of this chase! Tweety then wakes up from his dream and feels bad for Sylvester and brings him some cat food for not even winning in dreams. “Don Catsonova” Sylvester is dressed in a Don’s outfit and captures Tweety in a box to give away to Chi Chi Cat a feline from Spain that he has fallen in love with, and when he tries to win her heart her bodyguard Diego tells Chi Chi that he loves her and goes after Sylvester who is saved by Tweety who bashes the bigger cat over the head with a vase and the two are able to escape as Chi Chi checks on the dazed Diego.

This issue of Tweety & Sylvester features five stories featuring the two frenemies with only Granny being the other Looney Tune character to make an appearance. This issue’s stories all flow really nice together and delivers a really fun read and I would say the best issue I have read up to this point as I feel all five stories are silly good reads with I think my favorite being Don Catsonova as seeing Sylvester dress up and try to win the heart of a Spanish lady cat only to be challenged for her heart by a bigger meaner cat was classic cartoon stuff. Plus I like how when Sylvester is on his way to his lady the other cats around the area make fun of his outfit that is until he pulls his sword on them and they back down and praise his look. Imagine if Sylvester would have been able to swoon Chi Chi, makes you wonder if she would have been featured in more comics? I also like that Tweety saves Sylvester from the bigger cat and as they flee from the fight he alerts him that Granny and himself love him and they should get home…very cool. If I had to choose my least favorite story in this comic I would pick In The Middle, as it is a one-page gag that is based around a silly dream that Tweety is having. This issue has lots of silly laughs and the cover features Tweety taking a bath via a water hose that he has poked holes in as Sylvester looks annoyed, and like before unknown artist does the interior and is great stuff as they once more captured the look of the characters so well. Let’s see if the next issue will continue the great work that these comics have showcased this far.

Tweety & Sylvester # 84 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Whitman # 84 of 121

“First Class” Sylvester is crushing on Wanda, a cat who was born with class and is way out of his league, so he heads to be taught class by his friend Sissy Fenwick who teaches him the basics and even dresses him up in the finest hipster gear. Sylvester ends up talking Sissy into going with him when he tries to ask Wanda out. The next day Sylvester comes home and is happy and Tweety asks how it went and Sylvester says well only after he punched Sissy in the eye after he tried to flirt with Wanda and she was so impressed with Sylvester’s manly attitude that they have a date for that weekend. “Cat And The Giant” the chores are all done around the house and Granny sits in the living room to read Tweety and Sylvester the story of Jack And The Beanstock and as the story starts Sylvester drifts off to sleep. In his dream Sylvester and Granny are poor and live in a small shack and Tweety has been missing for days…and this makes Granny sad and she gets mad when Sylvester uses their last dime to buy a bone. But Sylvester ends up being a hero when he finds that the giant dog Butch has Tweety and thanks to tossing the bone and having Butch chase it he is able to save Tweety and return him to Granny! But when Sylvester wakes up he is back at it chasing Tweety around the house as he is now hungry. “Back Seat Driver!” Granny has to re-take her drivers test, and Sylvester and Tweety are worried about her passing as they think they will starve to death if she cannot drive to the store, so they two hide in the car to try and help her pass but they really end up helping her fail! And its Tweety and Sylvester that end up having to walk to the store to get the food, as she was to wait a week to take the test again. “Save Our Cats!” a representative for the group Save Our Cats is visiting the Knights Of The Alley Cats as they want to spread the message that cats need help, and they need volunteers to hand out flyers. Sylvester and Weezy are selected and have a terrible time doing so as people rough them up and they both end up getting hit by a car putting them in the hospital!

This is another really good issue that has a total of four stories featuring our star duo and each of them bring their own humor and entertainment! The thing about these comics is that after running so many issues, you know that the creators had to be stressing over ideas to make them fresh and funny and with this being issue 84 it seems that they still had their minds working on making one solid kids comic series based off of popular cartoon. I also like in this issue that many of the stories have Sylvester and Tweety working together and while at times they do have the chase around the house in a odd way it’s clear that they are friends of sorts. Plus this issue has Granny around again and she always helps add to the wacky stories. The best story for me is Cat And The Giant as I find it to be a fun one and I like how it had a basic retelling of Jack And The Beanstalk just missing the Beanstalk and its Tweety that the giant has taken. And I could not choose a bad one as I think these all are great takes and none of these are lacking in the entertainment department and all brought on some chuckles. And to be honest First Class almost took the top spot as I love that Sylvester gets a date after punching another cat in the eye as the lady feline thanks that he his macho! The cover for this issue is pretty cool and has Tweety sleeping on a TV Set, and the unknown artist strikes again with his great interior artwork. Over all another great issue that made me feel like a youngster again. Also Weezy Cat is a cool side character as he has cool hair and sleeps lots.

Tweety & Sylvester # 87 **1/2
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Whitman # 87 of 121

“Cat Encounters Of The Bird-Kind” Tweety is sitting with his young relatives and tells them about a time when the Earth was ran by birds and this was long before man and cats came to be, but something was making birds disappear and it was the first cat! The cat is tricking all the birds in order to eat them, but one Scientist Tweety figures it out and saves the others. And as the story ends Sylvester tries to attack Tweety and he tells his young nephews how easy it is to out smart cats. “Hans Clicker And The Silver Skates” Tweety and Sylvester are in Holland and chat about Han Clicker a feline relative of Sylvester who was strange and wore wooden sneakers, but when he gets a pair of ice skates he by accident saves the town and becomes a hero when he plugs a whole in the dame with his thumb. “The Catnapper” Granny’s friend is going on vacation and his cat Reginald is staying with them until he gets back, and Reginald is a help around the house, plays chess with Tweety and even makes meals for them to eat and this attention is getting under Sylvester’s skin so he decides to attack this new cat at night only to get beat up himself as he did not know that Reginald knew Judo! “Merry Music Maker” Sylvester is being made fun of by his cat friends as well as Tweety for his guitar playing and singing and every time he starts people leave, but he swears that he will make money with his guitar and does when it bonks a robber on the head and he collect the reward money.

This issue is a really mixed bag as I did not fully enjoy the first two stories as I found them a little bland and generic, but the last two stores were super fun and silly and is what I would want from a comic book based on Tweety and Sylvester! This issue showcases the origins of cats trying to fake UFO’s in order to eat birds, showcases the hero relative of Sylvester who lived in Holland, has Sylvester getting jealous of another cat and getting beat up for it and lastly shows our feline friend’s lack of musical talent that still gets him paid! Tweety besides in the first story is very much a supporting character as most of this issue showcases Sylvester and his strange life, and I am ok with that as I think he is the more interesting character between the two. My favorite story is Merry Music Maker as I enjoy the fact that Sylvester is walking around town with a guitar and trying to make money by street performing and only buy luck does he make any money and that is cause a robber runs into him causing his guitar to flip in the air and bonk the crook on his head and knocking him out and then comes the sweet reward money. My least favorite story is Hans Clicker And The Silver Skates as its really kind of boring and while silly just does not bring in any laughs. The cover is cool and has Sylvester playing golf but Tweety is pranking him by putting gum on his club causing the ball to stick to it. With the unknown artist once more doing the interior art and doing a great job as one of my favorite panels in this issue has Sylvester and Tweety by a campfire and Sylvester calling his friends cowards! While not the best issue in the series I have read for this update, it still had two really good stories.

Tweety & Sylvester # 87 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Whitman # 87 of 121

“Guests Not Pests” the owner of a small traveling circus has fallen sick and while he is in the hospital Granny takes in the animals as guests! And while Tweety likes having them there Sylvester does not and keeps trying to escape the house so he does not have to do any chores. And when Sylvester finally escapes he runs into Linda Cat who is hiding in some bushes as some mean kids have been throwing things at her and chasing her around the streets, Sylvester saves her and gets back to Granny’s house and the Circus Animals come outside and scare the kids away! In the end when an alley cat mocks the Circus animals Sylvester punches him in the eye as he respects them now for their help. “Jar Wars” Granny is making preserves and has to run next door to get a missing item as Sylvester goes after Tweety and by accident spills the preserves on himself and the chase continues into the near by woods where Sylvester is grabbed by a massive bear who wants to lick the sweet preserves off him, as Tweety mocks him as he knows that when they get home Granny is going to be really ma about her preserves being spilt. “Matter Of Habit” Sylvester is watching TV and sees about habits and learns about a boy who when he hears a bell will climb over pillows to find cookies to eat, so he comes up with an idea of using a gong to leave bird seed for Tweety in order to capture him and make him into a sandwich, but when the gong goes off bother Tweety and Sylvester snack and they figure out to never use the gong again besides for regular meal times as they both have gotten chubby and into a bad habit. “Friendly Fellows” Sylvester has built a skateboard and while learning to ride it looses control and crashes into the cat Friendly Fred and this causes Fred to break his glasses, later Sylvester is carring lumber to Granny’s house as he wants to build himself a small home outside to relax in and once more by accident smacks Fred in the face with the lumber knocking him out and when trying to help Fred, Sylvester drops him into the lap of a female cat who’s boyfriend punches Fred knocking him even more silly. In the end Sylvester gets his little house built but Fred appears with an axe and chops it down out of rage.

This is yet another fun issue and I really do think the creators behind this comic series deserve some praise for bringing the classic Looney Tune characters to the pages of comics and while the core of the cartoons are present the comics also kind of build a new world around them, like I feel that the stories in the comics is what took place between the cartoons. And I need to point out that in this issue a group of kids are tormenting a cat by chasing it and throwing object at it, and those kind of kids are terrible and if you have any of them in your neighborhood who do things like this call your local authorities on them as they are clearly youths who need mental help. And I like in this issue that once more most of the stories are about Sylvester as Tweety is more of side player and this issue our feline star goes from being lazy, to learning respect, to trying to be a protector, to being covered in food and being a treat for a hungry bear, becoming a jerk and of course chasing Tweety around as he wants to eat him for a snack. While Tweety showcases that while he does sometimes bait Sylvester into chasing him he also clearly looks at him as a friend and even tries to get him out of trouble. The issue also introduces use to a few more the neighborhood cats as we meet Linda Cat and Friendly Fred, and I like that in all these issues so far we do get to meet these other cats that roam around and know Sylvester. The best story in this issue for me was Friendly Fellows as I enjoyed the story of poor Fred getting beaten up and Sylvester being kind of a jerk about all the pain he has caused his fellow feline friend, only for Fred in the end to be pushed to far and armed with an axe he chops down a small home Sylvester spent time and money on to build. While the rest of the stories are good if I had to choose the weakest I would say Jar Wars as it is a short and silly story, but I do like that when the preserves fall on Sylvester he looks like a gooey version of the Pink Panther. The cover is goofy and has Sylvester and Tweety standing behind a photo stand, and yep you guessed it the interior art by unknown artist is great stuff and has that classic Looney Tune comic look that is iconic for those who grew up reading them. So with that lets see what the next issue has in store for Tweety and Sylvester.

Tweety & Sylvester # 94 ***
Released in 1979 Cover Price .40 Whitman # 94 of 121

“Count Me Out” Tweety and Sylvester are walking down a street as they find a poster that says if a cat can survive three rounds with Slugger Sam they will win $100! And after some pushing Sylvester takes the challenge and steps in the ring with Sam who wants to knock out his opponent fast. Sylvester acts silly for two rounds and is able to survive but the third round he runs into the fist of Sam and is knocked out, and while Sylvester did not win the prize money he does win free dance classes! “Color Scheme” Granny wants to get a new oil painting for the living room and as she goes for a walk to get it, Sylvester and Tweety think that she means to paint the walls an the two start doing so and cause a massive mess and the walls look terrible and once Granny get back home with the painting she is mad over the mess made of her walls. “Movie Buffs” Sylvester opens up a movie theater in the garage and is showing old bird watching videos that Granny made, but when the mean alley cats show up they refuse to pay and Tweety goes and gets a dog to be the door man and makes them all pay as they leave the showing. “Sleepwalker” in this one Sylvester is sleepwalking through the city as Tweety follows and makes sure he is not hurt, and in the end Tweety gets Sylvester back home safe so he can nap some more.

This issue has four adventures starring Tweety and Sylvester and is another really fun and entertaining issue that has some of my favorite stuff mixed into the stories as you long time readers know that I am a fan of seeing films in the theater and one of my favorite sports in boxing! And we also meet a few more of the alley cats around the town with most not having any names but they are bullies and try and steal movie tickets and the other is Slugger Sam a very strong cat who is a boxer. And my favorite story in this issue is Count Me Out as I love that Sylvester tries to box a massive cat named Sam to win some prize money and only takes the match cause Tweety is the one pushing for him to take the match and last the three rounds. And man Sam with one stiff punch knocks Sylvester silly and causes our favorite feline to not win the cash. The weakest of the stories is also one of the shorter ones as Sleepwalker while fun it is also very basic and has been done even then many times in cartoons and comics as one character sleepwalks around dangerous sites while the other character tries to keep them safe. The cover has Sylvester mowing the grass as Tweety is mowing the welcome mat and it’s a fun sight gag. The interior artwork is done by Unknown Artist again and is like before very cool stuff and I like the way they drew bother Sylvester and Tweety as well as all the side characters. And once more I have to say that I am shocked we have yet to come across a cameo for such other Looney Tune characters as Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny or even Daffy Duck! With that lets get to the next issue I own and see what’s next.

Tweety & Sylvester # 95 ***
Released in 1979 Cover Price .40 Whitman # 95 of 121

“Making Dough” a group of crooks run a bakery and in the back of the shop they are making fake money, but the mice are eating the money and this causes one of them to nab Sylvester off the street with orders to kill the mice! But Sylvester notices the counterfeit machine and money and with the help of the mice and the outgoing cakes he is able to get the attention of the police and the crooks are arrested. “Out With The New And In With The Old” Sylvester is damaging furniture to try and make it look like an antique cause he thinks he can sell it for lots of money, so Tweety follows and had his woodpecker friends help damage some furniture. “Tough Mutt!” Sylvester is watching a hypnotist on TV and falls under his spell as he watches and thinks he is dog and the TV is turned off by Tweety and this causes Sylvester to not be snapped out of it and he walks around barking like a dog and even starts a fight with Butch the bulldog! And after walking around town as a dog it is Butch who snaps him out of it when he snaps his fingers and Sylvester ends up running away a scare cat! “My Life As A Cat” Sylvester is sitting down to write a book about his life when both Tweety an Butch demand to be in it, and when Sylvester is done and leaves the pages on the table both Butch and Tweety add to it and this causes the book to be mostly about them and even the Publisher changes title name to feature their names. “A Lazy Crazy Day” it is Sylvester’s day off and when Granny calls for him he hides for her as he does not want to do any chores, and it’s Weezy that alerts him that he has seen Granny an Tweety drive away before Sylvester goes back home and falls asleep in his bed! But a little later Tweety awakens Sylvester and tells him Granny was looking for him to go to the amusement park with them and he of course missed out going by hiding.

In this issue we are treated to five stories with many of them once more being a bigger showcase for Sylvester with Tweety playing the supporting character. And you have to love the fact that Sylvester is catnapped in one of the stories and with the help of some mice and cakes is able to bring down a criminal counterfeit ring and be a hero as well as truly show that while he wants to kill his friend Tweety he still is a good feline…for the most part. And also in this issue Butch the Bulldog plays a bigger part and alley cat Weezy Cat also returns for a small cameo, and it was cool seeing both in these roles as they both now feel like apart of the series with Butch being in many issues up to this part. The best story in this issue is Making Dough as I like the fact that Sylvester is a reluctant crime fighter and uses his mind in order to stop crime! While the other four stories are good I would say Out With The New And In With The Old is the weakest as it was only a one page gag story over furniture and woodpeckers, but keep in mind this one page gag is even really good and is more cleaver than most modern kids comic being released in these modern times. And it is clear at this point that the creators of this comic series new that they could do more and better stories with Sylvester than Tweety and that is why he is given more panel time and more stories that revolve around him. The cover is cool and is a gag on exercise with once more the Unknown Artist bringing their great artwork to the interior pages of this comic. And with that let’s head to the next issue and see what it has in store for us.

Tweety & Sylvester # 110 **1/2
Released in 1981 Cover Price .50 Whitman # 110 of 121

“A Case Of Canary-Itis” Sylvester is walking down the street and sees Alfie Cat passing him by with a extreme tummy ache and Professor Cat tells him that he thinks Alfie has Canary-Itis a sickness that felines get after eating canary birds! Once home Sylvester sees Tweety and tries to avoid eating him as he does not want to get sick, but later in the day Sylvester and Tweety see Alfie and he is fine and Tweety tells Sylvester that the reason Alfie had a tummy ache was no sickness it was cause a canary he was chasing punched him in the gut! And this news gives Sylvester relief and he once more starts his chasing Tweety was back up. “Soft Landing” its snowing outside and Tweety wants Sylvester to go ice skating with him, but the feline refuses as last winter he slipped in the ice and got hurt…but after some encouraging words and some tied on pillows Sylvester heads to the ice with his friend Tweety. “Keep Calm!” Sylvester and his friend Bernie Cat are hanging out and before they part Bernie lends him a book about how to stay calm, and Sylvester rushes home to try and read it. But while at home Tweety keeps annoying him and no matter how hard he tries to ignore him the pesky bird just keeps getting under his skin. In the end Sylvester snaps and throws the book at Tweety and wants to have him for lunch! “Not For Sale” Granny is on the phone talking about selling some items at a bazaar and Tweety and Sylvester miss-understand her and think they are for sale and run away, but after wondering around trying to find a new home they are picked up by Granny a few minutes later who settles the misunderstanding and they all head to the sale to have fun. “One Life To Go” Sylvester is chasing Tweety around town and has an accident that has him hit by a truck and Tweety alerts him that he is on his last life of his nine! Sylvester runs home and hides in a closet as he does not want to die, but after chasing Tweety around the house and a bookshelf falling on him Sylvester thinks his nine lives have reset and is now wearing hockey pads in order to protect his next nine lives better.

This issue of Tweety and Sylvester is a pretty fun one but is a little basic when it comes to the five tales featured here as they bring some laughs but they also just seem like all are really just backup stories. And like before Sylvester is the main star of the comic but I will say Tweety also seems important in many of the stories. We also meet the ally cats Alfie Cat, Professor Cat and Bernie Cat with all of them being friendly with Sylvester and it’s clear that Bernie is one of Sylvester’s friends. The issue also features Granny and Duke with the later being super mean as when Sylvester and Tweety run away from home when they think they are being sold and need a place to stay Duke will let Tweety stay with him but not Sylvester. The best story in this issue is One Life To Go as I like that Sylvester is worried about his last life when he lost most of the others doing silly things like trying to get an apple from a tree and even gets killed four times by Butch the Bulldog! Plus the end laugh of Sylvester’s nine lives starting over again and him now wearing hockey gear to chase after Tweety is just fun cartoon stuff. The one story that did the least for me was A Case Of Canary-Itis as it was just kind of rushed to build the story of Sylvester being scared of eating a canary, but I do think the payout of the sickness really being that a mad canary punched a cat in the gut. The cover is great as I like that it has Sylvester and Tweety eating Chinese Food as it looks like Sylvester himself is eating some fried rice and that is one of my favorite things to eat! And you guessed it unknown artist once more did the interiors and killed it as they made them look like the cartoon characters but also have their own comic style and look. Over all a good issue that did it’s job as I was entertained reading it.

Tweety & Sylvester # 111 **1/2
Released in 1981 Cover Price .50 Whitman # 111 of 121

“Butch’s Party” Sylvester gets a letter in the mail that is a invite to the Birthday Party of the bully cat Butch who is so mean that if he does not like his gift he will beat you up! Sylvester goes and talks to some of his alley cat friends like Weezy and Norris to see what they are getting him, and then he panics when they have good gifts and he only has .36 for a gift! So he tries to make him a kite that ends up flying away and Tweety comes up with an idea to make it look like Sylvester was in an accident and can not attend the party, but it backfires for everyone as Butch now is going to have a second party later so Sylvester can attend! “ The Funaways” Granny has taken Sylvester and Tweety to the beach and as she takes a nap Sylvester chases Tweety around as he wants to have a juicy snack! But Tweety tricks Sylvester into following him into the beach’s amusement park and this causes Sylvester all kinds of pain and excitement and once back to Granny she is mad that Sylvester is passed out, as she wanted him to stay awake and watch Tweety. “The Photo Story” Sylvester has found Granny’s old box camera that only has three pictures left to take as he wants to enter the Knights Of The Alley Cats Photo Contest and his three subjects are Butch The Bulldog, Weezy and Tweety and all three end up getting hurt when the pictures are taken. And in the end Sylvester wins a prize that is about what not to do when you take photos. “Black Belt Birdie” Sylvester walks past a window and sees birds learning karate and gets scared of the idea of Tweety taking classes and beating him up! While walking home he finds that bulldog Butch’s house is destroyed an his arm is in a sling, and once inside Tweety’s cage is smashed up and this scares Sylvester silly. Sylvester goes to the basement and tries to learn to defend himself but when he finds out that Tweety does now know karate and that Butch’s injury was just an accident…and this means Sylvester chases Tweety around as he is hungry and doesn’t have to fear being beaten up! “Flight Of Fancy!” Tweety is outside in his cage with the door open in order to get some fresh air and Sylvester is trying to figure out away to capture him so that he can eat him! Sylvester uses all types of tactics from being fired out of a cannon, to swinging on a rope and even springs on his feet and each attempt ends the same way and that is with Sylvester being hurt! In the end covered in bandages Sylvester kicks some rocks that end up hitting Butch the Bulldog who chases the injured Sylvester up a tree. “Pills And Spills!” Granny has decided to give Tweety some vitamins to help him grow and Sylvester mocks it and even by accident knocks himself out while beating his chest. Meanwhile a tired and injured eagle crashes into a bucket of yellow paint and decides to rest on the roof of Granny’s and when Sylvester wakes up he thinks that the Yellow Eagle is Tweety who had already grew thanks to the vitamins, he uses a rope to wrap around the eagles leg that ends up taking him for a ride that see him crash through a window of a house that a realtor was showing who looses the sale and punches Sylvester for the lost house sell.

For this issue we are treated to six stories featuring Tweety and Sylvester and they are up to all types of mischief from heading to the beach to trying their hand at photography and of course sometimes the pair are friends working together and other times they are under each others skin and Sylvester is trying to have a birdie sandwich! And that is one of the more fun aspects of these comics as each issue from story to story the friendship between Sylvester and Tweety is present even when they are trying to annoy the other, as always when one is in need of help the other is their to do so. This issue also has cameos from Granny and Butch The Bulldog who both at this point are clearly supporting characters. For me the best story of the bunch was Butch’s Party as I like that the neighborhood bully cat throws himself a birthday party every year and makes all the alley cats attend and give him gifts, and this year Sylvester has no money to get a gift so he and Tweety try and figure out a way for him not to attend the party and get beat up…great silly stuff. If I had to pick the weakest story I would say Flight And Fancy and while it is a funny tale, it is also the one that feels like you have seen the gags many times in other kids comics. The cover is fitting for this issue as its about photography and yep Unknown Artist was at it again doing the interior art, but I will say you can tell different artists worked on this issue as many of the stories look different from each other. Over all another solid issue and one that I enjoyed reading!

Tweety & Sylvester # 113 ***
Released in 1982 Cover Price .60 Whitman # 113 of 121

“Elecronicat” Sylvester has created a robot cat to use in his attempt to capture Tweety, but things get crazy when Sylvester looses control of the robot cat and it destroys the house and even knocks down Granny as Tweety leads it outside! Finally Butch the Bulldog breaks the robot cat and stops it’s rampage as Sylvester is in big trouble and is forced to clean up the house. “Quarantined” Sylvester is chasing Tweety around and they end up in the kitchen when Tweety uses pepper to make his feline attacker sneeze and this triggers Granny to take him to the vet, and later Sylvester uses the pepper trick on Tweety and now Granny thinks both her pets are sick and place them in a room together! But Tweety thinks fast and uses the vents to get more pepper and uses it on Granny and now the three of them have to quarantine for 10 days together and this saves the birds life as Sylvester wanted to eat him! “World’s Fastest Feline” Sylvester is chasing Tweety around the block when the feline is asked to join a race for cats were the winner gets their face on a cat food box and gets me meet the companies female feline spokes lady! And in order to stand a chance Sylvester has Tweety fly in front of him in order to gain the speed, but things turn south when Tweety goes off the track in order to talk to a friend and this causes Sylvester to loose as well as all the other cats who end up following his lead! In the end in anger the cats are chasing Sylvester who is chasing Tweety. “Meating With Defeat” Sylvester is craving meat and cannot stand to eat anymore dry cat food, so he attempts to steak a steak from Butch the Bulldog and on his first attempt he gets tossed over a fence and his second one he by accident pulls the hot grill on himself with a fishing pole! In the end out of anger he once more starts chasing Tweety around the alleys. “Hooligan’s Island” Sylvester and Tweety have grabbed some snack food to sit an watch their favorite TV Show but the picture is bad, so Sylvester and climbs to the roof and tries to move the antenna around but things go wrong when it gets hooked in a helicopter and carries the frightened feline away. “Magic Madness” Sylvester is reading a book about witchcraft and learns that cats are the favorite pets for witches and he thinks that he has magic powers and when trying to use them things around start to move around! In the end Tweety figures out that the construction next door is what is causing the items to move and Sylvester still believes he has powers and walks around like a goof trying to use them. “It’s Okay, Chief” tiny aliens come to Earth and meet Tweety and Sylvester and by mistake both of our stars get stuck in the UFO and fly around town! And in the end the Aliens think that Earth and its people are silly and head back home.

Holy Cow we have seven stories in this issue and shocking all of them are really fun and many of them are all about the chase between Sylvester and Tweety and then a few others have them being friends and going on adventures together! And lets us also not forget to mention that this issue also has a few Horror and Sci-Fi elements as they add one story that is about witchcraft and another that is about aliens and UFO’s and this is what also made this issue very cool for me! And of course Granny and Butch The Bulldog show up and add to the humor and each have their moments to shine. When it comes to the best story in this issue it was really hard to pick as I liked several of them lots but I think I would choose Quarantined as my favorite as you can not go wrong with the classic pepper causing people to sneeze bit, plus I like the fact it was a war game with that pepper as using it at the right time is what made this story move and bring the chuckles. Almost taking the best was Magic Madness as it was so cool to see Sylvester thinking he was a witch and had magical powers, it was fitting to have a dash of Horror in kids comics at this time. And if I was forced to pick the weakest I would say Hooligan’s Island as while it was fun and silly it was very short and the payout was cheesy. The cover for this issue is bright and eye catching and classic comedy stuff and I know you are sick of hearing this but Unknown Artist did a great job on the issues interior art. So with that ,let’s head to the next issue and see what is in store for us.

Tweety & Sylvester # 119 **1/2
Released in 1984 Cover Price .60 Whitman # 119 of 121

“The Cat On The Flying Trapeze” Jenny Lush is a canary who works for the circus and Sylvester decides that he wants to eat her for dinner and tracks her down to a hotel and ends up getting beat up by her Hawk bodyguard. Meanwhile Tweety has fallen in love with Jenny and the two have dinner, and while having dinner Sylvester tries to attack the two but falls out of the window and is sent to the hospital as Tweety and Jenny end up having a relationship. “Canary Clean-Up” an alley in town is messy and Tweety and the Canary Scouts decide to clean it up and when Weezy and the other alley cats show up they find their home clean and all their trash food gone. They find Tweety’s scout cap and head to threaten Sylvester that he better have Tweety mess the alley back up or they will mess him up! Sylvester does not know what to do as Granny is happy with the alley being clean but he don’t want to be beat up by his fellow felines. Tweety heads back to the alley for his hat and meets the alley cats and shows them that they moved their old cans to a better location and all is well between them…well besides Sylvester who gives chase to Tweety once he figured out that he made him stress for no reason. “One Night Stand” Sylvester is trying to join a feline singing group and his voice is bad, and this causes him to not get the gig but as one of the cats goes to his house to tell him he stinks, Tweety is listening to an album and the cat thinks that the singing is Sylvester and he is hired in the group. But when they play their first gig Sylvester sings and they are booed off stage and he is quickly fired. “Final Fate” Sylvester finally captured Tweety and is heating up the oven and getting all his spices ready, and while this is happening Tweety reminds him they are friends and all the bad things that will happen if he eats him, and this gives Tweety enough time to escape and for Sylvester to fall out a window and wind up in the hospital.

Okay, first thing I need to say is this issue also has three shorter stories just called “Sylvster and Tweety” that are clearly reprints from another Looney Tunes comic book, one of these has Sylvester and Tweety on a farm and it’s a funny read. But it is clear by this point that this comic series was running a little low on stream as each stories are a little shorter and seem to rush to a ending with many at this point ending with Sylvester getting hurt and winding up in the hospital or wrapped in bandages. Also with them reprinting old strips shows that they were just trying to fill the pages. But with that said this issue still is really good and almost all of the stories bring a few chuckles and laughs as we go along with Sylvester as he tries to become a singer as well as try and kill a celebrity bird! While we also see that Tweety is super smart as well as supportive and a friend to Sylvester no matter how many times the feline tries to eat him. The best story in this issue for me was One Night Stand as watching Sylvester sing terrible and yet do to a miss understanding somehow able to join a singing group and in one night with less than one song gets them booed out of a feline night club is funny and epic. I would say the weakest would just be the reprinted stories as they are fun just a letdown that they took this route. The cover is cool and has Sylvester and Tweety listen to records and the interior art by Unknown Artist is great like before. Over all another fun issue that did its job of entertaining me, but up next is the final issue I have ready for this update.

Tweety & Sylvester # 120
Released in 1984 Cover Price .60 Whitman # 120 of 121

“The Jolly Joker” Sylvester has sent away for a Genie in a bottle in order to help him capture Tweety, but he soon learns that the Genie is a prankster and uses his magic to help but in weird ways that always ends with him getting joy out of the anger and chaos it is causing. Finally Sylvester and Tweety team up and trick the Genie back in his bottle to end his silly ways as they send him back. “Cat With A Hat” Sylvester is watching a magic show and returns home wanting to learn magic, and by mistake Tweety takes a nap in a box and Sylvester thinks his magic made him appear! But after a few tries Tweet ends up trying to help Sylvester with his magic but his help causes him to get be up by a bunny thats kids wind up in his hat. And Sylvester mad after getting beat up chases Tweety through the woods who ends up finding a bulldog to protect him. “School Daze” Sylvester decides to go to school in order to learn and use what he does learn in ways to capture Tweety, but of course Tweety comes to the school and causes trouble and Sylvester is blamed for it and ends up by the end being apart of the football team as he is a kicker and the team paints pictures of Tweety on the ball! “ Borrowed Trouble” Sylvester has lost his money purse and is now in need of cash and tries to borrow some money from Tweety who in turn plays up that he has lots of money and makes Sylvester get him food, draw a bath and even fight off another cat! In the end the money he gives Sylvester is his own as Tweety found his money purse and this causes Sylvester to be mad and chase him around! “Birdwatcher” Granny has Sylvester watch after Tweety while she is gone for the morning and Tweety acts as if he is sleepwalking in order to get outside and see his bird friends, and when Tweety gets away Sylvester buys a new cage and captures him at the pet store, but because he bought the cage he gets a free gift that is another canary and the two are now driving the feline crazy.

This is the final issue I currently own of Tweety And Sylvester and this issue is also the one before the series would come to an end at Whitman Comics and I have to say this issue was lots of fun and it seemed like the creative minds behind the series knew that it was coming to an end and tried to deliver a very fun and entertaining issues for the readers. And that is one thing I have to say that Tweety and Sylvester as well as all the other Looney Tune comics that was released by Whitman and Gold Key Comics were very well done kids comics as they did the characters justice and kept them close to the cartoons but also did a great job of building a comic book world around them. Sylvester throughout this series really is the star as we follow him through many adventures as well as his weird friendship with Tweety as well as the alley cats that live around his home. Tweety in this series loves to push the buttons of Sylvester but also very much looks at him as a friend as he does what he can most of the time to help him out of trouble as well as point out that they are friends. And their friendship that is on and off again is what makes this comic work as it brings lots of the humorous situations throughout the series. This issue featured five stories with all of them being really fun and for me the best being The Jolly Joker as I like that both Sylvester and Tweety get sick of the Genie and his pranking ways and team up to get him back in the bottle and sent back via the mail were he came from. But I also really liked School Daze as Sylvester going back to school and joining the football team reminded me of the Adam Sandler films “Billy Madison” and “The Waterboy”. I would say that Birdwatcher was the weakest story as while it had some great cartoonish moments I feel the payout of the new canary joining the house was just kind of meh. The cover for this issue is fun as it has Tweety and Sylvester playing with a train set, and the blue background makes it very eye catching. The interior artwork was done by the Unknown Artist as was the whole series and I like the different styles used throughout while some times I was not a fan of how the artist drew Sylvester as some would make him look super chubby I have to say over all I really dug the art in the series. So as you can see, Whitman comics back in the 70’s and 80’s really did bring great comics to the hands of Looney Tune fans and delivered some very fun and silly reads. Check out the artwork below to see some of the styles used by the Unknown Artists.

The Tweety and Sylvester comic series by Whitman and Gold Key Comics is lots of fun and reading these made me feel like a kid again as my brother and I use to read these all the time growing up, and these comics are truly great Kid Comics that are based on cartoons of the time. And thank you for spending a little part of your Thanksgiving with me here at Rotten Ink as doing these updates I hope make your holiday just a little more fun. And before we end this I also really want to say if you like Sylvester and Tweety track down a few of these issues and give them a read. Well for our next update and the start of our countdown to Christmas Eve 2024 I will be taking a look at ManTech a forgotten toy series from Remco that got the comic treatment from Archie Comics! So until next time read a Looney Tune comic or three, watch a Looney Tune Cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update and eat a little more mashed potatoes for me today and I hope you are ready for some ManTech in your life next update.

A True Hero Of The People: Robin Hood

Posted on November 9, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and the first update in our countdown to Thanksgiving 2024. One classic hero that I have been a fan of since I was a kid is Robin Hood, the man who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Robin Hood is a folk legend that has been talked about since the 13^th Century and is a symbol of hope for the less fortunate as he is a hero for them, a man who cares about them having food for their bellies, wine to drink to quench their thirst and a roof over their heads. Robin Hood is a world wide icon as his story and legend are known worldwide, and the fact that he stands up against the greedy and those who abuse their power makes him a true hero for many. I think the most awesome thing about Robin Hood is that no one really knows who created his story or if he was truly based on a real person, and all we truly know is that it looks as if his legend started in England. But with that, let’s head to Sherwood Forest and go on a blog update adventure with Robin Hood and his Merry Men!

Before we dive to deep into this blog update, let’s first take a brief look at the characters that make up the lore of this timeless tale. Robin Hood is an outlaw who is skilled with his bow and arrows and who is loyal to Richard The Lionheart, who was the King Of England. Robin Hood would steal money, food and other goods from the rich and greedy in order to give to the poor who were suffering near Nottingham, and this made him the enemy of the kingdom. Robin Hood did his “crimes” with the help of his Merry Men that included Little John a mountain of a man, Friar Tuck who works for the church, Will Scarlet a young skilled sword man with other members being Alan-A-Dale, Much The Miller’s Son, Will Stutely, Arthur-A-Bland and David Of Doncaster. Robin Hood’s lover interest is the lovely Maid Marion who was the daughter of a nobel man and who falls for Robin Hood after he robs some of her father’s knights and she falls for him (other tales have them knowing each other since childhood). The baddies of these tales are the corrupt and evil Sheriff Of Nottingham, the knight Guy Of Gisborne, Bishop Of Hereford and Prince John to name a few. This is just a crash course for the bios for Robin Hood and the characters that make up his legends and tales, and if you are interested in learning more about them there are plenty of great books, websites, films and shows that can help you learn more.

With Robin Hood being a legend in lore, this of course lead to him being the subject of many TV shows, movies and cartoons with almost all of them being hits with viewers and fans as something about the character Robin Hood has always found a spot with people who enjoy his adventures. I would like to take a brief moment to talk about a few of the films and shows that I can remember loving growing up! The first version of Robin Hood I remember was “The Adventures Of Robin Hood” from 1938 where actor Errol Flynn played the hero and this version of the tale still to this day remains one of my favorite film versions. The next one of course was the 1973 Disney animated film “Robin Hood” that had Brian Bedford voice Robin Hood who in this version is a talking fox. The big film version of my generation was the 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves” that had Kevin Costner playing Robin. I was a big fan of this film and had the action figures done by Kenner, the NES game, and the breakfast cereal as well as the Topps trading cards. And those are my top three favorite film versions of Robin Hood but many have played the character over the decades in film and television such as Richard Greene, Thor Bishopric, Russell Crowe, Cary Elwes, Patrick Bergin, Taron Egerton, Douglas Fairbanks and Michael Praed to name a very small few. One of the strangest Robin Hoods has to be from the 1966 cartoon series called “Rocket Robin Hood” that has a space version of the character called Rocket Robin Hood who with his Merry Men in space fight off aliens…yep, it’s a weird one. These are just some of the films, cartoons and shows based on Robin Hood, and I am sure you readers have your favorites as well.

While Robin Hood has shown up in many video games, the one that I want to talk about is called “Super Robin Hood” and it was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System as part of a game called “Quattro Adventure” that also features the games “Boomerang Kid”, “Treasure Island Dizzy” and “Linus Spacehead”. The game is super basic as it’s a side scrolling action game that has you play as Robin Hood armed with his bow & arrow as he collects treasure and fights off the guards that are protecting it, and you are on this quest in a massive castle that acts like a maze and you need to find keys in order to unlock doors. Besides the guards, the area is also filled with falling maces, flames, lava, bats and traps making your quest very dangerous. While collecting the treasures to give to the poor is a big part of the adventure, the main goal is to save Maid Marion who is being kept prisoner at the Nottingham Castle. While the game is not groundbreaking it is a fun and simple game that will surely kill some time on a boring weekend and will give fans of Robin Hood some joy as they arrow down baddies and save the day. I should also say that this game was released in 1991 for the NES, and is one I did not have as a kid.

Did you know that Robin Hood has also made his way into the world of food as well? As some restaurants have the name Robin Hood or have that Sherwood Forest theme with one being a cool little diner in Southampton, PA that at some point I plan on eating at whenever I am in the area. But what I want to really talk about is Robin Hood Flour, a product that has been on store shelves since 1909 and is currently released by J.M. Smucker Company who of course makes the Smucker Jellies to the retail market. The flour is very popular in Canada and can be obtained at some grocery stores here in America that deal in imported foods. When I was a kid I do remember seeing Robin Hood Flour on the shelves when my Mom would bring my brother and I grocery shopping and would try and get her to get it as it said Robin Hood on it. One day Juliet and I should get some Robin Hood Flour and make some Robin Hood themed cupcakes!

One other thing I want to briefly talk about is that at Jungle Jims, a massive world market grocery store in Cincinnati and a place that has all types of awesome decorations that many are taking from old amusement parks as well as fairs. One of the coolest things they have is the Sherwood Forest area that is complete with animatronics of Robin Hood and his Merry Men that has come from an old amusement park. The animatronics are on a timer and sometimes move about and talk. Now this is very awesome to see if you are a fan of Robin Hood like myself seeing these old amusement park attractions while grocery shopping is a really cool thing and adds to the Jungle Jim experience. Checkout the picture below as it was taken by my gal Juliet.

Now many of you know that I like the old Marx Toys and some of my favorites that I own are my 60mm figures of Robin Hood that come in green plastic. The knights are in grey and are taller versions of the classic plastic Army Men figures. The ones that I have are Robin Hood, Maid Marion, Little John, Friar Tuck, The Minstrel, Sheriff Of Nottingham and a Knight. These figures are so cool and I would say that my two favorite ones are Robin Hood himself as well as Little John as I like the designs of them, and the best part is these figures are from the 1960’s and they have really good details for that time. Sadly I do not have the whole set as there are more Merry Men as well as Knights for figures and they also had play sets that I do not have that included horses. But just wanted to take a moment to show these Marx Toys some respect as I really do think they are cool basic figures that I am sure brought many of kids happiness in the 60’s and 70’s as Robin Hood was very popular then.

Since I was a very young kid I have been a big fan of the legend of Robin Hood as a hero of the woods who helped the poor and robbed the rich that were very greedy and treated others poorly was something that just always set right with me. When you breakdown Robin Hood to his core, he is a hero who decided to do something about all the injustice he was seeing in his homeland and along with a band of like-minded folks they set out to right all the wrongs and give hope to those who needed it the most. Now we are at the review part of this update, and I have decided that the comic will be from King Comics as they had a cool three issue mini series perfect for this update. Now keep in mind this was a really hard choice as there are many Robin Hood comics to choose from that are really great reads. I would like to thank Game Swap Kettering for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I would like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s head to Sherwood Forest and see what Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men have in store for us.

King Classics: Robin Hood # 1 ***
Released in 1977 Cover Price NA King # 4 of 24

King Richard is fighting the crusade and rumor is he is being held for ransom, and while he is away the likes of Sheriff Of Nottingham and Guy Of Gisborne are taking advantage of the people by taxing them with the guise of using the money to get the King back. Sir Richard, the father of Marion, asks the Sheriff for a loan as well as to watch over his daughter while he goes on a quest to rescue the King, and a terrible deal is made. Later Robin Hood is gathering locals to join his group that is protesting the corruption and even scares away Guy Of Gisborne causing him to play a bounty on the head of Robin! While The Sheriff has set up Sir Richard that leaves his boat crew turning on him and he winds up a prisoner in the dungeon of the Nottingham castle. Robin Hood then meets a mountain of a man named Little John who after a quick tussle joins The Merry Men the group that helps Robin and together they defeat The Sheriff and Guy who made the mistake of trying to track down the bandits. And later Robin Hood and his men steal tons of gold to give to the poor from Geoffrey Of Bellamy, a man who is trying to marry Marion by force thanks to The Sheriff and this causes Robin Hood and his men to come up with a plan to stop the wedding and free Sir Richard from his cell. Some time passes and on the wedding day of Geoffrey and Marion, the brave Robin Hood and his men are able to save Marion as well as scare off Geoffrey and his men that come looking for her, and this cause major anger and even gets the attention of acting King Prince John The Landless who holds a arrow contest hoping that it will draw out Robin Hood cause of the high prize money and he is right! As the knights surround Robin Hood from the woods, The Merry Men appear and are able to save their leader and pull off a big escape, but five Merry Men are taken prisoner. And Robin Hood of course comes for them and saves them as well as Sir Richard and finally he is able to see his daughter Marion again, but their joy is cut short when Geoffrey and his men attack and kill many of the Merry Men and even take Marion back prisoner! Now Robin Hood is angry that he along with Little John and other Merry Men head to the castle for a big showdown. Robin and his men are joined in battle by a cloaked man who saves Robin twice during the battle and soon The Sheriff, Geoffrey, Guy and Prince John and their men loose the fight and Robin Hood is the hero of the day, he also learns that the cloak fighter was King Richard and he also is able to win the heart of Marion and the two are to be married.

This is such a fun read and while some of the pacing is a little odd and I feel like characters such as Little John are downplayed it still is a thrilling adventure ride that showcases the bravery and caring personality of Robin Hood. The issue’s plot is simple The King of England is missing as he went to fight in a Holy War an during his absent many of his fellow rulers and people of power are taking advantage of the people by raising taxes and stealing their land, but Robin Hood and his band of friends and followers have seen enough and are fighting against this corruption and evil doings and this is causing a big brooding battle to take place that will leave only one side standing. Robin Hood is a very caring man who wants to help those less fortunate and will protect them when those wishing them harm comes around, he is loyal to his friends and those he swore to protect and is super skilled with a sword but more so with his trusty bow and arrow. He will die for his cause and while looked as an outlaw by some for the many he is deemed a hero. Little John is a mountain of man who once worked on the side of the greedy but who now is using his strength and skills to fight along Robin Hood in his quest to help the poor. Marion and her father Sir Richard are both good people as well who want to see England flourish and serve only the missing King Richard. And of course Marion and Robin fall in love when he saves her and she lives with him at his camp. The issues baddies Sheriff Of Nottingham, Guy Of Gisborne, Geoffrey Of Bellamy and Prince John The Landless are all big talkers but none of them have the means to truly deal with the “outlaws” that are being a pain in their sides and have disrupted the flow of the money and land they are stealing. And in the end all these guys get what they deserve when King Richard returns to England and shows that he is not on their side nor approves on what they have done while he was away. The issue has some action and while it would have been nice if the fights were a little more showcase I feel this is a really good comic that does the legend justice…I will say that I would have like to have seen Friar Tuck even in a cameo. The cover for this issue is pretty cool and shows Robin Hood firing off an arrow, and the interior art is really cool classic comic book stuff but cannot find who did it so Unknown Artist gets the credit. Over all if you like the legend of Robin Hood and find a copy of this comic make sure to give it a read as it really is a enjoyable read, and checkout the artwork bellow to see the style used in this comic. Oh and Robin Hood wears red in this comic and not green the color most people think of when this character comes up.

As you can see, Robin Hood really is one of the most iconic heroes around the world and his story is still being told in books, comics and films as his impact on culture is that deep. And when choosing what comic to cover for this update I have so many to choose from as such companies as A+ Comics, Eclipse Comics, Dell Comics, Eternity Comics and Charlton Comics have all made some amazing comics based on him. So in other words, if you like Robin Hood you have many comic options to choose from to read. Well it looks like it is time for us to leave Sherwood Forest and head to the world of coloring books as we take a look at Captain America and his Whitman adventure fighting robots! So until next time, read a comic of three, watch a Robin Hood film or two and as always support your local horror host. See you next update for some coloring time!

From Horror Movie To Horror Comic: The Man From Planet X (1951)

Posted on June 13, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink where today we will be taking a look at the sci-fi horror film The Man From Planet X and the comic adaptation made about it! This classic film was released in the 1950’s and was during the big alien invasion boom that filled cinemas and packed drive-in theaters across America. And even back then both comic companies and moviemakers knew that comics was a great way to promote the film. The Man From Planet X is a one of those B-Movies that has gained a cult following, and the first comic book version was released by Fawcett and worth a pretty penny, so we will be reading and reviewing the reprint that was released by Planet X comics. So let’s get out of this fog and try and avoid this alien from Planet X as I heard he is not such a nice guy! It’s time for From Horror Movie To Horror Comic The Man From Planet X.

Let’s take a look at The Man From Planet X Alien and his way of dealing death to the Earthlings that get in his way of leading an invasion of our planet. The Man From Planet X is from Planet X, a planet that is dying due to super cold temperatures, and he has been sent to Earth to check it out to see if his people could live there or even maybe get help from the Earthlings…but while friendly at first, his attitude changes when he is attacked and now he is out for revenge. The Man From Planet X speaks in a musical tone and this can confuse his victims and his odd appearance of strange humanlike face, bowl over head and alien clothes can also cause major fear in his human targets. He also has a ray that allows him to take control over the minds of humans that he can shine it on, these mindless slaves will do whatever the alien asks and that includes doing hard work but more importantly he can have them attack fellow humans and capture them in order for him to mind control them as well, in other words he could build an army of mindless Earthlings that would work for his cause of taking over The Earth. The Man From Planet X is also very smart and can uses his mind to come up with strategies for his cause and even uses such natural Earth things like fog to his advantage to sneak and attack humans. He also has a starship that allows him to enter and exit space and its appearance as well can cause fear and cause terror to those who see it. The Man From Planet X’s main tool to deal out death is his ray gun that with one blast will kill a human dead. But while The Man From Planet X has tools and the brains to be a bringer of death to mankind, he can be defeated like any living thing. The Man From Planet X’s main weakness is that he cannot breath our air and if you take out his gas tank he will die from suffocation. He can also be shot or blown up, and this will also end his life. He also while can be dangerous seems to not have a full killer instinct unless he is pushed and feels threatened and this could also lead to him being attacked and killed if someone can set him up. He is also not very big and this causes him to be over powered very easily, and he is not skilled in a hand to hand fight. The Man From Planet X might not be the most dangerous of aliens, but when push comes to shove he can kill with ease.

So as you can see, The Man From Planet X is a true alien on a mission to either get help from the Earth or take it over! So I think that it’s now time for us to take a look at the film as it is what spawned him and like always I will be taking the film’s write up from IMDB and after that I will write about the film’s production as well as my thoughts. So if you are ready, let’s take a walk on the foggy moors and see if we run across The Man From Planet X.

The Man From Planet X (1951)

“To study a rogue planet heading for a near-miss with Earth, Prof. Elliot sets up an observatory on the foggy moors of a remote Scottish island, with his pretty daughter and Dr. Mears, a former student with a shady past. Soon after arrival of reporter John Lawrence, a ship from Planet X just happens to land near the observatory. Is the visitor (who actually looks alien) benevolent? What are Mears’ real motives for trying to communicate with it?”

The Man From Planet X was a cheaply made sci-fi horror film that was produced by Jack Pollexfen and Audrey Wisberg and was written by the pair as well who had a history of making cheap films in different genres. Audrey produced such films as Hercules In New York (1970)”, “Son Of Sinbad (1955)” and “Captain Kidd And The Slave Girl (1954)” with Jack working on such films as “Indestructible Man (1956)” and “The Neanderthal Man (1953)” showing that the pair knew how to make fun cheaply made films. They would bring in Edgar G. Ulmer to direct the film, who was himself a veteran of making horror and sci-fi films including for Universal as in 1934 he directed the film The Black Cat that starred Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and John Carradine. Actors hired for this film included Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Roy Engel, Raymond Bond and Charles Davis to name a few. The film started filming on December 13, 1950 at Hal Roach Studios out of California and they would reuse the sets from the film Joan Of Arc that was filmed in 1948 by Ingrid Bergman and would wrap filming in only six day’s as the budget was only around $51 thousand. The film would be scored by Charles Koff and distributed by United Artists and would be released in theaters in 1951 and would make around $1.2 million dollars at the box office. The film was met with pretty positive reviews from critics as well as fans and has gone on to gain a big cult following and would later be released on home media to entertaining a new generation of viewers. The film in 1951 was released with such other films as The Thing, The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Strange Door, Abbot And Costello Meet The Invisible Man, Bride Of The Gorilla and Two Lost Worlds to name a few.

In the 1950’s the horror films were pretty much sci-fi films as that was what was popular at the time and bringing viewers into the cinemas and drive-in theaters as the Space Race was in this decade and the thought of man walking on the moon and stepping foot on other planets filled the minds of everyone. Not to mention, people were also scared of the unknown from space like aliens and UFO’s. And of course cheaper Hollywood producers cashed in on this trend and cranked out spooky Alien invasions films and The Man From Planet X was one of those cheapies that was made during this time but was one of the more entertaining ones made on that lower level. And I want to say the first time I ever saw the film was on either TBS or TNT when I was a youngster and it might have been on a classic MonsterVision episode that would have been hosted by The Moon and Narrator. I remember always thinking that the Planet X Alien was very cool looking and the use of the fog in the film gave it a very spooky feel. And the plot of the film had that already very familiar feel for this era of Sci-Fi Horror. But sadly I think that while it had a cult following, it was ultimately lost in the shuffle as the year it hit theaters the films The Thing and The Day The Earth Stood Still were released and it took a back seat to those at being some of that decade’s best films in the genres of horror. And of course when this film was released on DVD I made sure to get it for my collection and if you have not seen this film make sure to check it out.

So as you can see, The Man From Planet X is a very entertaining film and the Planet X Alien is pretty dangerous! And I have to once more stress that this film is lots of fun and deserves the cult classic status it has. And it is really cool that Plant X Comics did this cool reprint of the Fawcett Comic adaptation of this film as the original comic sells for hundreds of dollars with the reprint selling for a few dollars. I would like to thank Bell Book And Comic for having this comic in stock and making this update possible. I also want to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that if you are ready, let’s grab some pitchforks to keep Earth safe as the Alien from Planet X has landed and he doesn’t look happy!

The Man From Planet X # 1 ***
Released in 1987 Cover Price NA Planet X # 1 of 1

Newspaper reporter John Lawrence is with astronomer Dr. Blaine, and they are talking about a new planet called Planet X that is heading towards Earth. John has a message from Professor Elliot, the man who discovered Planet X to come meet with him on a fog covered island near Scotland, and John does just that and is picked up by Professor Elliot’s daughter Enid Elliot and quickly gets a crush on her. When at Prof. Elliot’s lab John learns that Planet X is getting even closer to Earth and it looks like there are living beings on it! John also learns that the creepy and conman Dr. Mears is helping Prof. Elliot on his research of Planet X, and when on a late night walk with Enid the pair find a strange device sent from Planet X to test our planet’s atmosphere and all take a look at this light weight metal and wonder what is next. Enid then drives John into town and once coming back home she gets a flight tire and also sees a spaceship with a strange Planet X Alien inside it, and when Prof. Elliot goes to investigate and learns that The Man From Planet X has a ray that can control the minds of humans and if Enid did not guide her father away who knows what his fate would have been. The next day John and Prof. Elliot have another run in with The Man From Planet X and at first it goes terrible as the alien pulls a gun on them but after they save his life when his breaking tube for his helmet is leaking the alien becomes friendly and follows them home. While back at the lab The Man From Planet X tries to talk to them but is language is like that of music and Dr. Mears thinks that his math skills might be able to break down a sort of dialogue between the two. As Prof. Elliot falls ill all of a sudden, John heads to town for medicine as Enid stays by her fathers side. Away from the others, Dr. Mears attacks The Man Of Planet X and turns off his breathing gas knocking him out and this causes The Man From Planet X when he is awake again to think all humans are bad, and he kidnaps Enid back to his ship as John forces Dr. Mears to go along with him to get her back, but things get out of hand when The Man From Planet X uses his mind control ray on Enid, Dr. Mears, Prof. Elliot as well as others from town to be his mindless slaves as John is forced to get the police and military to the island to prepare for war as the alien is about to send a message to his home planet to start the invasion. Before the military bombs the alien ship to end the terror, John is able to sneak to the ship and save the lives of all of the humans under control and even fist fights and knocks down The Man From Planet X! Dr. Mears regains his senses and rushes to the alien who in turn shoots and kills him just as the military bombs the ship and kills The Man From Planet X and this also stops the invasion. And in the end as John and Prof. Eliot watch the ship burn they talk that they learned that Planet X was dying and all they wanted to do is find place to stay…and Dr. Mears ruined the peace with his greed and aggression.

This is a really fun comic that does a great job of bringing the film alive on these pages and while the comic can be a little wordy in spots the over all spooky and fun nature comes through. The plot is very simple and has an alien from another planet come to Earth only to find that all humans are not nice and one mans actions causes what could be the war of the worlds, and only a newspaper reporter, an old scientist and his daughter can save the Earth from the invasion. Let’s first start off talking about Dr. Mears, a true scumbag who even when at college was being looked at for shady doings and for some reason Professor Elliot trusts this man and his math skills to help him look into Planet X as well as The Man From Planet X and of course his shifty ways causes major issues as he attacks the alien and has ideas to use him to force respect, power and to gain an advantage in the world of science… Dr. Mears is truly the bad guy of this comic as well as film. Plus the comic has The Man From Planet X kill Mears when in the film it’s the military that seals the doctor’s fate. Professor Elliot is super smart and is the one who noticed the approaching planet and is the one trying to figure out why and at what coast it will have on Earth, his lovely daughter Enid Elliot is very sweet and nice and is doing what she can to help her father in his research as well as finds herself falling in love with John. Speaking of John Lawrence he is a good reporter who is the true hero of the day even more so than the cops and military as all they want to do is use bombs to stop the alien, while John wants to save all the innocent human lives that are under mind control and he does just that! The Man From Planet X is sent to Earth in order in order to try and get help to save his planet that is turning to ice and is willing at first to trade science secrets with us for help, but after being attacked he turns bad and now is going to send word that Earth needs to be invaded and even takes over the minds of Earthlings to do his bidding. The comic does not feature blood just like the movie don’t and only has two kills and that is Dr. Mears being shot and The Man From Planet X being blown up. While by today’s horror standards, this comic would not be scary, but in the 1950’s when original released I am sure it was spooky stuff! The cover for this reprint comic is pretty cool and features elements of the film’s poster as well as uses bright yellow that makes it eye catching. The interior art is done by…well that is the thing many different artists over the years have been given credit for it but we will say Unknown Artist and is fantastic stuff and I really dig how they draw The Man From Planet X! This is such a great read and does the source it’s based off of justice and is well worth a read for fans of the film or those who like classic Sci-Fi Alien Invasion stories. I do also want to say that the comic does change some elements in order to keep the comic a fast read and fit in the page count given. Checkout the artwork below to see the art style used in this issue.

You have to love those old 50’s low budget B-Movie sci-fi horror films as there was something so special about many of them from that time. And I think that The Man From Planet X is a very underrated film that should be looked back on just as fondly as many of the other films from that time. Plus I love those old horror films that were shot on sets and have that eerie creepy feel to them that they mask the limitations of the studio set by the use of fog machines. And I really do have to say a big THANK YOU to Planet X Comics who back in the late 1980’s made this reprint edition of the comic as finding an original copy is super heard and expensive. But as you can see, this From Horror Movie To Horror Comic update has came to an end and before we part ways I would like to let you readers know that our next update will take us to the world of Horror Hosting as we chat about The Night Watchman, the host of WGN Movie Underground! So until next time, read a horror comic or three, watch a horror movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update as this will surely be a fun one as The Night Watchman is so zany.

The Mighty Gigantic Grape Ape!

Posted on May 22, 2024 by bloodlinematt

Hanna-Barbera cartoons were very big in my youth as I grew up in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and they seemed to be on every Saturday and Sunday mornings, with me watching many of them when they first aired and others via reruns on USA Network’s show The Cartoon Express. And while you longtime readers know that Yogi Bear is my favorite Hanna-Barbera character, another one that is at the top of my list is Grape Ape as his cartoon was so silly and entertaining that he became a must see toon for me. And over the years I feel that I have not covered enough of the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons that shaped my childhood as up to this point we have only covered FooFur, Inch High Private Eye, GoBots and Yogi Bear and now Grape Ape will be joining their ranks. So if you are ready to go on an adventure with a massive purple ape who is called Grape Ape, let’s get this update started!

The Grape Ape Show was a cartoon that was created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera to release via their Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC to air for their Saturday Morning Cartoons lineup. The show would start airing on September 6, 1975 and would end on December 13, 1975, lasting for one season and a total of 16 episodes. Even though it would only run for a very short time, the cartoon would remain airing in reruns until 1978 and was very popular with the kids. The show would then end up in airing on the USA Network as part of their Cartoon Express and would find even more fans and viewers and would make Grape Ape an even bigger star in the world of cartoons. Oddly enough over the years the show has not gotten the complete series released on VHS, DVD nor Blu-Ray even though it remains a highly requested series for Warner Brothers to release. But for some reason you can get the series only digitally via Amazon. I know for many of you readers it is shocking to thank that only 16 episodes were made for Grape Ape as when I was a kid it seemed like he was always on via reruns.

Grape Ape is a 40 Foot Tall purple-furred ape that is very childlike who wears a green jacket, black bowtie and green hat that has only two things he can say and that’s “Grape Ape, Grape Ape” and “Beegly Beagly”. He has a very big sweet tooth and likes to eat ice cream and due to his size, he is very misunderstood by those who come across him as to them they see a giant monster but really his is sweet and super friendly. Because of his size he can also move cars like toy cars and can easily save the day as he is always looking to do the right thing. Besides The Great Grape Ape Show, he has also appeared in such cartoons as “Laff-A-Lympics” as part of Scooby-Doo’s team and over the years also has made a cameos of some sort on shows like Dexter’s Lab, Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law and Robot Chicken. Voice actor Bob Holt was behind Grape Ape in his original run who was a well-known cartoon voice actor in his time.

Beegle Beagle is a talking dog that is the best friend of Grape Ape and is the one that drives him around, gets him into all types of adventures as well as is the one who takes him out for ice cream! Beegle was a fan of the color red as he would wear that color for his hat as well as vest and would also rock a very cool bone bowtie. And it is clear that while Beegle does some silly things and wants to make money off his giant friend from time to time, but it is also very clear that he cares and will watch out for Grape Ape. Beegle can also drive a car and he is how the two get around as Grape Ape sits atop the vehicle. Marty Ingels is the voice behind Beegle Beagle and he was a very popular voice actor for the time as he also voiced such characters as Pac-Man and The Devil for Darkwing Duck. Beegle Beagle is the perfect style cartoon straight man to the childlike antics of Grape Ape.

Over the years, Grape Ape has had some very cool merchandise based around him and many of his fans truly enjoy getting these collectables for their collections. Like if you are a fan you can get Grape Ape toys, dolls, shirts, posters, board game, air freshener, coloring books, buttons, comics and stickers to name a few. And growing up I can remember having a Grape Ape coloring book and over the years got the comics. And for many collectors, they really enjoy the Funko Pop release of Grape Ape. But as you can see lots of cool stuff to collect and shows just how big Hanna-Barbera use to be.

So as you can see, Grape Ape was a very cool classic cartoon series that was very popular with the kids at the time and was a cartoon that my brother and I always had to watch when on as how can you not like a giant ape and his wise talking dog friend. I would like to first say thanks to Hanna-Barbera Productions for making so many amazing cartoons that shaped so many kids’ childhoods. I would also like to thank the Etsy Seller who had both of these issues in stock and made this update possible, as these comics are a little rare and hard to find. I would like to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So let’s see what Grape Ape has in store for us in the world of kid comic books.

The Great Grape Ape # 1 **1/2
Released in 1976 Cover Price .30 Charlton Comics # 1 of 2

“The Great Grape Ape Escape” in their trusty van Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle are following a car full of mobster bank robbers and watch as they pull over and run into the bank to steal the money. Grape Ape ends up putting their get away car on top of a building, but this does not stop them as they end up taking Beegle Beagle hostage and make him drive them to the airport so that they can make a clean get away. But while in the air Grape Ape grabs the plane from the sky and delivers the mobsters to the cops and saves the life of Beegle Beagle. “The Great Grape Ape Sees A Ghost” while driving around and using their last bit of money to wash the van Beegle Beagle and Grape Ape run out of gas and decided to take a challenge to stay a night in a haunted house to win $100.00! And Beegle Beagle gets inside and is scared of the ghosts that haunt it, but once Grape Ape removes the roof to join his friend the Ghost flee in fear and while they win the prize money the end up owing it back due to the damage caused by Grape Ape entering it! “Bring Em Back Alive Clive” while driving down the highway Grape Ape by accident knocks himself out by running into an overpass and he ends up on the highway, but his troubles soon become worse when Clive, a conman who runs a circus, nabs the knocked out ape with a crane and takes him prisoner, but soon when Grape Ape wakes up he wonders around causing damage and Clive ends up climbing into a giant robot version of himself, only for it to crumble after one punch from Grape Ape! In the end Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle leave the circus and Clive is happy to see his prisoner leave!

The first issue of Grape Ape features three short stories with each of them showcasing Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle in all sorts of strange adventures from being in a haunted house to stopping back robbers and even escaping a circus and all the while the lovable giant ape has a smile on his face and a playfulness in his heart. Grape Ape is very kind and childlike in the issue as he has no fear of ghosts and does not even seem to understand that he has been Ape-napped by a conman! But because he has no fear this does allow him to scare some ghosts as well as annoy and bring down some mobsters who were very mean spirited in nature. Beegle Beagle does what he does best and that is watch over his giant friend as well as drive them around from place to place. But sadly due to his size and the fact he is a dog, he does seem to get treated poorly by the crappy people they come across on their adventures. The plots for these three stories are very simple and have a quick pace and some truly silly and fun moments, but because they are so basic they do lose a little charm as I feel that at least with this first issue they lack the true kids comic silliness of say the Whitman Looney Tune Comics. But with that said, I do feel that the comic series also did a good job of capturing the charm of the cartoon it’s based on…so I would have to say that over all it really is a entertaining comic for fans of Grape Ape. My favorite story of course is The Great Grape Ape Sees A Ghost as you can never go wrong with a spooky tale of a haunted house and ghosts. The cover is fantastic and showcases both Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle enjoying some ice cream while the interior art is really well done and truly looks like the cartoon versions, but sadly I could not find who the artist was so this is another for Unknown Artist to claim as his own. I have to say this is a really good comic if you enjoy classic Hanna-Barbara Cartoons.

The Great Grape Ape # 2 **1/2
Released in 1976 Cover Price .30 Charlton Comics # 2 of 2

“Timberrrr!” while driving through the woods Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle come across a fallen tree and find that the giant Paul Bunyan and his ox Blue are the ones doing it as they are stealing all the lumber for themselves and chasing off all the other lumberjacks! Grape Ape ends up standing his ground against the giant lumberjack and finds out that both Paul and Ox are robots being controlled by a rich man who truly wanted all the lumber for himself. Grape Ape destroys the robots and saves the day and even gets a job offer before he and Beegle Beagle ride off into the woods. “The Great Grape Ape vs. Snap Dragon” while driving through California Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle come across a town that is being tormented by a power shovel that has gone rogue and is destroying the town and drinking up all the gas and oil as it now spits fire! But Grape Ape has seen enough and decides to help the town and does so by punching and breaking the power shovel ending its reign of terror, and with that the town’s people are thankful and Beegle Beagle and Grape Ape continue their quest. “Frisbee Fun” while driving around Beegle Beagle and Grape Ape watch some kids play with Frisbees and this makes Grape Ape sad as they are too small for him to use, but just then UFOs from Mars try and invade and Grape Ape grabs one and flings it back into space causing them all to flee and stop the invasion! Grape Ape is a hero but all he really wants is a Frisbee his size to play with.

The final issue in the very short lived Grape Ape comic series is a pretty entertaining one as we once more join him and Beegle Beagle in three adventures that this time have them fighting robots as well as stopping an alien invasion and of course all the while Grape Ape is a hero that is doing what he thinks is right and that is stopping the baddies. Grape Ape in this one seems to be ready for a fight as he beats the heck out of robot versions of Paul Bunyan and Blue as well as a fire breaking Power Shovel with his big bare fists and even tosses a UFO away with ease and has fun doing it! The one think that I do have to point out that the comic gets wrong is they have Grape Ape say more words than he should and that kind of makes its feel slightly off. In other words Charlton Comics needed to have Grape Ape not say as much as he does through both these issues. Beegle Beagle in this one seems more like a background player as he is featured in all three stories it’s clear that Grape Ape is the true star and is the one who gets almost all the panel time. I have to say also that Snap Dragon the Power Shovel gone crazy truly reminded me of the made for TV film “Killdozer” mixed with Godzilla and a Dragon…and I for some reason really enjoyed that showdown the best as I think it is my favorite story in the issue. Plus you have to once more enjoy the fact that this issue brings the Horror and Sci-Fi elements into the stories. I have to say that while it does have a very small amount of flaws that makes the comic feel slightly different from the cartoon I do think that if you are a fan of Grape Ape, you will really like these comics. The cover for this second and final issue is great and has Grape Ape squaring up against Snap Dragon and is super eye catching, and Unknown Artist once more did a great job of brining top notch interior artwork that does look like the toon its based on. If you really do enjoy Grape Ape or just Hanna-Barbara cartoons, make sure to checkout this series. Take a look at the artwork below to see the style used in this comic series.

As you can see, Grape Ape not only was a great cartoon but also a very fun comic book series as Charlton Comics proved that they knew how to make kids comic based on popular toons at the time and you can never go wrong with their series based on Hanna-Barbara Cartoons! And really this update was a blast to work on as it made me not only feel like a kid again but also brought back my love for the character Grape Ape that I feel is very much overlooked in this modern time…I say give me Grape Ape over 99.9% off all the modern cartoons flooding the airwaves now. Anyways I now just sound like an old man yelling at the clouds so with that I think our time with Grape Ape and Beegle Beagle has come to an end and our next update will take us to the Ultraverse as we take a look at Sludge the monster hero of Malibu Comics! So until next time, read a comic of three, watch a cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update for a muck monster of a gooey good time.

The Wild West Detective Known As Shotgun Slade!

Posted on March 3, 2023 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! You know what, I am thinking this month will be Cowboy Month. We will take a look at all things Wild West and that includes a cowboy-themed wrestler, but first let’s start off with a TV Show that turned the normal western formula upside down and added its own touch to the then-growing stale genre by sprinkling in jazz and private detective plots. Of course you fans of TV know that I am talking about Shotgun Slade, a syndicated show that entertained viewers for a few years and left its mark on the western genre for trying to be something original. So if you are ready, let’s hit the dusty, inky comic book western trail and go on a case with the wild west private detective known as Shotgun Slade!

Shotgun Slade was a TV Western show that was syndicated starting in 1959. It was created by Frank Gruber and starred Scott Brady as the title character Shotgun Slade. The story would follow Shotgun Slade as he would try and solve crimes in the old west mixing the detective genre with the western, and this was a smart move as western shows was starting to lose viewers as detective shows was gaining in popularity. The episodes ran about 30 minutes each, and the show lasted for two seasons and a total of 78 episodes. It was a decent success in the ratings and had its fair share of viewers who enjoyed going along with Shotgun Slade as he solved crimes. The show would also have its fair share of guest stars with most being known for their roles in other western themed shows and movies. Names like Francis X. Bushman, Jeanne Cooper, Frank Ferguson and Brett King to name a few appeared in episodes. One other thing that made Shotgun Slade stand out is that the score music done by Gerald Fried had a jazz sound and wqas not your typical western style. This made viewers take notice of this very odd western show. Over the years Shotgun Slade has slipped away from being one of the well known shows in the western genre as it does not get much play in reruns, but it does have a cult following and those who remember or discover it seem to truly enjoy it.

Shotgun Slade is a show that I had heard of but never paid much attention to as I had seen the Dell Comic before as well as other merchandise at garage sales and antique malls and for some reason just never tracked down the show to give it a watch. That is crazy because, as you readers know, I am a fan of westerns in all forms of media from novels, comics, movies and shows and Shotgun Slade sounds like it would be up my ally. I have no excuse on why it has taken me so long to give it a watch. But I was really happy to find out that Alpha Video, who you all know is the company I love and use their prints of films in my “Wild West Round Up” Reviews (so make sure to give War On The Range a read if you haven’t yet), had released three volumes of DVDs featuring episodes of the show, and of course I had to get them and watch, and I have to say this show is lots of fun. The Shotgun Slade character is very cool and draws you in as a viewer as you go along with him on his case and try to piece together who are the crooks and who even hired him from time to time. I will say that the jazz soundtrack does set it apart form other western shows, but at times it also is kind of distracting and reminded me of some of the music cues used in the 1960’s Batman TV Show starting Adam West. After watching several episodes I have to say I really like the show as each episode flows well and the cases he takes are interesting and kept me wanting to see how he was going to solve them. Very cool and original concept by creator Frank Gruber and Scott Brady was the right choice to play Shotgun Slade, and with that I say if you like westerns, like detective shows and enjoy classic television make sure to go and get yourself these DVDs or heck look up episodes on YouTube and enjoy this fun and should not be forgotten show.

Now let’s talk about the character Shotgun Slade, who is a private detective who for the right price you can hire and he will crack any case. He was always armed with his trusty shotgun that had barrels stacked with one firing a 12-gauge shell and the other .32 caliber bullet making his gun very effective in any situation, and yes he is skilled with it. Because he was a detective for hire, this caused him to travel a lot and meet, friend and fight with many people along the way. He is super smart and uses not only his fist fighting and gun skills on his cases but also his mind to blend in and get the information he is looking for to solve his case. He is strong willed and when need be he also can be a smartass or even tough as nails. Shotgun Slade is played by actor Scott Brady, who was a big actor for many years and was even in such Horror Films as “Castle Of Evil (1966)”, “The Mighty Gorga (1969)”, “Nightmare In Wax (1969)”, “The Ice House (1969)”, “Five Bloody Graves (1969)”, “Wicked, Wicked (1973)”, “The Night Strangler (1973)” and “Gremlins (1984)” but he was mostly known for his roles in the western genre. Sadly Scott Bradley would pass away from respiratory failure at the age of 60 in 1985. And one thing about Scott is that he was a good character actor that I think is often over looked for his roles in Horror. But to sum it up, Shotgun Slade is a very cool character who is one part cowboy and one part private detective.

Like all good TV Western shows, Shotgun Slade had his fair share of merchandise for fans to collect that includes comic book, home media, board game, soundtrack and a toy shotgun replica of his famous weapon. And oddly enough that is pretty much it, and Shotgun Slade never got an action figure or even a lunchbox. But while limited on what fans could get their hands on, as you can see, some cool stuff over the years have been made available. And for those wondering, I own the comic, home media and the soundtrack on CD of Shotgun Slade. So if you are a fan, you can add to your collection by tracking down any of this cool stuff.

After doing the research and watching Shotgun Slade episodes as well as listening to the score music, I am very much looking forward to reading this comic book based on the character released by Dell Comics as this will be a first time read for me. And that’s something I might be doing more of in the future here at Rotten Ink is tracking down some of these old Dell Comics based on old TV Westerns and doing updates based around them as I have been trying to get the complete run of The Rifleman for a while now as that is one of my favorite shows of all time and needs to be covered here. I want to thank the Ebay seller who had this comic in stock and made this update possible and I also want to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So with that lets head out to the old west and see what kind of case Shotgun Slade has to crack in this one and only comic book adventure.

Shotgun Slade # 1 ***1/2
Released in 1960 Cover Price .10 Dell Comics # 1111 of 1354

“Outpost Outlaws” Shotgun Slade has been hired by The Shannon Stage Line by it’s owner Beth Shannon and arrives just in time as he watches as outlaws are robbing a stage coach and even shoot the driver Beth herself after she sees one of the outlaws face and that being Ben Watson. The outlaws escape as Slade is able to check on Beth who survived the shot and tells him that Ben hangs around the general store with the owner Jess and that her father also hangs around there as well to play checkers all day. Slade heads to town and goes to the general store and takes Ben Watson to jail, and unknown to him one of the outlaws sneaks out the back and threatens Beth with killing her father if she identifies Ben as one of the coach robbers! Ben ends up walking free and Beth lets Slade go from the case, but her father hires him back and its shown that Jess is the mastermind of the stage coach robberies and now he and his outlaws have a plan to flee the town, but before they do so they take Beth’s father hostage! Slade figures this all out and brings down Jess and the outlaws before they can run, gets Beth her money back as well as brings her and her father closer. “Cowtown” Slade has been hired by the Cattlemen’s Association in order to look into a rash of cattle thefts that has hurt many of the ranches, and before he can even reach the town to check in he is attacked by a unknown gunman who ends up loosing the back of his boot given Slade his first clue. Once in town he gets some rest and meets the Association who hired him including Will Lundeen a very rude rancher who is not happy to see Slade, cause as you guessed it he and his men are behind the cattle thefts! Slade while piecing the case together even finds an old mine shaft that the rustlers are using to move the stolen cows. And after going through the mine Slade finds that it leads to Lundeen’s ranch and he is able to make the arrest and solving the case of the stolen cows.

This is a really fun comic and does a pretty great job of capturing the nature of the show as the only thing missing is the western jazz music! This comic has two cases for Shotgun Slade one that has him bringing down some outlaws who are robbing stage coaches and the other has him stopping some cattle rustlers and along the way he charms pretty ladies as well as uses his awesome special shotgun to bring justice. Shotgun Slade is great at his job and finds the clues and solves the cases fast and is able to bring all the criminals to justice without having to kill them, but he does have to at times use his shotgun to wound them. The main bad guys in this comic are Jess a man who runs a general store but is also the leader of outlaws who rob stage coaches of their money, and he and his men do not care to take lives in order to get the money they seek. Will Lundeen is the other who is a ranch owner who along with his hired hands are stealing the cows from their fellow ranchers in town, and he as well does not mind sending his goons to kill. The cover for this issue is pretty cool and eye catching for fans of the show as it’s a promo photo used for the show set to a green background. The interior art is done by an Unknown Artist and is pretty great stuff as it has the typical Dell Comics look and style and Shotgun Slade kind of looks like the actor who played him on the show. Over all this is a great western comic based on a very underrated TV Show and is one that you should check out if you like the show or just western comics in general.

Shotgun Slade is a great TV Show that made for a great comic book as well and I am shocked that this show is not talked about to this day as it was very original and highly entertaining. And I myself would love if the missing episodes could be found and if it could be released as the whole series on home media, as I would buy it! But with our next update we keep the Cowboy Theme up and will next head back to the world of Pro Wrestling and be talking about Cowboy Bob Ellis! So until next time read a western comic or three, watch a western film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update for a rootin tootin good time in the squared circle.

Have Yourself A Very Bananaman Christmas!

Posted on December 24, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Merry Christmas Eve and welcome back to Rotten Ink. Growing up I watched Nickelodeon at my Grandparents house as their cable provider had it while ours in Waynesville didn’t have it just yet and I can remember being glued to shows like “Danger Mouse”, “Count Duckula”, “Mr. Wizard’s World” and “You Can’t Do That On Television” and one that was also very popular that my brother and I would watch was “Bananaman” that was a silly superhero themed British cartoon series, and sadly as time has passed I find less and less people remember this amazing character here in America and that is why for this 10 Year Anniversary and Christmas Eve update I have chosen to talk about him! So grab some eggnog, get a plate of Christmas cookies as its time we chat about the one and only British superhero known as Bananaman!

Eric Wimp is a young schoolboy who was rocketed to Earth as a baby from the moon and when he eats bananas he turns into Bananaman an adult costumed hero who can fly, is invulnerable, can breath in space and has superhuman strength. Bananaman is a superhero who works alongside the police who call him on the banana phone in order to stop crime as well as stop super villains fro hurting his city. During his heroic deeds he also gets help from Crow his pet bird who helps out when our hero is in a tight situation and always brings back up bananas to give him more energy and strength. While Bananaman is a superhero he still is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and this sometimes leads him into danger and traps that of course he will escape from in the end. The character Bannaman was created by artist John Geering along with writers Steve Bright and Dave Donaldson who brought the comic strip to readers that ended up spawning into the cartoon series and made him one of U.K.’s most popular superheroes. And sadly for those wondering artist John Geering passes away in 1999 and the comic strip when not reprinting old adventures is drawn by Andy Janes. A true iconic character for those who grew up reading and watching his cartoon and I for one am glad to have been able to watch his show here in America thanks to Nickelodeon.

The show Bananaman started airing on October 3, 1983 and was on BBC and was 5 minute cartoons that was based on the comic strip and featured the voice of Graeme Garden as Bananaman and Tim Brooke-Taylor as Eric and was super popular with viewers who grew up loving this superhero that read his adventures in Nutty. The show would last for a total of 40 episodes for three seasons and the series ended in 1986. But even with no new episodes being made it ran heavily in reruns until around 1999. The episodes was written by Bernie Kay and directed and produced by Terry Ward. The show would go on to be released on DVD in the U.K. and those fans from America would have to import it like I did in order to watch again. A fun fact about this show is the British comedy troupe The Goodies are who voiced all the main cast of the cartoon like Bananaman, Crow and Eric! While Bananaman never hit the peak of popularity in America like it did in the U.K. for those who grew up watching it no matter what nation you know just how fun and silly this cartoon was.

Like all great Superheroes that have came before and after him Bananaman has his fair share of villains that try to bring him down and ruin the city. And to be honest I think he has a great rogues gallery and while not on par with the likes of Spider-Man, Batman and Dick Tracy when it comes to the baddies he still has some great ones like the following that are some of my favorites. General Blight is an evil Army General and is his arch nemesis and is always coming with a scheme including unleashing The Snow Man a freeze and heat caring Christmas style snowman. Doctor Gloom is another great one who is the mad scientist sidekick of General Blight who creates enemies for Bananaman including Appleman. And I also like Rhubarb Man a walking talking piece of Rhubarb who moves around like a human. Other villains include Skunk Woman, Desperate Dan, Bubble-Gum Bert, Clayman, Witchy Woman, Grannie Punk, The Weatherman, King Zorg, The Heavy Mob and Spaghetti Man to name a very few. Really if you get a chance to read any of Bananaman’s comics or watch his cartoons make sure to do so not only to enjoy his adventures but to also see his baddies in action.

Like all great cartoons Bananaman has had his fair share of very cool merchandise for fans to collect over the years with some being official and others being made by fans themselves to show their love for the character. So if you are a Bananaman fan like myself you can get such cool thinks as T-Shirts, Home Media, Stickers, Dolls, Toys, Buttons, Posters, Statues, Trading Cards, Halloween Costumes, Action Figures, Drinking Glass and so much more stuff with most being fan made stuff that is available here in America. So if you like Bananaman make sure to check Etsy and Ebay as I am sure you will find some cool stuff for your collection.

So now that we have talked about Bananaman and things about him from his merchandise to his baddies I think we should now move to this Comic Capers graphic novel that features some comic book adventures of our hero Bananaman! I would like to thank a seller on Etsy for having this in stock and making this update possible. I want to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So if you are ready lets go to Nuttytown and head to 29 Acacia Road and see if Bananaman is home and what adventures he has in store for us!

Comic Capers: Bananaman GN **1/2
Released in 2000 Cover Price $0.00 Beano Books # ? of ?

“Eurovillain Contest” Eric is bored at home and decides to make a cable satalite dish so he can watch better TV when he finds that Lord Zorg has a show that is about what Eurovillain can stop Bananaman, and this of course causes Eric to turn into his superhero alter ego and head to Europe were along the way Weatherman and The Mole try and slow him down, but he ends up finding his way to Europe and the contest starts! The first baddie that attacks is Goudaman and his giant cheese wheel and at first the holes in the cheese are a maze that Bananaman can not figure out that us until he gets the idea to have a bunch of mice to follow him who eat the giant cheese wheel and Goudaman is defeated. Next Garlicman and his foul smelling breath attacks, but Bananaman uses a giant book to smash him after a fake court trail! And so many Eurovillain’s try to bring down Bananaman including Spaghetti Man, Ivan The Terrible, Abzorba, Doctor Gloom, Ragnar The Hairy and The Weatherman and all of them fail and are defeated by Bananaman and worse the judges have given all the baddies the score of zero making it that no one is going to win, that is until Big Rita a mechanic is mad at the poor scoring and shows up at the station and roughs up the judges as well as King Zorg and this makes her the winner of the contest. The second store is “The Secret Of Willie Boggins” on Arcadia Street young Willie Boggins as a secret when he eats a boiled egg he turns into General Blight! And as Bananaman goes after him our hero has a streak of bad luck that even hits his secret identity Eric Wimp. And after General Blight robs a bank he buys a whole big jar of pickled eggs and eats them at once and grows into a giant, and after Bananaman tries to stop him and fails he goes and eats a ton of bananas and turns into a giant himself, but the fight ends when both have stomach aches and have to use the bathroom.

This graphic novel was a fun silly very kid friendly read and showcases the true goofy nature of the hero known as Bananaman as well as several of his foes that all make appearances in this comic including General Blight who gets his own story out of the two presented. The plots of both stories are simple and yet affective with the first being a villain contest TV Show that has baddies going after Bananaman and a panel rates the villains to award the winner. And the second story has General Blight on a crime spree and even grows giant size and this forces Bananaman to have to do the same in growing to end the fight. Bananaman in this graphic novel is super silly and while he saves the day each time he kind of falls backwards into doing so and while he acts as if he knows what he is doing its clear at times he does not. But because he is silly this makes him a very charming hero and reminds me of Captain Klutz another hero we have talked about here on Rotten Ink and you should give that update a read here. And I have to say this graphic novel really did spark my love for the Bananaman character again as he is just such an awesome superhero with such a great nature. Also the fact he his a kid in his alter ego reminds me of Captain Marvel or Shazam as he is called now. Really sad that Crow is not in this as it would have been cool to have seen him around and helping out when needed. While many of his villains appear many of them do not get a lot of time on panels as they are defeated fast and our hero moves onto the next, I will though say that King Zorg gets his time to shine as he is the host of the TV Show contest and gets to say a few cheesy jokes before he his beat up by Big Rita who ends up winning the show. General Blight is the graphic novels main villain and he is able to win a few rounds with Bananaman as he runs him over with his bicycle, is able to rob a bank, turn into a giant and beat our hero is a fight showing he is truly the arch-nemesis for Bananaman! I also like how their big giant fight has to end early as all the food they ate made them have to potty bad and because they are so big they have to use cooling towers at a power station to relive themselves…so silly. The cover for this graphic novel is great and showcases both Eric Wimp and Bananaman and is eye catching with the interior art being done by an artist I could not find the credits for, but whom ever of the comic strip artist who did it they did top notch stuff. Over all this Bananaman Graphic Novel is not for everyone as I think those who do not know the character will find it to British in humor and way to kid friendly, but for those fans like myself it’s a fun read that takes you back to your youth watching the cartoon (or even in some cases reading the comic strip) and enjoying his adventures. Checkout the artwork below to see the style used in this book.

Bananaman was a great way to spend this Christmas Eve as he is such a very underrated superhero character here in America as sadly besides that very small run on the early days of Nickelodeon and those who imported shows or got on the Grey Market truly remember him, while in England he really is a well loved hero and still has a following and fan base to this day. I really hope that you readers have a great Holiday season spent with your family, friends and pets with lots of great conversations and plenty of tasty food. I also want to thank you for spending apart of your Christmas Eve here at Rotten Ink and making this 10 Year Anniversary very special and I hope you enjoyed the updates over the decade of blogging and hope it brought back great memories of your youth. So with that eat a Christmas Cookie or three, watch a Bananaman cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you in 2023 for the best of 2022 Movie’s seen in the theater countdown.

Rotten Ink That’s Where You’ll Find Diver Dan!

Posted on November 9, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! Are you as shocked as I am that we are already in November 2022? This year has flown by and crazy to think Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away! The 10 Year Anniversary for this blog has been in full effect and we have looked at many classic things that I am sure brought back memories for many of you readers as well as maybe even acted as you first introduction to some of the update topics, and todays update is one that many of you might have grown up watching while others of you reading have no idea about and that is Diver Dan a very cool and yet also cheesy kids show from the 1960’s and when chosen topics for this year I just knew he had to be one of them. As I did not grow up watching Diver Dan but once I was introduced to the show I quickly became a fan and knew we had to go on a deep-sea dive adventure with him! So lets get our deep dive suits on and check our oxygen tanks as its time to enter the water and see what we can find.

Diver Dan was created by cartoonist J. Anthony Ferlaine in 1960 as a spin off of his comic strip “Fish Tales” and was the show was made by Brian Cartoons, and distributed by ITC Entertainment and was aired mostly on NBC stations during its original run. And each episode ran around seven minutes long and it would normally be paired with other cartoons like Felix The Cat and be apart of children shows that were hosted. The show would have 104 episodes and would last until 1970 given it a good ten year run. The under water scenes were shot through an aquarium with the fish on the showing being a mix of real ones as well as puppets that was mostly voiced by Allen Swift who also played the voices of the Narrator and the off screen character Captain Murphy. The lovely Suzanne Turner played the mermaid Miss Minerva. Diver Dan was very well loved by young viewers and would even have many years life after it ended thanks to reruns. And while Diver Dan was not for everyone as lots of kids wanted animated shows and not live action ones, it’s legacy of being a beloved 1960’s kids show is still strong and was one of the favorites shows of my Ex-Girlfriends dad who is the one that introduced me to the show. The show can be found originally on grey market VHS tapes and now can be found on DVD via Alpha Video as well as other budget labels and can also be watched on YouTube. I also have to point out that the shows theme is very cool and catchy, look it up and give it a listen and see what you think.

Diver Dan is a deep-sea diver who is studying fish and is a good guy and a hero to the aquatic life that makes up the waters he is in. A true good guy character who is likeable and noble and is truly that classic kid show standard of who you should grow up to be like. Diver Dan was played by actor Frank D Freda who was known for being a writer for the animated show “The Smokey Bear Show” as well was Ronald McDonald in some early McDonalds commercials. He was also a Broadway actor and was a sales person for HBO and Cellphones and is the first person to cell a car cell phone in New York. But back to Diver Dan who 100% is a true iconic character in the world of kid shows and has inspired many people over the decades to be a good person, to want to study bodies of water and fish and even helped fuel creative minds. On a side note I would love to see Diver Dan return to TV and do it as the next generation and the show could follow his Grandson who has followed in his grandfathers footsteps and is going on adventures in the same sea. Also if he was in public domain I would totally write a comic mini series based on Diver Dan for Sparkle Comics!

Ok lets take a moment to chat about Miss Minerva the blonde mermaid who was friends to the fishes and would keep her distant from Dan who she just would call The Diver. She as I said was played by actress Suzanne Turner who was a very good stage actress as she was featured in the play “Auntie Mame” and as for other TV or Movie roles she had no other as Diver Dan was he only work in that field. Miss Minerva had long blonde hair and would wear a crown and speak to the fish who would warn her of the dangers coming or tell what they have seen. She was a kind mermaid who would watch after her friends as well was the target sometimes of the fish of the ocean that are not so kind. After he work on Diver Dan not much else is known about Suzanne Turner as she seemed to drop off from acting, and during her time on the show she was the crush of many young viewers. And when trying to look up information on her it looks like she might have passed away, but sadly not much is out there about her after the show ended.

The shows two main baddies was the fishes Baron Barracuda and Trigger Fish who acted as stooges and help set up the dastardly plots the plans they had cooked up in their cave hideout by Teetering Rock. You see even in the deep ocean we have gangsters that want to cause harm to the people or should I say ocean dwellers. They are your typical kid show baddies as they have silly plans to just ruin peoples fun and to cause just annoyance to all around them. And to be honest the show really needed Baron Barracuda and Trigger Fish to add that villain element to the show and they both are the spice needed to make the show more enjoyable.

Diver Dan like all good kids shows of the time had lots of amazing merchandise for fans to collect and own! Besides the comic books they made a board game, vinyl record, coloring book, fanzines and later episodes was released on DVD and before that on VHS with many of those being from the grey market. I think the odd thing about all this is that Diver Dan never got an action figure and I for one think he should have. And thinking about it Super7 should do a Diver Dan ReAction figure and Funko should do a Pop! of Diver Dan as well as Clutch Cargo. But if you are a fan of Diver Dan there is some cool stuff for you to collect and I myself besides the comics own the DVD sets from Alpha Video.

So now that we have chatted about Diver Dan and the characters that made up his show as well as the merchandise he spawned I think we should now move onto his comic adventures and see what Dell Comics has in store for him. I also want to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So if you are ready like I am lets go on a deep dive adventure with the one and only Diver Dan!

Diver Dan # 1 **1/2
Released in 1962 Cover Price .15 Dell Comics # 1254 of 1354

Diver Dan is helping Miss Minerva and the fish to set up and have a Masquerade Ball, and as they all go to get ready Baron and Trigger as well as Rocky who is the nephew of Trigger go to the party and break everything down and destroy things as they have a plan to finally take down Diver Dan. When Minerva, Diver Dan and the fish return to find the party ruined they are sad as the ball seems like it will not be taking place, but our dastardly fish baddies show back up dressed up pretending to be party goers and acted shocked that the party has been attacked, and suggests a new location that they have a trap set at via a octopus. When Diver Dan and the party guests get there they set back up as Baron and Trigger even try to get Dan in trouble with his Captain when they snap a picture of Diver Dan and Minerva with the party lights behind them and deliver it above to the Captain who is mad as Dan is supposed to be looking for hidden treasure. But when Baron and Trigger’s plan goes wrong and the octopus gets trapped they decided to try and kidnap a young female fish and get ransom for her safe return, but that backfires when Rocky returns her to her friends and the baddies are chased off by Rocky’s angry mother. And the Ball happens and all are happy as Diver Dan wonders off to find the treasure.

This first issue of Diver Dan is really a kid friendly fun read that has Diver Dan in trouble with his boss as well as trying to help his fish friends to get a Masquerade Ball to happen after it was sabotaged. Diver Dan is a good spirited human who does what he can to bring joy to all his friends that live in the waters and is helping set up a party when he is being paid to find a treasure, and this fact also gets him in trouble with his boss and Dan still just continues to help his fish friends and even gets his boss on the boat to send down a camera! The one flaw of Diver Dan in this issue is that he is way to trusting as he does not see that Baron and Trigger are right in front of him luring them all to a trap and dismisses the concerns of fellow fish who alert him that they think the two are at the Ball! Baron and Trigger are such fishy little jerks as they get joy of breaking and ripping down the Ball decorations all because they want to lure everyone into a trap, and for what reason…cause they dislike Diver Dan and want to ruin his day. Sadly mermaid Miss Minerva really does not do much in this issue and that stinks, but the one thing they do show is that almost all the fish respect and love her. The story is as basic as can be and is very much kid friendly and the message is being mean, a trickster and bad never pays out and that good will always find a way and that friendship and community is important. And with a few odd elements like Dan and Minerva being around each other when in the show that was not the case for the most part, I do feel that it captures the mood and feeling of the show. The cover is great and features Diver Dan, Baron and Trigger and is eye catching for fans of the show, and the interior art is done by an Unknown Artist and is really good and has that classic Dell look but I think this is even slightly better art then the average Dell Comic. Over all I would say this is a super fun and silly Kid Comic read that does Diver Dan justice, and I am very much looking forward to reading the next issue.

Diver Dan # 2 ***
Released in 1962 Cover Price .15 Dell Comics # 2 of 1

Carolos is leading a band of gypsy fish to find a new queen as his daughter the current one has been kidnapped and Baron and Trigger send them the way of Minerva and the gypsies have chosen her to be the new Queen, and without telling her this news they set up a show for the area to enjoy first, and with tea they knock out Minerva by acting as if they are reading her fortune and flee fast from the area. But not before Carlos also hypnotizes Baron into being a nicer fish to others after he and Trigger tried to rob his wagon. The fish go and get Diver Dan in order to save Minerva and he along the way runs into Baron who goes along to help. But before Minerva can be made Queen the old one shows up as she has escaped and her captor a fellow bands Prince who is after her as he wants to marry her! The gypsies would rather have Minerva as the Queen but after some arguments she is able to kind of get away and to Diver Dan. In the end Baron gets punched by accident when Carlos and the Prince get into a fight and this snaps him out of his trance, and as Diver Dan and Minerva get away the Queen and Prince ride off and Trigger is almost forced into marriage before Baron saves him.

This second issue of Diver Dan is one great read as it has a fun kid friendly story, the artwork is fantastic and I feel that it did a great job of capturing the feel of the show its based on. This one has a band of gypsy fish kidnapping Minerva to make her their Queen, only for Diver Dan and the unlikely ally of Baron coming to her rescue. This issue also is mostly about the mermaid Minerva as she is the target of the gypsy and is the one who has to try and tell them she does not want to be anyone’s Queen and that her home is were she is at in the ocean, I also like that even with her kidnappers she tries to be kind and not hurt their feelings as while they did something bad they are more misguided then evil. Baron and Trigger as well have bigger parts as the Baron is under the trance he turns into a good guy and forces his goofy henchman to go along with him. The Gypsies are cool characters who have Queens and Kings and will do sneaky things in order to honor their culture, but as I have stated I do not feel its to be mean. Diver Dan kind of takes a backseat in this issue as he does not come around until the end of the comic and even then he does very little and I like that as this gave other characters from the show a little time to shine and be the focus of a story that was really entertaining. I also have to say that the cover for this issue is great and features both Diver Dan and Minerva and is super eye catching for fans of the show. The interior art is done by Sal Trapani and is 100% fantastic and he captures the characters likeness so well. Over all a great series Diver Dan was and it’s a shame that the comic series only lasted two issues as it should have lasted way longer on the comic racks as well as on TV. Check out the artwork bellow as I think it showcases the work that went into this series.

Diver Dan is one of those classic 1960’s kids shows that I feel just never gets the respect in these modern times like it should as it was a simple concept that made oceans, fish and a deep sea diver cool! And sadly in 2022 I am sure many of you younger readers have never heard of Diver Dan and his show and I hope this update has at least sparked your interest in getting the Alpha Video or Digiview releases or even look them up on YouTube. That is one thing that I hope that Rotten Ink is able to do and that’s help keep vintage and old school stuff like this alive and not only bring joy to fans who remember but also I hope bring new fans into the topic. And with that said I would like to let you know that Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Celebration continues as we head back to the Rotten Ink Theater to chat about Silent Cinema and it will be 1921’s one time lost German classic “The Island Of Lost”! So until next time read a indie comic or three, watch a Diver Dan episode or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you soon and make sure to be ready to travel to an island filled with mystery and horror!

The Cartoon Icon Known As Yogi Bear

Posted on August 24, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! I have a question for all your readers and friends, and it’s this: growing up who was your favorite cartoon character? And I am not talking about a character that was created to sell a toy like He-Man or Optimus Prime, I am talking names like Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, Mighty Mouse, Popeye, Porky Pig, Betty Boop and Huckleberry Hound! For me one at the top of the list is Yogi Bear as I can remember watching his cartoon at my house as well as at my Grandparents and enjoying every silly moment as something about Yogi Bear always drew my young mind in. And that is why I feel that for Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Anniversary I had to cover Yogi Bear as this update is long overdue and is one that I have been planning for over 8 years and saved for this Anniversary as this iconic cartoon character needs his time to shine here on Rotten Ink. So with that let’s head to Jellystone Park and have a picnic of some honey fried chicken and hope that a bear who’s smarter than your average one and his short sidekick don’t show up and steal it, or wait I think that is what we want!

Yogi Bear is smarter than your average bear and loves to sneak around and steal picnic baskets from park goers and is always trying to think of ways to do so and not to be caught, and that is what he has that iconic catchphrase. While he is a bear he is fun loving and is well liked by most of the other animals and rangers at Jellystone Park were he lives, even though he does get on many of their nerves with his ways. His best friend is Boo-Boo Bear and his lady is Cindy Bear and they a lot of times get stuck going along with his plans. While Ranger Smith gets annoyed by Yogi he as well is sort of his friend and goes out of his way to protect and help him when he gets into trouble. But Yogi has many friends outside of Jellystone Park as well like Huckleberry Hound, Doggie Daddy, Quick Draw McGraw and even Top Cat all who have as well went on adventures with him in the cartoons as well as the comics. Yogi was based on the Ed Norton character from the TV Show The Honeymooners and his name was a play off the baseball player Yogi Berra. Daws Butler was the voice actor for Yogi Bear from 1958 to 1988 when he sadly passed away from a heart attack at the age of 71, but while he was the main and original and most iconic voice actor to play Yogi many others have like Mel Blanc, Greg Burson, Billy West, Dan Aykroyd and Jeff Bergman to name a few. Paste Magazine rated Yogi Bear the 40^th best Cartoon character on their top 50 Countdown while CNN ranked him # 36 out of 50 and Screen Rant ranked him # 30 out of 30 for their countdown. Yogi Bear is a truly iconic character that ranks in my top 10 for sure.

Jellystone Camp is filled with other great characters that help make Yogi’s adventures more entertaining. First up of course is his best friend Boo-Boo Bear who is a small bear who at times acts as Yogi’s voice of reason and tries his best to talk him out of some of the more mischief plans he makes. Growing up Boo-Boo was always a popular cartoon character among my friends as I remember kids talking about him on the playground. We then have Cindy Bear is the southern belle on again and off again girlfriend of Yogi who as well gets into the same trouble as they do, and is a good supporting character in the cartoon series. And last of course is Ranger Smith that poor park ranger who has to deal with all the craziness of the park and is always having to run Yogi off as he tries to steal picnic baskets. But while Ranger Smith is annoyed with Yogi, they also kind of have a weird friendship as he looks out for the pain in the butt bear. All of these characters help make the Yogi Bear cartoon series great and help add to why Yogi is one of my favorite classic cartoons of all time.

The Yogi Bear show was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and was a syndicated cartoon series that would first air on January 30, 1961 and would each episode would be 22 minutes long and would also feature cartoons of Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle and would last for 33 episodes a total of two seasons and would end on January 6, 1962. But the show would continue on in reruns and even would get re-packaged under the name “Yogi Bear & Friends” that would show Yogi cartoons mixed with others like Huckleberry Hound, Pixie and Dixie among others. This version of the show would run for 98 episodes and would run from September 16, 1967-1968. Well in 1972 a TV movie special called “Yogi’s Ark Lark” aired on ABC and had Yogi along with other Hanna-Barbara animal characters in search of land that is not polluted, and this special would spawn a very short lived series called “Yogi’s Gang” that ran for only 15 episodes and would last from September 8, 1973-December 29, 1973, his next series “Yogi’s Space Race” would be released in 1978 and would have well Yogi in space with a new sidekick named Scare Bear and they would have a Space Race team, this would only last 13 episodes and would go into the next series called “Galaxy Goof-Ups” and would have Yogi still in space this time as a patrolman and would start in 1978 and would last until 1979 for a total of 13 episodes. And many more series would follow like “Yogi’s Treasure Hunt” that ran from 1985-1988 lasted 27 episodes, “The New Yogi Bear Show” lasted 45 episodes and was in 1988, “Yo Yogi!” that lasted 13 episodes and ran in 1991 and was one of my favorites as a kid as Yogi was young, hip and cool! And lastly “Jellystone!” started in 2021 and airs on HBO Max. And this is just the TV Shows as Yogi has also been a part of many TV Specials, Animated Movies as well as two live action films, showing that Yogi Bear is a true icon of the cartoon character world!

I really did truly grew up watching Yogi Bear and just like so many other cartoons, it was must watch TV for me as I would never turn the channel when Yogi was on as for some reason this food stealing bear had always captured my attention, even if I had seen the episode many times before I would watch it again. While some I watched in re-runs like the classic Yogi Bear Show others I caught as they aired like The New Yogi Bear Show and Yo Yogi! both I watched when released and I can remember even having rubber stamps and some toys of Yo Yogi! that I got cereal boxes and fast food kids meals. Most of the classic Yogi shows I remember watching mostly on the USA Network as away of the Cartoon Express and have many great memories of sitting at my Grandparents house on my Dad’s side by the fireplace and watching Yogi Bear cartoons as snow fell outside and the warmth of the fire made my brother and I toasty as we watched the TV, and I also seem to remember that they also had some old VHS tapes of Yogi that we would watch as well when he was not on TV. At home as well we had VHS tapes of Yogi cartoons and one I am pretty sure we got via Jolly Time Popcorn as it was a send away, and it took forever for the tape to come but when it did I watched it a bunch. I always wanted to win a Yogi Bear stuff animal from Kings Island, but sadly never was that lucky to be able to. And while in modern times those who talk about Hanna-Barbra Cartoons will go on and on about Scooby-Doo (another amazing cartoon from my childhood) being the best and the main character from the company, I am here to tell you that back in the 60’s-80’s it was Yogi Bear who was the companies mascot and main character. And with that I will sum it up by saying Yogi Bear is a true Icon of Cartoons and will always be one of my favorites.

Really quick, here is an old ad and coupon I found online about the Jolly Time Popcorn VHS that was from around 1994 and I was a teenager and movie collector at the time this was offered. And we ate lots of popcorn on weekends as my brother and I would eat it as a snack while we watched Horror Movies and Horror Hosts on TV. But after finding it I just wanted to share this with you all, and I also found a scan of the VHS cover! And I think at some point I am going to buy a copy of this tape so that I can have it back again.

A very cool thing that fans of Yogi Bear can do is stay at a “Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park and Camp-Resorts” that are located in many starts including Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, California, New York and so many more states and each have their own charms and events! Besides camping in tents and cabins many of these Jellystone sites also have live music concerts, water parks, fishing ponds, gift shops, pools and of course walk around versions of the characters! The parks are a family friendly good time with some locations even allowing pets! Each location also has different styles of comfort from RV Hook Ups, to cabins of all types to even just land that you can use a tent to rough it for the night. I first discovered the Jellystone Park Camps when going to Chicago, Illinois with my ex-girlfriend Jennifer as we drove by one and I was hooked when I seen Yogi on the sign. Sadly, since I saw the sign I never have stayed at the park, but that is about to change as sometime soon I plan on staying at one of the camps and when I do I will update you all about it on a future Rotten Ink update.

Did you readers know that Yogi Bear has his own themed restaurant called “Yogi Bear’s Honey Fried Chicken” that is located in South Carolina and is a landmark and attraction for the area? And did you know that it was originally a fast food franchise that had stores all around America in the 1970’s and was created to enter the growing and popular fried chicken fast food boom created by KFC at the time and Yogi Bear was used as the mascot because he was super popular with kids and adults who enjoyed a good cartoon? Did you know many of the restaurants had very cool fiberglass statues of Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith? And sadly they are all now rotting in dumpsites as they were all disposed of when the restaurants closed, and that’s a shame as I wish that people would have rescued them and gave them places to live at their homes. Sadly the franchise was bought by Hardee’s very early in opening and by the mid 70’s all of them had been closed with the one that’s still opening being the last standing, as it was clear that Hardee’s had no idea how to push fried chicken as hamburgers was their main money maker. It’s sad to think that only one of these cool themed restaurants are around as I would love for them to be closer to Ohio as I would have loved to try a meal from them. Oh and for those wonder the restaurants was created by Eugene Broome who originally wanted to theme them around actor Jackie Gleason and Yogi Bear was his second choice after watching his cartoons on TV.

Yogi Bear also has made his way into the world of video games and has delivered some fun adventures for fans to play through and allowed them to have their favorite cartoon character be the hero they all knew he was. “Yogi Bear” was released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 in Europe and had you play as Yogi as he had to save Boo-Boo who was kidnapped by a circus. In 1990 in Europe and for Commodore 64 came “Yogi’s Great Escape” a game based on the 1987 film. “Adventures Of Yogi Bear” was released in 1994 and was for the Super Nintendo had you play as Yogi to stop Jellystone into becoming a chemical dumping ground. And lastly “Yogi Bear’s Gold Rush” was released on the Game Boy in 1994 has Yogi going after a ghost who stole money from the park. And those where the classic games based on the animated Yogi Bear and I can remember playing both the Game Boy and Super Nintendo games and loving every second of them as they were fun adventure games. I should note that Video Games for the WII was made based on the live action film. Do you readers have any memories of playing any or all of these Yogi Bear games? And I am not going to lie when I say I wish a Yogi Bear game would be made for PS5 in the future and that it’s based on the classic cartoons and features all our favorite characters like Boo-Boo, Cindy Bear and Ranger Smith, but I don’t see this happening but one can wish.

Yogi Bear being such an amazing cartoon character that has been so popular over many decades he has lots of amazing collectibles for fans to collect over the years as his face has graced things like Toys, Board Games, Home Media, Books, Video Games, Comics, Shirts, Posters, Buttons, Fast Food Items, Spoons, Cups, Glasses, Halloween Costumes, Masks, Lunch Boxes, Puppets, Statues, Stickers, Magnets, Christmas Ornaments, Valentine Day Cards, Patches, Hats, Cups, Rings, Plastic Eggs and so much more, basically if you can think of an item Yogi Bear probably was featured on it! Growing up I really loved a stuff doll I had of Yogi Bear and a kids paperback book called “Ghost Of A Chance” that was a spooky kid friendly take featuring Yogi and Boo Boo! In fact for my Birthday this year my lady Juliet will be making me a cake that looks like Yogi Bear from a vintage metal Yogi cake pan. So in other words if you are a fan of Yogi Bear you can collect so many cool items to add to your collection. Growing up I remember having a sticker of Yogi Bear that I am pretty sure I still have to this day packed away, as it was my favorite sticker I had as a kid next to the WWF Wrestler Ultimate Warrior one. And I had many more cool merchandise over the years like toys and shirts and even a poster and the video games. Oh and I had this plastic Egg that featured Yogi Bear on it that I got from a Vending Machine that had Fred Flintstone in the middle and he would spin around and an egg would come down and inside it was a prize, that was such a cool machine.

Kings Island is an amazing Amusement Park located in Mason, Ohio and when I was a kid, it was one of the must go to attractions for kids on summer vacation even more so then Fantasy Farm and Americana Amusement Park that where the two I visited more in my youth as both us kids and our parents liked them. But besides rides like King Cobra, The Beast and Adventure Express for me one of the cool aspects of the park was “Hanna-Barbera Land” the kid friendly part of the park that featured rides and attractions that were all tied into the cartoon characters made by that animation studio. And also all around the park they would have merchandise and prizes that as well had the likeness of Scooby-Doo, Huckleberry Hound and Fred Flintstone to name a few. And one big attraction for many was the dark ride that featured the Smurfs as well as the Smurf Blue Ice Cream as still to this day both are talked about with great fondness by fans. But one awesome thing was that they had walk around versions of the cartoon characters and one that was always awesome to see was Yogi Bear and every time I went to Kings Island I would look for him as Yogi Bear is a true icon and I am shocked I never got a picture with him as back then I was a fool for taking pictures to capture the memories, but for me spotting him became almost like a real life “Where’s Waldo” book and added to the fun of being at the park. But sadly starting around 2001 Hanna-Barbera Land started to be phased out and by 2005 it was gone all together minus one Scooby-Doo ride. You see Kings Island went with a Nickelodeon theme instead and that made sense as Paramount Pictures ended up buying the theme park for a few years and wanted to brand areas with their own properties hence why rides like Top Gun, Face Off, Tomb Raider and Italian Job were all added. While gone, for those of us who grew up with Hanna-Barbera Land at Kings Island, the memories and fun time had will always live on. And I have heard a rumor that in one of the areas in the park that is the “Ride Graveyard” is filled not only with old ride parts, carts and signs but also many of the Hanna-Barbera stuff including the Smurfs from the Enchanted Forest as well as the walk around suits!

Really quick I have to also point out that Yogi Bear once had a guest cameo on one of my favorite Horror Hosts shows “Nightmare Theater” with host Sammy Terry! It’s on a Christmas episode that has Sammy Terry along with his friends George The Spider and Ghoulsby the zombie talking about the big meal they will be having for dinner of Christmas day and of course its all gross stuff like poison ivy salad and brains, but when they start talking about the guests they want to invite that of course are all monsters and ghouls it’s George who wants to invite Yogi over for the dinner! Sammy is at first puzzled by this but goes along with the request and our classic cartoon icon is on the guest list. And the best part is when they say his name is image even appears making his cameo legit even if it is for only a few moments. Very cool to see and just wanted to share this with you readers, oh and the movie he hosted that night was the vampire film Deathmaster.

Before we get to the review part of this update, I want to say that back in the 1970’s a cool team up happened when Marvel Comics and Hanna-Barbara came together and made some amazing kids comics based on their popular cartoons like Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Dynomutt, Laff-A-Lympics as well as spotlight issues. And this was a very cool thing for comic readers as well as cartoon watchers as it gave fans of these characters new adventures to enjoy before the next episode would air. And when Marvel and Hanna-Barbara came together the comic company made a big deal about it as both companies came up together in the 60’s and even some of Marvel Artists over the years had worked for the cartoon company. This was very cool and I can remember growing up that I enjoyed the Marvel Comics versions of Hanna-Barbara characters more then the Dell and Gold Key Versions that I as well had. In these modern times Marvel Comics could never make comics based on these characters again as Hanna-Barbara is owned by Warner Brothers who also own DC Comics…so yeah it will never happen again. Check this very cool piece of art below that Marvel released to announce the team up.

Well we are at the review part of this update, and as you can see, Jellystone Park is packed with campers and visitors and that means Yogi and Boo-Boo have to be creeping around looking for food to steal. And I am really looking forward to reading these comics as some are ones I will be revisiting from my youth while others will be first time reads. I want to thank Mom Young, Lone Star Comics, Ebay Seller and Dark Star Comics for having these comics in stock and making this update possible. And I would like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that let’s find a quit place to sit back and relax eat some food and read some comics, and see if our picnic basket will go missing along the way.

Yogi Bear # 1 ***
Released in 1977 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #1 of 9

“The Secret Of Ghastly Grotto” in this story Yogi and Boo-Boo are exploring an off limits cave with a metal detector when they run into a dragon, and after running away Yogi notices that Boo-Boo is missing and he runs to Ranger Smith for help. Meanwhile inside we find that a crook has captured Boo-Boo as he has been hiding out in the cave for over 6 years as it’s almost 7 years and when that happens he can not be arrested for the million dollars worth of gold he has stolen! Yogi and Ranger Smith return to the cave to look for the missing bear and find the dragon and with the metal detector they find that it’s fake, and they rescue Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith arrests the crook when Yogi speeds up the clock to make him think he is protected by the statue of limitations law for his crime! In the end Yogi and Boo-Boo instead use the metal detector to find cans around the park as they feel its safer. “The Goodies Inspector” Yogi is hungry for food and is drawing mustaches on all the signs that warn camper not to feed him, but Yogi also has another idea and tells some campers that he is the Goodies Inspector and that their sandwiches have been banned by the government. As Yogi runs off with the basket the people start eating berries off the trees for lunch and when Ranger Smith walks by they tell him about the inspector and he knows this is a Yogi trick. Ranger Smith finds Yogi asleep with a belly full of sandwiches and wakes him up claiming that there really is a ban on the sandwiches and they need to find the campers who have them, Yogi thinks he is sick now and after a few moments Ranger Smith lets him in on the prank. In the end with some cut fur Yogi is now walking around with the mustache that he drew on the do not feed signs. “The Chummy Dummy” while in the park Howard Uvula gives Yogi five dollars and takes his picture and makes a comment on how they are worth a lot to him, so Yogi follows Howard and finds that he made a ventriloquist dummy that looks like him! Yogi sneaks in and takes the place of the dummy and during the show scares the audience and steals the dummy. You see Yogi was not about to be viewed as a dummy and this was his payback.

This first issue of Yogi Bear by Marvel Comics is fantastic and they creative team did a fantastic job of capturing the characters and making it feel just like the cartoons it’s based on. The issue has three Yogi Bear adventures and also has a backstory about The Flintstones and really are a great kids comic that is also must reads for fans of the character. Yogi Bear in all three stories is the normal conning and charming bear we all love and even when down and out he still ends up being ahead in some way. Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith add great backup to the stories and do their parts well. The villains of the comic is The Crook who is a robber and Howard Uvula who is just a jerk and bases his new Dummy on Yogi, I mean how rude is that. If I had to pick the best story from this issue I would say it has to be “The Secret Of Ghastly Grotto” as the haunted cave, fake dragon and a Crook looking to get away with his crime is a lot of fun and the fact that Yogi tricks the crook into give up his gun by speeding up the clock is a good cartoonish way to save the day and its perfect. Picking my least favorite is a little hard as I liked them all, but I guess I would have to say “The Chummy Dummy” just because the pay out of Yogi scaring the audience of the performer was just an ok ending for him to get revenge. The cover is very eye catching for fans of Yogi Bear and the interior art is top notched and is done by an Unknown Artist and whomever did it really draws all the characters so well and it really does help add to the enjoyment of the comic. This first issue is very cool and is one of the better kid comics based on a classic cartoon character we have covered here on Rotten Ink, so lets see what issue two is all about.

Yogi Bear # 2 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #2 of 9

“The Trillionaire’s Bear” Jellystone Park has been sold to the rich Filthy McLucre who is wanting to turn the park into a massive shopping center. Yogi stops the bulldozer from starting the destruction of the park by acting as if Boo-Boo has been infected by sickness and that no noises and bulldozers can be around via doctors orders. Yogi then sneaks off and heads to the mansion of Filthy McLucre and acts as a teddy bear in order to get inside but soon meets Luke McLure the bratty grandson of Flithy and after being disrespected by Luke he says he would give anything in order for Luke to learn respect and discipline, and after the bratty kid torments Yogi by knocking him out of a window and even trying to run him down in a train, Yogi finally snaps and threatens to spank the mean little kid who claims he will be good! In return for teaching the kid a lesson in respect Filthy grants Yogi’s request that the park is safe and that the shopping center will be built someplace else. “Movie Madness” Yogi and Boo-Boo are walking near a cinema when they notice all the Horror Movies playing and one is about a killer bear and this makes everyone scared of the two friendly bears, and when Yogi goes to talk to the maker of the film he soon finds that the man is not very nice and kicks him out of his office. So Yogi to get revenge makes his own Horror Movie about the moviemaker and now people are scared of him! But in the end the film maker and Yogi team up and make a movie that pits both their horror film characters together and they make lots of money. “Signs Of The Time” Huckleberry Hound is visiting Jellystone Park with a picnic basket in hand and Ranger Smith tells him to make sure to please obey the park signs as its important for park safety and to help keep in clean. Yogi over hears this and decides he is going to have some fun and leaves silly signs in the path of Huckleberry like to walk on your hands, meow like a cat and of course to give your food to him! At the end of his park visit Huckleberry complains to Ranger Smith about the signs, meanwhile Yogi has eaten all of the food and is shocked when he finds out that other park goers are following his fake signs including Ranger Smith who is doing so cause he is leading by example.

What another fun issue that as well does justice to the cartoon as well as just Yogi Bear in general. This issue as well has three stories featuring Yogi and has one back-up story that is The Flintstones, with all three Yogi stories once more being very fun reads that has him saving the park to even conning the park goers for food! And like before the creators of the comic do a great job of making Yogi Bear the lovable character we all love as he is funny, silly and also even kind of a hero. My favorite story is “Movie Madness” as come on its everything I enjoy as it has Yogi Bear, Movie Theaters and of course Horror Films! Plus I love that its taking a jab at the Nature Run Amok Horror films that flooded the theaters in the 70’s like Jaws, Grizzly and Day Of The Animals to name a few. Plus I love that instead of the Moviemaker and Yogi pulling their films from theater they instead team up and make a crossover film for movie goers to see, the true nature of indie horror. And again selecting a least favorite is hard as all three were good stories but if I have to pick on I would say “The Trillionaire’s Bear” as while it’s a silly take it also is kind of just basic of a bratty kid with no manors being taught a lesson. The cover like before is really cool and has Yogi on a fishing pool being dunked in water while the kid rides on the front of a train! The interior art by Unknown Artist is once more very cool and well done and captures everything Yogi Bear. Let’s not also forget that we have a big guest star in this issue as Huckleberry Hound stops by Jellystone and is robbed of his tasty food and made to look silly by his pal Yogi in the process. Over all a great issue even if the copy I have is missing part of a panel due to a kid clipping a coupon. But lets see what issue three has in store for us!

Yogi Bear # 3 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #3 of 9

“Below-Zero Bear” Yogi Bear has made a mistake and has hidden on a airplane that he thought was going south for the winter but it was really heading to the South Pole and worse he has been dropped off along with the supplies for a very angry man who wants to takedown Yogi for his fur to help keep him warm. Meanwhile Boo-Boo tells Ranger Smith about what Yogi has done and the two leave Jellystone to try and save their friend who they are sure is freezing and needs help getting home. Meanwhile Yogi escapes his attacker and finds the travel agent and tries to buy a ticket to get back home but is short on money, when a man offers to buy the ticket if Yogi and get a photo of the Abominable Snowman who has a summer home in the South Pole. Yogi ends up getting the picture and is shocked when the ticket he bought is not good for another six months so finds a warm bed to hibernate in, but is found by Ranger Smith and Boo-Boo and is going home. “Sheriff Yogi” has Yogi Bear going to visit his friend Quick Draw McGraw and by accident Yogi with a banana peel helps arrest Little Luke and by doing so the Mayor makes Yogi the new town Sheriff and this goes bad when Large Leo the brother of Luke comes to down and uses Yogi as a punching bag, and its Quick Draw who takes down and brings in Leo and once more becomes the Sheriff. “Swami Bear” has Yogi coming up with another plan to try and steal picnic baskets by dressing as a ranger and making park goers go through a metal detector so he can see what is in their baskets and then they visit him as a fortune teller who knows what they have brought for lunch and tells them its cursed, and of course Ranger Smith catches him and stops this scheme.

Yogi Bear in this issues goes from a Yeti photographer to sheriff to a fake swami and all the while he is bring us readers around for the fun and silly ride and of course Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith are caught up in many of these goofy plans and adventures. And what was also very cool in this issue is seeing Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey in the cameo spot and they are used well as Yogi and Boo-Boo visit them in the old west town. You also cannot go wrong with a comic that features Abominable Snowman who is on vacation in the South Pole. This issue as always features three Yogi stories and one Flintstones back up story and each of the Yogi stories are solid and I would say my favorite is Sheriff Yogi as I like the humor in it plus the adding of Quick Draw was awesome, and my least favorite is Swami Bear just cause the story is supper short and is pretty much a set up for Ranger Smith to but Yogi through the metal detector to show that his brain is hollow…silly and fun stuff. The cover for this issue is lots of fun and has Yogi in a tuxedo acting like a penguin while the Snowman is looking for him. And the Unknown Artist who does the interior art once more did fantastic work and all the characters look like they do in the cartoons. Over all yet another solid issue if you enjoy Yogi Bear like I do.

Yogi Bear # 4 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #4 of 9

“Don’t Give Up The Sheep” has a farmer getting permission from the government to allow his sheep to graze as Jellystone while his land is getting re-seeded. But following the farmer is Hokey Wolf who steels the farmers eyeglasses as well as a sheep and does so acting as if he is Yogi Bear! The Farmer and Ranger Smith confront Yogi and do not believe him when he says he did not steel the sheep and rushes to the city to try and make things right when the Farmer threatens him if he does not bring the sheep back, so Yogi ends up entering a boxing contest and lasts 10 rounds with a heavy weight to get money to buy a sheep from a girl names Mary who is mad cause the sheep followed her to school! Once he buys the sheep he brings it to the farmer the same time Hokey shows up returning the glasses and sheep he stole as he felt bad for stealing and framing Yogi! In the end Yogi clears hi name and the Farmer goes after Hokey Wolf for causing all this drama. “The Ranger Stranger” Yogi is being annoying and out of control when Ranger Smith finally snaps and quits, and the new Ranger is mean who makes Yogi pick up trash all day around the park. Yogi escapes Jellystone and finds Ranger Smith and makes it seem that everyone that Smith see’s is him, so he thinks he misses Yogi and returns to his job at Ranger of Jellystone. “Going To Waist” Yogi is getting chubby and decides to loose a few pounds and goes to a workout instructor who pushes Yogi to the limit, but during lunch as Yogi has to eat one celery stock, he finds the instructor wears a girdle and is eating chicken! In order to hide his secret he gets Yogi a bear suit and a girdle and it now makes him look as if he lost weight.

This is another fun and silly comic that has three Yogi Bear adventures and of course is backed up by a short Flintstones one. Yogi in this issue boxes, picks up trash and gets chubby and all the while use readers are having a laugh with him. For me the best story in the issue is “Don’t Give Up The Sheep” as it not only guest stars Hokey Wolf but also has Yogi having to box a heavyweight to get money to buy a sheep from Mary who is from the Nursery Rhyme, and its also fun to see Yogi try and convince Ranger Smith that he did not steal the sheep. And the weakest story in this issue is “The Ranger Stranger” as while a fun story and some humorous gags are pulled off, I just feel the story is the weakest and the payout of getting Ranger Smith to return to his post is way to fast. One thing I have noticed as well this far in the series is that Boo-Boo while around is never fully focused on and that is a little shocking as he has always been a very popular cartoon character. The cover is pretty cool and has Hokey Wolf stealing a sheep as Yogi is bring a sheep and Boo-Boo is stuck in the middle. The interior art is good as always and one story has artist Dick Bickenback credited, the others do not and could be Bickenback or are Unknown Artist. Over all this is a good issue and truly does capture the silliness and mood of this cartoon, and with that let’s see what issue five has in store for us.

Yogi Bear # 5 **1/2
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #5 of 9

“The Jelly Jam” Ranger Smith is mad at Yogi for trying to steal picnic baskets and runs him off, and hungry and wanting pizza he decides that he and Boo-Boo should try and mine for gold in Jellystone and head into the caves to start mining. After awhile they do not find any gold or silver but they do find all kinds of jelly flavors…in fact it’s the best jelly ever and it was made by Mother Nature, and Yogi tries to sell his jelly find to the local jelly company who in turn is mad about this tasty treat and blows up Yogi’s mine to try and stop this jelly from getting into eaters sandwiches. Yogi figures out that the Jelly Company Owner is who caused the jelly to flood the area and tricks him into falling into a ditch filled with the gooey stuff. The owner admits to Ranger Smith that he caused the jelly flood and this ends the mining, as well as Yogi every wanting to eat jelly again. “Wrap Session” it’s Cindy Bear’s Birthday and Yogi has forgotten until he overhears her telling her friend about how Yogi every year makes her day special. Yogi rushes to the toy store and after begging the owner is able to get her a plush toy, and after trying to wrap it he destroys it as well as the wrapping paper is now all around him! So in the end he gives himself as the present for Cindy for her Birthday. “The Defective Detective” has Yogi and Boo-Boo showing up to the office of Snooper and Bladder as they were going to go get lunch and catch up, but the detective pair are running late and Yogi decides to take a case from a rich woman who is paying a grand to find her lost dog. And of course Yogi fails in his attempts to find the dog and ends up on the bad end of the hunt by being bitten and trampled on by attack and stray dogs. Finally Snooper and Bladder show up and put Yogi in a mailman outfit and they find the missing dog who is biting him.

And this is another good issue but I do have to be honest this one is not as good as the others that came before it as the best story in the issue is “The Jelly Jam” as its funny and silly as Yogi mines and uncovers natural made jelly and a owner of a jelly company tries to sabotage it and causes a jelly flood and eruption in Jellystone! The other two stories are good and entertaining but do seem a little rush and the stories do not have great payouts in the end. I think that “The Defective Detective” is my least favorite as it’s a shame as it even has cameos from Snooper and Bladder. Yogi is great and it’s a shame that this issue is just an average read and again I feel two of the three stories are rushed. This issue has another backup story of The Flintstones and the cover is good and has Yogi and Boo-Boo digging for jelly. The interior art is good and done by Unknown Artist and once more captures the characters well. I want to say keep in mind this is still a fun and good issue it just does not capture the magic like the past four issues did. But with that said let’s see what issue six has in store for us.

Yogi Bear # 6 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #6 of 9

“Surfer Bear” Yogi and Boo-Boo are in Hawaii and are looking forward to surfing, but when they get there they find that the ocean is frozen and is solid ice and this is running many peoples vacation as well as putting shops out of business. Yogi and Boo-Boo decided to get some skates and ice skate on the ocean when the ice cracks and Yogi is taken away by a monster who takes him to his cave and wants Yogi to tell the world for stop over fishing the area and Yogi is given the task to really try and stop one greedy Captain who has been bad for taking way to many fish. We also learn that the Sea Monster used icebergs to freeze the ocean, and after getting back topside and meeting the Captain a plan is in place that has the Sea Monster scare away the greedy fisherman and all is back to normal in Hawaii. “The Sinister Scheme” Yogi is dressed as Captain Yogi a superhero and is trying to nab a picnic basket when he is caught by Ranger Smith, and this causes Yogi to go into his full plan that has him acting super nice for nine days even helping around the park and not doing one thing bad, this of course makes Ranger Smith think he is planning something big and as the days go by the Ranger snaps and begs Yogi to go back to his normal ways and to not do whatever it was he was planning…and this of course is what Yogi wanted all along as he goes back to stealing the baskets from park goers. “The Homemade Hero” Yogi is in the city when he runs into his friend Top Cat and his gang of street cats and the word on the street is that Officer Dibble is in trouble and might be replaced on the street, and this would mean an officer who would be stricter on Top Cat could be assigned! So they come up with a plan to dress Yogi up as a wild bear and have Dibble capture him in front of one of his supervisors, but in the end with the help of Yogi, Top Cat and the other cats Dibble is able to capture two bank robbers and show he is a hero.

Ok this is a really fun issue of Yogi Bear by Marvel Comics as one of the stories even has Yogi teaming with one of my other favorite Hanna-Barbara cartoon characters Top Cat! And of course “The Homemade Hero” is my favorite story of the three presented in this issue as it’s a fun and silly tale of how Yogi and T.C. have to help Officer Dibble prove he is not a cop who has no results on a street that is overran by cats who eat from garbage cans and dumpsters. I also have to say I really do like how in these comics they play up the fact that Yogi is friends with all the other characters that make up the Hanna-Barbara universe. And picking my least favorite is hard as I do find both the other stories to be entertaining but if forced to pick I would say that “Surfer Bear” would be the one as its silly and a good read it also takes Yogi to Hawaii and that just seems weird. The Sea Monster and the Greedy Fisherman Captain are cool side characters and as I have said seeing Top Cat and his gang in the issue helped make it ever better. The cover on this one is also good and the use of pink makes it standout and I mean you cannot go wrong with a smiling Yogi with a surfboard. The first story has artwork by Dick Bickenback and the other two I am not sure so Unknown Artist it is and all looks great like always. Marvel Comics is back delivering another great issue for fans of Yogi with this one.

Yogi Bear # 7 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #7 of 9

“The Business Typhoon” Filthy McLucre is sick of all the headaches his money and business is given him so he heads to Jellystone to relax when he runs into Yogi and Boo-Boo who make him and honorary bear! And with that Yogi is selected to go run all the businesses and to take care of all the money! But soon Yogi finds that being rich is not great as Boo-Boo and Cindy Bear love living at Jellystone and have to interest in living or even visiting the McLure mansion. And worse one of McLure’s old workers wants the money and wants to ruin Yogi Bear in order to get it all. Finally Yogi has had enough and leaves the mansion and returns to Jellystone only to find that McLure is stealing picnic baskets and with the help of Ranger Smith and only the idea of eating berries and nuts Filthy McLucre returns to his mansion and his no good worker finds out just how hard it is to be in charge of that much money. “Exit Snagglepuss” Yogi is walking down the street when out of the TV Studio Snagglepuss is thrown out by the director who does not want to hire him for a commercial, and its then that Yogi figures out that what Snagglepuss needs is an agent and Yogi will be just that for only 10% of what he earns…but they soon find that the Director just wants nothing to do with them no matter how good Snagglepuss is! In the end after being thrown out, chased around and when he finally does get the parts its being dunked into water over and over…and he is not happy with Yogi and wants to dump water over his head.

The seventh issue in this series only features two stories with a backup The Flintstones one and each of the stories seem to be given a little more time to grow. And the guest star in this one is Snagglepuss another of my favorite characters even though I have to say his story “Exit Snagglepuss” is the weakest of the two as it just lacks something to make it full standout, again its not a bad tale just lacking something as the joke of them being kicked out of the station over and over is classic cartoon stuff. The best story is “The Business Typhoon” as it was cool to see billionaire Filthy McLucre return to Jellystone and remember Yogi as well as just be sick of being rich! And even when Yogi gets all the power and money he soon sees that the headaches are not worth it. What makes this issue also work is that the two stories are very simple and are filled with goofy jokes and as well places Yogi into odd situations that re somehow very fitting for him. The cover for this issue is good and while not it is in my opinion not the most eye catching of the series this far the art on the front and the blue color I am sure made it stand out at the newsstand. We got Dick Bickenback and Unknown Artist back on interior art and like a broken record I have to say its great stuff. Another fun issue and showed that Marvel and Hanna-Barbara should have kept working together to make these fun kids comics that are great reads for all ages.

Yogi Bear # 8 ***
Released in 1979 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #8 of 9

“Big Top Bear” Boo-Boo leaves the cave to go get some water when two men kidnap him and as Yogi tries to save his friend he his tossed away by one of them. And even with the help of Ranger Smith the bad guys get away with Boo-Boo, and all Yogi and Ranger Smith have to go by us a weird saying one of the men said and after calling Snooper Yogi discovers that the saying is circus talk and they are who have his friend captive. Yogi gets to the circus and finds that its full of corruption and Yogi is also kidnaped once found and thrown in the cage with Boo-Boo, but Yogi gets an idea and tricks the Circus owner to let them out of the cage and they trick the owner and the circus strong man into a cage and with that the corrupt circus is brought down and Yogi and Boo-Boo return to Jellystone. “Frontier Father” Doggie Daddy is taking his son Augie Doggie camping and Yogi watches as Doggie Daddy fumbles at camping like setting up a tent and even fishing, all the while Augie is ashamed of his dads failed attempts. Yogi tries to help Doggie Daddy and ends up almost going over a waterfall and has to really be saved by Doggie Daddy whose son now is very proud of his dad the hero.

This is another only two adventure issue that delivers a fun read that like always captures the feel of the cartoon, and for those wondering yep it has The Flintstones back up story. Yogi Bear in this issues brings down a terrible circus and even helps a father get the respect of his son and all the while does this all in typical Yogi fashion and also of course does it with his own charm. The cameo guests in this issue is Doggie Daddy and Augie Doggie and it was great seeing them in this issue as they are characters that all us Hanna-Barbara cartoon watches know and love, and they are used really well in this issue as it was great having them camp at Jellystone Park. I also have to say that I like the Circus Strongman who is said that he can rip Phone Booths in half…not Phone Books…Booths! I can not choose witch story I like better as both are really good and solid and to be fair are pretty much dead even so I am not going to choose and just say they are both great! The cover is great and has Yogi and Boo-Boo being fired out of a cannon and is eye catching and interior art (or at least the first story) is done by Dick Bickenback and is great stuff and again I can not stress how well this Marvel Comics captures the cartoon and its characters so well. Over all another amazing issue and continues to deliver great reads for fans of Yogi Bear.

Yogi Bear # 9 ***
Released in 1979 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #9 of 9

“Bearly Robin Hood” Jellystone Park is being forced to close do to a bill not passing that would help fund the parks of America and Yogi even goes to the congress man to try and get him to change his vote to help the park stay open, and he refuses and Yogi sits day and night trying to find a way to save the park. One night before bed he reads the story of Robin Hood and then has a dream about himself being Robin Yogi and with his Merry Men Boo-Boo, Doggie Daddy, Huckleberry Hound and Wally Gator and they robbed the rich like Snagglepuss and were being hunted by the Ranger who wanted to stop the crime wave. And after winning a archery contest he gets the Ranger off his back and wins a kiss from Cindy Bear…and then he wakes up he has a plan and when the Congress Man shows up to shutdown the park Yogi takes him around the park to show how hard life is at the park and it’s a good thing for it to go away and that all of the animals are happy that they now will be living with the Congress Man in his home, this ideas scares the government man who rips up the shutdown notice and says they will find the money to budget for the park and runs off…Yogi has saved the park again. “The Lonely Ranger” Huckleberry Hound is trying to get a job at being a park ranger at Jellystone and this is good news for Yogi who goes on a picnic basket stealing rampage and almost sets the world record and only needs one more to do so! Yogi sets out to get that record and picnic basket and ends up stealing one form Rancid Rob a bank robber who just robbed a bank and has the money hidden in his basket. Unknown to Huckleberry Hound that the basket is tied to a robber he goes after Yogi to get it back and enters Yogi’s cave…but just then the Police show up and surround the cave as the money has a tracker, in the end Rancid Rob is arrested, the money is returned, Huckleberry decides to not become a ranger and Yogi keeps on stealing picnic baskets.

This is the final issue of Yogi Bear from Marvel Comics and I have to say this is a great series and that all the creators behind it did a fantastic job of capturing the cartoon perfectly on the comic pages and delivering fun adventures of Yogi and Boo-Boo and do a fantastic job of working in Ranger Smith, Cindy Bear as well as many other Hanna-Barbara characters like Huckleberry Hound and Top Cat to name a few. This issue has two Yogi stories with one having him trying to save Jellystone Park from being shutdown by government greed and the other he stops a bank robber by accident and is able to return the money and get the robber behind bars. Both stories are great but I would say that “Bearly Robin Hood” is the better of the two as I really enjoy the Robin Hood dream and this opens the door for many cool cameos including Wally Gator and Magilla Gorilla two characters that are first time seen in the series and again two of my favorites. The worse part of this issue is that it’s the final issue as I had a blast covering this comic series and I wish that it would have lasted longer as again next to some of the Star Comics and Whitman Comics this is one of the better kids comics based on a cartoon. The cover for this issue is lots of fun and has Yogi dressed in his Robin Yogi look and is pretty eye catching if you’re a fan of Yogi’s. The interior art at least for this first story is done by Bickenback again and is great stuff and that’s the thing about this comic series as well all the art is great and really does look like the characters from the toons. Over all if you are a fan of Yogi Bear and enjoy comic books I say check out the Marvel Comics series as they truly are fun reads that does Yogi justice. Checkout the art below to see the style used in this comic series.

Cartoons was a big part of my youth as watching them after school and on Saturday Morning was a wonderful time as much like a good Horror Host a good cartoon character ended up feeling like your friend that you would watch have fun, humorous and exciting adventures. Many of you my age grew up with Yogi Bear, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse and so many others in reruns as well as new cartoons, and that’s the thing doing this update made me feel like a kid again and brought back the joy of watching Yogi on TV. But for the next update we will be leaving Jellystone Park and cartoons behind and will be heading to the world of Horror Films (or Dark Comedy) as we will be chatting about the 1982 film Mary Eating Raoul and the promo comic released alongside it. So until next time read a comic or three, watch a cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time as we have a dinner date with the Blands!