Krazy Komics
Krazy Komics # 1, July 1942. Timely. Stan Lee, Editor. Timely became Marvel. Some of the artist's in this I recognize, Chad Grothkopf, Al Jaffee (b. 1928, still with us), and Dave Berg. Chad drew Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, and people of my generation will recognize Jaffee and Berg.
First story, first issue.
Hmmm...
Issue the second. I suspect this is Chad Grothkopf, the bunny looks like Hoppy.
The
f***king nerve. If I got a box of matches I sure don't need ideas from
Stan Lee on how to pass the time, I don't think anyone has been in that
old barn for years!
Tommy Toughcat. He's from Brooklyn, note the derby. As exotic as this accent is to me and everyone else west of Joisey it probably was standard stuff for Timely and the boys. Bugs Bunny is from Brooklyn so dat's jake by me!
Anyone care to guess who these guys are talking about?
A sense of subtlety and understatement.
I really should be writing that book instead of reading comics designed for 10 year olds during WWII.
Sorry, Stan, wiener dogs just don't scare me.
It sure does. How's that love life working for you, Billy?
Aw...fer cryin' out loud! The very next story is this, about a grasshopper rabbit who is certainly going to get his comeuppance from the hard working ants around him.
Damn right I'm aggrieved.
Yep, Homer Rabbit sure got his. What a dope!
I'm about to put this comic in my back pocket and walk out into the Gulf of Mexico.
Here's one from the unremarkable issue 3. Why aren't these artists in the army?
This movie and
film can be yours. Become an Ace Magician. The Spirit of St. Louis is
apparently used in front line combat. So you bet-ter come across or
else. You can start at once. Enjoy your dead rabbit.
I grow old ... I grow old ...
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
Clearly
Captain A hits the sauce pretty hard and it is more than obvious in
this picture that there is a reason men should wear their underwear beneath their skin tight leotards.
And what's with those boots?
As
can be seen, Stan Lee is in the army, and Vince Fago is interim
editor. He was blind in one eye from the age of 16. His brother was Al
Fago, one of the greats as well. Issue 7, April 1943.
Hey! Kids! Look! One of these guys is named 'Whitewash'. Can you guess which one he is?
Speaking of unrestrained racism...
Cute little rabbit though, the hotfoot was considered the height of wit at this time. Extra points for giving it to a cop. I guess blowtorching bunny bottoms was really buzzin', cousin.
For
those of you who may not have grown up idolizing all the Heavyweight
Champions, this is an unflattering picture of Max Schmeling, who won the
title on a foul from Jack Sharkey and was Hitler's superman. That
Schemling was a decent type, cultured and a habitue of the theater and
arts scene didn't matter, he was the one sports celebrity in Nazi Germany
forced to serve in the war, he was a paratrooper at Crete. After
knocking out Young Stribling he should have been given the shot at Jim
Braddock's title, but it was either him or Joe Louis and nobody wanted the
German to get the title again. It was a cheat but that is how the game
is played. Late in his life it was revealed he had saved two Jewish
kids from death. He lived to be 99, but was always dogged by the win on
a foul. He tried to get the ref to overturn the decision and go on
with the fight to no avail. Curious that both Hitler and Mussolini had a
heavyweight champion of dubious provenance, Primo Carnera was a mob
controlled stiff who was left with 50 dollars after he lost the title.
Max
has finally been accorded the recognition he deserved, when I was a kid The Ring magazine openly mocked him as a phony.
Schmeling was one of the hardest hitters ever and a really good guy.
Now back to Timely-
The
picture that sums up the dark side of Furry. Both the prey animals are
in a fix here, and I got some bad news about how this turned out. It
seems that the serial killer 'Toughy' Tomcat made quite a boodle
supplying meat to couponless Brooklynites, and would have skated
entirely except that albino seals are protected by federal law. Tommy
was hit with a 25 dollar fine and died in the early nineties during a
drunken bender in his palatial Westchester home.
The wheels of God grind slow but they grind exceedingly fine.
A
relatively cute and well done anthro bear and his kid. You know, Walt
Kelly was 4-F but they would have had to pay him real money, so
this is what the kids got instead.
The
last issue, March 1946. This is Super Rabbit, after Hoppy the Marvel
Bunny and before the Bugs Bunny short of the same name. As can be seen,
there is a new cast of characters and the artwork is exponentially
better.
Good riddance, Krazy Komics, we got bigger and better fish to fry. Next time on Fun With Billy -
Bravestarr.
A Cosmic cowboy hat's off to Andrew the Bee for bringing Bravestarr to my magpie attention span.
These are the people who brought us He-Man.
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