Showing posts with label Nutty Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nutty Life. Show all posts

19 July 2019

My Name Is PET PEEVE, But You Can Call Me PETTY!

A year ago this past Friday we took a peek at one of those truly odd comic creations that could only have come from the '40s toon boom - Tommy Tot and The Heir Corps.



Tim Howe's Heir Corps didn't last long. Tommy debuted in the summer of 1946 and bowed out in the spring of '47, with one odd exception. During his period of publication, Tommy Tot was the feature of a few of those two-page text features required for the postal discount. He showed up again in 1951 for another of those. (And again six years later, but it was the same story repeating). That story was credited to Tom Howe, not Tim, fueling speculation on the possibility that it was a pen name. I am wholly ignorant in this matter. So, moving right along...

We've got a trio of tales today, beginning with the story that appeared in the same issue of Nutty Life (#2) as the tale we saw previously (in the link above)...


"But it looked so wonderful from the outside!" sure seems like it could explain a lot of the other silliness out there. That might even top good intentions.

Next up, Tommy's longest tale. With a whole 10 pages, he can even have a full page splash...


And, finally - Tommy Tot's final story...


"The past can take care of itself but the Heirs Corps will always be on guard for a better future!"

...and they were never seen again...


page art by Howe for Nutty Life #2 and Ribticklers #s 7 & 8 (1946, 1947)

12 July 2018

Lightening The Mood

We've been brooding a bit over the recent losses. Let's pick things up a bit and switch to some light comedy. Jumping back 70 years (+2, for one of the tales), here's some quirky old humour from the late 1940s.

Artist and writer unknown, here's the final appearance of Walrus Whopper -


 this Tommy Tot and the Heir Corps tale is one of those rare beasts from the period that has both writer and artist credits - and both are the same man - Tim Howe. (However, i can't be certain that's not a nom de plume)


Two-Gun Percy is drawn by Jimmy Thompson ; as too often usual, writer unknown -


All three had more episodes. Tommy Tot and the Heir Corps had the fewest, with only 4, while Walrus Whopper had 9 tales to tell. Two-Gun Percy was the longest lasting, with two dozen appearances (if one includes the Daisy Handbook from 1948).

page art from Leading Comics #30 (1948), Nutty Life #2 (1946), and All Funny Comics #21 (1948)