Flippity Floppity Twiddle Twaddle

Once upon a time, comics - and even superheroes - were fun...

Let's go there for some Saturday Morning Toons, eh? To kick it off, Flippity (née Flippy) and Flop, from Hubie Karp and Jim Davis. That Garfield guy was 6 years old when this came out, so let's assume it was a different Jim Davis, okay? I believe this is the same Jim Davis who illustrated Tom Lerher's classic The Hunting Song for The Dude.

From the same team (and co-starring in the same book)... 

Yes, i'm lazy. We're not sure who wrote this, but it's Jim Davis on the art again, and we're still in the same title...

These guys all played in Flippty and Flop all through the 1950s. The title ran 47 issues, from 1951...

(As you can see, Twiddle and Twaddle frequently received guest star billing on the cover)

...to 1960...

(No DC! No Superman! They've gone INDependent)

...and, yes - that cage showed up on a Lot of covers.

I don't think we've looked at Hubie Karp much yet, neither here nor in the 1940s Funny Animalphabet.

We should correct that.

page art by Jim Davis from Flippty and Flop #4 (I said i was lazy today) (1951)

Hunting Season

November is here, as noted earlier, and hunting season is in full swing sixty-one years ago. (I've mentioned my relationship with time is kind of loopy, right?)

To mark the season, we turn to Professor Tom Lehrer, a most noteworthy social educator. For the unfamiliar heathenry, other songs from our delightful maestro include The Masochism Tango and The Vatican Rag, classics & personal faves both, and many others.

The Dude brought in Jim Davis to illustrate their presentation of Prof. Lehrer's words and music for The Hunting Song:

The Hunting Song
by Prof. Tom Lehrer

I always will remember,
'Twas a year ago November,
I went out to hunt some deer
on a morning bright and clear.
I went and shot the maximum the game laws would allow -
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.

I was in no mood to trifle,
I took down my trusty rifle
and went out to stalk my prey.
What a haul I made that day!
I tied them to my fender and I drome them home somehow -
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow.

The Law was very firm, it
took away my permit,
the worst punishment I ever endured.
It turned out the was a reason,
cows were out of season,
and one of the hunters wasn't insured.

People ask me how I do it,
and I say there's nothing to it.
You just stand there looking cute,
and when something moves, you shoot!
And there's ten stuffed heads in my trophy room right now -
Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a purebred Guernsey cow.

Jim Davis banner art was savaged in the presentation above, so here's the original page layout for your perusal:

We'll definitely have to come back to The Dude again. Not only did they pair Davis & Lehrer as we've seen here, but you might have noticed some names on the cover tucked up the corner there. Top of the list is D.H. Lawrence, who provided a social essay:

and hidden in the back unannounced was new fiction from Harlan Ellison:

Most certainly worth a return visit, don't you think?

the works from The Dude v.1 # 2 (1956)