Poking The Oakey Again

Back from a quick hold-over supply run before the big run next week. Really damn normal looking out there, aside from half the humans being masked. Even the Target was nice and peaceful, despite their having to close 200 stores nationwide due to protests.

So, that was nice.

Meanwhile, last we saw Pokey Oakey, he was in the crosshairs of a couple hillbillies seeming quite disfriendly-like...

As i mentioned previously, the ending of each tale segues into the beginning of the next, so there aren't any clean break points when looking at the old stories...
 

Okay, maybe no clean break points, but that'll do for an excuse to step away. The Pink Plague is a fat elephant stomping around causing problems. We can get plenty of that just turning on the TV, so let's jump ahead a year for a tasty dose of Odd -

Wait...   Did that story have an actual ending point?

Well, that was an Odd episode!

page art by Don Dean from Top-Notch Laugh Comics #s 31, 32, & 42 (1942, 1943)

Hillbilly Hijinx - The Beginning

Once upon a time, as many of you know, Li'l Abner ruled the comic world from his little home in Dogpatch. Until Star Wars came along, Al Capp's Abner was the undisputed king of merchandising and its popularity crossed all boundaries - from bedroom lamps to Broadway plays.

So, it should come as no surprise that our hillbilly heroes had numerous knock-offs. The comics pages abounded with names like Ozark Ike, Looie Lazybones, Dan'l Flannel, Eustace Hayseed, and even an unabashed Hillbilly Comics title. We'll be coming back to look at all of them, including the Ringer, but today we'll start our look with Pokey Oakey - simply because he had a good introductory launch, starting with being highlighted on the cover of his debut...

Don Dean's hillbilly boy kicked off with a nice intro page to set things up, then takes off running. Not the typical 6-8 page opening story, but a multi-chapter tale with a one-thing-leads-to-another flow similar to Capp's newspaper strips.
 

...okay...
That might seem like it's the end of a short joke story, but things continue next issue.
First, however, Black Hood wants to make sure the new star of the book feels welcome...

...and now we can continue...

Blood?!
Okay... One more...
 

Don't worry. They'll probably shoot him in the head, so he'll be fine.

Here are the covers to parts 2 & 3 -
 

Pokey tallied up a little over 3 dozen tales before fading away, as trends tend to do.

We'll see a bit more of him as we come back to look at some of the others, but i'm saving The Ringer for last.

page art by Don Dean from Top Notch Laugh Comics #s 28-30 (1942)

The Complete Barney Brainstorm

As noted once again in recent days, i have a fondness for Boy Inventor/Genius comics. One such character comes to us from Larry Harris and the pages of Top-Notch Laugh Comics back in 1944. Barney Brainstorm was bit older looking than the average comic book boy inventor, so perhaps he's got less time in the role than most.

Let's take a look, eh?

...and that's it. Every episode of Barney Brainstorm ever published. 

Five years later, "Brainstorm" Barney came along...

...but he's hardly a boy, though possibly classified as inventive.

page art by Larry Harris and John Sikela from Top-Notch Laugh Comics #45 and Superboy #31 (1944, 1949)