Hillbilly Gumbo

So... I finally noticed that time was still passing outside the cave while i was in fugue work mode. 
Let's continue with our li'l look at Not Abners. I mentioned previously that there was a book dedicated just to such strips - Hillbilly Comics. It lasted only four issues. Today we'll take a look at the 'Star' of the book. No, not Davy Crackhead, nor even Crockhead - though he is featured in the first tale...

...we're talking about Art Gates' hillbilly hero, Gumbo Galahad - the Screwball Of The Hills -
 

 As we can see, there was little to no effort made to hide Gumbo's 'relation' to Abner. They could easily be brothers.

As noted, there were only four issues, so let's continue with the second tale, eh?

I expect we'll be back to wrap Gumbo before moving on to to Starving Abner and Blond Abner and the rest. But for now, i'm off to dive into The Third Colony's dreamspace.

I'll see y'all when i resurface on the weekend.

page art by Art Gates from Hillbilly Comics #s 1 & 2 (1955)

Welcome To Mel

As you may or may not be aware, Mel Tormé means no post today.
Running way off cycle and caught up in work for a bit. Back tomorrow, eh?

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)

Blackout Tuesday - Together Against Evil

Who Knew?
When fake president said "Make America Great Again" who would have thought he was talking about taking it back to before we were a democratic republic, to a time when we had to deal with a mad king ordering troops to murder citizens in the streets?

Now that 100,000 people in this country have lost their lives to our fake president's ego, ignorance, and inability to see past himself, he seems to have tasted blood. And wants to take a more active hand in the killing of the nation.

You'd better believe that he won't be satisfied with the blood of Black Americans.
You Sisters and Brothers may be on the front lines, but all of us are under the boot.

Resist Evil.

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)