2020 Calendars - Week 05

This week we've got a few names that'll be very familiar to some and rather obscure to others.

To start off, Edward Runci supplies the artwork for our Pin-Up Calendar -

  
And we've got Earle Bergey for our Covers Calendar -

For a nice bonus, here's the uncluttered original art for that cover -

For this week's Blue Monday Calendar, we've got plural. Al Buell leads off with a classic beauty, and i just couldn't let the first month pass without at least one from our favorite calendar artist, Gil Elvgren. (Don't fret - i made sure it wasn't a repeat from our 2018 calendar) 

Head on to our 'back room' for the adult content calendars. 

As always, the calendars are sized to print 8"x10" at 150dpi, with 1" square spaces for notations.

art by labeled artists, of course (20thC)

Spacing With The Mouse (One Of 'Em)

It's time for some Sunday Morning Funnies, so let's join Space Mouse again.

This morning we've got a trio of tales featuring a delightfully odd mix of science fiction in faerie tale realms. That tickles one of the right parts of my ol' broken brain.

As obvious from the top image, Space Mouse had his own title for a brief period, but today's tales are back-up stories from Peter Rabbit and Funny Tunes. He popped up in several titles beyond his own.
 
The big question:
If this is Space Mouse...

...then who's this guy...?
 

I guess we'll have to come back this way again, eh?

page art by Frank Carin from Peter Rabbit #s 30 & 34 and Funny Tunes #2 (1953, 1956)

Haven't We Been Here Before? (No)

I've been stumbling through piles and pages that were pulled for blog topics ages ago (Internet time) but have sat unloved in dark corners of the cave.

Often it's things that i would have claimed i already ran, except for the fact that they don't actually seem to be anywhere on this blog. Like i would have sworn we already saw Pussy Katnip...

Nope. No sign of her. 

That, however, is for another day. As you might surmise from the top pic, we're looking at Rocket Kelly today. He had a brief mention previously, but only as a title in which Ernie appeared. As you can see from the image above, Kelly had his own title - but he didn't start there, he had to earn it. And his is not the easiest origin story to read. 

I'm still digging trying to sort out chronology - he had stories in books like Everybody's Comics and All Great Comics, in their un-numbered issues with only a year to indicate when they were published. Not only is there no month for sorting convenience, but sometimes the year seems in error with "reprints" appearing before the originals and other such anomalies.

Whether these were his First Appearances or may still be subject to further research and speculation, we do have his four-part origin story today. Starting in Green Mask #10, just before volume one expired, then jumping over to The Bouncer to continue in #s 11-13. (And that may give you a good idea on how long Kelly has been sitting in the piles)

While we know Len Short wrote Pussy Katnip, that's about it. "Ted Small" is a pseudonym, and the artists remain uncredited.

But we'll be seeing more of both.

page art from Green Mask #10, The Bouncer #s 11-13 and Rocket Kelly #2 (1944)