J. Evil Scientist and family made their first appearance on a 1959 Snooper and Blabber when the detectives were hired to baby-sit “Junior.” Somebody at Hanna-Barbera loved the Charles Addams’ concept of creepy-is-normal because there was a proliferation of “scary” families as guests on several cartoon shows.
We’ve found another one, this one exclusively in the Yogi Bear newspaper comics 50 years ago this month. Once again, the kid is named “Junior” and, once again, the stars of the show are called on to baby-sit.
This month, readers also got a clumsy Yogi (times two), the native Indians that live on, or near, Jellystone Park, and Ranger Smith getting a rest for three comics in a row.
Before we get to the comics, I’ll mention you can go on Mark Kausler’s web site and see the bottom two rows of each of these in full colour. And I’d especially like to praise the work of Tom Tryniski at the Fultonhistory.com website. Tom’s gift to the world is scanning and posting an insane number of old newspapers, mainly from New York State, all on his own time, and all at no cost to anyone but himself. Yes, his search engine is woefully outdated, but it’s liveable if you’re prepared to dig around and find things. Some of the cartoon and old-time radio stories found here and on the Tralfaz blog came through Tom’s scanning efforts. And so did the comics you’ll see below. You’ll have to ignore the line down the middle of them and the translation of dark colours into a black-and-white scale.
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I wonder if whoever wrote the June 6th comic sat down and tried to think of words that rhymed with “basket” and came up with “casket” then came up with this comic. As usual, the layout is excellent and filled with nice little touches, like the raven sitting on a noose, the skull with the arrow through it, and the ghostly “Yogi Bear” title in the first panel. I’m not quite sure how an unplugged TV is scary, but that’s the gag.
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Note the different ways Yogi and Boo Boo’s sense of balance is conveyed in the June 13th comic. (Someone will have to explain to me why some comics today feature characters in the same position in every panel. There’s one I’ve seen where all the characters are drawn at the same angle, either facing left or right, with the heads slightly tilted the exact same way. But I digress). It appears Yogi is riding atop Boo Boo in the final panel.
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I didn’t realise Yogi’s love for Cindy was so extreme. Top row for the June 20th comic is unavailable; maybe that adds something to the story.
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Well, at least the stereotypes aren’t speaking in dialect this time. You’ll notice in the June 27th comic there’s no snow on the mountain in the top panel. You may also notice the fir trees in the background are at a slight angle.
Considering the inconsistency of finding a source for these comics, I won’t guarantee we’ll have them again next month. Actually, I’m surprised the blog is still going as I expected it to cease a few months ago. But we’ll see. Click on any of the comics to make them larger.
We’ve found another one, this one exclusively in the Yogi Bear newspaper comics 50 years ago this month. Once again, the kid is named “Junior” and, once again, the stars of the show are called on to baby-sit.
This month, readers also got a clumsy Yogi (times two), the native Indians that live on, or near, Jellystone Park, and Ranger Smith getting a rest for three comics in a row.
Before we get to the comics, I’ll mention you can go on Mark Kausler’s web site and see the bottom two rows of each of these in full colour. And I’d especially like to praise the work of Tom Tryniski at the Fultonhistory.com website. Tom’s gift to the world is scanning and posting an insane number of old newspapers, mainly from New York State, all on his own time, and all at no cost to anyone but himself. Yes, his search engine is woefully outdated, but it’s liveable if you’re prepared to dig around and find things. Some of the cartoon and old-time radio stories found here and on the Tralfaz blog came through Tom’s scanning efforts. And so did the comics you’ll see below. You’ll have to ignore the line down the middle of them and the translation of dark colours into a black-and-white scale.
I wonder if whoever wrote the June 6th comic sat down and tried to think of words that rhymed with “basket” and came up with “casket” then came up with this comic. As usual, the layout is excellent and filled with nice little touches, like the raven sitting on a noose, the skull with the arrow through it, and the ghostly “Yogi Bear” title in the first panel. I’m not quite sure how an unplugged TV is scary, but that’s the gag.
Note the different ways Yogi and Boo Boo’s sense of balance is conveyed in the June 13th comic. (Someone will have to explain to me why some comics today feature characters in the same position in every panel. There’s one I’ve seen where all the characters are drawn at the same angle, either facing left or right, with the heads slightly tilted the exact same way. But I digress). It appears Yogi is riding atop Boo Boo in the final panel.
I didn’t realise Yogi’s love for Cindy was so extreme. Top row for the June 20th comic is unavailable; maybe that adds something to the story.
Well, at least the stereotypes aren’t speaking in dialect this time. You’ll notice in the June 27th comic there’s no snow on the mountain in the top panel. You may also notice the fir trees in the background are at a slight angle.
Considering the inconsistency of finding a source for these comics, I won’t guarantee we’ll have them again next month. Actually, I’m surprised the blog is still going as I expected it to cease a few months ago. But we’ll see. Click on any of the comics to make them larger.