This week in 1938: MICKEY MOUSE WEEKLY - Whitsun issue

Decades before Odhams were publishing Smash!, Pow! and the other Power Comics the company had a big hit with another comic that mixed American reprint with all-new British strips. Mickey Mouse Weekly was the standout comic of its time; glossy tabloid pages, four in full colour photogravure, and a more modern look than its contemporaries. 

This issue of Mickey Mouse Weekly is No.122, dated June 4th 1938. The topline informs us it's the Whitsun Holiday Number although as the strip shows, Mickey isn't going anywhere as he's helping Minnie with the Spring cleaning. Behind the strip, the beaming sun and below it Goofy, Donald, Pluto and Minnie on a seafront promenade are the only things resembling a holiday theme in the comic. 

It's still an excellent issue though, as the weekly always was in its early years. A few new stories began that week, including the text stories The Mystery of the Marshes...

...and Skimpy's Scouts...

My favourite artist from this comic was Basil Reynolds, who drew Skit, Skat and the Captain. I've said it before but I'm sure Reynolds must have been an influence on Ken Reid. Look at some of the expressions for example, and the sweat beads flying from the heads of the characters. I also think that Basil Reynolds was about 20 years ahead of his time. For a 1930s strip this looks remarkably advanced in its layout and features more dialogue than most British strips of the era. 

The centre pages of the comic were a nice full colour selection of strips...

...including a reprint of the strip adaptation of Disney's Snow White drawn by Hank Porter...

The strip was re-coloured and slightly edited for the UK reprint but you can see scans of the original American printing at this website:

http://filmic-light.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/complete-1937-38-hank-porter-comic.html

Over the page, another prose story in the form of a chapter of Shuffled Symphonies: Time Machine starring Donald and Mickey, - and more splendid artwork by Basil Reynolds. This was an all new Disney story produced for UK readers.

On page 9, another new British strip, Flashing Through, illustrated by Hugh Stanley White. You can find out more about his work at the Comic Vine website.

The inside back cover held a mixture of items including puzzles, the editorial, and a profile on comedian Sandy Powell...

On the back page, an advert for music and songs from the then-new Snow White movie. The records were released on the HMV (His Master's Voice) label, long before they had a chain of High Street stores. The company still uses a variation of Nipper the dog and the gramophone as its icon to this day. 

Beneath the ad, Floyd Gottfredson's great artwork for the Mickey Mouse serial which was a reprint of the page that ran in American Sunday papers at the time.

So there you have it; a few selected bits and pieces from the issue of Mickey Mouse Weekly that would have been in the shops 77 years ago this week. To put it in perspective, when this issue appeared The Dandy had only been around for six months old and The Beano No.1 was still several weeks away from publication! 

Here are some previous blog posts I've written on other issues of this great comic:

http://comiconline24h.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/mickey-mouse-weekly-coronation-issue.html

http://comiconline24h.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/mickey-mouse-weekly-covers-1950.html

http://comiconline24h.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/happy-new-year-three-comics-of-bygone.html

Comic Oddities: MELVIN'S MONEY FUN (1981)

Some comics slip under the radar because they're not available in newsagents or the usual outlets. One such comic was Melvin's Money Fun No.1, published by the Department of National Savings, and intended to encourage children to set up an account. Apparently it was given away at promotional stands, events and suchlike. 

The 8 page glossy comic was edited by Denis Gifford and featured a fine selection of top comic artists. The cover strip, Chubby the Cub, was drawn by Chas Sinclair. One of his previous strips had been Basil Brush for TV Comic, and a few years after Money Fun he'd be drawing strips for Oink!

On page 3, Denis had commissioned the talents of veteran artist Wally Robertson to illustrate the return of classic 1950s character Sheerluck Jones...

Across the centre pages was a well illustrated adventure tale, Saved from the North Sea! drawn by Jim Baikie, perhaps best known for his artwork on Skizz for 2000AD...

Denis managed to fit in some of his own artwork too, contributing a half pager reviving his Koo Koo characters that had appeared in Whizzer and Chips in 1969...

It's curious that there were so many old characters turning up in Money Fun. In Kiss of Life Kitty, drawn by the brilliant Brian Walker, we saw the return of Laurie and Trailer, Alfie the Air Tramp and others from the pages of the original Chips. Even Weary Willie and Tired Tim cameo in the final panel...

The back page was a glorious finish to the comic by Basil Reynolds, proving that  he was a master of both realistic and cartoon styles. Again, more old characters are brought back, with the return of Skit, Skat and The Captain from the 1930s in a brand new strip...

All in all, a very nicely produced comic. The constant references to National Savings get old very fast but the appeal is in the novelty of the comic and its superb artwork. Denis sent the issue to the subscribers of his Association of Comics Enthusiasts (A.C.E.) newsletter, which is how I obtained a copy. In the accompanying newsletter, Denis explained the genesis of the project so I've reproduced that here for you to read. As with all images on this blog, click on it to enlarge...

UPDATE: Thanks for the reminder from John Wigmans that there was a second issue of Melvin's Money Fun published two years later in 1983! Peter Gray covered it on his blog several years ago...

http://petergraycartoonsandcomics.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/money-fun-comic-no2-april-1983.html

Mickey Mouse Weekly (Coronation issue 1937)

Comics have often commemorated various points in history which adds to their interest as they become social documents of the times. This 66th issue of Mickey Mouse Weekly was no exception. Published on May 7th 1937, it celebrated the upcoming coronation of King George VI which took place on May 12th. (George's brother, Edward, had abdicated in order to marry divorcee Wallace Simpson. Different times back then, with Edward's actions making him unsuitable for the throne.)

Inside, an editorial claimed that the cover to this issue had been "specially drawn for ALL of you by Mr.Disney". It certainly bears Walt Disney's signature, but the likelihood is that it was drawn by Wilfred Haughton, a British artist who was the regular cover illustrator. Unless any of you know differently? 

Mickey Mouse Weekly was a splendid comic. Published by Odhams, it was tabloid size with glossy paper, quality printing, and four of its 12 pages in full colour. Compared to its rivals, which were mostly 8 pages in black ink on on cheap coloured paper, Mickey Mouse Weekly must have seemed really special.

The contents were a mixture of Disney newspaper strips and originated British strips and prose stories. Here's one of the pages by British creators: Elmer and Tillie sharing a page with Skit and Skat. Basil Reynolds was usually the artist but this page looks a little rushed in places for his style. Perhaps it's just not Reynolds at his best, or perhaps he was a bit down because this was the last time these characters would appear for a while.

There's a myth in UK comics that all British comics featured text beneath the panels until The Dandy came along in December 1937 and started featuring speech balloons more regularly. I disproved that tale two years ago with this post: http://comiconline24h.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/myth-of-speech-balloon.html

As you can see, Mickey Mouse Weekly, which predates The Dandy, also proves that claim is untrue, as speech balloons appear throughout the strips, none of which are burdened with text under the pictures. It's time to rewrite the history books.

The full colour centrespread of this issue featured a mixture of American Sunday newspaper strips, although the 'pirates cave' vertical strip is very British in style so is presumably original.

A British adventure serial in the issue was The City of Jewels, illustrated by John McCail...

Being the coronation issue, a photograph of the royal family was expected, - appearing after a text adaptation of The Prince and the Pauper. That's the current Queen in the bottom right there, as a young princess, which gives you some scale of the age of this comic. 

On the back page, Mickey Mouse in the Foreign Legion; reprinting the US newspaper strip serial by the great Floyd Gottredson. 

I recently bought this comic on eBay and I'm very pleased with the purchase as the condition is excellent. It just goes to show that paper will keep in top shape for decades if stored in the right conditions and isn't treated roughly.