Saving Classics for a Rainy Day.

Althought climate changes seem to be on the news 24/7, I've always been able to count on one thing this time of the year, and the weather hasn't let me down this time: It's raining cats and dogs and it doesn't seem to stop any time soon. So maybe a good time to grab some classic comics and check out the timeless idea's of yesteryear.

Above: 'Jingle Jangle Comics' 22 from August 1946 (cover artwork by Larz Bourne) and the Dutch Donald Duck Weekly 42, October 2010 (cover by Michel Nadorp). Below: Endre Lukacs, working for the Dutch Donald Duck weekly in the 1950's, created similar cover artwork for the magazine in July 1956.

'Jingle Jangle Comics' was a bimonthly full color comics magazine, published between February 1942 and December 1949 by the Eastern Color Printing Company under their "Famous Funnies" label. 'Famous Funnies' are still considered to be the first true comic books in the USA, following Dell's 'The Funnies' from 1929 and Eastern's 'Funnies on Parade' from 1929.

Main artist for Jingle magazine was George Carlson, born in 1887, just ten years after the reconstruction era officially ended which followed the American civil war from 1861-1865. (His mother had actually worked for General Ulysses S.Grant, who became the 18th president of the restored USA.)

Carlson had become very famous in 1936 for his cover design of Margeret Mitchell's debut novel, which sold over a million copies in less than  half a year and would earn her the Pulitzer price the next year:

 "Gone with the wind" would be her only novel. Mitchell died tragically in 1949 while crossing the street, unable to avoid a speeding car.  Carlson was there right from the beginning of the magazine and did at least two stories for each issue. Other authors were Dave Tendlar, who was an animator for the Fleischer studio's (Betty Boop, Popey the Sailor), Jack Ehret, R.Johnson, Doug Anderton and Larz Bourne (see covers) who also animated with Tendlar for the "Famous" Studio aka Paramount Cartoon Studio. As you can see from the covers above, the classics still rule. Beneath you can catch some of the 24th issue from December 1946, the story features characters "Bingo and Glum"!