Created as a new character for the New York based “Terrytoons” cartoon studio by Izzy Klein, Mighty Mouse didn’t start out as a mouse, but a fly.
Terrytoons was founded in 1929 by animator Paul Terry (photo below) after he left the Fables studios, which he and his partner van Beuren had set up to produce their Aesop Fables cartoon series. Together they had produced their very first cartoon with sound in September 1928 called “Dinner Time”, a month before Disney’s “Steamboat Willy” was widely released with synchronized sound.
Of the many characters that Terrytoons created, their cartoon series featuring “Heckle & Jeckle” and “Mighty Mouse” are probably still best known today.
Terrytoons licensed their characters and turned them into comic book favorites with the help of several publishers. Timely comics, as Marvel was called in the early days, published the first four Mighty Mouse books, after which the small publishing company St. John Publications, founded by Archer St. John, took over from issue 5.
Terrytoons licensed their characters and turned them into comic book favorites with the help of several publishers. Timely comics, as Marvel was called in the early days, published the first four Mighty Mouse books, after which the small publishing company St. John Publications, founded by Archer St. John, took over from issue 5.
Timely's "Terrytoons" comics were produced in-house under the editorship of Vince Fago but the
St. John comics had art by actual Terrytoons animators as Jim Tyer, Conrad Rasinski and Art Bartsch.
63 issues would follow between 1947 and 1955. Later on, Dell Comics and Gold Key would continue this series. St. John Publications only existed as comic publisher for eleven years, from 1947 to 1958. After that they continued with magazines until 1967.
St. John comics had art by actual Terrytoons animators as Jim Tyer, Conrad Rasinski and Art Bartsch.
63 issues would follow between 1947 and 1955. Later on, Dell Comics and Gold Key would continue this series. St. John Publications only existed as comic publisher for eleven years, from 1947 to 1958. After that they continued with magazines until 1967.
The scans below are from issue 49 from August 17, 1951 which originally contains the Mighty Mouse stories, “A Clue in the sky” and “Wilbur the Weakling”, with a Gandy Goose short “The Magic Touch” and a single page of the “Terry bears”. I'll post the second story later this week!
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