Fierce Robins

Things startin' to pick up here.

Kelly could fit so much into any given panel and still make it look believable. Looking in closer on the panel below, the essence of Kelly is so apparent and . . . comforting.

Power Cookies

I debated with myself whether to post the below Peter Wheat News material here on Whirled of Kelly or over on the Pictorial Arts blog, just because none of this art or writing is by Walt Kelly at all. But it's a quality continuation of his earlier creation, and this viewership already has a familiarity with the series, so, here it is.

The comic book art is by Al Hubbard, a good choice for emulating Kelly's style. You may recognize his style a bit from the Mary Jane and Sniffles series in the Warner Bros franchise of comics. For completist's sake, I've included the covers, front and back, though they truly stray from Kelly.

As always, this material is brought to us with generosity by OtherEric of the Digital Comic Museum. And in fact, here are some words of introduction by him:

Here are two more issues of Peter Wheat News, this time not by Kelly, but by his replacement team of Del Connell and Al Hubbard. As a bonus, these happen to be consecutive issues, 43 and 44, so we can see how the three-parters in News tied together, as well as a look at how the books looked once Kelly left. While the new creators obviously don't live up to the standard that Kelly set, I don't think anybody really could. They do better than most people would, I think — the series remains charming and entertaining, and far better than the average 50s comic book fare. The #43 has been shared as a CBZ before this, but the #44 is new.

I wanted to give a little background on Connell and Hubbard, but ran into difficulty. Connell may have written some of the late Kelly issues of Peter Wheat, and I believe he was on staff at Western. Other than that I really don't know anything about him or his work. Hubbard, on the other hand, I could write about for pages. 99% of what I would write would just be variations of "I love Hubbard's work on Mary Jane & Sniffles", without much real content beyond that. Maybe some other time—it really is one of my favorite series and in my opinion better than any other comics based on the Warner Brothers cartoons by orders of magnitude.

Peter Wheat News #43:

Peter Wheat News #44:

Below, as another bonus, OtherEric has included this full-page back cover to FourColor #474, showcasing Al Hubbard's work on Mary Jane & Sniffles, and REALLY demonstrating the influence that Walt Kelly had on his work, in the composition, characterizations and artistic rendering.

Arrant Nonsense!

Remember, this 3-tier format has the extra panel that the tabloid format doesn't. In this case, where Albert will borry a comb.

The Very Marrow of My Mortality

I'll Gump a Wumpit

For being a strip mostly 'bout nothin', this one takes the cake . . .

with nuts.

Don't worry, a couple strips from now things pick up speed.

Kindred Spirit

NBXT? GNZ? SNKT! SKM

Well, I'm reposting this, since Blogger lost it first time 'round, but blog darn it, now I need to repeat my stupid little comment. Alright, here goes:

Shhhh, call J. Edgar Hoover, Kelly's puttin' in spy codes again.

Naw, that's not how I phrased it, blog darn it.

Peter Wheat News

OtherEric of the Digital Comic Museum:

You wait forever for a bus, and then three come along at once: I've recently taken possession of two more issues of Peter Wheat News, one incomplete and one intact; one Kelly and one Hubbard. This recent rush of books has not changed my opinion on how rare the things are, however! I don't even know if this one is the first or second part of a story; the opening panel could either be the resolution of a cliffhanger or a start in mid-story, given how little room these 3-parters have to play with.

As a bonus, I've sent Thom copies of the one complete Kelly issue I have, #19, so those who don't mess with cbz's can see it, and what a complete issue looks like. Not a Kelly cover, other than possibly the Peter Wheat figure grabbed from stock art.

I have to wonder if the creators of Bewitched ever saw this when they were younger, though.

Above, the title card for the Bewitched TV series that started more than a decade after the Peter Wheat News #19, below, was published.

I Am But a Honest Mermaid

This strip starts a longish arc that is seen elsewhere on the net, but that one doesn't have as much resolution detail as here, so I hope you don't mind my posting it up here as well. It's a fun sequence, and I'll try to post more than one a week, so keep coming back if you will.

Oh, and happy Sunday, Kelly Sunday, as well as Mother's Day!

Magic Coach

Sorry, I've been tied up, and couldn't post here til now.

We have some more of Kelly's wonderful Peter Wheat, but I'm going to wait until after I post the weekly Sunday, Kelly Sunday strip. Until then, here's a magical panel of Kelly art from the upcoming post. See ya in a couple days.

Only Comic Book Printed in 1812