Christmas is Coming

Well, If It Isn't the Baby Mouse —

Yay, another tale of The Adventures of Peter Wheat, by Walt Kelly! These scans, from issue #32 are generously provided by OtherEric of the Digital Comic Museum, with clean-up editing by me. If you enjoy it, and why wouldn't you, please let OtherEric know, via the comments. If you do let him know, he'll be more inclined to search out for more Peter Wheats and share with us.

Kelly's renditions of mice are the best in the business.

I Ain't Welcome?

Well, if I was tired of all the yellow backgrounds on a lot of the Sunday strips, I'd welcome them now — over the dishwater backgrounds of this week's strip. I love the strips where the colors are festive, but oh well, who am I to complain?

Don't Stray Too Far Away

I want to give you a heads up that we have another wonderful Peter Wheat adventure coming up early next week, thanks again to the generosity of OtherEric of the Digital Comic Museum.

Below, a sneak preview of a couple of panels:

Banbury Cross

From Christmas with Mother Goose #201 — 1948

Kelly adapted many a rhyme from folk lore and nursery rhymes for use in the Mother Goose holiday comic books, many from the Mother Goose cannon itself. Below is an interpretation of the ditty, pulled from Wiki. I would add that Kelly's final line about Christmas day may have been his own, to tie it in to the theme of Christmas with Mother Goose. Or it could just be from a different version.

Further below, for comparison, are graphics by WW Denslow, he of Oz book fame, from 1901.

The instability of the early recorded lyrics has not prevented considerable speculation about the meaning of the rhyme.

A medieval date had been argued for the rhyme on the grounds that the bells worn on the lady's toes refer to the fashion of wearing bells on the end of shoes in the fifteenth century, but given their absence from so many early versions, this identification is speculative. Similarly, the main Banbury Cross was taken down around 1600, but other crosses were present in the town and, as is often the case, the place may have retained the name, so it is difficult to argue for the antiquity of the rhyme from this fact.

A "Cock Horse" can mean a high-spirited horse, and the additional horse to assist pulling a cart or carriage up a hill. From the mid-sixteenth century it also meant a pretend Hobby horse or an adult's knee.

Despite not being present or significantly different in many early versions, the fine lady has been associated with Queen Elizabeth I, Lady Godiva, and Celia Fiennes, whose brother was William Fiennes, 3rd Viscount Saye and Sele (c. 1641-1698) of Broughton Castle, Banbury, on the grounds that the line should be 'To see a Fiennes lady'. There is no corroborative evidence to support any of these cases.

above & below: William Wallace Denslow — 1901

Going Up Pippin Hill to a Christmas Party

Kelly's holiday ditties are timeless treats, as merry now as they were in the late 1940s comic books—all part of his fairy tale oeuvre.

Black Magic!

Kelly keeps on keepin' on with the story line, not progressin' it much, but havin' his fun.

In the top panel is a critter that's a bit unusual, at least up to this time. Just a few months down the road, Kelly takes us to Pandemonia—where this critter would fit right in. Methinks Kelly was gearin' up and countin' down for the blastoff to 'Mars'.

detail of top panel