In
1953 and 54 the small outfit called Toby Publishing took their stab
at the Riverdale sweepstakes by introducing Merton Muddle in the
pages of MEET MERTON.
Mert
lived a familiar teenaged lifestyle vexed by a rival named Chris
Cross and enjoying the company of a best pal called Calories Casey.
However most of Merton’s troubles came from through his
relationship with two girls, the strawberry blonde Marcia and the
brunette coiffed Joann. Take for example “What Goes Up!”
Merton
is a tad different from Archie in that he is nowhere near a girl
crazy as the ol’ carrot top. Witness the exchange with his dad on
page two of “Love And Let Love”
The
cartoonist for the strip was Dave Berg, the guy who would later be
responsible for the “Lighter Side” strips in Mad Magazine. His
cartooning is pretty loose in Merton, no where near as tight as his
Mad stuff. But I’m convinced that Merton’’s dad was the
prototype to his character ‘Roger Kuputnik”.
I’ll
end things with “Anything For A Laugh”.
Pat
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