Monday, March 10, 2014

Jocular Tales Of Anthropomorphism: Earl The Rich Rabbit


Earl The Rich Rabbit was a patently odd and formulaic series that briefly ran in the 1947 issues of Hillman’s PUNCH AND JUDY COMICS. Earl was wealthy and somewhat eccentric bunny who lived in a world that was mostly populated by humans. The furry little guy was anathema to his next-door neighbors, Mr. & Mrs. McSnargle, who couldn’t abide the injustice of an animal living in luxury while they suffered poverty. Seemingly every story was rooted in this basic confrontational situation. Here is his debut tale from PUNCH AND JUDY COMICS v2#6







The originators of the series are unidentified but for his fourth appearance the artist is Tony Di Preta who many will remember from his horror jobs working at Atlas in the 1950’s.







Honestly, the strip is eminently forgettable and would have remained so if not for a chance assignment. Newly returned veterans, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby where struggling to rebuild their cartooning career in the post-war period and they took on the job. It was rare excursion the funny animal milieu for the team. Their stint provided a more dynamic version of Earl but there was not a lot that could be done such a rigid concept. Here then is a pair of stories done by the legendary duo.

Pat











 

No comments:

Post a Comment