Yogi Bear Weekend Comics, November 1963

It’s a little hard to believe at one time NASA didn’t want news people anywhere near its space launches. Maybe it was paranoia over the Russians or concern reporters might actually report something NASA didn’t want them to report. Anyway, newsmen who covered the space beat in the early ‘60s have remarked that they never really got notice about spacecraft launches and had to camp out in Florida in anticipation something would happen.

So it was that Yogi Bear couldn’t get a look at a space launch 50 years ago this month in the Sunday comic pages (Saturday in Canada).

Cynics might ask how Yogi got to Cape Canaveral from Jellystone. Oh, you cynics. It’s because he’s Yogi Bear. He travels anywhere. Even with a huge ball of string. How did he get it? You’re being cynical again.

So here’s the comic from November 3rd. You’ve got to admire the artist. It’s one thing to draw a cartoon bear. It’s another to draw a solid, realistic spacecraft and its apparatus. I like the chain-link fence in the opening panel. Was the guard drawn first then the fence over top of him?

Back we are at Jellystone in the November 10th comic, with Boo Boo and Ranger Smith returning. I’m too lazy to check, but it seems to me a weekend Flintstones comic used the same kind of gag. Oh, and those rhymes. “Boo” and “through”?! Yikes.

A nice rounded little gag highlights the November 17th comic. The final panel has a lovely layout and perspective. I’d sure like to know if the names used in the story are names of people at Hanna-Barbera or someone known by whoever did the story (Gene Hazelton?). “Peterzell” is too real a name to be used just for a gag.

Boo Boo and the ranger return on November 24th. Clever gag again. The mountain lion looks like a distant relative of the Flintstones’ Baby Puss. Do people really run with their arms out? (See middle panel, bottom row). Regardless, look at the angles of the various running characters. They vary from panel to panel. And you can sense the balance of the woman on the horse.

You can click on any of the cartoons to enlarge them. And Mark Kausler has again taken the time to go into his collection and dig up the colour versions of these. You can find them HERE. Mark also features reprints of the newspaper adventures of the greatest silent film cartoon character, Felix the Cat, which I hope you enjoy.