Yogi’s got all the latest dance and skateboard moves, as he demonstrates in the weekend newspaper comics 50 years ago this month. No overly cute tykes, no natives on a reserve-um, no cameos by Huck (oh, well).
Dig those boss Gene Hazelton designs of the band in the February 6th comic, second panel. And Yogi and that matron can sure dance; there are some great poses in that second row. I thought the dance was called the “Mashed Potato” but I was a little young in 1966 and not going to dances. I guess the kids in the last panel are supposed to be teenagers but they look a little younger. See the expression on the matron in that panel.
Genius or a nut? Well, Boo Boo, if Kellogg’s dumps him, he can always advertise Post Honeycomb cereal. Though it goes better with milk than flour. The February 13th comic features a silhouette panel in the top row; we get one for two weeks in a row. Evidently one Yogi’s schemes left him with money to buy stuff in a store.
Papers that didn’t carry the top row on February 20th missed more nice poses. Gene Hazelton and his artist give us a head-on and profile view of the logging truck in the second row. We can hope someone isn’t logging in a national park. That last panel features a killer logging road. I don’t know if real ones get so close to a cliff (I think of logging roads being cut inside a forest on a mountain) but it sure looks authentic.
Nice layout on the reveal gag at the end of the February 27th comic. Angles and perspective. We’ve got Ranger Joe. Is Ranger Smith “Bill”?
No sooner did I find a nice source for these Yogi comics than it dries up for March 1966. We’ll see if we’re back in a month, time willing.
Big "Impossibles" vibe from Hazelton's band design. Rally ho!
ReplyDeleteAll theses materials were drawn by Iwao Takamoto and Jerry Eisenberg.
ReplyDeleteEvidently one [of] Yogi’s schemes left him with money to buy stuff in a store.
ReplyDeleteNow,don't tell me you've forgotten this:
www.yowpyowp.blogspot.com/2013/12/yogi-bear-bear-living.html
Nice touch - A weary Boo Boo leaning against the strip's logo.
I notice a different font for the "Yogi Bear" title in each strip. My personal favorite is the February 20th version.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1964 comic book "The Flintstones at the New York World's Fair" Barney Rubble asks if the band musicians are "hep cats" and Top Cat informs him that they are "Top Cats" as the band is comprised of the gang from Hogan's Alley. Yogi Bear makes several cameo appearances in that book as well.
The general store in the February 13th strip has wooden floors and a rustic-looking check stand, as well as wide spacing between aisles, just like the general stores that serve campgrounds in national parks. The lady customer bears a resemblance to Yogi's dancing partner in the previous week's adventure.