As I pointed out a few years ago, when Walt Kelly was writing and drawing Our Gang for Dell Comics, he had an advantage in that the movie shorts had ceased production. Kelly was thus free to use any characters and invent any plot he wanted.
I love his work on this book, as it highlights both his skill at presenting comedy and his ability to tell an adventure story. Our Gang #21 (Jan-Feb. 1946), for instance, is one of many examples in which he brings these genres together into a purely entertaining mixture.
It all begins innocuously enough when Red is roped into a job as a delivery boy by Froggy, who wants to add to the gang's meager treasury. Red, in turn, ropes Froggy into helping them and they are soon carrying a heavy package to the home of Dr. Philpot.
Well, the Gang does tend to run into criminals a lot, so perhaps its no surprise when they are taken prisoner by an insane scientist who has invented (or at least he thinks he's invented) an atomizer--a device that is essentially a matter teleporter. The real Dr. Philpot (who has been hiding in a barrel) frees the kids. A combination of whacking the insane guy over the head with a piece of equipment, smashing his eye glasses and giving him a hot foot puts him out of commission and saves the day.
But stopping the schemes of a mad scientist doesn't end Red's work day. The store owner is about to fire him for taking so long with Dr. Philpot's order, but he likes Red's excuse so much that he keeps him on. A story about teleportation and mad scientists is apparently a step up from the stock excuses usually used for late deliveries.
So they are given a package to take to an elderly spinster. They spot Bucky being pulled along in a wagon by his pet goat Julip. Bucky soon finds himself drafted as a delivery driver. Soon after, a successful struggle to keep Julip from smashing a pet store window (Julip wants to attack his own reflection) earns them the appreciation of the pet store owner.
In a nice touch, that pet store owner shows he was more concerned with Julip getting hurt than with the window. The kids like that and offer to deliver a package for him for free.
So now they have two packages. And, in a plot twist that is predicatable but still funny, they take the wrong package into the spinster's home and end up accidentally releasing a bunch of mice.
The spinster and her friend panic and call the fire department. The kids manage to gather up the mice, but forget that, while chasing the mice, they had put Julip out of the way in a cabinet.
So the fire department finds no mice, but does rescue a goat from the cabinet, earning Julip a ride on a fire truck.
And, gee whiz, the gang's home town has a crouchy fire department, don't they?
This issue uses its premise to essentially combine two stories into one. The Mad Scientist story and the Mice Run Wild story are completely seperate tales, linked only by the Delivery Boy Plot Device. And that's fine. Each mini-story has fun art and strong comedic moments, with the Mad Scientist half building a real sense of adventure and danger into the tale as well. Kelly was a master storyteller and a wonderful artist. He's best remembered for Pogo, of course, but his other work at Dell Comics (including Our Gang and Fairy Tale Parade) is also worth celebrating.
Next week, Asgard and Olympus go to war!
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