Adventures in Wonderland #1 (April 1955) includes the story "Dullwit, the Dumb Fox," with art by Dick Rockwell. And, by golly, there really ISN'T a nice way to say it. Dullwit is an idiot.
We meet him on the way to school, dressed in a new coat and carrying his lunch. But a crow tricks Dullwit, stealing the lunch. Then a couple of hedgehogs trick him, stealing his coat. When he comes home from school that night, he has a note from the teacher saying he's too dumb for school. Mom briefly tries to console and encourage him, but then resignedly tells him "I guess you are dumb!"
Not exactly in the running for "Mom of the Year," is she?
Actually, the standard of intelligence among the foxes isn't that high. A fox named Dapper Dan is luring foxes into traps, so that their pelts can later be sold. We see him trick one fox into a trap by promising him he'll find a money tree in that spot.
Dapper Dan lures Dullwit into a trap by promising him some "smart juice." But Dullwit is too small for the trap, gets loose and stumbles across the cage holding the captured foxes. He's too dumb to figure out how to unlatch the cage. Because he's cold without his coat, he starts a fire. In a panic that the surrounding woods will catch fire, Dapper Dan and his bear partner run into the trap that had been meant for Dullwit.
Later, fox police officers, searching for the kidnap victims, find everyone. The foxes are freed, while the bad guys are taken off to jail. Dullwit, however unintentionally, is responsible for capturing Dan and the bear, so all the kids who had been picking on him now try to make him smarter. They start with trying to teach him 2 + 2, which he'd been struggling with earlier. And maybe--just maybe--he starts to learn.
It's a silly story, but silly in a good way. Rockwell's art is charming--the story does succeed in getting us to sympathize with Dullwit when everyone (even his Mom) is picking on him. And it's nice to see all the other fox children joining together to help him learn in the end. This is a story that could only have been told years ago, since nowadays we automatically wonder if Dullwit has a learning disability. But such things weren't understood in 1955. And besides, the other foxes don't come out looking that bright either. Falling for the old "You'll find a money tree" trick? Come on! I myself haven't fallen for that one in months!
Click HERE to read this story online.
Next week, we go from a dumb fox to a smart squirrel--who is trying to come up with a plan to skip school.
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