Paper Balloons and The Efficacious Use of Pepper

Cover Artist Unknown

Uncle Wiggily Longears is an elderly rabbit who is partially lame from rheumatism, but is also quick-thinking and able to improvise himself and others out of danger when necessary. He was originally created in 1910 by Howard R. Garis, whose Uncle Wiggily books consist of short chapters--often ending on a cliffhanger--that were designed to be read to children at bedtime. Though how a kid could sleep when a chapter ends with Wiggly in danger is beyond me.

Dell's Animal Comics included more Uncle Wiggily adventures, which I believe are original rather than adaptations of the short stories (though please note that I could not find a reference confirming this one way or the other). These stories included a "by Howard R Garis" credit, but were usually written by the prolific Gaylord Du Bois. 

Animal Comics #4 (Aug-Sept. 1943) is a typically fun example of the good rabbit's comic book adventures, with Burlgar Fox attempting to ambush Wiggily's young niece and nephew (Susie and Sammie). Uncle Wiggily hustles the young one into their house, where they take refuge in the cellar. But this leaves Burglar Fox free to steal the kids' piggy banks!

The art, by the way, it tentatively credited to H.R. McBride. This art is a perfect fit for the story, bringing the silly characters to life and moving the story along at a rapid pace.

And events do indeed move quickly. Wiggily will NOT allow the vile theft to stand, so he gathers up a net and fills his valice with a roll of paper, he and the kids begin their pursuit of the Fox.  The kids, by the way, had been making paper chains when the story opened--thus explaining why a roll of paper happened to be lying around. Whether Wiggily already had an idea of what he was going to use it for or whether he grabbed it just in case it would be useful is not explained. And this really doesn't matter. In either case, Wiggily comes out looking pretty cool. 

 

The pursuit takes them to a cavern, where Wiggily uses some of the paper to make a paper lantern to light their way. Take a look at the detail in the panel below, most notably the shadows behind the rabbit. I love the attention to detail shown here by the artist. 

When Burglar Fox gets away on a boat, Wiggily's next step is to use the remaining paper and the candles they had brought to make a hot air balloon. Wiggily has the forethought to fill his valice with sand to act as ballast.

They catch up with Burglar Fox near the carnivore's home and snag him in the net (though Wiggily momentarily catches the kids in the net as well). This allows them to recover the piggy bank, but before they can start back home, two more villains arrive.

The wonderful character designs you see in the panel below are not creations of this issue's artist. They also appeared in the original short stories. But that doesn't make them any less of a visual delight.  Pipsisewah (the rhino) and Skeezicks (the crow) show up with young Jimmy Wibblewobble in tow, intending to cook him in Burglar Fox's pot.

Uncle Wiggily uses some pepper to give the villains sneezing fits, then he, Sammie, Susie and Jimmy make a break for it, using Burglar Fox's boat for their getaway. The villains attempt to follow in the balloon, but without the forethought to bring ballast with them (as Wiggily wisely did earlier). The bad guys end up floating helplessly to the roof of the cavern. Wiggily and the kids make their escape and stop for ice cream.

The original short stories are cute, but I think you can argue that it was at Dell Comics, with Du Bois' strong and witty scripts, along with magnificent art, that really brought Uncle Wiggily to life. 

In fact, Animal Comics was consistently full of delightful stories. Since our look at Cave Girl is coming to an end soon, I think we'll continue on through Animal Comics #4 and see what else that issue had to offer. 

It's available online HERE. 

Next week, we finish our journey through the first issue of Cave Girl.