Here Kitty, Kitty!

Here's a fun cartoon from Scott Metzger:

Heres' the reaction from my editor:

Even Shorter!

I had said before that the "Ebenezer Scrooge" song was about the shortest condensation of "A Christmas Carol" ever.

But, check this out:

I stand corrected!

Check out John Atkinson's Wrong Hands for more fun cartoons!

Noooo!!

Another fun cartoon panel:

Scrooge doesn't dig grammar lessons!

Faithful?

Speaking of "The Muppet Christmas Carol," cartoonist R.E. Parrish offers this humorous panel:

Could be!

Blame Bransby!

Here's another humorous cartoon panel brining Scrooge into the modern world:

Cartoonist Dave Carpenter follows Bransby Williams's lead!

Sorry!

I'm not sure who's responsible for these comics, but they're fun;

So, sorry, whoever you are!

Oops!

A fun panel from J.B. Handelsman:

But shouldn't the clerk be keeping track of the receipts?

Cratchit!!!

Role Model?

Here's another fun comic panel:

Hopefully reformed Scrooge re-read the book!

Clever!

 Not sure of the artist or source of this one:

But very clever!

Going Ape!

Now, this one's funny:

Vegan!

This is funny:

Happy Labor Day!

 

Timely!

OK, this is funny and still timely:

"A Christmas Carol" All-Star Team - Day 10

As our All-Star Team continues to grow, we have another Cratchit: Martha!

I find Martha Cratchit to be one of the most interesting side characters. We know a little more about her than many of the other minor characters.

She's the eldest of the Cratchit children, but probably still a teenager. She works as a "poor apprentice at a milliner's" and presumably sleeps there (as Ebenezer and Dick Wilkins slept in the back at Fezziwig's) since she was working the night before and that morning.

So, she had to work Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning. And her father thinks he has a tough boss!

There are lots of good Marthas out there, but one that really caught my eye is from the "Knockout Comic" adaptation from 1948.

Here's her sequence:

I think Hugh McNeill's art is outstanding and gives her a ton of personality in just a few panels!

We leave the Cratchit family for a bit, but we'll check in on Bob and Tiny Tim later in our countdown...

Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales - "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1982)

Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales - "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (1982)
Writer: Carl Fallberg
Artists: Richard Moore and Frank Johnson

We turn from the recent Scrooge McDuck adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" to the more familiar territory of "Mickey's Christmas Carol," this time in the form of a comic strip from 1982!

The story ran on Sundays from October 3 through December 6, 1982 as part of the umbrella comic strip "Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales." 

At first glance, the 1982 seems like typo, as "Mickey's Christmas Carol" didn't hit theaters until Christmas of 1983, so why would Disney be promoting a project that wouldn't be released for another year?

The simple enough answer is that "Mickey's Christmas Carol" was supposed to be a prime-time TV special in 1982, but an animators' strike delayed production and it was finally released as theatrical short in December of 1983. But the comic strip had been completed and set to run in 1982, so there you go!

The "Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales" strip ran for a long time, 1952-1987, but only appeared in 50-ish newspapers, despite being syndicated by the mighty King Features Syndicate, talked about in this post, which had its mitts on tons of papers!

The first adaptation in 1952 was "The Story of Robin Hood" based on the Richard Todd-led live-action Disney movie with the full title of "The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men." I think that movie is awesome, by the way!

The road leads us to 1982 with "Mickey's Christmas Carol" getting it turn.
I can't seem to find much in the way of images from the strip, but here's a look at a few pages of the original artwork:

Thing not to sleep: Tiny Tim is identified as being portrayed by Mort Mouse, nephew of Mickey!

An interesting side-note in the history of a well-known and loved classic animated film!

Dick Tracy - December 22, 2015

Dick Tracy - December 21, 2015
Artist: Joe Staton
Writer: Mike Curtis 

We wrap up the Dick Tracy/Mr. Magoo cross-over with one more strip:

A nice little domestic scene with Dick, Tess and their son Joe.

This illustrates the interesting aging process in comic strips, including "Dick Tracy."

Joseph Flintheart Tracy (middle name important!) was born in 1979, so he'd actually be 36 here in "real time," but he's obviously a tween at most. At an earlier point in the comic strip continuity, he had been a teenager, but was retconned back to slightly younger.

Dick and Tess would have been well into their sixties in 1979, so there's that too!

One last thing about this particular strip: I have no clue as to where the John Wayne quote comes from!

Dick Tracy - December 22, 2015

 Dick Tracy - December 22, 2015
Artist: Joe Staton
Writer: Mike Curtis

Now that intermission is over, we go back to the audience of "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" starring Vitamin Flintheart:



Interesting that Quincy Magoo refers to Vitamin as a young buck!

I always find it interesting how characters in long-running franchise types things age or don't age.
The characters in the "Dick Tracy" comic strip do age, but at a slow pace. 

I believe Vitamin Flintheart said he was 50 years old when he debuted in 1944, but he's obviously not 120 here in 2015!

Dick Tracy himself was originally presented as 21 when the strip began in 1931, but he's not 95 in this strip.

Quincy Magoo never seemed to age at all. He started off already old in his first cartoon, "The Ragtime Bear," which was released in 1949. He didn't have his standardized "look" yet, though.

Since we only seem him in shadow in these comic strips, we can't say for sure how old he is, but it's interesting to remember that he had first met Dick Tracy 50 years prior.

I do realize that they're fictional characters, of course, but it's fun to think about!

Dick Tracy - December 21, 2015

Dick Tracy - December 21, 2015
Artist: Joe Staton
Writer: Mike Curtis

After no daily strip on Sunday, we pick up the "action" with Vitamin Flintheart starring in "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" on Monday, December 21, 2015:

Fun! We see Vitamin backstage during intermission!

Of course, we know the song that Vitamin and his inappropriately young girlfriend (later wife) Kandikane Lane are discussing is "Alone in the World," a song that would indeed touch any audience!

Interestingly Kandikane Lane has hinted that she is the sister of both Margo Lane (from "The Shadow") and Lois Lane (from "Superman").

To which I say, "Awesome!"

Dick Tracy - December 19, 2015

Dick Tracy - December 19, 2015
Writer: Mike Curtis

Artist: Joe Staton

So, when Dick Tracy goes to see his friend Vitamin Flintheart perform in "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," who does he wind up sitting next to but Quincy Magoo himself!

What do they have to say to each other? Let's see:

Very fun!

The "Squinty Eyes" mentioned by Quincy is the gangster whom he impersonated while working with Tracy on the case mentioned a few panels ago.

What's next?

Dick Tracy - December 18, 2015

 Dick Tracy - December 18, 2015
Artist: Joe Staton
Writer: Mike Curtis

So, in early November, Vitamin Flintheart was telling Dick Tracy that he was playing the lead in a new production of "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol."

The strip carries on with Tracy's regular business until December 18, 2015, one week before Christmas.

Let's take a look:

Dick, Tess and Junior are at the sold out show, and who takes the one remaining open seat? Quincy Magoo himself! How awesome is that?

He's just shown in shadow, as I suppose there's some copyright issues  involved, but it's definitely him!

As Quincy points out, it's been years. Fifty in fact!

Here's a bonus color version of this strip:

What happens next?