#Fawcetts Funny Animals

[browsethestacks]

Vintage Comic - Fawcett's Funny Animals #02

Pencils: Chad Grothkopf

Inks: Chad Grothkopf

Fawcett (Jan1943)

[acmeoop]

World’s Mightiest Cottontail! “Superstitious Frolics” (1947)

[battle-of-alberta]

Does Cal often do hair flips? I mean... why not? (Is this a ploy to see more of Cal and his hair? Yes, yes it is)

I had actually animated this ages ago and put it on the back burner because I wasn't happy with it, but I looked at it today and realized it wasn't that bad, haha.

So! Funny story. Calvin was originally based off of hockey boys I knew (and couldn't stand) circa 2005-7 in rural hellberta school. At the time mullets were out of fashion, but the contemporary hockey hair of the day was usually on the longer side and seemed almost deliberately cut so that anyone sporting it would have to twitch their head every couple of minutes in this particularly spastic, annoying af way in order to see anything. This animation was based on me trying to mimic it (though of course I don't have 2000s Hockey Hair lol, I'd say it was maybe an inch or so longer than zac efron's was during that time and would curl up slightly at the ends, if that helps- or more accurately it was a lot like that chad dylan cooper guy!) (this said, it was NOT like emo/scene hair, which was considered an uncool "gay" haircut despite being quite similar in retrospect).

In Calvin's first design (ca. 2010) he had short hair with long bangs that grew into that 2005 hockey hair and eventually into the full 1970s hockey mullet you see today, partly because the blond mullet is kind of a Calgary stereotype and partly because when my friends would draw fan art of him they drew him with longer hair!

[cerealboxlore]

Kindergarten Hero (idea ramble)

After re-watching Kindergarten Cop, I got to thinking that a similar scenario would fit Captain Marvel. Hear me out. As the beloved and iconic hero to Fawcett City, he'd go out volunteering all the time just to help out his city in any way he can. Rescuing cats from trees, helping the elderly cross the street, working in soup kitchens, volunteering at animal shelters, you name it, he's there with a great big smile, happy to help. He doesn't have to stop a big bad villain in order to be a hero, as he tells the public that it's the everyday heroes that inspire him to be kind in return. Heroes like first responders, volunteers, etc. Especially, teachers.

I can see Captain Marvel being a common sight at schools for special events to help pass down wisdom to the kids and to have some fun with the citizens he protects on a daily basis. Reading to the third graders, playing basketball with the 7th graders, helping the 12th graders figure out what paths they want to pursue in life and how to apply to colleges (thanks to the wisdom of Solomon for the last one). He gets told that he's a marvel with the kids, and that he'd be an excellent educator. He laughs it off, claiming he could never be as good as the present teachers, but it does linger in his mind just a little.

One day, while stopping by to say hi to some kids during recess at a random school (the patrol was quiet so he'd figured he could waste time this way), Captain Marvel overheard from one of the teachers in charge outside that it's a shame he can't stay longer. The teacher says that one of their kindergarten teachers is out sick, and with a substitute shortage, it's been a struggle to wrangle up the kids without hassle. They all have their hands tied with their own classes enough as it is. Without thinking about it, Captain Marvel says he's happy to volunteer for the position temporarily while they seek a more permanent solution.

Captain Marvel (Billy) thinks this will be easy! Teaching kindergarteners? Psh! He's been through kindergarten before (as Billy), and he's used to helping kids. Of course, teaching is going to be easy, I mean, how hard could it be?

Within the first ten minutes, Captain Marvel wants to admit defeat.

It is not easy to teach. It takes a strength stronger than Hercules to be able to get a classroom of little gremlins to sit down and do their classwork. The man is 6'5ft and the sight of tiny kids running around him is quite a funny sight to the other teachers, who can be heard laughing at him in their classes. Already there's a kid crying, another with glue on their head, and too many of them are trying to eat things that should not be eaten! He never thought he'd have to tell someone not to eat a Lego, but he supposes more impossible things happen whenever he's doing a magical mission.

He's determined not to quit though. If regular teachers can do this every day, then so can he. With the wisdom of Solomon and the stamina of Atlas at his side, Captain Marvel manages to find a way to speak to the littles, and manage the class into respectful students. He teaches the littles to respect their peers and parents, and passes down the importance of being good to the world around them.

He entertains them with lessons from history, the stories from around the world, and how the past can shape the future even centuries later. He gets to show his passion for geology (canon, actually!) to the littles and the science behind it. He even gets to bring in Tawky Tawny for class one day, where Tawny reads to them and they can pet his soft fur.

At the end of his temporary substitute era, Captain Marvel is glad to have that experience. He's grown closer to his city, and learned that Billy would love going back to school after seeing the Captain doing such a good job through his eyes (not back to Kindergarten, of course, ha!).

Anyway, that's me rambling on about Captain Marvel. I had more thoughts about this, but this post is long enough. Maybe next time!

[zahri-melitor]

If you got to put Stanley and his Monster in a new title, what would you do with them? I think, if not their own title, they'd make great supporting cast for the Shazam Family.

Aesthetically they very much fit in closest with the Shazamily, both in terms of story telling theme and vibe: Fawcett City would match both their magic-god links AND the correct level of funny animal, between Tawky Tawny and Hoppy.

Plus you’ve got the benefit that Darla’s only about eight currently, so a six year old Stanley would join the gang nicely.

He also would line up really well with the Monster Society of Evil Shazam universe, as Billy and Mary there are both very much under 10, AND you could have interesting discussions of what makes someone a monster. This is what I’d do to pitch a new kids’ line, because it would be super cuddly AND the ‘Big Red Cheese’/‘Big Red Dog’ jokes write themselves.

On the other hand, the entire concept of Stanley and His Monster is ‘Stanley is a lonely little kid who doesn’t have any friends or contemporaries so he befriends a monster (who lives under his bed) and a ghost and some mythical gnome like creatures’ - go full Vertigo on it, and treat it more seriously, but in a ‘okay let’s properly fold this into the Sandman extended universe’ way where we’re talking about actually using Constantine and Lucifer again, and the fact Stanley can perceive ghosts. Somewhat darker and more realistic in tone but in a Tim Hunter or Dead Boys line rather than what we got in Quiver.

[cer-rata]

Hey hey, whats up with “Unnatural history” ? Might the world be spoiled with an excerpt?

“I’m Jon, Jon K--”

“Darla. Just Darla. It’s a bad idea to give out your full name to strangers, y’know.”

Jon giggled. “I’m not really afraid of getting my identity stolen or--”

Darla shook her head and looked back at the skeleton in front of them. “I was talking more about ‘faerie rules.’ True name magic and all that.”

Jon blinked at her. “What--”

“So, Jon K, of the Metropolis K’s, 7th grade explorer of the tri-state area, be honest with me: Are you a real fan of Diplodocus, or are you just another poser?”

Jon laughed again. “I’m a fan? I mean I don’t play favorites, that’s not super respectful to the dead, but Dippy and I go way back.”

Darla looked over at him with a smile. “‘Dippy’?”

“Yeah! Saying his full legal name all the time is way too formal, I’m not my--” Jon was cut off by a sharp cracking sound, and he and Darla looked up at the skeleton to see it turn its head to look back down at them. “...My grandfather.”

Then it roared. Somehow.

People started screaming and running towards the exits. Fawcett might not have been as messed up as Gotham, but its citizens still knew that when it was time to go, it was time to go.

Darla turned to Jon and shouted that she had to go to the bathroom…which was funny because Jon also shouted at her that he had to go the bathroom. They froze and stared at each other.

“That was a terrible excuse.” Darla said.

Jon nodded. “We have the same terrible excuse.”

“You didn’t run.” She gestured at the animated skeleton that was starting to move closer to them.

Jon sighed. “Neither did you.” 

“So we both know what this is right?”

“Yeah…”

“Okay, so are we going to bother pretending or are we just going to change here?”

Jon’s image blurred and Darla took that as her cue to say the word. Zeus' bolt struck her at the same time Jon finished whatever he was doing, and they looked at each other. 

Darla groaned. “Superboy. Okay, in retrospect, this was really obvious, you look exactly the same.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeeeeah. At least I have an excuse for not noticing you're a Marvel, cause now you’re all tall and…and…uh…”

She held a finger up to him. “Dinosaur now, putting your foot in your mouth later.”

[driveintheaterofthemind]

Remember When… Valentines Day Was Comical?

[adamcasey]

In 1942, just 2 years after Captain Marvel debuted, Fawcett presented Hoppy, The Captain Marvel Bunny. He idolized Captain Marvel and says “Shazam” and to his surprise, he gets powers. There was even a Wizard Bunny. Other characters in the comic were traditional cartoon fare.

[cgbcomics]

[jlaclassified]

Captain Marvel rules

[browsethestacks]

5 Random Comics

[twotales]

The Soap Box Derby Kids Chapter Two: So Cool

Chapter One: Smile

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis

Characters: Radek Zelenka, Rodney McKay, John Sheppard, Sam Carter, Evan Lorne, Acastus Kolya

Rating: G

Word Count: 2016

Tags:  AU, Kids, Secrets, Sneaking Out, Soap Box Derby, Minor Violence, Bullying, Reference to Depression & Anxiety, Friendship, Alternate Universe - The Soap Box Derby Kids

Note: Ages: John, Evan: 9 | Radek, Rodney, Sam: 10 | Kolya: 12

Read On A03

John climbed in through Evan’s window and slid into his desk chair, propping his feet up on Evan’s beanbag. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back, staring at the poster of Farrah Fawcett on the back of Evan’s door.

He’d started skipping out of the library and heading to Evan’s house three times a week. His fists tightened, Father would never approve. Would rather shelter him from this kind of life.

But not Evan. John relaxed. No, Evan opened the door and pulled him straight into the unknown, and John learned that there was a lot he didn’t know. Luckily, Evan obliged him with whole hearted enthusiasm.

He'd played Pong and Computer Space. Evan let him borrow his comics, he learned about Hulk, Spider-man, and Batman. Let him read his books, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Tom Sawyer, and The Princess Bride. Evan showed him ScoobyDoo, Fantastic Four, and Speed Racer. Taught him about Surfing and Skateboarding, battleship, and monopoly.

John devoured it all.

He was discovering a few things about himself as well. Evan thought he was funny. He liked being funny, liked smiling in all its forms. Smirking and grinning, small and broad, cocky and warmhearted. His face made all sorts of animated expressions now. Being this new self had him feeling calmer, boneless, and free.

This new John enjoyed running fast and rolling around in the dirt. Loved climbing trees and jumping off high places. Catching newts in the river and throwing mud. Screaming his lungs out as he ran through a field at top speed.

He had to force himself not to slouch at home, not to smile. Force himself to put his hair in its perfect shape and dress in his stiff clothes. He wanted messy hair and dirt beneath his nails. He longed to wear the jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes hidden beneath his bed. But it was okay, he could be fake John at home. It was worth it as long as he had this.

John snapped up as Evan pushed the door open fast, the knob slamming into the already dented wall. His eyes were sparkling as he waved an object around excitedly.

John’s eyes widened as he stared at the videocassette clutched in Evan’s hand.

"What’s that?"

Evan grinned and smacked it on the table. “You’re going to like this.”

John grinned back and flicked the tv on, his hands shaking as he put the tape in. Evan had never failed him, he always knew what John would love, the kid seeing something in him enough to gauge his tastes, tastes he didn’t even realize he had. This had to be a good one too, Evan hadn’t been this excited since Star Trek.

The video started and his mouth gaped, “Whoa.”

It was love at first sight.

“It’s called The Soap Box Derby,” Evan said. He pulled another chair close, their shoulders pressing together, “Cool, right?”

John’s eyes were riveted to the colorful, bullet-shaped cars racing down a hill. Elongated axles between disc wheels spinning so fast it made him dizzy. The kids ducked their heads. The cars whipped down faster. His heart slammed as a red one took the lead, the crowd on the sides screaming and hollering. The car practically flying as the kid took first.

“So, cool.” He breathed.

[digitalcomicmuseum]

Comic Uploaded: 14-05-2019 Fawcetts Funny Animals 025 Uploader: titansfan Download Link: https://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=32638 Read Online

[doronjosama]

Going thru my collection to prep for the upcoming Eckman's Collectibles Show, & found two of my rarest & oldest comics: Fawcett's Funny Animals #7 & #27 from the 1940's. Both feature Hoppy the Marvel Bunny. I paid a whopping $13 for both, these were not hotly sought after in the late 80's-early 90's. 🤷‍♀️ (These are NOT for sale, they are treasures!) #fawcettsfunnyanimals #funnyanimals #VintageComics #1940scomics #hoppythemarvelbunny #comiccollector #ComicShopGirl #furrycomics #IBleedComics https://www.instagram.com/p/CSxjQcFjwPp/?utm_medium=tumblr

[allthefilmsiveseenforfree]

Xanadu

Another day, another 80s musical reviewed for Wes. This time it’s Xanadu, and I confess I am excited. I know less than nothing about this film, only that it’s 1) bad and 2) beloved by the gays. Sign me up, y’all. So did this inspire me to strap on some roller skates and Farrah Fawcett my hair to the beat of some groovin’ tunes? Well...

Not...exactly. It’s an entry in the list of films that I’m glad I’ve seen for their historical impact but probably never need to see again. Like Birth of a Nation but with less virulent racism. The basic plot is this: Sonny (Michael Beck) is an artist painting album covers when he meets a girl one day named Kira (Olivia Newton-John) who turns his world upside down. He also befriends, and eventually goes into business with, a man named Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly) and together they start a club called Xanadu. 

Some thoughts:

There’s an old man with a scarf sitting on a rocky beach playing his clarinet as the sun rises in the sky. What a way to greet the day. Holy shit that old man is Gene Kelly!! How did I not know he was in this? How is Xanadu’s legacy not “Yeah it’s this trippy rollerskating musical that GENE FREAKING KELLY was in”? So I guess the old clarinet man is actually important to the story, because I thought he was just like, a muse alerting us to the tale we were about to watch unfold. 

Ohhh Kenny Ortega is the choreographer, interesting. I’m so ready to see his early artistic vision and how it developed into the level of genius it was at for High School Musical. 

Ok, the first number is this kind of electric neon ballet set to ELO singing “I’m Alive” and it mostly consists of incredibly beautiful women with Farrah hair dancing and twirling in fantastic skirts while Olivia Newton-John is going :O the whole time. It’s no chandelier dropping from the ceiling, but it’s not a bad way to start a musical. 

Hm, well now the women are turning into lasers and running, kind of like The Flash. Maybe I spoke too soon.

These transitions between scenes are absolutely godawful Powerpoint transitions and I’m obsessed with them. It’s like eating a couple buffalo wings in between your entree and dessert. By itself, not bad, but why would you use that as a way to get from one experience to another?

I am really enjoying this kind of ghost number between Gene Kelly and Olivia Newton-John as he’s remembering his heyday. It’s sweet, and it’s not hard to see that Kelly is drawing on his own experiences and memories of his career in the 40s as he’s imagining this dance with his long lost love.

I don’t think anything is less romantic than roller skating in front of an industrial wind tunnel fan, however, so this part with ONJ and Michael Beck (who plays our main character, Sonny) is a big ol snoozefest. You’ll notice I have not mentioned Sonny yet and there’s a reason for that. He’s the movie’s equivalent of a black hole. I’m so uninterested when he’s on screen. He’s beige shag carpeting. He’s a baloney and mayo sandwich. He’s motel art. Every moment he’s onscreen and ONJ or Gene Kelly aren’t is a moment wasted.  

Every scene feels like a new vignette that is only loosely connected to the previous scenes. This showdown between the old jazz big band number and the 80s rock number feels like two extended music videos, one after the other or a dreadful mashup from Glee (and I don’t mean barely passable Glee, I mean the later seasons). 

Dammmmn have you ever had such a good kiss with someone that you turned animated? Me neither. I’m gonna work on that with Wife.

Oh and the animation sequence was produced by Don Bluth. Of course it fucking was. 

Sonny. My man. How can you love Kira when you don’t know anything about her at all? Have you guys even had one conversation? Or is it all rollerskating lasers and wind tunnel fans. I know you can’t hear a word she says over the sound of that fan, my dude.. 

Ah, so she’s one of the nine muses! This scene where she’s trying to convince Sonny is pretty funny actually. ONJ is hands down the most magnetic and interesting part of this movie.

Wait so...Sonny’s big plan is to run at a wall that’s got a painting on it, and he just assumes he can enter that painting like it’s a portal to another dimension? You’re just gonna Wile E. Coyote this motherfucker and hope for the best? This is probably the only interesting thing I can say about Sonny is that he’s dumb as a bag of hammers. 

Ugghhh this song about staying suspended in time is the “Cheer Up Charlie” of this movie, meaning it goes on way too long, grinds the action to a halt, and makes me irrationally furious just thinking about it.

But then here is Gene Kelly, roller skating through a parade of mimes juggling bowling pins, and it makes everything worth the price of admission again. 

“Xanadu” is the most confusing musical number I’ve ever seen. At one point everyone is tigers, then they’re cowboys. There’s a woman spinning in some kind of acrobatic harness by the back of her neck so she’s just spinning in tight circles. I think someone might have been on fire. I’m thinking John Mulaney watched this many times as inspiration for Stefon-endorsed clubs on SNL. 

Did I Cry? Not even close. 

This is a WEIRD one, which I knew going in, but you just don’t really know how weird until it’s happening to you. And this is definitely a movie that happens to you. Performances? Eh, ONJ and Gene Kelly are mainly skating by on pure charisma. But all the rollerskates and lasers in the world won’t make this script make a lick of sense. See it for the novelty, but it’s the movie equivalent of a Twinkie - confusing and not exactly filling, but enjoyable just the same. 

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[maxwell-grant]

The apparition of impostor!Lavender Jack make me wonder : do you know if the "I'm like you but evil" villain archetype was popular in pulp fiction or is it more a super-hero thing ?

It's very much more of a superhero thing. Not that it didn't exist before, obviously the idea of villains designed to resemble and contrast their heroes is as old as villainy itself, but the idea of a supervillain who's specifically meant to be an evil version of the superhero, the "Inverted-Superhero Supervillain" as Peter Coogan calls it, was defined in comics.

If you wanna get specific, technically the first supervillain to be specifically defined as an evil opposite to the hero (as opposed to just being an evil take on a general heroic concept) was Moriarty, who's is very strongly defined as almost an evil twin of Holmes. This, I'd argue, is Moriarty's greatest contribution to the history of the supervillain, because he was neither the first, nor the one who popularized the idea of a supervillain or arch-enemy (those would be Dr Jack Quartz of the Nick Carter magazines as well as the grand criminals from the feuilletons that inspired Holmes).

What the pulps had, in turn, was supervillains who were meant to evoke popular heroes, like Fantomas who evokes the gentleman thief and John Sunlight in his original form who greatly resembles Holmes, and supervillains who were protagonists, but not specifically inverted takes on superheroes, because those as we define them weren't around. The Shadow fought several criminals who were intended to evoke him, and as far as I can find Gibson was the first person to specifically coin the term "super-crook/criminal/villain" to describe villains (which does not mean he created the concept).

The grand criminals of the dime novels and feuilletons led to the pulp supervillains, which grew bigger and badder and more outlandish and laid down much of the foundations of what we currently used to define supervillains. And throughout this history, the idea of costume-wearing supervillains gradually starts to show up, first of these being the Wolf Devil from Queen of the Northwoods (1929), likely the first superpowered costumed supervillain in Anglo media, followed by the Klan robe-wearing pulp villains, and then odd costumed supervillains like Bill Everett's Great Question and The Lightning from The Fighting Devil Dogs, until at last we get to the comic book supervillains proper. And with them, the Inverted-Superhero Supervillain, as Peter Coogan describes it:

The inverted-superhero supervillain is limited to the superhero genre, primarily because they have superpowers, codenames, and costumes. Although there are earlier costumed supervillains in comics—such as the vampiric Monk, whose schemes Batman ruins in Detective Comics #31—the Joker and Catwoman are probably the best, early examples of inverted-superhero supervillains.

Prior villains like the Monk draw on masked and robed pulp predecessors and mad scientists like Lex Luthor or the Hugo Strange have a long lineage outside of comics. But the Joker and Catwoman mark an innovation in villainy because they are such direct responses to the superhero by creators looking to expand the superhero genre.

It's a bit trickier to say which exactly would be the first Inverted-Superhero Supervillain, along the lines of what you describe. Coogan claims it's the Joker and I disagree, because while the Joker's contrast with Batman was definitely important to his popularity and he represented a clear break away from the more pulp-esque Monk and Hugo Strange, he was hardly intended as an evil version of Batman (that would be Killer Moth in the 50s), nor was he that different from the common Dick Tracy villains or other villainous clowns in fiction like The Whisperer's Grim Joker or The Shadow's Number One to really merit that kind of distinction. You can point to other Golden Age supervillains who specifically take the superhero image of "caped man with a chest logo and/or cape & mask" like Fawcett's Captain Nazi or MLJ's Captain Swastika. I'm fairly sure there's earlier examples still, probably in the funny animal superhero comics that influenced Fawcett's output, but I'd have to go digging further for those.

Although I will point out that The Grey Claw, who I discovered more recently actually debuted almost a year ahead of Superman (in 1937), was a comic supervillain very much dressed in what nowadays we'd consider a superhero outfit, and also predating the Lightning's own costume. He was modeled quite a bit on The Shadow, not just in costume but also in laugh and mannerisms and radio boogeyman persona, but he was armed with weird sci-fi weaponry at odds with the gritty crime story he's in, and he was dressed in a costume that included not just a cape and slouch hat, but also a mask, a waistband sash, and a chest logo, and even did the classic Superman pose as seen above. Is he the true first Inverted-Superhero Supervillain? Probably not, despite his international publishing, history has not been kind to him. But so far, I'd say he's as good as any candidate.

I'm totally not biased on this regard, though. No, sir.