Wow! A Complete 22 Page "Scribbly" Story By Sheldon Mayer!

Long before Harvey Pekar brought us true-life tales "from off the streets of Cleveland," Sheldon Mayer, the innovative genius who championed Superman and helped put together the first meeting of The Justice Society of America, pioneered the concept of autobiographical comics. Scribbly Jibbet, boy cartoonist, might have had slightly more madcap adventures than Mayer himself, but there is no doubt that he and the other characters in the long-running strip were based on real-life counterparts, even Ma Hunkel.

I am always amazed by the personal nature of Sheldon's artwork. When he draws a sofa, it's a sofa like only Sheldon could draw it. His characters have thousands of nuanced expressions that convey thousands of nuanced moods. If Scribbly's boss is angry, you can gauge his anger level on a scale from 1 to 10. But Sheldon also had a great talent for writing clever plots, complete with colorful authentic dialogue, and that's what I love about this 1949 story. Scribbly is found to have a condition (M.U.M. - Marvelous Unconscious Mistakes) in which his clumsy accidents always cause great good. He is put to work by the U.S. government, but in a twist worthy of an early Woody Allen farce, his abilities vanish after being given poise lessons by a kidnapper.














Scribbly #5 (April-May 1949)

Sugar And Spike In " Beatin' Eatin' "

Readers of Sheldon Mayer's "Sugar and Spike" adventures often provided the inspiration for the stories. According to the credit at the end of this vignette, "Mary Kemski (Age 11) of Grand Rapids, Michigan wanted to know how Sugar and Spike act at meal-time. So now you know, Mary. - S.M."





Sugar and Spike #15 (April 1958)

Mayer For A Week!

Ladies and Gentlemen! Children Of All Ages! This week, Easily Mused becomes a dedicated shrine to the work of Sheldon Mayer, one of Ye Editor's favorite cartoonists to ever wield a pen. If you are familiar with Sheldon's stuff, I hope you will see some work here that you haven't seen before. If you are brand new to the Mayer scene, prepare to be charmed and tickled in a most pleasant and unique way.

First up, a tale featuring the often-flustered Dizzy Dog.






Nutsy Squirrel #71 (Oct-Nov 1956)

Easily Tubed: Marv Wolfman's TV Guide Spoof

Marv Wolfman is well-known in the comics world due to his long runs on titles such as Marvel's The Tomb Of Dracula and DC's The New Teen Titans. Here is an extremely silly parody of TV Guide he wrote for Crazy Magazine #4 (May 1974). The photographs were taken by Marv's then-wife Michele, who is better known in the comic industry as a colorist.