In 1962, Charles Schulz published an unassuming little book of aphorisms called Happiness Is a Warm Puppy. The book became a sensation and Schulz followed it up with a slew of similar books, like Security Is a Thumb and a Blanket and Home Is on Top of a Dog House. But that's not what I want to show you.
The series was so successful it spawned some lampoons as well. The one that immediately comes to mind is The Beatles' song "Happiness Is A Warm Gun," but that was just a parody of the title. The book itself was spoofed with the 1965 release of Happiness Is A Dry Martini, by none other than Johnny Carson (presumably with at least some help from his stable of writers). That's not what I want to show you either, although you can view excerpts from it here and here (thanks to Mike Lynch for the link!).
Carson followed up the book two years later with the decidedly more pessimistic Misery Is a Blind Date. What I have to share today are excerpts from that book that were reformatted for a comic called Groovy published by Marvel (or Atlas Magazines, Inc., to be specific.) So, without further ado, heeerrrreee's the wit and wisdom of Johnny (and his writing staff), along with some "groovy" illustrations by Whitney Darrow, Jr., whose cartoons appeared in The New Yorker for many many years.
From Groovy #1 (March 1968, Marvel)
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