Thursday, February 25, 2010

M-G-M'S LASSIE in "The Treasure Hunt" Pt. II

Let’s get right to Part II of M-G-M'S Lassie No. 3, April-June 1951, which is heaped with gorgeous layouts (my favorite? page 15). The wonderful communication and pure love between a boy, Rocky, and his dog, Lassie, makes this comic sing. The artists involved really capture the team’s supreme confidence and adventurous exaltation. Both art and script are put into high gear for the home stretch.

This beautiful illustration comes from the back cover of the same issue. All this for 10¢.

And here's a shot of the noble girl taken from inside back cover.

For those wishing more M-G-M's Lassie, there's another fine example at friend Lysdexicuss' blog, TEN CENT DREAMS. Just click HERE!

15 comments:

  1. I'm always taken by surprise at how much work went into a single comic. I knew it was about 22 or so pages, but seeing them all laid out like this really does show how much really goes on to make a single comic. bravo to these guys. seems like modern comics are the same amount of pages but 1/2 are ads.

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  2. KW: Don't forget, my friend, this is only part II - the comic was 52 pages long! -- Mykal

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  3. And they sold millions of 'em every months. Amazing.

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  4. Wait, my friend Alan Hutchinson just reminded me that Mo Gollub drew Lassie in the early years, so this just might be his work. Used to seeing it in the funny animal-type comics.

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  5. Gary: Mo Gollub! That could very well be. I know Gollub best for his breathtaking cover paintings for Turok, Son of Stone when it flew under the Dell banner. He might very well be the artist here. Well, however it is, I find it gets better and better with each lookover. -- Mykal

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  6. In fact, I am wondering now if perhaps Gollub might not have done that back cover painting of a snarling Lassie! Thank Alan for me. -- Mykal

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  7. This was an excellent kids adventure! You've made a convert out of me; I never would have thought to pick up an old Lassie comic.

    Lassie just kind of disappeared in the last 4 pages...after they toasted her in the last panel, I almost expected someone to say, "Hey, where is Lassie?"

    They probably couldn't do a story like this nowadays; too many squeamish folks worried about showing kids threatened with guns and knives, guys getting stabbed and hanged, and the not-so-subtle implication of why they wanted to kill everyone except the girl.

    Thanks Mykal!

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  8. Hey, Doug: What struck me was the autonomy of the kids - even the younger kid was left to fend for himself while all else went off to hunt treasure. I loved that. Also, Lassie's boy, Rocky, though a young teenager, was clearly a man among men! I loved this comic and will get more! -- Mykal

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  9. Ha! Good point, we never did see a mother in that house. For all we know Ben and Commando were home alone the whole time. They should have done another story in the book showing what trouble they got into while everyone else was gone!

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  10. Hi! I have collected the work of Moe Gollub for over 50 years. Corresponded with him in the mid-1970s. This story is indeed Moe Gollub's work as is the back cover painting. I am always amazed that so many people confuse Moe's work with that of George Wilson. To me there is no similarity between their paintings. Thanks for posting this wonderful story. You should also look for Moe's work in INDIAN CHIEF. Great stuff!

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  11. Robert: Thanks so much for the confirmation! Really appreciated. It is indeed beautiful work.

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  12. This may give you more information that you want, but Moe Gollub painted front & back covers for LASSIE 3-4, covers for 3-36, and illustrated the interior stories for 1,3-8. While dog stories aren't everyone's cup of tea, the Gollub stories are really quite fun and his art work was always great.

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  13. Robert: Now amount of ID information is too much! Thanks again! Any more assistance you can give is always appreciated.

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  14. Mikal: I noticed in your post of Pt.I of this story that you were interested in who the writer was. The first issue or so of LASSIE was based on the serialized story of ROVER, which appeared in ANIMAL COMICS in the late 1940s. ROVER was written and illustrated by Dan Noonan, a good friend of Moe Gollub's, and another of Dell's good artists. Gaylord DuBois rewrote Noonan's ROVER scripts for LASSIE and continued to write for LASSIE until the late 1950s-early 1960s.

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  15. Robert: You sure are on a roll! Great work.

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