Hap Hazard Comics #14

Hap Hazard gets volunteered onto the stage at a hypnotist's show where Gregory Gilbert puts him under a spell—but with a mix-up that sends the teen on a bewildering mission to kiss the wrong person. Now Hap's compulsion has his parents and the Deans scrambling to undo the magical mix-up before things get any more out of hand.

Hap Hazard thinks he's found the perfect loophole—he hasn't broken a single traffic law—until a police officer takes one look at his vehicle and decides to ticket him anyway in this clever one-pager from 1947. Sometimes the rules find you even when you've followed them all.

Stella the Starlet finally agrees to go on a date with her persistent admirer Alonzo, but finds herself redirected by studio head J.B. Goldnyk to spend the evening showing two visiting gentlemen around town instead. What Stella doesn't realize is that J.B. has orchestrated the whole thing as a test of his guests' acting abilities, setting her up as an unwitting judge of their romantic sincerity.

When Principal Winkle announces that county inspectors will test all student cars for safety violations, Hap Hazard realizes his jalopy is in no condition to pass—so during his study period, he sneaks into the school parking lot to examine the principal's pristine new car and learn what proper maintenance looks like. Armed with this crash course in brake systems, steering, and headlights, Hap races to fix his own ride before the four o'clock inspection. What unfolds is a delightful reversal as Hap's hastily repaired car breezes through the safety test while Principal Winkle's supposedly brand-new vehicle fails spectacularly.

When Hap enters a radio station's treasure hunt contest for a brand new car, he and his friend hatch a scheme to win by borrowing a suit of armor from the school basement—but when a teacher nearly catches them, Hap must think fast and pass it off as a "mechanical man" he's built for science class. What follows is a hilarious chain of misunderstandings as the suit of armor causes chaos around school, but Hap's still determined to get that car, leading to a wild dash to the radio station where he discovers the contest's big surprise.

Hap rushes out to find the perfect birthday gift for his mom, settling on a country scene painting from a sidewalk art exhibit—only to discover that everyone else in town had exactly the same idea! When all the paintings turn out to be different sections of the same farmer's field, Hap gets resourceful and heads to the basement with a plan to make his mother's birthday truly special.

When a stray dog makes off with the newspaper, young Hap Hazard decides to chase it down—and ends up creating a chain reaction of chaos that lands him and his pop in hot water with their neighbor, Mr. Crump. But when a replacement dog arrives, things take an unexpectedly lucky turn that leaves everyone—especially Mrs. Crump—absolutely thrilled. A six-page romp through mistaken identity and accidental good fortune that proves sometimes the best outcomes come from the messiest mistakes.

In a whimsical 1947 outing from Hap Hazard Comics #14, Zippermouth and Slug stumble into a carnival’s hall of mirrors, where Zippermouth bursts into laughter at his exaggerated reflection—only for Slug to quietly realize he’s staring at a perfectly normal mirror.