Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Comics #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeIssue #3 marks the comic-book debut of Kandi the Cave Kid, a wholly original character created by Walt Kelly — one of the earliest original creations in the run, and significant as an early credited example of Kelly's comics work before his transformative tenure on Pogo. The issue also arrives during the very first months of what would become a 21-year uninterrupted Dell publishing run for Warner Bros.' animated characters, cementing the anthology format — multiple self-contained stories featuring Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Petunia Pig, Elmer Fudd, Sniffles, and Mary Jane — that would define Golden Age funny-animal comics for a generation of readers. Its wartime Bugs Bunny story, in which the rabbit single-handedly captures the officers of an enemy vessel, reflects the patriotic storytelling that publishers wove into even children's humor comics during the early months of American involvement in World War II.
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The Dell Looney Tunes series launched in 1941 under a licensing and production arrangement between Dell Publishing and Western Publishing, which handled the actual editorial and art work. With the Warner Bros. animated roster still limited in early 1942 — Bugs Bunny had only made his official animated debut in 1940 — editor and writer Chase Craig and his collaborators actively recruited artists to invent new filler characters and adapt existing minor Warner Bros. players into comics features. Issue #3 assembled a notable team: Walt Kelly drew the first Kandi story and Roger Armstrong handled the Porky–Petunia and Mary Jane–Sniffles strips, while Chase Craig and George Storm each contributed additional Bugs Bunny material, with Win Smith (credited as Leon Schlesinger) rounding out the issue.
Trivia · 9 facts
- Published January 1942 by Dell Publishing; cover features Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig.
- First comic-book appearance of Kandi the Cave Kid, drawn and created by Walt Kelly — described by researchers as possibly Kelly's first original character for comics.
- Kandi the Cave Kid ran only from issue #3 through issue #15 (1943), a run of approximately half a dozen short stories before the feature was retired.
- The issue's contributing artists and writers include Walt Kelly, Roger Armstrong, Chase Craig, George Storm, and Win Smith (whose work appeared under the Leon Schlesinger studio credit).
- A Porky Pig and Petunia Pig story by Roger Armstrong appears, with Petunia saving the day via home baking after Porky attempts hypnotism.
- A Mary Jane and Sniffles story continues the duo's fantasy-adventure format: the pair seek information on Columbus and end up beneath the sea with a school of fish.
- A Chase Craig–drawn Bugs Bunny story depicts Bugs disguised as a swami tricking Elmer Fudd into spending his entire pay.
- A George Storm–drawn Bugs Bunny story — reflecting early wartime themes — shows Bugs single-handedly capturing the officers of an enemy vessel.
- Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are catalogued as characters in this issue; their presence in the anthology reflects Dell's practice of including real-celebrity-based humor filler alongside the Warner Bros. cartoon cast.
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