Magilla Gorilla #1

History

The Magilla Gorilla Show was created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, premiering in syndication on January 15, 1964, as one of the first animated TV series developed in direct partnership with a toy company — Ideal Toys served as the show's original sponsor. Western Publishing, operating under its Gold Key Comics imprint (with the indicia publisher listed as K.K. Publications Inc.), moved quickly to capitalize on the character's popularity, releasing the first comic issue in May 1964, only four months into the show's broadcast run. All cover and interior art was handled by Pete Alvarado, a veteran Western Publishing mainstay who had joined the company in 1948 after stints as an animator at Disney and a background artist at Warner Bros.; he was one of the two defining artists for Hanna-Barbera licensed comics at Gold Key. Consistent with standard industry practice for licensed-character comics of the era, no writer credits appear in the issue.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First comic-book appearance of Magilla Gorilla; identified as a key issue by Key Collector Comics on that basis.
• Published May 1964 by Western Publishing under the Gold Key Comics imprint; indicia publisher listed as K.K. Publications Inc. Cover code: 10116-405.
• All cover and interior pencils and inks are by Pete Alvarado, a veteran animation and comics artist who served as one of the two defining illustrators for Hanna-Barbera's Gold Key comic-book line.
• The issue contains four original stories — 'Westward Ho, Magilla' (10 pages), 'Down But Not Out' (8 pages), 'The Acting Bug' (5 pages), and 'All Work and No Play' (8 pages) — plus one-page gag strips; writer credits are unknown/uncredited.
• The back cover reprints the front cover illustration as a pin-up, without trade dress — a common Gold Key production convention of the period.
• Content from this issue was reprinted in the German anthology comic Hucky (Tessloff) and the Danish Familien Flint (Allers Forlag) in 1965 and 1968, demonstrating the character's early international reach.
• A separate undated Kite Fun Comics newsprint promotional giveaway featuring Magilla Gorilla was also published in 1964, noted by Key Collector Comics as a companion promotional piece.
• The Gold Key series ran nine issues from 1964 to 1966, after which the character's comics history continued at Charlton Comics (five issues, 1970–1971), Marvel Comics (Hanna-Barbera Spotlight #4, 1979), and DC Comics (Nightwing/Magilla Gorilla Special #1, 2018).

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