Monkeyshines Comics #9

A young boy bursts into tears after being hit by a man for touching candy in a store, but a mysterious figure offers to stand by him. Encouraged, the boy hesitates, fearing another punishment, as the figure insists he go ahead and touch the candy — but the outcome remains uncertain.

In a mountain retreat, a long-standing feud between mice and cats erupts into gunfire, but two young lovers—Hatfield the mouse and Coy the cat—decide to end the conflict by secretly burying all the ammunition. When the families discover their weapons are gone, they’re baffled—until a forgotten memory reveals the feud began when the cats once stole the mice’s bullets, starting the cycle all over again.

In a forest picnic setting, a hungry Wolf stumbles upon a vineyard of grapes and attempts to trade them for the Fox’s lunch basket, only to be outwitted when the Fox reveals the grapes are sour. The Fox, playing the part of a clever bargainer, walks away with the Wolf’s picnic, leaving the Wolf to learn a lesson about deals and deception.

Marmaduke Monk wins a bidding war for a talking parrot at an estate auction, only to be disappointed when the bird remains silent. He grows increasingly frustrated, questioning why he paid seventy-five dollars for a parrot that won’t speak—until the bird finally squawks in protest, revealing it’s been talking all along.

Harry the Horse, trying to avoid work, attempts to burn trash in the basement—only to cause a smoke-filled disaster and accidentally lock himself out. When his wife Maizie returns, she’s furious, and the chaos escalates when a circus performance goes awry, involving a runaway elephant and a mistaken identity in the human cannonball act.