Quick Draw McGraw #5

History

Dell's Quick Draw McGraw series grew directly out of The Quick Draw McGraw Show, the Hanna-Barbera syndicated cartoon that debuted September 28, 1959, and the publisher treated Four Color #1040 (1959) as the series' first issue before launching the ongoing numbering. The Dell comics were produced by Western Publishing, and art throughout issue #5 was handled by Harvey Eisenberg — a longtime Hanna-Barbera artist who had worked alongside Joseph Barbera since their shared days at MGM and who became the primary illustrator for the studio's Dell and Gold Key output. Eisenberg's intimate familiarity with the characters and his background in animation layout gave the Dell Hanna-Barbera books a visual consistency that closely mirrored the on-screen designs. No writer credits for the issue's stories are documented in extant records, which was standard practice for Dell's licensed funny-animal titles of the era.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First comic book appearance of Snagglepuss, the anthropomorphic pink mountain lion created by Hanna-Barbera Productions and voiced on television by Daws Butler.
• Published by Dell Comics, cover-dated January–March 1961; part of a series that began with Four Color #1040 (1959) and ran eleven issues through 1962 before transitioning to Gold Key.
• The Snagglepuss debut story is titled 'Water, Water, Who's Got the Water?' and teams him with Quick Draw McGraw, mirroring the pairing from the television show where a prototype version of the character — then called 'Snaggletooth' — first appeared in the 1959 Quick Draw McGraw segment 'Lamb Chopped.'
• Art throughout most of the issue was produced by Harvey Eisenberg, a Western Publishing mainstay who had a personal and professional history with Joe Barbera dating to their MGM animation days and who served as the signature artist for Dell/Gold Key Hanna-Barbera titles.
• The issue also features recurring cast members Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey — Quick Draw's Mexican burro deputy, both voiced on television by Daws Butler — across multiple stories including 'Caught in the Act' and 'The Lone Partner.'
• Additional stories in the 36-page, full-color, 10-cent issue include 'Race Car Blues' (Augie Doggie), 'Red Riding Hood Caper' (Snooper and Blabber), and 'Beautiful Dreamer' (art by Phil DeLara), reflecting the anthology format that mirrored the three-segment structure of the TV show.
• The comic book Snagglepuss introduction coincided with the character's 1961 television promotion to his own standalone shorts on The Yogi Bear Show, in which he starred in 32 episodes — his fully redesigned pink fur and theatrical costume replacing the earlier brownish 'Snaggletooth' look.
• Snagglepuss would later receive his first solo comic book series from Gold Key in October 1962, but this Dell issue remains his earliest appearance in the medium.

Cast · 3 characters

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