Terry-Toons Comics #79
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeTerry-Toons Comics #79 is a representative artifact of the Golden Age licensed-cartoon comic genre, arriving at the midpoint of St. John Publications' stewardship of the Terrytoons franchise — a run that bridged the property's original Timely Comics home (1942–1947) and later publishers. The issue showcases the full breadth of Paul Terry's character stable in comics form, demonstrating how animation studios of the era leveraged the newsstand to extend their characters' reach beyond the theater. While #79 carries no singular landmark first appearance, it is part of a historically notable series that helped establish Mighty Mouse, Heckle and Jeckle, and the other Terrytoons stars as multimedia icons of mid-century American popular culture.
In "The Repelling Ray," Heckle and Jeckle pull their most absurd scam yet, trapping the perpetually bewildered Dimwit in a bottle smaller than he is to trick the local police. With Jim Tyer’s dynamic art bringing every slapstick twist to life, the magpies’ latest scheme spirals into chaos when Dimwit—finally freed—unexpectedly becomes Officer Reilly’s reluctant sidekick. The cover by Art Bartsch captures the madness in bold, playful detail.
When The Claw is sentenced to life in prison by a jury of mice, his escape seems impossible—until Professor Ohm unleashes his repelling ray machine to break him out. Now on the run, The Claw must evade Mighty Mouse and the full force of Terrytown’s law enforcement, with the city’s fate hanging in the balance.
Sourpuss faces a tough day when Susie’s dad calls him out for lacking a job—so he takes a position with the McNutt Moving Co. His first assignment? Moving Susie and her dad out of their home. The job’s got a twist, though, and the usual chaos of moving day is about to get a whole lot more personal.
In a delightfully chaotic twist, Heckle and Jeckle trap their dimwitted friend Dimwit inside a tiny bottle to pull off a scam with a genie twist, only to find their scheme spirals into an unexpected alliance when Dimwit emerges as Officer Reilly’s reluctant assistant. With the parade of gullible victims, a pair of bank robbers, and a judge all caught in the crossfire, the antics take a surreal turn in this zany, well-illustrated tale from Terry-Toons Comics #79.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
St. John Publications, founded by Archer St. John and headquartered at 545 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, acquired the Terrytoons comics license from Timely Comics beginning with issue #60 in September 1947 and published the title through issue #86 in May 1951. Issue #79, cover-dated March 1950, was produced using studio-trained artists Art Bartsch, Jim Tyer, and Connie Rasinski — the same Rasinski who was one of Paul Terry's three principal animation directors — giving the comics a direct creative lineage to the Terrytoons studio itself. St. John's tenure with the Terrytoons line was part of a broader publishing operation that, during the same period, was pioneering other industry firsts including the proto-graphic novel format.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published March 1950 by St. John Publications, cover-dated as part of the continuous run (issues #60–86) that St. John maintained from September 1947 through May 1951.
- Cover and interior art credited to Art Bartsch, Jim Tyer, and Connie Rasinski — the last of whom was simultaneously one of Paul Terry's lead animation directors at the Terrytoons studio in New Rochelle, New York.
- Issue #79 contains six stories across the core Terrytoons cast: 'Mighty Mouse: Trail to Trouble' (mice scouts discover arch-villain The Claw's hideout), 'Heckle and Jeckle: The Misdirected Scarecrow' (the magpies give a scarecrow an 'electronic brain'), 'Gandy Goose: Peace and Quiet,' 'Good Deed Dinky,' 'Dinky: Barnyard Baby Sitter,' and 'Heckle and Jeckle: Luck.'
- Standard 32-page, full-color format at the era's ten-cent cover price, consistent with St. John's regular monthly schedule for the title.
- The issue's Heckle and Jeckle 'electronic brain' story is a period-specific cultural detail: 'electronic brain' was a widely used 1950s newspaper term for early computers, embedding contemporary technological anxiety into a children's comic.
- Mighty Mouse, the title's lead character, had made his comic book debut years earlier in Terry-Toons Comics #38 (November 1945, Timely Comics); by issue #79 he was a well-established comics star with his own separate ongoing solo title also published by St. John.
- The Terrytoons comics license passed through four publishers over roughly four decades: Timely (1942–1947), St. John (1947–1956), Pines Comics (1956–1959), and Dell Comics (1959–1962 and again 1966–1967).
- St. John Publications as a house was simultaneously publishing industry-pioneering material in 1950, including proto-graphic novel formats — providing editorial context for how ambitious the publisher was despite its modest, humor-focused licensed-character titles.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Paul Terry's Comics #116 (1954), Mighty Mouse Fun Club Magazine #3 (1958)
Key issues in Terry-Toons Comics
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