Yosemite Sam #68
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeYosemite Sam #68 (September 1980, Whitman/Western Publishing) is a textbook specimen of one of the most distinctive distribution experiments in Bronze Age comics history. It belongs to a narrow window — roughly August through December 1980 — when Western Publishing, newly acquired by Mattel, abandoned the traditional newsstand model entirely and sold its comics exclusively in sealed three-pack bags through department and general merchandise stores, making individual issues effectively impossible to purchase on their own. That shift dramatically reduced print runs and circulation for every title in the line, and #68 sits squarely in that compressed period, giving it a concrete place in the story of how corporate ownership changes can reshape an entire publisher's output almost overnight. For fans of the long-running Gold Key/Whitman Looney Tunes line — which gave Yosemite Sam his own solo series starting in 1970 and ran it 81 issues deep — this issue is a tangible marker of the imprint's transition into its final chapter.
In "King Tott," the last original book-length story featuring Warner Bros. characters from Western Publishing brings together Yosemite Sam, Bugs Bunny, Jason, and Jenny with a peculiar cast: a boy-king ruling an ice cream-exporting island filled with children, a brawny gorilla-costumed smuggler, and a French couple with mismatched talents. Penciled and inked by John Costanza, the cover captures the story’s wild mix of whimsy and chaos, while the Western Publishing Production Shop handles the colors in this 1980 40-cent adventure.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 9 grades ▾
Find on ebay
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The Yosemite Sam solo title was launched by Western Publishing under the Gold Key imprint in December 1970, after the mustachioed villain had spent years guesting in Dell and Gold Key's broader Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig titles. The official indicia always read simply 'Yosemite Sam,' though covers prominently featured the 'Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny' branding — a deliberate editorial choice to leverage Bugs Bunny's greater name recognition with young readers. By 1979, Western had been purchased by Mattel; the merged company found newsstand returns economically unsustainable and pivoted to the Whitman bagged-comics model for non-returnable sales through chains, a transition that was already underway before #68 shipped. Story and art credits for individual issues in this era, including #68, are largely unattributed in surviving records, which is consistent with the anonymous production culture that characterized much of Western Publishing's licensed-comics output.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published September 1980 by Western Publishing under the Whitman imprint.
- Part of the Yosemite Sam solo series (indicia title: 'Yosemite Sam'; cover title: 'Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny'), which ran 81 issues from December 1970 through 1983.
- Issue contains two stories: 'Carrot Island' and 'The Emerald Necklace'; both feature Yosemite Sam alongside other Warner Bros. cartoon characters including Bugs Bunny.
- Story and interior art credits for this issue are currently unattributed in all major comics databases (GCD, MyComicShop).
- Falls within the August–December 1980 Whitman pre-pack window, during which Western Publishing ceased newsstand distribution and sold comics exclusively in sealed multi-pack bags through department and general stores.
- The Gold Key imprint name was phased out in favor of Whitman around 1981; #68 appears during the overlap period when both branding identities were in use on different copies of the same runs.
- Western Publishing, parent of both Gold Key and Whitman, was acquired by Mattel in 1979, a corporate change that directly triggered the newsstand withdrawal and the exclusive bagged-comics strategy visible in this issue's publication context.
- Yosemite Sam's first comic book appearance predates his solo series by over two decades: the Grand Comics Database traces it to Four Color (Dell) #187 in April 1948.
Full credits
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.