So . . . the Road Runner speaks in rhyme?

[AdamYJ]

At the con yesterday, I picked up an old Whitman issue of Beep Beep The Road Runner, based on the Road Runner cartoon character from Warner Brothers. I gave it a read and while I knew some things would likely be different (there are usually changes that happen in the adaptation from cartoon to comic), I didn't quite expect what I got. For one, the Road Runner had three sons. And not only did the Coyote and Road Runner talk, but the Road Runner and his sons talked in rhyme kind of like Underdog. Now I'm curious what changes were made to the other Looney Tunes in comic form. I wish I had picked up the issues of Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig I had looked at.

Anyone else been surprised by what they found in a cartoon based comic? Or does anyone have any cartoon-comic reccomendations?

[shaxper]

I still haven't reconciled Barks' Donald Duck with the animated character. Whenever I've been reading a lot of Barks and suddenly see a cartoon, I'm totally thrown by the voice, and whenever I've been watching the cartoons a lot with my daughter, I'm always thrown when I return to the comic and discover a totally normal speaking voice. The transition still gets me every time.

[Shawn Hopkins]

At the con yesterday, I picked up an old Whitman issue of Beep Beep The Road Runner, based on the Road Runner cartoon character from Warner Brothers. I gave it a read and while I knew some things would likely be different (there are usually changes that happen in the adaptation from cartoon to comic), I didn't quite expect what I got. For one, the Road Runner had three sons. And not only did the Coyote and Road Runner talk, but the Road Runner and his sons talked in rhyme kind of like Underdog. Now I'm curious what changes were made to the other Looney Tunes in comic form. I wish I had picked up the issues of Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig I had looked at.

Anyone else been surprised by what they found in a cartoon based comic? Or does anyone have any cartoon-comic reccomendations?

Let me introduce you to Cicero, Porky Pig's Sailor Suit wearing nephew.

http://toolooney.blogspot.com/2007/0...icero-pig.html

Cicero is strange. He's a big part of Porky's adventures in the comics for four decades, without ever really showing up in a cartoon.

Also, the Mary Jane and Sniffles stories in the Looney Tunes comics are great. Sniffles wasn't much to build a comic book series on, so they put him in these beautifully drawn fantasy adventures with a little girl.

http://www.toonopedia.com/maryjane.htm


This book presents a good sampling of Looney Tunes comics.


http://www.amazon.com/Bugs-Bunny-Fri...y+tunes+comics

Finally, here's a great post from Mark Evanier about WHY the comics were different. He also mentions that Sylvester was a British hobo in the comics, I must never have seen those.

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2...20.html#012965

I still haven't reconciled Barks' Donald Duck with the animated character. Whenever I've been reading a lot of Barks and suddenly see a cartoon, I'm totally thrown by the voice, and whenever I've been watching the cartoons a lot with my daughter, I'm always thrown when I return to the comic and discover a totally normal speaking voice. The transition still gets me every time.

Yeah, you'll lose your mind trying to read a whole Donald Duck comic in that voice.

[AdamYJ]

I'll have to check out that TPB. I have a lot of other comics to read first, though.

I sometimes have trouble reconciling the cartoon Popeye with the comic strip Popeye. However, that's a situation where it's the other way around. The comic strips came first and the cartoons came later.

[Reptisaurus!]

And, of course, the Disney Comics featured an interrelated universe, ala Marvel and DC.

And they had the Phantom Blot. That guy was cool.

[AdamYJ]

And, of course, the Disney Comics featured an interrelated universe, ala Marvel and DC.

I imagine Disney continuity (if there was such a thing) functioned much like the continuity of Silver Age DC comics or L. Frank Baum's Oz books. It was kind of loose and acknowledged when they could have fun with it but ignored when they couldn't.

And they had the Phantom Blot. That guy was cool.

The Blot is cool. I wish someone would make a Disney Afternoon-esque comedy adventure comic with Mickey Mouse as the star and the Phantom Blot as one of the big villians. Maybe with Morty and Ferdie as supporting characters (the DA cartoons always had cool kid characters. A hold-over from Huey, Dewey and Louie's Junior Woodchuck awesomeness in the Barks comics). Doubt it would sell well here in the US, though.

[Reptisaurus!]

I imagine Disney continuity (if there was such a thing) functioned much like the continuity of Silver Age DC comics or L. Frank Baum's Oz books. It was kind of loose and acknowledged when they could have fun with it but ignored when they couldn't.

I assume so. I'd never actively noticed this 'till Bully wrote a post about it, despite the fact that I've got a decent - albeit beat to hell - pile of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.

The Blot is cool. I wish someone would make a Disney Afternoon-esque comedy adventure comic with Mickey Mouse as the star and the Phantom Blot as one of the big villians. Maybe with Morty and Ferdie as supporting characters (the DA cartoons always had cool kid characters. A hold-over from Huey, Dewey and Louie's Junior Woodchuck awesomeness in the Barks comics). Doubt it would sell well here in the US, though.

Mickey's kind of a hard sell anyway... He's iconic, but I can't think of any major media Mickey Mouse appearances in my life-time.

[AdamYJ]

I assume so. I'd never actively noticed this 'till Bully wrote a post about it, despite the fact that I've got a decent - albeit beat to hell - pile of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories.

Well, considering they're the epitome of kids' comics (some would say "all ages"), it seems like the best way to go about it.

Mickey's kind of a hard sell anyway... He's iconic, but I can't think of any major media Mickey Mouse appearances in my life-time.

You've never seen Mickey's Mouseworks or House of Mouse? Those both featured new shorts by all of Disney's short picture stars, but they did a lot to help define Mickey's personality. He's kind of a "little guy" who regularly gets in over his head. Either he's trying too hard to impress Minnie, he has trouble backing down from a challenge or he ends up stretching the truth until things get blown out of proportion. There's also the Epic Mickey video games. The trouble is that Mickey's got a reputation for not being funny. The thing is the first major stars from animation studios rarely have the broad comedic qualities the later ones have. Fleischer's first star was Betty Boop, who's famous for a couple of things but being funny isn't one of them. Heck, Warner Brothers' first cartoon star out of their current cast of characters was Porky Pig. Eventually, he got a longer career playing the straight-man rather than the lead.

[dupersuper]

Well, meep does rhyme with meep...

[MDG]

Even as a kid, it often seemed that the WB characters in comics and storybooks were different than the ones in the cartoons. (There were also some issues of Brave and Bold where George Kashdan was editing that used Schwartz characters that also felt "off")

[AdamYJ]

Well, meep does rhyme with meep...

I thought of that when I first posted this topic. I was just waiting for someone to post it.

Also, kudos for using "meep". Most people think "beep" for Road Runner and "meep" for Beaker. However, I can do the Road Runner sound (or a close approximation) and it really does have more of an "m" sound than a "b" sound.

[Reptisaurus!]

The Wikepedia article on this was fascinating.

[Slam_Bradley]

The Wikepedia article on this was fascinating.

I'm a little surprised there's nothing there about the Bo Diddley song "Road Runner."


Beep-Beeping with a Diddley beat.

[JKCarrier]

I seem to recall that the Pink Panther comics had him speaking as well. I guess they thought that a totally "silent" comic would be too weird/confusing for kids?

[Cei-U!]

I seem to recall that the Pink Panther comics had him speaking as well. I guess they thought that a totally "silent" comic would be too weird/confusing for kids?

Not to mention that pantomime strips are a raging bitch to write.

Cei-U!
I summon the not-so-golden silence!