Porky Pig in "The Joyful Toy"

The Christmas stories continue with this wild tale wherein Porky invents a jet propelled pogo stick for the Christmas toy market! It comes from Four Color No. 1064, December 1959. The mighty fine pencils come curtesy of John Carey (inks unknown).

I love when funny animal stories have a few human beings thrown into the mix. In "A Joyful Toy," Porky and his brood are the only funny animal characters in the story! Here, a family of pigs can go to stores, interact with human friends and neighbors, and enjoy Christmas without causing a ripple! Wouldn't that be a lovely world? Don't forget the two puzzle pages at the end of the post, both drawn by Tony Strobl. Happy Holidays to all you good, little pigs and kids out there!

Bugs & Pals via John Carey and Fred Abranz

Today we have two stories from Dell's Four Color No 289, August 1950, featuring the art work of two Western Publishing stalwarts, both Warner Brothers animators who also did tons of comic book work: John Carey and Fred Abranz. This first story, "The Sagebrush Kid," is penciled and inked by John Carey in his typical smooth, uncluttered style.

"Flivver Foolery" displays the sweet touch of Fred Abranz.

More from Fred Abranz - These next two black and white pages are from the front and back inside covers. I wonder sometimes if the Four Color artists put a little something extra into their brushwork when they knew they were doing an inside cover. It sure seems so, looking at these two examples.