DCRO 44- The Funnies (1936) #5 [AB Story]

 Story title: "Why Big Brothers Leave Home" (II)

Cover Date: February 1937

By: Sheldon Mayer

DCRO Entry

Alright, so this is the actual of the semi-meta "Why big brothers leave home strip?" which to my understanding is kind of a tradition for Scribbly, so let's find out why brothers do leave home.

So, this one starts tellingly: Scribbly is doing his homework and his brother is listening to the radio slightly too loud, so he asks him (kind of) politely to turn it down. Now, what has Scribbly always complained about not being able to concentrate on...? His drawings! So it's pretty obvious that this is one of the stories sent in by the readers. Which is fine, actually, I mean, we were told that that's where the ideas would come from, but still, it's weird seeing this characters representing some random kid from back then.

Anyway, the little asshole feels like being annoying, so Scribbly gets up and turns down the radio himself. 

So, the little devil starts crying, the mom comes in, scolds Scribbly and the radio ends up louder than before... 

Which I guess is a relatable situation? I don't know, I don't have any siblings, but I have heard some stories with this kind of structure (as in, parents siding with the smallest even when the eldest is right) from my friends, soooo... Maybe?

Anyway, that's it: 

Way to rat out baby Gaines, Bill from Sklyn (not Brooklyn)!

 

Hey, at least this time the direction is included in the actual story, so it'd be easier to send one out.

But no thanks, I don't think I will.

You can read this here (tho maybe you shouldn't). Let's see the ratings.

Quality/Enjoyment: 2/5

Yeah, this is pretty awful. The only reason I don't give it one star is because of the theoretical reliability (which I guess it's a quality that all of these will more or less share), but I got a gut feeling that this strip will be more of the get-it-out-of-the-way-quickly variety. Thankfully, it's short enough to work within that "genre".

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

And that's it! Next one is another one of these, and after that, more Scribbly! (The somewhat decent one, thankfully) So thanks for reading and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 43- The Funnies (1936) #5 [AC Story]

Story title: "Scribbly Takes a Test!"

Cover Date: February 1937

By: Sheldon Mayer

DCRO Entry

One more Scribbly page, let's go!

Are his skills as a cartoonist good enough to be the full-time apprentice of the great (although, we haven't seen any of his strips) Ving Parker? Let's find out.

So, on what I'm assuming is the morning after the previous night's incident. Scribbly and Sammy are getting acquainted over breakfast.

 After all that, apparently, Ving was gracious enough to not kick him out. He seems a bit too eager to let people into his house... I mean, he does live alone with his butler in a huge mansion and must get kind of lonely sometimes.

Scrib and Sammy get to talking, and they go straight to the subject of Scribbly's artistic aspirations. Now, Ving has warned Scribbly about Sammy being a bit of a jokester, but I guess he's more worried about his career, because when Sammy mentions a "Cartoonist license", he fully believes it!

This reminds me of something! Back when I started high school, my grandpa warned me about older kids asking me if I had already submitted my "death certificate" so I would go to try and submit it and make a fool out of myself (please, do understand, in this fake scenario the victim is eleven a what a "death certificate" is is a lot less obvious in Spanish). Of course, I never actually got pranked like that, but he likely was, so I wonder if "nonexistent license" was a common prank genre a few decades ago... Tangent over.

So, to get this cartoonist license, you need to prove that you're crazy enough to be one. See! This is totally pushing the idea of artists being crazy! Kind of weird to me. it's definitely an existing stereotype, but more so for museum painting artists, or even writers or film directors, but not for cartoonists!

Anyway, Ving happens to look out the window, and what he sees prompts him to run outside. 

And what he finds there is... Well, definitely crazy enough for a cartoonist, whatever that entails.

And with this image of Scribbly showing the statue a less than flattering view (while holding an umbrella, of course, because you wouldn't wanna get wet!) we conclude.

No "read next" this time, but have some publicity.

And now, let's get to the ratings.

Quality/Enjoyment: 2/5

You know, I was gonna give this a 3, but then I realized it's not really that good. The joke is alright, but definitely not on par with some of the more decent ones we've seen so far. And there's no plot progression,k really, besides I guess a bit more characterization for Sammy, but nothing too new, given what we already saw last time.

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

And that's it for now! Next time is only the "why big brothers leave home strip from the other page, so it shouldn't take long. Until then, thanks for reading, and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 42- The Funnies (1936) #5 [AA Story]

Story title: "Meet Sammy-!!!"

Cover Date: February 1937

By: Sheldon Mayer

DCRO Entry

After three entries, we've finally gotten to the next issue of "The Funnies", which includes... Another four Scribbly entries. Also, before we can move on to something else, we have to read the Scribbly portion of the March issue too... Rejoice!

So, now that we're back to the actual story, let's see who this Sammy individual is.

The story starts with Scrib waking up in the middle of the night to hear those all-time classic "strange noises", but I guess he's not too used to them because he figures it might be a burglar. Fair enough tho, a mansion like that, with no security, who wouldn't want to loot it? (Not that I would, of course...)

Also, I am certainly relieved to confirm that Scribbly has his own room, and does not sleep with Ving.

So he goes down to investigate, golf club in hand. (As any 12-year-old would?)

Downstairs he finds this guy who's eating Ving's food and grabbing his cigars and stuff. It's funny that he takes the cigars from a big box that just says "cigars" no brand or anything.

Must be from the creators of those famous "generic" detergents.

Anyway, so this guy must be some kind of nutjob. He shows up in the middle of the night carrying several suitcases. Eats Ving's cigarettes, smokes his food (An entire roast chicken!!), and does all this without any pants on and while talking to himself like a maniac. He must've escaped from the nearest madhouse. Maybe he's not a burglar, but he's bad news alright. 

Scrib runs upstairs to rat the guy up to Ving, but then he wakes up and perfectly guesses everything the guy did (including the pants off-taking).

And then the twist, he happened to know the guy! He's Ving's little brother! Nice twist, but some of the stuff he did, combined with showing up in the middle of the night, are grounds for kicking him out anyway.

A test huh? I suppose that's not a school test, since it's summer vacation, and we all know summer vacation lasts a very long time in the cartoon world.

You can read this story here. Now, let's see the ratings. 

Quality/Enjoyment: 3/5

This one kind of got a laugh out of me too (more like nose-air, actually). I can picture Sammy being played by a histrionic actor, if this was a sitcom, or being animated funnily, if it was a TV cartoon. The twist was kind of predictable, but I think making the guy his little brother and not just a friend is particularly smart because it continues the theme of little brothers being annoying, even throughout adulthood. It's not a very deep theme, mind you, but it's something.

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

Alright! And that's it for now. Next, more Scribbly, of course. For now, thanks for reading and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 41- The Funnies (1936) #4 [T Story]

Story title: "Why Big Brothers Leave Home (I)"

Cover Date: January 1937

By: Sheldon Mayer

DCRO Entry

Let's get this one out of the way since it's almost non-existent.

As we already know, that's the title of Scribbly's in-universe strip, so let's see how good it is.

Aaaaaand that's it! That's the entire entry! Just an ad of Sheldon Mayer using Scribbly as a vehicle to tell kids to do his job for him. Apparently, "Why Big Brothers Leave Home" is not about coming of age, but about little brothers being so annoying that you just want to live somewhere else, we already knew that, tho. 

So, on one hand, this comes off as a bit lazy on Sheldon Mayer's part, but on the other hand, I'm sure kids would've been thrilled to see their anecdotes drawn to life in the magazine. But then again, on yet another hand (that's right, I have three hands), I feel a little bad for all the baby siblings whose infantile mischief was immortalized as a canonical part of the DC multiverse...

Anyway, that's it.

You can read this "story" here.

And now, the ratings:

Quality/Enjoyment: 2/5

Alright, alright, don't yell at me. I know this deserves a 1/5 and maybe even less. There is literally no story here, for crying out loud! Still, I think calling babies "pocket editions" deserves at least an extra point, even if it's definitely not the first use of the term.

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

And that's it for today, tune in next time for... An actual story! For now, thanks for reading and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 40- The Funnies (1936) #4 [S Story]

Story title: "The Foiled Pursuit"

Cover Date: January 1937

By: Sheldon Mayer

DCRO Entry

It's Scribbly's first day at his new home!

...And he's dressed as Napoleon, for some reason. Alright.

So, Scrib has just arrived at Ving's house big-ass mansion and is checking out all the drawing implements. 

Take a look at this! There are pillars inside the house, (probably) famous art pieces, and even a bust of some random lady. Just how rich can cartoonists get?

In the meantime, one Mrs. Van Grabbe and her daughter Julia also arrive at the home.

So, the mother wants the daughter to marry Ving, mostly just because he's rich (ah yes, the one quality of a good husband, money!), but the daughter isn't really sure about the whole affair, not so much because it's an arranged marriage, but mostly because Ving is a cartoonist, and everyone knows artists are Ka-razy! 

They overcome the butler and Ving is very displeased (he doesn't want to marry Julia any more than she wants to marry him) so he asks Perkins to kick them out, though, of course, he can't do that because he's all proper and well-mannered.

Also, he makes an expression that's very similar to one of Scribbly's.

I wonder if that's just a matter of the same artist representing frustration in a similar way both times or if he's trying to portray Ving as being a lot like Scribbly.

The women enter the mansion, and looking around it doesn't really seem like the home of a madman. But upon further inspection, they see this:

Oh boy, Scribbly has been occupied...

Anyway, when Julia sees this, she skedaddles out of there (understandably so) before the mother can even begin to stop her. She must have been afraid of finding the phrase "all work and no play makes Ving a dull boy" written somewhere. 

Anyway, Ving is delighted to get rid of the gold diggers, Perkins knows who the culprit is, and the end. 

You know, Scribbly should know not to write on the walls, I'm sure there was paper somewhere, and though Ving doesn't seem to mind, with the mess he made, this would've been his first AND last day at his home if artists weren't all stark raving lunatics or something.

The end. But wait, what's this?

The page isn't really over, and there's a title for something else... Anyway, we'll have to find out next time... For now, let's see the ratings, but first, read Scribbly here. 

Quality/Enjoyment: 3/5

This one was actually kind of funny! What I like the most about Scribbly is following the continuity (as slow as it is) because the jokes don't always work for me, but this one was decent, while definitely not hilarious. This whole situation rings a bell though, but I can't quite put my finger on why... Some annoying kid staying at someone's place and driving away someone else that the first someone doesn't want to see. Anyway, it's probably a fairly common trope, but let me know if you can think of a specific story that uses it!

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

And that's it for now! The next entry is our shortest one yet! Hell, this one was our shortest one yet, for that matter, with its length being barely less than a page. So, if you want to find out how it can get even shorter, tune in next time! For now, Thanks for reading and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 39- The Funnies (1936) #4 [R Story]

Story title: "At Last!!!"

Cover Date: January 1937

By: Sheldon Mayer

DCRO Entry

This is the Christmas issue of The Funnies, and there's a Christmas present inside for Scribbly! So let's get to it!

The Christmas theme begins and ends with this panel, but it's pretty cool! The characters are all there in Scribbly's dream, dressed for the season. Although... They look a bit odd, don't they? Ving Parker looks like a medieval executioner and Scrib looks like he has a beak. 

Anyway, the story starts with Scribbly waking up after the incident the last time, and he finally gets to apologize for the thing with the baseball. Of course, he has more stuff to apologize for now, but it's a start...

So, Ving tells him that he was his creepy, stalkery, secret "admirer" all this time, and of course, the kid doesn't fully believe it.

Ok, wait a minute, what the hell is this?

I mean, I know what it is, it's a hole in the magazine used for the scan, but still, it looks like a disembodied, floating eye you'd find in a dungeon somewhere, it's quite creepy. Now, Scribbly is telling Ving that he's read his book (ten times!!), but he's still not as good as him. I mean, of course not, reading books on your craft is helpful and all but being good also requires practice and, well, sadly, talent.

In any case, Ving offers to teach him himself and the boy is elated!

He doesn't want to be a burden though, so he brings up the point that the artist might be too busy for that. Then Ving explains that he meant it more as a live-in full-on apprenticeship than as an ocasional tutorship. Now, that sounds good and all, but I guess the mom won't be too happy about it.

Wait, what!!??? Sure, go ahead, take the kid to leave with you, MR. EPSTEIN!!! What could possibly go wrong? And you know what? Take the other one too, while you're at it! I cannot stand the both of them!

Forget what I said earlier, this is definitely weird and not just my own cynicism. I don't even consider myself particularly cynical anyway. 

And that's the end of the story, no "read about it next issue" next time.

Read this story here.

Now, the ratings:

Quality/Enjoyment: 3/5

All jokes aside, this is pretty cool! I'm happy for Scribbly, that he gets to have his idol mentor him. With this, I'm now sure there is a big aspect of wish fulfillment to this thing. What young artist hasn't dreamed of something like this happening to them? Sheldon Mayer certainly has!

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

And that's it for now. Next time, let's see how this mentorship turns out. For the time being, thank you for reading, and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 38- The Funnies (1936) #3 [AI Story]

 Story title: "Scribbly Receives a Guest!!"

Cover Date: December 1936

By: Sheldon Mayer

DCRO Entry

Let's see the meeting of Scribbly and Ving at once!

This one starts with Scribbly coming home hungry after a day out (probably right after the last chapter).

He strides into his house with the kind of shameless confidence only a kid can muster. And his brother's imitating him to boot!

Is he back to cute? I hope so.

Then, his mother informs him that he has a guest, a friend of his. Now, obviously, we know who that is. But he does not, so of course, he starts blindly insulting his friends, as 12-year-olds often do. Not that I know too many of them, but I do remember being twelve almost a hundred years later than this, and behaving similarly. Those were the days!

He then goes upstairs to take a bath (without checking who's there) and keeps the string of insults going for a while, throwing some threats in after not getting a response.

Here's a list of all the insults he uses, in case you're compiling 1930s curse words... For some reason.

-Ya big stiff (huh?)

-Old horse face (sure)

-Smatter (What?)

-Bulgarian cheese-hound (Specifically in reference to an individual one of his friend's sister is "running around with", and I don't know if he's talking about an actual dog or badmouthing her boyfriend...)

-Dumbell (Because... He's really heavy?)

-You big palooka (alright)

When he gets out of the bathroom he puts on a suit (because why not, the little shit swears like a sailor, but he must dress nicely for the visit) and proceeds to take the stairs in the unsafest way possible.

Of course, since we know who's there, one can imagine what happens next.

It's funny to imagine what Ving must've been thinking throughout the chain of insults. He just sits there, taking it. And the mother doesn't say anything, either. All in all, they just let him make a complete fool of himself.

And that's it! Read the story here, see the ratings, yadda yadda. 
 

Quality/Enjoyment: 3/5

The punchline was alright I guess (kinda predictable if you ask me) but Scribbly's monologue is pretty funny to me for some reason. I think it's a combination of the 1930s slang, the reliability of it all, and some of his expressions. Just take a look at this and tell me it's not even a little funny! 

I don't know, through the whole thing, I can't help imagining his voice as if he's been chain-smoking for fifty years.

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance:1/5

That is it for today, next time, we celebrate Christmas with Scribbly (kind of)!

Thanks for reading and have a nice rest of your day!

DCRO 37- The Funnies (1936) #3 [AH Story]

Story title: "Castles in the Air"

Cover Date: December 1936

By: Sheldon Mayer

DCRO Entry

After reading that one story we missed, let´s return to the continuity!

Scribbly is taking his little brother out for a stroll when he runs into his friend Eppie (I decided to start using his name since he seems to be a recurring character). So they sit down and begin talking.

Meanwhile, Scribbly's brother decides he's gonna throw mud at them.

Both of them, that is.

You know, I thought he was kinda sweet before, curiously following his big brother around, but the little guy is growing more annoying with each issue.

Anyway, Scribbly is no pushover, so he fights back!

He's being nonchalant about it though. His brother is a pain in the ass for sure (although I don't know whose ass is hurting more now), but at least serves as inspiration for his comic strip, as he tells Eppie. He dreams of becoming a big cartooner like his hero, and then meeting him properly. In his head, he and Ving Parker are peers within the highest-standing, cocktail-drinking, suit-wearing, fundraiser-attending high class... Of comic strip artists. Which is when he finally gets a chance to apologize for that infamous "ball-to-the-face-o'-'36". It's obviously forgiven! He was just a dumb kid back then!

And he's... definitely a grown-ass man now!

He keeps fantasizing, but his tiny-asshole little brother decides to pop his bubble. (Or crush his "castle in the air" if you will).

Some more spanking ensues, and look at this!

He did it! He said the phrase! Man, I love it when MCs do that!

In the meantime, Ving Parker decides to quit the creepiness and show up as a visitor at Scribbly's home, like a normal person.
It looks like the boy's fantasy won't take too long to become reality, because apparently, they're finally meeting next time! 

And that's it for now. Read this and other Dell Scribbly stories here,

Now, the ratings:

Quality/Enjoyment: 2/5

There's not much here. The fantasy was amusing and it's kind of cool seeing Scribbly's thought process, but once again, most info here had already been given to us. I also don't quite like seeing what once was an endearing side character turn into one more stereotypical annoying little brother-type character.

Historical/Cultural/Narrative Significance: 1/5

That's it for today. We still have like ten more Scribbly entries to go through so we'll be doing that for a while... Thanks for reading and have a nice rest of your day!