Ha-ha-ha-HA-ha! Ha-ha-ha-HA-ha!
WPIX-Channel 11 was the place for cool, live-action re-runs after school in the ’70s. That’s where you’d find Batman, Star Trek and Adventures of Superman, for example.
But for the best cartoons, you looked to WNEW-Channel 5: Bugs Bunny, Filmation Batman, Spider-Man — and Woody Woodpecker were among the big names.
I loved Woody Woodpecker, particularly the later episodes when Wally Gator would show up, or when we’d get some Chilly Willy features — including this loveable classic:
Woody, of course, was the creation of Walter Lantz, one of American animation’s top talents. Well, the late Lantz was born on this date in 1899 — he died in 1994 — so it’s time for our first-ever 13 COVERS tribute to cartoondom’s second greatest troublemaking, anthropomorphic animal. (Only Bugs Bunny stands taller.)
Lantz didn’t do any of these Silver or Bronze Age Gold Key covers as far as I can tell, but each bears his name — and signature character.
Swell!
—
Dick Hall
John Carey
Carey
Carey
Jack Manning
Carey
Carey
Phil de Lara
Carey
Carey
—
MORE
— 13 GREAT THINGS About the 1967 SPIDER-MAN Cartoon. Click here.
— Dig the SPIDER-MAN ’67 Cartoon Action Figures That Never Were. Click here.
April 27, 2020
Happy birthday to the late Walter Lantz!
April 27, 2020
I enjoyed Woody as a youngster. I have a couple of DVD collections that I should watch someday.
April 28, 2020
Super fun covers! It’s always nice to see some non-superhero stuff. It’s easy to forget how indispensable the genres which don’t feature the men-in-tights (in this case, funny animals) were to the history and survival of comics throughout the decades. I’m amazed at how small a slice of the greater comics pie the heroes comprised when you look at the books released in a given month from the late 40’s all the way thru the 70’s and beyond – not only the funnies, but crime, romance, western, teen humor, horror, etc.