Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 2, 2025 | 2 comments

SCOTT SHAW! SATURDAYS…

By SCOTT SHAW!

As a longtime cartoonist and former comics shop manager, I see Oddball obscure trends on comic book covers that readers rarely notice. My favorite remains “fish-in-the-face” comic covers.

The first one I noticed was Criminals on the Run Vol. 4, #7. I like to call it a “Sockeye Salmon” even if it’s merely a trout… as a weapon:

Criminals on the Run Vol. 4, # 7, The Premium Group of Comic Books, January 1948. Cover art by L. B. Cole.

OK, this isn’t quite a fish-in-the-face cover, it’s a “get-ready-for-a-fish-on-the-head” cover:

Young King Cole Vol. 3, #6, The Premium Group of Comic Books, June-July 1948. Cover art by Wayne Boring.

And this one is a “a-fish-that’s-completely-over-the-head” cover:

Cookie #48. Regis Publications Inc./American Comics Group. Cover art by Dan Gordon.

Marvel has used this Oddball gimmick, but this time, it’s “a-fish-IN-your-face”! (Of course, the bad guy’s statement is ridiculous — we ALL laugh at Mr. Fish!)

Power Man #29, Marvel, Feb. 1976. Cover art by Ron Wilson, with inking by Tom Palmer.

Even Stan Sakai, a longtime pal of mine, has done a fish-in-the-face cover for everyone’s favorite samurai bunny:

Usagi Yojimbo #49, Dark Horse, June 2001. Cover art by Stan Sakai, with coloring by Tom Luth.

I used the Criminals on the Run #7 cover art on the box of my Oddball Comics trading cards, with new art designed by me and painted by my longtime friend John Pound, who also created Topps’ Garbage Pail Kids.

Set One, Kitchen Sink Press, 1995. Cover art designed by Scott Shaw! Final artwork and logo by John Pound.

It was also the basis of artwork I conceived and designed for the March page of the 2003 Futurama calendar. Here’re my “pitch” pencils and the final version.

2003 Futurama calendar: “March” pitch pencils

2003 Futurama calendar: “March,” Harper Designs, 2002

Don’t worry, folks, I’ve got some more of these flappin’ fish. Check your collections; maybe you do too!

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Want more ODDBALL COMICS? Come back next week!

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MORE

— ODDBALL COMICS: Marvel’s WHAT IF? #11 — Starring JACK AND STAN. Click here.

— ODDBALL COMICS: 13 Creepy TOM SUTTON Charlton Covers. Click here.

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For over half a century, SCOTT SHAW! has been a pro cartoonist/writer/designer of comic books, animation, advertising and toys. He is also a historian of all forms of cartooning. Scott has worked on many underground comix and mainstream comic books, including Simpsons Comics (Bongo); Weird Tales of the Ramones (Rhino); and his co-creation with Roy Thomas, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew! (DC). Scott also worked on numerous animated series, including producing/directing John Candy’s Camp Candy (NBC/DIC/Saban) and Martin Short’s The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley. As senior art director for the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, Scott worked on dozens of commercials for Post Pebbles cereals with the Flintstones. He also designed a line of Hanna-Barbera action figures for McFarlane Toys. Scott was one of the comics fans who organized the first San Diego Comic-Con.

Need funny cartoons for any and all media? Click here! Scott does commissions!

His latest project is Kilgore Home Nursing, based on stories that his home-care nurses told him about their jobs. He’ll have lots of copies for sale at the upcoming shows at which he’ll be a guest, including the Burbank Toon Con on September 7, 2025.