Number 2380: Supermouse in the land of the jinn

Supermouse gets involved with some folks out of the land of the fictional Arabian nights. The story has Supermouse (or “Soupie,” as he is called) involved with his arch enemy, Terrible Tom, and also a genie. The story calls that character a “jinn,” the name of the spirits (“lower than the angels,” as Wikipedia calls them) in that part of the world. As Americans we have concocted our own version of jinn, which in the sixties gave shape (and what a shape!) to the female jinn, Jeannie, in the situation comedy, “I Dream of Jeannie.”

Okay. Barbara “Jeannie” Eden has absolutely nothing to do with this Supermouse story, but in the sixties she changed my ideas of genies (oops, jinn) forever.

The real reason we are here is the story drawn by Milt Stein; it is from Supermouse #30 (1954).

Some more Supermouse. Just click on the thumbnail.

Number 2021: Terrible Tom’s Ark

If you are a religious person do you get offended by stories which treat Bible stories as funny? Just curious. The Old Testament is the basis for a lot of fiction, with endless variations. In this case I am showing a Supermouse story which is inspired by the story of Noah and the great flood. Stories of floods that destroy the world go back further than the Bible, but for our purposes the Noah and his ark story is the basis for this particular funny animal comic version from Supermouse #36 (1956).

Artwork is by Milt Stein.

Number 1867: Leapin' Leprechauns!

 Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, so I have a Supermouse tale of leprechauns, drawn by Milt Stein.

I have featured Stein several times in this blog. He was one of the moonlighting animators who brought a lot of those skills to the panels of his comic book stories.

In honor of the day, settle back with something green while reading. I would never suggest green beer, but if you must drink, don’t drive. (Especially do not drink and read while driving.) Perhaps a nice salad would do. (Horrors! Celebrating St. Pat’s Day with a salad...What am I thinking?) Be patient. It takes a few pages to get to the leprechauns in this 16-page tale. Oh, and I looked up the word “spalpeen,” thrown around in the story. It means “rascal.”

The Grand Comics Database credits the script to Joe Archibald. From Supermouse #20 (1952):

Number 1593: Supermouse’s Euro-look

Supermouse is American, but in artist Milt Stein’s drawings he lives in what looks like a European town of another era. Castle towers pop up in backgrounds, doorways are arched, streets are cobblestones. It gives a fairy tale look to the funny stories.

In writing to me about Stein years ago artist Jim Engel referred to him as “the Supermouse artist.” I don’t disagree. As talented as other artists who drew the character might have been (and there were some excellent artists, including Al Hubbard, Jack Bradbury and Gene Fawcette) in my opinion no one had Stein’s flair with the character. Some of it had to do with his training as an animator, but some of it had to do with the ambiance he provided the strip in his backgrounds and locales.

From Supermouse #1 (1948):

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A couple of other postings I like featuring Supermouse. Just click on the thumbnails.