The Legend of Mangy Returns
Here by popular demand, is the origin story of Mangy the cat from Cathy Hill’s “Mad Raccoons” #2! I love “the last straw struck” as Mangy steals the entire Thanksgiving dinner. I’m doing these comic pages all on one post, so you don’t have to search through a bunch of old posts trying to find pieces of the Mangy stories. You are perfectly welcome to look for Mangy in the search window, however. You’ll find pictures of the real Mangy and a lot more. Sadly, MU Press, which published the Mad Raccoons comics, is now defunct. But Mangy has a home here, and a quick scan of Ebay or Amazon should yield some Mad Raccoons comic links. Amazon has issues one and two, and the trade paperback: “The Mad Raccoons Collection”.
 Felix is here for your enjoyment, from 2-19 to 2-25-1933. In the Sunday, Felix continues to explore the year 2000 by crystal ball. He can walk beyond the pull of gravity, and mechanical birds and dogs are the rage and cats are extinct! In the dailies, Felix and Danny continue the messenger boy service. In the 2-23, Col. Snooper is taking off for the arctic by airplane and Danny has a telegram for him. Danny and Felix miss the plane, but blunder into a Rare Carpets shop and take off to intercept the flight on a magic carpet.
 Here’s Myrtle, from 11-22 to 11-27-1948. I like the 11-22, as Myrtle does a deft move with her hat to avoid too much bathroom exposure. The 11-23 and 24 episodes are very much in character, as Myrtle conspires against Freddy by getting her mother all dolled up in a new outfit so she doesn’t have to cook dinner and go to a restaurant. Myrtle tries to shake down the waiter for a percentage of the tip! The Sunday is back, as the gang explores the wonders of new-fangled contraptions such as automatic dishwashers. The wives reject the idea as it would give their husbands too much leisure time!
 Here’s Krazy from 3-1 to 3-6-1943. No war stuff this time, just the usual mouse, Kat and Kop antics. I especially like the 3-1, as Krazy gives the tough little Ignatz a kiss while he’s fast asleep. The tenderness of Krazy’s feelings for the “Mice” are charmingly revealed. Ignatz hides in hats and flower pots and receives a black eye from a lady friend in the balance of the strips.
Edd Vick says:
Lovely to see those Mad Raccoons pages again. Cathy’s was the funniest work I ever published!
Mark says:
What a nice compliment, and how nice to hear from you, Edd. How are you doing? I went from the comic book business to the plein air art painting world and have met wonderful people in this art genre. You can view some of the paintings on http://www.cartherinehillart.com. Please tell me what’s going on with your life.
Charles Brubaker says:
Ooh, “Mangy” looks fun! But I might be biased towards cat comics 😉
I’ll be sure to look through old copies. Sounds like fun. A while ago I bought a bunch of old “Kitz n Katz” books by Bob Laughlin, and thought they were enjoyable. They also featured early comics by Patrick McDonnell, about a decade before he started “Mutts”.