Mark Kausler’s CatBlog

Scout says “Happy Mew Year!”

Dear Readers, this is my wonderful neighbor’s granddaughter’s cat. Her name is Scout, and she wants to wish you the happiest of Mew Year’s. She has about the sweetest face you could ever look at, and we love to play games together. I sweep my neighbor’s patio for her a few mornings a week, and little Scout likes to watch me out of the sliding glass doors. At first she seemed fascinated by the broom I sweep with, but now I’ve found out that she really loves to watch big sycamore leaves floating down in front of her face. The pose above is Scout watching a leaf I’ve suspended just out of camera range. If ever you’re feeling blue or out of sorts in the Mew Year, just remember this sweet kitty face and brighten up!

 Here’s another friendly kitty face, Felix, from 2-12 to 2-18-1934. Felix shares a home with Danny and Chip Dooit and their folks. I like the 2-14 gag as Chip tries to find the CWA (Civil Works Administation) and the NRA (National Recovery Administration), two of President Roosevelt’s Depression era government agencies, on the radio! Chip should try the fireside chats!  I like the expression Danny uses as he fills up Felix’s glass in the 2-16: “Y’can’t walk on one leg, y’know-“, it sounds like a saying that bartenders used to use to get their customers to buy more poison. In the 2-17, suspicious-looking characters are on the loose, so “Thrills, Pathos, Humor and Suspense Start Next Week”! The Sunday page has Felix trapped on the planet Jupiter, 300,000,000 miles away from Danny and Chip and OMIGOSH a Bear! He scares away the bruin with some of Jupiter Pluvius’s weather making machines.

 Krazy, from 2-23 to 2-28-1942, continues the “Home is Jail” theme started in last week’s strips. Pupp is increasingly hot under the collar as Ignatz stubbornly refuses to leave the Jail, calling it home and even ordering fresh bricks delivered to his cell by Kolin Kelly. At last in the 2-28, Offissa Pupp figures out that he can “extradite” Ignatz back to his home under the custody of Magnolia and the kids, and keep him there as if he was in Jail.

 Myrtle by Dudley Fisher is from 11-16 to 11-22-1947 this time. One of the main threads this week is that Myrtle and Sampson are maturing physically. Fisher spins three days of gags out of Sampson’s voice changing, and in the 11-20, Myrtle puts on a pair of her Mom’s high heels and does some pageant walking in front of Sampson. Bingo adds doorbell-ringing to his bag of tricks in the 11-21, as he lures Freddie out of the easy chair by hitting the button from outside the front door. Bingo also is good at opening doors and going through bureau drawers as we’ve seen in previous weeks.

 Here’s the January 1964 Yogi Bear Sunday pages, 1/3rd page versions. The first two use essentially the same idea, Yogi freezing objects to keep the kids entertained, winter gags. The 1-19 strip is promoting Yogi’s feature cartoon; “Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear” by showing a Hollywood premiere for the film at the Grauman’s Chinese theater. You’ll have to look at the strip to see where they put Yogi’s foot prints, just click the thumbnail to enlarge. You can really see Harvey Eisenberg’s layout and lettering in the 1-26, as the school kids whomp the easy going bruin with snow balls. I love the twisted left leg on Yogi in the fourth panel, it gives the impression of a really twisted pose without getting into realistic anatomy, just an overall pleasing shape to the bear’s body. If you want to see the 1/2 page versions of these strips in black and white next year, just check in at Yowp’s blog ( www.yowpyowp.blogspot.com ) from time to time and he will post them.

I’m so happy that more of you readers are leaving comments. I don’t get on to social media very much, so this is my way of finding out what you are interested in, so don’t hesitate to write something, all three of you! Again, the best of Mew Years to all you cats, we’ll catch you on the flip side of midnight!