Racketty Ann’s Mystery Flight!

July 19, 2019

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Here are pages 5 through eight of “Racketty Ann and the Lost World”. There’s delightful fantasy here as Racketty Ann and Bla Bla take a ride on the back of a Pteranodon to a mysterious island far out in the ocean. I love the scenes in the nest as Racketty Ann fearlessly gets to know the Pteranodon’s family. Racketty Ann is telling them of her adventures with the condors in Peru, when a Tyrannosaurus Rex strolls by. Racketty Ann and Bla Bla do a big reaction take, but Cathy defuses the drama with a homey touch, the Pteranodon just explains that it’s only Floyd on his way to the tar pits. Just look at that expressive use of white out to show the steamy atmosphere of the island, and the last panel of page eight, with all the weighted lines to show light on the faces of the dinosaurs as they confront Racketty Ann and Bla Bla in the center of the panel. Don’t miss Bla-Bla’s reactions to the dinosaurs, either. They are more comical than Daisy the Pup’s antics in “Blondie”!
In Felix from 7-31 to 8-6-1933, Felix and Danny are lost in the woods, and they build a fire to keep them warm overnight. It looks like a forest fire may be inevitable. In the Sunday page, 8-6-33, Felix wrecks Danny’s bed, declaring: “I’m only a jinx.” But a circus contortionist buys it, since it’s a comfortable fit for his twisted up body.
In Myrtle from 5-2 to 5-8-1949, my favorites are the 5-4, as Myrtle sleeps in the doghouse with Bingo, and picks up enough fleas to be sprayed with a DDT gun by Susie. The 5-7 is also amusing as Hyacinth the cat is tied to a school bell to warn her away from the birds. Hyacinth also is stalking birds in the Sunday 5-8, as Myrtle reads an outdated weather forecast in a two year old newspaper. One of the neighborhood gardeners declares that “…atom bombs got the weather all turned around!”
In the Krazys from 11-1 to 11-13-1943, note the strip from 11-2. It was made famous by Gilbert Seldes, a renowned writer and critic who wrote about the Kat in the book; “The Seven Lively Arts”. This is the strip in which Ignatz declares that “the shades of night are falling” and Krazy catches them, saying “I got ’em, I got ’em”. The gags are a bit more violent in this batch, probably reflecting the Wartime tastes as Offissa Pupp sets Ignatz’s tail on fire in the 11-9 and Krazy threatens a pair of shoes in the last panel of the 7-13.
KURT’S CORNER
In this installment of the ongoing tribute to my late brother, I present some more Clark Gable rarities from his wonderful collection. This time Gable shaves off his famous moustache as he enters the Army in 1942 in an amateur snapshot never published. Gable eventually entered Officer Candidate School in Florida and below you will find the graduation program and a copy of his address to his graduating class (autographed). Note that it reads something like one of the characters he played in the movies: “Gentlemen, I’m not going to say to you ‘get on the beam’. You’re on it. The job is to stay on the beam until–in victory–we get the command; ‘Fall Out’ “. I can hear his voice as I read the text of this speech.
Here’s Gable as a Major in 1944 as he edits his film “Combat America”, at the First Motion Picture Unit in Culver City. He could have met Frank Thomas or Rudy Larriva or any of the animators who were stationed there. He’s probably editing nitrate film here, so no smoking, Clark! Clark had a little trouble in getting in and out of bombers, as he was 6 feet, one, quite a bit taller than his fellow soldiers. He flew five combat missions out of England in 1943, flying in the B-17 Flying Fortresses. He came close to being shot in the head, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts. He was one of my brother’s favorite actors. Kurt’s favorite Gable part was Rhett Butler in “Gone With The Wind”.
Remember Folks to click on the images with the right button on your mouse. You will see a menu that says “Display image in another window” or “another tab”, or just “View Image. Click on that and you can make the pictures much larger. Thanks for taking the trouble to read the catblog and enjoy the pictures.

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