Terrytoons existed from 1917-1971. I was born in '77, so all of the Terrytoons that I watched were in rerun and syndicated. But my mom and dad grew up on these and for a while, they would watch them regularly with me. Terrytoons was 20th Century Fox's answer to MGM's Tom & Jerry, Warner's Looney Tunes, and Disney's cast of characters. While certainly unable to hold a candle to these three giants, Terrytoons has built a small but loyal cult following with fans ranging from Andy Kaufman's avant-garde skit to the theme of Mighty Mouse on the very first episode of Saturday Night Live to Heckle &Jeckle and Mighty Mouse popping up on episodes of Robot Chicken on Adult Swim.
In the late 80s, Mighty Mouse even had a brief period of fame when he was revived in a new series of cartoons. The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse ran for about 2 seasons as part of CBS' Saturday morning line-up of cartoons. Marvel even picked up the property and ran a Mighty Mouse comic for about a year. As this issue appeared on shelves in 1987, the same year as the cartoon debuted, this was probably Spotlight's last official Terrytoons property. Oddly enough, Marvel didn't garner the rights to Mighty until 1990, way after the New Adventures had been canceled and it explains why that series only lasted 11 issues.
Title star Mighty Mouse begins this holiday comic, saving the residents of his mouse village from the evil cats. The latest scheme from the felonious felines has them taking a page from the Trojan Horse, gifting the mice with a giant Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. But when the town clock strikes midnight, the statue emits a hoard of cats who have the mice on the menu for Christmas dinner. Of course, Mighty Mouse arrives to save the day but something just wasn't quite the same without having Mitzi, the tiny titan's girlfriend, in need of rescue from the gatos.
Then in the Heckle & Jeckle romp, the crows are raising money for a charity. But when the bank in which they just deposited their funds is robbed, the pair must go back out for more donations or several families will go without Christmas gifts. It's a heartwarming tale that relies on dumb luck and an apparent absence of the FDIC to insure their stolen deposits...
Lastly, Deputy Dawg is trying to get his nephew to go to sleep so Santa can come. Only, the little tyke doesn't believe in St. Nick. So, Deputy Dawg spins a yarn about how his Pappy became best buds with the Jolly Old Elf.
All three stories were quite good. They weren't dumbed down and they seemed to capture the nature of their original cartoon incarnations quite well in both appearance and spirit. I only wish that this was an all-color affair and not printed in just black & white.
I've only come across this book online. It's not something that I can say I've found lying around in bargain bins nationwide. If you like Terrytoons, you will have to look around for this book to complete your collection. (I recommend you try Milehighcomics.com, the site where I found my copy.)
And no- mine's not for sale!
Worth Consuming
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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