Set Description:
These books are memories from my childhood and very possibly from yours. I remember picking them off the rack in the local convenience store as three packs of my favorite comedy animals and character books for .59 cents. The toy stores also sold these Whitman (Gold Key variants) three packs and two packs but NOT the comic book stores. Children were the audience and children abused these books with the crayon decoration and brutality that most children enjoy giving to their favorite toys. This abuse along with low distribution in the ending months of 1980 and 1984 are why some of my collection are top highest grade at only 9.2 and second highest at 9.0 with as low as five graded over all.
If you seek information on rarity and history of these books simply google Doug Sulipa's Whitman page or use this link:
http://www.dougcomicworld.com/INVENTORY-WhitmanComicsSite.html
I confess that I have not been gathering these books since my childhood as I am also guilty of coloring in and ripping up Bugs Bunny's face in those days. I have been seriously collecting my favorite characters since 1996. Thanks to Bert Shannon (bert5122013) on e-bay,Doug Sulipa, and a few others, I have found very rare books over the years for this set. Now I have all 183 books some at great cost such as,my Black Hole #4,CGC 9.8 for $6,250. Black Hole #4 is out of character for most of the books in this set, yet it is one of the variants that Whitman distributed in low volume during the 1980's. Black Hole #4 is included along with other rare pre-pack only Sci-fy books in this set. I cherish my collection and worry about its safety before any of my possessions. I live on the San Andreas Fault Line and a few times I have awaken with nightmares of my 18 year long collection being smashed to pieces in seconds. Even if something happened to my collection I will always have fond memories of finding these rare books and reading about the looney funny characters. The memories of Mickey Mouse,Bugs Bunny, and all of these characters are ingrained in our hearts and the future hearts of children worldwide. These memories can not even be destroyed by the X-men and super heroes of modern culture because funny characters created comic book culture and funny characters rule! Culturally, many consider Popeye a precursor to the superheroes who would eventually come to dominate US comic books.
Like a number of other animated cartoons from the 1930s to the early 1950s, Tom and Jerry featured racial stereotypes. After explosions, for example, characters with blasted faces would resemble stereotypical blacks, with large lips and bow-tied hair. Perhaps the most controversial element of the show is the character Mammy Two Shoes, a poor black maid who speaks in a stereotypical "black accent" and has a rodent problem. Joseph Barbera, who was responsible for these gags, claimed that the racial gags in Tom and Jerry did not reflect his racial opinion; they were just reflecting what was common in society and cartoons at the time and were meant to be humorous. Nevertheless, such stereotypes are considered by some to be racist today, and most of the blackface gags are censored when these shots are aired, even though Mouse in Manhattan was shown uncut on July 25, 2012 on Cartoon Network. Mammy Two-Shoes' voice was redubbed by Turner in the mid-1990s to make the character sound less stereotypical; the resulting accent sounds more Irish. One cartoon in particular, His Mouse Friday, is usually kept out of television rotation because of its depiction of cannibals. If shown, the cannibals' dialogue is censored, although their mouths still move.
There were many cultural influences from these cartoons some positive and some negative.
In spite of all of the controversy and negative cultural influences of the funny characters in my collection I remain proud to boast that these characters are the root of our good nature and sense of humor. I credit Looney Tunes with my own sense of humor as I proudly remain faithful to them and to their legacy.
Thank You,
The Whitman Lady.
|