And now, something from the Old DC.

§ September 13th, 2011 § Filed under sugar and spike § 9 Comments

So this is the week the Sugar and Spike Archives finally…finally…comes out, reprinting the first ten issues of this classic series by Sheldon Mayer. I would have preferred maybe something a little more…consumer-friendly, perhaps, but beggars can’t be choosers, really. And I’m sure there are economic concerns re: expected sales versus production costs versus cover prices that makes the hardcover Archives format the best perceived match for this material…not to mention the fact that the people most interested in this will be willing to dole out nearly any price for it.

Anyway, it’s here! it’s here! And since Sugar and Spike ran for under a hundred issues, at ten issues per volume, that’s only ten books! Get cracking, DC…oh, wait, there’s also the other S&S material Mayer produced for overseas markets, some of which was printed in the U.S. in DC’s digest format in the 1980s. So, yeah, we’ll need reprints of that, too, DC. THIS I COMMAND.

After you’re done with that, you can start on Mayer’s Scribbly. Yes, I’ll allow you do to so. No need to thank me.

Anyway, I was poking through my Sugar and Spike comics here in the Vast Mikester Comic Archives for a good image to illustrate this post, when I came across this panel in Sugar and Spike #48 (Aug-Sept 1963). Mayer often dedicated stories to specific readers, usually in the format of “this story is for [name], age [#], [city/state or country].” But sometimes there’d be some additional info, like so:


Now that makes the mind a’wander. Was this just a lonely old man who wrote letters to a comic book, hoping someday he’d see a response? Was he a huge fan of Sugar & Spike, and also of (admittedly stereotyped) Native Americans, that he absolutely had to see them put together in a story? Was he writing on behalf of a grandchild or great-grandchild, sending letters month after month inspired by that child’s brief whim, finally seeing success years after the child had forgotten s/he’d even desired such a thing? Did Mayer sift through the mailsack every few weeks, pulling out yet another letter from Nugget-Pete, rolling his eyes and thinking “boy, this guy again?” (Actually, I think you can probably infer that last bit from the tone of message beneath the panel.)

Regardless, I hope Nugget-Pete did get to see his story in print. I bet it was a thrill for Sugar & Spike fans of any age to see a story that was dedicated just to them.

…Oh, and while I’m thinking of it…DC, we need an Archive edition of Mayer’s “Dizzy Dog” strips, too. Get on that, would you?

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