Red Rabbit
Hi Guys!
Today I've got something for you from Red Rabbit Comics number 19 for February-March 1951! I gotta tell ya, Sorting out who published Red Rabbit is kinda difficult, as the book is variously credited to J. Charles Love Publishing Company, Dearfield Publishing Company, or Deerfield Publishing Company. All of them are pretty obscure and it looks like they didn't produce a lot of comics. Besides Red Rabbit, probably the best-known title associated with these guys is Foxy Fagan, another funny animal character who first appeared in 1946.
But that doesn't matter. What's interesting about Red Rabbit is its artist. Red was drawn by Etta Parks, who later got married and became Etta Hulme. My esteemed colleague, Billy D. Bunny, has talked about her elsewhere, but I want to mention her again because she's one of the few women artists who made a career in comics! She was also a bigtime editorial cartoonist for the Fort Worth, Texas, Star-Telegram as well as a commercial artist and teacher. Oh, and she spent a couple of years in the mouse-guy's studio doing animation work as well!
All of that shows, as Red Rabbit is pretty well drawn. It wouldn't surprise me if Parks wrote the story, too. This tale of cowboys and bandits turns some macho stereotypes on their heads while at the same time portraying female characters in a positive and proactive light. Take a look and you'll see what I mean:
Well, I'm not about to sign up for feminism, no sir! But this is a pretty good story! Everybody puts their heads together and thinks out of the box to solve the problem! And everybody shows some guts, too! It doesn't matter if a character is male or female, if you give 'em a chance to be all they can be, then everybody feels good!
OK guys, that's all for now. See you next time!
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A very nice article about Etta Grace Parks Hulme, here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/hulme-etta-grace-parks
And yes, this particular issue is shown.
I'm looking for scans of Foxy Fagan #3 if you run across one. Looks Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Fagan-1947-Obscure-Golden-Animal/dp/B07N919HHS
A very nice article indeed. I completely missed it -- Thanks! I also missed the obvious play on Red Ryder that it mentions in connection with Red Rabbit. D'oh...
ReplyDeleteI'll keep an eye out for Foxy Fagan 3; that title shows up on eBay from time to time. Might get lucky and find a cheap one.
I found a copy for under $9 (another $5 to ship it) but I'm just looking for a scan. Still, not bad for a comic that goes for as much as $35. Physical comics take up space and require maintenance; I have a hy000ge server with lots of big hard drives (I used to do programming, always loved the BIG machines) so I can store stuff down there.
DeleteCool -- the price sounds right. Where did you see that?
DeleteThere were so few female comic artists at this time-Etta Parks was truly a shining star!
ReplyDeleteI very much agree!
DeleteYee - haw! cried the rabbit.
DeleteEsteemed colleague. Now I've heard it all!
ReplyDeleteIf the hat fits... !
DeleteThese ears keep that hat from fitting.
Delete