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in: 1948, Western Publishing, Merchandise,
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Our Gang with Tom and Jerry 045

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Our Gang with Tom and Jerry -45

Our Gang with Tom and Jerry #45 - Dell (Western Publishing) - April 1948.

Contents[]

  1. The Buzzards [Fowl foods] - 1 page
  2. Tom & Jerry - 8 pages
  3. Tom Cat - 6 pages
  4. Wuff, the Prairie Dog - 6 pages
  5. Tom & Jerry [Camping Out with Jerry] - 4 pages
  6. Barney Bear and Benny Burro [Butterfly Hunting] - 8 pages
  7. Our Gang [Two-by-Two and Anastasia Become Pirates] - 16 pages
  8. El Wolfo - 1 page
  9. Our Gang Comics Special Subscription Offer

Characters[]

Stories[]

The Buzzards[]

Two buzzards spot a passerby rabbit and attempt to snatch it. The rabbit easily avoids them and hops inside the hole. The birds follow him with cleavers ready to fight. Suddenly, a sign appears from one of the hole. It has written "Did you ever try eating fowl? It's foul!!" The buzzards stare at each other with malicious gazes and start running in circles with cleavers above their heads. The rabbit is watching the show.

Tom and Jerry[]

Jerry and Tuffy are heading to have a picnic, as Jerry suggested the previous day. They picked as the place a flower in a pot placed at the window inside their house. Jerry is expressing his concern about Tom ruining their plans, then Tuffy tries to calm him down by stating, that Tom will never find them. It turns out the opposite, mostly because the mice are talking quite loudly. Tom brings a bucket and covers the place, where the mice are relaxing. After a quite a long dialouge, Tom elects to lift the bucket. He finds abandoned blanket and basket in the place Jerry and Tuffy were resting. The mice have escaped by digging through the soil and the hole in the flower pot. Tom smashes the pot in anger, then he develops another plan how to catch Jerry and Tuffy.

Later, Tom is walking near the mouse hole dressed as an elderly lady. He plays he lost himself and simulates fainting. The mice get fooled by the trick and start searching the opened bag. The mice are complaining about the bag being untidy, when Tom closes it rapidly. When asking, who is dumb, the mice reply that Tom is the one, for he left a big roll of money bills in the bag, then they accuse Tom of theft. The infuriated cat opens the bag - Jerry hurls a powdered chunk of gauze at Tom, while Tuffy leaps down. The mice spill women's cosmetics from the bag during their escape. Jerry snatches the lipstick and grabs it to the mousehole. Tom eventually manages to wipe out the powder from his eyes and demands from Jerry and Tuffy to come outside, calling them "rats." One of the mice replies that they're mice. Tom sits near the mousehole and declares that he shall wait for them. The mice announce that they elected to go for a stroll and they abandon the mouse hole, covered in red spots. At first, they pretend not to be aware that they have spots overall their bodies. Tom believes those spots are measles, so he flees away from the mice. The rodent go after him, longing for physical contact.

Tom climbs atop a coat hanger. The mice follow him, which causes the hanger to collapse and Tom is hit at his head, which renders him unconscious. Jerry and Tuffy take advantage of Tom passing out and they paint spots on him. When he wakes up, he tells the mice to keep away from him. Jerry replies it's too late and that Tom should look at the mirror. The cat does so and he notices spots painted overall him. After a more careful investigation, he notices his outfit is also painted, then he spots a lipstick. It is apparent that Jerry and Tuffy cheated him. The story ends with mice sleeping inside their hideaway. Tom keeps guard nearby, with a trap prepared from three pencils, blue rectangle, five books, an iron, and a cord.

Tom Cat[]

It is Toots's birthady's eve and Tom feels miserable he has no money to buy her a gift and he feels a compulsion to do so. The issue is worsened that Tom's rival called Bob the cat is said to buy the she-cat an expensive gift. In an act of despair, Tom elects to become Toots's slave. He believes this gesture will surpass any gift from Bob and that Toots would appreciate it. He writes a statement that Toots is given ownership upon Tom as her personal slave.

At Toots's house, Tom appears dressed in a Hindu fashioned turban and an odd-looking diaper. When Toots asked for the reason of what she calls "silly-looking costume", she is presented the statement which she finds amusing. Bob feels the same when he reads it, then he suggests Toots to exploit Tom. His new owners make him fan Toots, then Bob. Once Tom is done this chore, Toots announces she is going for a walk with Bob and she expects the household being cleaned "spic and span" (neat and tidy in American English). Tom does what he is told, which takes him a couple of hours and exhausts him. When he tries to rest on a sofa, his owners come back home. Toots managed to change her skirt and bowtie from pink to red and she complains, why is her slave not working. Bob insists on using a whip against Tom, then he intentionally spills burnt tobacco from his cigar. Toots blames this on Tom and orders him in a rude way to clean the mess created by Bob. The latter states, that Tom "isn't exactly a little jewel, but slaves are scarce these days." This infuriates Tom, for he states he's quitting. Toots and Bob oppose this, using Tom's written statement as an excuse, then they send him to kitchen to prepare birthday snacks for them.

Before reaching the oven, Tom states that he used to make pancakes, but he feels he might forgotten how to cook those. His masters are getting impatient once ten minutes pass. When Toots wants to speak to Tom, Bob states he shall do so instead. He asks Tom in another rude way, what is holding him up. In the next panel, Bob runs away from the kitchen with a bowl filled with a pink substance on his head. Tom is chasing him and hitting the bowl with a large spoon. Toots yells that Tom has gone mad, while he chases Bob outside the house, into a telegraph pole. Bob hits the pole, causing the bowl on his head to crack.

Tom is approaching Toots insde her house. She seems scared and tells him not to touch her. He asks her, how old is she today - Toots replies she is seventeen. In an extremely bizarre and downright crazy moment, Tom starts spanking her while counting to seventeen, he then kisses her at the lips right after and congratulates her, before walking away whistling. Toots, for reasons unknown, actually seems impressed by this action and the story ends.

Camping Out with Jerry[]

Jerry and Tuffy are complaining about lack of ventilation inside their mouse hole. Tuffy suggests cutting another hole in the opposite wall - Jerry replies that it would take them too much time and the hole would need to be plugged every Winter. The mice can't sleep outside their hideaway due to Tom's presence. Jerry suggests going outdoors for camping and Tuffy enjoys this idea. The mice obtain materials for camping from the bedroom, by ransacking a bureau from handkerchiefs and similar pieces of cloth. Later on, they obtain a pencil and six thumbtacks. When evening falls, they mice head on to camping.

Tuffy seems enjoying the night outside the house. The mice have set a tent made of handkerchief, a pencil, and thumbtacks. Their enjoyment of the camping is disturbed by a noise, which scares Tuffy. Jerry initially thinks it is wind, then he claims it is Tuffy's imagination. Tuffy believes he saw Tom with wings harassing them from the sky. The mice hear a whoosh sound, then they're dragged into the skies with their tent by a carnivorous bird, which is not described in details in the storyline, but has to be an American Bald Eagle specimen according to the illustrations. Inside the bird's nest, Tuffy repels the bird with a sharpened pencil, causing their captor to fly away, crack his head on a branch overhead, and fall down.

Jerry folds the handkerchief into a makeshift parachute, so the mice can escape. They return back home, glad that Tom can't fly and the story ends.

Wuff the Praire Dog[]

Wuff and his friend Sammy complain about the dangers of their natural environment. They encounter a falling rock, which was set by Charlie the Coyote, Charlie himself, who tries to chase them and cheat them with an Indian outfit and fake treasure map, and Butch Badger, who is given the fake treasure map. Wuff and Sammy go to check, what happens with Butch. The badger meets Charlie at the fake mine, which turns out a bear den. Charlie and Butch are being scared away by the bear. Sammy and Wuff observe the show from a tree.

Barney Bear and Benny Burro[]

Barney is strolling around the stream. He compliments a butterfly, which landed on his nose. Mooseface McElk spoils the moment by hurling a net upon Barney, despite the butterfly has flown away already. Benny approaches the scene, when McElk calls Barney rude names and even suggests the name "dope" - all because Barney had to breathe while the butterfly was sitting on his nose. The butterfly is said to be one Giant Pybona, worth 100 USD per specimen. McElk walks away, calling Barney once again "idiot" and "nincompoop".

Benny attempts to cheer up Barney, saying that had McElk caught the butterfly on Barney's nose, this would've generated the issue, who should get the 100 USD prize - the captor, or the one the buttefly sat upon. Barney is tempted to catch the butterfly to get the prize for himself. The search doesn't got smoothly - Barney gets stung by a bee and catches McElk in the attempts. Back home, Barney looks up how to catch the butterfly. Benny suggest Barney to dress in white robes, as one picture shows. Barney does as his donkey companion suggests and dances outside in the robes.

McElk spots Barney outside and attempts to apologize him, believing that Barney lost his mind. He doesn't last in error for long and returns to his own business. Before Mooseface makes it through, he is bothered by a passerby dog, who is asking about Barney. The Bear is said to have inherited a fortune after his Uncle Kodiak on one condition - the dog must view Barney as an emodiement of macho traits. McElk calls Barney "Buttercup" and presents him dancing in his white robes. When Barney is being called by Mooseface, he spots the sought upon butterfly and a fight erupts. The dog attempts to leave in disgust, then he catches the butterfly and gives Benny 4 USD and 21 cents in exchange for the butterfly. The story ends.

Our Gang[]

Anastasia and her friend borrow Anastasia's father's boat to play pirates. A goat and gentlemen of dubious morals are involved - the kids eventually get the boat, have to flee from the burglars using the help of a boat owner.

El Wolfo[]

The wolf complains about havig only ice cubes at home. He attempts to snatch chickens, but ends up eating ice cubes.

Notes[]

  • This is the first Our Gang comic book to have Tom starring solo with the "Tom Cat" story segments.
  • Tom & Jerry stories make up only for half of the issue - two comic strip stories and one illustrated story against five other comic strips stories.
  • The Camping Out With Jerry story doesn't contain Tom's actual appearance - the cat is only mentioned.
  • The ending of the Tom solo story has been posted out of context online often, with people baffled at how insane Tom seems in it to start spanking Toots before kissing her right after, or how Toots was actually somehow impressed by it.

Relics of the 1940s American society[]

  • Jerry's and Tuffy's remark about woman's bag being typically untidy reflects the sense of humor typical of American society of 1940s. Jokes like this are considered sexists nowadays.
  • The Barney Bear and Benny Burro story reflects that the post-World War 2 American society was built on macho cult, since Barney's uncle Kodiak insists that his nephew must be properly manly to inherit his fortune. This sentiment started to decline during the second phase of the Vietnam War, when the society was experiencing deep crisis.
  • The term "buttercup" McElk calls Barney was used in 1930s and 1940s to label effeminated LGBT men. It is considered offensive nowadays.
  • El Wolfo as a villain reflects the American prejudice towards people from Latin America, who used to have negative reputation with the US society. Similar prejudice can be seen in one episode of Roger Ramjet cartoons.
  • The subscription details presented on the subscription page prove, that the American comic book market from the second half of the 1940s did favor domestic customers, for the publisher wrote that they did not accept Canadian subscriptions.

Inconsistent quality[]

  • Coloring of the Tom & Jerry comic strips is of rather poor quality - the colors often exceed the outlines. Moreover, Toots in the story number 3 changes her skirt color between pink and tones closer to red.
  • At the same time, Wuff the Prairie Dog comic pages and Barney Bear comic pages seem visibly better colored than Tom & Jerry pages. The colors don't exceed the outlines that visibly.
  • Our Gang comic pages are the best colored ones inside the issue - it makes an impression, that the artists involved in this comic book paid much more attention while working on the non-Tom & Jerry pages.
  • The Buzzards and El Wolfo pages are colored using only three colors: black, white, red and their tones. Despite minimalistic color palette, the colors don't exceed outlines that much as in Tom & Jerry pages.
  • Jerry and Tuffy in the story number 2 look barely distinguishable from each other - Tuffy can only be recognized by the diaper he wears and he has almost the same sizes as Jerry.
  • Tuffy is depicted with wrong fur color throughout this comic book issue - the same brown tone as Jerry has.
  • Toots appearing in the story number 3 doesn't look like herself from the motion pictures - she actually looks closer to classic Toodles Galore with a color-changing skirt.
  • Bob the Cat doesn't differ much from Tom in terms of appearance, save for slightly darker fur tone.
  • Benny Burro changes his fur color from tobacco brown to rust in the fifth panel of the fifth page of the story.
  • Tom the Cat on the subscription offer page looks as if he was wearing green eye shadow on his lids.

Gallery[]

Note: only actual Tom & Jerry segments are provided.

Tom and Jerry[]

Tom Cat[]

Camping Out with Jerry[]

The subscription page[]

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