Today's pulpy page-turner is a bit of an oddity. It's a comic that I found in my usual trusty local 25¢ bin, and while most people would have passed this gem up, I just couldn't resist a comic called Porky y sus Amigos.
Many of you may know that I'm a sucker for comics in another language, and when I spotted this comic written completely in Spanish, I snatched it up quicker than a fat kid under a busted piñata full of cupcakes.
This particular comic appears to have been printed in Mexico and is along the lines of those classic Gold Key comics that you'd see sold in three packs in highway rest stops back in the day.
The stories, although I can't read them are the typical fare; Porky hanging out in the desert with his clone, Daffy Duck in a Sherlock Holmes hat riding around in a wheeled easy chair. You know, the usual.
There's one story where Porky is a lifeguard, and it was weird seeing these classic Looney Tunes characters interacting with humans. That seemed off to me. Could the writers have made the humans other animals? Maybe they could all be pigs that also live in Porky's Pig City or whatever.
The final story teams Yosemite Sam and Daffy hanging out with a lion and stealing a pirate ship. Oooooookay.
The best thing about these comics are not the stories, but the ads. I love comic book ads and seeing them in another language was a real treat.
Here we have Bugs Bunny hocking Kool-Aid.
Here we have one for Tootsie Pops... excuse me, Tutsi Pops...
And no comic book would be complete without a Charles Atlas ad. It's nice to know that even Mexican kids got the chance to experience the awesome body building technique of dynamic tension.
But the best ad of them all appears on the back cover. It's an ad for some very stylish shoes (DEM SOLES) that declare to the entire world that they are at the forefront of the punk rock movement. This comic was printed in 1982, long after the first wave of punk had died out, but maybe it was still going strong in Mexico. And apparently in Mexico, to be punk is to wear sensible footwear.
That's it for this installment. I did find another Mexican comic along the same lines, but I'll save it for another post.
Until next time kiddies, necesito comida para mis gatos. (That's all I know in Spanish.)
