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[Robb_K]

Andy Hardy 6
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=14812
I never knew his name, but Al Hubbard is one of the few Disney artists talented enough to have a unique and instantly recognizable style. (1) Don't know if he wrote his own scripts, but anything he drew was always readable.   
Al Hubbard
https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/hubbard_al.htm
This must have been a nice change for him from funny animals, and I think it shows.

If I was doing a lecture on covers, this is one I would include.
Most people take little conscious notice of covers, and when the comic is on a newstand with maybe 20 or 30 titles - in those days - grabbing the buyers attention quickly is vital. So good cover artists evolved techniques that work subconsciously to do that.
The use of lines, colour and the cover space to eventually centre your attention on the iron, so you get the gag, are as good as any I've seen.
The one-pager.
Smiles were always prevalent on a Hubbard page.
First story
Some comic scripts are more like radio or TV  scripts and it takes a fairly inventive artist to make them interesting. So, pretty average story but Al does what he can to bring out the humor.
Als backgrounds are minimal but it is in what happens with the bodies in the foreground that Al excells. 
Fiesta Queen
Not much else I can say, but more of the same, but I like it.
I will get it Mom!
Great opening panel.
One thing, Al Hubbard draws teenagers who really do look like teenagers.
Cousin from Chicago
One gag but drawn out - in more than one way - to make it last longer.
(2) Interesting that the book goes right to and includes the outside back page.  
I haven't got much to say about this one but its nice to appreciate Al's work.
It's clear to me that Al Hubbard was very much a creative thinker. I have enjoyed playing closer attention to his work.   
Looking at the character Cynthia triggered a memory. (3) Didn't Al draw Alice in Wonderland for Disney? I was reminded, I think, of his Queen of Hearts. Also Madame Mim from another Disney adaption.     

(4) This is issue #6 and we only have two. It would be nice to have a full collection.
Cheers! 
     

(1) For everything I can remember of Al's artwork that appeared in comic books, I can remember the writing being credited to someone else, including all his animation work. I've never seen a writing credit for him.

(2) I have seen hundreds (if not thousands) of US comic books who had long stories include the inside front cover page and inside back cover pages, and even include the comic book back cover page.  This was standard for Western Publishing's single character bi-monthly and quarterly comic book series from 1941 through 1947.  The reason the colours of the inside covers were black and white, but the back covers were in colour was because the slick, thicker, harder covers (different quality paper) had to be printed in a separate (costlier) process, and the cover pages were stapled to the newsprint inside pages in the final step. In 1948 they started placing one-page gags on those inside cover and back cover pages, leaving the inside covers black and white, while keeping the back covers coloured.  That was because printing on the slick covers was so costly.  The back covers were coloured despite the higher costs, because they were on the outside of the book, and seen by potential buyers, IF they picked up the book (and thus became advertising, as a potential "grabber" to foment book-opening, and maybe a sale.  Other publishers sometimes had stories run over their entire books, including the inside covers.  But that was rare, because, unlike Western, most US publishers needed to use those pages for selling to advertising clients to increase their revenue.

(3) I thought I remembered a version of "Alice In Wonderland" drawn by Al Hubbard, and, especially the Queen of Hearts Segment", but when I looked at all my Four Color Comics and found just No. 331 "Alice In Wonderland", and No. 341 "The UnBirthday Party", I noticed that they were both drawn rather by another Western Publishing contract artist.  It may be that a different version, in a later Four Color issue, with a redrawing of that story by Hubbard, was published in the late 1950s (and somehow, I don't have it).  Disney often published later versions of the same film adaptation, drawn by a different artist.  Usually, they were ex-Disney animators who had worked in animation on the original film on those very characters (like Al Hubbard, Ken Hultgren, Walt Kelly, Dick Moores, Tony Strobl, Paul Murry, Jack Bradbury, Jack Hannah, Riley Thompson, Gil Turner, etc.).  Hubbard DID draw a version of the adaptation of the Peter Pan Feature, plus several other books featuring all those characters, in offshoot stories related to the film.

(4) I'm happy to tell you that CB+ now has all 6 Dell "Andy Hardy" issues, with my supplying the last missing one a few weeks ago.  It is only difficult for many CB+ users that are not so familiar with Dell Comics' operations to know that they used their "Four Color Comics" series as a testing grounds to gage popularity of their new comics property acquisitions to see if they would warrant a series of their own, or were just worthy of having a one-shot, single issue.  "Andy Hardy" had its first four issues appear in "Four Color Comics" ( Four Color #s 389,447,480, and 515), and only the last two issues (#s 5 and 6) in Andy Hardy's own self-titled series.  You can find them by clicking on our "Comic Books" prompt button, then scrolling down to "Dell Comics/Western Publishing" and clicking on "Four Color Comics (1942 Series)" and then scrolling down first to # 0389, and so on. 

Here is the link:  https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=1409&sortvalue=name&order=ASC&limit=100

[The Australian Panther]

Robb,
Thank you for the links to the rest of the Andy Hardy books.
Many of the original Dell books were on sale in OZ, others were reprinted by a local publisher. All the Disney books were reprinted locally - on paper that was better with colors than the originals. !'m more familiar with the later Dells, so I haven't seen many that took the inside work to the back cover. 
The image triggered visual memories, to which I can't attach the original context. The way he draws Judy when she scolds 'Andrew Hardy' also triggers memory of another artist, but I can't remember who.
I also remember 'Mary Jane & Sniffles' 
cheers! 
 

[K1ngcat]

I knew that Mickey Dolenz made music before The Monkees existed, I bought his first 45 (as an adult), in 1963.  I also learned not so long after the rumours that The Monkees were "just" actors, that they had all been in the music business before that job.  But, I just didn't like the style and sound of their music.  Speaking of Don Kischner, Carol King, and Jerry Goffin, I have about 250,000 songs in my record, CD, and recordings collection that I like a lot.  It's tough for me to choose a Top 1000 (the bottom 500 would probably change daily per my mood, because they are all that good to my taste).  jerry Goffin and Carole King are tied for my favourite songwriting team with Motown's Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Hunter.  Don Kirschner's Dimension Records, and subsidiaries, and his later work at Colpix Records (Screen Gems Columbia Music) written by King & Goffin, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil, and a few other teams, was some of my favourite all time songs maybe taking up a decent proportion of my top 50 out of 1000. By the way, Goffin and King's "Up On The Roof" by The Drifters, is tied for first with the other 4 in my Top 5.  And yet, I can't stand "The Porpoise Song".  I just don't like the sound of it, at all.  I have no idea what the words are.  But then, just like the artwork is 9/10 of the value to me of a comic book story, the sound of the music is 9/10 of the value of a song to me.   The Boyce & Hart songs sung by The Monkees sounded vacuous, and boring, and tedious to listen to, for me.  And yet, I probably have 35-40 1962-64 Boyce and Hart songs sung by Ronettes-style Girls Groups that I like very much.

One problem for me was that when The Monkees' TV show started and their records were first coming out, the Pop, R&B, and Soul music I liked was changing to more modern styles, almost none- of which I liked. It's the same for me in the artwork world.  I'm still back in 1964.  I haven't liked much of anything new after 1966, and almost nothing at all after 1970.  I'm like the owner of "Yesterday Ranch" in the Mickey Mouse continuity, where the owner wouldn't allow anything invented after 1899 to be brought or used on his gigantic Texas ranch.

So, new music by my favourite composers was sometimes worse to me, depending upon the arrangements, singers, and market to which it was aimed, could seem worse to me than some of the songs I hated back in my youth (just because of the different style).

Here is one of my favourite Kirschner Goffin-King productions:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb_iw7QfjvI

You probably know this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puM1k-S86nE

Here's another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atIHwVrz05Q

And another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YsqlBm8w_s

And another:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAIpnE72_Io

And another:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMnIW97HXvE

This original version blows away The Carpenter's version (although that was good, too):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qAA4KC

Nice playlist, Robb. I recognise some of the songs instantly, Up On The Roof is a classic in the UK too, and I Can't Hear You No More and Oh No No My Baby were covered in the UK by Dusty Springfield and Manfred Mann respectively, though I can't say they matched the beauty of the original versions. I declare you to be a gentleman of consummate taste, thanks for sharing!

All the best
K1ngcat

[Quirky Quokka]

Their movie,  written and produced by Bob Rafelson and Jack Nicholson , made at the end of the groups career, , flopped because the audience that did come to see it, was not the audience it was made for.
And you really should see this film. great Fun and many not-so-subtle messages in it - like this song!
The Porpoise Song - The Monkees - from HEAD [Gerry Goffin and Carole King']
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKmPmZoKeP0       

Thanks for that, Panther. I hadn't heard of that film or that song. Quite different from their more poppy songs. I had heard about some of those disputes when they were making the TV show, over whether they should play their own instruments or not. They were good musicians. Unlike The Partridge Family, where David Cassidy and Shirley Jones were excellent singers, but the kids were basically miming.

[The Australian Panther]

Bearing in mind what I outlined about the Monkees,
Here is the Porpoise Song with the lyrics written out.
Carole King and others were obviously sympathetic to what they wanted to convey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4H6fHrKAx8
Very Beatlesque arrangement.
And here is Carole Kings Demo  - Different and unfortunately quite rough.
Carole King - Porpoise Song (demo,)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbJrUYz1T78

cheers!

[K1ngcat]

Bearing in mind what I outlined about the Monkees,
Here is the Porpoise Song with the lyrics written out.
Carole King and others were obviously sympathetic to what they wanted to convey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4H6fHrKAx8
Very Beatlesque arrangement.
And here is Carole Kings Demo  - Different and unfortunately quite rough.
Carole King - Porpoise Song (demo,)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbJrUYz1T78

cheers!

Listened to both with interest. I've seen portions of Head on TV but never sought out the entire film. Actually a big fan of the Monkees, a teenage me was glued to the screen for every episode. As a musician I relate to their desire to be taken seriously for what they could really create, had a falling out with a would-be manager over his ideas of what my band should do to widen our appeal. Of course maybe that's why I was never famous!

I find the Carole King demo more appealing than the band's finished version, sound quality notwithstanding. The plodding piano is reminiscent of Lennon's Imagine. Interesting lyrics though!

Thanks for posting
All the best
K1ngcat

[Robb_K]

Robb,
Thank you for the links to the rest of the Andy Hardy books.
Many of the original Dell books were on sale in OZ, others were reprinted by a local publisher. All the Disney books were reprinted locally - on paper that was better with colors than the originals. !'m more familiar with the later Dells, so I haven't seen many that took the inside work to the back cover. 
The image triggered visual memories, to which I can't attach the original context. The way he draws Judy when she scolds 'Andrew Hardy' also triggers memory of another artist, but I can't remember who.
I also remember 'Mary Jane & Sniffles' 
cheers! 

Yes, Al Hubbard also drew several Mary Jane and Sniffles stories for Western during the early-to-mid 1950s.

I'm also familiar with most of the US animated cartoon-based comic book characters that had reprint series in Australia during the late 1940s through to 1965 or so, and notice that those series often included newly-drawn front covers by Australian artists, and also some one-page gags and short stories with Australian-created characters, also drawn by Australian artists.

[Robb_K]

Andy Hardy #6 - Review
The artwork is very good for its genre, and the bright colouring is very nice, too.  The stories are a bit silly and improbable, but that's par for this genre.

(1) Front Cover
Nice composition, and gag, showing an important feature of Andy's character - that he forgets everything else when he's with, or talking to a pretty girl, even from a distance.  The gag is funny, and, when looked at again, as an old codger, it must remind a lot of guys of how they were at that age, or  also in their early 20s.

(2) Inside Front Cover Andy Hardy 1-Page Gag
Well-drawn gag, worth a light chuckle.

(3) Andy Hardy 1st Story - Flower Delivery Job
Andy having to deliver flowers to his girlfriend from his bitterest rival has been used in more than a few teen humour stories (probably involving Archie, Veronica, and Reggie, too - although I can't confirm that).  But the offender having to work off the cost of his taking credit for giving them seems to be a novel idea (although I would guess highly improbable).  And Andy having Stuffy pay for sending 12 beautiful actresses to Polly's house is a funny enough act of vengeance.  And Stuffy's father spanking his high-school senior son makes a funny final panel.

(4) Andy Hardy 2nd Story - The Fiesta Queen
Another story about Andy being jealous of Polly's attention to other male schoolmates, in which he tries to sabotage their dates.  A Jitterbug contest in a late 1954 story seems quite a bit behind the times, even in a semi-rural small town like Carvel.  Of course the old joke of the saboteur slicking down the bottoms of the rivals shoes to try to make him slip and fall to lose the dance contest, and instead it makes the sabotaged couple dance so wildly that they win the first prize, has been used hundreds of times in literature, films and TV episodes.  And most of the comedy fans among the readers would have expected that to happen.  And I thought it was interesting that in this highly visual medium, only 3 panels was used to show the wild dancing.  Naturally, Andy gets his just desserts for doing his nasty deed.  I wonder  how many of the male readers live vicariously through Andy's vengeance, wishing they'd have the nerve to be so conniving and bold in sabotaging their rivals, when their girl jilted them?  And I wonder how many female pre-teen readers still like Andy and pull for him, even when he acts like a jerk - not only doing wrong, himself, but asking his best friend to take more of the risk, than he does himself?  I doubt that Mickey Rooney's film-based Andy Hardy would go to such dishonest and immoral extremes in the fight to beat his rival to Polly's affections.

The story has a bit of an unexpected ending, with Andy being chosen as Polly's date for The Grand Parade, but there is a second twist when she reveals to Andy that she only chose him to make his rival jealous. And those two twists at the end take it from being a run-of-the-mill, a less than average quality story, to a better-than average story, with a mildly clever ending.

(5) Andy Hardy 3rd Story - Film Star Fiasco
This is one of those stories based on a mix-up caused by a coincidence, and in the world of jealousy in teen dating and "going steady", two coincidences (one for each) are better than one!  A nicely-crafted light-hearted short comedy story.

(6) Andy Hardy 4th Story - Beezy's cousin Cynthia
Andy gets his hopes up to meet a new girl from out of town, and, instead, meets a giant female wrestler.
Nice short vignette.  Of course, the old routine of experiencing there is a reason that some people need to be "sent up" on blind dates, and after you've experienced enough of such set-ups, you might start turning them all down.  And, naturally the girl Andy's best friend set him up to meet is from the not-very desirable group, and the one his hated enemy has for him, who he turns down, is the beauty queen of his dreams.  Such is the world of "teen humour comics".

Al Hubbard's artwork is very good (very stylistic and shows emotions quite well).  And the story writing and scene staging, by John Stanley is quite good as well.  Admittedly it isn't "rolling in the aisles funny", but it is chuckle worthy, and reasonably cleverly-crafted stories, directed at the goals sought by this genre's editors (rightly or wrongly assessed).

[Quirky Quokka]

Bearing in mind what I outlined about the Monkees,
Here is the Porpoise Song with the lyrics written out.
Carole King and others were obviously sympathetic to what they wanted to convey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4H6fHrKAx8
Very Beatlesque arrangement.
And here is Carole Kings Demo  - Different and unfortunately quite rough.
Carole King - Porpoise Song (demo,)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbJrUYz1T78

cheers!

Thanks for the Carole King demo. Very different from other material of hers I've heard. Sort of Beatle-esque.