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About This Series
Issues
Pictures
About This
Series:
Issues:
First of all, I
LOVE the Mouse Musketeers themed episodes of the classic Tom &
Jerry cartoons! I'm surprised, and delighted, that they actually
had a regular series for "MGM's Mouse Musketeers". It ran for 24
issues, from 1956 to 1960.
The characters were originally called "The Two Mouseketeers" in cartoon AND comic form. The first such cartoon, simply called, "Two Mouseketeers" debuted on March 15, 1952. It was extremely popular! Dell Comics produced a sequel for the cartoon even before MGM did! "Two Mouseketeers" was the featured theme of the comic book series "Four Color Comics" #475 (June, 1953). They returned in issues #603 and #642 (1954 and 1955, respectively).
In 1956, the "Two Mouseketeers" name was dropped in favor of "Mouse Musketeers". Why? It's not been made official, but it's believed to be due to complaints from Disney. In 1955, Disney started their "Mouseketeers" on TV. And although MGM and Dell did it before Disney, Dell Comics had the license to publish Disney comics. In other words, the whole situation could have gotten very ugly. Dell probably just thought it was better to make a simple name change. It actually didn't hurt the sales or the artistic vision of the comics at all. They ran for several more issues of "Four Color Comics" as the "Mouse Musketeers" before being moved into their own solo series.
The comics, and cartoons, would have undoubtedly run longer, but MGM shut down their animation department in 1958. The fact that the "Mouse Musketeers" ran in comics two years longer than the cartoons really says something about their charm. It may be surprising that "Mouse Musketeers" could have stayed so fresh on just one premise, but the comics never seemed to run out of ideas! Like the cartoons, "Mouse Musketeers" was set in 16th-century France. Jerry and Tuffy, in musketeer outfits, fought the villainous Tom. In the comics, the tone was brought down a bit. Tom was an occasional cad, but often friends with the mice. They weren't always trying to kill each other in the comics. The level of "cartoon violence" (if there IS such a thing) was almost nil. The level of funny, however, was very high. Pretty smart and funny ideas all the way around.
The characters were originally called "The Two Mouseketeers" in cartoon AND comic form. The first such cartoon, simply called, "Two Mouseketeers" debuted on March 15, 1952. It was extremely popular! Dell Comics produced a sequel for the cartoon even before MGM did! "Two Mouseketeers" was the featured theme of the comic book series "Four Color Comics" #475 (June, 1953). They returned in issues #603 and #642 (1954 and 1955, respectively).
In 1956, the "Two Mouseketeers" name was dropped in favor of "Mouse Musketeers". Why? It's not been made official, but it's believed to be due to complaints from Disney. In 1955, Disney started their "Mouseketeers" on TV. And although MGM and Dell did it before Disney, Dell Comics had the license to publish Disney comics. In other words, the whole situation could have gotten very ugly. Dell probably just thought it was better to make a simple name change. It actually didn't hurt the sales or the artistic vision of the comics at all. They ran for several more issues of "Four Color Comics" as the "Mouse Musketeers" before being moved into their own solo series.
The comics, and cartoons, would have undoubtedly run longer, but MGM shut down their animation department in 1958. The fact that the "Mouse Musketeers" ran in comics two years longer than the cartoons really says something about their charm. It may be surprising that "Mouse Musketeers" could have stayed so fresh on just one premise, but the comics never seemed to run out of ideas! Like the cartoons, "Mouse Musketeers" was set in 16th-century France. Jerry and Tuffy, in musketeer outfits, fought the villainous Tom. In the comics, the tone was brought down a bit. Tom was an occasional cad, but often friends with the mice. They weren't always trying to kill each other in the comics. The level of "cartoon violence" (if there IS such a thing) was almost nil. The level of funny, however, was very high. Pretty smart and funny ideas all the way around.
Issues:
#21: March-May,
1960. Stories include: "The Royal Doghouse", "At Swords' Points",
Spike & Tyke in "The Hiccup Pup", "Nary a Cherry", and "Musical
Miceketeers". "At Swords' Points" is interesting, because it
takes the story out of the castle and at the beach, where Tom tries to
get the mice in their own little "sand" castle, actually made of
cement. "Nary a Cherry" has Tom, Jerry, and Tuffy team up against
blackbirds to get cherries for the King's pie. "Musical
Miceketeers" follows the typical castle scenario, only with Jerry and
Tuffy lookalike bats, disguised as Mouseketeers, bothering Tom.
There was an actual Tom & Jerry cartoon called "The Hiccup Pup" that featured Spike & Tyke. However, this is NOT an adaptation of that cartoon. This is an original story. It stars Spike & Tyke (no Tom & Jerry) and the pesky white kitten Snowball. Snowball gives Tyke the hiccups with a horseradish bone, and Spike has all he can do to stop them!
There was an actual Tom & Jerry cartoon called "The Hiccup Pup" that featured Spike & Tyke. However, this is NOT an adaptation of that cartoon. This is an original story. It stars Spike & Tyke (no Tom & Jerry) and the pesky white kitten Snowball. Snowball gives Tyke the hiccups with a horseradish bone, and Spike has all he can do to stop them!