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About This
Series: Tom & Jerry has an intricate and unusual comic
book history. As a matter of fact, Gold Key merely continued the
series which was originally published by Dell Comics. The series
was originally titled, "Our Gang Comics" and debuted with #1 in
October, 1942. Our Gang, better known as the Little Rascals, were
the featured characters. However, Tom & Jerry, and other MGM
cartoon characters such as Barney Bear, always appeared as backup
features.
The popularity of Tom & Jerry took off like a rocket. They were in every issue! The title of the series, "Our Gang Comics", lasted from #1 to #38, but Tom & Jerry was almost always featured on the cover to some degree. Starting with #39 (October, 1947), the series became "Our Gang With Tom & Jerry".
"Our Gang With Tom & Jerry" went by that name for almost two years from #39 to #59 (June, 1949). The Our Gang shorts had already ceased production for five years, and Tom & Jerry was simply more popular, so the name of the series was switched to "Tom & Jerry" with #60 (July, 1949).
Dell, as always, continued to publish the series from #60-212 (October, 1962). With the name change to "Tom & Jerry", positively NO Our Gang stories were featured.
The "Tom & Jerry" series lived on, but with a different publisher. From 1938-1962, Western Publishing and Dell Publishing had a partnership. These two, together, formed the comic book imprint of Dell Comics. Dell (the publisher) handled the distribution and the financing for the comics during this period. In 1962, Western decided to break off their partnership with Dell and publish their comics themselves. This is the year Western introduced THEIR own comic book imprint, Gold Key Comics. From 1979-1984, Gold Key would sometimes be known as Whitman Comics, but both were actually just imprints of Western Publishing. Even before 1962, when Western and Dell were still on good terms, Western Publishing would sometimes publish comics under its own name, usually just giveaways and PSAs.
The Dell Comics company, itself, lasted until 1973 AFTER Western bowed out. What's funny about that is that their few existing titles went to Western and it's Gold Key Comics.
"Tom and Jerry", published by Gold Key, ran from #213-327 (November, 1962-March, 1980). From issue #328-344 (April, 1980-June, 1984), the series went by strictly the Whitman publisher. What is interesting to a lot of comic book collectors is that so many comics from 1977-1981 can be seen with either Gold Key or Whitman as their publisher in the upper left corner, and everything else about the issue is exactly the same! The Whitman imprint was invented for the company to sell the comics in places unconventional to the comic book market. From 1981 until the very end in 1984, everything with the Whitman publisher name was sold in plastic bags. In 1984, Western was completely out of the comic book business. Gold Key and Whitman was as dead as the dinosaur. It would not be until 1991, with Harvey Comics, that "Tom & Jerry" saw another regular series (albeit short-lived, and reprints from Western).
The Tom & Jerry comics, whether published by Dell or Gold Key/Whitman, always had the same beautiful drawing and charming storytelling that you would find in the cartoons. An advantage of the comics over the cartoons is that the personalities of the characters were more defined. This was due, in large part, to the fact that Tom & Jerry and its supporting cast could "talk".
What changed from Dell to Gold Key? Like its other titles, continued from Dell, Gold Key wanted to make the comics look more like "artwork" and less like comic strips on paper. They practically eliminated the white borders around the panels, while still having panels. The balloons were drawn more in a rectangular shape, with letters clearly printed. Western/Gold Key wanted its comics to look and read more like the storybooks they published for children. Tom & Jerry's biggest change, from Dell to Gold Key, was simply the page format. The drawing style and writing style stayed the same.
The Tom & Jerry Comics Breakdown:
Dell Comics "Our Gang Comics" #1-38 (October, 1942-September, 1947)
Dell Comics "Our Gang With Tom & Jerry" #39-59 (October, 1947-June, 1949)
Dell Comics "Tom & Jerry" #60-212 (July, 1949-October, 1962)
[For some reason, starting with #83 (June, 1951), and for the rest of the series run throughout its Gold Key/Whitman years, the series was changed to "Tom and Jerry" replacing '&' with 'and'. I don't know if anyone knows the reason. It's quite trivial, but a lot of collectors notice this fact.]
Gold Key Comics "Tom and Jerry" #213-327 (November, 1962-March, 1980)
Whitman Comics "Tom and Jerry" #328-344 (April, 1980-June, 1984)
Issues:
The popularity of Tom & Jerry took off like a rocket. They were in every issue! The title of the series, "Our Gang Comics", lasted from #1 to #38, but Tom & Jerry was almost always featured on the cover to some degree. Starting with #39 (October, 1947), the series became "Our Gang With Tom & Jerry".
"Our Gang With Tom & Jerry" went by that name for almost two years from #39 to #59 (June, 1949). The Our Gang shorts had already ceased production for five years, and Tom & Jerry was simply more popular, so the name of the series was switched to "Tom & Jerry" with #60 (July, 1949).
Dell, as always, continued to publish the series from #60-212 (October, 1962). With the name change to "Tom & Jerry", positively NO Our Gang stories were featured.
The "Tom & Jerry" series lived on, but with a different publisher. From 1938-1962, Western Publishing and Dell Publishing had a partnership. These two, together, formed the comic book imprint of Dell Comics. Dell (the publisher) handled the distribution and the financing for the comics during this period. In 1962, Western decided to break off their partnership with Dell and publish their comics themselves. This is the year Western introduced THEIR own comic book imprint, Gold Key Comics. From 1979-1984, Gold Key would sometimes be known as Whitman Comics, but both were actually just imprints of Western Publishing. Even before 1962, when Western and Dell were still on good terms, Western Publishing would sometimes publish comics under its own name, usually just giveaways and PSAs.
The Dell Comics company, itself, lasted until 1973 AFTER Western bowed out. What's funny about that is that their few existing titles went to Western and it's Gold Key Comics.
"Tom and Jerry", published by Gold Key, ran from #213-327 (November, 1962-March, 1980). From issue #328-344 (April, 1980-June, 1984), the series went by strictly the Whitman publisher. What is interesting to a lot of comic book collectors is that so many comics from 1977-1981 can be seen with either Gold Key or Whitman as their publisher in the upper left corner, and everything else about the issue is exactly the same! The Whitman imprint was invented for the company to sell the comics in places unconventional to the comic book market. From 1981 until the very end in 1984, everything with the Whitman publisher name was sold in plastic bags. In 1984, Western was completely out of the comic book business. Gold Key and Whitman was as dead as the dinosaur. It would not be until 1991, with Harvey Comics, that "Tom & Jerry" saw another regular series (albeit short-lived, and reprints from Western).
The Tom & Jerry comics, whether published by Dell or Gold Key/Whitman, always had the same beautiful drawing and charming storytelling that you would find in the cartoons. An advantage of the comics over the cartoons is that the personalities of the characters were more defined. This was due, in large part, to the fact that Tom & Jerry and its supporting cast could "talk".
What changed from Dell to Gold Key? Like its other titles, continued from Dell, Gold Key wanted to make the comics look more like "artwork" and less like comic strips on paper. They practically eliminated the white borders around the panels, while still having panels. The balloons were drawn more in a rectangular shape, with letters clearly printed. Western/Gold Key wanted its comics to look and read more like the storybooks they published for children. Tom & Jerry's biggest change, from Dell to Gold Key, was simply the page format. The drawing style and writing style stayed the same.
The Tom & Jerry Comics Breakdown:
Dell Comics "Our Gang Comics" #1-38 (October, 1942-September, 1947)
Dell Comics "Our Gang With Tom & Jerry" #39-59 (October, 1947-June, 1949)
Dell Comics "Tom & Jerry" #60-212 (July, 1949-October, 1962)
[For some reason, starting with #83 (June, 1951), and for the rest of the series run throughout its Gold Key/Whitman years, the series was changed to "Tom and Jerry" replacing '&' with 'and'. I don't know if anyone knows the reason. It's quite trivial, but a lot of collectors notice this fact.]
Gold Key Comics "Tom and Jerry" #213-327 (November, 1962-March, 1980)
Whitman Comics "Tom and Jerry" #328-344 (April, 1980-June, 1984)
Issues: