Elder's and Woolverton's Mickeys

[Wilmer Rivers]

David A. Gerstein writes on Will Elder's MM parody for MAD:
>	Notably, this tale is about Mickey laying a trap for Donald
> (or, "Darnold," as he's called here) to get rid of him for good,
> because he wants the popularity back that Donald stole from him!
>
This story really broke me up when I read it as a kid.  In the 50's I
was completely unfamiliar with the FG Mickey, so I never could under-
stand why it was that MM had ever been very popular in the first place!
His resentment of Darnold was inevitable.  And until I read the parody,
I had never bothered to wonder about where he did find his 4-fingered
gloves!

David then writes:
>	In 1935 Basil Wolverton began a MM comic story when applying
> for a job at Disney.  It was never used.  Now Bill Spicer has the art
> to the -- unfinished -- story.  Who could finish this thing so it
> could appear in D&M?
>
A Wolverton MM?  I can't imagine what this is like!  I always think of
his art in terms of the grossly distorted anatomy that he produced for
shock effect during the MAD era.  One of the most effective current-day
imitators of that particular style is Marc Hansen, in his "Weird Melvin"
strip in Comic Buyers Guide.

Wilmer Rivers