And here we come to the next
issue I remember us having, #6 from December 1968. Mom would definitely be back
doing the shopping at Baenziger’s. Mike would be in the middle of First Grade,
maybe even on Christmas vacation. A splendid opportunity to reward and distract
the herd with a little taste of presents to come.
Although
this issue’s main features concluded the story of Bambi from (the unpurchased)
#5 and began the story of Pinocchio, the big story for me was Scrooge, Donald,
and the Nephews voyaging into space so Scrooge could stake a claim to a newly
discovered 24-carat gold moon, orbiting on the dark side of the regular moon.
After beating their competitors to the finish line, they find a strange little
being already in possession, who is ready to make a deal. “Skunk cabbage! I
live again!”
Other
stories have Baloo obtaining an especially delicious looking honeycomb, Madam
Mim being crowned as Queen of the Witches during an appearance of Comet
Croakus, Mickey having to deal with Pluto’s cowardice, Super Goof being unable
to punch his way out of an enormous paper bag, and Ludwig Von Drake and Moby
Duck having to deal with the machinations of Emil the Eagle.
Looking
back, I would have to say there were two features that may have particularly
influenced Mike. One was a “Walt Disney Animal Autobiography”, with a
realistically drawn exploration of whales and their lives. Another was “Lotor
Takes a Trip” (not a comic strip but a simple short story with a few
illustrations), about a raccoon that escapes from the zoo and with the help of
a young boy is returned to the wild, where he learns to live in freedom.
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