Atomic Mouse #21

Atomic Mouse tracks Count Gatto and Shadow to the wilds of Africa using his X-ray vision, but the villains have a surprise waiting—they've convinced Leo, the King of the Jungle, that the tiny hero is coming to challenge him. When Atomic Mouse loses his precious U-235 pills during the battle with Leo and his followers, he finds himself in real danger for the first time.

Atomic Mouse organizes a big fair to raise money for a summer camp, building all the rides himself—but Count Gatto and Shadow have sinister plans to sabotage the attractions and ruin the whole event. When the villains' schemes keep backfiring thanks to our hero's quick thinking and surprising abilities, they devise one last trap to take him down for good.

Atomic Mouse drops by Professor Invento's lab to find the inventor tinkering with his latest creation—a contraption he claims will finally make him some money. When the Professor reveals what his "Money Maker" actually does, Atomic Mouse gets more than he bargained for in this 1957 tale of invention gone hilariously sideways.

Li'l Mouse is itching to prove himself as a real hero instead of playing with what he sees as a silly birthday gift—until Count Gatto and Shadow rob the local super market, giving the pint-sized pup his chance to stop them. With nothing but his trusty boomerang and plenty of determination, Li'l Mouse discovers that even a toy dismissed as "sissy" might be exactly what a hero needs.

When Maxie Ghost offers to sing Timmy the Timid Ghost a song, the performance takes a decidedly slapstick turn as the lyrics describe a wild motorcycle ride. It's a quick, punchy gag that plays on the double meaning of "ruthlessly"—perfect for a 1957 humor strip.

Timmy the Timid Ghost is bothered by a noisy cuckoo clock, so his companion Maxie Ghost takes matters into his own hands with a well-aimed rock. What happens next when Timmy checks on the clock's condition makes for a brief but clever bit of ghostly troublemaking in this 1957 one-pager.

When Mouseville launches a high-stakes tower-building contest promising a million pounds of cheese, Atomic Mouse grows suspicious of the dangerous structure and investigates who's really running the scheme. He'll need to stop Count Gatto and Shadow's criminal plot while preventing the rickety tower from crushing the entire town.

Wilma Witch brings Dadsie Ghost some exciting news: their son Timmy the Timid Ghost has finally overcome his fearfulness and asked to go flying on her broomstick! But when Timmy arrives for the adventure, he reveals exactly what kind of precautions he's taken for the trip—and just how much his timid nature might still be lurking beneath the surface. A lighthearted romp through the supernatural that finds humor in a young ghost's slow march toward courage.