Beep Beep #8
Beep Beep #8 is a solid mid-run entry in Dell's dedicated Road Runner series — the first ongoing comic vehicle for the Warner Bros. duo of Beep Beep and Wile E. Coyote, at a time when no other publisher had given these characters their own sustained title. The Dell run as a whole is historically important because it established comic-specific conventions for the characters that diverged meaningfully from the theatrical shorts: the Road Runners spoke entirely in rhyme, Beep Beep was portrayed as a family man called 'Papa Beep,' and Wile E. was given full dialogue, all of which shaped how a generation of readers imagined these characters away from the screen. Issue #8 also carries a minor production curiosity that makes it distinctive within the run: Dell accidentally omitted the cover price, making it the only issue in the series to go to newsstands without that information.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The Dell 'Beep Beep the Road Runner' series grew out of three try-out issues published under Dell's long-running Four Color Comics umbrella (issues #918, #1008, and #1046) before launching as a standalone, numbered series — with those three Four Color issues retroactively counted as #1 through #3 — starting continuous publication in 1960. The artwork across the Dell run in the 1960s was produced by Pete Alvarado, a former layout and background artist for Chuck Jones, and Phil DeLara, a veteran Warner Bros. Cartoons animator who had worked on Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Daffy Duck; however, no story or art credits were printed in the issues themselves. After Dell's run ended with issue #14 in 1962, Gold Key Comics picked up the property in 1966 and, for its first few years, largely reprinted stories from the Dell era — meaning the original Dell issues, including #8, served as source material for that subsequent run.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published April 1961 by Dell Comics as part of the 'Beep Beep the Road Runner' series (Dell, 1960–1962), which ran issues #4–14, with three prior Four Color try-outs counted as #1–3.
- Issue #8 is notable within the run for a production error: the cover price was accidentally omitted by the publisher, making it the only issue in the Dell series to ship without a listed price.
- Contains four Road Runner stories: 'Smarty Party,' 'To Beep Or Not To Beep,' 'The Speedy Speeder,' and 'Stuck In The Muck,' plus one-page gag strips, a text feature titled 'Dinner Dilemma,' and a Daffy Duck backup story titled 'Space Chase.'
- 36 pages, full color; no story or art credits are printed anywhere in the issue.
- Artwork on the Dell series was produced by Pete Alvarado (former layout/background artist for Chuck Jones) and Phil DeLara (veteran Warner Bros. Cartoons animator); no credits appear in-issue to distinguish their individual contributions to #8.
- The Dell comics deliberately differed from the theatrical shorts: the Road Runner was re-cast as 'Papa Beep,' given a wife (Matilda) and three sons, and all Road Runners spoke exclusively in rhyme — conventions absent from the cartoons.
- Dell's run ended in 1962; Gold Key Comics resumed the title in 1966 with issues #1–88 (running through 1984), and the early Gold Key issues (1966–1969) consisted primarily of reprints drawn from the Dell run.
- The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote's first comic book appearance predated this series, occurring in 'Desert Dessert' in Bugs Bunny Vacation Funnies #8 (August 1958, Dell), which also introduced Matilda and the three sons.
Cast · 2 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
After reading a science fiction story, Daffy is spooked when he sees Elmer in a spray-painting outfit. Daffy then pretends to be a spaceman to fool Elmer into giving him all his food.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).