Gerald McBoing Boing and the Nearsighted Mr. Magoo #1

History

Dell Publishing, working through its long-standing production partner Western Printing & Lithographing Co., secured an authorized license from Columbia Pictures Corporation — which distributed UPA's theatrical shorts — to produce the series, as confirmed by the copyright line in the issue's indicia. The lead story adapting the original Gerald McBoing Boing short was scripted from Dr. Seuss's original text and is credited in the 2009 Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics reprint to P.D. Eastman, the same Phil Eastman who co-adapted the screenplay for UPA's animated short from Seuss's story. Canadian-American artist Mel Crawford, who was simultaneously illustrating the Gerald McBoing-Boing Little Golden Book for Simon & Schuster that same year, also contributed artwork to this first issue, reflecting how tightly the various licensed Gerald McBoing Boing products of 1952 were interconnected through a small circle of artists deeply familiar with the UPA visual style.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First comic book appearance of Gerald McBoing Boing (Gerald McCloy), a character whose concept originated in a 1950 Capitol Records story-record written by Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel).
• First comic book appearance of Mr. Magoo (Quincy Magoo), a UPA character created in 1949 by writer Millard Kaufman and director John Hubley, first seen in the theatrical short The Ragtime Bear (1949) and voiced by Jim Backus.
• Published by Dell, produced by Western Printing & Lithographing Co., and copyrighted 1952 by Columbia Pictures Corporation — the studio that distributed UPA's theatrical output — making it an officially authorized adaptation.
• The lead story in the issue is an illustrated adaptation of the Dr. Seuss script for the 1950 animated short, depicting Gerald becoming famous supplying sound effects for radio broadcasts; the 2009 Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics reprint credits the art to P.D. Eastman.
• Mel Crawford, who illustrated the 1952 Simon & Schuster Gerald McBoing-Boing Little Golden Book, also contributed artwork to this first issue, linking the comic directly to the broader wave of Gerald McBoing Boing licensed media released that year.
• The issue ran 36 full-color pages and was published on a quarterly schedule, with the series continuing for five issues total through August–October 1953, after which the title was retitled The Nearsighted Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing Boing beginning with issue #6.
• The debut issue contained multiple self-contained Mr. Magoo comedy vignettes — including gags involving a walrus mistaken for a friend, a sheepdog mistaken for a Martian, and a punching bag mistaken for a salesman — directly mirroring the premise of the theatrical shorts.
• A story from this first issue was later selected for reprinting in the 2009 Harry N. Abrams anthology Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics, edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly, giving the comic renewed scholarly and collector recognition.

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