Last time on "Digging for Gold", I explained to you the intricacies of the DC Multiverse, and explored the world of Earth-2 as seen through New Fun Comics.
Now, of course, you must understand that all this information was created far after the fact so that DC could put together a cohesive world. Back in 1935 they were just making comics for kids and had little intention to populate an entire universe with multitudes of interacting characters.
And that created the first problem in dealing with the multiverse. Many of the stories they wrote in the old days were too outlandish to fit into their idea of "Earth-2". Stories that defied physics, that were too senseless to be included with the main titles. And most of all, those various children's comics that included talking animals. If beings like Superman and Batman were to be taken seriously, they had to be separated.
So came the creation of the first alternate universe in the world of DC, known as Earth-C. A world where anything goes, anthropomorphic animals lived alongside humans, and the laws of physics were taken with a grain of salt for comedic effect. This world was filled up with stories like Pelion and Ossa, the tale of a penguin and a bear that live together and get into all kinds of crazy antics. Many other silly stories were created to fill up the pages of New Fun Comics and New Comics in between the longer, more serious stories.
And with those childish stories set off to the side, all was well, and comic nerds were free to take their tales of men in "underoos that shoot lasers" far too seriously in the future. Well...at least they try.
As an aside, there was one Earth-C comic that had a bit of a crazier story behind the scenes. I'm referring to a little character you might know called Oswald the Rabbit.
If you don't know who Oswald the Rabbit is, let me enlighten you. Back in the 20's and 30's Universal had a cartoon character named Oswald they made silent shorts for. If he looks familiar, that's because he's the prototype for Mickey Mouse, as Walt Disney worked for Universal at the time.
He starred in a number of short films, and gained quite the following. His popularity grew and grew, and somehow on his little budget, Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson managed to acquire a license to put his comics in New Fun Comics.
It only lasted for a few issues, and Oswald would disappear forever from the world of DC, but it was important as the first licensed DC character. DC would go on to license tons of characters in the future, most notably the Hanna Barbera characters in the 70's, leading to the infamous "Super Friends" cartoon. They even currently put out comics with characters from the Gears of War franchise.
Not long after, Disney left Universal and gave up all rights to Oswald due to contract issues. He started Disney and since he couldn't use Oswald, he created Mickey instead, and history was born. Oswald on the other hand, evolved. He appeared as a cameo in Paul Whiteman's film "The King of Jazz" and continued to show up in Universal cartoons for years, most notably teaming up with Woody Woodpecker for grand adventures.
By the 1950's, Oswald had lost all brand recognition and fell into obscurity, only to be bought back by Disney in 2006. Strangely, he has a cult following in Japan, being featured in floats at Tokyo Disneyland and has returned as the antagonist in the 2010 video-game "Epic Mickey".
So there you have it, the (condensed) story of DC's past with Disney. It was a brief relationship, but made all the more ironic by the fact that Disney now owns DC's main rival, Marvel. The inner-workings of the comic book industry continue to astound me, and I hope you found it interesting too.
Tune in next time, where I'll tell the story of DC's long and sordid love affair with Centaur Comics, a company you might not be too familiar with. And I'll reveal that company's relationship with the great Dr. Occult...or is it Dr. Mystic!?
No comments:
Post a Comment