What To Shmoo With A Super Shmoo!

Shmoos were a hit! So much so that merchandising of all kinds flowed into the marketplace of baubles and beads and more. Of the more some was comic books. Li'l Abner had been a comic for a while, so it was a snap to spin off All Capp's Shmoo Comics. These are not done by Capp but by others and in all fairness the comics make no secret of this fact.

The essential elements of the Shmoo curse (or blessing depending on your attitude) are established in issue one. To give the comic a perspective we get Washable Jones, the Huck Finn of Dogpatch who has come to love the Shmoos and takes care of them as much as they take care of him. The Shmoos are just a part of the fabric of life in Dogpatch and things seem to be going quite well for the most part. Through all five issues of the series Washable and his Shmoos (who are mostly props and not proper characters) fend off others who wish to mistreat them, Washable also goes on epic journeys to the Moon and elsewhere.

But introduced early on is the delightful Super Shmoo, a Shmoo unlike the others. In his naive Shmoo existence filled with punny Shmoos of all kinds Hugh Shmoo is struck by lightning and changed into Super Shmoo who is able to do whatever needs doing to uplift and improve Shmoo kind. His antics are utterly whimsical and jammed with as many Shmoo puns as the writers can dream up. It's this wonderful compression of little jokes relentlessly popping out that makes reading the Super Shmoo stories so much fun, better than the other Shmoo stuff in these issues.

After the "Expidishun to the Shmoon" cover the Super Shmoo takes the helm as the mascot of the comic book.

Super Shmoo even meets and helps Santa Claus. Now that's heroism.

In addition to the five issues of Shmoo comics this volume also offers up the Al Capp's Shmoo comic giveaway  mini-comic.

The second issue of Shmoo Comics was reprinted a year or so later with Washable Jones taking the lead spot.

The Shmoo craze came and went like all crazes do, but it left us some delightful evidence of its existence the comics are among the niftiest examples. They don't rise anywhere near the sharp satire of the comic strip, but they funny diverting comics nonetheless.

Tomorrow more Shmoo madness.

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