looneylife326
10 months ago
I'm very excited to announce that in the summer of 2024, there will be a new non-fiction book completely devoted to the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. It will be published by BearManor Media, the same publisher responsible for the behemoth Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices biography and Keith Scott's recent two-volume Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age. The book is currently untitled, but will be out next summer - just in time for the duo's 75th anniversary in September 2024. It will include the following:

-Credits, synopses, and home media info for each Road Runner, Bugs/Wile E., and Ralph/Sam cartoon
-Historical background on the creation of the Road Runner and Coyote
-Biographical info on Chuck Jones, Paul Julian, Mike Maltese, Maurice Noble, Ken Harris and other RR artists
-The evolution of the "rules" of the series and examples where each was broken
-A complete listing of all Acme products in the RR shorts
-The Road Runner and Coyote in print, film, comics, advertising, and video games
-Unique licensing deals with the characters, including the Road Runner Plymouth and Road Runner Internet Service
-Revival shorts and series featuring the characters
-Cameos and parodies of, and references to, the characters
-The Road Runner and Coyote in popular culture
-And a few surprises!

This book will be geared towards both the casual Looney Tunes fan and the hardcore animation aficionado. There's no link that I can cite here, but I can certainly confirm this is happening because, well, I'm the author of the book! I'm still in the process of researching and writing it, but I will happily keep these forums updated on the progress and answer any questions I can. I've loved this site ever since the original GAC forum days and have gone through multiple username/lurking periods over the years (I was rrfan3267 for a long time). I'm very excited to bring this book to you next year! Stay tuned for more!

(On a related note, if anyone has physical access to the vintage Dell/Gold Key RR comic books, or knows someone who does, please shoot me a DM. I would greatly appreciate it!)
+9
ArcLordOne
10 months ago

I'm very excited to announce that in the summer of 2024, there will be a new non-fiction book completely devoted to the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. It will be published by BearManor Media, the same publisher responsible for the behemoth Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices biography and Keith Scott's recent two-volume Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age. The book is currently untitled, but will be out next summer - just in time for the duo's 75th anniversary in September 2024. It will include the following:

-Credits, synopses, and home media info for each Road Runner, Bugs/Wile E., and Ralph/Sam cartoon
-Historical background on the creation of the Road Runner and Coyote
-Biographical info on Chuck Jones, Paul Julian, Mike Maltese, Maurice Noble, Ken Harris and other RR artists
-The evolution of the "rules" of the series and examples where each was broken
-A complete listing of all Acme products in the RR shorts
-The Road Runner and Coyote in print, film, comics, advertising, and video games
-Unique licensing deals with the characters, including the Road Runner Plymouth and Road Runner Internet Service
-Revival shorts and series featuring the characters
-Cameos and parodies of, and references to, the characters
-The Road Runner and Coyote in popular culture
-And a few surprises!

This book will be geared towards both the casual Looney Tunes fan and the hardcore animation aficionado. There's no link that I can cite here, but I can certainly confirm this is happening because, well, I'm the author of the book! I'm still in the process of researching and writing it, but I will happily keep these forums updated on the progress and answer any questions I can. I've loved this site ever since the original GAC forum days and have gone through multiple username/lurking periods over the years (I was rrfan3267 for a long time). I'm very excited to bring this book to you next year! Stay tuned for more!

(On a related note, if anyone has physical access to the vintage Dell/Gold Key RR comic books, or knows someone who does, please shoot me a DM. I would greatly appreciate it!)

Originally Posted by: looneylife326 


Had no idea! Thanks for the info!
Pete Hale, Cartoonist
https://thegoldenageofanimation.blogspot.com/ 
+1
Bobby Bickert
10 months ago

I'm very excited to announce that in the summer of 2024, there will be a new non-fiction book completely devoted to the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. It will be published by BearManor Media, the same publisher responsible for the behemoth Mel Blanc: The Man of a Thousand Voices biography and Keith Scott's recent two-volume Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age.

Originally Posted by: looneylife326 



BearManor Media has also published biographies of Daws Butler and Paul Frees, and June Foray's autobiography. They've also published books about Popeye (by superfan Fred Grandinetti and by Steve Bierly) and about Total Television Productions. BearManor Media has been very good to classic cartoon fans.


-The evolution of the "rules" of the series and examples where each was broken

Originally Posted by: looneylife326 



I still have a 100-piece Road Runner jigsaw puzzle from the mid-1970's that definitely breaks the "rules". Wile E. Coyote is in midair ready to pull a sack over a very fake-looking Road Runner (the beak is a carrot) that has a bundle of dynamite attached to it. The Road Runner is hiding behind something, ready to push the detonator.

-Unique licensing deals with the characters, including the Road Runner Plymouth and Road Runner Internet Service

Originally Posted by: looneylife326 



When my family had Time Warner cable TV and Internet, I had a Road Runner mousepad. But it went to the DUMP (along with the rest of my computer) when my sister wreaked havoc in 2020.

(On a related note, if anyone has physical access to the vintage Dell/Gold Key RR comic books, or knows someone who does, please shoot me a DM. I would greatly appreciate it!)

Originally Posted by: looneylife326 



I know that Thad Komorowski has a comic book (I think a Gold Key) with a story in which the Road Runner buys a shotgun (!) to protect his family from Wile E. Coyote. (The complete comic story used to be posted on his blog.) But I don't know whether he'd let anyone else borrow it.

+3
looneylife326
10 months ago


Had no idea! Thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by: ArcLordOne 



My pleasure! I hope you enjoy the book when it comes out!
looneylife326
10 months ago

BearManor Media has also published biographies of Daws Butler and Paul Frees, and June Foray's autobiography. They've also published books about Popeye (by superfan Fred Grandinetti and by Steve Bierly) and about Total Television Productions. BearManor Media has been very good to classic cartoon fans.

Originally Posted by: Bobby Bickert 



It's a great publisher, and I'm honored that they took me on!

I still have a 100-piece Road Runner jigsaw puzzle from the mid-1970's that definitely breaks the "rules". Wile E. Coyote is in midair ready to pull a sack over a very fake-looking Road Runner (the beak is a carrot) that has a bundle of dynamite attached to it. The Road Runner is hiding behind something, ready to push the detonator.

Originally Posted by: Bobby Bickert 



That's awesome! Definitely breaks at least one of the rules.

When my family had Time Warner cable TV and Internet, I had a Road Runner mousepad. But it went to the DUMP (along with the rest of my computer) when my sister wreaked havoc in 2020.

Originally Posted by: Bobby Bickert 



I think my family had the same mousepad at one point!

I know that Thad Komorowski has a comic book (I think a Gold Key) with a story in which the Road Runner buys a shotgun (!) to protect his family from Wile E. Coyote. (The complete comic story used to be posted on his blog.) But I don't know whether he'd let anyone else borrow it

Originally Posted by: Bobby Bickert 



Thanks for the heads up. I've already heard back from a few forum users who are offering to help with the vintage comics, and I greatly appreciate it.
Bobby Bickert
10 months ago

-Cameos and parodies of, and references to, the characters

Originally Posted by: looneylife326 



When I was going through my cable TV box's guide yesterday, I remembered this episode of What's New, Scooby Doo?. I think the episode title is "New Mexico, Old Monster":



(Later in this episode the Scooby gang meets a birdwatcher. One of the birds he's looking for is Tweety.)
looneylife326
9 months ago
I finally have a title for the book:

Dance of the Comedians: 75 Years of the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote
+2
looneylife326
8 months ago
Lots of progress on the book over the last few months! I'm pretty excited about how it's turning out. It's especially interesting to see how things are unfolding with Coyote vs. Acme - all the recent ups and downs regarding the movie will definitely make their way into the book.

I'm hoping that a couple people here might be able to help me with the comic book section. Over the last few months I've gone through nearly 250 comics featuring the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. Luckily, I haven't had to spend too much money as some generous collectors have given me access to their collections or pointed me towards various online CBR databases. Thanks to them, I've been able to log every Dell Beep Beep the Road Runner, all of the characters' DC appearances, and a good number of their comics for Gold Key.

There are still about 80 comic books that I can't find anywhere other than ebay. If you or someone you know is a vintage comic book collector and could help me fill in some of these holes, please shoot me a DM. I'm not expecting to track down EVERY SINGLE comic with these characters, but I'd like the book to be as complete as possible. Anyone who's able to help will be credited in the Acknowledgements section of my book when it comes out. Thank you so much!

Missing comic books:

Dell Comic Album
10 (Jun-Aug 60)
14 (Jun-Aug 61)

Golden Comics Digest
5 (Sep 69)
6 (Oct 69)
12 (Aug 70)
14 (Oct 70)

Gold Key Bugs Bunny
86 (Oct 62)
87 (Dec 62)
110 (Mar 67)
151 (Aug 73)
153 (Nov 73)
168 (Nov 75)

Gold Key Daffy Duck
73 (Jan 72)
75 (May 72)
77 (Aug 72)
78 (Oct 72)
79 (Dec 72)
83 (Aug 73)
84 (Oct 73)
93 (Apr 75)
101 (Jun 76)

Gold Key Porky Pig
59 (Apr 75)

[Boys and Girls] March of Comics
351 “Tricky Treasure Trail” (Nov 70) (RP in 397, 442, 455)
353 “Double Troubled/Trouble Doubled” (Jan 71) (RP in 416)
375 “Mission Implausible” (Nov 72)
387 “The Rokky Egg” (1973) (RP in 430)

Gold Key Looney Tunes
5 (Dec 75)
8 (Jun 76)
9 (Aug 76)
11 (Dec 76)
38 (Aug 81)
43 (Apr 82)
44 (Jun 83)

Gold Key Beep Beep the Road Runner
2 (Jan 67)
11 (Apr 69)
12 (Jun 69)
14 (Oct 69)
21 (Dec 70)
23 (Apr 71)
25 (Aug 71) through 27 (Dec 71)
33 (Dec 72)
36 (May 73)
40 (Dec 73) through 44 (Aug 74)
48 (Feb 75)
49 (Apr 75)
52 (Aug 75)
54 (Oct 75)
56 (Mar 76)
57 (May 77)
68 (Nov 77) through 72 (Jul 78)
75 (Nov 78) through 81 (Jul 79)
83 (Sept 79) through 86 (Dec 79)
92 (Sept 80) through 98 (Oct 81)
100 (Mar 82) through 102 (Jun 82)
nickramer
8 months ago
Have you searched online? There are some sites (though, security issues of viewing sites vary) that have scans of numerous Looney Tunes comics.
+1
looneylife326
8 months ago

Have you searched online? There are some sites (though, security issues of viewing sites vary) that have scans of numerous Looney Tunes comics.

Originally Posted by: nickramer 



I have! In fact, a fellow member on the IAD forums shared a helpful site with me, and I was able to find virtually all of the Dell/Gold Key/DC comics except for the ones above. I'd never even heard of digital CBR files before our conversation! There is no way this book would be able to get made without the help of the animation community here, and I'm very thankful. :)
+1
Bobby Bickert
8 months ago
A while back (over ten years ago), there was a website called www.comics.org that offered scans of a LOT of old comic books for free. But all of the major comic book companies got together and got it shut down. I could understand DC and Marvel not wanting their comic books posted online for free. But about all that's been reprinted in book form of the old Dell/Gold Key comic books is Carl Barks' work for Disney, and Little Lulu. And recently the Dell Popeye comic books by Bud Sagendorf started being reprinted. All that's been published of the Dell Looney Tunes comic books is one "best of" volume. That leaves Tom and Jerry (and the other MGM cartoon characters), the Walter Lantz characters, and Gold Key later got the rights to the Terrytoons characters. There's also Harvey Comics. All that's been reprinted in book form are "best of" volumes for most of the major characters, compiled by Jerry Beck. I was enjoying reading scans of the "Mary Jane and Sniffles" stories from the Dell Looney Tunes comic books and scans of the Dell Little Lulu comic books, some of which I had read in 1970's digest reprints as a child (until they got thrown out by my dad, who also threw out my digest reprints of the Dell/Gold Key Disney comic books), and also scans of the Richie Rich comic books from my childhood (which got thrown out by one of my sisters in 2002 after she got me shipped off to Brewer's Bridgeway in Plant City) on www.comics.org. But then it got shut down.
looneylife326
a month ago
My book Dance of the Comedians: 75 Years of the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote is out now! You can buy it at bearmanormedia.com or on Amazon. I've also created a little companion website to go with it, including a list of upcoming book events.

Dance of the Comedians 

I hope you enjoy this book! I tried to gear it towards both diehard animation scholars and more casual fans. In the Acknowledgements, I also thanked the IAD forums and its previous iterations for being such a great place to discuss all things animation, and I want to echo that sentiment here. I've been a member/lurker of these boards since the GAC days around 2008, and I just appreciate the hell out of you guys.
+2
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