Ringer Comics

Is it still a re-run if it’s in another medium?

I’ve been re-reading some old Ringer Comics from the sixties. Though written for kids, they hold up really well reading them as an adult. And the best part is that they make you feel as if you’re watching an episode of your favorite cartoon – especially Spaceman Jax and the Galactic Adventures.

Although Ringer Comics featured several original titles (including the popular Doctor Remarkable and Space Station Europa), the bulk of their output was licensed properties based on popular TV series of the day, and especially comics based on P.U.D. Film animated properties.

In fact, artists for some of the comics based on animated shows just lifted the stories from the episodes outright, especially the first few issues. Apparently, Bill Pendergast at P.U.D. Film liked to review everything personally and he was apt to request lots of changes until it fit expectations. Artists found that the best way to get Pendergast off their case was to simply adapt the TV plots to the comics for the first few issues so there would be nothing for Pendergast to complain of – story-wise.

Whatever they did it was the closest thing to holding one of the episodes in your hands. That’s especially nice today, when memories of the show might be starting to fade. In that case, you only have to crack open one of the comics and you’re back: cross-legged on the family room floor, a bowl of cereal in your hands (fortified with sugar!), and Saturday morning cartoons on TV. And for a kid, it didn’t get much better than that.