Number 1582: Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy, Dell squareback days of summer

It would not have seemed that summer vacation was coming with its mouth-watering anticipation of 12 weeks of freedom from school had I not had the large Dell squarebound vacation specials. They arrived in April or May to remind me those golden-hued days would be upon me. But that was illusion. Summer vacation was usually not that good; it was mostly unstructured and boring, and worse than boring it was hot. I often retreated to a shady spot behind the garage with a stack of comic books, including the Dell specials, to read and wait out the heat of the day.

Bugs Bunny’s Vacation Funnies was part of that reading. I’m posting the lead story from that title’s issue #2 (1952). It’s a funny fantasy. Bugs travels through time to meet his and Elmer Fudd’s ancestors in the town of Salem. The art is by Fred Abranz (1909-1992), an animator/comic book artist I associate with Bugs. You can see more examples of Abranz’s work from Mykal at The Big Blog of Kids’ Comics and a Chilly Willy story by Abranz from Steve at Four Color Shadows.

The cover, attributed to longtime Bugs Bunny comic strip artist Ralph Heimdahl, has Porky and Petunia swimming in their clothes!