Sugar&Spike - Busy Corners

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Busy Corners
Sugar & Spike #1 [1956]
6 pages
Reprints: The Best of DC #47 [1984], Sugar & Spike No. 1 Replica Edition [2002],  The Sugar And Spike Archives #1 [2011]
Dedication: None

One of my favourite Sugar & Spike stories is from the very first issue, this story that introduces Sugar's Uncle Charley, her mother's younger brother, a traffic cop who frequently visits to play with his niece, who adores him because "he's only grown up where it shows".  Spike is initially jealous, but is quickly won over by Charley's charm.

This story sets the pattern for most of the future Uncle Charley stories, where his ideas of how to handle children infuriate Sugar's mother, then seem to work, and then ultimately backfire because for all his trying, the children don't really understand what he's saying, but love him anyway.

Among other things, this story has the first appearance of one of my favourite lines, one Mayer liked enough to use a few times over the years.  "If people don't want their things busted, they shouldn't leave 'em lying around on the ceiling!"

Characters: Sugar, Spike, Mrs. Plumm, Uncle Charley
Damage: one new chandelier and everything on the living room table
Punishment: Two trips into an increasingly crowded corner

"What's he talking about?"
"I don't know, but pay attention or you'll hurt his feelings!"

Sugar&Spike - Little Giants

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Little Giants
Sugar & Spike #27 [1960]
6 pages
Reprints: The Best of DC #47 [1984]
Dedication: Mrs. Marjorie Lane (age 21 plus), California

Spike is a bit of a pest while his mother tries to talk to Sugar's mother.  Sugar's mother suggests something that she learned from the baby-book that works for Sugar, letting the kids play as giants in a miniature world.  They decide to let Spike try it, and then Sugar explains her interpretation of the toys, and how she feels about their mothers ignoring them. All of this serves to dissipate the anger the kids have, though perhaps not for the reason the adults think.

This was among the earliest Sugar&Spike stories I read, through the 1980s digest reprint, and not really one of my favourites back then.  Not sure why, but I do like it a bit better now, especially some of Sugar's dialogue when explaining things to Spike.  There are also some clever bits in the art which are much easier to appreciate at full size.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, Mrs. Plumm, Mrs. Wilson
Damage: Hopefully the dolls are waterproof
Punishment: The dolls get treated harshly
Sugar's treatment of Spike: He gets a doll smacked out of his hand and yelled at a bit, but suffers much more from the coffee dumped on his head

"Whenever I'm in the mood to play with it, I make a real pest of myself until she gets it out"

Sugar&Spike - FLRJ!

Oh sure, I like the "GLX", and always get a chuckle out of "SPTZL", and don't mind "GLAAH" one bit. Even the lesser known "SHMZL" and "GLBSH" I have affection for. But my favourite bit of Sheldon Mayer created baby-talk, by a long shot? No competition, it's:

In case you have trouble with Spike's accent, here it is from Sugar:

Ah, FLRJ! I don't know what it means, but it's a word the kids usually use when they're upset and arguing. Whatever it means, I suspect when they say FLRJ that's one of the rare times they're lucky their parents don't understand the baby-talk, because that would be a one-way trip into the corner.

Sugar&Spike - Unused 1971 book proposal

Back in 1971, Mayer did some material as a proposal for a book collection of comics as THE POCKET-SIZE TREASURY OF SUGAR AND SPIKE STORIES.

It didn't come out, of course. Too early, I guess. Just had to wait another 40 years. Still, a nice cover. This copy of it is from COMIC BOOK ARTIST #11 [2001] from TwoMorrows, a flip-book issue with one side devoted to Sheldon Mayer (guest edited by Bill Alger) and the other to Alex Toth (an artist who Mayer hired back in the 1940s). You should try to find a copy if you're interested in Mayer's work. TwoMorrows is sold out of the print edition, but has a digital version available.

Sugar&Spike - Little Arthur Becomes a Mad Professor!

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Little Arthur Becomes a Mad Professor!
Sugar & Spike #42 [1962]
6 pages
Reprints: None
Dedication: Carol Chernoff (age 12), Illinois

One of the major recurring characters in the series is Little Arthur, a slightly older boy whose mother Myrna often brings him over.  Arthur first appears in #17, returns in #22 and then shows up every few issues for the rest of the series, including the new material drawn in the 1980s.  Arthur is quite a terror, so the kids learn to dread his visits, which usually consist of Arthur pulling Sugar's ponytail, which leads to Spike biting him.  Arthur is old enough that he speaks grown-up talk rather than baby-talk, so he lie about what happened, getting the kids punished (as Sugar once says, he doesn't so much speak in grown-up talk as he fibs in it).  Of course, his plans always backfire (I don't think the Comics Code allowed them to show success through lying).

In this variation, Arthur has a new interest in medicine, and pretty much ignores Sugar and Spike as he works on his plans for a self-propelled stretcher. The kids figure he must be sick, and are quite happy with that, until Arthur tries to put his ideas into practice, converting a coffee table to a stretcher and trying to use them as test patients.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Plumm, Little Arthur, Myrna
Damage: That coffee table is history, all Arthur's fault.  The lamp, that was all Spike



"He should be sick more often! It improves him!"

Sugar&Spike - The New Vase

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

The New Vase
Unpublished
1 page
Reprints: None

Most of the unpublished Sugar & Spike stories are those that Mayer drew in the 1980s. However, there are occasional bits like "The New Vase", a 1-page story that seems to date from fairly early in the run of the series (maybe 1960 or earlier), but which wasn't used for whatever reason. It's a cute enough gag, nothing special, notable for being one of only a handful of stories to only feature one of the kids. Pretty unusual, since a lot of the charm of the series is how the kids interact with each other.

I did want to point out the alphabet building blocks that Spike is playing with.  They were a common prop in the stories, being a ubiquitous toddler toy and endlessly useful for comedy purposes.  What I always like about them is how they frequently spelled out the common baby-talk words that Mayer used when presenting the speech untranslated, GLX, SPTZL, GLAAH and the rest.  Nice touch, I thought.

Characters: Spike, Mrs. Wilson

Sugar&Spike - One Good Deed

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

One Good Deed
Sugar & Spike #87 [1969]
1 page
Reprints: None

Cute little single page story about how the kids react to the doorbell.  I like the logic of Sugar describing ringing the bell as punching the door in the face, and the action that results from that interpretation is both sensible and silly, and the proud expressions on their faces for thinking of it are adorable.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, Mrs. Plumm, Mrs. Wilson


"It was my mommy who punched its nose!"