The final new DC title of the 1940s was this one, launched with a Nov-Dec 1949 cover date. It was headlined by friends/adversaries Peter and Wolfie, perhaps inspired by Disney’s “Three Little Pigs.” The book was edited by Larry Nadle and ran to issue #62 dated Oct-Nov 1960. The logo and cover lettering are by Ira Schnapp, and he did many more covers and lots of stories for this series.
The caption on the second cover is not typical for Schnapp, but I still think it’s by him. He used more fanciful and bouncy styles on humor covers sometimes.
Issue #5’s thought balloon has a border not typical for Ira, but it might have been drawn by the cover artist, or perhaps he hadn’t settled into a style for that yet.
Another example from issue #8 of 1951 of a bouncy story title, but still Schnapp.
Ira did a particularly nice caption on issue #12, where he was able to use some handsome archaic styles. Some covers in the series, especially early on, had no lettering and were simply sight-gags.
By issue #24 in 1953, typical Ira Schnapp balloons were appearing more regularly. The two-panel gag on this cover is a rarity.
Ira’s cover style was well established by issue #39 in 1955, and seen on most DC covers of the time. This title’s ideas were simple and probably easy for him to do.
Issue #57 is the last one with Ira Schnapp lettering. I see it on these issues: 1-2, 5-6, 8-17, 19-21, 24-27, 29-32, 34-36, 38-42, 44-55, 57. That’s 46 covers in all.
Ira did a fair amount of lettering on stories for this series beginning with most of the first issue, sample above, where his lettering is larger than usual. This page has an unusual attempt to show Peter throwing his voice to make it sound like Wolfie in the fifth panel. It’s not entirely successful. Many issues had Schnapp lettered stories.
Along with at least two Peter Porkchops stories (up to 4 or 5), there were other features familiar from other DC funny animal books like this one from issue #4.
Here’s another, a Goofy Goose story from issue #10, where Ira’s method of fitting balloons in tight spaces is evident in the places where they overlap the panel above.
Some of the stories have small titles, many do not. This one from issue 31 has a title but it was kept small to fit the space.
There are several indicators of Ira’s work to look for including his question marks, which are small and like a number 2 over a dot, as seen in the first panel here from issue #50, also his small, regular letters, most of which would fit into a square.
Ira lettered this story for the final issue #62, which appeared about a year after #61, so probably published to use up some inventory.
Here are all the stories I see lettered by Schnapp. Peter Porkchops is the only character in each issue with more than one story, so I’ve numbered those. Features are abbreviated after the first appearance.
#1 Nov-Dec 1949: Peter Porkchops 6pp (1), 6pp (2), Goofy Goose 5pp, PP 7pp (3), Ruff & Reddy 7pp, PP 6pp (4)
#2 Jan-Feb 1950: Ruff & Reddy 7pp, PP 6pp (3), GG 4pp, Dodo & Frog 2pp
#3 March-April 1950: PP 6pp, 6pp (1-2), J. Rufus Lion 7pp, R&R 7pp, Chester Cat & Cheesy Mouse 4pp, PP 7pp (3)
#4 May-June 1950: PP 6pp, 6pp (1-2), Blabber Mouse 6pp, PP 6pp (3)
#5 July-Aug 1950: PP 6pp, 6pp, 6pp, 6pp (1-4)
#6 Sept-Oct 1950: PP 14pp (1), Biggety Bear 7pp, GG 7pp, PP 10pp (2)
#7 Nov-Dec 1950: PP 14pp (1), BB 6pp, GG 7pp, PP 10pp (2)
#8 Feb-March 1951: PP 8pp (1), GG 6pp, BB 6pp, PP 8pp (2), Bertie Bacon 1pp, PP 8pp (3)
#9 April-May 1951: PP 8pp (1), GG 6pp, 8pp (2), Biggety 6pp
#10 June-July 1951: PP 8pp (1), GG 6pp, PP 8pp (2), Biggety 6pp, PP 8pp (3)
#11 Aug-Sept 1951: PP 10pp (1), 8pp (2), 6pp (3)
#12 Oct-Nov 1951: PP 8pp (1), 4pp (2), GG 5pp, PP 6pp (3)
#13 Dec 1951-Jan 1952: Biggety 4pp, PP 5pp (2)
#14 Feb-March 1952: GG 5pp, PP 6pp (2)
#15 April-May 1952: GG 6pp, Biggety 5pp
#16 June-July 1952: Biggety 5pp, GG 5pp
#17 Aug-Sept 1952: PP 6pp (1), GG 6pp, Biggety 4pp
#18 Oct-Nov 1952: PP 6pp (1), GG 5pp, Pinky & Winky 3pp
#19 Dec 1952-Jan 1953: P&W 4pp
#20 Feb-March 1953: PP 4pp, 4pp, 4pp (2-4)
#21 April-May 1953: P&W 5pp
#22 June-July 1953: PP 4pp (4)
#23 Aug-Sept 1953: PP 6pp (1), Biggety 4pp, PP 4pp, 6pp (3-4)
#24 Oct-Nov 1953: PP 6pp, 4pp (1-2), GG 6pp
#25 Dec 1953: P&W 5pp
#26 Jan 1954: PP 6pp (1), GG 6pp, PP 4pp (3)
#27 March 1954: PP 6pp (4)
#28 April 1954: GG 5pp, PP 4pp (3)
#29 June 1954: P&W 5pp, Bernard 4pp, PP 6pp (3)
#31 Sept 1954: PP 6pp (1), 4pp (2)
#32 Oct 1954: PP 5pp (2), Dizzy Dog 6pp
#33 Dec 1954: PP 4pp (2)
#34 Jan 1955: P&W 4pp, PP 4pp (3)
#35 March 1955: PP 4pp (2)
#36 April 1955: PP 6pp (1), Doodles Duck 4pp, PP 6pp (3)
#37 June 1955: PP 4pp, 6pp (2-3)
#38 July 1955: PP 6pp (1)
#39 Sept 1955: PP 6pp, 4pp (1-2), Roly & Poly 6pp, PP 4pp (3)
#40 Oct 1955: PP 4pp, 6pp (3-4)
#41 Dec 1955: PP 4pp, 4pp (2-3), Dizzy 6pp, PP 6pp (4)
#42 Feb-March 1956: PP 6pp (1), Doodles 6pp, PP 6pp (3)
#43 April-May 1956: PP 6pp, 4pp (1-2)
#44 June-July 1956: Doodles 6pp
#45 Aug-Sept 1956: PP 6pp, 4pp, 4pp (1-3)
#46 Oct-Nov 1956: PP 6pp (1), 4pp (3)
#47 Dec 1956-Jan 1957: PP 6pp (3)
#48 Feb-March 1957: PP 6pp, 4pp, 4pp, 4pp (1-4)
#49 April-May 1957: Dizzy 6pp, PP 6pp (3)
#50 June-July 1957: PP 6pp (1)
#51 Aug-Sept 1957: Bo Bunny 6pp, PP 6pp (3)
#52 Oct-Nov 1957: PP 6pp, 6pp (2-3)
#53 Dec 1957-Jan 1958: Barney Beagle 6pp
#54 Feb-March 1958: PP 6pp (1), Barney 6pp
#55 April-May 1958: PP 6pp, 4pp, 4pp, 4pp (1-4)
#56 June-July 1958: PP 6pp, 4pp, 6pp (1-2, 4)
#57 Aug-Sept 1958: PP 6pp (2), CCCM 5pp, PP 6pp (3)
#58 Oct-Nov 1958: PP 6pp (2), Biggety 5pp
#59 Dec 1958-Jan 1959: PP 6pp, 6pp, 7pp (1-3)
#60 March-May 1959: PP 8pp (1), Biggety 5pp, PP 6pp (3)
#61 Sept-Nov 1959: PP 12pp, 8pp (1-2)
#62 Oct-Dec 1960: PP 6pp, 6pp (1 & 3) Note: story 2 is a reprint lettered by Schnapp
That’s a total of 924 pages on this title.
More articles in this series and others you might enjoy are on the Comics Creation page of my blog.