Sugar&Spike - Winter Sunday

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Winter Sunday
Sugar & Spike #6 [1957]
4 pages
Reprints:  The Sugar And Spike Archives #1 [2011]

Given what I just had to spend the last hour doing, this is an appropriate tale.

Spike is underfoot while his mother tries to clean, so his father takes him outside to help clear the snow.  Anyone who has ever tried to get an infant to "help" in any task knows how that'll go, doubly so when Sugar shows up. Mr. Wilson manages to distract them with some tiny snow-men, which works for a while, but he doesn't consider their infant reaction to the ephemeral nature of snow.

Very cute body language for the kids in this one, as they range from quite proud to confused to happy to angry.  I especially like those panels of Spike imitating his father when they first go outside.

I also get a kick out of the stereotypical 1950s dad pipe that Mr. Wilson smokes, even when shoveling snow.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, Mrs. Wilson, Mr. Wilson
Damage: A bit of a mess at the beginning and end, but nothing permanent


"Just nod your head and look bright!"

Sugar&Spike - A Study in Science Friction

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

A Study in Science Friction
The Best of DC #41 [1983]
8 pages
Reprints: None

Following the 1971 conclusion of SUGAR AND SPIKE's impressive 98 issue run Mayer's main work for a few years was writing for DC's mystery books, including the creation of the Black Orchid and several great stories with Alex Toth. After his recovery from his 1973 eye operations, he also drew some stuff, including some Rudolph the Reindeer stories for DC's tabloid line, and worked on a Bible adaptation. The original Sugar & Spike stories were also published in other languages ("Sal y Pimienta" in Spanish, "Bib et Zette" in French, "Tutuca e Teleco-Teco" in Portuguese, "Bosse och Bettan" in Swedish), and around the early 1980s Mayer began writing and drawing new stories to appear in those publications.  Eventually some of those stories, along with classic reprints, would appear in DC's digest comics, although there are still a lot of stories that have never been published in English.

Most of the new stories that were published appeared in this issue of BEST OF DC. In this one, Spike is confused by his inability, as a little kid, to fit in his mother's big-person shoe, when the rules he learned from Sugar suggest he should be able to (since "little stuff always gozinta big stuff").  Bernie tries in vain to explain the logic to Spike, and then briefly thinks that Sugar understands him (which requires a bit of a strained bit of dialogue) before learning, as always, that life is never easy for an infant genius.

While the new material Mayer did in the 1980s isn't quite as good as the original series, there are a lot of fun stories, and I'd certainly like to see the published material re-published in a larger-than-digest size and the remainder published for the first time in English a few years down the line, after several books of the 1950s and 1960s stories come out.

Characters: Spike, Bernie the Brain, Sugar, Mrs. Wilson
Sugar's treatment of Spike: It's actually Bernie who faces the usual wrath of Sugar, pushed over and stood on


"You may be the infant genius around here, but I know a thing or two myself!"

Sugar&Spike - Horse Sense

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Horse Sense
Sugar & Spike #9 [1957]
4 pages
Reprints:  The Sugar And Spike Archives #1 [2011]
Dedication: Dana Brown (age 9), Idaho

The Wilsons take the kids to an amusement park, even though Mrs. Wilson isn't sure they're old enough even for the "kiddy section".  Of course the kids manage to get loose, and soon find a baby pony. Of course, it being a baby means they can talk to it, since baby-talk is the same for all species, and the three of them go off on a little adventure around the park, which ends up being quite costly for the Wilsons.  That'll teach 'em to pay more attention when taking care of the kids.

Cute little story, I especially liked the presence of a lot of one-shot people (and animals), which gave Mayer a chance to show off some of his other cartooning skills.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson, a pony, various park employees and visitors

"Boy! I wish my mommy was a baby pony! She doesn't understand a word I say!"

Sugar&Spike - Sugar, the Sweet Little Mommie

The Chronicles of Sugar & Spike

Sugar, the Sweet Little Mommie
Sugar & Spike #95 [1971]
1 page
Reprints: None

Sheldon Mayer did some great single-page (sometimes half-page) stories throughout the run of the series. That's a form he was used to from his early days, working for newspaper syndicates and doing single page stories for the early comic books that imitated the format of the comic strip reprints that made up the bulk of the content in those days. He also, on at least two occasions, prepared some proposal material for an S&S comic strip.

This is typical of the single-page strips, just the two kids interacting in a high-energy way with a quick punchline. In this case, Sugar gets frustrated with the lack of cooperation from her dolly, while Spike tries to reason with her, a folly to be sure, until he realizes it's better for him to just play along. From the prism of the 21st century you might worry about the roots of Sugar's aggression, and wonder if she'll need some anger management help in later years, but ignoring that it's a nice look at how seriously kids can take their make-believe, and how the relationship between Sugar and Spike works.

By the way, the story code (461) on this page suggests it was drawn some years earlier, around #70 in 1967, but it wasn't used at the time. This was possibly because the book went to full-issue stories around that time (there's a twenty issue stretch with only two single-page stories).

Characters: Sugar, Spike
Damage: the doll looks pretty sturdy, probably came through okay.
Sugar's treatment of Spike: I'm more worried about damage to Spike. Sugar knocks him over and shakes him pretty roughly

"Tsk! Tsk! How silly can you get?"

Sugar&Spike - Volunteer Repairmen

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Volunteer Repairmen

Sugar & Spike #18 [1958]
6 pages
Reprints: None
Dedication: Ann Charamak (age 14), Rye, NY [interestingly, Mayer settled in Rye for at least part of his retirement]

Spike gets put in the yard for playing with the window-box toy (TV), so Sugar invites him to her place (after the usual man-handling) to play with their window-box.  For some reason her mom objects to that, so they do some exploring and find a radio, which they interpret as a broken TV, since it has music but no picture, and proceed to try and fix it in the only way they know how, with Mr. Plumm's fix-it toys (tools).  Before they can act, they find Mrs. Plumm's laundry machine, and see the clothes jumping inside as another broken TV, with a picture but no music. Logic only dictates that you put the two together... And somehow for that they get put in a corner.

I did like that in the last panel the radio is still somewhat working, playing now-wobbly musical notes, but also making "glub glub" noises.  Because that's logical...

Well constructed story of the classic theme of seeing what a kid might do and figuring out what kind of baby-logic might have led them to that think their actions are perfectly justified.  

Characters: Sugar, Spike, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Plumm, Mr. Plumm
Damage: That radio might survive, but uncertain
Punishment: Initially just put in the yard, eventually into the corner
Sugar's treatment of Spike: The usual trio, pushed over, stood on and dragged around by the feet.  But at least he complains about it...

"Why is it, the the cleverer we get, the angrier they get??"
"They're just jealous of our brains!"

Sugar&Spike - Trip to the Zoo

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Trip to the Zoo
Sugar & Spike #8 [1957]
6 pages
Reprints:  The Sugar And Spike Archives #1 [2011]
Dedication: Mr. and Mrs. Rube Grossman (age 21 plus), New York

Rube Grossman was one of the other prolific artists on DC's humour books of the era, among other things drawing Mayer's other creation, the Three Mouseketeers, after Mayer went on S&S full-time. He's possibly best known as the artist of the annual RUDOLPH specials DC would publish (which Mayer would take over for the tabloid books in the 1970s).

To see if the kids are ready for the zoo, Sugar's dad shows them a film that his pal Rube Grossman made. The kids seem uninterested at first, fighting and talking. Then they start laughing when the camel comes on. We also get an appearance by Rube hisownself, standing next to the camel, eating a hot-dog, imitating the camel chewing its cud.

The next day at the zoo, the kids aren't very interested. In one scene, they figure out that the grown-ups will be disappointed if they don't act excited, so they both give a half-hearted "Wheeee". You have to see this panel to believe it. It perfectly captures the faces I've seen on infants when you try to get them interested in a new toy more exciting to you than to them (they're usually happy to play with the wrapping paper). Anyway, they fool around at the zoo for awhile, uninterested in the animals, but suddenly start crying when they leave. Sugar's dad can't understand. Talking amongst themselves, the kids reveal that the only thing they wanted to see was the funny man with the hot-dog.

I absolutely adore this story, one of my favourites of the whole series. Mayer captured the body language and facial quirks of kids so well in it, and the theme of the contrast between what adults think kids are interested in and what they're really interested in was fertile ground for the series. And a cameo by a fellow cartoonist tops it off.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, Mr. Plumm, Mrs. Plumm, Rube Grossman (film)
Property Damage: minimal, one lost balloon, film and projector are briefly threatened by Sugar's interest
Sugar's treatment of Spike: swings him around by his legs, but he did ask for that by whacking her with a toy elephant. She also pushes him over and sits on him.

"All the interesting toys, with parts to pull off, are always theirs! And don't they hate sharing!"

Sugar&Spike - Better Late Than Never!

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Better Late Than Never!
Sugar & Spike #54 [1964]
1 page
Reprints: None

Ah, poor old "No-Feets", long suffering pet fish who manages to narrowly avoid catastrophe at the hands of Sugar and Spike time and time again. You'd think parents with such active kids around would think twice about having a fish in a glass bowl precariously balanced on top of a pole.

I guess he belongs to the Plumms, based on this story, but I'm not sure if that's consistent. I think he shows up wherever it's most convenient for the joke of the moment.

Anyway, a nice little story in just six panels. I especially liked the attention paid to the face of No-Feets, going from suspicious to resigned to scowling.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, No-Feets, Mrs. Plumm (hands only)
Property Damage: No-Feets came out unscathed, but that toothpaste tube is a goner

"I must say, your mother is broadminded! Mine frowns on this sort of thing!"

Sugar&Spike - A Tale of Two Sugars

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

A Tale of Two Sugars
Sugar & Spike #87 [1969]
17 pages
Reprints: None
Dedication: Cindy Davidson (age 12), New York and Ronnie Zowadsky (age ?), Rhode Island

The second half of Mayer's original run on SUGAR AND SPIKE generally featured longer stories and more fanciful adventures.  In this story, the fathers are charged with taking care of the kids for a day, and are unable to outsmart the kids so one of them can sneak off, which the kids interpret as an elaborate hiding game.  So they take the kids to a used car lot, which happens to be targeted for theft by master of disguise Marvin the Midget.  Despite misinterpreting everything going on around them, the kids manage to completely confound Marvin's plans, which leads to Marvin disguising himself as Sugar.

While my preference will always be for the shorter more true-to-life Sugar&Spike stories, there is a lot of great slapstick in these longer stories. This one is pretty good, since it uses the same general theme of many of the earlier stories, the kids misinterpreting adult actions, and turns that concept up to eleven.

Characters:Sugar, Spike, Mr. Plumm, Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Plumm, Mrs. Wilson, Marvin the Midget and his gang, car lot staff and police
Sugar's treatment of Spike: Pushes him over and stands on him


"I haven't had so much fun since we put the eggs inna washing machine!"

Sugar&Spike - Sugar and Spike Tackle Halloween

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Sugar and Spike Tackle Halloween
Sugar & Spike #31 [1960]
6 pages
Reprints: None
Dedication: Jean Meyer, Minnesota

Through the magic of non-continuity, Sugar and Spike got to experience events like Halloween and Christmas for the first time a half-dozen times or more. Mayer came up with some great variations on the themes every year.

In this year, the parents obviously decided the kids were too young for Halloween, and put them to bed early. Of course, they can't sleep with all the commotion, so they sneak out to see what's happening (I should add a "bad parenting" section to these write-ups). Understandably excited at witnessing candy being given away, they decide to get in on the action, but run afoul of a rather mean neighbour who didn't buy any candy for the kids. He gets his after Sugar and Spike disguise themselves in a pair of longjohns.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, unnamed 12-year-old trick-or-treaters, unnamed neighbours, Mrs. Plumm, Mrs. Wilson
Property damage: the neighbour took a flip on a banana peel

"This is the greatest game since 'Sneeze-the-Pablum'!"
"--And more profitable, too!"

Sugar&Spike - Uncle Charley Returns

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Uncle Charley Returns!
Sugar & Spike #61 [1965]
4 pages
Reprints: None
Dedication: Lisa, Jimmy and Andrea Thomson (ages 3, 1 1/2 and 2 months) and their Aunt Rayline, New Westminster, Canada

Sugar's Uncle Charley (her mother's younger brother) is one of the best recurring characters in the series. He first shows up in "Busy Corners", the highlight of the first issue of the series, which establishes that he's the one adult who truly understands what kids like, toys that make loud ka-bom noises (usually as part of his tests on his own theories of child rearing), even if he still doesn't speak their language, and appears on a regular basis thereafter to play out variations on that theme, often ending with him sharing the punishment of sitting in the corner. Charley is a traffic cop, and the kids always instantly know he's arrived from his put-put (motorcycle) out front.

In this short tale, Charley's gift is a record used to teach parakeets to talk, which Charley thinks can do the same for Sugar and Spike. Sugar's mother reluctantly agrees, but then gives up just as the kids figure out what's expected of them. Wanting to make their favourite Uncle happy, they decide to copy the next word he says, which unfortunately for him turns out to be "Baloney". The kids' gleeful repetition of "Bawoney" at the top of their lungs earns all three of them a (completely unjustified, in my opinion) trip to the corner.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, Uncle Charley, Mrs. Plumm
Property Damage: some wet cement gets some footprint action
Sugar's treatment of Spike: drags him around by his feet

"Sure! He's our friend! And he knows he's not smart enough to learn baby-talk!... So he's trying to teach us his language!"

Sugar&Spike - The Doggie That Wasn't

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

The Doggie That Wasn't!
Sugar & Spike #48 [1963]
4 pages
Reprints: None
Dedication: Lisa Ray (age 6 months), Vancouver, via her Aunt Rayline

Spike gets agitated when another baby won't let Spike play with his imaginary dog. This time it's Sugar's turn to try to be the reasonable one. That trick never works, so she changes tactics to try to get the other kid to admit there's no dog, and failing that, chases the imaginary dog away to solve the problem. Positively King Solomon in her wisdom. Unfortunately, Solomon didn't have to deal with baby logic, which in this case just creates an imaginary giraffe.

Great little story, demonstrating one of the common dynamics of the series, Spike being the more naive, gullible and imaginative one, and Sugar being the realist who finds herself with the job, if not the right temperament, of his protector.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, unnamed small baby
Property damage: Spike's suspenders
Sugar's treatment of Spike: overall protective, in her own way, but she does drag him around by said suspenders until they snap

"There's only one way to end this nonsense!"

Sugar&Spike - Beach Nuts

The Chronicles of Sheldon Mayer's Sugar & Spike

Beach Nuts
Sugar & Spike #10 [1957]
6 pages
Reprints:  The Sugar And Spike Archives #1 [2011]
Dedication: Roberta Disano (age 10), NJ

The kids are taken to the beach, which they enjoy, and they aren't at all tired when put down for a nap so they sneak away.  When they find a pile of sand with feet sticking out if it, they come to the logical conclusion that the sand from their sandbox walked there, and begin to worry about how its going to get home.  Meanwhile, their parents finally notice they're missing, and their fathers show what courage really is.

Interesting lettering error, the man in the sand has babytalk style balloons for his speech, instead of grown-up talk.

Characters: Sugar, Spike, all four parents, unnamed man in sand and other beach-going extras
Damage: minimal, that hat filled with sand might never be the same
Sugar's treatment of Spike: he's grabbed rather harshly and thrown into the face of the man in the sand


"Did you know sand had feet?"

Sugar&Spike - The Big Word Mystery

The Chronicles of Sugar & Spike

The Big Word Mystery
Sugar & Spike #10 [1957]
6 pages
Reprints:  The Sugar And Spike Archives #1 [2011]
Dedication: Carolyn Ernest (age 8), CA

Spike explores the mystery of why some things don't stay in the air when you let them go, and others do. For some reason this gets him into trouble, but then when he repeats what his mother calls him ("Bah Boy"), she's all happy and calls over Sugar's mom to see Spike's new verbal skills. Sugar, meanwhile, demonstrates her own theories on things staying in the air if they have strings attached, resulting in a wooden duck smashing a window. Fortunately the magic words get them out of that jam, so they go out in the world to try it out some more. Their neighbour is out mowing the lawn, but thinking of skipping it to go fishing, just as the kids walk by and start calling him "Bah Boy", leading him to complain to their parents about them being mind-readers.

An excellent look at two common motifs in the stories, the kids experimenting with their version of science to find out why the world works in counter-intuitive ways and the grown-ups getting excited by the kids exhibiting verbal skills when in fact the kids have no idea what those sounds mean.

Characters: Spike, Mr. Wilson (flashback), Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Plumm, Sugar, Mr. Blodgett
Damage: baby bottle, water jug, flower vase, window (wooden duck presumed unharmed)
Punishment: slapped wrists, Spike sits in corner
Sugar's treatment of Spike: jumps off table onto his chest

Well, at first I  thought it meant, "I hate you, you're a phooey kid!"