Comic Book Cats, number 46: Felix the Cat #20, written & drawn by Otto Mesmer, published by Toby Press in May 1951.“The Shutter Bug” sees the iconic and adorable funny animal cat Felix taking up photography, with the inevitable hijinks and shenanigans resulting.
This story was apparently done by Otto Mesmer, one of the animators involved in the creation of the character back in 1919. Mesmer was the director and lead animator on the Felix the Cat animated shorts made by Pat Sullivan’s animation studio. Mesmer also played a key role in the production of the Felix the Cat newspaper comic strip from 1923 to 1943, and he worked on numerous Felix comic book stories published during the 1940s and 50s. As with a number of other properties of this type from that era, there were various assistants involved, so determining the precise credits on these stories can be a bit tricky.
In the early 1990s, Harvey Comics published a seven-issue Felix the Cat series that reprinted a number of the Otto Mesmer comic book stories. “The Shutter Bug” was reprinted in issue #4 (March 1992).
Mesmer passed away in 1983 at the age of 91. Felix the Cat is still alive & well, having passed the century mark last year, looking as young as ever. Must be those nine lives at work!
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