Comic Book Cats, number 84: Top Cat #5, cover drawn by Ray Dirgo, published by Charlton Comics in July 1971.Animated feline Top Cat was always up to some mischief or another, often getting himself and his fellow alley cats involved in various crazy get-rich-quick schemes. Michele has disparagingly referred to Top Cat as a con artist, and I certainly cannot disagree with that assessment.
After short runs from Dell and Gold Key in the 1960s, the Top Cat comic book was published by Charlton Comics for 20 issues in the early 1970s. The cover to issue #5 sees Top Cat and his gang attempting to make an escape by bicycle from their adversary, the perennially put-upon Officer Dibble.
A native of Bridgeport CT, Ray Dirgo was a regular artist on Charlton’s various comic book adaptations of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons throughout the 1970s. He briefly returned to comic books in 1987 when he drew several Mighty Mouse stories for short-lived publisher Spotlight Comics. This cover is a good demonstration of Dirgo’s ability to emulate the animated styles of the shows.
About Author
