WolfieToons by Dave Wolfe

WolfieToons by Dave Wolfe

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Wolfie's Myth Adventures!

My fragmented attention has been needed for various family crises, and so this blog has languished unused and undusted for two months.  My apologies to any who sought fresh inspirational material and cheap thrills here.  Let's see what I can do to make it up to you. 

This week's WolfieToon at "DISCIPLINE & DESIRE" illustrates a little-known Greek myth that demonstrates the consequences of making mischief, creating chaos and confusion, and generally acting like a horse's-- well, generally misbehaving.




Yes, that is the Greek Mythological Hero Heracles,  who the Romans re-named Hercules.

The first time I encountered Hercules was via the Trans-Lux TV Cartoon in 1964;  I was eight, and Cadet Don had it on his morning kids' show on KTRK, Channel 13 in Houston, Texas!  A fella named Johnny Nash sang the rousing theme song;  he had a big hit later with "I Can See Clearly Now!"




Does this version of Herc seem familiar?  I think I know why...



In any case,. I fell in love with this cartoon.  Thought it was the coolest thing. ever.  But then,  was an easily impressed, unsophisticated eight-to-ten-year old.  Looking at it now, I see elements of goofiness that must have been irresistible to makers of TV cartoons in the Olden Days.  For instance, in the first cartoon-- Behold!  Lurking in a dark cave, seeking whom he may devour--



EEK!  Run!!  It's the JackieGleasonOsaurus!!


"And Awaaaaaaay We Go!!"

There was also this suspiciously suggestive upskirt shot the first time Herc leapt off Mount Olympus!!



Yeesh.  Well, some of you may like it.  Myself, I enjoyed the nicely-rounded bottom they gave Helena, Herc's alleged girlfriend.  But watch him go all Li'l Abner in her clutches. 





Look at his hands hanging fecklessly there!  How clueless can ya be?!
Unless you're an unsophisticated eight-to-ten year old boy..

They redesigned the characters after that first cartoon.  Helena seems a little less curvy--


--but Herc is a lot Toppier!  Look at him about to spank her!  
Well, okay, he didn't, but it sure LOOKS like he wants to! 



Now the Heracles / Hercules of ancient myth was very Toppy, and anything but clueless.  In fact, for the originators of those tales, Herc was so aggressively, impressively, and admirably masculine that he frequently had his way with any number of girl bottoms, boy bottoms, mythological monster bottoms, possum bottoms-- there was just no stopping the testosterone-mad lad!!


Not that I knew anything about that at the time.  The Trans-Lux TV cartoon drove me to the school library to check out and devour every single volume of Greek / Roman mythology on the shelves, several of which were beyond my official grade reading level.  Sexual references, implicit or explicit,  zoomed over my head unheard and unheeded.





Of course, I caught up, and when Disney re-released "Fantasia" a few years later, I knew exactly why the Centaurettes in the "The Pastoral Symphony" episode appealed to me.






As a lad, I also began to enjoy the strangely-dubbed Sword-And-Sandal movies on TV Saturday afternoons, with Hercules portrayed by Steve Reeves!!





And  Gordon Scott!!


And Alan Steel!!


Of course, there were lots of others,  which later included Lou Ferrigno and Former CA Gov Arnold!



Then came Kevin Sorbo-- the first Hercules ever to wear pants!!


On a regular basis.

Oh, and because you would expect some actual spankage on the WolfieBlog, here's an Endart drawing of Kevin Hercules' buddy Xena spanking her bosom companion Gabrielle.




There were lots of other versions of Heracles / Hercules, too, like the one appearing in Marvel Comics:




This fella fueled the frisky fantasies of one Jennifer Walters, AKA the sensational She-Hulk!



(That's by John Byrne in "The Sensational She-Hulk," Vol 2, Number 8, Cover date December 1989-- page 11!) 

Now, speaking of comics... starting in the nineties, producer / animator Bruce Timm began making TV cartoon versions of the DC heroes for Warner Bros.  After having a big hit with his "Batman" series, he decided to follow up with the biggest of them all, but was having trouble settling on a pleasing design for Superman.


That looks pretty good to me, but Bruce rejected it.

Then one of his collaborators brought in a videotape of those old and odd Trans-Lux "Hercules" cartoons, just for grins, and Bruce had a look and cried, "Eureka!":  (Or something like that.)  They copied the face exactly, which I think completed the circle!





And now, to reward the fellas for their patience thus far, here are a couple of Babes drawn by Bruce Timm.  It'll keep your... interest up. 






Oh, there was another, much better cartoon version of Hercules.  The Disney crew did it, and did it extremely well!


(Here are the Muses singing "From Zero To Hero!"  You'll catch a glimpse of Hades, who in the rest of the flick is played to perfection by James Woods.) 




Well, maybe all this will whet your appetite for ancient pop culture.  



(Eros, also called Cupid, and Pysche.)

So next time you're cruising the library for racy reading material




you could try a good version of Greek / Roman Mythology.  You might find something to spark your interest.




The Original Top:  Zeus / Jupiter, wielding a really wicked whip!






11 comments:

  1. Any idea what's happened to Endart? It was nice to see you reproducing one of his drawings here.

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  2. Hiya, Tony!-

    Endart had retired from his spanking-art web-page and consignments to attend to his personal life, work, and other art projects. I haven't heard from him since, and trust that all is well and life is good! Meanwhile his unique creations are still being enjoyed across the "Inter-Webs!"

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  3. I wish him well too, of course - but miss his work... just wondered if it appears anywhere under another name

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  4. Welcome back, DW!

    Just look at this boatload of Hercs!

    Oh, Heracles, Theracles, everywhere a Hercules!

    Yep, I can see the consequences of mischief making - look at Calli giggling it up! hehehe!

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    Replies
    1. "Heracles, Theracles, everywhere a Hercules!"

      Insert ROFL Guy and Applause Smiley here!!

      Thank you very much, lovely Larken! I thought you might enjoy that passel of perfect pecs!

      Y'know, Calli is a very poor example for cheeky lasses considering mischief; for a hide-tanning might be a more serious matter for tenderer bottoms! ;-)

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  5. I loved the latest Disney movie Hercules. Now "Zero to Hero" is going to be in my head all day! Love the toon!

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    1. It's a catchy tune, eh, Lea? "Who put the Glad in Gladiator? HERcuLES!!" Anytime I can share an "earworm," it's a good day! :-D Thank you, glad you like the 'toon!

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  6. Very glad to see you back, Wolfie. I missed you! <3 <--- is supposed to be a heart.

    Did anyone else read "spark your interest" as "spank" your interest? C'mone, 'fess up.

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    Replies
    1. Aw, thanks, Kaki! (Yeah, I don't know why Blogger doesn't like animated emoticons.)

      Yep... they all read it that way. Every one.

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  7. DW! Great to see you back and you are no longer languishing, unused and undusted, but in tip Top spanking form. Er, I meant your blog was languishing, unused and undusted.

    I remember watching those old Trans-Lux Hercules cartoons as a kid! Haven't thought of them in years. And like you they also sent me to the library searching out Greek and Roman Mythology books. I read everything I could about the gods and their shenanigans and wasn't till years later I got the deeper and more adult meanings. Also loved those Saturday, cheesy, badly dubbed Hercules movies. JEEZE, we really are brothers from other mothers.

    OOH, really love the Bruce Timm artwork. Thanks for turning us on to it.

    JackieGleasonOsaurus!! - LOL That's the funny, punny and witty DW we all love and miss.

    Welcome back, good friend, welcome back.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you very much indeed, Mike!!

      I'm always delighted to find out how much we have in common!

      You must remember the old Roman story of Euripides, whose mother declared, "Euripides pants again, I'm-a no gonna sew 'em up for you!"

      But I forgot which of the denizens of Olympus was the God or Goddess of Shenanigans. Maybe it was Imputa. Imputa, mother of Callipygia.

      I like Bruce Timm's stuff, too-- he has whole books out now of his cheesecake art, "Naughty And Nice," Volumes One through Forty or something. But he always used to make the women on his TV cartoons very appealing on many levels, too!

      Many thanks again, Mike!

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