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Ever since I first saw the snarling, bad-tempered little creep gnawing his way through a Bugs Bunny cartoon some thirty-odd years ago I became a fan of the nasty creature in both its cartoon and real life forms. As a student, I poured over books on carnivorous marsupials, wrote long, boring papers about the habits of dasyurus, sarcophilus and thylacinus (did I mention they were pretentious papers, too?) and haunted Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology to research marsupial skin and bone samples (no easy feat as I was actually attending at Emerson College at the time). In the mid-eighties I donated a thousand dollars to the Los Angeles Zoo to help them purchase a breeding pair of Tasmanian devils, though Mark Evanier later told me I could have gotten Mel Blanc himself for just five hundred. I've even taken two photo safaris to Tasmania to stalk the devil (and its much more elusive cousin the thylacine) in its natural habitat. While on my second trip down under I came upon a fresh-killed devil (the loser in a fight with an off-road Land Rover) which led me to briefly consider packing the intact corpse in dry ice and smuggling it back to a taxidermist in the states. The fact I am writing this from my desk at home and not an Australian jail cell tells you I thought better of that stunt.

So as I've said, the Tasmanian devil, in all its incarnations, has always been a big favorite of mine. You can then imagine my excitement when at age seventeen I walked into an Oakland comic book shop and saw a mylar bagged copy of TASMANIAN DEVIL AND HIS TASTY FRIENDS #1 (and only) on display behind the counter. I couldn't believe it. Someone actually had the presence of mind to put the greatest cartoon character ever into his own comic?!? How long had this been going on? As it turned out, not long at all. TD&HTF was a Gold Key one-shot from November, 1962. In the early sixties the popularity of Taz was nothing like it is now. The character had only been in five Warner Bros. shorts and wouldn't be widely merchandised until the mid-eighties. The old comic was going for the then lordly sum of $15.00, far out of my teen-geek budget. Yet all was not lost. I had with me a three-day Star Trek convention pass with two days remaining and the storeowner took it as an even swap. (Ah, remember when fan/retailer relations were like that? No? Well, maybe the dude was stoned. Anyway, I got the book.)

As for the comic itself, it's good funny Looney Tunes stuff. Tired of Bugs' constant raids on his carrot patch, Elmer Fudd purchases the Tasmanian devil to guard his garden. The ravenous devil quickly breaks loose, then goes on a feeding frenzy, threatening Daffy, Sylvester, Tweety and most of the other Looney Tunes in turn. The best moment is when Taz briefly allies himself with Wile E, Coyote in order to capture the Roadrunner. Rather than waste time on an elaborate plan, Taz simply spins up to the pesky bird and grabs him. Never thought of that one, didja, soopah-genius?

ODDBALL Factoid - How cool is that cover? Bugs, Tweety and Daffy look oddly resigned to the fact they're about to become devil chow. After having everything from dynamite turkeys to inflatable life rafts shoved down his gut, it's nice to see Taz ready to enjoy a well-balanced meal for a change.

For those of you who just can't wait for Christmas, look for JINGLE BELLE: THE MIGHTY ELVES, a 32-page one-shot (created and written by Paul and drawn by Jason Bone) from Oni Press, this upcoming July 18! ­ SS!

For more from Scott Shaw!, visit his Web site at http://www.shawcartoons.com/.

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