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COMICS WITH PROBLEMS #24 - D-Doh-D-DON'T BRUISE THAT PIG!

(Unsure of date - 1940s or 50s)



man, what an unfortunate and unintended history reference.

W e were preparing issue 23 of comics with problems today (February 17-18 '08) when news of the largest meat recall in U.S. history came across the wires. The root cause of the recall? Animal abuse, and the blending of bruised animals with otherwise safe meat. It reminded us immediately of "Easy Does It", an extremely obscure gutbusting advocacy pamphlet on animal mistreatment that we've been holding onto for a while now. So, given the current events we've decided to bump this comic forward from its cue in line and post two problems today: issue 23 along with this one, issue 24.

"Easy Does It" is one of the weirdest items ever produced. Want the joke? It is an animal rights pamphlet intended for slaughterhouses . It's one of our favorite unknown archive documents, and now seems like as good time a time as any to post it. Full scans below. The basic thought behind this very early Swift & Company booklet is to be nice to livestock because harming them bruises the merchandise and affects profits. Fine enough message. But it was the attempt to 'cheer it up' by framing things in a Disney-like comic book message that makes this booklet so damn nuts. I mean just look down there at the cover with that pig getting slapped on its ass, Smiling, like it's in on the joke! We're dealing with a lot of gruesome brutal harm here, all put to a really strange laugh track. It's funny, or it isn't, but here are pages and pages of happy farm animals getting their necks snapped, slapped around by clubs, whips, forks, electric prods, rakes, nails. They lose limbs, are shoved into walls, trampled, You name it. But this isn't a PETA brochure, AGAIN, this is a slaughterhouse one ! One truly unique anti-cruelty booklet that completely confuses what is normally a pretty cut and dried two-sided issue. And it's likely you will never see anything else like it.

So, Presenting a great pamphlet on animal mistreatment - But for Reasons You Won't Expect! It's EASY DOES IT

Here you go, beneath the jump, large scans of the whole thing.

Note: Pardon the rough presentation. I will have this in normal Comics With Problems format in a week or so, in the meantime click on each thumbnail for a larger view - Thanks, Ethan (main archive index)



















T-Th-That's ALL FOLKS!

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