One of the methods we used during the Humorama Search for spanking cartoons was to examine every Humorama cover scan we could find on the theory that knowing a particular cartoon existed might help lead us to it. A low-quality scan of the August 1967 Laugh Digest cover revealed some kind of "spanker" but we couldn't make out any details clearly enough even to be sure of the artist. Later on we obtained a better scan and realized we had found Kirk Stiles' second (and presumably last) F/M cartoon.
This is a fine cartoon in most ways, better than F/M #1 which took place in an office - nice setting on a beach with a lighthouse in the background, good positioning, a girl with a very beautiful face - if only Stiles had gotten the orientation right and reversed spanker and spankee so it was M/F! It's possible the "kicking sand" rationale for the spanking was inspired by the well-known Charles Atlas bodybuilding ads in which a bully kicks sand on a skinny guy and makes off with his girl. Instead of the skinny guy building himself up, in this humorous variation the girl takes charge and teaches the bully a lesson.
Though it probably appeared inside the issue of Laugh Digest as well as on the cover, we believe Stiles had stopped contributing to Humorama by then and probably drew it between 1955 and 1960 for an unknown digest.
From the collection of Jeff Patton. Posted by the Web-Ed on 10/28/2011.
August 1967 Laugh Digest.
