Tom And Jerry Meet Mr. Fingers Review

Back in the 60s, 1967 in this case, Whitman Publishing had a long line of these pocket sized Big Little Books for kids that were tie-ins to some of the most well-known characters and shows of the day.
Bonaza, Tarzan, Looney Tunes, Dick Tracy, Popeye, and oh so many more.

Well, luckily for me, when Ma was a wee lass she got a couple of these, which I have now become the caretaker for.
I’ve had this one for roughly a decade and I’ve never read it…that ends now, gang.
Strap in, cause we are taking a journey through time!

This is your official ***SPOILER ALERT*** that has many decades in the making.
Act accordingly.

Tom Cat & Jerry Mouse are spending some time together watching their favorite TV Show, “Agent Six And Seven-Eighths, The Nemesis Of The Underworld”.
At the commercial break, Tom goes for some cereal and muses he could be a Secret Agent himself, Jerry disagrees.
A breaking news story tells of plane wings being sabotaged and highways being destroyed by foreign agents, giving Tom his shot to prove himself as a spy.

Okay, I will admit that it is a bit unfair to judge this by the same standards that I would judge a Star Trek, Star Wars, Kevin J Anderson, or any other type of book that you’ve seen me review these past few years.
But at the same time I also think it is unfair to go easy on it simply because it’s a kids book.
That is my incredibly long winded way of saying that, while enjoyable, this is far from a flawless or even expertly plotted and written story.

First and foremost, I’m automatically turned off when you have Tom and Jerry talking.
I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t work.
I don’t care how many times over the decades people have tried, it always comes off like somebody was trying to make something other than Tom & Jerry but they were strong armed into using these icons instead.
So right from the jump, we’re behind the eight ball.

My other major problem would be with the sort of circular and persistent running bit of the duo heading to the angry police chief for help only to have him quickly dismiss their shenanigans and run them off.
I think it only happened about 3 times, but in a book that runs 124 pages (it’s actually 248, but half of those are drawings) it feels like they spend more time getting bitched out by some pissy copper than they do trying to figure out this problem.
I think this may have been an issue of writer and artist Carl Fallberg (a long time animator, and also a director on The New Scooby-Doo Movies) trying to hit a specific page count on what basically adds up to a strangely formatted comic book.

Something I do like though is when Tom & Jerry team-up against a common enemy.
It’s a great way to break from the norm without changing the essence of the characters themselves.
Them hatching hair-brained schemes to stop the nefarious saboteur, one of which includes making a sticky football out of bubble gum.
It’s a fun twist that doesn’t force Fallberg to just describe a cat and mouse beating the bejesus out of each other for 100+ pages.

Look, gang, I know I spent a lot of this review complaining, but it’s a pretty damn fun romp that does feel a bit like the more farcical episodes of something like Fraiser or even like Clue, there’s a lot of running around.
I can see a kid loving this, no problem.
The pictures are definitely drawn by a dude who understands cartoons and their various styles.
I’m glad this survived so that I could take a look at it.

Let us know what you think of this review in the comments below or share this post on Twitter with the Hashtag #TNBBookReview.

Special thanks to @ACFerrell1976 for her continued editorial assistance.

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And finally, given the state of the world, do what you can to leave it a little bit better than you found it.
As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.