John George Brown, American
“Hmm, What Do You Call a Dog Who Just Sits There in One Place? I’ve Got It! Spot!,” Date Unknown
Oil on canvas
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Artist info is pointed to in my comment at another blog entry.
/// Underdog finds himself In the Hands
of the Enemy. He understands.
(Secret identity
known as “Shoeshine Boy.”) He
must comply with these bootblacks’ demands.
/// They are poor and don’t want competition
from a dog. If he earns their suspicion
that he talks and flies, too,
(on his chest a big “U”),
he must give up his crime-fighting mission.
/// Mess with Underdog and you will lose.
(He fights crime when he’s not shining shoes.)
With a rhyme and a laugh
he will lock up Riff-Raff,
in his blue cape and red Underoos.
/// “Shoeshine” worked out a deal with the boys;
he’ll give up his job (which he enjoys).
And they want him to chew
on each passerby’s shoe.
He’ll be paid for each shine he destroys.
/// With the boys, the dog made a good team.
Shoes he slobbered on, they would make gleam.
Every shine he’d demolish,
the two bootblacks would polish.
It was like a Bar-Sinister scheme.
/// When he’s Underdog, Shoeshine solves crimes,
but he vandalized shoes other times.
Still, the weirdest detail
of this shaggy-dog tale:
When he spoke, he spoke only in rhymes.
// When that dog speaks in couplets he rocks,
while defeating ten muscle-bound jocks.
Rhyming skills are a treat.
Meter cannot be beat.
And his voice sounds just like Wally Cox.