GORDO in the COMICS

There have been very few collected editions of Gus Arriola's Gordo, but in the 1940s the strip shared space with other United Feature newspaper stars -- Li'l Abner, Fritzi Ritz, the Captain and the Kids and others -- in Tip Top Comics.

Some of the issues of Tip Top Comics which featured Gordo, minus a cover mention.

The strip's earliest years were reprinted in full color, in whole or in part, and occasionally with extended panels to fill the width of the comic book page. The colors and additional art were created in-house at United Feature and St.John's Publications, two of the three publishers of Tip Top Comics (Dell picked up the title after Gordo was no longer a feature). 

Here's Gordo's debut in Tip Top #83. Compare it to the debut strip, below, in its original compressed black and white:

Gordo never scored a cover appearance in Tip Top in thirty-plus appearances, although the strip's debut is announced beneath Abner and Mammy Yokum's big-toed boots on the cover of Tip Top Comics #83:

In addition to appearances in Tip Top Comics (83-107, 110, 111, 131-150 and 152), Gordo was also reprinted in other United Feature titles, Sparkle Comics #28 and the final three issues of Nancy and Sluggo (143-145). 

Gordo reprints in Tip Top and other comics eventually catch up with the Sundays, such as with this August 1947 strip:

Gordo's last hurrah in comics is also the strip's only solo outing. Comics Revue #5 sported a full Gordo logo, a dedicated original cover, and uninterrupted Gordo content on the interior (although it reprinted material that had appeared earlier in Tip Top). An attractive package from start to finish and one of the nicer Gordo collectibles:

Check out ComicBook+ for a downloadable copy of Comics Revue #5 featuring Gordo