Wednesday, March 29, 2006

 

Are You a Comic Strip Expert? Contest Today!


Back to regular posts today, and we're starting off with a fun one!

I found this advertisement in the September 21, 1935 issue of Editor & Publisher. The ad isn't all that interesting, except that down at the bottom they list the winners of a popularity contest conducted by the Dallas Journal. Only Ella Cinders and Back Home Again are named, the others identified only by their initials. Seems to me, you'd want to let editors know the strips you beat out ("Hmm ... Ella Cinders was twice as popular with readers as this strip I'm running in my paper. Maybe I should switch?").

Anyhow, marketing strategy aside, naturally we wonder what the other features are. I've identified them all (not without using a bit of noggin juice, I promise you), so I'm making a contest out of it. First person to correctly identify all seven features will win one of my coveted goodie packages shipped to their door; goodies to include all sorts of rare and unusual comics related cool vintage stuff.

In case the image isn't sharp enough, here are the titles:

M - - - M - - - - - -
S - - - - - O - - - - - - -
S - - - - - E - - - - -
T - - B - - - - - F - - - - -
B - - - - - - B - - -
J - - P - - - - - -
S - - R - - - -

I'll even give you a few hints:

1. One of the features is a panel cartoon series, not a comic strip.

2. One of the features was local at the time, but later was nationally syndicated.

3. One of the feature titles shown here as two words was actually supposed to be a one word title, but many papers ran it with the title shown as two words.

Well, that's it. Good luck to you. Contest remains open until someone comes up with all the right answers or in a month when I'll give up on you guys and post the answers.

# posted by Allan Holtz @ 3:41 AM
Comments:
I understand the "true" quiz is the
S----- E---- character.
(NOTE: you copied it with five dashes after the E. In the original ther are 4 dashes)

The other characters possibly are:

Moon Mullins
Screen Oddities (the panel)
The Bungle Family
Broncho Bill
Joe Palooka
Sky Roads (or, correctly, "Skyroads")

Concerning "S E" - Just trying to guess:

If the spaces after the "E" were 5, there's a very very very
remote possibility of an early pre 1939 version of "Spence Easley", because the series was drawn by Jack Patton, and Jack Patton worked for the Dallas Journal in the '30s.

Anyway, I surrender on the S E matter
Alfredo
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 3/29/2006 1:44 PM
 
I had all the same as Alfredo, except for Screen Oddities (nice one, Alfredo).

I too am stumped with the S...E.... and am guessing that it is "Sister Something" as in My Sister Eileen.

Segerr Elseee?
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 3/29/2006 1:52 PM
 
Well, despite Alfredo's protestations that he can't be right, he is. Congrats Alfredo! Regarding the number of letters in "Easley", there is actually another dash on the original ad, it was just rather faint and didn't survive the lo-res imaging.

Geez, I thought this contest would last longer than just a matter of hours! I'm going to have to think up something REAL hard!

Alfredo, email me your address and I'll start putting together a goodie bag!

--Allan
# posted by Blogger Allan Holtz : 3/29/2006 3:22 PM
 
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