Thursday, March 02, 2006
Questions for the Think Tank
Some questions that have me confounded:
* above you see the Blade Winters Sunday for 2/22/53. This was the last installment in the only two papers I've found that ran it this long. But the storyline is obviously in full swing. Does anyone know of later ones? Also regarding Blade Winters, why would the writer change (from Lafe Thomas to Ed Jurist) on the last few weeks of the strip?
* Betty by C.A. Voight. This great pretty girl strip ended on 4/6/1930 after a run of over a decade. When the strip came to a halt it was still in plenty of papers. Then, over six years later, on 11/1/36, the strip reappeared and ran another 7 years. Anyone know why the hiatus?
* Similar question about Mortimer by Crawford Young. After running in 1929-30 it disappeared, then came back in 1935 for one more year. Why?
* Coming into modern times, why did Greg Howard leave the Sally Forth strip in 1998?
* What happened to the TV show spin-off comic strip of The Simpsons? I know it had some sort of one year contract, and since papers dropped it like a hot potato after a few weeks, that 1999-2000 run is very rare. But it was listed in E&P right through 2003. Was there more? Where did it run?
* Has anyone else noticed that Denis LeBrun is no longer credited on Blondie? Wha' hoppen?
* Okay, here's more of a philosophical question. Why is it that for many years (since the 80s I believe) King Features has offered a special service of strips for weekly papers (like The Spats, RFD, Mama's Boyz and Amber Waves), but they've never listed them in Editor & Publisher, never mention them in their advertising, don't feature them on their website? They got cooties, or what?
Comments:
Ed Jurist is a real person, but a writer - on the staff at Timely in the late 40s, wrote Batman per his daughter, switched to TV in the 50s - his daughter (Libby Titus) made some records in the 70s - one of which sold well
# posted by 
: 3/02/2006 8:43 PM
: 3/02/2006 8:43 PM
Dadblame it, your right Stephen. I misread my notes. Ed Jurist is credited as writer on the final weeks of the strip (replacing one Lafe Thomas). Even curiouser, I say. Why bring in a new writer just as you're killing the strip?
re: Denis Lebrun -
According to R.C.Harvey's Sept. 18, 2005
e-column Denis Lebrun did the dailies
through August 27, 2005.
John Marshall (an assistant since 2002)
did the Aug. 29 - Sept. 3 dailies.
Jeff Parker (an asistant since 1996)
did the Sept. 5 - Sept. 10 dailies.
[It really wasn't clear if Parker
assisted Marshall and if Marshall
assisted Parker on their runs.]
Then John Marshall has done the
dailies since Sept. 12, 2005.
Lebrun did the Sundays until the big
Sept. 4, 2005 anniversary strip.
Since Sept. 12 John Marshall has been
the Sunday artist.
No word on why Lebrun quit the strip,
but Jeff Parker quit with Lebrun.
It seems Dean Young prefers people to
think he is doing everything and so
not giving Marshall a credit.
D.D.Degg
According to R.C.Harvey's Sept. 18, 2005
e-column Denis Lebrun did the dailies
through August 27, 2005.
John Marshall (an assistant since 2002)
did the Aug. 29 - Sept. 3 dailies.
Jeff Parker (an asistant since 1996)
did the Sept. 5 - Sept. 10 dailies.
[It really wasn't clear if Parker
assisted Marshall and if Marshall
assisted Parker on their runs.]
Then John Marshall has done the
dailies since Sept. 12, 2005.
Lebrun did the Sundays until the big
Sept. 4, 2005 anniversary strip.
Since Sept. 12 John Marshall has been
the Sunday artist.
No word on why Lebrun quit the strip,
but Jeff Parker quit with Lebrun.
It seems Dean Young prefers people to
think he is doing everything and so
not giving Marshall a credit.
D.D.Degg
# posted by : 3/04/2006 6:42 PM
: 3/04/2006 6:42 PM
re: The Simpsons -
Though I can't verify them, my records
show the strip ran as a full page (but
all the examples I saw were reduced)
from Sept. 5, 1999 - Sept. 3, 2000.
[These strips first appeared as part of
The Times (of London) special Saturday
section beginning Jan. 9, 1999.]
The second run, which I have never seen,
supposedly ran May 6, 2001 - Dec. 28,
2003, this was a 1/3 page feature.
Both runs syndicated by UPS.
I need verification of all the above.
D.D.Degg
Though I can't verify them, my records
show the strip ran as a full page (but
all the examples I saw were reduced)
from Sept. 5, 1999 - Sept. 3, 2000.
[These strips first appeared as part of
The Times (of London) special Saturday
section beginning Jan. 9, 1999.]
The second run, which I have never seen,
supposedly ran May 6, 2001 - Dec. 28,
2003, this was a 1/3 page feature.
Both runs syndicated by UPS.
I need verification of all the above.
D.D.Degg
# posted by : 3/04/2006 9:35 PM
: 3/04/2006 9:35 PM
Hey, DD, thanks for the Blondie info. I went and found Harv's essay on the matter. Problem with that guy is that he writes faster than I can read. I'd forgive him if he didn't write so damn well, too....
Allan
Allan
Re: Blade Winters: I have Ed Jurist as a signed writer on the 1952-12-38 Sunday, so it may have been a case of late acknowledgement by the paper.
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