Tuesday, December 12, 2006
H.T. Webster Early Work
Being a big fan of H.T. Webster, I'm pleased to show off one of his earliest syndicated works. In 1903-04 Webbie contributed to the syndicated daily page of comics produced by the Chicago Daily News; mostly he did one-shots, like this one, but he did log in a few very short-lived series.
Although the gag in this strip is pretty thin, I think you'll agree that the artwork is very impressive for a 19-year old fledgling cartoonist. Who could have doubted his destiny as one of the greats of cartooning when he could produce material like this at such a young age.
According to Ron Goulart in Encyclopedia of American Comics, Webster produced sports cartoons out in Denver Colorado before he came back to Chicago looking for work. Has anyone seen any?
