Tuesday, April 24, 2007

 

Sponsored Comics: Doc Pipps


Here's Doc Pipps by Andy Hickok. My guess is that this is actually Henry Boltinoff working undercover. What say you?

I received a pair of messages today that I'll pass along. From Alberto Becattini:

Just a quick note on "Laura Good". Whereas I don't know who Veleri
was, I do know that the feature was inked by Ellis Eringer, an artist
who also inked Donald Duck syndicated strips and quite a lot of Disney
Comics produced by the Disney Studio for foreign consumption in 1963-
68. Another thing I seem to remember is that Zeke Zekley was involved in
the production of Family Comics, along with George McManus's brother,
whose first name I can't recall at the moment. Zekley was Geo.
McManus's assistant/ghost on "Bringing Up Father" for decades (circa
1936-54).


And from Bob Foster:

Zeke Zekeley, famous for his art on Bringing Up Father, was the man behind Sponsored Comics. He had an office in Beverly Hills, and that may be the address for the office you're talking about. Zeke knew a lot of cartoonists and artists in the animation business. A lot of those artists also did comic books and strips. The art that looks like Al Wiseman may, in fact, be that of Lee Holley (Ponytail) who worked in animation before becoming an assistant for Ketcham. Norman Maurer also worked in animation. The animation business is comprised of many names familiar to both animation buffs and comic strip fans alike. Such overlap includes Russ Manning, Willie Ito, Iwao Takamoto, Bob Singer, Norman Maurer, Lee Holley, Mike Ahrens, Moe Gollub, Tom Warkentin, Bill Lignante, Mel Keefer, Alex Toth, Dan Speigle, to name a few that come to mind.


McManus' brother was Charles. Zekley was certainly in Beverly Hills, and did contribute to the section (his contribution has yet to be shown on the blog), so it's definitely a possibility. I tried to interview Zekley once but was politely but firmly told no by his handlers, the guys who were selling his art. I think R.C. Harvey said once that he was going to, or did, interview him. I'll check in with Harv. As for Lee Holley, unless he had vastly differing styles up his sleeve there's no way he was responsible for Happy Days 1969. Thanks very much to both of you for your insights!

# posted by Allan Holtz @ 9:49 AM
Comments:
Hi,

I see no sign of Boltinoff here and his style usually is very recognizable. Bob Foster's list is very interesting and may hold the names we are looking for. Mike Ahrens also worked for Boy's Life, didn't he? Moe Gollub worked as a cartoonist. I just glanced over hios name today looking for some old Hart cartoons.

Oh and if you are in contact with Bob Foster... does he remember giving a set of copies of Alex Toth army strip Jon Fury to dutch Disney artist Michel Nadorp? Maybe he wants to share them with you as well...
# posted by Blogger Ger Apeldoorn : 4/24/2007 3:53 PM
 
"Henry Boltinoff all the way!" that's what I thought before I read your comments.

Or Chelly Myer. No, forget I said that.

BTW, what is a elderly Dale Evens doing in that Laura Good strip?

Best,
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 4/24/2007 8:15 PM
 
A quick google resulted into finding this original...

http://comicstripfan.com/newspaper/d/docpipps.htm
# posted by Blogger Ger Apeldoorn : 4/25/2007 12:22 AM
 
I first didnt think it was Boltinoff as there were a variety of surface things (like the circles under the eyes) that didnt ring Botinoff -- but
yes that Kid's profile is classic Boltinoff....
case of Boltinoff trying to disguise his style? pencils only? a good imitator?

and I agree, that other strip isnt Lee Holley (or even Frank Hill).

oh, could some of these guys worked on the Wham-O comic book?
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 4/25/2007 6:48 AM
 
I'm no art IDer, but I gotta take Ger's side here. The close-up profile of the kid is the only sorta Boltinoff I see at all. The triangular noses, the hands and fingers, and even the same kid, but in the background, with his pie-slice-shaped mouth shout NotBoltinoff to me.
# posted by Blogger Unknown : 4/25/2007 6:19 PM
 
Hi. My father was a cartoonist in the 1940's-1963. Before he was able to get his own comic strips published, he worked for many other publishers of famous comic strips like Mary Worth, Dick Tracy etc. He always said that if an artist wanted to earn a living, an artist had to learn to mimic the style of successful artists.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 4/12/2024 2:34 AM
 
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