Sunday, September 30, 2007
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Herriman Saturday
In the run-up to the November election, Herriman was charged with keeping up the attack on the Southern Pacific and its minions to the exclusion of all else. These cartoons are from October 13, 15, 16, 17th, 1906.Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Comments:
When you consider the final results of the election, the cartoons are sort of odd.
# posted by 
: 9/30/2007 4:13 PM
: 9/30/2007 4:13 PM
Hi Sister Sunshine, happy to welcome a new visitor!
Eric, now don't go ruining the suspense for me. I don't read ahead on these cartoons.
--Allan
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Eric, now don't go ruining the suspense for me. I don't read ahead on these cartoons.
--Allan
Friday, September 28, 2007
Obscurity of the Day: The Adventures of Bill
The prolific Jay Jackson was one of the finest cartoonists to work in the black press. Unfortunately the short-lived Adventures of Bill doesn't show him at anywhere near his best, probably because Jackson really loved drawing beautiful women and they were mostly absent from this storyline.The weekly strip ran in the Chicago Defender from March 17 to September 29 1934. Bill's adventures, which swung widely between light-hearted material as in our sample, and earnest drama, usually revolved around boxing, and were pretty derivative of Joe Palooka.
Jackson's wife Mabel is believed to have done a lot of the writing on his features, but this strip was one of the few in which she was granted credit.
Labels: Obscurities
Thursday, September 27, 2007
News of Yore: Jailbird Turns Cartoonist
Sunday 'Herman' Strip For Nov. 2 Release(E&P, 1952)
Clyde Lamb, who parlayed a 25-year sentence at the Indiana State Penitentiary into a successful career as a syndicated cartoonist, enters the Sunday field Nov. 2 with a one-third page full-color version of his "Herman" strip. The pantomime gag feature is distributed by the Register and Tribune Syndicate.
Mr. Lamb started the daily "Herman" strip three years ago, after his release from prison. He had begun drawing gag cartoons while serving time. The syndicate reports he is now "a highly respected citizen in his community, just as 'Herman' is a highly respected character on the pages of newspapers."
Labels: News of Yore
Comments:
So is this new feature coming out or a commentary on an older cartoon--I'm slightly confused here! Especially since there is already a single panel daily called Herman.
Hi Mamafrog - All News of Yore items on the blog are news stories from the past. Please note the year listed under the headline.
--Allan
--Allan
The secret stories of cartoonists! I wonder what Lamb did to get a 25 year sentence....
Here is a listing of paperbacks that are known that reprinted his material (or new material by him)... I am just listing the dates of the earliest known printings for each series #, not later printings...
Title Imprint Series # 1st Release Date of Series#
Best Cartoons CREST BOOKS 114 1955
Best Cartoons CREST BOOKS 390 July 1960
Best Cartoons CREST BOOKS K714 May 1964
The Best Cartoons from Argosy ZENITH BOOKS ZB5 October 1958
Cartoon Fun GOLD MEDAL 383 March 1954
Cartoon Fun GOLD MEDAL 904 1959
Cartoon Fun GOLD MEDAL S1209 c January 1962
Cartoon Fun GOLD MEDAL S1498 1964
A Cartoon Guide To The Kinsey Report AVON BOOKS 559 1954
Cartoon Treasury BANTAM BOOKS F1558 January 1957
Forever Funny DELL FIRST EDITION 93 1956
Funny Side Up DELL BOOKS 607 1952
Jokes and More Jokes SCHOLASTIC BOOK SERVICES T-32 ?
Laughing on the Inside DELL BOOKS 754 1953
Nervous In The Service DELL FIRST EDITION 6298 December 1962
Office Laffs CREST BOOKS 159 February 1957
The Other Woman DELL FIRST EDITION A178 April 1959
Sex Rears Its Lovely Head BANTAM BOOKS 1523 October 1956
Still Too Funny For Words DELL BOOKS 8286 April 1964
Too Funny For Words A Book For People Who Can’t Read DELL FIRST EDITION 39 1954
Too Humorous to Mention POCKET BOOKS 1200 October 1958
Here is a listing of paperbacks that are known that reprinted his material (or new material by him)... I am just listing the dates of the earliest known printings for each series #, not later printings...
Title Imprint Series # 1st Release Date of Series#
Best Cartoons CREST BOOKS 114 1955
Best Cartoons CREST BOOKS 390 July 1960
Best Cartoons CREST BOOKS K714 May 1964
The Best Cartoons from Argosy ZENITH BOOKS ZB5 October 1958
Cartoon Fun GOLD MEDAL 383 March 1954
Cartoon Fun GOLD MEDAL 904 1959
Cartoon Fun GOLD MEDAL S1209 c January 1962
Cartoon Fun GOLD MEDAL S1498 1964
A Cartoon Guide To The Kinsey Report AVON BOOKS 559 1954
Cartoon Treasury BANTAM BOOKS F1558 January 1957
Forever Funny DELL FIRST EDITION 93 1956
Funny Side Up DELL BOOKS 607 1952
Jokes and More Jokes SCHOLASTIC BOOK SERVICES T-32 ?
Laughing on the Inside DELL BOOKS 754 1953
Nervous In The Service DELL FIRST EDITION 6298 December 1962
Office Laffs CREST BOOKS 159 February 1957
The Other Woman DELL FIRST EDITION A178 April 1959
Sex Rears Its Lovely Head BANTAM BOOKS 1523 October 1956
Still Too Funny For Words DELL BOOKS 8286 April 1964
Too Funny For Words A Book For People Who Can’t Read DELL FIRST EDITION 39 1954
Too Humorous to Mention POCKET BOOKS 1200 October 1958
# posted by : 10/07/2007 8:11 PM
: 10/07/2007 8:11 PM
Allan and Ray,
Lamb went to prison in Michigan City, Indiana, for armed robbery in 1942. He was released in 1947. Instead of the Birdman of Alcatraz, he was kind of the Cartoonist of Michigan City.
TH
Lamb went to prison in Michigan City, Indiana, for armed robbery in 1942. He was released in 1947. Instead of the Birdman of Alcatraz, he was kind of the Cartoonist of Michigan City.
TH
# posted by : 8/09/2008 6:32 PM
: 8/09/2008 6:32 PM
Thanks TH -- even Lamb's relatives have emailed me about this post claiming he didn't go to prison. Thanks for giving us the details!
--Allan
--Allan
Allan, I found more information over the last 2 years in my ancestry searches. I believe your note above was in response to our emails?
I am the grand-daugther of Gladys Lamb who was married to Clyde
I found some newspaper stories on Gladys lamb and clyde lamb
I've reconstructed the story from various newspaper articles below
according to newspaper articles in the hammond times hammond indiana (outside of chicago) gladys married clyde lamb aug 4 1934 he was 25 years old.
he was convicted on sep 4 1934 of 3robberies and sentenced to 25 years he was allowed to visit gladys in april 1935 who was "ill" and he didnt return, he escaped from the guard at train station and ran in front of a train and got away.
In July 1935 he was caught and put back in prison but not before he was shot by a police officer.
Gladys filed for divorce on sep 1 1937. the divorce was granted on Nov 1 1937
she gave birth to joan my mother on June 30 1938.
Gladys told me he was the love of her life. They were artists with a passion for life - she used to help him come up with ideas while he worked. I could tell you which strips are her ideas and which are his. I lived with her for 5 years as a teenager.
according to the birth
certificate of joan my mother her father (gladys 2nd husband?) was clyde barker but I am unable to locate any information on clyde barker anywhere in the US - I dont think he exsisted.
I am looking for that and more information on Clyde Lambs release date from prison. Gladys remarried him after his release - he died in 1966 according to what Gladys told me and she never remarried. Gladys died in 1983 in Arizona.
I do have some of his original work that was given to me from Glady's estate.
if you have questions you can email me at
luv_classic_rock@yahoo.com
Kathy N
Post a Comment
I am the grand-daugther of Gladys Lamb who was married to Clyde
I found some newspaper stories on Gladys lamb and clyde lamb
I've reconstructed the story from various newspaper articles below
according to newspaper articles in the hammond times hammond indiana (outside of chicago) gladys married clyde lamb aug 4 1934 he was 25 years old.
he was convicted on sep 4 1934 of 3robberies and sentenced to 25 years he was allowed to visit gladys in april 1935 who was "ill" and he didnt return, he escaped from the guard at train station and ran in front of a train and got away.
In July 1935 he was caught and put back in prison but not before he was shot by a police officer.
Gladys filed for divorce on sep 1 1937. the divorce was granted on Nov 1 1937
she gave birth to joan my mother on June 30 1938.
Gladys told me he was the love of her life. They were artists with a passion for life - she used to help him come up with ideas while he worked. I could tell you which strips are her ideas and which are his. I lived with her for 5 years as a teenager.
according to the birth
certificate of joan my mother her father (gladys 2nd husband?) was clyde barker but I am unable to locate any information on clyde barker anywhere in the US - I dont think he exsisted.
I am looking for that and more information on Clyde Lambs release date from prison. Gladys remarried him after his release - he died in 1966 according to what Gladys told me and she never remarried. Gladys died in 1983 in Arizona.
I do have some of his original work that was given to me from Glady's estate.
if you have questions you can email me at
luv_classic_rock@yahoo.com
Kathy N
# posted by : 1/11/2009 5:05 PM
: 1/11/2009 5:05 PM Wednesday, September 26, 2007
A Carl Ed Treasure
Courtesy of Rob Stolzer today we have a Carl Ed presentation piece (at least I think it's a presentation piece). Ed, which is pronounced "eed" by the way, was the creator of the long-running Harold Teen strip. At some point he did this delightful piece, now in Stolzer's collection, showing the various strips he'd done.
At far left we have the strip Ben, which Ed calls here Big Ben for reasons unknown. It was a
strip for which I could not, until seeing this piece, determine the syndicate. Thanks to this art
I now know that it was another of those forays that World Color Printing made into the daily arena. It ran from 1911-1914, and Ed was only one of three cartoonists to sign it at various times. Ed was not the first to work on the strip; that minor distinction is held by a fellow who signed his work Herrmann. I've never been able to determine his first name.
Luke McGlook is another WCP daily, one that I have only seen in reprint runs in the 20s and 30s (WCP was always trying to resell old material). When not signed by Carl Ed, the sig on this one was "Budsee".
The Tener Alley Gang is a new one on me, not surprising considering that I have yet to be able to get my hands on microfilm for the Chicago Evening American. I wonder if these were characters from a strip or might they have been the icons from sports cartoons? Anybody know more about these kids?
Best of all in my eyes is the caricature of this R.S. Grable fellow. He was apparently the syndicate manager at World Color Printing. If anyone knows more about him, or if there are relatives lurking about, I would be absolutely thrilled to hear from them.
Many thanks to Rob Stolzer for allowing me to share this delightful and informative piece!
Comments:
Robert S. Grable.
Haven't found what the S stands for.
From a friend's ancestry.com account comes these census records.
1880: Robert - 9 years old
1890: no Missouri records for this year; but there is a St. Louis Directory 1889-1890 which lists Robert S. Grable as a collector with the business name of The Sayings Co.
1900: Robert S. Grable - assistant manager/newspaper; wife is Leelah
1910: publisher/newspaper; wife is Lulah
1920: printer/syndicate; wife is Leelah R.
1930: ?publisher? (illegible)/newspaper publishing; wife is Leilah
Never any children listed.
It also shows a passenger list of a ship from Naples to New York. This 1929 list gives Robert S. Grable's birthday as August 8, 1871.
A google news search (archive) shows R. S. Grable giving himself a 50th Birthday party and inviting 75 kids. Maybe Ed and others were also there for that 1922 event?
Post a Comment
Haven't found what the S stands for.
From a friend's ancestry.com account comes these census records.
1880: Robert - 9 years old
1890: no Missouri records for this year; but there is a St. Louis Directory 1889-1890 which lists Robert S. Grable as a collector with the business name of The Sayings Co.
1900: Robert S. Grable - assistant manager/newspaper; wife is Leelah
1910: publisher/newspaper; wife is Lulah
1920: printer/syndicate; wife is Leelah R.
1930: ?publisher? (illegible)/newspaper publishing; wife is Leilah
Never any children listed.
It also shows a passenger list of a ship from Naples to New York. This 1929 list gives Robert S. Grable's birthday as August 8, 1871.
A google news search (archive) shows R. S. Grable giving himself a 50th Birthday party and inviting 75 kids. Maybe Ed and others were also there for that 1922 event?
# posted by : 9/30/2007 3:54 PM
: 9/30/2007 3:54 PM Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Obscurity of the Day: Friendly Fido
Here from the pen of Thomas O'Shaughnessy we have Friendly Fido. O'Shaughnessy, utterly forgotten today, was one of the brightest spots on the Chicago Daily News' daily comics page. His spidery pen line might make it tempting to pass him over as yet another William F. Marriner copycat, but his style was much more elegant and sophisticated. The Daily News printed their strips very small, which makes it all the more impressive that he could do such delicate work which nevertheless reproduced well when shrunk by his paper.
Friendy Fido, which was sometimes known as Faithful Fido, began on December 14 1903 and ran sporadically until June 7 1905. All of O'Shaughnessy's various Daily News features ended in 1905, and this impressive cartoonist was never heard from again, at least as far as I can tell.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
He gave up a promising career in comics and got a job installing windows, or something.
http://thisoldpalette.blogspot.com/2006/09/thomas-oshaughnessy.html
http://thisoldpalette.blogspot.com/2006/09/thomas-oshaughnessy.html
# posted by : 9/25/2007 9:14 AM
: 9/25/2007 9:14 AM
Well I'll be double dog damned, DD. So my boy O'Shaughnessy made good! Guess I'll have to amend that 'forgotten' quip!
--Allan
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--Allan
Monday, September 24, 2007
An Obscurity & A Contest
George McManus had a brother named Charles, who, while not nearly as talented as his famed brother, apparently liked the comic strip limelight.
Charles, probably with a lot of corporate arm-twisting from his big bro, had a series of four different daily strips syndicated, more than a lot of certified masters ever did. The last of Charles' strips was this one called Tiny. Like all of Charles' strips, it gave the distinct impression of being a series of cutout model sheet images. I have always imagined that Charles would prepare for his next assignment by getting his brother to draw a stock company of characters in an exhaustive set of poses. Then, after a trip to the printer to make a big stack of copies, and a trip to the bookstore to pick up a cheap joke book, Charles was ready once again to take the national stage.
Tiny seems to have run from about March 1927 until August 1928.
The Contest
Charles was about as adept at gag-writing as he was with cartooning, that is to say nix on both. I've removed the punchlines, both straight out of Joe Miller's joke book, from two of the three strips above. First person to give me the correct punchlines on both gets their choice of one of the following three prizes:
1. The By George book offered as a prize in the last contest, which was won but not claimed.
2. A set of 3 Wallace & Gromit videotapes, the three shorts that made Aardman Studio famous.
3. A set of 9 Ren & Stimpy videotapes, those demented cartoons from the sick mind of John Krikfalusi.
I offer the two latter options since my VCR died and I can no longer enjoy these delightful items myself. All three prizes are postpaid if the winner is in the U.S., but if you're from elsewhere you'd have to pay the shipping.
UPDATE: Contest has been won, and the strips with hy-larious gaglines intact are now show.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
I think I know, but where do I send them?
Oh, wait - I don't want to saddle you up with the postage. It's the honor that counts for me.
Oh, wait - I don't want to saddle you up with the postage. It's the honor that counts for me.
Answers can be sent as post comments or sent to me privately if you prefer (my email address is in the sidebar). If you don't want a prize, please refrain from answering publicly.
--Allan
--Allan
Hello---"TINY" was run in The Rochester Journal, a long-gone Hearst paper, as "TOTS".---Cole Johnson.
# posted by : 9/24/2007 12:57 PM
: 9/24/2007 12:57 PM
It really couldn't be as simple as "I'm talking about my temperature" and "I'm carrying it right now," could it?
I have no frickin' idea but here goes ...
1. I now count my age in fortnights, you fool! Now as your elder I am forced to cane your hide!
2. This package contains the hearts of 100 virgins. We shall be dining on them at six.
1. I now count my age in fortnights, you fool! Now as your elder I am forced to cane your hide!
2. This package contains the hearts of 100 virgins. We shall be dining on them at six.
Kevin -
You got both of 'em! Congrats and let me know your address and which of the three prizes you prefer. You can email me privately with such details if you like, my email's in the sidebar.
Joecab, you get some serious points for ingenuity. If only Charles McManus had you as a gagwriter.
--Allan
Post a Comment
You got both of 'em! Congrats and let me know your address and which of the three prizes you prefer. You can email me privately with such details if you like, my email's in the sidebar.
Joecab, you get some serious points for ingenuity. If only Charles McManus had you as a gagwriter.
--Allan
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Be sure to tune in tomorrow! There's a new contest a-brewin' and this one's eminently winnable by anyone - just supply the punchlines to a couple of bad jokes!Labels: Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Herriman Saturday
Four editorial cartoons this Saturday, originally published October 9 - 12, 1906. Interesting tidbit about the second one is that Herriman seemed to be planning to have a little fellow climbing up Langdon's back. There's a vague outline in the cartoon that was never completed -- I removed what little there was in the cleaning process. The last cartoon has Herriman giving us a cat, not yet a kat, as the central figure.Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Friday, September 21, 2007
Obscurity of the Day: Windy Riley
Ken Kling is middling famous as the creator of Joe And Asbestos, a strip that ran for many years, most of that time only in a few New York papers. The strip, which had started out innocently enough in 1923 as a Barney Google rip-off, eventually turned into a horse-racing tip strip. We'll get further into that story some other day, though, since today we'll look at Kling's second most successful strip, Windy Riley.Kling ended his first run of Joe and Asbestos in 1926 and didn't start this new strip until December 12 1927 (the samples above are the first week of the strip). In between he may have taken a detour to the McClure Syndicate to do another run of an earlier strip, Those Folks, but to me the 1926-27 run of that strip looks to be reprints. Sorry, digressing again.
Anyhow, Windy Riley, as the name suggests, was a young gasbag. He was home from college determined to set podunk Scramsburg on its ear. Riley was an inveterate schemer, always on the prowl for a quick buck. When not scheming for dough, Windy was busy wooing his sweetie, the delightfully named Sheila Gree (I'm betting the name was cribbed from a George McManus strip).
As the strip wound down, Windy did finally win the fair maiden and in the waning weeks of the strip the two were married and off to Atlantic City. The strip ended sometime early in 1932, probably late January or February, though you'll see 1931 cited in the history books. Kling then revived Joe and Asbestos for a second much longer run.
Windy Riley was by no means a great strip, but Kling infused the proceedings with so much joie de vivre that it's impossible not to like it. If you get a chance to read more of the strip be sure to take it - it's really a blast.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Hello, Allan----WINDY RILEY was also made into a two-reel comedy, WINDY RILEY GOES HOLLYWOOD (Educational 5-3-31). Ken Kling supposedly wrote the story. The film was directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, and starred Jack Shutta as Windy, and Louise Brooks as his girlfriend. It's typical of Educational's product of the period, that is, pretty bad.-------Cole.
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# posted by : 9/21/2007 10:25 AM
: 9/21/2007 10:25 AM Thursday, September 20, 2007
News of Yore: Marketing Blitz of a Self-Syndicator
Barnstorming Cartoonist Marsh Takes to the Road
By Erwin Knoll, 1952
"Would that more cartoonists might go barnstorming," writes Charles B. DePuy, managing editor of the Centerville (Iowa) Daily lowegian and Citizen, and reports that a visit from Norman Marsh, creator of "Dan'l Hale," "gave zip to local as well as area circulation."
Centerville was one of over 30 cities scheduled to be visited this fall by the cartoonist, who syndicates his own comic strip from 1234 W. Lake St., Chicago. A personal visit to towns where "Dan'l Hale" appears is now a regular biennial feature of Mr. Marsh's service. Last year, on his first coast-to-coast tour, the cartoonist covered 21 cities and visited students and teachers at 167 schools.
Schools are an important part of Mr. Marsh's barnstorming tours, for "Dan'l Hale" is used in many history classrooms. Dan'l is a frontier scout in the early years of America's development, and his adventures bring him into contact with many historical personages and events. Details of history are carefully checked for accuracy, and authenticity has never been questioned in the strip's five-year life, the cartoonist proudly reports.
"Kids don't read nowadays, what with radio and television," Mr. Marsh recently told one of his subscribing newspapers, "but they will read comics. And I can give them American history in the way they like it."
Mr. Marsh started "Dannie Hale"—the first name was changed to "Dan'l" earlier this year—for King Features Syndicate in 1947. In January, 1951, he took over his own syndication, and is doing "very well, thank you." No cancellations in over a year. The cartoonist's own life has been at least as adventurous as his hero's. He served in the Marine Corps in both world wars, enlisting at 16 in the first and commanding a line company in the second. In the rest of his 51 years he has worked as a prizefight manager, sailor, pilot, speculator and detective. Previous comic strips include "Dan Dunn" and "Hunter Keene."
Labels: News of Yore
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Obscurity of the Day: Animal Antics
Here's another of those St. Louis Globe-Democrat strips done by one-man Sunday section filler DeVoss Driscoll. Here we get Driscoll at his best, drawing animals in a humorous but realistic manner. He really was an unsung master of this little cartooning niche.Animal Antics ran in the G-D from November 22 1903 to April 24 1904.
PS - Stripper's Guide News -- My crappy scanner, the ultra-cheapo Mustek A3, that I bought out of desperation when my wonderful Microtek Scanmaker unexpectedly bit the dust, has finally annoyed me to the point where I went out and found a used high-end scanner. This one is an Epson Expression 1640XL, which originally sold for over 2K, but I picked it up from NASA surplus for $400. If all goes well and I can get it to work, maybe, just maybe, you'll be seeing some better quality color Sunday scans from me.
The Mustek, for the price, is a fine scanner, but it really hates scanning old toned newspapers, and its extremely limited focal length turns strips into a blur if the paper isn't absolutely, perfectly flat ... and its practically impossible to get a Sunday page to lay that flat.
Labels: Obscurities
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
News of Yore: New TV-Based Strip Announced
KFS Offers "I Love Lucy" As Gag-a-Day Comic Strip
By Erwin Knoll, 1952
A gag-a-day comic strip based on the top-rating "I Love Lucy" television show is offered for December 8 release by King Features Syndicate.
Though main characters in the strip—bandleader Ricky Ricardo, his flighty wife, Lucy, and, in a few months, a new baby—will be patterned after the television program, the strip will not adhere rigidly to the TV show pattern. Original subsidiary characters will be introduced, and the daily gag form will be used in place of the TV situation humor formula. Like the television program, however, the strip is designed to appeal to all age groups.
According to the CBS television network, the two-year old show is now carried on 64 stations-a "full network"-and has a higher Nielsen rating than any other program now broadcast. A full-scale merchandising campaign featuring adult products was launched recently.
Artist on the new strip is Bob Oksner, whose work has appeared in slick magazines and comic books and who once drew a newspaper strip called "Cairo Jones." Lawrence Nadel, who has written and edited comic books and has written for radio and television will be the author of the daily "I Love Lucy" strips.
The strip is available in four and five-column width, six releases weekly.
Labels: News of Yore
Comments:
Okay, I'm curious.
If you have any samples of "I Love Lucy," I would be interested in seeing them on this blog.
If you have any samples of "I Love Lucy," I would be interested in seeing them on this blog.
I do have a comic book which reprinted the frist few months of the strips.
If you are interested, I can mail you some of those!
Let me know.
Post a Comment
If you are interested, I can mail you some of those!
Let me know.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Comments:
Hi, Allan. I'm the creator of the Blockheads cartoon you cited. Anyone who wants to see samples should go to http://www.johngile.com/faqs.htm#blockheads.
John Gile
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John Gile
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Herriman Saturday
The result of our Herriman contest is a victory for Alfredo Castelli with a mere two dailies series. Alfredo, being in Italia I'll have to hit you up for shipping if you want the book, get with me privately please. As to the identity of the seven or more additional daily series by Herriman, well, guess you'll just have to stay tuned to the ol' Stripper's Guide blog.Today's Herrimans are from October 5 - 7 1906. We have another well-drawn editorial cartoon, GH commemorating fight manager Willus (Willie) Britt opening up his Dreamland Boxing Club, a huge 7-column cartoon about some upcoming prize-fights, and a delightful piece on the new automobile fad (wonder whatever happened to those things).
I tried a different procedure on the scanning and touch-up of the last two cartoons. I'd be interested in your feedback as to whether you think they're better, worse, or about the same as what has been on the blog before.
Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Comments:
Well, I'd read "the first" and not "the most", so I stopped at "Home Sweet Home! I should learn to read slower... Anyway I should have known, there's no way to know something better than Alfredo Castelli... kudos to him!
Post a Comment
Friday, September 14, 2007
Miscellany Day
Today I'm going to be all over the map. Let's start with ...
The Herriman Daily Contest
I have received a paltry two entries in the "Name the Herriman Dailies" contest announced last Friday on this blog post, and ending today. One entrant named Home Sweet Home, while Alfredo Castelli, in his public post, also correctly recollected the blog post on The Amours of Marie Ann McGee, so his total is two.
I know of a minimum of 9 Herriman daily-style series that predate Proones, so there's ample opportunity to improve on that score. I know that at least two more of those series have been documented 'publicly', in other words, not through my as yet unpublished primary research.
Stan Goldberg's Mendy
I'm looking for information on the strip Mendy, which, according to Alter Ego magazine, ran as a weekly newspaper comic strip circa 1997-2002 in various Jewish newspapers. I knew there was a comic book series but was not aware of a newspaper release. Any info, especially names of papers and running dates, would be most gratefully appreciated.
Park Row
I just recently learned about a feature film titled Park Row that was released in 1952. The story was apparently about New York newspapers in the 1880s-90s, a subject of considerable fascination to me. I checked around and could find no evidence of it being on video. Can any of our movie mavens tell me where I might obtain a copy?
Barnacle Press
If you haven't visited Barnacle Press lately it's definitely time to take a look. The good folks in charge have done a major redesign on the site are now adding lots more of those great early comic strips.
New York Post Dailies
Comics historian Cole Johnson awhile back sent me some samples of dailies that were running in the New York Post in 2000:
They are all copyrighted by Comicfix. I found their website without any trouble but can't make head or tail over whether they are still in the syndication business or just doing web-based material now. I've asked Jeffrey Lindenblatt, expert on all things New York, to see if he can find running dates for this material in the Post, but I'm hoping some readers know more about the background on these obscurities. How long were they syndicated? Was it only to the Post? What other papers ran it? What exactly is Comicfix and how did/do they do business? Who were the uncredited artists and writers on these features? Were there any other newspaper features from Comicfix?
The Herriman Daily Contest
I have received a paltry two entries in the "Name the Herriman Dailies" contest announced last Friday on this blog post, and ending today. One entrant named Home Sweet Home, while Alfredo Castelli, in his public post, also correctly recollected the blog post on The Amours of Marie Ann McGee, so his total is two.
I know of a minimum of 9 Herriman daily-style series that predate Proones, so there's ample opportunity to improve on that score. I know that at least two more of those series have been documented 'publicly', in other words, not through my as yet unpublished primary research.
Stan Goldberg's Mendy
I'm looking for information on the strip Mendy, which, according to Alter Ego magazine, ran as a weekly newspaper comic strip circa 1997-2002 in various Jewish newspapers. I knew there was a comic book series but was not aware of a newspaper release. Any info, especially names of papers and running dates, would be most gratefully appreciated.
Park Row
I just recently learned about a feature film titled Park Row that was released in 1952. The story was apparently about New York newspapers in the 1880s-90s, a subject of considerable fascination to me. I checked around and could find no evidence of it being on video. Can any of our movie mavens tell me where I might obtain a copy?
Barnacle Press
If you haven't visited Barnacle Press lately it's definitely time to take a look. The good folks in charge have done a major redesign on the site are now adding lots more of those great early comic strips.
New York Post Dailies
Comics historian Cole Johnson awhile back sent me some samples of dailies that were running in the New York Post in 2000:
They are all copyrighted by Comicfix. I found their website without any trouble but can't make head or tail over whether they are still in the syndication business or just doing web-based material now. I've asked Jeffrey Lindenblatt, expert on all things New York, to see if he can find running dates for this material in the Post, but I'm hoping some readers know more about the background on these obscurities. How long were they syndicated? Was it only to the Post? What other papers ran it? What exactly is Comicfix and how did/do they do business? Who were the uncredited artists and writers on these features? Were there any other newspaper features from Comicfix?
Comments:
Comicfix, not Comicflix.
Here's their Speed Racer page.
http://comicfix.com/page4.html
I have it as a Michael Delle-Femine (aka Mort Todd) project.
Got Speed Racer starting August 21, 2000; Biografix starting August 2000; and Molly the Model starting 2000.
No sources for the above.
Post a Comment
Here's their Speed Racer page.
http://comicfix.com/page4.html
I have it as a Michael Delle-Femine (aka Mort Todd) project.
Got Speed Racer starting August 21, 2000; Biografix starting August 2000; and Molly the Model starting 2000.
No sources for the above.
# posted by : 9/14/2007 9:09 PM
: 9/14/2007 9:09 PM Thursday, September 13, 2007
Obscurity of the Day: Dragnet
Dragnet was a no-nonsense police procedural drama that was phenomenally popular, originally as a radio show, then as one of television's earliest hits.
In the comic strip world TV tie-ins were initially quite popular (in addition to Dragnet, there were strip adaptations of I Love Lucy, Howdy Doody, Bat Masterson and many others). Few TV-based strips did well, though, including today's obscurity. The reason in hindsight seems obvious -- why bother reading a strip, necessarily a watered-down and simplified version of the television show, when I can tune in the program and see the real thing.
Dragnet was no exception to the rule, though it has to be admitted that the strip did a great job of replicating the feel of the TV show. The dialog rang true, and the monotone 'voice-overs', a trademark of the show, were translated to the strip as typewritten captions, a motif that worked perfectly. The art, always slick, cold and flat, was perfectly in tune as well.
The strip proper started on June 23 1952, though many papers ran a one week preview before that. Art was initially by Joe Sheiber. He only lasted until September 20. The strip was uncredited and unsigned until March 9 1953, when Bill Ziegler owned up to it (judging from art style, I think he was doing it during the unsigned period as well). Ziegler lasted until January 9 1954. The last artist on the strip was Mel Keefer, who took it to a final bow on May 21 1955. The feature was distributed by the LA Mirror Syndicate.
The writing on the strip was uncredited, but it wouldn't surprise me a bit if Jack Webb, star, producer, director and owner of the TV show, was at the helm, perhaps editing television scripter James Moser's plots. Webb was notorious for zealously controlling every aspect of his baby. Ron Goulart in The Funnies says that Webb's mother-hen rule extended to the artists on the strip - the frequent artist changes were due to Jack Webb's search for an artist "who could draw him as good looking as he thought he ought to be."
PS - sorry about the crummy condition of the samples - the paper I took these from (the Albany Times-Union) seems to have never bothered to clean its presses.
PPS - Alberto Becattini tells me that Mel Keefer attributed the strip writing to Jack Robinson, a writer on the TV series. Thanks Alberto!
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Thanks so much for posting this. Two of my favorite things (Dragnet and comics) rolled into one! Very nice!
The writing is extremely true to the original radio show (and TV show)...I wouldn't be surprised if they adapted radio or TV scripts directly to the comics page. Thanks again!
The writing is extremely true to the original radio show (and TV show)...I wouldn't be surprised if they adapted radio or TV scripts directly to the comics page. Thanks again!
CONCERNING THE HERRIMAN PRE PROONES CONTEST
I surrender and humbly bow to Allan who must have discovered some obscure secrets concerning George Herriman’s productions. In fact – apart the 1906 “Amours of Marie Anne McGee” which
every blogger should know (posting of Saturday, August 11 1907), the only other “Weekday strip” (this is how I call the series which were published in weekdays, but not all days) anticipating “Proones the Plunger” I succeeded in finding is “Home, Sweet Home”, published in 1904 in Frank A. Munsey’s “New York Daily News. For the short-lived Sunday section of that newspaper, Herriman created the Sunday series “Bud Smith” and “Major Ozone”, later continued for World Color Printing; possibly he did some other weekday strip I don’t know --- also if I have a very faint remembrance of a possible first avatar of “Us Husband”, a series that Herriman recreated (or probably simply “created” in 1926). Another 1904 series I don’t know anything about is “Bubblespikers”, quoted in http://www.krazy.com/herriman.htm. May it be one of the elusive “Weekdays”?
Here are some conjectures about WHERE could Herriman have published pre – 1907 weekday strips. Before that date GH worked for the “New York World”, the McClure Syndicate (which, for unknown reasons, continued many series begun in the NYW), for the “Philadelphia North American”, where he drew many one shots and some short lived series such as “Tattered Tim”; for the above mentioned “NY Daily News”, and for World Color Printing. To my knowledge, neither McClure Sections nor the North American published weekday strips at the time; the NYW ** did **publish them (Allan has recently indicized it, and this may be a hint), and World Colr Printing tried some syndicvation experimenyts selling “packets” of strips such as “Annie McGee”.
In 1904 – 1905 Herriman authored a series of sport cartoons for Hearst’s “NY Evening Journal”: this is another place where he could have created short lived series, maybe the mystery “Us Husband” and “Bubblespikers”, if they do exist. Then he passed to the “Los Angeles Times” (see posting of July 3 2007; no weeday strips there), and after a year or so he begun working again for Hearst creating political cartoons (the ones that Allan graciously offers us weekly in “Herriman Saturdays”) for the “Los Angeles Examiner”, the same newspaper that published “Proones” in 1907. Maybe Allan discovered something else in that newspaper.
Or I am completely wrong, and Herriman created his strips for another newspaper that only Allan knows. Or he self sope that the contest ends soon, so I’ll be able to sleep again.
Best
Alfredo
I surrender and humbly bow to Allan who must have discovered some obscure secrets concerning George Herriman’s productions. In fact – apart the 1906 “Amours of Marie Anne McGee” which
every blogger should know (posting of Saturday, August 11 1907), the only other “Weekday strip” (this is how I call the series which were published in weekdays, but not all days) anticipating “Proones the Plunger” I succeeded in finding is “Home, Sweet Home”, published in 1904 in Frank A. Munsey’s “New York Daily News. For the short-lived Sunday section of that newspaper, Herriman created the Sunday series “Bud Smith” and “Major Ozone”, later continued for World Color Printing; possibly he did some other weekday strip I don’t know --- also if I have a very faint remembrance of a possible first avatar of “Us Husband”, a series that Herriman recreated (or probably simply “created” in 1926). Another 1904 series I don’t know anything about is “Bubblespikers”, quoted in http://www.krazy.com/herriman.htm. May it be one of the elusive “Weekdays”?
Here are some conjectures about WHERE could Herriman have published pre – 1907 weekday strips. Before that date GH worked for the “New York World”, the McClure Syndicate (which, for unknown reasons, continued many series begun in the NYW), for the “Philadelphia North American”, where he drew many one shots and some short lived series such as “Tattered Tim”; for the above mentioned “NY Daily News”, and for World Color Printing. To my knowledge, neither McClure Sections nor the North American published weekday strips at the time; the NYW ** did **publish them (Allan has recently indicized it, and this may be a hint), and World Colr Printing tried some syndicvation experimenyts selling “packets” of strips such as “Annie McGee”.
In 1904 – 1905 Herriman authored a series of sport cartoons for Hearst’s “NY Evening Journal”: this is another place where he could have created short lived series, maybe the mystery “Us Husband” and “Bubblespikers”, if they do exist. Then he passed to the “Los Angeles Times” (see posting of July 3 2007; no weeday strips there), and after a year or so he begun working again for Hearst creating political cartoons (the ones that Allan graciously offers us weekly in “Herriman Saturdays”) for the “Los Angeles Examiner”, the same newspaper that published “Proones” in 1907. Maybe Allan discovered something else in that newspaper.
Or I am completely wrong, and Herriman created his strips for another newspaper that only Allan knows. Or he self sope that the contest ends soon, so I’ll be able to sleep again.
Best
Alfredo
# posted by : 9/13/2007 6:20 PM
: 9/13/2007 6:20 PM
Hello, Allan----In his comment about George Herriman, Alfredo Castelli says that the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS made up their own short-lived comic section, for which Herriman created BUD SMITH and MAJOR OZONE,"later continued for World Color Printing". This is a real "Aha" moment for me. I've been trying to figure out where the early OZONEs in the NEWS fit in with my run of 1904 WCP stuff in the ST. LOUIS STAR. Now I see they were a totally different company! Did the NY DAILY NEWS comic section only run a few months? I have MALOR OZONE in the WCP lineup in July 1904. -------Cole Johnson.
# posted by : 9/15/2007 1:59 PM
: 9/15/2007 1:59 PM
Hi Cole =
Regarding the Daily News run (they used the section from January 2 - May 29 1904) I've never been convinced that they were the originators of the section. They are certainly one of the only papers that ran the full four pages, but I know of at least one other paper that ran it as well. And of course we have the St Louis Star and others running a two page version. I still maintain that it makes more sense to me that WCP was producing the material.
The one mysterious aspect of it is that the Daily News was running that Home Sweet Home daily strip, which I've not seen elsewhere. This could very well point us to a different conclusion. Or it could just mean that WCP was already trying to break into dailies with close to zero success.
I have an index of the Daily News Sundays for 1904 from Jeffrey Lindenblatt but have not seen the papers myself yet to see what was going on with the dailies, besides that one Herriman strip that's been documented.
One reason that I question the Daily News as the originator is that Frank Munsey was at the helm. He usually had a disdain for comics (and anything else that cost money to produce), notwithstanding that short-lived NY Press section much later.
--Allan
Regarding the Daily News run (they used the section from January 2 - May 29 1904) I've never been convinced that they were the originators of the section. They are certainly one of the only papers that ran the full four pages, but I know of at least one other paper that ran it as well. And of course we have the St Louis Star and others running a two page version. I still maintain that it makes more sense to me that WCP was producing the material.
The one mysterious aspect of it is that the Daily News was running that Home Sweet Home daily strip, which I've not seen elsewhere. This could very well point us to a different conclusion. Or it could just mean that WCP was already trying to break into dailies with close to zero success.
I have an index of the Daily News Sundays for 1904 from Jeffrey Lindenblatt but have not seen the papers myself yet to see what was going on with the dailies, besides that one Herriman strip that's been documented.
One reason that I question the Daily News as the originator is that Frank Munsey was at the helm. He usually had a disdain for comics (and anything else that cost money to produce), notwithstanding that short-lived NY Press section much later.
--Allan
Holy shamolley! They're BOWLING WITH HUMAN HEADS in the fourth strip down from the top and Friday's worried about a phony pink slip scam?!?!?!?
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# posted by : 9/22/2007 1:00 PM
: 9/22/2007 1:00 PM Wednesday, September 12, 2007
New of Yore: Herblock Book Released
Cartoonists Can't Write? Look at Herblock Book
By Erwin Knoll (E&P, 1952)
There is a firm conviction in the minds of syndicate editors — and newspaper editors, too — that cartoonists are illiterate. Cartoonists can't spell, let alone write, the saying goes.
A man who came up with proof to the contrary this week is Herbert Block, better known as Herblock, whose daily editorial cartoons are distributed to about 150 newspapers in the U. S. and Canada by the Post-Hall Syndicate.
"The Herblock Book," published by Beacon Press, contains reprints of about 400 editorial cartoons, surrounded on all sides by text. The text is humorous, informative .and occasionally devastating. Mr. Block tells how many of the reproduced cartoons were drawn, and why a cartoonist's lot is not a happy one.
We collared Mr. Block for a few minutes the other day between radio and television appearances. First thing we asked was how a syndicated cartoonist, whose work appears in both pro-Stevenson and pro-Eisenhower newspapers, can possibly handle the campaign.
"No problem," said Mr. Block. About half of his cartoons these days are devoted to the campaign, he said, and he doesn't stick to innocuous drawings of donkeys and elephants running down the track to the finish line.
"I take a little whack at each side, when necessary," he explained, "I try to figure out what's right and wrong on each issue, and pitch my cartoons accordingly." Editors don't mind. They print the cartoons, occasionally right next to editorials taking the opposite point of view. Mr. Block regards this as a tribute to the job the press is doing to keep the voters informed.
Next question we asked was how he felt about being described as a "liberal cartoonist." Not too good, he said. "Liberal is a word that has been much abused and kicked around. Nobody really knows just what it means any more. I just want to say the right thing and say it effectively," Mr. Block said effectively and dashed for a door.
Mr. Block works in the offices of the Washington (D. C.) Post, and his cartoon is selected from roughs each day by Post Editor Herbert Elliston. In the final chapter of "The Herblock Book" the cartoonist tells how that daily cartoon gets drawn. The account, he admits, "contains a couple of slight exaggerations."
Some excerpts:
"It is at this point that the door opens slightly and a visitor asks if you are busy. You say. Yes, you are, and he says 'Ha! It looks like it!' and sits down for a long chat. He is followed by three others who open with the same conversational gambit.
"As the visitors leave, the phone rings and a voice asks if you ever use suggestions for cartoons. You say no, you are sorry but you don't. And the voice says, 'Okay, here it is: You draw a picture of a rat, see? And label it Stalin. Get it? A rat, see?' When you have thanked him and hung up, you find that a small delegation of ladies has come in to ask you if you can't do something about our feathered friends who, it seems, are multiplying faster than the number of statues on which they can perch.
"As the deadline draws nearer, the word gets out that you are pressed for time and the phone rings more frequently.
"You are now ready to start on those sketches. That is, just as soon as you have talked with this visitor who says that his friends tell him he looks like Herbert Hoover, and would you like him to pose for you? For a slight extra fee he will also bring in a live elephant that he has tethered to the outer doorknob."
Herblock, now 43, started on this hectic pace in 1929, when he left college to join the Chicago Daily News as editorial cartoonist.
Labels: News of Yore
Comments:
I was lucky enough to get Mr. Block to sign a complete set of his books about a year before he died. Curiously, "The Herblock Book," even though it's by far the oldest, is one of the easiest to get. ("Herblock on All Fronts," his late 70s collection, for some odd reason is very hard to find.)
Herblock's writing was above average, though I thought the stuff he did in his first book, which went into a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff (including some explanations, discussions of "goofs," and drafts of cartoons), had things the later books, good as they were, missed.
The one thing I would like to see is a release of Herblock's Chicago Daily News and NEA work...I have some clipped (UGH!) cartoons, but a comprehensive collection would be valuable. I don't know if the Herblock Foundation (fueled by the many millions Herblock had in Washington Post stock when he died...stock he got in the 1950s for a pittance and was worth $750/share when he died) is going to do this. I did visit their offices, once. They had a superb colour (!) cartoon on the wall.
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Herblock's writing was above average, though I thought the stuff he did in his first book, which went into a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff (including some explanations, discussions of "goofs," and drafts of cartoons), had things the later books, good as they were, missed.
The one thing I would like to see is a release of Herblock's Chicago Daily News and NEA work...I have some clipped (UGH!) cartoons, but a comprehensive collection would be valuable. I don't know if the Herblock Foundation (fueled by the many millions Herblock had in Washington Post stock when he died...stock he got in the 1950s for a pittance and was worth $750/share when he died) is going to do this. I did visit their offices, once. They had a superb colour (!) cartoon on the wall.
# posted by : 9/12/2007 6:19 PM
: 9/12/2007 6:19 PM Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Obscurity of the Day: Do You Know Why
Historians really love to dump on Thornton Fisher as one of the worst hacks of the comic strip world. I'm afraid I don't quite see eye to eye with them, though. Fisher certainly didn't create any enduring classic strips, and his gags were undeniably lowbrow, meant only to be momentary diversions for working class folk. And as long as you compare his work with that of others with the same philosophy I think he holds his own perfectly well.Fisher flitted from syndicate to syndicate but had his best and most productive years with the New York World circa 1913-19. He has a laundry list of credits, not a single one of which wouldn't qualify as an obscurity today.
Do You Know Why is one of his earliest efforts; it ran from October 4 1913 to June 25 1914. There were no continuing characters, just a little self-contained 4-6 act play acting out the answer to Fisher's title questions. Some strips were real klunkers (I think the top strip here qualifies), while others were perceptive and very witty (I love the second strip, which is timeless -- substitute Barack Obama or Mitt Romney as the subject).
This strip is also a bit of a historical head-scratcher. Fisher was definitely doing work for the New York World at this time, and I've indexed his output from the pages of both their morning and evening editions. This long-running strip, however, never appeared there. I found the indexed run in the Boston Post. The Post bought most of their dailies from the World, yet this strip doesn't carry the typical Press Publishing copyright. So is it a World strip that was produced only for syndication (not something the World was doing at the time as far as I know), or was Fisher also working for the Post, or a syndicate, or self-syndicating, while at the World?
Soon as I figure this one out I'll get to work on that whole world peace issue.
Labels: Obscurities
Monday, September 10, 2007
Stripper's Guide Bookshelf: Connie - The Strange Death of Dolan
Connie - The Strange Death of Dolan & Other Stories
No publisher listed
No price listed
48 pages, wraps
If you spend time on eBay you've seen this book for sale, being touted as a special very limited edition. If you order it you'll find out that the seller, and presumably publisher, is Tony Raiola of Pacific Comics Club.
The book sounds pretty good in the somewhat vague eBay description. You get 5 supposedly complete daily stories of the Frank Godwin classic Connie. That might lead you to believe that you're getting a pretty substantial book, but that's not really the case. The stories are as follows:
The Strange Death of Dolan (1938) - a 23 strip vignette from 1938. The story is indeed complete in 23 strips, but because it's so short there's no meat to the story, a badly plotted bank robbery whodunit. Reproduction on this one is pretty bad -- all the zipatone backgrounds have been turned to mud and the strips are very dark.
Perfect Alibi (1929) - an even shorter tale told in just 12 strips. Another bank robbery mystery, the solution to which is obvious by the third strip. The reproduction on this one is outstanding.
The last three stories in the volume were previously printed in the Hyperion Connie book, and the strips here are obviously scanned from that source, with the attendant third generation quality having been lowered a bit:
The Assistant Gardener (1929) - six strips that provide only the start of a story. A footnote on the contents page says that "this story ends in a strange way but it seems there are no dailies between this episode and the following one". A look at the dates on the strips, which granted are tiny and hard to read, would have dispelled that notion. This story is incomplete, exactly as it was in the Hyperion book.
Mystery and Adventure (1929) -30 strips that tell a pretty good story until the end, which is abrupt. Not the publisher's fault on this story though, blame Godwin.
The Bid To Ten Million (1929-30) - 24 strip story, Connie comes up smelling like roses by pure luck when a rival secretary schemes to get her fired.
If you already have the Hyperion book, all you're actually getting here for a starting bid of $19.95 on eBay is just 35 strips, 23 of which are quite badly reproduced. I guess if you're desperate for a Connie fix you might consider it, otherwise it's a pretty raw deal. Even if you don't have the Hyperion book you're still not exactly getting a bargain since the Hyperion book can still be had on the rare book market for $50-60 and it reprints a heck of a lot more of the strip.
Labels: Bookshelf
Comments:
Thanks for the review. I was tempted to pick these up, but now I know I'll pass on them until someone (maybe me?) puts out a decent Connie collection at a reasonable price. --Joe
I had a Connie website for a long time that featured about 8 years worth of strips.
Its currently looking for a high profile home. I'd also like to replace my SF years strips from Famous Funnies with "real" ones.
Art Lortie
Its currently looking for a high profile home. I'd also like to replace my SF years strips from Famous Funnies with "real" ones.
Art Lortie
# posted by : 9/11/2007 4:23 PM
: 9/11/2007 4:23 PM
Hi Art -
If you've got high quality source material I bet you could easily interest a publisher in the series. If this book can sell, a quality reprint would be a real winner.
Me, I wouldn't even bother looking at Godwin on the web -- I want to see his gorgeous artwork (not to mention the dreamy Connie herself) in hi-res!
--Allan
If you've got high quality source material I bet you could easily interest a publisher in the series. If this book can sell, a quality reprint would be a real winner.
Me, I wouldn't even bother looking at Godwin on the web -- I want to see his gorgeous artwork (not to mention the dreamy Connie herself) in hi-res!
--Allan
no argument with your review of PCC's Strange Death of Dolan, but there are actually three further 48 page Connie reprints from PCC. One of them-The Ghost of Pendleton Hall reprints three stories that are the first, second, and fourth immediately following the last strips in the Arcadia reprint. Since Art Lortie's excellent web page is unavailable, I can't give precise dates, but these are very late 1930 and very early 1931. So far as I know--and I've been collecting Connie reprints for a while--these pages have never before been reprinted--at least nopt in English. Tom Pendleton
# posted by : 9/19/2007 11:23 AM
: 9/19/2007 11:23 AM
Hi Tom -
Given my experience with the first book, I won't be buying any more, even if the material is unreprinted. Guess I'll wait until Art Lortie does a good reprint series!
--Allan
Given my experience with the first book, I won't be buying any more, even if the material is unreprinted. Guess I'll wait until Art Lortie does a good reprint series!
--Allan
The Pacific Comics Club reprints now may be more attractive, as used copies of the Hyperion book (tpb or hc) no longer seem to be available for less than $90 (shipping included), with most sellers asking for substantially more than that.
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# posted by : 6/05/2009 6:30 AM
: 6/05/2009 6:30 AM Sunday, September 09, 2007
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Herriman Saturday
Having a real busy week at Stripper's Guide world headquarters, only had time to prep one item for Herriman Saturday. This sports cartoon was originally published October 5 1906. A larger selection next week, promise!Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Comments:
The Portland Beavers won the 1906 Pacific Coast League pennant. 1906 was the first year the team used the name Beavers. Thanks for the Herriman.
BTW, today I took the family to San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum. There was a nice selection of newspaper comics, including two Herrimans, and a room full of Peanuts. The lead exhibit was "Why Do They Hate Us", a selection of editorial cartoons from around the world.
Regards,
Joe Thompson ;0)
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BTW, today I took the family to San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum. There was a nice selection of newspaper comics, including two Herrimans, and a room full of Peanuts. The lead exhibit was "Why Do They Hate Us", a selection of editorial cartoons from around the world.
Regards,
Joe Thompson ;0)
Friday, September 07, 2007
Stripper's Guide Bookshelf: By George!
By George! The Komplete Daily Komic Strips of George Herriman
Spec Productions, 2005-07
Edited by Bill Blackbeard
No ISBN (available only from publisher)
$20 per book, 54-70 pages each, softcover
Herriman fans have been waiting years for a series like this to be published, and we always knew that pioneering comics scholar and katophile Bill Blackbeard would have to be at the helm.
Blackbeard is most likely the only person in the world with a complete run of these rare strips at his disposal. His bound volume runs of many of the Hearst papers puts him in the unique position of not only having unparalleled access to Herriman's productions from the late 1900s and 1910s, he can even cross-reference between various Hearst papers to find strips that might not have seen print in all papers, and luxury of luxuries, even pick and choose the paper that has each strip printed in the best and most complete format.
So far there are five volumes in the By George! series. The first volume includes runs of Mr. Proones the Plunger, a 1907 strip that ran only in the Los Angeles Examiner, followed by Baron Mooch and Gooseberry Sprig from 1909-10. Volumes two through five are devoted to Herriman's first popular success as a strip cartoonist, The Family Upstairs (aka The Dingbat Family). It was here that a certain kat and mouse first began their love affair while gamboling in the lower portion of the strip.
If you have a copy of the 1970s Hyperion reprint of the Family Upstairs you may think it unnecessary to purchase these new volumes. Nothing could be further from the truth. The tiny and unrestored reproductions in the Hyperion book are horrifyingly bad in comparison with the huge reproductions here, and here the strips have been lovingly and painstakingly restored. Some individual strips are still in less than perfect shape, due no doubt to source material that was beyond the restorer's art, but the vast majority are excellent.
The books are huge, 17" x 11", and I assume the strips here are reproduced at approximately the original printed sizes. Unfortunately the books are bound along the top edge. Being rather flimsy softcovers, the books insist on snapping shut if the reader doesn't hold the top page back
while reading, an annoyance that can only be overcome if you are willing to put a permanent crease in each page as you read.
Blackbeard is an entertaining writer and his forewords to the first volumes are a delight to read. Volume 4, however, includes explanatory notes from volume 2, and volume 5 has no editorial matter whatsoever (I'm guessing that this has something to do with Blackbeard's failing health in the last few years). Book three is a special treat, with a fascinating article in which Blackbeard explains how he came to possess these wondrous bound volume runs. The article was originally printed in the International Journal of Comic Art, an extremely highbrow scholarly publication where I'm sure few of us saw it the first time around.
Blackbeard has forgotten more about comic strip history than most of us will ever know, but in these forewords he makes a few pronouncements that are simply incorrect. The most egregious is his contention that Mr. Proones is Herriman's first daily strip -- not by a long shot Bill, especially if you're going to count Mr. Proones which was not a true daily.
Minor quibbles aside, these books are like manna for the Herriman fan. Go order yours now at the publisher's website. These volumes are not available through other outlets as far as I know.
Contest -- Get a Free Book!
When I ordered my set of these books a series of SNAFUs resolved in the end with me having two copies of volume 5 of the series, one of which was gratis. So I think it only right that I pass it along to someone here on the blog, sort of as a promotion for the series.
The book will go to the blog reader who can name the most Herriman daily series that precede the appearance of Mr. Proones. Features qualify if they ran in black and white in daily newspapers for more than one installment with a consistent title. One-shots don't qualify, Sunday strips do not qualify. Daily strips do not have to have run as 'true' dailies, that is six days a week.
You can post your answers on the blog or email them to me at stripper@rtsco.com (the latter may be preferable if you don't want to share info with other entrants). If you name a strip of which I'm unaware it doesn't qualify unless you can supply some proof of its existence. In the event of a tie the judge's ruling is final, yada yada yada. Contest ends next Friday.
Winner will get the book free, shipping included, unless outside the U.S., in which case you'll have to pay the postage.
Labels: Bookshelf
Comments:
Not to get off the subject, because I can't name any of Herriman's series, but do you know of anywhere that lists cartoonists books? I'm trying to find out how many books there are from strips like Hagar, BC, Andy Capp, etc. Tried Toonipedia and Daryl Cagle, but neither of them has anything like that.
And if you find such a list, Mamafrog, make sure it lists the Australian reprints as well. I just bought ten yearly Wizard of Id books. They reprinted BC in that format as well - magazine size books with a carton cover. I also have quite a few British Hagar books with the sundays reprinted at a square pocket book size.
Tony Strading of the UK has a gallery of such things on his site (yes, Ger, even some of the Australian ones); but I don't think it is anywhere near a complete list.
http://www.tonystrading.co.uk/galleries/index-comicstrips.htm
For a list of U.S. mass market paperbacks you will have to join Ray Bottorff's ComicBacks Yahoo group.
http://www.tonystrading.co.uk/galleries/index-comicstrips.htm
For a list of U.S. mass market paperbacks you will have to join Ray Bottorff's ComicBacks Yahoo group.
My Stripper's Guide index does include a list of reprint books for each feature, though I haven't listed foreign reprints for the most part.
Thanks for the help guys--I think some of these will do the job. I'm trying to replace and fill out collections of my favorite artists and needed a list of books. I have found some on paperbackswap.com (a great site for book lovers in general). Everyone tends to keep or just throw away their old books and I have a hard time finding them!
CONCERNING THE HERRIMAN PRE PROONES CONTEST
I surrender and humbly bow to Allan who must have discovered some obscure secrets concerning George Herriman’s productions. In fact – apart the 1906 “Amours of Marie Anne McGee” which every blogger should know (posting of Saturday, August 11 1907), the only other “Weekday strip” (this is how I call the series which were published in weekdays, but not all days) anticipating “Proones the Plunger” I succeeded in finding is “Home, Sweet Home”, published in 1904 in Frank A. Munsey’s “New York Daily News. For the short-lived Sunday section of that newspaper, Herriman created the Sunday series “Bud Smith” and “Major Ozone”, later continued for World Color Printing; possibly he did some other weekday strip I don’t know --- also if I have a very faint remembrance of a possible first avatar of “Us Husband”, a series that Herriman recreated (or probably simply “created” in 1926). Another 1904 series I don’t know anything about is “Bubblespikers”, quoted in http://www.krazy.com/herriman.htm. May it be one of the elusive “Weekdays”?
Here are some conjectures about WHERE could Herriman have published pre – 1907 weekday strips. Before that date GH worked for the “New York World”, for the McClure Syndicate (which, for unknown reasons, continued many series begun in the NYW), for the “Philadelphia North American”, where he drew many one shots and some short lived series such as “Tattered Tim”; for the above mentioned “NY Daily News”, and for World Color Printing. To my knowledge, neither McClure Sections nor the North American published weekday strips at the time; the NYW ** did **publish them (Allan has recently indicized it, and this may be a hint), and World Color Printing tried some syndication experiment selling “packets” of strips such as “Annie McGee”.
In 1904 – 1905 Herriman authored a series of sport cartoons for Hearst’s “NY Evening Journal”: this is another place where he could have created short lived series, maybe the mystery “Us Husband” and “Bubblespikers”, if they do exist. Then he went to the “Los Angeles Times” (see posting of July 3 2007; no weeday strips there), and after a year or so he begun working again for Hearst creating political cartoons (the ones that Allan graciously offers us weekly in “Herriman Saturdays”) for the “Los Angeles Examiner”, the same newspaper that published “Proones” in 1907. Maybe Allan discovered something else in that newspaper.
Or I am completely wrong, and Herriman created his strips for another newspaper that only Allan knows. Hope that the contest ends soon, so I’ll be able to sleep again.
Best
Alfredo
I surrender and humbly bow to Allan who must have discovered some obscure secrets concerning George Herriman’s productions. In fact – apart the 1906 “Amours of Marie Anne McGee” which every blogger should know (posting of Saturday, August 11 1907), the only other “Weekday strip” (this is how I call the series which were published in weekdays, but not all days) anticipating “Proones the Plunger” I succeeded in finding is “Home, Sweet Home”, published in 1904 in Frank A. Munsey’s “New York Daily News. For the short-lived Sunday section of that newspaper, Herriman created the Sunday series “Bud Smith” and “Major Ozone”, later continued for World Color Printing; possibly he did some other weekday strip I don’t know --- also if I have a very faint remembrance of a possible first avatar of “Us Husband”, a series that Herriman recreated (or probably simply “created” in 1926). Another 1904 series I don’t know anything about is “Bubblespikers”, quoted in http://www.krazy.com/herriman.htm. May it be one of the elusive “Weekdays”?
Here are some conjectures about WHERE could Herriman have published pre – 1907 weekday strips. Before that date GH worked for the “New York World”, for the McClure Syndicate (which, for unknown reasons, continued many series begun in the NYW), for the “Philadelphia North American”, where he drew many one shots and some short lived series such as “Tattered Tim”; for the above mentioned “NY Daily News”, and for World Color Printing. To my knowledge, neither McClure Sections nor the North American published weekday strips at the time; the NYW ** did **publish them (Allan has recently indicized it, and this may be a hint), and World Color Printing tried some syndication experiment selling “packets” of strips such as “Annie McGee”.
In 1904 – 1905 Herriman authored a series of sport cartoons for Hearst’s “NY Evening Journal”: this is another place where he could have created short lived series, maybe the mystery “Us Husband” and “Bubblespikers”, if they do exist. Then he went to the “Los Angeles Times” (see posting of July 3 2007; no weeday strips there), and after a year or so he begun working again for Hearst creating political cartoons (the ones that Allan graciously offers us weekly in “Herriman Saturdays”) for the “Los Angeles Examiner”, the same newspaper that published “Proones” in 1907. Maybe Allan discovered something else in that newspaper.
Or I am completely wrong, and Herriman created his strips for another newspaper that only Allan knows. Hope that the contest ends soon, so I’ll be able to sleep again.
Best
Alfredo
# posted by : 9/13/2007 6:28 PM
: 9/13/2007 6:28 PM
Hi Alfredo -
I have no knowledge of "Bubblespikers", so can't help there. In addition I am not aware of Herriman having done any series for the Philly North American, just a few one-shots in 1901-02. I have "Tattered Tim" as a one-shot on 3/2/02. What did I miss?
--Allan
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I have no knowledge of "Bubblespikers", so can't help there. In addition I am not aware of Herriman having done any series for the Philly North American, just a few one-shots in 1901-02. I have "Tattered Tim" as a one-shot on 3/2/02. What did I miss?
--Allan
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Obscurity of the Day: Posey County
Here's a real early item, Posey County by Frank Ladendorf. Ladendorf produced this series of Sunday panels for the New York World from August 22 1897 to May 15 1898. The Outcault influence is pretty obvious here, these action-filled panels closely resembling the great Hogan's Alley full pagers.Ladendorf was a fixture of the World's Sunday section from its inception to about 1903. He then switched over to the McClure Syndicate for a short stint, then eventually reappeared at the World for one last very quick appearance in 1908.
Labels: Obscurities
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Obscurity of the Day: Perky, Salesman
I've already spent way more than my allotted time doing blog-related stuff this morning, commiserating with Cole Johnson over the ins and outs of the Philadelphia Inquirer. If you have an interest just search the blog for Philadelphia Inquirer and you'll find a number of posts with long comment threads attached.So here's a quickie obscurity. Perky, Salesman - He Can Nearly Sell Anything was by someone named Freeman and it ran in the Boston Post from July 4 to September 27 1913. The strip ran six times in July, then just once each in August and September. I'm guessing that this Freeman chap was another in the bunch of cartoonists who tried out for a permanent job at the Post and failed. The art looks suspiciously like Walter Wellman, though, who also had material appearing in the Post at the time, so maybe I have the story all wrong...
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Hello, Allan--This strip is about as contrived a gag as possible. How the devil can you sell a lady a hat by just describing it? Also, what possible reason could there be to leave the hat on an old box somewhere? That's pretty bad.**MY 2 CENTS**---It doesn't look like Wellman to me, he was a great deal more professional than this character.------Perky, Johnson.
# posted by : 9/06/2007 9:47 AM
: 9/06/2007 9:47 AM
Hi Cole -
No argument from me about it being pretty bad, but take another look at those faces -- those are Wellman faces. And the Freeman - Wellman names are awful similar. Might well have just been someone using Wellman references for swipes, but why would you swipe from someone appearing in the paper? Wish I knew more about Wellman's comings and goings, but I don't know if he was on staff at the Post or being distributed to them thru Associated.
--Allan
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No argument from me about it being pretty bad, but take another look at those faces -- those are Wellman faces. And the Freeman - Wellman names are awful similar. Might well have just been someone using Wellman references for swipes, but why would you swipe from someone appearing in the paper? Wish I knew more about Wellman's comings and goings, but I don't know if he was on staff at the Post or being distributed to them thru Associated.
--Allan
Monday, September 03, 2007
Deja Viewed
Usually I'd send this sort of thing on to toddlin' Tom Heintjes over at Hogan's Alley, but I know the latest issue is on the presses right now, and that means the next issue is at least a year or so away. So here's a sighting that is pretty well guaranteed to be coincidental since the two appeared mere days apart ... or does it mean both creators swiped from the same source!
Flying McCoys
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Herriman Saturday
The top cartoon, another swipe at the Southern Pacific Railroad, was printed on 10/1/06, the other two from 10/2.
The highlight of this batch, full of Herriman wordplay, is certainly the one about the Tommy Burns - Fireman Jim Flynn world championship fight that would take place later that day. Burns KOed Flynn in the 15th round and retained his heavyweight title. Fun fact - though both fighters have very Irish names, they were both pseudonyms. Burns was French-Canadian, Flynn was Italian-American.
Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Comments:
that first cartoon has been printed somewhere or other in recent years. Every time I look at the little fellow I can't help but think of Doberman from the old Bilko TV show.
Another nice set of cartoons. As to Burns vs Flynn, Burns won by KO in the 15th round. Burns was heavyweight champ. He beat Marvin Hart (hardly anyone remembers either Hart or Burns) on 23-February-1906 and lost it to Jack Johnson on 26-December-1908.
Regards,
Joe Thompson ;0)
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Regards,
Joe Thompson ;0)
