Although Bob Lubbers' Robin Malone never really succeeded as a newspaper strip, these days it's considered something of a minor classic.The strip followed the adventures of a buxom rich gal in a story of romance and intrigue. The dailies did most of the storytelling while the Sundays, as you can see above, became a playground in which Lubber's graphic imagination could run wild.
The art, quite derivative of the Al Capp inspired style that Lubbers had introduced in Long Sam, tends to give the impression that the strip was more lighthearted than it usually was. My guess is that this element held the strip back; at least I have always found it a bit jarring to read a dramatic continuity with art this 'cartoony'. On the other hand, Lubbers might have been trying to fake out newspaper readers, few of whom were interested in following adventure strips by the 1960s. Between that and the lovingly drawn chesty babes perhaps Lubbers figured he was improving his odds.
Robin Malone was offered by NEA but I get the impression it may not have been included with their standard package but rather as an additional cost extra. At least it appeared in so many fewer papers than the rest of the NEA line-up that this seems to be a possible conclusion. NEA did that sort of thing every once in awhile, rarely if ever with much success.
Maurice Horn claims in his World Encyclopedia of Comics that the strip only ran a year. However in actuality Robin Malone ran daily from March 20 1967 to March 14 1970, the Sunday from March 19 1967 to March 8 1970. According to Ron Goulart, always a far more reliable source, the writing was farmed out to Paul S. Newman for the first six months, and Stu Hample thereafter.
Hello, Allan----When it comes to poorly researched histories, THE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF COMICS is in a class alone. I cringe when I see this unreliable botch on a library's "reference" shelf, ensuring it's misinformation for years to be.
ReplyDeleteI own the original art for the strip that follows the second one you posted. I've had it for over 25 years. Interestingly, the reverse of the Bristol board has some pencilling by Lubbers. Apparently, he pencilled a couple of important images on the back, then lightboxed the board to do the inking.
ReplyDeleteLubbers' use of color, on the two examples you posted here, is really striking. Some of the NEA strips of the '50s and '60s are surprisingly good, given that those were the end times for quality newspaper comics...
It ran in my hometown paper in the late `60s. Going through microfilm yesterday at the library, I've been following a storyline in which Robin buys a baseball team, the Hawks, and deals with its sexist manager. So she renames the team the Robins.
ReplyDeleteObscurity indeed. Even Wikipedia doesn't have an article on "Robin Morgan." Subsequent googling led me to your blog.
Hi Alan! I'd like to print a couple of Robin Malone strips you posted for a mini-biography of Bob Lubbers. Can I get your permission?
ReplyDeleteDoccomix -- I don't claim copyright of the strips, so no permission necessary to use blog images (though credit is always much appreciated). If you want the original higher resolution scan, I do charge an honorarium which will be spent on Stripper's Guide research expenses.
ReplyDelete--Allan Holtz