NBM's latest entry in their Forever Nuts series of classic comic strip reprints is Happy Hooligan by Fred Opper. I provided a biographical essay on Opper for the book as well as a number of raw scans of Opper material. You can purchase your copy at Amazon.com.
I supplied a great many Opper cartoons that didn't find their way into the book, so here's a potpourri of bonus Opper items for you.
Today we have a wonderful editorial cartoon from 1919 wherein Opper gives us his interpretations of a few of Hearst's other star comic strips. Then we have a Cousin Willie daily strip from 1916. Willie was a member of Opper's cast of country folk who popped up in many of his strips. Finally we have a pair from my personal favorite Opper series, Our Antediluvuan Ancestors. Opper really seemed to get a kick out of drawing weird dinosaurs and used them to good effect in commenting on modern problems. The example from the short-lived Sunday version is from 1904, the daily-style one is from 1913.
Hello, Allan---I get the impression that Opper didn't read other strips much. That's an awfully tiny Captain in the Katzie panel, and since when did Boob McNutt have big wet-dog whiskers?---Cole Johnson.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Opper was trying to show those amateurs Goldberg and Knerr how their characters should be drawn to be REALLY funny.
ReplyDelete--Allan