Sunday, June 29, 2008
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Order Jim Ivey's new book Cartoons I Liked at Lulu.com or order direct from Ivey and get the book autographed with a free original sketch.
PS: There will be no Stripper's Guuide posts on Monday or Tuesday.
Labels: Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Comments:
Craig I think the 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo gots it beat; if I remember correctly that's going back to '85 but could be wrong.
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Saturday, June 28, 2008
Herriman Saturday
On this Herriman Saturday we have two more cartoons about the road graft investigation, published on March 15 and 16.
For the Sunday edition of the 17th Herriman produced a pair of cartoons. The first, a cartoon of Robert Emmet, Irish patriot accompanies one of those sleep-inducing Arthur Brisbane Sunday Hearst editorials, this one in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The cartoon was run at a gigantic size, 10" x 15". The final cartoon, a delightfully drawn piece for the automobile section, came out extremely dark on the photocopy, so some of the detail is quite muddy. Sorry about that.
Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Friday, June 27, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: Just Kids
Here's yet another version of the most used comic strip title of all time, Just Kids (6 separate series by my count). This one takes the prize as the first ongoing use of the title and also as the shortest-lived version.Charles Reese's elegantly drawn version ran from November 9 1902 to February 8 1903 in the New York Tribune's Sunday comic section. In a very odd coincidence, T.S. Allen picked up the title for his series in the New York Evening Journal starting the very next week. One has to wonder if there isn't more to the story.
In the short period of 1902-04 Reese really made the newspaper rounds, creating short-lived series for the Tribune, the New York World, Boston Herald and Philadelphia North American. I also seem to recall that he did a bunch of one-shot strips and panels for the McClure Sunday section in this period. He did a lot of straight illustration work as well.
Labels: Obscurities
Thursday, June 26, 2008
George Carlin RIP
George Carlin was a hero to me, a magnificent wise philosopher whose 1970s comedy albums affected me greatly in my formative years. His later material, honed to razor sharpness, continued to challenge and liberate right to the end. Oh, and he was funny as hell, too. I'll miss you George.
Check out a George Carlin animated cartoon on YouTube. Warning: rough language and nudity (you would expect any less from George?).
Check out a George Carlin animated cartoon on YouTube. Warning: rough language and nudity (you would expect any less from George?).
Comments:
hello Alan,
just 'had a look at the cartoon (!) and I am wondering where it possibly was initially shown?
the movies? TV?
lc
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just 'had a look at the cartoon (!) and I am wondering where it possibly was initially shown?
the movies? TV?
lc
# posted by 
: 6/27/2008 6:41 AM
: 6/27/2008 6:41 AM Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: Kids
If you recall, a couple weeks ago we discussed Teddy, Jack and Mary, Tom McNamara's kid strip that got publicly dumped on by the Chicago Tribune's readers in a popularity contest. Well, McNamara originally got his Tribune berth by giving the heave-ho to yet another kid strip called Kids.The creator of Kids, Bert Green, had just a few short-lived syndicated features back in the teens, one with NEA and another with the New York Evening Telegram. But if memory serves he was gainfully employed as a bullpen artist throughout the teens and twenties. Kids was his first 'bigtime' syndicate contract and started appearing February 19 1928. He got the hook on May 12 1929 and Tom McNamara's strip premiered the week after.
It's possible that Bert Green gave up the strip voluntarily. In 1929 he published a book of prose and cartoons titled Love Letters of an Interior Decorator which did pretty well. Perhaps he thought he'd discovered greener pastures?
By the way, the book is a delightful zany romp -- if you come upon a cheap copy I recommend you pick it up.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
I was surprised to see that Bert Green did comics strips. He was a giant in the early animation business - since most of those guys worked on comic strips too, it shouldnt have surprised me. anybody know when he moved to California? he was there from 1932-c1938, he was working for Hal Roach (they say) in 1932. Could he have gone Hollywood earlier?
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
News of Yore 1952: Don't Tread On Me
$1,000,000 Damage Suit
(E&P, 8/23/52)
A $1,000,000 damage suit was filed in New York State Supreme Court this week against the National Broadcasting Co., the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Young & Rubicam, Inc., Talent Associates, Ltd., Fred Coe and David Shaw by Jerry Siegel, who in 1935 originated the "Superman" comic strip but was unable to retain control of the feature.
Mr. Siegel's complaint charges that the plot of a television play called "The Lantern Copy" broadcast May 25 closely parallels his own career to a point, but portrays the cartoonist as "a person of immoral, vicious, disreputable and criminal character and nature." Defendants are the network, sponsor, advertising agency, script agency, producer and author, respectively.
Mr. Siegel's complaint, incidentally, states that TV rights to "Superman" have been sold "for a sum reported to be in the neighborhood of thirty million dollars." McClure Syndicate distributes the strip.
Labels: News of Yore
Comments:
Wndering what happened to THAT lawsuit (At least we DO know about the other one he have at the time)!!!!
Except, he didn't sold the rights to the "Adventures Of Superman" series-DC have the rights to the series (And, still own it to this day).
Except, he didn't sold the rights to the "Adventures Of Superman" series-DC have the rights to the series (And, still own it to this day).
Googled it and found that it was the first episode of The Goodyear Television Playhouse, a 60 minute live presentation that was aired on May 25, 1952.
The director was Delbert Mann (the director of Marty, another Goodyear Television Playhouse presentation which he remade himself as a movie), who left his papers to the Vanderbilt library in Nashville. I for one would love to see if a script survives.
Next time I am in LA I will have a look at the Museum of Broadcast to find more.
Title: The Lantern Copy
Date: 25 May 1952
Director: Delbert Mann
Producer: Fred Coe
Writer: David Shaw
Music: RCA Recordings
Distribution: NBC Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
Format: Live Television
Principal Actors: Paul Langton, Neva Patterson, Royal Beal
Supporting Actors: Georgianne Johnson, Mark Daniels
Contents: Memoirs, Scrapbook
Memoirs: Part I, pp. 91, 98D
Scrapbook: Volume I, 1949-1953
Location: Boxes 93, 102
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The director was Delbert Mann (the director of Marty, another Goodyear Television Playhouse presentation which he remade himself as a movie), who left his papers to the Vanderbilt library in Nashville. I for one would love to see if a script survives.
Next time I am in LA I will have a look at the Museum of Broadcast to find more.
Title: The Lantern Copy
Date: 25 May 1952
Director: Delbert Mann
Producer: Fred Coe
Writer: David Shaw
Music: RCA Recordings
Distribution: NBC Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
Format: Live Television
Principal Actors: Paul Langton, Neva Patterson, Royal Beal
Supporting Actors: Georgianne Johnson, Mark Daniels
Contents: Memoirs, Scrapbook
Memoirs: Part I, pp. 91, 98D
Scrapbook: Volume I, 1949-1953
Location: Boxes 93, 102
Monday, June 23, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: The Little Woman, Way Out West and Jimmy And The Tiger
Buckle up, folks, this one's going to be a bumpy ride.Vic Forsythe first made his presence known to comic strip readers back in the 1910s with a string of features for the New York World. In those days he divided his time between strips and sports cartoons. Late in the teens he struck a minor vein of gold when he created Joe's Car. The strip, starring Joe Jinks, was initially about the trials and tribulations of car ownership, but Forsythe branched out pretty quickly to have Joe engaging in various minor-key humorous adventures. The strip was renamed Joe Jinks in 1928 and Joe got himself into the boxing game, managing a fighter named Dynamite Dunn.
In 1931 the New York World was consolidated by Scripps-Howard and effectively ceased to be, and all its features were picked up by United Feature Syndicate. Perhaps Forsythe chafed at the new management or maybe his pay envelope took a turn south (Scripps-Howard was notoriously cheap), but in 1933 he abandoned Joe Jinks to Pete Llanuza and sought greener pastures.
Apparently he found some hay in the Hearst camp, where he created a new strip that was somewhat similar to Joe Jinks. It was titled Way Out West, and starred a Joe Jinks clone named Jimmy who goes west hoping to find gold. What he finds instead is a rootin'-tootin' cowboy who goes by the name "The Texas Tiger". Way Out West started on January 7 1934.
Though this Sunday strip often reads as if there was a daily adjunct I've never found any evidence of a daily from early in the run. Almost a year in, though, a daily does finally appear. It's not titled Way Out West, though, it's called Jimmy and the Tiger. This badly titled strip (sounds more like a kiddie strip to me) seems to have premiered on November 12 1934. In the daily version Jimmy grooms Tiger as a boxer -- deja vu! The Sunday strip, meanwhile, focuses more on the wild west exploits of Tiger, and Jimmy is left out of the mix more and more.
The Sunday strip initially ran with a topper titled Bunker Bugs, a strip about golfing. But on April 21 1935 a new topper premiered titled The Little Woman. This strip brought Jimmy home where he played the harried husband in a domestic comedy. Although I call this a topper, Forsythe divided his two Sundays as a pair of half-pagers, a marketing ploy that made it easy to replace one or the other with a half-page ad, something that often happened with this strip.
Two months later Forsythe's daily, Jimmy and the Tiger, was renamed The Little Woman. This replacement premiered on June 17 1935. Though the title was changed, the storyline stayed the same, with Jimmy and Tiger still in the boxing game. The daily strip ended December 5 1936 with the Tiger getting married.
The Sunday versions of Way Out West and The Little Woman both supposedly ran until November 22 1936 according to the King Features Microfilm Catalog, but I've never seen one later than June 21st. Given its status as a filler strip, the November date may be right. Has anyone seen the later ones?
And that's the convoluted story of Vic Forsythe at King Features. He returned to doing Joe Jinks for United in 1937 but that didn't last long. According to Ron Goulart he gave it up, this time for good, because of illness.
Thanks to Mark Tague who sent me an email asking about Forsythe's stint at King. I had the timeline all balled up in my Stripper's Guide index, but his questioning led me to do some further research to neaten things up considerably, even if there are still some unknowns.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Allan, when I sent the email off to you asking for information about Vic Forsythe and his King Features strips, I was surprised and pleased by your very quick reply. Now I'm even more surprised that your very next blog entry was a further explanation. All seems much clearer now. Thank you.
In the time since I emailed you with the questions, I managed to pick up April 1-June 15, 1935 of Jimmy and the Tiger. The story was barreling along with Jimmy (last name is Goober, by the way) trying to get fights lined up to build up Tiger's record so they can get a big payday in New York. Jimmy even picks up another fighter, a comical counterpoint to The Tiger, Jawbone Jerry. Then suddenly on May 14th, with no foreshadowing whatsoever, The Tiger decides to quit the fight game. The Tiger wants to go to the ranch owned by Jimmy's dad, where he had been a ranch hand and use his boxing winnings to buy into the ranch. As soon as that's accomplished Jimmy heads back east and reunites with his wife, Dilly, The Little Woman herself.
So, abruptly between May 14 and June 4, the strip completely drops the boxing storyline, returns The Tiger to the ranch to be available for the Way Out West Sundays and Jimmy returns to his wife so that the daily can now be The Little Woman. The last strip I have, June 15th, is still titled Jimmy and the Tiger, but it has become a domestic strip. This abrupt change has the flavor of strong editorial pressure from the syndicate.
Thanks again.
In the time since I emailed you with the questions, I managed to pick up April 1-June 15, 1935 of Jimmy and the Tiger. The story was barreling along with Jimmy (last name is Goober, by the way) trying to get fights lined up to build up Tiger's record so they can get a big payday in New York. Jimmy even picks up another fighter, a comical counterpoint to The Tiger, Jawbone Jerry. Then suddenly on May 14th, with no foreshadowing whatsoever, The Tiger decides to quit the fight game. The Tiger wants to go to the ranch owned by Jimmy's dad, where he had been a ranch hand and use his boxing winnings to buy into the ranch. As soon as that's accomplished Jimmy heads back east and reunites with his wife, Dilly, The Little Woman herself.
So, abruptly between May 14 and June 4, the strip completely drops the boxing storyline, returns The Tiger to the ranch to be available for the Way Out West Sundays and Jimmy returns to his wife so that the daily can now be The Little Woman. The last strip I have, June 15th, is still titled Jimmy and the Tiger, but it has become a domestic strip. This abrupt change has the flavor of strong editorial pressure from the syndicate.
Thanks again.
Hi Mark -
It didn't stick, though. Reading through some dailies of The Little Woman I find that Jimmy and Tiger were still setting up boxing matches. In fact they are going to New York in December to set up a match when Tiger sort of out of the blue gets married and the strip concludes.
--Allan
It didn't stick, though. Reading through some dailies of The Little Woman I find that Jimmy and Tiger were still setting up boxing matches. In fact they are going to New York in December to set up a match when Tiger sort of out of the blue gets married and the strip concludes.
--Allan
Hi,
I am a local historian, and I have what I think is a strip written for the local by Vic. The strip was publised in 1925. If you are interested please contact me.
Thanks,
Eileen
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I am a local historian, and I have what I think is a strip written for the local by Vic. The strip was publised in 1925. If you are interested please contact me.
Thanks,
Eileen
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Order Jim Ivey's new book Cartoons I Liked at Lulu.com or order direct from Ivey and get the book autographed with a free original sketch.
Labels: Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Herriman Saturday
I have a frightful amount of work to do this weekend (yes Jeffrey, I will finish that intro!) so just two cartoons today; March 12 and 14 1907. Enjoy!Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Miscellany Day
Gordon Campbell's Collection Found!
Regular blog readers know that I've been bemoaning the disappearance of Gordon Campbell's incredible vast collection of early tearsheets and original art. He'd talked to me shortly before his death and said he still hadn't made any final decisions about the final disposition of his collection. I suggested Ohio State University, but I knew that they hadn't been the lucky recipients.
I've been asking around for years now, trying to find out what exactly did happen to it, but no one seemed to have an inkling. My worst fear was that the whole collection ended up in a landfill, a fate that would have been a loss almost too horrible to bear.
Finally an anonymous source has come forward to tell me that Steve Geppi, owner and president of Diamond Comic Distributors, now has the collection. It is reportedly all boxed up at his Geppi's Entertainment Museum, presumably someday to be used in the displays. No word on how exactly Geppi came to be the owner; whether Gordon or his heirs sold it to Geppi, or if it was a donation (highly doubtful, I think).
I can't say I'm exactly happy about the new ownership. I would have much preferred to have it end up in a research facility rather than a ballpark pop culture attraction. It seems to be without any facilities or, apparently, interest in serving researchers (I note that the Educational Programs link is empty, for instance). On the other hand, it's better than a landfill. But it seems a little like having Neil Armstrong's spacesuit end up at an MTV museum if you know what I mean.
Jackie Ormes Book
I had originally planned to review Nancy Goldstein's fabulous book Jackie Ormes - The First African American Woman Cartoonist on the blog but instead I will be reviewing it for the next issue of Hogan's Alley. Given the publication schedule of HA and the speed at which books go out of print these days, I just wanted to give you folks a heads-up that you will definitely want to purchase a copy. It's a first rate piece of research, entertaining, and reproduces wonderful material that is about as rare as it comes.
Pittsburgh Courier on Proquest
I know at least a few blog readers have access to Proquest, the digitized newspaper archives. If you do I'd like to ask you a favor. I'm currently in need of good quality comic strip reproductions from the Pittsburgh Courier and the microfilm is in terrible condition. I know that Proquest recently added the Courier to its list of digitized newspapers.
The nearest facility to me that has the Courier from Proquest is about 120 miles away, and with the price of gas these days I'd rather not make that trip only to find out that the digitized version is no better than the microfilm. If you have access could you please do a little spot-check for me (I'm mostly interested in the 1930s-50s) and report back regarding the quality of the scans? Some Proquest material is stunningly good, others are so low resolution and pixilated that they're of no use for my purposes.
Regular blog readers know that I've been bemoaning the disappearance of Gordon Campbell's incredible vast collection of early tearsheets and original art. He'd talked to me shortly before his death and said he still hadn't made any final decisions about the final disposition of his collection. I suggested Ohio State University, but I knew that they hadn't been the lucky recipients.
I've been asking around for years now, trying to find out what exactly did happen to it, but no one seemed to have an inkling. My worst fear was that the whole collection ended up in a landfill, a fate that would have been a loss almost too horrible to bear.
Finally an anonymous source has come forward to tell me that Steve Geppi, owner and president of Diamond Comic Distributors, now has the collection. It is reportedly all boxed up at his Geppi's Entertainment Museum, presumably someday to be used in the displays. No word on how exactly Geppi came to be the owner; whether Gordon or his heirs sold it to Geppi, or if it was a donation (highly doubtful, I think).
I can't say I'm exactly happy about the new ownership. I would have much preferred to have it end up in a research facility rather than a ballpark pop culture attraction. It seems to be without any facilities or, apparently, interest in serving researchers (I note that the Educational Programs link is empty, for instance). On the other hand, it's better than a landfill. But it seems a little like having Neil Armstrong's spacesuit end up at an MTV museum if you know what I mean.
Jackie Ormes Book
I had originally planned to review Nancy Goldstein's fabulous book Jackie Ormes - The First African American Woman Cartoonist on the blog but instead I will be reviewing it for the next issue of Hogan's Alley. Given the publication schedule of HA and the speed at which books go out of print these days, I just wanted to give you folks a heads-up that you will definitely want to purchase a copy. It's a first rate piece of research, entertaining, and reproduces wonderful material that is about as rare as it comes.
Pittsburgh Courier on Proquest
I know at least a few blog readers have access to Proquest, the digitized newspaper archives. If you do I'd like to ask you a favor. I'm currently in need of good quality comic strip reproductions from the Pittsburgh Courier and the microfilm is in terrible condition. I know that Proquest recently added the Courier to its list of digitized newspapers.
The nearest facility to me that has the Courier from Proquest is about 120 miles away, and with the price of gas these days I'd rather not make that trip only to find out that the digitized version is no better than the microfilm. If you have access could you please do a little spot-check for me (I'm mostly interested in the 1930s-50s) and report back regarding the quality of the scans? Some Proquest material is stunningly good, others are so low resolution and pixilated that they're of no use for my purposes.
Comments:
Having gotten to know Gordon in his later years, I'm glad to see this. However, I'm curious at what exactly has turned up, as I know at least some of the originals from his collection were sold a few years ago in one of Russ Cochran's comic art auctions. Gordon's favorite part of his collection was the set of scrapbooks in which he was hoping to mount one published example of every comic strip ever created. He spent a lot of time in his retirement years trying to track down obscure titles he didn't have. This is what I'm hoping has turned up in the museum for people to view. As for his many file cabinets full of collected strips and the attic full of unclipped newspaper pages, maybe those will spark the publishing by Diamond of some reprint collections that would otherwise have not found their way to market. He used to sell strips from this stock for "pocket money" after he retired, and I can't help but wonder if somewhere in the collection there's still a bunch of Batman strips in an envelope with my name written on the outside, which he had pulled together to sell to me before he became too ill to continue his hobby. As for how Geppi got the collection, I only know that the materials most likely went to a nephew who helped him a lot after his wife passed away, as the Campbells had no children. I do remember Gordon saying there were several who were interested in getting his collection as a donation, but that he was hoping the collection could bring a financial reward to him or his nephew. Unfortunately, it was several months after his death before I learned he had died, so I do not know the story of what happened to the collection, and of how parts of it got to Cochran and Geppi.
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# posted by : 6/20/2008 9:02 AM
: 6/20/2008 9:02 AM Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: Alma & Oliver
Ah, now here we have the real goodies! Alma & Oliver is by all reports George McManus' very first continuing comic strip. I've been looking for a sample of this strip for years now without any luck. Cole Johnson to the rescue!
Though the strip is mentioned in practically every cartoon history ever written I was beginning to think it never actually existed, much like the oft-mentioned Swinnerton's "Little Bears and Tigers" which just turned out to be a misheard reference to Little Bears and Tykes. These same cartoon histories usually cite Alma & Oliver as running in 1900, but Cole informs me that this is definitely not the case. He cites running dates of September 28 1902 to April 12 1903. Swift-thinking blog readers will already realize that makes Alma & Oliver McManus' second strip -- Burglar Pete turns out to be his very first! At least 'tis so until Cole comes across with some other undocumented rarity!
By the way, this strip is a great example of needing to see samples. I always assumed, and I think some histories may even indicate, that the titular Alma was a woman. Given McManus' minor fame in St. Louis for his Gibsonesque glamor girl drawings it seemed a reasonable assumption that his first strip would feature a pretty gal. Not so, not so!
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
What are the dates of these Republic comics? Only one Gay Boys cartoon had one.
# posted by : 6/18/2008 10:56 AM
: 6/18/2008 10:56 AM
Hi furblis -
Sorry but Cole didn't give me the specific dates on the samples. Cole, could you tell us the dates?
--Allan
Sorry but Cole didn't give me the specific dates on the samples. Cole, could you tell us the dates?
--Allan
Hello Allan, and Hello Furballs-I mean Furbils- The dates are---- Burglar Pete: 8-24-02, Gay Boys: "Rats" 9-7-02, "Love Feast" 3-8-03. Alma & Oliver:"Politicians" 11-16-02, "Trouble Again" 3-15-03. Cole Johnson.
# posted by : 6/19/2008 5:13 PM
: 6/19/2008 5:13 PM
Republic comics shown
Burglar Pete 8-24-02
Gay boys "Rats" 9-7-02
"Love Feast" 3-8-03
Alma & Oliver "Politicians" ll-16-02
"Trouble Again" 3-15-03
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Burglar Pete 8-24-02
Gay boys "Rats" 9-7-02
"Love Feast" 3-8-03
Alma & Oliver "Politicians" ll-16-02
"Trouble Again" 3-15-03
# posted by : 6/20/2008 3:34 PM
: 6/20/2008 3:34 PM Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: Burglar Pete
Here's Burglar Pete from Cole Johnson's St. Louis Republic archives. I'd never seen this one before; a George McManus production that lasted just three episodes. The third and final episode has Pete getting a new moniker -- Toothpick Pete.
The strip ran on 8/17, 8/24 and 8/31 of 1902.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Hi Allan! Long time no hear! I was at the hospital for some month with a strange ailment, the Guillain Barré Syndrome (look to Wikipedia for the eerie details); anyway, now I'm well enough, back to home, to work and to write my comments to your wonderful blog.
I think that neither Burglar Pete nor Alma and Oliver where the first McManus characters, At page 141 of "Here We Are Again" you 'ill find a McManus Sunday page of ***1900*** DEC 23 (to see it download a padf file of pages 129-192 of the book by copying and pasting the adress below). I erroneusly thought that the unnamed character were Alma and Oliver, not suspecting that the former was a man (Alma was my mother's name, and also in English Alma is a female name). Unless the couple is an early avatar for the 1902 series. In any case, note the husband's Jiggesque top-hat.
Best
Alfredo
EAQ download
http://ftp.eaq.it/users/web7_castelli/EAQ/03.zip
I think that neither Burglar Pete nor Alma and Oliver where the first McManus characters, At page 141 of "Here We Are Again" you 'ill find a McManus Sunday page of ***1900*** DEC 23 (to see it download a padf file of pages 129-192 of the book by copying and pasting the adress below). I erroneusly thought that the unnamed character were Alma and Oliver, not suspecting that the former was a man (Alma was my mother's name, and also in English Alma is a female name). Unless the couple is an early avatar for the 1902 series. In any case, note the husband's Jiggesque top-hat.
Best
Alfredo
EAQ download
http://ftp.eaq.it/users/web7_castelli/EAQ/03.zip
# posted by : 6/18/2008 11:24 AM
: 6/18/2008 11:24 AM
Hi Alfredo -
Glad to hear That you're feeling better. I always feel weak and listless but I don't use that as an excuse to hang out in a hospital for months ;-)
Regarding your 1900 McManus piece, I'm afraid it's not part of a series as far as I can tell from my fragmentary index. The Republic generally seemed to favor one-shots and published tons of them in 1900-01. McManus started appearing in the Sunday section in 1900, as you say, but apparently never did a continuing series until Burglar Pete. The 12/23/00 strip certainly isn't part of the Alma & Oliver series.
--Allan
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Glad to hear That you're feeling better. I always feel weak and listless but I don't use that as an excuse to hang out in a hospital for months ;-)
Regarding your 1900 McManus piece, I'm afraid it's not part of a series as far as I can tell from my fragmentary index. The Republic generally seemed to favor one-shots and published tons of them in 1900-01. McManus started appearing in the Sunday section in 1900, as you say, but apparently never did a continuing series until Burglar Pete. The 12/23/00 strip certainly isn't part of the Alma & Oliver series.
--Allan
Monday, June 16, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: The Gay Boys
Awright, awright, quit yer snickerin'. Serious historianship goin' on here. No, this isn't the first alternative lifestyle newspaper comic strip; that wouldn't happen for, oh, about 90 years or so. Though I always wondered about Alphonse and Gaston...The Gay Boys was by H.F. Thode and ran in the St. Louis Republic from July 13 1902 through May 31 1903. The Republic at this time mostly ran McClure Syndicate material but usually reserved a page for in-house cartoonists. Thode got the lion's share of the limited room in these days, initially sharing space with a very young and raw George McManus. McManus left for New York during the run of this strip and thus it became the only continuing local feature in the Republic for the latter part of its tenure.
Many thanks to Cole Johnson for these scans. The Republic is a paper of some fascination to me, especially because McManus got his start there. Unfortunately the microfilm of the Republic is missing many Sunday sections and my information on the newspaper's features has more holes than Swiss cheese. Cole has an impressive file of these sections and has consented to go through them for the benefit of myself and you blog readers. Expect to see more goodies from the Republic coming up soon!
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Ah, to visit the days when strange old men paid boys to go in the cellar and kill rats. Great stuff... thanks much to you and Mr. Johnson for posting them! I look forward to more comics of the lost Republic.
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Sunday, June 15, 2008
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Order Jim Ivey's new book Cartoons I Liked at Lulu.com or order direct from Ivey and get the book autographed with a free original sketch.
Labels: Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Herriman Saturday
All four of these cartoons appeared in the Examiner's Sunday edition of March 10 1907, a rather incredible performance for any cartoonist. The first and last were both full page width!Of particular interest is cartoon #3 ("Are You a Worker..."). This is Herriman's first appearance on the syndicated Hearst Sunday editorial. Usually at this time the cartoons accompanying this preachy Sunday tradition were penned by Robert Carter, but occasionally others would fill in. It seems as if Hearst, or at least Brisbane back in New York, were starting to take note of our man Garge.
Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Friday, June 13, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: Teddy, Jack and Mary
After Tom McNamara's long-running Us Boys feature ended (use the Search function to find a month long reprint of that strip here on the blog) he got a berth at the Chicago Tribune with a very similar feature titled Teddy, Jack and Mary. The Sunday-only feature commenced on May 19 1929, about six months after the end of Us Boys.I'd love to know if McNamara got canned at Hearst or if the Tribune offered him more money. If the latter then McNamara really got shafted, because after the one year of appearing in the Trib McNamara became the subject of a reader referendum. For three months his strip alternated with a new Sunday kid feature titled Little Folks by Tack Knight. Readers were invited to vote for the strip they liked best, and when the ballots were counted Teddy, Jack and Mary got a very public heave-ho in favor of Little Folks.
What a way for McNamara to end his long career -- a flogging at the hands of the readers themselves. The last Teddy, Jack and Mary, in which McNamara did not get to tell his audience to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, appeared on August 24 1930.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Hello, Allan----I don't get how mediocrities like McNamara get long national careers. His drawing talent was quite low--he couldn't do expressions, body proportions, clothes that earthlings would wear, or proper perspective. His characters are unappealingly whiney, always being intimidated and blubbering. Punchlines, even lame ones, aren't necessarily even there. Still, when the OUR GANG comedy series began in Hollywood, producer Hal Roach called him in to write and direct some of the earliest episodes. McNamara did his snivelly kids for comic books at least up to the war.-----Cole Johnson.
# posted by : 6/13/2008 2:57 PM
: 6/13/2008 2:57 PM
Hi Cole -
I agree that McNamara was an utterly awfully cartooner, but if you can get past that -- not easy, granted -- his strip (Us Boys) really had its moments. After ignoring it for years and years I forced myself to read a few months and was so impressed I ended up running a month of it on the blog. Go check it out and see if your opinion on McNamara doesn't mellow at least a little bit.
--Allan
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I agree that McNamara was an utterly awfully cartooner, but if you can get past that -- not easy, granted -- his strip (Us Boys) really had its moments. After ignoring it for years and years I forced myself to read a few months and was so impressed I ended up running a month of it on the blog. Go check it out and see if your opinion on McNamara doesn't mellow at least a little bit.
--Allan
Thursday, June 12, 2008
News of Yore 1951: Spector's Coogy Graduates
'Coogy' Sunday Page Due from Herald Tribune
Cartoonist Irving Spector crossed the country 13 times in three years awhile back and thereby became infatuated with the desert in New Mexico and Arizona. "I remember everything in vivid detail," he says. "I can draw it without seeing it."
That helps explain the locale of his Sunday page, due May 27 from the New York Herald-Tribune Syndicate. The characters apparently stem from 20 years of animated cartooning and the result: "In animation, you get so you consider that animals are people."
Mr. Specter's career goes back almost, but not quite, to the age of 14. At 14, he tucked some of his drawings under his arm, hied from his home in Los Angeles to the Walt Disney studio, in Hollywood—only to learn that Mr. Disney was "out." He came back that night though and noticing a light on at the back, gathered his courage and walked right into a story conference attended by, among others, Walt Disney.
"They all seemed amused and Mr. Disney was kind." says Mr. Spector. "He told me there'd be a place for me at Disney's when I finished school."
As a matter of fact, the cartoonist (who has recently taught motion picture cartooning at the College of the City of New York) didn't finish school. He left with half a year still to go at the age of 16, got a job with Universal Studios. A year and a half later he went to Disney's as an assistant. and, at 20, he became an animator for Columbia Studios.
As a writer later for Warner Bros., he helped in the development of the "Bugs Bunny" type of humor (zany, wacky humor as opposed to sweet, cute animals, he explains.)
Mr. Spector's animals, none of which struck us as sweet, include the title character, which has rather faint resemblance to a cougar and serves mainly as the interlocutor of the piece. Others are Big Moe, a bear; a tortoise; and Arresting Sam, a deputized dog.
The cartoonist, who is now connected with Famous Studios as a writer, started the strip as a small-sized Sunday filler in December.
Labels: New of Yore
Comments:
Expect Coogy in my blog a couple of weeks from now. I will have some interesting things to say, as it appears to be a missing link in one of comicdom's maddest myths. I hope I can quote from this piece, Allan.
Hello, All------Sounds like an ersatz POGO to me. Show us one, Allan!---Cole Johnson.
# posted by : 6/13/2008 11:58 AM
: 6/13/2008 11:58 AM
And it is an ersatz Pogo... including comedic phonetic writing of big words... but it is also much more. There are some actual movie and genre parodies, for instance. Was it a sunday only, Allan? If you have any dailies, please show them. I just bought a couple more samples, so I will be waiting for those to arrive. It'll probably be tuesday plus two weeks before I get around to that.
If this piece ends up being quoted (on Ger's site) let me know, and I'll correct a few minor errors. I've never seen it before, but it explains why I've seen the exact same misinformation elsewhere on the web (not from this blog, but someone else cribbing from it previously); e.g., he never worked for Disney -- the story behind it is true but slightly different. A few other things too. "Embelished" maybe, by a Trib copy editor?
Ger, if you do Coogy on your site, feel free to let me know. If you like, I'll help you out (Yes, I have original boards).
Paul
Ger, if you do Coogy on your site, feel free to let me know. If you like, I'll help you out (Yes, I have original boards).
Paul
The 1951 sundays are up. I'll add this piece next saturdy or sunday and some other stuff Paul sent me.
Go check out Coogy on Ger's blog at:
http://www.allthingsger.blogspot.com/
There are several posts, go to the September 2008 archives.
--Allan
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http://www.allthingsger.blogspot.com/
There are several posts, go to the September 2008 archives.
--Allan
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: The Wish Twins and Aladdin's Lamp
The Wish Twins are an obscurity by association. The strip ran for five years in the New York Herald, almost always as an inside third-page with only one spot color. Meanwhile on the other side of that sheet was usually something by Winsor McCay. Not quite well-drawn or interesting enough to compete with the master, they are ignored like the wallflowers at a dance. If you can afford to buy Little Nemo tearsheets you're among the few with access, but who could tear their eyes away from the full-color full-page glory of Nemo long enough to peruse the sparse monotone color of the third page Wish Twins on the reverse?The creator, W.O. Wilson, was a regular of the humor weeklies where he was never a star player but did turn out good cartoons. He spent most of the 1900s at the New York World where he penned this feature as well as a number of others that hid in the section's interior. His one breakout strip was Madge the Magician's Daughter which he did for the Philadelphia North American; this strip has lately been the subject of a Hogan's Alley article.
The Wish Twins ran in the Herald from October 30 1904 through January 5 1908. You'll find more samples of this strip over on Barnacle Press.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Did you know, speaking of McCay and the Herald, that for a very brief period of time, both McCay and Earl Hurd (one of the inventors of the cel-animation process) were drawing cartoons for the same paper?
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Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: The Zanities
The New York Daily News, for reasons I don't fully understand, made a habit of including filler strips in their Sunday comics sections. Since they had free and easy access to all the Tribune strips I don't understand why they needed to do this -- they could always run one of their usuals in any format they might need, or pick from a list of strips they didn't usually run.Whatever the reason was, they did run filler strips, often in series but occasionally one-shots. Above you'll find one of each. The Zanities, by a rather long in the tooth Thornton Fisher, showed up in the section on widely dispersed dates at least as early as 1949 and as late as 1955. Fisher's salad days were way back at the New York World in the 1910s.
Bus Stop by Adam Barth seems to have been a one-shot, though not having indexed the Daily News Sunday sections I couldn't say for sure.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
What equipment do you use to scan your strips, every item I have been able to purchased is either to small or what i possibly need is $1000 to get. any suggestions or ideas would greatly help. -steve
Hi Steve -
Usually I use my el cheapo Mustek ScanExpress A3; when I need a larger scanning surface or want optimum quality I use my Epson 1640XL, a much more expensive scanner that I picked up from NASA surplus for a song.
--Allan
Usually I use my el cheapo Mustek ScanExpress A3; when I need a larger scanning surface or want optimum quality I use my Epson 1640XL, a much more expensive scanner that I picked up from NASA surplus for a song.
--Allan
Re: the fillers... maybe it was a New ork prestige thing? As the Herald was doing the same thing?
I am going to devote some room to Coogy over on my blog soon (I have couple more coming in, which I am waiting for). Interesting stuff.
I am going to devote some room to Coogy over on my blog soon (I have couple more coming in, which I am waiting for). Interesting stuff.
Hi Ger -
Doesn't seem all that prestigious when a lot of these fillers were grade B material. Both the Herald-Trib and Daily News printed some really great fillers but plenty of lesser material too (I think Zanities definitely falls into the lower category). But maybe they were just toeing the line on Sturgeon's Law.
It did occur to me today that maybe a lot of these filler producers were on the payroll at the papers as retouchers, layout men, etc, and maybe the filler spots were given out as perks.
--Allan
Doesn't seem all that prestigious when a lot of these fillers were grade B material. Both the Herald-Trib and Daily News printed some really great fillers but plenty of lesser material too (I think Zanities definitely falls into the lower category). But maybe they were just toeing the line on Sturgeon's Law.
It did occur to me today that maybe a lot of these filler producers were on the payroll at the papers as retouchers, layout men, etc, and maybe the filler spots were given out as perks.
--Allan
I don't know the Daily News fillers that well, but on the Herald there seems to have been a real effort to get the hottest cartoonists in town... Kurtzman, Fox, whomever it was that signed Henri Arnold... or maybe they told each other and saw the Herald as a way to get from cartooning or advertising to the big time?
Hi Ger -
I agree there were some beauts in the HT, Ger, but most of it was dreck. Specs, Bedelia, Oscar, Mr. Fussabout, et al. I might have to index it all, but I don't have to like it!
--Allan
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I agree there were some beauts in the HT, Ger, but most of it was dreck. Specs, Bedelia, Oscar, Mr. Fussabout, et al. I might have to index it all, but I don't have to like it!
--Allan
Monday, June 09, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: Radiobituaries
Here's another one of those radio page features that were showing up amid the circuit diagrams and frequency lists in the 1920s. This one is from Audio Service, one of several syndicates that specialized in populating these pages.
I know very little about the rather morbidly titled Radiobituaries -- it ran at least in June-July 1927 and possibly longer and it was signed by someone named Lawrence. Beyond that ya got me.
Tip o' the tam to Cole Johnson who supplied these samples of a feature previously unknown to me.
Labels: Obscurities
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Comments:
Great feature, Jim!
I do remembered one Jack Kent did for Mad, around 1969 or 1970, about Sex Ed. That's about the only one I remembered he did.
I do remembered one Jack Kent did for Mad, around 1969 or 1970, about Sex Ed. That's about the only one I remembered he did.
I loved this edition of the Sunday Comics by Mr. Ivey. I must tell all my friends on my blog to buy his book!!!
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Saturday, June 07, 2008
Herriman Saturday
The first cartoon, printed on the Examiner's March 5 1907 front page, is a great example of yellow journalism. Of course the DA knows these guys -- L.A. government in these days was small and naturally everybody knew everybody. This sort of thing might find a home today on an editorial page, but definitely not as a news headline.The second and third cartoons were printed on the Examiner's sports page on the 7th, one splashed across the top, the other along the bottom, full page wide. Herriman was often tapped for dog show coverage -- don't know if it was at his request or if he just got stuck with the assignments. Sorry about the quality of the bottom cartoon. Microfilmed newspaper pages tend to be particularly bad at the bottom of the page (I imagine the focus favors the top) so this one was in pretty bad shape.
Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Comments:
"Gentlemen, with your kind permission I would like to investigate you." An example of how you don't need to know the full background to appreciate the cartoon (although the headlines give some big hints). Hilarious!
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Friday, June 06, 2008
News of Yore 1952: Once Mighty McClure Sold
McClure Syndicate Sold to Bell-NANA
By Erwin Knoll 9/6/52
McClure Newspaper Syndicate, which has long claimed the distinction of being the world's oldest newspaper feature service, this week terminated 68 years of independent operation with its sale to the Bell Syndicate-North American Newspaper Alliance group.
According to Ernest Cuneo, president of NANA, who contracted the purchase, McClure will be operated as a separate subsidiary of the group, which also includes Consolidated News Features, Inc., and Associated Newspapers, Inc.
Control of the syndicate passed to the new owners with the purchase of a 1,000-share block of capital stock for $47,250 by Mr. Cuneo at an auction Thursday, Sept. 4. Mr. Cuneo outbid James L. Lenahan, former president and editor of the syndicate, and Guggenheimer & Untermeyer, attorneys for the estate of the late Adelaide P. Waldo.
The attorneys had held the block of shares as security for a debt, and had themselves offered them for sale at auction.
According to plans announced just before E&P went to press, John Wheeler, chairman of the board of the four affiliated Bell concerns, will serve in a similar capacity at McClure. John F. C. Bryce, who with Mr. Cuneo purchased a substantial interest in the group in March, 1951, will be president of the new acquisition. He holds the same title in Consolidated News Features and Associated Newspapers. Joseph B. Agnelli, executive vice-president and general manager of the four companies, will be executive vice-president of McClure.
No decision has yet been made as to editorial supervision of the syndicate. Louis Ruppel, who last month was elected editor and president of McClure, told E&P: "Ernest Cuneo and I are old friends, and we are now negotiating as to my future with the syndicate."
Mr. Lenahan, who was president and editor of the syndicate and operated it for six years, said he expects to re-enter the syndicate field with an independent service. He figured unsuccessfully in the bidding at Thursday's auction. He opened with $2,500, stating, "I know what the business is worth."
The McClure Newspaper Syndicate was founded in 1884 by S. S. McClure. In 1914 it was sold by the McClure interests to J. C. Brainard who in turn sold to Richard H. Waldo in 1927. After Mr. Waldo's death in 1943, his widow, the late Adelaide P. Waldo, ran the syndicate for three years. Mr. Lenahan acquired control from her in 1946. Mr. Lenahan's failure to meet a due payment on the stock led to the auction.
Among features introduced to newspaper readers in the course of McClure's 68-year history are the first cartoons of Claire Victor Dwiggins and Rube Goldberg; the articles and stories of George Ade, John Kendrick Bangs, Fannie Hurst, Theodore Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, G. K. Chesterton, H. G. Wells and Jack London; the art work of James Montgomery Flagg; Calvin Coolidge's column; "Superman"; and the first "behind the news" column from Washington.
Features currently handled by the syndicate include, among comic strips, "Archie," "Alfred," ''Superman," "King Aroo" and "Roger Lincoln"; "There Oughta Be a Law" panels; columns on fashions, interior decorating, international affairs and Ray Tucker's "Washington Whirligig".
An ironic aspect of Bell-NANA's acquisition of McClure is that John Wheeler, founder of the Bell Syndicate and now chairman of the board of McClure, did his first syndicate writing for McClure Syndicate in 1913, and in 1916 sold his own business, the Wheeler Syndicate, to McClure.
Ernest Cuneo, who acted for the Bell-NANA group at the auction, bought into the group in March, 1951. He is an attorney for Walter Winchell.
By Erwin Knoll 9/6/52
McClure Newspaper Syndicate, which has long claimed the distinction of being the world's oldest newspaper feature service, this week terminated 68 years of independent operation with its sale to the Bell Syndicate-North American Newspaper Alliance group.
According to Ernest Cuneo, president of NANA, who contracted the purchase, McClure will be operated as a separate subsidiary of the group, which also includes Consolidated News Features, Inc., and Associated Newspapers, Inc.
Control of the syndicate passed to the new owners with the purchase of a 1,000-share block of capital stock for $47,250 by Mr. Cuneo at an auction Thursday, Sept. 4. Mr. Cuneo outbid James L. Lenahan, former president and editor of the syndicate, and Guggenheimer & Untermeyer, attorneys for the estate of the late Adelaide P. Waldo.
The attorneys had held the block of shares as security for a debt, and had themselves offered them for sale at auction.
According to plans announced just before E&P went to press, John Wheeler, chairman of the board of the four affiliated Bell concerns, will serve in a similar capacity at McClure. John F. C. Bryce, who with Mr. Cuneo purchased a substantial interest in the group in March, 1951, will be president of the new acquisition. He holds the same title in Consolidated News Features and Associated Newspapers. Joseph B. Agnelli, executive vice-president and general manager of the four companies, will be executive vice-president of McClure.
No decision has yet been made as to editorial supervision of the syndicate. Louis Ruppel, who last month was elected editor and president of McClure, told E&P: "Ernest Cuneo and I are old friends, and we are now negotiating as to my future with the syndicate."
Mr. Lenahan, who was president and editor of the syndicate and operated it for six years, said he expects to re-enter the syndicate field with an independent service. He figured unsuccessfully in the bidding at Thursday's auction. He opened with $2,500, stating, "I know what the business is worth."
The McClure Newspaper Syndicate was founded in 1884 by S. S. McClure. In 1914 it was sold by the McClure interests to J. C. Brainard who in turn sold to Richard H. Waldo in 1927. After Mr. Waldo's death in 1943, his widow, the late Adelaide P. Waldo, ran the syndicate for three years. Mr. Lenahan acquired control from her in 1946. Mr. Lenahan's failure to meet a due payment on the stock led to the auction.
Among features introduced to newspaper readers in the course of McClure's 68-year history are the first cartoons of Claire Victor Dwiggins and Rube Goldberg; the articles and stories of George Ade, John Kendrick Bangs, Fannie Hurst, Theodore Roosevelt, William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, G. K. Chesterton, H. G. Wells and Jack London; the art work of James Montgomery Flagg; Calvin Coolidge's column; "Superman"; and the first "behind the news" column from Washington.
Features currently handled by the syndicate include, among comic strips, "Archie," "Alfred," ''Superman," "King Aroo" and "Roger Lincoln"; "There Oughta Be a Law" panels; columns on fashions, interior decorating, international affairs and Ray Tucker's "Washington Whirligig".
An ironic aspect of Bell-NANA's acquisition of McClure is that John Wheeler, founder of the Bell Syndicate and now chairman of the board of McClure, did his first syndicate writing for McClure Syndicate in 1913, and in 1916 sold his own business, the Wheeler Syndicate, to McClure.
Ernest Cuneo, who acted for the Bell-NANA group at the auction, bought into the group in March, 1951. He is an attorney for Walter Winchell.
Labels: News of Yore
Comments:
Who owns what's left of McClure and Bell now? Who holds the copyrights? Where are the files?
# posted by : 6/06/2008 6:00 PM
: 6/06/2008 6:00 PM
Didn't United Media (UFS/NEA) buy
Bell/McClure-NANA in 1972?
I think they still own the rights.
Allan - love this syndicate stuff.
More!
Bell/McClure-NANA in 1972?
I think they still own the rights.
Allan - love this syndicate stuff.
More!
DC (Superman) and Archie both still control the rights to their comics strips (Of course, Archie is still running as a comic strip).
Let me be a bit mysterious here and say I know who most likely owns the rights to their strips, but I'm not at all sure they do after so many years, so I'm keeping mum just in case I someday wish to reprint some McClure material.
--Allan
--Allan
Well if you're going to go all secrecy on us Allan, how about revealing some real secrets -
What's the deal with Ernest L. Cuneo's NANA and the CIA?
What about the Joshua B. Powers'
Editors Press Service and the South American CIA activities?
Did every syndicate with foreign offices accommodate spies?
What's the deal with Ernest L. Cuneo's NANA and the CIA?
What about the Joshua B. Powers'
Editors Press Service and the South American CIA activities?
Did every syndicate with foreign offices accommodate spies?
I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you. In fact you may know to much already. We know where you live.
--Allan
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--Allan
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: Music Row Joe
Music Row Joe was a local strip produced for the Nashville Tennessean. It ran at least 1983-87 based on my few samples and may have run much longer for all I know. The creators were Jim Oliver and Ron Hellard.That's the sum total of my knowledge of this feature - Holtz out!
Labels: Obscurities
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: Bill and Budd the Bird Boys
The only thing less than absolutely delightful about this comic strip is its title, a run-on sentence all on its own. Here we go -- it's The Exciting Adventures of Bill and Budd the Bird Boys in the Good Airship Flying Fish. Whew!Americans were utterly fascinated with airplanes in the years immediately after the Wrights soared above Kitty Hawk, and The Bird Boys were one of dozens of features that capitalized on that interest. Bill and Budd had a rather odd flying machine -- theirs resembled a submarine with venetian blinds for wings. The youngsters used their surprisingly airworthy contraption to pull pranks, as in the sample above, but also had adventures in strange lands (oh, okay, they also pulled pranks there).
The art was phenomenal on this series -- whimsical and sumptuous. If Winsor McCay, Lyonel Feininger and William Marriner had a child (granted a rather unlikely event) this would be the comic strip their progeny would have penned. So who is the master that actually drew this series? Nope, sorry, wish I could tell you. Although this delightful strip ran in the Chicago Tribune for a full year (September 12 1909 - August 21 1910) never once was it signed by the creator.
Perhaps because the creator chose to be anonymous this wonderful strip, a real classic, has been ignored by all of the standard comic strip histories. I guess they feel that a strip without a known creator just doesn't count for much.
Labels: Obscurities
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Obscurity of the Day: Einstein
Been well over a month since we did an obscurity of the day. We'll chip off the rust and oil the joints with this delightful little strip, Einstein by Jay Heavilin and Frank Johnson. The strip ran just a little over a year, from January 6 1964 through February 13 1965.Einstein was a really neat idea. It was a light-hearted adventure punctuated almost daily with puzzles and riddles of various kinds. Read the strip, solve the puzzle and tune in tomorrow to see if you got it right. The only fly in the ointment is that limited to a diminutive daily format there wasn't much room to get fancy with the puzzles. Perhaps even worse, the strip was distributed by the George Matthew Adams Service which was on its last legs at the time. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if the strip was barely even marketed.
The creators were already old hands; Jay Heavilin was a writer for NEA; he's the fellow that wrote a lot of those short-run factual strips NEA was always giving out. He also scripted Vic Flint, a few years of Kevin the Bold and probably lots of others for which he took no credit.
Frank Johnson at the time was getting a little work from the New York Daily News doing filler strips in their Sunday comics section, but his bread was buttered mostly in comic book work. He later hooked up with Mort Walker to do the art on Boner's Ark, and then in the early 80s he would add Bringing Up Father to his workload, a strip that he stuck with until the bitter end.
Thanks to Jeffrey Lindenblatt for the running dates from the Staten Island Advance.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Eh, the puzzles don't send me although I appreciate the effort to address this kind of market. The granddaddy of puzzles in the comics (although it's more of a feature than a comic strip) is Uncle Art's Funland by Art Nugent. Bob Weber Jr.'s Slylock Fox also offers puzzles. Are there, or have there been, any others?
Yikes I didn't even comment on the art. (!) It's very nice. I always did like Frank Johnson's style: clear and clean, and he gets in some nice detail and texturing like the sky in the May 30th strip.
Hi Toonhead -
Puzzle features have been appearing in Sunday comics sections from the very earliest days of the form. There were even Ting-Lings puzzles in 1894. What's exceedingly rare, though, is to make the puzzles an integral part of an ongoing comic strip storyline.
--Allan
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Puzzle features have been appearing in Sunday comics sections from the very earliest days of the form. There were even Ting-Lings puzzles in 1894. What's exceedingly rare, though, is to make the puzzles an integral part of an ongoing comic strip storyline.
--Allan
Monday, June 02, 2008
Stripper's Guide Bookshelf: Dondi
Following is our very first guest reviewer on the Stripper's Guide blog. Since I would rather have bamboo shoots shoved under my fingernails than read Dondi I'm not a good candidate to review this new book. The saccharine sweetness, Dondi's third-person references to himself, his constant "goshes" all make my skin crawl. That doesn't mean it's a bad strip, though. Just not my cup of tea. I do, however, have handy a Dondi fan in the person of my lovely, talented and otherwise discriminating wife. So take it away Judy ...
Dondi
by Gus Edson and Irwin Hasen, edited by Charles Pelto
Classic Comics Press 2007
ISBN 978-1-60461-686-6
262 pages, $21.95
The Dondi comic strip, created by Gus Edson and Irwin Hasen, was about the adventures of a war orphan from Europe. He is befriended by two American G.I.’s and comes to live with them here in the States. The Dondi reprint book by Classic Comics Press reprints the first 19 months of the strip, from it’s inception on September 25, 1955 until March 17, 1957. The book’s format (11" x 8.5") allows for 3 dailies or one Sunday per page, which is a perfectly acceptable presentation — the strips are readable while the book is manageable. There is a delightful introduction by Jules Feiffer about Irwin Hasen and an extensive interview of Hasen by Bill Baker. The reproduction is superb — only one or two strips have a few minor dropouts — noticeable more by contrast with the excellent reproduction of all the other strips than by any glaring fault of the few affected strips.The Sundays are reproduced in crisp black and white.
As a child I was a fan of the Dondi strip but only had access to the Sundays, reading them in the Pittsburgh Press in the late 60’s and early 70’s. So it was with great anticipation that I began reading these early strips; my memory of details had faded and the Sundays simply could not tell the whole story. I mostly remembered the sweet innocence of Dondi and the obnoxious Mother McGowan. The strip’s storyline begins with two American G.I.’s—Corporal Ted Wills and PFC Whitey McGowan—returning from Europe and reminiscing about the war orphan — Dondi — they had befriended and taken in. But when the Army says it’s time to move you move, so, missing the lad, they are headed back to the states in a far darker mood than you should be after two years away. But Dondi, showing the ingenuity that will serve him well throughout the strip, has stowed away on the troop transport and is reunited with his ‘buddies’.
The strip continues to tell the tale as the state must decide Dondi’s immigration status and whether or not Whitey will be allowed to adopt him. We learn that Whitey is a bit of a millionaire playboy, but has a good heart in contrast to his over-bearing mother who is far more concerned about her position in society than the well-being of her only child. Because of Whitey’s money, Ted reluctantly agrees that Dondi will be better off living with the McGowans in New York than going with Ted to small town America where he lives with his mother and drives a delivery truck. But not to worry — Ted’s not written out of the strip — not by a long shot!
Gus Edson does a masterful job of keeping the strip moving while managing to fill in the back-story so new readers won’t be lost. In these first 19 months we have marriage and death, poverty and privilege, prejudice and tolerance, all handled intelligently but not belabored. While the strip would seem to be an innocent diversion about an orphan, Edson and Hasen used it from the start as a commentary on whatever struck them as important. In the Baker interview we learn that later, after Edson had died and Hasen took over the writing, the strip would tackle such topics as toxic waste and child abuse. Even in the early strips the reader is confronted with some unpleasant aspects of society, such as entrenched attitudes about immigrants and the state of public education.
Anyone who was even a passing fan of this 31-year strip should enjoy reading (or re-reading) these early strips — I certainly have!
Dondi
by Gus Edson and Irwin Hasen, edited by Charles Pelto
Classic Comics Press 2007
ISBN 978-1-60461-686-6
262 pages, $21.95
The Dondi comic strip, created by Gus Edson and Irwin Hasen, was about the adventures of a war orphan from Europe. He is befriended by two American G.I.’s and comes to live with them here in the States. The Dondi reprint book by Classic Comics Press reprints the first 19 months of the strip, from it’s inception on September 25, 1955 until March 17, 1957. The book’s format (11" x 8.5") allows for 3 dailies or one Sunday per page, which is a perfectly acceptable presentation — the strips are readable while the book is manageable. There is a delightful introduction by Jules Feiffer about Irwin Hasen and an extensive interview of Hasen by Bill Baker. The reproduction is superb — only one or two strips have a few minor dropouts — noticeable more by contrast with the excellent reproduction of all the other strips than by any glaring fault of the few affected strips.The Sundays are reproduced in crisp black and white.
As a child I was a fan of the Dondi strip but only had access to the Sundays, reading them in the Pittsburgh Press in the late 60’s and early 70’s. So it was with great anticipation that I began reading these early strips; my memory of details had faded and the Sundays simply could not tell the whole story. I mostly remembered the sweet innocence of Dondi and the obnoxious Mother McGowan. The strip’s storyline begins with two American G.I.’s—Corporal Ted Wills and PFC Whitey McGowan—returning from Europe and reminiscing about the war orphan — Dondi — they had befriended and taken in. But when the Army says it’s time to move you move, so, missing the lad, they are headed back to the states in a far darker mood than you should be after two years away. But Dondi, showing the ingenuity that will serve him well throughout the strip, has stowed away on the troop transport and is reunited with his ‘buddies’.
The strip continues to tell the tale as the state must decide Dondi’s immigration status and whether or not Whitey will be allowed to adopt him. We learn that Whitey is a bit of a millionaire playboy, but has a good heart in contrast to his over-bearing mother who is far more concerned about her position in society than the well-being of her only child. Because of Whitey’s money, Ted reluctantly agrees that Dondi will be better off living with the McGowans in New York than going with Ted to small town America where he lives with his mother and drives a delivery truck. But not to worry — Ted’s not written out of the strip — not by a long shot!
Gus Edson does a masterful job of keeping the strip moving while managing to fill in the back-story so new readers won’t be lost. In these first 19 months we have marriage and death, poverty and privilege, prejudice and tolerance, all handled intelligently but not belabored. While the strip would seem to be an innocent diversion about an orphan, Edson and Hasen used it from the start as a commentary on whatever struck them as important. In the Baker interview we learn that later, after Edson had died and Hasen took over the writing, the strip would tackle such topics as toxic waste and child abuse. Even in the early strips the reader is confronted with some unpleasant aspects of society, such as entrenched attitudes about immigrants and the state of public education.
Anyone who was even a passing fan of this 31-year strip should enjoy reading (or re-reading) these early strips — I certainly have!
Labels: Bookshelf
Comments:
I am enjoying reading the Dondi book,and agree 100% with your review,having never read it in papers it's a fun find...but the really IMPORTANT thing is
Classic Comics Press published it, and that fans of classic comics have a chance to enjoy it. There are so many great strips that deserve a book!
Dan
PS Great review! I hope we get to read more reviews from you, Mrs. Holtz!
Classic Comics Press published it, and that fans of classic comics have a chance to enjoy it. There are so many great strips that deserve a book!
Dan
PS Great review! I hope we get to read more reviews from you, Mrs. Holtz!
>The Sundays are reproduced in crisp black and white.<
What does that mean? Are the colour Sundays reproduced in halftone or is the original black and white linework (sans colour) printed?
What does that mean? Are the colour Sundays reproduced in halftone or is the original black and white linework (sans colour) printed?
Hi George -
The Sundays all appear to be reproduced from b&w proofs, not halftones of printed strips.
--Allan
The Sundays all appear to be reproduced from b&w proofs, not halftones of printed strips.
--Allan
I was a big fan of Dondi as a kid as well: it had the entire back page of the Sunday NY Daily News comics for many years. Judy, thanks so much for your review and Allan as well for his candor. I'll admit that it's probably nostalgia more than anything driving my love for the strip so I can understand your stand here.
Not to sound like a jerk but Dondi is not from Eastern Europe, he is Italian.He's wandering around looking for his parents and saying: "Donde?" (where?) and that's what the soldier, not knowing any italian, names the boy.
# posted by : 7/22/2008 1:33 PM
: 7/22/2008 1:33 PM
I was a Dondi reader from when I was seven to when Dondi left our local newspaper.Luckily the first story I read was when Dondi took a trip to Europe and revisited the place where he had first met Ted Wills many(three?)years before.It was revealed that Dondi's mother was an Italian girl who died in childbirth and his father was an American GI killed in action.
I have a friend whose elderly mother faithfully clipped and saved every Dondi episode for years and then when she found out it was to end she stopped and didn't save the last 2 or 3 weeks.
She has scrapbooks full of them. Amazing huh. Esther
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She has scrapbooks full of them. Amazing huh. Esther
# posted by : 3/08/2009 2:24 PM
: 3/08/2009 2:24 PM Sunday, June 01, 2008
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Order Jim Ivey's new book Cartoons I Liked at Lulu.com or order direct from Ivey and get the book autographed with a free original sketch.
Labels: Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Comments:
Whew! That's a pretty impressive number. Add to that chalk talks, caricatures, etc. and you're waaaay up there.
I still have the my Jim Ivey originals!
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I still have the my Jim Ivey originals!
