Monday, February 22, 2010
Obscurity of the Day: Bunny Bright, He's All-Right
E. Warde Blaisdell was a regular contributor to Harper's and St. Nicholas magazines, and also occasionally to Life. His cartooning and children's illustration credits all seem to be from the late 1890s to mid-1900s, so I don't know if he switched careers or if there's more to his cartooning output that I'm missing.Anyhow, here's his only known foray into newspaper comic strips, Bunny Bright, He's All-Right. The star, who seems to have an acne problem that comes and goes, is pretty closely patterned on Br'er Rabbit. He cons other animals into doing things for him. Not much originality on display here.
The strip ran in the Boston Herald's comic section from May 6 to November 11 1906, more than enough time for the formula to wear awfully thin. Bunny Bright must have impressed someone, though, because a collection of some of the strips was published by T.Y. Crowell & Company under the rather generic title Animal Serials.
Tip of the hat to Cole Johnson for the scans. Thanks Cole!
Labels: Obscurities
