(all from E&P, 7/24/37)
From Washington comes word that the federal income taxes of cartoonist Fontaine Fox's Reynard Corporation are in dispute before the United States Board of Tax Appeals. Involved are levies totalling $13,569.02. Whether the corporation is to be taxed on the amount representing the rental value of the house and studio owned by the corporation and furnished to Fox rent-free, is questioned. The second issue revolves about the deduction of $30,000 from the corporation taxes as Fox's salary. The Commissioner of Internal Revenue for the District of Columbia holds that the sum should not be deducted in its entirety.
700 Letters Catch Cartoonist
Gus Edson, who has been carrying on the Andy Gump assignment, reported to his office at the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate and found a mail stack of more than 100 letters waiting for him, all containing reminders, in one form or another, that the two principals in the current chapter of the Gump strip, who are planning marriage, have been wed before.
When the artist contemplated marrying off Tom Carr and the Widow Zander, after the former had been released from prison, his staff reminded him that the couple had been married previously in the story of the strip some eight years ago and then had drifted apart when the Widow Zander's husband, believed to he dead, had returned.
Edson's firm conviction that no one would remember the previous situation was rocked when he was faced with the mail-bag full of reminders.
Harvard Admires Caniff
Eight undergraduates of Harvard showed their admiration for Milton Caniff's artwork recently when they signed a solemn letter asking for an original drawing of Normandie, heroine of the "Terry and the Pirates" strip which Caniff creates for the Tribune-News Syndicate. The eight boys, plus a coxswain, made up the varsity crew, and when their request was answered, Normandie's picture was tacked up at the helm of the shell, where each man glanced at it as he rowed. The Yale crew subsequently bowed to the eight Harvard undergraduates and Normandie. The winning crew admitted later that it had pulled victory out of the fire last year with a picture of Burma, another of Caniff's characters.
I can't believe Edson would think no one would remember the characters were already married!
ReplyDeleteTo me it sounds like a little CYA action because he'd actually forgot about the earlier storyline.
"I can't believe Edson would think no one would remember the characters were already married!"
ReplyDeleteI can't believe it either because it didn't happen that way. This quoted article is extremely deceptive and misleading. It makes it sound as if Edson ignored/dismissed his staff's advice. The reality is that Edson did address the issue of their prior marriage within the strip two and a half months before this article came out.
In the 5/7/37 strip, the Widow Zander testifies at Tom Carr's trail. These are her exact words quoted from the strip:
"Tom and I were married- Then began the only period of happiness I ever experienced- But it was short-lived- My first husband, Townsend Zander- Who I thought dead- Returned- Ooooh- Tom- Realizing the terrible position in which I was placed- A technical bigamist- Did the only thing a real man could do- Though it wrenched his heart in twain, he left- Oh- Gentlemen- I can't go on- -"
That's it, but the implication's obvious. When her presumed dead first husband turned up alive, it invalidated her marriage to Tom.
Allan, I know you don't like Gus Edson, but this article paints a false picture as if he'd made a mistake, when the mistake was actually made by the "700" readers who wrote in. Either they'd missed that one strip, or it was too subtle for them, or they had better longterm memories than shortterm ones.
A misleading article is still misleading whether it was written today or nearly 90 years ago. Because you quoted from this bad article, it's been referenced in poor Edson's Wikipedia article even though it's misleading, and links to you as the source. This should be corrected if for no other reason than the sake of accuracy.