Thursday, April 26, 2018
Obscurity of the Day: Geraldine
Today we have an obscurity and a bonus enigma. The obscurity is the comic strip Geraldine, and the enigma is its creator, Elizabeth (or Elisabeth) Brozowska.
Geraldine is a finely executed pantomime strip about the wacky escapades of a pretty girl. The art style is winning, and the gags, always tough to pull off in this genre, hit the mark consistently. While you won't roll on the floor, the strips leave you smiling.
Apparently Geraldine is not of American origin. Lambiek tells us that the strip was originally titled Josephine when it was syndicated by PIB of Denmark. Evidently John Dille's National Newspaper Syndicate purchased the American rights, and since there was already a U.S. strip titled Josephine running here, they opted to rename the gal Geraldine.
The strip originated in Denmark in 1958, and ran in the US in a small number of papers from sometime in 1961 to 1968. It was offered as only a three times per week strip until 1964, but then graduated to a daily. For some odd reason, the strip was advertised in the annual E&P Syndicate Directories as a thrice weekly offering even after it went daily in 1964. Most newspaper editors have little interest in features that run on non-standard schedules like this, so Geraldine's obscurity is not at all surprising, quality of the work aside.
I can find no information at all about Elizabeth Brozowska, except that she illustrated several children's books. Her superb work in that genre has rightfully earned a following. Be sure to click through on this link to see Fishink's homage to Brozowska's children's book work.
If you have any further information about Ms. Brozowska, or can supply definitive start and end dates for Geraldine (or Josephine, for that matter), I'd love to hear from you.
Labels: Obscurities
