Monday, December 31, 2018
Obscurity of the Day: Sergeant Fumble
Here we have a pair of rare tryout strips from when Henry Boltinoff was being auditioned by Mort Walker to take over Beetle Bailey. Boltinoff would have had a better shot at the job if he had remembered that the Sarge is not the title character, and his name's not Fumble, either.
Oops, no, wait. Ah, I see. My notes were upside down. Turning them over I find that ...
Here's a rarity that ran only in the New York Herald-Tribune. We've talked about the H-T's filler strips on several occasions (here and here and here and here for instance), and this is one of the later ones. None ran every week, but rather only when ads dictated that a sixth-page slot was left open.
Sergeant Fumble, whose title character bore an uncanny resemblance to another sergeant of the funnies, is more of a loveable moron rather than a bad-tempered bully like his doppelganger. It is by the great Henry Boltinoff, who is better known for comic book work and his long stint on the Hocus-Focus puzzle feature. This is the first actual newspaper strip of Boltinoff's that we've discussed on the blog, though his name has popped up here in regard to several not-quite-qualifying features.
Sergeant Fumble first appeared in the Herald-Tribune's Sunday comics section on November 7 1954, and through sheer chance, ran last almost precisely two years later, on November 4 1956.
Thanks to Cole Johnson, who supplied the sample scans.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
And the Sergeant's surname is obviously inspired by Phil Fumble. Mort and Ernie Bushmiller should have sued!
But seriously, noting the uncanny similarity to Sergeant Snorkle and, as seen here, General Halftrack, and maybe other denizens of Camp Swampy, how in the world did the H-T give this the okay? Isn't it pretty close to real copyright infringement?
But seriously, noting the uncanny similarity to Sergeant Snorkle and, as seen here, General Halftrack, and maybe other denizens of Camp Swampy, how in the world did the H-T give this the okay? Isn't it pretty close to real copyright infringement?
# posted by 
: 12/31/2018 10:02 AM
: 12/31/2018 10:02 AM
I guess in 1954 Sarge Snorkel wasn't quite the icon he's become in the intervening decades, so the H-T probably thought nothing of it. This feature didn't run often, and wasn't syndicated, so even if Walker or King had objected, the results wouldn't have been much of a ripple on the pond.
--Allan
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--Allan
