Obscurity of the Day: Hannah

 

The amazingly prolific Courtney Dunkel had newspaper series published by a bunch of different syndicates, with Hannah his only entry from the McClure Syndicate. It was also one of only two in which he used a continuing character, this time a sweet old lady, and billed as a pantomime. 

Courtney Dunkel was  no stickler, though. When he comes up with a gag about duck hunting, well, why shouldn't an old lady in a maxi-length skirt be involved? And just because the strip is a pantomime, if you can't quite get the gag over, well, what's one little word balloon between friends?

Hannah debuted on November 20 1944, and was sold not only as a pantomime (hey, run it in foreign language papers!) but also as a vertical so that it takes up a mere one column space (fit it in anywhere!). Newspaper editors were generally not too enthused, as there were more and more one-column panels being produced in those days of (supposed) paper shortages. The strip never appeared in more than a modest number of papers, and was quietly retired on December 27 1947** after a three year run.

 * Source: Chicago Sun

** Source: New York Post