Johnny Hart didn't invent the comic strip genre in which people of other eras comment upon modern life, but the success of B.C. and The Wizard of Id certainly made it an immensely popular device in the 1960s and beyond.
Tom Isbell was among the multitudes of acolytes who would offer up variations on the theme. In 1974 he created a strip called Friends and Romans, using the Roman Empire as the setting for gags about the present day. Because government was on everyone's mind in 1974, the lion's share of Isbell's gags are about Roman Senators, but there's plenty of general gag fodder as well.
Isbell came up with an extensive troupe of characters, and for reasons known only to him, decided not to name any of them. They were known only as the Emperor, the Senator, the Tribune, the Soothsayer, the Philosopher, etc. The decision to leave them nameless was unfortunate especially because some of his characters look quite similar (togas will do that). The Senator and the Emperor, for instance, seem to be differentiated only by the latter having grey hair.
If the concept was hobbled just a bit by this one bad choice, the art and gags certainly made up for it. Artwise, Isbell seemed to be influenced more by European cartooning than the domestic brand, especially by Albert Uderzo's Asterix. It stood out on the comics page, a little island of unique art in amongst the then-current crop of minimalists.
The gags are skillfully formulated, and there aren't many misses among the hits. Isbell especially enjoyed skewering politics and government, but carefully walked a line so as not to get one side or the other of the political spectrum mad at him.
Isbell shopped Friends and Romans to the major syndicates but found no takers. Feeling that he had something worthwhile, though, he took the strip to his local paper, the Corpus Christi Caller. They agreed and offered him a spot. The strip debuted on September 2 1974, accompanied by lots of 'local stripper makes good' coverage.
Isbell wasn't interested in making a career out of being a local cartoonist, though. Once his strip was in the Caller he once again made the syndicate rounds, this time no doubt boasting that he was already being published. Still no syndicate produced a contract, but a fellow named Jay Poyntor, who was leaving the post of national sales manager for NEA, really liked what he saw. And since his exit from NEA was prompted by him wanting to start his own syndicate, he asked Isbell to make Friends and Romans one of his initial offerings.
Friends and Romans was pulled from the Corpus Christi Caller, ending November 9 1974*, while Poyntor geared up his new syndicate, which he would call Continental Features**. Isbell's strip re-debuted, now sporting a syndicate stamp, on March 30 1975. Poyntor even offered the strip as a Sunday, a bold step for a new syndicate.
While Friends and Romans didn't set sales records by any means, Poyntor showed that he did know how to sell a feature. Newspaper editors very reasonably look at small-start-up syndicates with a jaundiced eye, but Friends and Romans did very well considering this impediment. Supposedly the strip began in thirty papers, a not unrespectable showing at all.
Despite his wealth of syndicate and selling experience, Jay Poyntor's Continental Features failed to take off, and when United Feature Syndicate offered him a job in 1976, Poyntor decided that regular paychecks are a good thing and called it quits. The good news for Friends and Romans was that UFS either wanted, or merely consented, to taking over its syndication. The strip began flying its new syndicate colours on October 3 1976.
Whether UFS took on Friends and Romans willingly or not, they sure didn't find it much in the way of new clients. Isbell gamely kept on producing the strip for another year and a half, but with no big second act in the offing, he or the syndicate decided to cross the Rubicon and cancelled the strip on June 25 1978 (daily) and July 17 1978 (Sunday).
It would have been great if Isbell had a second shot at syndication, he was such a promising talent, but as far as I know this was his only syndicated feature. I do wonder where he went with his career after Friends and Romans, but I can't track his activities after this, perhaps mostly because some actor with the same name has infected all the neurons in Google's brain.
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* Source: All dates from Corpus Christi Caller and Corpus Christi Times, except Sunday end date from Newport News Press.
** An ominous name for a syndicate if there ever was one -- there have been several syndicates by that name over the years, and not one has ever become a major player.
Glad you like Friends and Romans, it was a favorite of mine back in the day.
ReplyDeleteA couple decades ago I got in contact with some Isbell family members and learned that Tom Isbell before, during, and after F & R was employed by major Texas grocery chain HEB in their art department. His work can be seen on occasion in their advertising.
Tom died young: August 7, 1943 - January 1, 1996.
This is a pretty fun strip! Thanks for highlighting this. If I had to describe the art style, I'd say it's a mix of "Asterix" and "Tumbleweeds".
ReplyDeleteJay Poynor was credited as executive producer on the early "Garfield" specials, no doubt repping for United Feature.
Isbell's very brief obituary is in, appropriately enough, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, page 2, January 4, 1996. His work for HEB is referenced, as is the comic strip and service in the Air Force in the 1960s.
ReplyDelete