Friday, August 16, 2024
Toppers: Bumps, or Pete's Pup
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Hobo and tramp comics were quite popular in the early years of the last century, then went through a fallow period. But they came in for a popular revival in the 1930s for the obvious reason that the Great Depression made them a newly common facet of American life. Perhaps the most successful of this new wave was Pete the Tramp, from the talented pen of C.D. Russell. Russell had done newspaper and magazine work in the 1920s, and found that one of his favorite subjects were the tramps he saw around New York City. He eventually became known for his tramp cartoons, and as the Great Depression really got rolling, King Features decided that they wanted him to produce tramp cartoons for them.
King Features signed him to a contract to produce the Sunday strip Pete the Tramp, which debuted on January 10 1932*. Along with the new strip came a topper about a terrir dog called Bumps who lives with a nameless family. There was nothing particularly original about the strip, but it was affable enough, treading the well-worn avenues of dog humour.
In fact about the only interesting thing to say about it, from a historical point of view, is that the strip had its original name taken away from it around June 1932, and from then on it was known as Pete's Pup, even though the dog remained with his same unnamed owners -- as far as I know he never met Pete the Tramp in his strip. I long thought this name change had something to do with another King strip wanting the title -- Harry O'Neill's topper strip to Broncho Bill was also titled Bumps. But when I finally got off my duff to actually check on that, I realized that the O'Neill Bumps strip didn't start until over a year after Russell renamed his topper. So never mind.
Pete's Pup ran atop Pete the Tramp until February 24 1935**, when it was replaced by The Topper Twins.
One postscript to this story for you tearsheet collectors out there. If you are impressed by the gorgeous colour work on the samples above, thank the New York Mirror. When the Mirror started running Sunday colour comics they opted to produce them on a rotogravure press. These presses and the slick paper they used were capable of producing far more nuanced colours than regular four-colour presses, and the Mirror recoloured their Sunday strips to take advantage of the high-end colour capabilities. Sadly the roto press funnies didn't last long (ending in early 1933 I think?)
* Source: New York Mirror, via Jeffrey Lindenblatt.
** Source: Chicago Record-Herald.
Labels: Topper Features
