Stripper's Guide

Monday, January 05, 2009

Obscurity of the Day: Children's Tales

This obscure Sunday series is aptly described by its title. The McNaught Syndicate feature was designed to appeal to the younger set, featuring multi-part stories that were meant to interest elementary school readers. In addition to original material, some stories were adapted from contemporary children's books, others from classics, and yet others featured well-known animated cartoon characters.

The information on this series has been terribly hard to track down because it ran in very few papers. This wasn't really a reflection on the quality of the material, though. The strip had two problems that made it unappealing to editors. First, it was offered only in half-page and tab formats in an era when most strips were being run as thirds. Second, because the stories were always multi-parters, the strip could never be bumped from the comics section to accommodate an ad (a problem that also hastened the downfall of Sunday continuity strips).

It took me the better part of a decade to get the story list as complete as you see below, but its been worthwhile as a number of famous illustrators made their only Sunday funnies appearances in this feature. Later in the run the big name talent disappeared and most stories were written and drawn by the ever able Frank Bolle.

I would be VERY interested in hearing from anyone who knows of any earlier or later stories in this series. As far as I know the list below represents the complete run of the feature, but only because this is all I've been able to track down.

Start	End	Title	Writer	Artist
10/17/65	10/24/65	The Little Red Caboose	Marian Potter	Tibor Gergely
10/31/65	11/14/65	Sylvester The Mouse With The Musical Ear	Adelaide Holl	N.M. Bodecker
11/21/65	12/5/65	Tinker And Tanker In Africa	Richard Scarry	Richard Scarry
12/12/65	12/19/65	The Night Before Christmas	Clement Moore	Frank Bolle
12/26/65	1/9/66	Paul & Arthur Search For The Egg	Anne Rockwell	Anne Rockwell
1/16/66	1/23/66	Where's Willie?	Seymour Reit	Erik Blegvad
1/30/66	2/13/66	Jeremiah Octopus	Margaret Stone Zilboorg	Hilary Knight
2/20/66	3/6/66	The Dragon In The Clock Box	M. Jean Craig	Kelly Oechsli
3/13/66	3/20/66	The Happy Man And His Dump Truck	Miryam	Tibor Gergely
3/27/66	4/10/66	Borka - The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers	John Burningham	John Burningham
4/17/66	5/1/66	Tobias And His Big Red Satchel	Sunny B. Warner	Sunny B. Warner
5/8/66	5/22/66	Henry The Uncatchable Mouse	Sidney Simon	Nola Langner
5/29/66	6/5/66	Pear-Shaped Hill	Irving A. Leitner	Bernice Myers
6/12/66	6/26/66	The King Who Learned To Smile	Seymour Reit	Gordon Laite
7/3/66	7/10/66	The Little Red Hen	Uncredited	J.P. Miller
7/17/66	7/31/66	The Log and Admiral Frog	B. Wiseman	B. Wiseman
8/7/66	8/21/66	Thumbelina	Uncredited	Gustaf Tenggren
8/28/66	9/11/66	Lolly's Pony Ride	Charlotte Steiner	Charlotte Steiner
9/18/66	10/2/66	The Upside-Down Man	Shan Ellentuck	Shan Ellentuck
10/9/66	10/23/66	Old Gray And The Little White Hen	Paul Francois	Lucile Butel
10/30/66	11/13/66	The Whale Hunt	Kenneth S. Norris	Claude Humbert
11/20/66	12/4/66	The Good Friends	Paul Francois	Gerda
12/11/66	12/25/66	The Little Stowaway Reindeer	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
1/1/67	1/15/67	Trubloff	John Burningham	John Burningham
1/22/67	1/29/67	The Animals Search for Summer	Natha Caputo	Gerda Muller
2/5/67	2/19/67	Kangaroo & Kangaroo	Kathy Braun	Jim McMullan
2/26/67	3/12/67	A Pickle For A Nickel	Lilian Moore	Susan Perl
3/19/67	4/9/67	Noisy Nancy Norris	Louanna Gaeddert	Gioia Fiammenghi
4/16/67	4/30/67	A Dog's Life	Mido	Gerda
5/7/67	5/21/67	Runaway John	Leonore Klein	Sunny B. Warner
5/28/67	6/11/67	Around The Corner	Jean B. Showalter	Roger Duvoisin
6/18/67	7/9/67	Anna Amelia's Apteryx	Mary O'Neill	Burt Groedel
7/16/67	7/30/67	The Saggy Baggy Elephant	K. & B. Jackson	Gustav Tenngren
8/6/67	8/27/67	Little Boy With a Big Horn	Jack Bechdolt	Aurelius Battaglia
9/3/67	9/17/67	Honey-Duck	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
9/24/67	10/8/67	Mister Dog	Margaret Wise Brown	Garth Williams
10/15/67	10/29/67	The Seven Sneezes	Olga Cabral	Tibor Gergely
11/5/67	11/19/67	The Bear Who Became Sheriff	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
11/26/67	12/10/67	Did You See What I Said?	Shan Ellentuck	Shan Ellentuck
12/17/67	12/24/67	A Snowflake For Christmas	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
12/31/67	1/14/68	Gwendolyn and the Weathercock	Nancy Sherman	Edward Sorel
1/21/68	2/4/68	Little Yip-Yip And His Bark	Kathryn & Byron Jackson	Tibor Gergely
2/11/68	2/25/68	Scuffy The Tugboat	Gertrude Crampton	Tibor Gergely
3/3/68	3/17/68	Mrs. Ticklefeather	Dorothy Kunhardt	J.P. Miller
3/24/68	3/31/68	Home For A Bunny	Margaret Wise Brown	Garth Williams
4/7/68	4/21/68	The Big Brown Bear	Georges Duplaix	Gustaf Tenggren
4/28/68	5/12/68	The Merry Shipwreck	Georges Duplaix	Tibor Gergely
5/19/68	6/2/68	The Sailor Dog	Margaret Wise Brown	Garth Williams
6/9/68	6/23/68	Little Peewee	Dorothy Kunhardt	J.P. Miller
6/30/68	7/14/68	Benjamin Budge and Barnaby Ball	Florence Parry Heide	Sally Mathews
7/21/68	8/4/68	Not This Bear!	Bernice Myers	Bernice Myers
8/11/68	8/25/68	The Elves and the Shoemaker	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
9/1/68	9/15/68	Sam and the Impossible Thing	Tamara Kitt	Brinton Turkle
9/22/68	10/6/68	The Note That Wouldn't Play	Nick Meglin	Frank Bolle
10/13/68	10/27/68	The Princess And The Pea	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
11/3/68	11/17/68	The Cow Went Over The Mountain	Jeanette Krinsley	Feodor Rojankovsky
11/24/68	12/8/68	Mister Puffer-Bill	Leone Arlandson	Tibor Gergely
12/15/68	12/22/68	The Twelve Days of Christmas	traditional	Frank Bolle
12/29/68	1/12/69	Fun For Hunkydory	May Justus	Sue D'Avignon
1/19/69	2/2/69	Scotty and the Story-Teller	Nick Meglin	Frank Bolle
2/9/69	2/23/69	Hazel Was an Only Pet	John Hamberger	John Hamberger
3/2/69	3/16/69	Peter Potamus	Carl Memling	Hawley Pratt, Bill Lorencz
3/23/69	4/6/69	The Golden Egg	Margaret Wise Brown	Lilian Obligado
4/13/69	4/27/69	Thistle	Era Zistel	uncredited (Frank Bolle)
5/4/69	5/18/69	Ruff and Reddy Go To a Party	Uncredited	Harvey Eisenberg, Neil Boyle
5/25/69	5/25/69	The Fox and the Crow	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
6/1/69	6/15/69	3910 16th Avenue	Nick Meglin	Frank Bolle
6/22/69	7/6/69	Mushmouse and Punkin Puss, the Country Cousins	Jay Freeman	Peter Alvarado, R. Jacobs
7/13/69	7/13/69	My Shadow	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
7/20/69	7/27/69	Wally Gator - Guess What's Hiding at the Zoo?	Eileen Daly	Mel Crawford
8/3/69	8/17/69	The Day of the Trucks	Nick Meglin	Frank Bolle
8/24/69	9/7/69	Rumpelstiltskin	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
9/14/69	9/21/69	We Like Kindergarten	Clara Cassidy	Eloise Wilkin
9/28/69	9/28/69	The Horse and the Lion	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
10/5/69	10/12/69	Sam the Firehouse Cat	Virginia Parsons	Virginia Parsons
10/19/69	10/19/69	The Kid and the Wolf	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
10/26/69	11/9/69	Doctor Dolittle Stops the Bullfights	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
11/16/69	11/30/69	Percy the Plain Old Spruce Tree	Nick Meglin	Frank Bolle
12/7/69	12/21/69	A Christmas Carol	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
12/28/69	12/28/69	The Hare And The Tortoise	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
1/4/70	1/11/70	When I Grow Up	Ilse-Margret Vogel	Ilse Margret-Vogel
1/18/70	2/1/70	Doctor Dolittle - The Dog Ambulance	Uncredited	Uncredited
2/8/70	2/22/70	Ricochet Rabbit - Showdown at Gopher Gulch Bakery	Patrick Hagen	Al Anderson, Peter Alvarado
3/1/70	3/15/70	Snagglepuss - The Way To Be a King	William Johnston	Art Seiden
3/22/70	4/5/70	Touche Turtle and the Fire Dog	Jean Lewis	Mel Crawford
4/12/70	4/19/70	The Tiny Tawny Kitten	Barbara Hazen	Jan Pfloog
4/26/70	5/3/70	The Boy With A Drum	David L. Harrison	Eloise Wilkin
5/10/70	5/10/70	The Lion and the Mouse	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
5/17/70	5/31/70	The Siren Hound	Patricia Boyd	Frank Bolle
6/7/70	6/14/70	The Wonderful School	May Justus	Hilde Hoffmann
6/21/70	6/21/70	The Cat and the Mice	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
6/28/70	7/12/70	Huckleberry Hound The Rainmaker	Uncredited	Uncredited
7/19/70	7/19/70	The Fox And The Grapes	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
7/26/70	8/9/70	Peter Potamus and the Pirates	Jean Lewis	Howard Forsberg
8/16/70	8/30/70	Cinderella	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
9/6/70	9/13/70	The Trophy	Nick Meglin	Frank Bolle
9/20/70	10/4/70	Touche Turtle	Carl Memling	Bill Lorencz, Norm McGary, Al White
10/11/70	10/25/70	A Gift For Ted	Nick Meglin	Frank Bolle
11/1/70	11/15/70	The Duck and the Leaves	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
11/22/70	12/6/70	The Sleeping Beauty	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
12/13/70	12/20/70	The Night Before Christmas (1965 reprint?)	Clement Moore	Frank Bolle
12/27/70	1/10/71	The Lazy Fox and the Little Red Hen	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
1/17/71	1/31/71	Prairie Pup	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
2/7/71	2/21/71	Matilda the Cow	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
2/28/71	3/14/71	Hansel and Gretel	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
3/21/71	4/3/71	The Special Mister Reggie Frog	Linda Moggio, Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
4/10/71	4/25/71	Clever Trevor and his Bag of Tricks	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
5/2/71	5/16/71	The Funny Little Squirrel	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
5/23/71	5/30/71	The Boy Who Couldn't Rhyme	Nick Meglin	Frank Bolle
6/6/71	6/20/71	The Crabby Crab	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
6/27/71	7/11/71	Jack and the Beanstock	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
7/18/71	8/1/71	Clever Trevor and the Forbidden Island	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
8/8/71	8/15/71	A Short Dog Story	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
8/22/71	8/29/71	My Own Room	Nick Meglin	Frank Bolle
9/5/71	9/12/71	The Snappy Turtle	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
9/19/71	9/26/71	Errol Digs Adventure	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
10/3/71	10/10/71	Goldilocks and the Three Bears	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
10/17/71	10/24/71	The School of Fish	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
10/31/71	11/7/71	A Ride In Space	Linda Moggio	Frank Bolle
11/14/71	11/14/71	The Paper	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
11/21/71	11/21/71	That's Why	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
11/28/71	11/28/71	One Track Mind	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
12/5/71	12/5/71	The Easel	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle
12/12/71	12/19/71	A Snowflake For Christmas (reprint of 1967 story)	Frank Bolle	Frank Bolle

Labels: Obscurities

# posted by Allan Holtz @ 12:15 AM 6 comments

Comments:

Just wanted to post a note to say thank you for these invaluable insights; I've been doing some research for a small curatorial project and your notes have been completely invaluable. I'm both really impressed and quite grateful. Thank you!

# posted by

Anonymous : 1/05/2009 4:13 AM

Hi Alan,
Judging from the titles and artists on this strip, it appears to be repurposed artwork from Golden Books/Whitman publications. Do you have any examples of the earlier strips in the series such as THE LITTLE RED CABOOSE by Tibor Gergeley or THE LITTLE RED HEN by J.P. Miller? Thanks for all your great research, Mark Kausler

# posted by

Anonymous : 1/05/2009 2:26 PM

Hi Allan,
Please excuse the mispelling of your name.
All best, Mark K.

# posted by

Anonymous : 1/06/2009 1:40 AM

I agree with Mark that alot of the titles seems to be repurposed from the Golden Books series, especially in stories that appears to feature Hanna-Barbera characters (Peter Potamus, Huckleberry Hound). The artists listed, such as Hawley Pratt, is also a tipoff.

Pratt is best known for directing a bulk of the "Pink Panther" cartoons. He was a layout artist for Friz Freleng during the "Looney Tunes" days, doing most of the character layouts for him.

# posted by

Brubaker : 1/06/2009 4:25 AM

My grandfather used to cut these comics out of the newspaper every week and glued them into a "scrapbook" made from an old magazine. I have all of them through Runaway John Part 3. I wish I had more, but he got sick and passed away in 1972 when I was 9. My comic book scrapbook is a very precious memory of lazy days spent with a grandfather I adored.

# posted by

Anonymous : 1/11/2009 2:56 PM

Hi Caryn -
Do you know what newspaper he clipped them from? Does your scrapbook include any that pre-date "The Little Red Caboose"?

Thanks, Allan

# posted by

Allan Holtz : 1/11/2009 11:29 PM

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Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Obscurity of the Day: Best Seller Showcase

Adapting popular novels to comic strip form has rarely been a recipe for success (see Book-of-the-Month for one example) and Best Seller Showcase ran true to form. As with previous attempts, newspaper editors seemed to take an initial interest, then after the first few adaptations the feature lost clients at a steady clip.

Universal Press Syndicate, no stranger in the 70s to throwing features against the wall to see what might stick, distributed Best Seller Showcase with a considerable marketing push before its debut. Part of the supposed attraction was that the adaptations would only be eight weeks long, which of course did no favors to the book being adapted nor to the quality or depth of the strip. Notice above in the samples from The Chancellor Manuscript adaptation that artist Frank Bolle desperately tries to maximize his paltry space by sometimes shoehorning two scenes into one panel. You've got to hand it to Frank for doing his best to show a cohesive narrative despite the restrictions.

Elliott Caplin, that comic strip ghost writer with a list of credits as long as your arm, is said to have written all the adaptations for the series. The ever-capable Frank Bolle and Gray Morrow took turns at the adaptations (with one possible exception). The adapted stories are as follows:

Raise the Titanic by Clive Cussler, art by Frank Bolle, 8/15 - 10/9/77
Storm Warning by Jack Higgins, art by Gray Morrow, 10/10 - 12/4/77*
The Chancellor Manuscript by Robert Ludlum, art by Frank Bolle, 12/5/77 - 2/12/78 (10 weeks)
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, art by Gray Morrow, 2/13 - 4/9/78
The Second Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders, art by Frank Bolle, 4/10 - 6/18/78 (10 weeks)
Illusions by Richard Bach, art by Gray Morrow, 6/19 - 7/30/78**
All Things Bright and Beautiful, art by Frank Bolle, 7/31/78 - 8/27/78 ***

* The art on Storm Warning is unsigned, and I've heard it being credited to Winslow Mortimer or Jack Sparling, but it looks like Morrow to me.

** End date corrected as per Mark Taylor, based on run in Chicago Tribune.

*** End date from DD Degg based on Austin American-Statesman.

Some sources claim that this Sunday and daily strip ran until 1979, but I've never seen any further adaptations after All Things Bright and Beautiful.

Booksteve's Library has reprinted The Sword of Shannara storyline. Here's a link to the first post.

Labels: Obscurities

# posted by Allan Holtz @ 8:18 AM 14 comments

Comments:

Thanks for the listing. My memory was always that there was a Barbara Cartland story in there somewhere but I see not. Did she perhaps have a strip of her own? Or rather one adapting her books?

I had completely forgotten the ILLUSIONS adaptation even though I remember clipping it out because I thought it was a particularly odd choice to adapt! If I still have it, though, I don't know where it would be.

As I've pointed out elsewhere, part of the problem in developing a loyalty to this type of strip was the fact that one who enjoyed spy strips might dislike fantasy strips, etc.

# posted by

Booksteve : 6/02/2010 4:59 PM

I'm in the Win Mortimer camp for artist on the Storm Warning adaptation. While not a great art identifier, it is undeniably Mortimer to my old eyes.

# posted by

Unknown : 6/02/2010 7:41 PM

Hi Booksteve --
Barbara Cartland Romances was a separate strip, which we'll cover one of these days as an obscurity.

--Allan

# posted by

Allan Holtz : 6/02/2010 11:41 PM

I don't think this helps any on the art question, but the Birmingham News ran the strip from 9/19/77 to 4/1/78 with a credit for Frank Bolle and Elliot Caplin, so Caplin wasn't particularly ghostly on this one.

# posted by

Boyd Nation : 6/03/2010 7:53 AM

Interesting! I didn't think the official byline included Caplin.

Thanks!
--Allan

# posted by

Allan Holtz : 6/03/2010 11:05 AM

As a boy who grew up wanting to be the next Alex Raymond (hasn't happened yet), Gray Morrow's adaptation of "The Sword of Shannara" was one of the most thrilling things I'd seen in newspapers for a LONG time. As I recall, we had a blizzard that year and I missed several installments, but wow ... great stuff. I'm sure I still have those strips, yellowing away in a photo album somewhere.

# posted by

Michael Fraley : 6/05/2010 6:35 PM

I have three further Sundays;
"All Things Bright and Beautiful" with art by Frank Bolle dated 6-Aug-1978, 13-Aug-1978 and 20-Aug-1978.

# posted by

Mark Taylor : 1/11/2014 11:55 PM

Hi Mark --
Uh-oh, that means the end date on Illusions is incorrect. Can you tell me what paper ran your samples? Does the August 20 episode end the adaptation?

Thanks, Allan

# posted by

Allan Holtz : 1/13/2014 3:14 PM

Yeah, I think there is an error with the "Illusions" dates. Those three "All Things Bright and Beautiful" came from the Lake County News Herald. Unfortunately I do not have the surrounding Sundays. August 20th does not end the adaption.

Regards,
Mark

# posted by

Mark Taylor : 1/18/2014 3:05 AM

"Illusions" concluded on Sunday July 30th 1978 (confirmed via the Chicago Tribune).

# posted by

Mark Taylor : 2/03/2014 12:16 AM

I'm surprised that Gray Morrow's adaptation of SWORD OF SHANNARA has never been collected into a trade paperback. I remember reading the strip in one of the Spokane, WA papers (The Spokesman Review, I think). It was terrific reading and the artwork would have stood up to Prince Valiant, easily. I've seen a couple of sebsites where a few of the old strips have been scanned and posted, but trying to make sense of some of the strips is difficult do to the fading newsprint. A shame, really.

# posted by

Severian : 3/29/2020 3:16 PM

From the Austin American-Statesman; "All Things Bright and Beautiful" ran daily until August 26, 1978. with the last Sunday running August 27, 1978.

# posted by

D.D.Degg : 5/11/2020 6:21 PM

As several others have noted, the only Best Seller Showcase adaptation that still shines in the memory of those who followed it was illustrator Gray Morrow's adaptation SWORD OF SHANNARA, by Terry Brooks. I vividly remember reading the dailies for this during the early months of 1978. It's a shame that this will probably never see the light of day again in a reprint collection, because the artwork was wonderful and it really made you want to go out and find a copy of the book. Some of the old dailies and Sunday strips are collected here: https://thefourlands.tumblr.com/post/104955704193/best-seller-showcase-presents-the-sword-of/amp

# posted by

Severian : 5/11/2020 6:50 PM

Thanks DD, post updated.

# posted by

Allan Holtz : 5/12/2020 7:52 AM

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Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Children's Tales -- a Few More

In response to a request made yesterday, here's a few more Children's Tales strips. As you can see the book publishers (and McNaught worked with quite a few on this series) get credited on the strips. It didn't occur to me while I was putting together my index on this series that anyone would be particularly interested in the publisher credits so I didn't make note of them. However, since the titles and creators are given I imagine it would be easy for a children's book fan to determine who published what in book form.

My question about the book adaptations is whether the strips are condensations of the books or complete reprintings. I always assumed the former to be the case but maybe I'm wrong.

EDIT:
Alberto Becattini informs me that most, perhaps all of the Children's Tales book adaptations were redrawn by Frank Bolle. Becattini explains that because the original artwork to these children's books was painted, that line-drawn equivalents were needed for the newspaper feature. He believes that Bolle used a lightboard extensively in order to faithfully translate the styles of all these various artists. Bolle did occasionally hide his signature in these pages, and he was pretty darn sneaky about it. Even with Alberto's directions to finding a few of them I could barely make them out. If you'd like to play hide-and-seek for Bolle signatures, here's some from Becattini to give you a head start:

2/5/67 - fourth panel, on canteen
2/26/67 - fifth panel, on wall on the left
4/30/67 - first panel, on door
8/20/67 - last panel, in box on the right
8/27/67 - last panel, in picture frame
11/26/67 - sixth panel, on tree trunk
12/03/67 - second panel

Thanks for that important inside story to this feature, Alberto!

# posted by Allan Holtz @ 10:10 AM 0 comments

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Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Obscurity of the Day: Debbie Deere

Debbie Deere seemed like a natural for a soap opera strip. Our heroine worked at a newspaper writing an advice column a la Ann Landers. Unlike her real-life counterparts, though, she invariably became personally involved with her lovelorn correspondents and melodrama ensued.

The art by Frank Bolle was a perfect fit for the subject matter, and improved on the typical soaper look by staying away from the endless talking head routine that afflicted some others. The stories, written anonymously, were perfectly good soap opera matter.

Why then did it fail? I can only guess that the genre was already filled with no room left for a new entry. With Mary Worth, Juliet Jones, On Stage, Rex Morgan and Judge Parker already firmly ensconced on the nation's funny pages, perhaps a new soaper entry simply had no empty slots to fill.

Joe Brancatelli in The World Encyclopedia of Comics says that the scripts were provided by none other than Al Jaffee, he of Mad magazine fame. Without additional confirmation I have to take this nugget of knowledge with a grain of salt. At McNaught Syndicate Bolle often worked with writer Nick Meglin on Children's Tales during the same period, and I can't help but wonder if the two Madsters might have gotten mixed up by Joe. Does anyone have more info?

UPDATE: Joe Brancatelli writes to tell me that the Jaffee credit came straight from the horse's mouth. Joe sent him a questionnaire and Jaffee listed this credit thereon. As Joe pointed out, no one would try to pad his resume with a credit like this.

Oh, and I failed to give running dates in my post. Debbie Deere ran 5/30/66 - 11/1/69.

Labels: Obscurities

# posted by Allan Holtz @ 7:01 AM 1 comments

Comments:

The Jaffee credit is also confirmed in the correspondence of his Agent Toni Mendez at Ohio State University. It's not too weird, he did ten years of girl comics for Timely.

# posted by

Ger Apeldoorn : 6/17/2024 5:35 AM

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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Obscurity of the Day: Encyclopedia Brown

Since we covered Can You Solve The Mystery? last week, it seems only fair that we also spend a day with its undeniable forebear, Encyclopedia Brown.

The Encyclopedia Brown book series began in 1963, written by Donald Sobol and illustrated by Leonard Shortall. The book series continues even today, though its heyday was in its first two decades when it was a favorite of kids who ordered the books at school through the Scholastic catalogues.

The comic strip series hit the market on December 3 1978 as a Sunday and daily strip distributed by Universal Press Syndicate. Sobol was given credit as the writer though the scuttlebutt is that Elliott Caplin actually wrote the scripts for this series. Frank Bolle was tapped to provide the art. Bolle was a strange choice given his slick illustration style, so different from Shortall's folksy cartoon illustrations so associated with the book series.

The comic strip seemed mildly successful, but in the world of licensed characters that is seldom good enough. With the pie sliced thin for licensing fees apparently Encyclopedia Brown just wasn't solving the mystery of making money in this venture. The series ended on September 20 1980, a bit shy of two years in syndication.

Labels: Obscurities

# posted by Allan Holtz @ 7:49 AM 10 comments

Comments:

I will never forgive this strip for replacing the Spider-Man strip (by John Romita and Stan Lee) in my local paper lo those many years ago.

# posted by

Jim Keefe : 2/25/2010 12:01 PM

While Frank Bolle draws beautifully and I'm happy to see his artwork anytime, anyplace, in my mind Encyclopedia Brown will always be drawn by Leonard Shortall. No matter how good any of the other artists are who have drawn him, it's just doesn't have the same feel. Kind of like when "The Andy Griffith Show" went to color and lost Barney.

Still, as I wrote, I'll take any chance to see Frank Bolle's work.

PS to Jim Keefe: Love your Flash Gordon art. Comic Revue and Missing Years covers are great too!

# posted by

Oscar Solis : 2/25/2010 1:01 PM

As a kid, I was a big fan of the book series. Next to comics, this was my favorite read back in the Day. I never even knew there was a comic strip based on the character until now.

# posted by

Kevin Agot : 2/26/2010 9:54 AM

I never even knew about the character..just learnt about Encyclopedia Brown from Katherine Boo's NYT interview.. my inner boy scout brings me here though am in my 30's :)
great blog..hope to be visiting more often..
btw, do these 10 strips have the complete story?

# posted by

shaggy : 2/11/2013 5:28 AM

No Shaggy, this isn't the complete story of the stolen Picassos -- since these strips are in copyright we didn't run a whole story, which could be seen as going beyond fair use for review and research purposes.

--Allan

# posted by

Allan Holtz : 2/11/2013 8:35 AM

Hi! I just found your guide, while i was looking up Encyclopedia Brown. I was saddened to learn that Sobol passed away last year. I had just been reading some of Sobol's "Two Minute Mysteries", and that got me thinking about one of my favorite childhood detectives (besides Frank, Joe, and Nancy). I didn't get to read any of the Encyclopedia Brown comic strips (that ran from 1978-1980) and i was wondering if you could tell me how many mysteries (including Sunday strips) were published between 79-80? I know there was a book, published in 1985, that had 49 of the comic strip mysteries mysteries in it; This book was published as "Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Comic Strips: Volume #1
(indicating that there might have been more strips to be published in a possible volume #2).

Thanks :)

-Jeremy

# posted by

Anonymous : 2/25/2013 4:31 PM

Hi Jeremy --
The daily strip mysteries seemed to vary from 1-3 weeks in length, typically three weeks. The Sundays all had self-contained mysteries. I'd guess that the 1985 reprint book used the Sundays. There was only the one book that I know of that was published.

--Allan

# posted by

Allan Holtz : 3/17/2013 4:53 PM

I didn't know of the comic strip either. I loved Encyclopedia Brown books as a kid! I tried to get my older kids to read them, ( they're in their 20's). I have luck with my youngest daughter who is 9. She loves them also and reads them at school. I warned her not to look at the back for the answers! I told her that I consider them to be a prerequisite to read Sherlock Holmes books. They are a bit young for a 4th grader, but IMO it teaches kids to absorb info while reading so they don't miss the "clue"! So many young kids almost "peruse" books just enough to pass a test!

# posted by

Anonymous : 4/10/2013 7:57 AM

Loved the Encyclopedia Brown Books when I was a kid, and was happy to discover that Donald Sobol wrote a few more of them after I had grown up, although, sadly, the new books don't have the art of Leonard Shortall. I never knew there was a comic strip. Now I'll have to see if I can find them.

# posted by

macsnafu : 2/14/2019 10:35 AM

Do you know what a physical copy of Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Comic Strips #1 would be worth? I found one a while back in nearly perfect condition and now wonder if it would be worth selling. I can't find any information on it though.
Thanks!

# posted by

A.J. The Author : 4/14/2022 10:23 AM

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Sunday, June 12, 2016

Heritage Auction Items Closing Today

In this week's auction I have on offer some great original art, some big reprint book lots and some valuable comic strip research material. To see all the lots on the Heritage Auctions website, follow this link.

Here's what's on offer, all auctions ending today. Surely someone wants those great runs of syndicate proof books, no? :

From the great Children's Tales series, the conclusion strip of The Saggy Baggy Elephant of 1968, hand colored art by Frank Bolle based on book art by Gustaf Tenngren

Buttons and Fatty Sunday page by M.E. "MEB" Brady, this example has been retitled in paste-up for appearance in Famous Funnies.

My lovely Clare Briggs art has been going shockingly low -- see how cheap you can get this classic 1916 golfing subject (note very minor damage to corner)

The best of my Heart of Juliet Jones originals is here -- pretty girls and great action in this 1959 Stan Drake Sunday

The great Syd Hoff placed this gag with the New Yorker in 1972. Classic New Yorker style caption (you'll have to go over there to read it!)

Pete Hoffman's supple clear line technique on this 1966 Jeff Cobb daily with a good portrait panel of our hero.

I never figured out if this delightfully wacky Charles M. Payne color splash page ended up in an early Golden Age comic book or not. Eye-popping vivid colors.

More Spuddle's Sport Shop pages by Russ Johnson are going on the block, and they're both super examples. Oh, the headaches of being a retailer.

Two Jimmy Swinnerton special drawings in one lot. The subject matter of the top one would seem to date it to 1918, but both appear to be much earlier vintage Swinnerton to me. Both great images, though.

Two Take It Easy Pop strips by the great old-timer Charles M. Payne, late in his life when he'd got a bit weird but still wonderful. Don't know where these appeared. Remember kids, THINK!


Here's Mort Walker way back when he was drawing for the college Showme magazine in 1948. His early style is pretty much fully formed here.

A huge run of the ultra-rare NEA Comic Weekly, with Alley Oop, Robotman and all the rest of the NEA strips. Represents the years 1996-2000; Heritage counted 160 issues, but I've asked them to recheck as there should be well over 200 in an almost perfect run.

Run of the ultra-rare United Features Comics weekly syndicate books from 2000-2002. Heritage counts 119 issues in this lot, and it should be a pretty complete run.

State library official photocopy of the 1951 New York Committee Report on the evils of comic books. This is the report that started Fredric Wertham well on his road to federal hearings. The illustrations are not to be believed -- the things these people 'saw' in the backgrounds of comic panels -- sheesh!

Massive collection of 82 Gladstone Carl Barks Library books, some still in shrinkwrap, and most still containing their trading card inserts. Instant collection of these originally rather expensive items.

Set of 1-23 and 25 of the Kitchen Sink Li'l Abner library in softcover. What happened to #24 I wonder. Oh well, that was a bad year for Abner anyway.

# posted by Allan Holtz @ 8:00 AM 0 comments

Comments: Post a Comment

Monday, June 06, 2016

Heritage Auction Items from my Collection

This week I have on offer some great original art, some big reprint book lots and some valuable comic strip research material. To see all the lots on the Heritage Auctions website, follow this link.

Here's what's on offer, all auctions ending June 12:

Fromm the great Children's Tales series, the conclusion strip of The Saggy Baggy Elephant of 1968, hand colored art by Frank Bolle based on book art by Gustaf Tenngren

Buttons and Fatty Sunday page by M.E. "MEB" Brady, this example has been retitled in paste-up for appearance in Famous Funnies.

My lovely Clare Briggs art has been going shockingly low -- see how cheap you can get this classic 1916 golfing subject (note very minor damage to corner)

The best of my Heart of Juliet Jones originals is here -- pretty girls and great action in this 1959 Stan Drake Sunday

The great Syd Hoff placed this gag with the New Yorker in 1972. Classic New Yorker style caption (you'll have to go over there to read it!)

Pete Hoffman's supple clear line technique on this 1966 Jeff Cobb daily with a good portrait panel of our hero.

I never figured out if this delightfully wacky Charles M. Payne color splash page ended up in an early Golden Age comic book or not. Eye-popping vivid colors.

My last two Spuddle's Sport Shop pages by Russ Johnson are going on the block, and they're both super examples. Oh, the headaches of being a retailer.

Two Take It Easy Pop strips by the great old-timer Charles M. Payne, late in his life when he'd got a bit weird but still wonderful. Don't know where these appeared. Remember kids, THINK!


Here's Mort Walker way back when he was drawing for the college Showme magazine in 1948. His early style is pretty much fully formed here.

Run of the ultra-rare United Features Comics weekly syndicate books from 2000-2002. Heritage counts 119 issues in this lot, and it should be a pretty complete run.

Set of 1-23 and 25 of the Kitchen Sink Li'l Abner library in softcover. What happened to #24 I wonder. Oh well, that was a bad year for Abner anyway.

# posted by Allan Holtz @ 8:00 AM 0 comments

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Stripper's Guide

Monday, January 05, 2009

Obscurity of the Day: Children's Tales

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Obscurity of the Day: Best Seller Showcase

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Children's Tales -- a Few More

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Obscurity of the Day: Debbie Deere

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Obscurity of the Day: Encyclopedia Brown

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Heritage Auction Items Closing Today

Monday, June 06, 2016

Heritage Auction Items from my Collection

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