The Comic Strip Week That Was
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Mike started this morning off by giving G. B. Trudeau and Doonesbury the Good Timing Award.
Here is the title panel to today’s Doonesbury:
Comic Strip Trivia
Enjoyed today’s Thatababy and am impressed with Jonathan Lemon’s ability to ape the various named cartoonists’ drawing styles and signing the panel that included one of his current comic characters. But (you knew there would be a but) this is the first I’ve heard that “alley oop” was a comic created phrase. The OED dates it to 1917, 15 years before the comic strip. And there was a race horse in the mid-1920s by that name. I call “Banana Oil” on the Alley Oop designation.
More trivia.
When A Timid Soul first appeared late in October 1923 he wasn’t named “Caspar Milquetoast.” It took a couple years for that to become the character’s name – the earliest I find it is in the May 17, 1926 strip.
Also…
I haven’t been paying close enough attention to Randy Milholland‘s run on Popeye – does Randy consider cartoonists other than E.C. Segar (Sims, Sagendorf) canon? This pertains to the main Popeye strip not his weekly Olive & Popeye where he is currently utilizing non-Segar characters.
Hägar the Horrible got some extra exposure as he was featured in Brevity and Liô this past week. As was Koko in Zippy and The Angriest Dog in the World in Pooch Cafe.
In Sync
Both Daddy Daze and Pearls Before Swine riff on the Abbott and Costello routine today.
This is something Pastis has done before but (there’s that word again) it seemed a little forced today. Something else that is part of Stephan’s bag of tricks was on display Friday but I thought it was hilarious:
Speaking of tropes…
Isn’t Ray Billingsley a month early? Curtis commenting on the ladies’ hats is an Easter tradition. I thought maybe strips had been mixed up but it has the “3-1” date.
Days of Future Past
Bianca Xunise has run a continuity in her recent Tuesday Six Chix panels with a tribute to a past master.
Amy Anderson reports on Xunise’s “Iconic Symbols of Resistance” series for Comics Kingdom.
In unsettling times, symbols tend to carry extra weight. A brick can be seen as a weapon. It can also be the beginning of a foundation. It can destroy; it also can create.
As a part of a recent Six Chix series, award-winning cartoonist Bianca Xunise shows us the humble brick as an icon of resistance.
Bianca writes:
“We are like little mice but when we unite, we realize that there are more of us who hope the world is able to thrive than those who seek to destroy it.
“The Ignatz connection is an ode to my love of comics and our duty as cartoonists and writers to educate and inspire. George Herriman was not only one of the first syndicated cartoonists but also a man of color. It felt important to share that tribute during Black History Month. He carved this path for me.
“I am grateful Herriman — and King Features — give me this space to create another generation of history and comics that can start a conversation. I hope my comics help my readers laugh a little, even when they are absurd. It heals and can momentarily relieve the pressure when the world feels scary.”
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