All-purpose newspaper strips discussion

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

I didn't entirely get the intended construction of the jokes in the Sunday Bizzaro (Sp??) strip yesterday .   ( The strip appars to be not online , as it is a King Features Syndicate strip , who - Gasp !!! - appear to think they're in the comics business to make money , and keep their strips behind a wall . )

  The joke was " variations on ' I Love New York ' "...but was the panhandler's shirt supposed to be saying " I Owe New York " ?"  I Have Zero , New York " ?

  The yokel , in Middle Ages garb...Was his shirt suppost'a mean " I Love York " , as in the English county that New York was indeed named after ??? ( And Prince Charles is now considered the Duke of , if I recall correctly . )

[ClarkKent_DC]

It bothered me enough that there wasn't a place to see all of these special strips -- and since I'd flagged about a third of them -- I went ahead and linked to all of them, below.

• Adam@Home (Rob Harrell)

• Agnes (Tony Cochran)

• Alley Oop (Joey Alison Sayers and Jonathan Lemon)

• The Argyle Sweater (Scott Hilburn)

• Baby Blues (Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott)

• Baldo (Hector Cantu and Carlos Castellanos)

• Barney & Clyde (Gene Weingarten, Dan Weingarten, and David Clark)

• Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (John Rose)

• Betty (Gary Delainey and Gerry Rasmussen)

• Big Nate (Lincoln Peirce)

• Blondie (Dean Young and John Marshall)

• The Born Loser (Chip Sansom)

• Breaking Cat News (Georgia Dunn)

• The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee (John Hambrock)

• The Buckets (Greg Cravens)

• Buckles (David Gilbert)

• Daddy Daze (John Kovaleski)

• Daddy's Home (Tony Rubino and Gary Markstein)

• Dick Tracy (Mike Curtis and Joe Staton)

• Dog Eat Doug (Brian Anderson)

• Doonesbury (Garry Trudeau)

• Drabble (Kevin Fagan)

• Dustin (Steve Kelley and Jeff Parker)

• Family Circus (Jeff Keane)

• Flo & Friends (Jenny Campbell)

• The Flying McCoys (Gary McCoy)

• Fort Knox (Paul Jon Boscacci)

• FoxTrot (Bill Amend)

• Frank & Ernest (Tom Thaves)

• Frazz (Jef Mallett)

• Free Range (Bill Whitehead)

• Ginger Meggs (Jason Chatfield)

• Herb and Jamaal (Stephen Bentley)

• In the Bleachers (Ben Zaehringer)

• KidTown (Steve McGarry)

• La Cucaracha (Lalo Alcaraz)

• Liō (Mark Tatulli)

• Lola (Todd Clark)

• Loose Parts (Dave Blazek)

• Luann (Greg Evans)

• Mallard Fillmore (guest artist Loren Fishman)

• Mazetoons (Joe Wos)

• Mike du Jour (Mike Lester)

• Mutts (Patrick McDonnell)

• Non Sequitur (Wiley Miller)

• Off the Mark (Mark Parisi)

• One Big Happy (Rick Detorie)

• Other Coast (Adrian Raeside)

• Over the Hedge (T Lewis and Michael Fry)

• Overboard (Chip Dunham)

• Pearls Before Swine (Stephan Pastis)

• Pooch Café (Paul Gilligan)

• Prickly City (Scott Stantis)

• Prince Valiant (Mark Schultz and Thomas Yeates)

• Real Life Adventures (Gary Wise and Lance Aldrich)

• Reality Check (Dave Whamond)

• Rhymes With Orange (Hilary Price and Rina Piccolo)

• Rose Is Rose (Don Wimmer)

• Rubes (Leigh Rubin)

• Sally Forth (Francesco Marciuliano and Jim Keefe)

• Sherman's Lagoon (Jim Toomey)

• Six Chix (Mary Lawton)

• Speed Bump (Dave Coverly)

• Stone Soup (Jan Eliot)

• Strange Brew (John Deering)

• Tank McNamara (Bill Hinds)

• Thatababy (Paul Trap)

• Wallace the Brave (Will Henry)

• Zack Hill (John Deering and John Newcombe)

• Zits (Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman)

[The Baron]

Aw,man, that is NOT  Alley Oop.

[ClarkKent_DC]

That's what came up. I don't get it, either, but then, Alley Oop has never been in the lineup in the newspaper anywhere I've lived.

[ClarkKent_DC]

It looks like the Sunday Alley Oop strips are in a different continuity than the dailies. Like how the old Buz Sawyer strip on Sundays featured "his pal, Rosco Sweeney."

[ClarkKent_DC]

An interesting article on comics strip writers choosing, or not, to incorporate the COVID-19 sheltering-in-place efforts into their storylines: "Should the Funny Pages Look Like the News?"

[The Baron]

Ah, I get it now.

ClarkKent_DC said:

It looks like the Sunday Alley Oop strips are in a different continuity than the dailies. Like how the old Buz Sawyer strip on Sundays featured "his pal, Rosco Sweeney."

[Emerkeith Davyjack]

...Alley Pop was carried in both the Santa Cruz County papers as a daily when I lived there. (One, a weekly, would carry all six.) It had recently changed artists and the new artist had a different style. What's the daily&Sunday split in it these days?

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"It bothered me enough that there wasn't a place to see all of these special strips -- and since I'd flagged about a third of them -- I went ahead and linked to all of them..."

That is service above and beyond the call. Bravo!

In answer to the question "Should the Funny Pages Look Like the News?" I think comic strips should always reflect the times. I will read the article later, but I hope it's more than another chorus of "The Funnies Aren't Funny Anymore!"

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"I will read the article later..."

Good article.

Reading it reminds me of when cartoonists of the 40s had to make a conscious decision whether or not to send their characters to war. Snuffy Smith enlisted, so did Skeezix Wallet. One noteable exception was Li'l Abner, which Al Capp addressed in a particular daily. He said, basically, that he wanted to use his strip to remind of of the life soldiers were fighting to return to.

[The Baron]

I swear I've seen a Li'l Abner strip with him in uniform, explaining the etiquette of saluting, but it may have been one of those public service things that cartoonists did during the war.

Jeff of Earth-J said:

"I will read the article later..."

Good article.

Reading it reminds me of when cartoonists of the 40s had to make a conscious decision whether or not to send their characters to war. Snuffy Smith enlisted, so did Skeezix Wallet. One noteable exception was Li'l Abner, which Al Capp addressed in a particular daily. He said, basically, that he wanted to use his strip to remind of of the life soldiers were fighting to return to.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

"I swear I've seen a Li'l Abner strip with him in uniform, explaining the etiquette of saluting, but it may have been one of those public service things that cartoonists did during the war."

Yes, you have. I know the strip you're talking about. It was one of those "public service things" as you suggest.

[The Baron]

It was in my collection of Male Call.

Jeff of Earth-J said:

"I swear I've seen a Li'l Abner strip with him in uniform, explaining the etiquette of saluting, but it may have been one of those public service things that cartoonists did during the war."

Yes, you have. I know the strip you're talking about. It was one of those "public service things" as you suggest.