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Here’s an example I scanned of a one-shot strip called The Thrilling Rescue of Little Tommy’s Best Hat from June 15, 1902 by Walter McDougall. McDougall was the first syndicated newspaper artist. He drew what has been noted as the first color comic strip in an American newspaper (“The Unfortunate Fate of a Well-Intended Dog”). In 1898 he drew what was likely to be the largest single panel comic drawn for a newspaper, which was spread over two pages.
Click the image to view the full strip.
See some various works by Walt McDougall at Barnacle Press.
cutepoints (1-10): 5
disposition: loyal, determined
about: although he sees just fine,
porgle senses the world more
with his nose than his eyes. he
doesn’t discriminate between a
flowery perfume and a stinky
cheese… if it has aroma, it must
be inhaled deeply.
quote: “mmm. dat stinkles.”
likes: garbage, sweat socks
Here’s a nice example I scanned of That Family Next Door from 1918 by Kuatt? Knott? Can anyone identify this cartoonist? It’s a pretty polished cartoon, and a funny one, so I would think this is likely to have been done by a known cartoonist. Note the similarity in title and theme to George Herriman’s wonderful The Family Upstairs.
UPDATE: Reader D.D. Degg in the comments let us know that this is by cartoonist Jean Knott, who also did the strips Penny Ante and Eddie’s Friends. Thanks D.D.! See examples of Penny Ante on Barnacle Press here. See an example of Eddie’s Friends on Shorpy here.
Click the image to view the full strip.
cutepoints (1-10): 1
disposition: gregarious, outgoing
about: in spite of his undeniable
friendly charisma, marv the
malarial mosquito has no friends.
it doesn’t matter that he does it
with a smile and a wink… biting
is a poor way to impress new
acquaintances.
quote: “what blood type are you,
baby?”
Here’s an example I scanned of Texas Slim from 1926 by Ferd Johnson.
Click the image to view the full strip.
Here is the Smilin’ Ed’s Gang story from Buster Brown Comics Book #23 from 1946. “Smilin’ Ed and His Gang Entertain the Army” is the name of the story. They opted to have Squeaks and Midnight talk in the comics. Smilin’ Ed again is Andy’s predecessor who met a sinister and untimely demise. It isn’t surprising… Froggy attempts to murder him multiple times in this story.
There are two other stories in the book as well that I didn’t scan… one is called “The Poachers” and is about an Indian boy named Ghanga and his elephant (seen on the front cover)… the other story, “Black Lagoon,” is about a South Pacific island boy named Suki and his chimpanzee Coco. Boy from exotic land with exotic pet seems to be the recurring theme of choice in these comics (judging from this issue and #27 and 28, which I also have).
What? You mean a comic book with Buster Brown in the title doesn’t feature Buster Brown? Well, actually, it does. In the ads for Buster Brown shoes. These comics were giveaway premiums at shoe stores and department stores that sold Buster Brown Shoes. The store name is printed on the bottom part of the front cover, and all the ads in the comic are for Buster Brown shoes. Usually only his iconic image appears in an issue.
However, in this issue, there is actually a comic strip with Buster Brown! Very likely his last comic strip ever, I suspect (although his last newspaper comic strip can be seen here). And what sort of mischief is the little rapscallion up to, you may wonder? Why, he is pretending to be a shoe salesman! Strangely, his “resolution” appears in the first panel…
“When kids insist on Buster Brown Shoes they get the best fit in town!”
Wait a minute… our scamp isn’t making mischief at all! Tige’s jolly laugh is nowhere to be seen. Buster is just selling shoes! He’s being helpful! What has become of our Buster, our impish rascal of yesteryear?
Wait a minute… the kid in the last panel with the new shoes… his feet are glowing. Why that’s it! Buster hasn’t reformed at all! He has taken to irradiating children’s feet with a shoe-fitting x-ray machine (Note the mention of X-Ray fitting on the front cover below). That smug kid with the new shoes will be keeling over with foot cancer in no time! Ha ha ha! Oh, that Buster.
Download a 27MB pdf of the comic book, minus the boy from exotic land with exotic pet stories, by clicking the below image.
cutepoints (1-10): 3
disposition: curious, wobbly
about: there are few activities
bunkle is skilled at. he can’t run
fast, or swim well, or dig holes.
however, he is an expert at
spinning around… he often does
this for long periods of time. it
never makes him sick, and he can
fall down with the best of them.
likes: carousels, cotton candy.
Here’s another great example I scanned of Buster Brown, this one from August 5, 1906 by Richard F. Outcault, with some nice experimentation with panel time and space.
Click the image to view the full strip.
Click here to read more examples of Buster Brown at Barnacle Press.
See the last Buster Brown strip at the Stripper’s Guide.
Click here to read about Richard F. Outcault at lambiek.net.
See a Buster Brown original (with the Yellow Kid) at the Library of Congress website.
Read more about R.F. Outcault at Ohio State University’s website.
See examples of Outcault’s Yellow Kid at Ohio State University’s website.
Click here to read more about Buster Brown at Toonopedia.
Hear a radio program on the history of Buster Brown at npr.org.
Visit the website of the R.F. Outcault Society.
Read the Wikipedia entry on Buster Brown.
Read the Wikipedia entry on R.F. Outcault..
Read the Wikipedia entry on The Yellow Kid.
See the copyright application for the Yellow Kid at the Library of Congress website.
Here’s a great example I scanned of Buster Brown from April 8, 1906 by Richard F. Outcault.
Click the image to view the full strip.
Click here to read more examples of Buster Brown at Barnacle Press.
See the last Buster Brown strip at the Stripper’s Guide.
Click here to read about Richard F. Outcault at lambiek.net.
See a Buster Brown original (with the Yellow Kid) at the Library of Congress website.
Read more about R.F. Outcault at Ohio State University’s website.
See examples of Outcault’s Yellow Kid at Ohio State University’s website.
Click here to read more about Buster Brown at Toonopedia.
Hear a radio program on the history of Buster Brown at npr.org.
Visit the website of the R.F. Outcault Society.
Read the Wikipedia entry on Buster Brown.
Read the Wikipedia entry on R.F. Outcault..
Read the Wikipedia entry on The Yellow Kid.
See the copyright application for the Yellow Kid at the Library of Congress website.
