Li’l Abner loomed large in cartoon world
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The Daily Review has a story about the success and impact of Li’l Abner by Al Capp.
Last Saturday was Sadie Hawkins Day, created by Capp as a role-switching race in which females become the aggressors in the dating game (something unheard of at the time) and which launched a once-a-year series of girl-asks-boy dances all over the U.S. every November.
I can’t recall any other comic strip ever launching a nationwide “day.”
WHEN HE was 9 years old, Al Capp tried to hitch a ride on a trolley car, slipped beneath the wheels and lost a leg. Restricted in his ability to compete in sports, he turned to drawing as a pursuit and became so good at it that 10 years later, at the age of 19, he became the youngest syndicated cartoonist in America.
“Li’l Abner” ended up in newspapers with a circulation exceeding 60 million readers, and in addition to Sadie Hawkins Day launched such best-selling toy icons as the Shmoo and the Kigmy. The strip was so popular that when Li’l Abner finally married Daisy Mae, the wedding made the cover of Life magazine.
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