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The Lockhorns celebrate 45 years of disgruntled relationship

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King Features’s The Archivist blog notes that Bill Hoest’s The Lockhorns has turned 45 years old this week.

There have been unhappy spouses in comic strips before, from the ever-bickering Greens in MR. & MRS. to the battle-strewn, married life of Jiggs and Maggie in BRINGING UP FATHER, but THE LOCKHORNS is different. Other comic couples would kiss and make up now and again, and their disagreements (and assaults) forgiven, at least for a while. However, Leroy and Loretta Lockhorn never weaken on their position. They genuinely despise each other. Any occasion is grounds for venomous sarcasm to spew forth with even the threat of physical violence. (Fortunately, we?re spared actually seeing that.)

Bill drew the strip from 1968 up to his death in 1988. His wife Bunny and artist John Reiner have kept the strip going these last 15 years.

Head over to The Archivist to see a sample of The Lockhorns over the years.

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Comments 2

  1. Huh. Interesting to see those early ones and how they looked more alert and actively angry (or fearful, in Loretta’s case) instead of being in that constant state of droll, half-lidded sarcasm we’re all familiar with now.

  2. My darling husband, Phil and I would today be celebrating our 50th anniversary. We began calling each other Leroy and Loretta years ago and faithfully followed your cartoons all those years. Sadly, Phil passed away 5 years ago so we only got to our 45th anniversary. His request had always been to be cremated and his remains kept here so that we could always be together. I bought a special urn and had Leroy and Loretta printed on it. He is here with me in his special place and my children know what to do when I die….Yes, the Lockhorns will always be together.
    Everyday I continue to enjoy and chuckle at your creations. Whenever one of them fits our life so perfectly I make a copy of it and put it by his photo in our bedroom.

    Thank you for sharing YOUR Lockhorns with these Lockhorns.

    February 4, 2016

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