The Lockhorns debuted in Newsday on Sept. 9, 1968 as the “The Lockhorns of Levittown.”
After Bill Hoest died in 1988 at age 62, Bunny Hoest and John Reiner kept the Lockhorns alive.
Newsday has a nice article about the local cartoon that made good
and the 50 years of comics donated to the local university.
[Bunny] has donated the archives of more than 37,000 cartoons — including “The Lockhorns,” “Howard Huge” and others — to Adelphi University, where she obtained a bachelor of arts degree and an honorary doctorate.
“It started here [on Long Island],” David Ranzan, Adelphi University archivist and special collections librarian, said of “The Lockhorns,” which will take their place in the archives alongside “Agatha Crumm,” “What a Guy!, “Howard Huge,” “Laugh Parade” and others. “We’re preserving it.”
The longish article contains some interesting details:
“We celebrate Leroy’s birthday on Feb 7, Bill’s birthday. And my birthday is Nov. 12, which is Loretta’s birthday.”
Hoest and Reiner produce 11 panels weekly, one daily Monday to Saturday and five on Sunday, in about 500 newspapers and online.
In 2012, Hoest signed a 10-year contract with King Features that included a 10-year option to renew.
“The Lockhorns,” distributed in 17 nations and a multitude of languages, are a global couple.
Hoest works days and Reiner works night.
The Newsday history of the strip and profile of the creators can be read here.
“The Lockhorns are incredibly relatable,” said Tea Fougner, who works in Manhattan as editorial director of comics for King Features, which syndicates the cartoon. “We found it’s really popular in social media. People see themselves or their friends.”
Want more? Our very own Mike Peterson profiled Bunny 16 years ago.
Where, among other things, he mentioned something I had not realized:
There is one line of dialogue each day, and it is rare that any of the bit players – Loretta’s mother, the marriage counselor, the bartender, various neighbors – get to deliver that punch line.
And finally…The Bunny Bash!
For years Bunny would host a gathering of cartoonists at the “Hoest Castle.”
Mike Lynch reported on a few of the past festivities.