Some articles about the past history of cartooning.
In Search of … Tony Barlow
This little tale begins, as so many do on the Spill, with an inadvertent discovery. While thumbing through the The New Yorker War Cartoons (Special Edition For the Armed Services, published 1945), I noticed, amidst familiar work … a cartoonist’s name I realized I’d never spotted before: Tony Barlow.
© Condé Nast
Michael Maslin, at Ink Spill, goes looking for an unknown cartoonist.
Reconciling Past Phantoms
Inconsistencies within Lee Falk‘s stories is nothing new with many creators trying to make sense of them in new stories. Along with fixing the inconsistencies it also helps tie the pre and post Falk newspaper timelines together as well.
The most obvious inconsistency in the Joonkar tale is the telling of how the Phantom first met and saves Joonkar. Lee Falk over the years mentions both a tiger and a lion plus killing and not killing the tiger.
© King Features Syndicate
Jermayn, at the Chronicle Chamber, details DePaul and Weigel correcting Falk.
A Black Superhero Before The Black Panther
Jay Jackson introduced the world to the first black superhero on January 6, 1945. The oldest and longest-running Black Comic strip ran in the pages of the country’s leading black newspaper, The Chicago Defender.
no known copyright holder
Steve Carper and The Chicago Defender inform us of the first Black Superhero.
Part Two is now up. Part 3: The Complete Bungleton Green in the 21st Century.
Comic Strip Turns into Billion Dollar Enterprise
The hippo-like Moomins and their pals first appeared on the pages of a children’s book seventy five years ago, written and illustrated by Finnish artist Tove Jansson.
Brits fell for their charms in 1954 when they appeared in a comic strip in the London Evening News (later the evening standard) which ran until the mid-70s.
Today there are 800 companies around the world licensed to sell Moomins’ products.
© Moomin Characters
Rachael Bletchly, at the Daily Mirror, tells how a comic strip grew and grew and grew.
Quick, Henry, the Flit!
“Flit” was the brand name of an insecticide that had been concocted in 1923.
Flit became famous in the next decade after Theodore Seuss Geisel had been contracted to draw cartoons that illustrated with hysterical exaggeration some insect-threatening situation in which the menaced person calls for rescue by yelling: “Quick, Henry — the Flit!”
Flit ™ Clarke Mosquito Control; © ?
Before Dr. Seuss became Dr. Seuss Theodore Geisel was a Big Name advertising cartoonist.
A new month brings a new R. C. Harvey history lesson from Humor Times.
FWIW, I mentioned that Malcom Kellog. (Tony) Barlow’s burial site is found on FindaGrave, at InkSpill, but either it didn’t save or was rejected. So just a few comments here – the family does include “Tony” on the gravestone. 1906-1974. Lived for quite a few years in Orange County, California. He was listed as copyright holder on the poetry magazine his wife edited. I assume that was for fun, I couldnt find much other 1950s-1970s info, but if someone finds his obit, it might.