Comic history Comic strips

Wayback Whensday, the Weekend Edition

Wednesday came and went without a Wayback installment because I am easily distrac…

© Jay Ward Prod., Inc.

Anyway, to paraphrase Churchy LaFemme: Wayback Whensday come on a Saturday this week.

The Lost Phantom

Longtime Phantom penciler George Olesen spent his summer seasons in Denmark. As a result, the Phantom strips make quite a trek, beginning as a script from Lee Falk‘s typewriter, to George Olesen‘s studio where he pencils the art, to Milt Snappin who lettered the work, then to Keith Williams or Fred Fredericks who ink the final panels.

All in all, they travel from Massachusetts to Denmark to New York to Massachusetts / New York Wow!

What happens if they get lost?

© King Features Syndicate

The Chronicle Chamber re-presents a 1998 Phantom story of strips lost in the mail.

**********

The Life and Legacy of Charles M. Schulz

Schulz had a big year in 1946: He landed two jobs that would prove invaluable to his artistic development. The first job was as a letterer for a Catholic organization in St. Paul that published religious comic books to provide teaching materials for Catholic schools, churches, and youth groups. Through this work, Schulz became a fast, adept letterer…

In 1947, a forerunner of the Minneapolis Star Tribune published two of Schulz’s comics called Li’l Folks, a precursor to Peanuts. And from 1947 to 1950, the St. Paul Pioneer Press ran his weekly cartoon Li’l Folks by Sparky. Schulz was unsatisfied with these small victories. He wanted his work to reach a larger audience by being syndicated and sold to many markets….

Minnesota History magazine carries Caroline Harris’ 10-page biography of Charles M. Schulz.

hat tip to Jim Keefe for the heads up.

**********

Dazzling Diamond Lilby Bill Woggon

In 1945, cartoonist Bill Woggon launched a newspaper strip [comic book feature] starring fashion queen Katy Keene. Starting in backup stories, within a few years she would have her own comics series… and then multiple series, plus one shots, annuals, and specials. Eventually, she reached a level of public attention that few comics characters get, certainly back then, her own live-action TV series. Then in 1946, with Katy Keene still at the start of her popularity, Woggon created another character, Dazzling Diamond Lil‘.

Bleeding Cool previews About Comics’ book collection of the Dazzling Diamond Lil’ advertising panel.

**********

LETTERING TERMS and PIONEERS, a series

Comics are the combination of words and pictures that make you laugh, in the newspaper and online, or the comic book adventures of your favorite superhero, and so much more. Most comics fans and readers focus first on the art, but the words are equally important, and the visual presence of those words is an integral part of the unique medium of comics.

Todd Klein on the origins and evolution of comics lettering. Part One. Part Two. Part Three.

featured image from Alley Oop by V. T. Hamlin, July 17 1938 © UFS

Previous Post
CSotD: Reasons to hope, reasons to despair
Next Post
Gary Grobman – RIP

Comments

Comments are closed.

Search

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get a daily recap of the news posted each day.