10/18/06

Where have all the funnies gone?

Tri-O's Oddities, observations, and opinions
By Herb Kandel

One of the joys while growing up was the anticipation every Sunday of reading the “funny pages” of the newspaper. Those Technicolor panels had a life of their own. I was reminded of that time recently.
This past October 4th marked a milestone event, Dick Tracy, the comic strip, turned 75. This staunch defender of the people whose jutting square jaw and broken nose, resembling a numeral “7”, is really older. When first drawn by Chester Gould in 1931 Tracy was a 34 year old bachelor, which would really makes him over 109 years old today. Gould retired in 1977, and died in 1985. The strip is now created by Dick Locher and Michael Kilian but it has much less newspaper syndication. A quick précis of our hero follows.
Tracy became a detective in order to avenge the kidnapping of Tess Trueheart (who became his wife in 1949) and the killing of her father. Gould’s was the first comic strip to approach crime, violence, justice and morality by using news “ripped from the headlines”. Along the way he introduced memorable villains. Those of a certain age will recall his side-show of those characters, among them The Brow, The Blank, Mr. And Mrs. Pruneface, Mole, B.B. Eyes, Little Face, Measels, Mumbles, Flattop, Flyface, Lispy, and in 1977, (gasp) Heroin Herbert .
Gould let us meet Gravel Gerty and B.O. Plenty who were the parents of the beautifully mutated Sparkle Plenty (which spawned a best selling line of dolls 12 years before Barbie). The capitalist Diet Smith gave Tracy the two-way wrist radio in 1946 (that was the first “can you hear me now?“ ) which later was replaced by a wrist-TV and then again into a computer; in 1947 Tracy wore a miniature camera as a ring.
Tracy was parodied by Al Capp in “Li’l Abner”. Abner was a hero-worshipper of Tracy-like “Fearless Fosdick” thus becoming a comic strip within a comic strip (more about Abner below).
Tracy became a grandfather when Sparkle Plenty Jr. Was born in 1988, she is the daughter of Junior Tracy‘S and his second wife, Sparkle Plenty. In 1994 Tess and Tracy were heading toward splitsville but they subsequently reconciled and in 1999 they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The crusader is still perusing thugs and justice for all.
The aforementioned “L’il Abner” strip showed a lovable, naïve, muscled, good natured hillbilly, Abner Yokum, always trying to evade the marital intentions of the beautiful, faithful and blouse stretching Daisy Mae. Capp invented the city of Dogpatch and a cast of memorable characters such as Marryin' Sam, Wolf Gal, Lena the Hyena, Indian Lonesome Polecat, Moonbeam McSwine, Stupefyin' Jones, Appassionata von Climax, and Sadie Hawkins . He also created the Shmoo which posed a threat to the world economy as they need only air as sustenance, they craved to be eaten ( fried they tasted like chicken , roasted like beef, raw like oysters). They also produced eggs, milk, butter, leather, buttons, and timber. They were ideal playmates for young children and the most perfect subsistence creature . So who needed to work?
Those two were my favorites but there were others whose adventures I followed as I entered their world. “Terry and the Pirates” took us to the intriguing Far East and the sinister (but later ally) The Dragon Lady. Milton Caniff , Terry’s artist, later created Steve Canyon. “Smilin’ Jack” was the mustached daredevil pilot who had as a sidekick Fatstuff, his Hawaiian friend who always popped his shirt buttons (usually into the gaping mouths of chickens). There was the chinless “Andy Gump” (no relation to Forrest) and his family which faced everyday quandaries as did Uncle Walt and Skeezix in “Gasoline Alley”, these were some of the first comic strip soap operas. “Henry” was a young, bald, very precocious boy who went though all the panels in pantomime, the same as the portly “The Little King”. “Prince Valiant” took us to the days of King Arthur and to a fantasy world of castles, witches, battles, and chivalry all in rich artistry and blazing colors. Walt Kelly’s “Pogo” was a joke a day while “Little Orphan Annie” fought political battles, never changing her red dress or having eye pupils.
So I ask again, Where have all the funnies gone? And answer:
All my above friends have been deferred to another place , but not forgotten. Just as Little Jackie Paper in the land of Hanah Lee, we put aside the “painted wings and giant rings”. Yet they linger lastingly in the folds of our memories ..….and for sale on the pages of eBay.
END