Sunday Funnies - March 12, 1960 - part 2 of 4

Sunday morning and back again for more 4 color fun delivered to your doorstep for pennies a serving.  Another glimpse back to the days before newspapers wanted to charge you a dollar for page after page of advertisements and actually offered content between said ads.  SOME even had news!

Part 2 of my scans of the March 12, 1960 edition of the "Star".  I'm sure I knew what city the "Star" was in when I bought it, but this info is lost to the passing sands of time I suppose.  

Today we see Milton Caniff's mature soap opera "Steve Cayon".  So far from his adventuresome "Dickie Dare" or "Terry & The Pirates" days, yet changing for all the right reasons.  Deft inking and layouts and adult characterization and good solid storytelling.

Harry Weinert's "Vignettes of Life" another of the hodge-podge/anthology strips of the day.  Easy to read, easy for the editor to lop off 1/2 of and run ads or another feature instead.  More commerce in action...it is what it is.

Lee Falk's "Mandrake the Magician".  Past it's prime here for sure, but 1960 still doesn't seem out of time for MM as 1968 will.

Full bore centerspread with three (count 'em 3!) strips to a double size page.  Far better than the last time I looked at a paper and saw as many as 6 on a regular page.

Mell Lazarus' "Miss Peach", "Ripley's 'Belieeve It or Not'" and Jimmy Hatlo's "They'll Do It Every Time".  The strip page was evolving as tastes were and rightfully so.  These strips are breezy, easy to read and easy of the eye.

Nothing wrong with any of that, I learn more and more as I mature as well.

Talk to you soon.

Sunday Funnies - Library of Congress - 2 of 3

Happy Sunday Funnies, kiddoes!  Week 2 of 3 of The Library of Congress' celebration of 100 years of the American Newspaper comic strip back in 1995.

This week taking a look at "Cartoon Stereotypes" (Vic Forsythe, Mort Walker), "Love Story" (William Overgard, Allen Saunders), "Adventures in Time and Space" (Milton Caniff, Burne Hogarth, Alex Raymond), "Dream Worlds" (George Herriman, Winsor McCay, Lyonel Feininger), "Home Front" (Bud Fisher) and "Politics as Usual" (Gary Trudeau, Jules Feiffer, Harold Gray).

This really gives a sense of the overall scope of subjects the Sunday funnies conquered in it's best moments of creativity.

Dig in! 

Talk to you soon.

Sunday Funnies - A Retrospective, 5 of 5!

Richard Marshall and Bill Blackbeard's grand "The Sunday Funnies" from 1978 comes to a close this week with coverage of the 1940's.  The decade of WWII and when America truly reached maturity.  Not modernity maybe, but certainly we knew who we were then, like that "All in the Family" theme song says.

The apex of the Sunday Funnies before they started their slow decline into banality.  Sure there were still plenty of highlights to come.  "Peanuts", "B.C.", Doonesbury", "Calvin & Hobbes", "The Far Side" and a few others but for the most part, more and more mainstream guidelines and financial shifts in importance and competition from other mass media limited the gorgeous tabloid, four-color landscape from here on out.

Luckily, thanks to publication like these by Messrs Marshall and Blackbeard and mass ready inexpensive communication media like the World Wild Iintertube, we'll never lose the art these masters created.  

From just a few decades ago, but seeming so far away, here's the mastery of Chester Gould ("Dick Tracy"), Burne Hogarth ("Tarzan"), Bill Holman ("Smokey Stover"), Clifford McBride *"Napoleon"), Bill Freyse ("The Nut Bros.", "Our Boarding House"), Jerry Siegel/Joe Shuster ("Superman"), Hal Foster ("Prince Valiant"), Milton Caniff ("Terry & the Pirates"), Ham Fisher ("Joe Palooka"), Al Capp ("Li'l Abner") and Walt Kelly ("Pogo") all side by side and delivered to your doorstep for mere pennies.  

There's lots of reasons that "the good 'ol days" weren't really so good.  This is one of the reasons they were great.

Talk to you soon.

Sunday Funnies - 1-15-12 - Double Dose

Sunday Funnies and another double dose of Al Capp's "Li'l Abner" (where he's more-than-ably assisted by a young Frank Frazetta) and Milton Caniff's "Terry & the Pirates".

True masters of humor, adventure and suspense, all.

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon.

Sunday Funnies - Double Dose - 1-8-12

Sunday Funnies time again, kiddoes!!  That means it's time for another double dose of "Li'l Abner" by Al Capp and Frank Frazetta (dig them crazy chicks!) and "Terry & the Pirates" by Milton Caniff!!

Jeff (me) is still missing in action, but I'm making progress on the things that are holding me back from posting more on this blog...good progress.  

I will be back.  I will be back.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Where, oh where has my little Jeff gone?  Oh, where oh where can he be?

Talk to you soon.

Sunday Funnies - 1-1-12 - Double Dose!

Where, oh where hath the old year gone???

It's been a sparse 2nd half of 2011 for Jeffy blog posts.  I'm starting to think if I'm MIA or DOA.

Until I figure it out, here's a nice way to start the new year.  A double dose of action, adventure, comedy and masterful draftsmanship, with a double dose of 4-color Sunday fun.  with "Li'l Abner" and "Terry and the Pirates" from the able hands and minds of Al Capp (assisted by Frank Frazetta) and Milton Caniff, respectively.

Enjoy!

While you're all digging on that, I'm off to find out where I've been and where I'm at!

Talk to you soon.

Sunday Funnies - 11 27-11 - Double Dose!

Happy post Thanksgiving Feast Day Sunday, everyone.  I hope you all ate your fill and gave your fill of thanks.  Now that you've made a good dent in the left-overs, here's some tasty four color fun to peruse over your turkey hash.  Another double dose of comedy, intrigue and adventure courtesy of Al Capp, Milton Caniff and Frank Frazetta with every one's favorites, "Li'l Abner" and "Terry & the Pirates"!

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon!

Sunday Funnies - Double Dose! - 11-20-11

Did ya think yer ol' Unca Jeffy forgot ya? NEVER!

I SHALL get to blogging again, very soon...and until then, thanks for sticking around and here's your double dose of Al Capp's "Li'l abner" (assisted by Frank Frazetta) and Milt Caniff's "Terry & the Pirates" to sate your soul and get your Thanksgiving week started right!

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon!

Sunday Funnies - 10-23-11 - Double Dose!

Happy Sunday, kiddoes! The adventure keeps a churning in "Terry & the Pirates" by Milton Caniff and the comedy and drama keep building in "Li'l Abner" by Al Capp (more than ably assisted by Frank Frazetta)!

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon!

Sunday Funnies - 10-16-11 - Double Dose!

Happy Sunday everyone! Start your day with a double shot of classic, glorious, 4-Color fun with Milton Caniff, Al Capp and Frank Frazetta fun and adventure with "Li'l Abner" and "Terry and the Pirates"!

It's the RIGHT way to start your Sunday!

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon!