The Sunday Funnies, Comic Books & The Classics
We had our Sunday morning rituals.
My Dad, surprising and delighting us all, would take over the breakfast chores,
making his famous “Bullseye Eggs” (that he used to make for his army buddies),
The family would gather around the 32” DuMont TV to watch the entertaining AND educational
Wonderama starring Sandy Becker (and later Sonny Fox).
Finally…my Sunday assignment was to go out and get the Sunday papers…
The Daily News, The Daily Mirror and The Journal American.
I couldn’t wait to bring ‘em home!
Not because I precociously wanted to read the latest Op-Ed…
but because I loved the Sunday Funny Papers!!
I remember hearing about how in the ‘40’s NYC Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia
used to read the Sunday Funnies over the radio.
Can’t imagine today’s mayors doing that!?
Sure, those newspapers had comic strips all week long…
but on Sundays they were there in glorious living color!
Sometimes taking up the entire page!!
Wrapped around the thick Sunday editions,
they would be the first thing you would see when looking at the piled-up stacks of papers..
Once home, I’d quickly “undress” each newspaper, gathering all the funnies for myself…
and pass along all that boring stuff inside to Mom and Dad.
I pretty much liked all the strips, but I did have some favorites …by category:
My “Kiddie” faves:
Donald Duck
With Huey, Dewey, Louie and Uncle Scrooge…DD stole top billing from Mickey.
Marmaduke
C’mon, who wouldn’t love a giant, affectionate, sloppy, mischievous Great Dane?
Popeye
Before I loved the cartoons, I loved the strip…
with the sailorman, his heroic feats, his “magical pipe”…
plus Olive Oyl, Swee’Pea, Wimpy and Bluto/Brutus….but I still hated spinach.
Little Iodine
The naughty, yet loveable quintessential brat!
I think I may have identified with her!
Nancy & Sluggo
She, a mischievious (and jealous) 8-year-old.
He, a lazy, ragamuffin from the wrong side of the tracks.
Ah, true love!
Henry
Somehow I always felt that the bald, mute (mouthless) Henry possessed some deep Zen wisdom.
Peanuts
Timeless.
My “Family Oriented” standouts:
Blondie (& Dagwood)
I’ll admit it…I thought Blondie was hot!
Her hubby, Dagwood, a bit bumbling, was a good enough guy …
loved sports, his beautiful wife, his kids, Alexander and Cookie, his dog, Daisy…and sandwiches!.
He did not like work or his boss Mr. Dithers.
Definitely lucked out with Blondie.
Hi and Lois
Pretty much Blondie & Dagwood in the ‘burbs. Hi’s a salesguy. Lois is a realtor.
They have 4 kids - teenage Chip, twins Dot & Ditto, and baby Trixie, their favorite.
Hazel
Not really a strip…just one panel.
Hazel was a maid (who had a maid???) to the Baxters …
but, the bossy, sarcastic maid/nanny totally ruled the house.
Liked the TV series too.
Dondi
A never-aging, wide-eyed, loveable orphan boy,
whose background always was a bit confusing…Italian, Korean, Vietnamese?
No matter, he was adopted by a G.I. and raised by his grandpa, “Pop” Fligh, a former baseball player.
I was mesmerized.
The “Action Adventure & Military”
Beetle Bailey
The funny side (?) of being a soldier.
Beetle, a lazy slacker G.I. (never actually saw his eyes),
was constantly being beaten upon by Sarge, along with his look-alike bulldog Otto.
Beetle and his buddies never saw any combat…so, the army is fun???
I guess ask Beetle.
Steve Canyon
Veteran Air Force pilot/Adventurer, good-looking, with a pipe…Steve was cool!
Plus he had a good heart AND had a romantic fling with his secretary.
Oh yeah, he was cool!
Smilin’ Jack
Now we’re talkin’.
The mustachioed pilot was surrounded by all sorts of colorful characters…
like Hawaiian Fatstuff, lothario Downwind Jaxson and the sexy Dixie.
Sure made me smile!
Terry and the Pirates
Terry, teenager-turned army pilot and his buddy, journalist Pat Ryan wind up in China,
clashing with the invading Japanese “pirates”, led by the evil and sexy Dragon Lady.
Had it all!
Moon Mullins
“Moonshine” Mullins was one of my early encounters with an anti-hero. Not the greatest of role models,
Moon was a wannabe boxer /roughneck who hung out in bars, racetracks, pool halls, looking for an easy buck or a hot dame.
His little bro, Kayo got to tag along…
wished it was me!
My “Random Mix” of character strips:
Mutt and Jeff
Mutt was tall and dumb and a schemer.
Jeff was pint-sized and bald (under his top hat) and crazy (literally an asylum inmate!).
They were an “odd couple” of besties.
“Mutt & Jeff” is still used as a term to describe mis-matched pairs.
Ally Oop and B.C.
I also was a fan of not just one, but two “caveman-themed” strips!
Ally Oop was intriguing …
brought into the modern times land of Moo, (riding his dinosaur Dinny), he was trying to figure it all out.
B.C., on the other hand, stayed in prehistoric time, but referenced current inventions and events.
It had a hipper edge and sense of humor. Lots of puns, wordplay, gags…
and some controversial “commentary”.
Hagar the Horrible
Hey, we could all use some good Viking humor, right?
Hagar was, and still is, an interesting character…a barbaric invader and a good family man…
he’s also fat, dirty and pretty much clueless.
This warrior is “ruled” by his bossy, “rather large” wife, Helga.
I remember particularly liking Hagar’s best bud “Lucky Eddie”, perhaps the unluckiest Viking ever!
Mandrake the Magician
What kid doesn’t like magic? (Especially dark magic!)
I was intrigued by Mandrake and his powers of hyptnotism, invisibility and levitation.
In his home of Xanadu, he spends his off-stage “spare time” fighting villains of all kinds.
Just as cool as Mandrake was his best bud, Lothar,
an African prince who was said to be “the strongest man in the world”!
Andy Capp
Another of my faves,
the Brit Andy was a lazy, unemployed, oft-drunk, gambler, trouble-making pub patron
with an eye for the ladies, despite having a wife,
the bingo-mad Florrie, who was always on his case, bopping him on his eye-covering cap.
Harold Teen
Before B.H 90210, there was angst-filled Harold Teen.
Eating “Gedunk” sundaes at Pop Jenks’ Soda Shop with his gal, Lillum and mini-best bud, Shadow.
Mary Worth
Not really sure why I liked this one??
Basically a soap opera, with the matronly Mary sticking her nose in her neighbors’ problems,
dispensing her holier-than-thou advice.
Pogo
With the lead character being an opossum living in the Okefenokee swamp, speaking in “swamp-speak”…
Pogo was one of a kind comic strip.
Pogo himself was a wise, philosophical, kind soul, surrounded by a crazy variety of swamp critters.
The strip was actually rather satirical and political (at the time, way over my head).
And finally…the “Headliners”, bestowed with the full Front & Back pages:
Joe Palooka, Dick Tracy, Orphan Annie, Lil Abner
Joe Palooka
Loved him!
Joe was the quintessential sports hero back in the day…
a heavyweight boxing champion, upstanding, helpful to others,
with a beautiful girlfriend (later wife), Ann Howe;
an old-school trainer, Knobby Walsh;
a mute orphan sidekick, Little Max;
and my favorite, his best friend, the oversized Humphry Pennyworth.
This was the strip I’d read first!
NOTE: Coming soon – A rather disturbing Joe Palooka posting.
Dick Tracy
Iconic (even before Madonna played “Breathless Mahoney”).
The ultimate cop/detective…with smarts!
Did you know he was based on the real life Elliot Ness?
The inventive devices, including two-way wrist radio; the deformed mob characters;
the “Crimestoppers Handbook”; battles with space aliens (Moon Maid)…
Detective Tracy deserved the front page!
Little Orphan Annie
The world’s most beloved orphan (even without the song ‘Tomorrow’).
“Leapin’ Lizards!!”
Annie has become part of our culture since the ‘20’s.
Sandy (ARF!), Daddy Warbucks, the bitchy Mrs.Warbucks, Punjab…
and the curly red hair, red dress and pupil-less white eyes still remain ingrained in my memory.
Lil’ Abner
Loved the Yokums of Dogpatch…
AND had an early crush on Daisy Mae!
(and was equally “stimulated” by super-sexy Stupefyin’ Jones, and the “earthy”, pig-luvin’ Moonbeam McSwine).
The citizens of Dogpatch delighted me…
Eagle Eye Fleagle, Marryin’ Sam, General Bullmoose, Jubilation T. Cornpone
and of course, the mini-Mammy & Pappy Yokum.
I reck’n tryin’ to read the Dogpatch way of conversin’ was part of the appeal.
So raise up’n a cup of Kickapoo Juice to Lil’ Abner!
As much as I loved my Sunday Funnies,
for some odd reason I never had a lot of comic books at home???
I don’t know if I wasn’t “allowed”…
because my Mom preferred that I read some “real books” in my limited reading efforts …
or if I was too “busy” watching TV and obsessing over my baseball cards.
Still, some “lightweight/innocent” comic books fell into my hands:
Richie Rich
Ah, a fantasy for a Bronx kid from a working class family…
to be the richest kid in the world (with “enough to afford 2 of everything!”).
And Richie was a nice kid, kind and charitable…but sometimes lonely,
(often called “the poor little rich boy”).
I did like seeing (and dreaming about) the fabulous stuff Richie had…
and I also liked that his best friends were poor kids.
Little Lulu
I liked Louise "Little Lulu" Moppet because, even before I was “enlightened”,
I appreciated that a girl showed toughness …and willingness to take on the boy bullies.
She was also very smart and creative in her story telling.
Her sometimes friend/other times antagonist was the aptly-named Tubby, a member of “The Fellers’ Gang”.
Early “Girl Power”!
Little Lotta
Not to be confused with Little Lulu, Little Lotta was anything but little!
Her insatiable appetite made her huge…and led to her superhuman strength.
Far from being an "unpopular fat kid",
Lotta was cool, fun, kind-hearted, always ready to use her tremendous strength for what she deemed as good.
Her boyfriend, the diminutive Gerald, was grateful for her “protection”.
The covers of her comics showed Lotta ready to devour some massive amount of food.
NOTE: Looking at her now, she looks kinda like “Family Guy’s” Peter Griffin.
Tom & Jerry
Not very esoteric, but weirdly addictive for an 8 year-old.
Tom the Cat is out to destroy Jerry the Mouse.
The clever rodent constantly frustrates the feline.
That’s about it.
Dennis the Menace
When it was announced that Dennis the Menace was to become a TV series…I went wild!
I first loved the strip and then the comic book and to see it come to life…Whoa!
Alas…it didn’t live up to the comic.
I couldn’t get enough of seeing Dennis frustrating his parents, Henry and Alice…
and torturing his neighbor, the cranky Mr. Wilson.
Yet, Dennis was good-hearted…just a bit “enthusiastic”.
He loved root beer, cookies, drums, cowboys, mud and his dog, Ruff.
Sounds good to me!
I also liked those rare comic books based on celebs …
like Abbott & Costello and Martin & Lewis.
Finally, I must confess, (secure enough in my masculinity),
I did kinda like some of my sister Ellen’s comics…
Katy Keene and Millie the Model…adventures of career girls in the big city!
And, in full disclosure I was majorly into …
Totally groovin’ with the Riverdale High gang…
Archie, Jughead, Reggie, Betty, Veronica*,
*I was definitely on Team Veronica…much hotter!…
Midge, Moose, Miss Grundy, Mr. Weatherbee,
Man, I couldn’t wait to be a teenager!
So, those were my comic books,
UNTIL…
I went to sleepaway camp each summer…
and my comic book behavior changed drastically!
I left those sweet publications behind and discovered…
My bunkmates would bring their treasure trove of D.C. comics to camp…
and I dove in! Voraciously!
While I did enjoy the “quirky” powers of Aquaman, The Flash and Green Arrow…
my guy was the guy from Krypton! (And his younger self Superboy)!
But oddly, more than the “fighting for truth and justice ‘The American Way’”…
from Smallville to Metropolis,
or The Man of Steel’s intergalactic battles,
I gravitated to the more unusual plot lines….
and the weird sub- characters…
like Bizarro Superman, Krypto (super-dog), Mon-el (his long-lost “brother” exiled to the “Phantom Zone)
and my absolute fave…
Besides being the ultimate Scrabble character…
Mxy was the villainous trickster imp from the Fifth Dimension,
(Not the singing group!),
who loved tormenting Superman will magical pranks.
He could only be stopped by being tricked into saying his name backwards…
which would banish him from earth for several months at time.
"“KLTPZYXM!“
Now, while I stated above that my at-home comic book experience was
rather limited, there were notable exceptions…
I was “allowed/encouraged” to buy…
Graphically, illustrated, greatly abridged versions of Classic Literature like:
Truth is, reading these 40-page comic books…
saved me a whole lotta time having to read the real “classics”.
Then, on the flip side of “The Classics”…
I was obsessed with…
I’d buy and devour every edition of Mad Magazine,
with Alfred E, Newman’s crooked-tooth smiling face on the cover.
I especially loved the send ups of TV shows and movies, with occasional parody musical lyrics.
NOTE: Once in a while I’d sample…
I always felt like Cracked was the Rolling Stones to MAD’s Beatles).
And even more “cracked”…
trying to take advantage of youth’s predilection for comics…
the back page of my Hebrew School’s publication, World Over…
always featured some comic strip of Jewish “Battles”…
For some strange reason I especially liked the stories of the random con-men
who were stoned or beaten as “false prophets”!!!
Hey…I was (and will forever be) a weird kid.
Would love to hear about your favorite comic strips and comics.
