Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Comic Stamp Quiz, Part 6

Here is the sixth and final batch of unidentified comic stamps. Can you name the strip the stamp ran with, and the name of the character depicted?





Labels: Q and A



Monday, August 17, 2020

Comic Stamp Quiz, Part 5

Here is the fifth batch of unidentified comic stamps. Can you name the strip the stamp ran with, and the name of the character depicted?





Labels: Q and A



Friday, August 14, 2020

Comic Stamp Quiz, Part 4

Here is the fourth batch of unidentified comic stamps. Can you name the strip the stamp ran with, and the name of the character depicted?









Thursday, August 13, 2020

Comic Stamp Quiz, Part 3

Here is the third batch of unidentified comic stamps. Can you name the strip the stamp ran with, and the name of the character depicted? In fairness, I wonder if perhaps #23-26 aren't real; they sure look like amateur drawings to me.



Labels: Q and A



Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Comic Stamp Quiz, Part 2

Here is the second batch of unidentified comic stamps. Can you name the strip the stamp ran with, and the name of the character depicted? (Okay, a few are named ....) One hint: our comic stamp collector has the ID wrong on #15; it is not Tillie the Toiler.



Labels: Q and A



Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Comic Stamp Quiz, Part 1

What are comic stamps? They were an extra added feature of some Sunday comic strips, mostly in the 1930s. In addition to the main strip and up to two topper strips, some cartoonists added yet more punch to their pages with comic stamps, which were little cartoon portraits typically printed at about the size of a typical postage stamp. Most simulated stamps, with the perforations along the edges, others play money with character faces, some just put the portraits in plain ol' rectangles. Here's a typical comic stamp from a Tillie the Toiler Sunday, an addendum to the Van Swaggers topper strip: The idea of comic stamps was that kids should cut them out and paste them into stamp albums or scrapbooks, I guess. I don't really get the entertainment value of this, but then I'm not the intended audience. There evidently were kids who did this, because today if you watch the eBay auctions sometimes you'll come across a dusty old collection of comic stamps or play money. Much to my surprise, there are even people today who collect them. I was contacted recently by a comic stamp collector who was hoping to get my help IDing some of their more obecure stamps. What I thought would be easy turned out to be anything but. It turns out that many comic stamps don't identify the characters, and often they depict secondary or even short-lived guests in the strips. Rather than have all the fun to myself of trying to figure out the comic strip that gave birth to these comic stamps, and the characters they depict, I decided to throw it open to the group as a quiz. And this is not some easily aced gimme, either. So if you can figure any of them out, be sure to post a comment and accept the laurels of an expert comic stamp spotter. Here's the first batch. I'm not sure #1 is an actual comic stamp, but the rest appear to be the real thing:





Labels: Q and A



Monday, August 10, 2020

When Did THE CAPTAIN AND THE KIDS End?

The end date for The Captain and the Kids, as cited in my book and elsewhere, is believed to be April 15 1979. The source for that is the distributor itself, United Feature Syndicate. While that may seem to be about as authoritative as you can get, I have found errors in their records before.



I just got an email from a Captain and the Kids fan who owns a piece of original art that seems to defy the UFS records. Here it is:



In case you can't read the date, it is May 13 1979, a month later than the supposed end date.



There is a possibility that UFS cancelled The Captain and the Kids while there was still art waiting in the pipeline. That can happen especially with cartoonists who work far ahead of deadline. I have no idea, though, if John Dirks was one of those people.



The other explanation, obviously, is that UFS has the end date wrong in their records. Unfortunately my own collection and online sources do not shed any light. The latest printed strip I or the owner of this art can find is this episode from March 3 1979:



So can you shed any light on the mystery of the Captain and the Kids end date? Do you have tearsheets in your own collection that go past April 15 1979, or have you found an online source for later episodes? If so, please do let us know!





Thursday, August 06, 2020

Mystery Strips: Alligator Joe and Pete the Piker

In the pages of The Fourth Estate, February 27 1915 edition, we find this short article: A SOUTHERN CARTOONIST

Henry Muheim, cartoonist for the Florida Metropolis of Jacksonville, has been attracting considerable attention in the South through his bright and timely cartoons.



After graduation from the Providence School of Design, Mr. Muheim did cartoons under Sid Greene of the New York Telegram, but then in charge of the art department of the Providence (R.I.) Telegram. For the past eight years Muheim has been furnishing the cartoons for the Metropolis on national and local topics. These have been so good that they have been reproduced by the London Sketch, among other papers. His comic strip, "Alligator Joe" is known throughout Florida.



In Editor & Publisher, January 14 1911 (thanks to Alex Jay for digging this up), we get another glimpse of Mr. Muheim's activities:



Jackson Metropolis Staff Changes A complete reorganization of the staff of the Jacksonville (Fla) Metropolis has been made recently. E. E. Naugle, formerly sporting editor, is now on the city desk. Frank L. Hulfaker is news editor. Ernest Metcalf has taken charge of the State news department. George D. Love, formerly of the Denver Post copy desk, is on the City Hall and Federal Court run, while George Benz, formerly of the Philadelphia Telegraph. is doing police work. W. J. Morrison, the well-known turf writer. who has seen service on Baltimore and Montreal papers, has taken the sporting desk. with L. S. Clampitte, formerly of the Chattanooga News, as assistant. Henry Muheim , the cartoonist, has recently created a novel character for the sporting editions of the paper in “Pete the Piker,” which has caught on with the racing fraternity now attending the winter meeting at Moncreif Park.





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Alligator Joe" is a strip I cannot locate. Same with "Pete the Piker", though it is less clear that it was a strip -- character might have just been a sports cartoon mascot.



The Florida Metropolis is unavailable on microfilm, no doubt because in its day it was best known mainly as a real estate developers' journal, and I don't mean that in a good way -- I mean folks selling swampland to gullible tourists. You'd think that a strip that was 'known throughout Florida' would show up in an occasional mention elsewhere, but my searches have turned up nothing. The title "Alligator Joe" itself seems unlikely -- there was a



Anyway, Muheim was at least definitely at the Metropolis. Here's a rare surviving cover page by him. Nice attractive style. Ironically, the cover of a special real estate section:







So, can anyone offer proof of the existence of "Alligator Joe" or "Pete the Piker"?



Henry Muheim, cartoonist for the Florida Metropolis of Jacksonville, has been attracting considerable attention in the South through his bright and timely cartoons.After graduation from the Providence School of Design, Mr. Muheim did cartoons under Sid Greene of the New York Telegram, but then in charge of the art department of the Providence (R.I.) Telegram. For the past eight years Muheim has been furnishing the cartoons for the Metropolis on national and local topics. These have been so good that they have been reproduced by the London Sketch, among other papers. His comic strip, "Alligator Joe" is known throughout Florida.In Editor & Publisher, January 14 1911 (thanks to Alex Jay for digging this up), we get another glimpse of Mr. Muheim's activities:"Alligator Joe" is a strip I cannot locate. Same with "Pete the Piker", though it is less clear that it was a strip -- character might have just been a sports cartoon mascot.The Florida Metropolis is unavailable on microfilm, no doubt because in its day it was best known mainly as a real estate developers' journal, and I don't mean that in a good way -- I mean folks selling swampland to gullible tourists. You'd think that a strip that was 'known throughout Florida' would show up in an occasional mention elsewhere, but my searches have turned up nothing. The title "Alligator Joe" itself seems unlikely -- there was a pretty famous guy in Florida who exhibited and sometimes even wrestled alligators known by this name. Unless the strip was actually about that guy?Anyway, Muheim was at least definitely at the Metropolis. Here's a rare surviving cover page by him. Nice attractive style. Ironically, the cover of a special real estate section:So, can anyone offer proof of the existence of "Alligator Joe" or "Pete the Piker"? Labels: Mystery Strips



Wednesday, August 05, 2020

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Harry Shorten

Tuesday, August 04, 2020

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: George T. Eggleston



George Teeple Eggleston was born on November 21, 1906, in Oakland, California, according to his world War II draft card which also had his full name. In the 1910 U.S. Federal Census Eggleston was the only child of Charles and Mabel. They were Oakland residents at 4089 Howes Street. His father was a real estate agent.



The 1920 census said the Eggleston address was 5116 Fonthill Boulevard in Oakland. His father was now an insurance agent. At Fremont High School Eggleston was on the yearbook staff. He was one of two artists on the Flame.



Eggleston continued his education at the University of California in Berkeley. He was a member of Kappa Alpha. The 1929 yearbook, The Blue & Gold, said Eggleston was the Spring editor of the school humor magazine, The Pelican.







The San Francisco Chronicle, March 1, 1928, said

George T. Eggleston, senior in the University of California Law School and art editor of the Pelican, campus publication, was awarded second prize, a $250 gold watch, from a field of several thousand in a nation-wide art contest conducted by a magazine, according to word received by him yesterday. Young Eggleston does his art work as a side line to his study of law at the university and his talent is without instruction. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. C.P. Eggleston, 1221 Cavanaugh road, Oakland. The committee awarding the prizes included James Montgomery Flagg, H.N. Swanson, editor of College Humor; Gaar Williams and Arthur William Brown.



Eggleston was the first artist to draw According to the 1930 census, Eggleston was a lodger in Evanston, Illinois, at 927 Hinman Avenue. His occupation was salaried magazine artist. About three months after the census enumeration Eggleston and Martha Downing obtained a marriage license on July 21, 1930 in Yuma, Arizona.Eggleston was the first artist to draw Rowdy Dow at Killjoy College , which debuted January 4 1931. On April 10, 1932 he replaced by “Tom”. The strip was distributed by the Bell Syndicate/Collegiate World.



Eggleston’s appointment as editor of Life magazine was reported in the Chronicle, March 6, 1932.

George T. Eggleston, graduate of the University of California with the class of 1929, and former editor of the Pelican, has been made editor of Life, New York magazine. Eggleston is the son of Charles P. Eggleston, 515 Vernon street, Oakland, and was graduated from Fremont High School, Oakland. Following his graduation he was associate editor of College Humor at Chicago. He is a member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity and was married last july to Miss Martha downing of Berkeley. Life magazine according to



On October 16, 1940 Eggleston signed his World War II draft card. His address in Greenwich was Buxton Lane. His employer was Conde Nast Publications. He was described as six feet two inches, 190 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair.



The Times said Eggleston’s second marriage was to Hazel Nicolay on January 18, 1936 in Windsor, Connecticut. The 1940 census said Eggleston was a magazine editor whose income, in 1939, was $5,000. He and his wife had a seven-year-old daughter, Day, and a maid. They lived in Greenwich, Connecticut at 4 Chapel Lane. In 1935 they had lived in New York City where Eggleston was an editor on the oldmagazine according to The New York Times , July 9, 1990.On October 16, 1940 Eggleston signed his World War II draft card. His address in Greenwich was Buxton Lane. His employer was Conde Nast Publications. He was described as six feet two inches, 190 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair.said

Mr. Eggleston was editor of Scribner’s Commentator, a magazine published in New York that helped lead the opposition to the United States’ entrance into World War II in 1940 and 1941. He changed his position after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and enlisted in the Navy, but charges of disloyalty dogged him for years.



Mr. Eggleston recounted some of the harassment against him in his last book, “Roosevelt, Churchill, and the World War II Opposition,” published by Devin-Adair in 1979. He wrote about leaving the Navy after Walter Winchell, the syndicated columnist and radio commentator, urged Americans to start a letter-writing campaign demanding his removal from the service.

Eggleston’s veteran’s file said he enlisted in the Navy on January 4, 1944 and was released March 11, 1944.



The Times said Eggleston “was an editor at Reader’s Digest after the war. In 1957 he and his wife moved to St. Lucia in the West Indies. Twenty-two years later, they moved to Sarasota.”



Eggleston passed away on July 7, 1990, in Sarasota, Florida.





—Alex Jay Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles



Monday, August 03, 2020

Obscurity of the Day: Rowdy Dow at Killjoy College













There was a time when just about any college worth its salt had both a newspaper and a humor magazine. The most famous of the humor mags is probably the Harvard Lampoon, which began in 1876, but the form has continued well into modern times. Some are still around and even thriving, though mostly as digital versions, like The Onion out of the University of Wisconsin.



Back in 1920, some smart cookie realized that there might be good money in a newsstand magazine that collected the best material from these magazines together. That entrepreneurial publisher, whose name I cannot seem to find, started Collegiate World, which was soon renamed College Humor. The magazine sold well, especially once they started supplementing the reprints with some more professional level material, including a big dollop of lecherous stuff about college coeds.



Around 1929 College Humor partnered with Bell Syndicate to create a weekly newspaper half-page of gags and cartoons culled from the magazine's archives. The feature sold respectably well, despite being a half-page of what I would call pretty weak material, mostly painfully bad gags.



In 1931, the feature's editor decided that a comic strip about college life would be just the thing to brighten up the half-page. Thus was born Rowdy Dow at Killjoy College, which debuted on January 4 1931, and was initially drawn by College Humor, so it is a good bet that these strips were also being run in the magazine, though I haven't seen them.



Eggleston could draw well enough, but his gags for this feature were certainly no classics. After about 15 months he gave up the strip in favor of greener pastures. He was replaced on April 10 1932 by someone who signed himself just "Tom." Tom did a decent job of maintaining the art style, but his gags were even more torturously bad. There was little mourning when he left the feature after just three months, his last episode appearing on July 17.



On the 24th a substitute signing himself G. Hayes (probably Geoff) came aboard for a single episode, then the next week someone signing themselves G.D. took a whack at the strip. On August 7 a new permanent creator appeared, a fellow who signed himself "Dan-'l". Dan'l was a pretty poor cartoonist, and his gags were worse than his art.



Dan'l kept plugging away, though, and his tenure ended after 15 months only because the half-page College Humor feature seems to have been cancelled. It ended on November 12 1933.



Thanks to Cole Johnson, who supplied most of the samples above (top one is Eggleston's last strip, then two by "Tom," and one by "Dan-'l", followed by a sample of the full College Humor feature, this one with a "Tom" strip).





There was a time when just about any college worth its salt had both a newspaper and a humor magazine. The most famous of the humor mags is probably the, which began in 1876, but the form has continued well into modern times. Some are still around and even thriving, though mostly as digital versions, likeout of the University of Wisconsin.Back in 1920, some smart cookie realized that there might be good money in a newsstand magazine that collected the best material from these magazines together. That entrepreneurial publisher, whose name I cannot seem to find, started, which was soon renamed. The magazine sold well, especially once they started supplementing the reprints with some more professional level material, including a big dollop of lecherous stuff about college coeds.Around 1929partnered with Bell Syndicate to create a weekly newspaper half-page of gags and cartoons culled from the magazine's archives. The feature sold respectably well, despite being a half-page of what I would call pretty weak material, mostly painfully bad gags.In 1931, the feature's editor decided that a comic strip about college life would be just the thing to brighten up the half-page. Thus was born, which debuted on January 4 1931, and was initially drawn by George T. Eggleston . Eggleston would go on to magazine cartooning, and then the editorship of several prominent magazines. Alex Jay, who will profile him tomorrow, says he was also serving in an editorial capacity at, so it is a good bet that these strips were also being run in the magazine, though I haven't seen them.Eggleston could draw well enough, but his gags for this feature were certainly no classics. After about 15 months he gave up the strip in favor of greener pastures. He was replaced on April 10 1932 by someone who signed himself just "Tom." Tom did a decent job of maintaining the art style, but his gags were even more torturously bad. There was little mourning when he left the feature after just three months, his last episode appearing on July 17.On the 24th a substitute signing himself G. Hayes (probably Geoff) came aboard for a single episode, then the next week someone signing themselves G.D. took a whack at the strip. On August 7 a new permanent creator appeared, a fellow who signed himself "Dan-'l". Dan'l was a pretty poor cartoonist, and his gags were worse than his art.Dan'l kept plugging away, though, and his tenure ended after 15 months only because the half-pagefeature seems to have been cancelled. It ended on November 12 1933.Thanks to Cole Johnson, who supplied most of the samples above (top one is Eggleston's last strip, then two by "Tom," and one by "Dan-'l", followed by a sample of the fullfeature, this one with a "Tom" strip). Labels: Obscurities



Monday, July 06, 2020

The Long Slow Demise of Buster Brown, Part 15: October to December 1918

You may be wondering after all these posts if we're just going to chronicle the unclear, fitful partnership between Outcault and Ross ad infinitum. You'll know the answer today.



October begins with a strip that looks like Ross pencilled it and did some of the inking, but there was also a significantly less gifted hand involved. Even Ross in deadline doom mode would not produce a face like we see in story panel 9. In fact throughout the strip Buster's ma is drawn pretty badly.





October 6 1918 And here we are at an important junction in Buster Brown's newspaper life. On October 13 the entire strip is drawn by someone other than Outcault and Ross with apparently little or no oversight from them whatsoever. I am not familiar with this cartoonist's style, which is not really terrible, just not at all in keeping with Outcault's work.



As far as I can determine, we'll never see Outcault involved with the strip from here on out, and Ross will appear only in very questionable form.



October 13 1918 Next week the drawing seems to be by the same hand, but it's stange. This new cartoonist seems to be able to draw Tige sort of on model, but yowza, does he blow it bigtime in the masthead. Interesting note that this strip seems to be the lone time Outcault's signature was left off the strip. It'll come back from now on.



October 20 1918 On the 27th it looks to me like we are transitioning to a new artist again. Buster in the masthead looks like he came out of an entirely different comic strip. I'm going to take a guess that we might be seeing for the first time an inkling of the presence of Doc Winner. Winner was certainly not a great cartoonist, but his ability to provide a hazy simulation of other styles made him an important guy in the Hearst bullpen. He's best known for bigfoot cartooning, but he could do the semi-realistic stuff, too. As proof, check out the Buster Brown. Nice simple timeline has him contributing to that series from June to August 1918, and now a few months later he seems to be jumping in on one of NFS's other properties.



From here on you'll see our new cartoonists, perhaps all NFS bullpenners, settle in and make the strip something quite different from Outcault. The art will get quite slapdash, losing all the elegance that was once a hallmark of the strip's art. Amazing to me that Buster Brown, a strip that was a hot property only a decade before is now consigned to relative hackwork. Did both Outcault and Newspaper Feature Service really not care a whiff for it?







October 27 1918

November 3 1918

November 10 1918

November 17 1918

I would have expected Ross to be gone forever along with Outcault, but story panel 9 of the November 24 strip has a vaguely Ross-y mama. It only lasts for one panel, though; in subsequent panels mother is drawn quite extremely badly. Perhaps our cartoonist tried to swipe Ross for this one panel?





November 24

On December 1, amongst lots of bad drawing, we have a piano teacher that looks quite Ross-y. Is it possible that Ross still consents to lend a hand to these bullpenners? One has to wonder, if that's the case, under what extreme circumstances he's called in to help. I mean, most of these strips are pretty darn cringe-worthy. I see nothing of Ross again for a long time.



December 1 1918

December 8 1918

December 15 1918

December 22 1918

December 29 1918

My house renovation is taking up a lot of time right now, so we're going to take a short break with the blog. Probably be back next week.

You may be wondering after all these posts if we're just going to chronicle the unclear, fitful partnership between Outcault and Ross ad infinitum. You'll know the answer today.October begins with a strip that looks like Ross pencilled it and did some of the inking, but there was also a significantly less gifted hand involved. Even Ross in deadline doom mode would not produce a face like we see in story panel 9. In fact throughout the strip Buster's ma is drawn pretty badly.And here we are at an important junction in Buster Brown's newspaper life. On October 13 the entire strip is drawn by someone other than Outcault and Ross with apparently little or no oversight from them whatsoever. I am not familiar with this cartoonist's style, which is not really terrible, just not at all in keeping with Outcault's work.As far as I can determine, we'll never see Outcault involved with the strip from here on out, and Ross will appear only in very questionable form.Next week the drawing seems to be by the same hand, but it's stange. This new cartoonist seems to be able to draw Tige sort of on model, but yowza, does he blow it bigtime in the masthead. Interesting note that this strip seems to be the lone time Outcault's signature was left off the strip. It'll come back from now on.On the 27th it looks to me like we are transitioning to a new artist again. Buster in the masthead looks like he came out of an entirely different comic strip. I'm going to take a guess that we might be seeing for the first time an inkling of the presence of Doc Winner. Winner was certainly not a great cartoonist, but his ability to provide a hazy simulation of other styles made him an important guy in the Hearst bullpen. He's best known for bigfoot cartooning, but he could do the semi-realistic stuff, too. As proof, check out the sample here of one of his romantic cartoons for Newspaper Feature Service, the same Hearst syndicate responsible for. Nice simple timeline has him contributing to that series from June to August 1918, and now a few months later he seems to be jumping in on one of NFS's other properties.From here on you'll see our new cartoonists, perhaps all NFS bullpenners, settle in and make the strip something quite different from Outcault. The art will get quite slapdash, losing all the elegance that was once a hallmark of the strip's art. Amazing to me that Buster Brown, a strip that was a hot property only a decade before is now consigned to relative hackwork. Did both Outcault and Newspaper Feature Service really not care a whiff for it?I would have expected Ross to be gone forever along with Outcault, but story panel 9 of the November 24 strip has a vaguely Ross-y mama. It only lasts for one panel, though; in subsequent panels mother is drawn quite extremely badly. Perhaps our cartoonist tried to swipe Ross for this one panel?On December 1, amongst lots of bad drawing, we have a piano teacher that looks quite Ross-y. Is it possible that Ross still consents to lend a hand to these bullpenners? One has to wonder, if that's the case, under what extreme circumstances he's called in to help. I mean, most of these strips are pretty darn cringe-worthy. I see nothing of Ross again for a long time.My house renovation is taking up a lot of time right now, so we're going to take a short break with the blog. Probably be back next week.

Thursday, July 02, 2020

The Long Slow Demise of Buster Brown, Part 14: July to September 1918

The July 1918 strips are a good example of what I would have been for a long while calling the work of Outcault with an occasional minor assist from Ross. But is Ross getting better at aping Outcault's style? On the 7th we see a signature Ross pose in story panel 11, and on the 28th Tige adopts a Ross pose twice (panels 4 and 8). I find it hard to believe that this was the sum total of Ross' involvement, so I'm guessing that he's getting better able to throw us curveballs that look more like Outcault. If he's learned to draw Tige in Outcault's distinctive manner, I'm really losing an important element of my meager art-spotting toolkit.





July 7 1918

July 14 1918

July 21 1918

July 28 1918 On August 4 we get a page that seems to put my worries to rest. This is obviously mostly Ross work. Is it possible that Buster, Tige and Mary Jane are now being drawn by Ross but close enough to the Outcault standard that I fail to tell the difference? Sometimes Ross definitely still misses on these characters, but is that a true tell anymore, or a momentary lapse?



August 4 1918

After August 4th, we are back to what looks more like Outcault to me, but who's to say. The drawing is certainly less fussy than what Outcault used to produce, but it still has many of his distintive poses and stylistic flourishes with little in the way of obvious Ross-isms.



On the August 18 strip we get an enigmatic signature line, "I think this is pretty good,", along with a rather shaky Outcault signature. What does it mean? Is he complimenting Ross on a good ghosting job, or is he merely patting himself on the back for a good strip?



On a different note, I think the strip of the 11th is a real hoot.





August 11 1918

August 18 1918

August 25 1918 On September 1 we get a masthead that looks like vintage Outcault, over an at best indifferently drawn strip that has some telltale Ross-isms on Buster's face (one thing I look for is cheek pouches these days, as they are not something I associate with Outcault). If I had to make a bet, I'd say this masthead has been reused from an old strip.





September 1 1918

September 8 1918

September 15 1918

The last four panels of the September 22 strip are definitely Ross, the rest of the strip it's harder to tell.



September 22 1918

And finally on September 29, I'm calling this Ross in his 'deadline doom' mode. Buster's face is badly drawn, Tige is off-model, but Ross always has time for those frilly dresses.





September 29 1918



The July 1918 strips are a good example of what I would have been for a long while calling the work of Outcault with an occasional minor assist from Ross. But is Ross getting better at aping Outcault's style? On the 7th we see a signature Ross pose in story panel 11, and on the 28th Tige adopts a Ross pose twice (panels 4 and 8). I find it hard to believe that this was the sum total of Ross' involvement, so I'm guessing that he's getting better able to throw us curveballs that look more like Outcault. If he's learned to draw Tige in Outcault's distinctive manner, I'm really losing an important element of my meager art-spotting toolkit.On August 4 we get a page that seems to put my worries to rest. This is obviously mostly Ross work. Is it possible that Buster, Tige and Mary Jane are now being drawn by Ross but close enough to the Outcault standard that I fail to tell the difference? Sometimes Ross definitely still misses on these characters, but is that a true tell anymore, or a momentary lapse?After August 4th, we are back to what looks more like Outcault to me, but who's to say. The drawing is certainly less fussy than what Outcault used to produce, but it still has many of his distintive poses and stylistic flourishes with little in the way of obvious Ross-isms.On the August 18 strip we get an enigmatic signature line, "I think this is pretty good,", along with a rather shaky Outcault signature. What does it mean? Is he complimenting Ross on a good ghosting job, or is he merely patting himself on the back for a good strip?On a different note, I think the strip of the 11th is a real hoot.On September 1 we get a masthead that looks like vintage Outcault, over an at best indifferently drawn strip that has some telltale Ross-isms on Buster's face (one thing I look for is cheek pouches these days, as they are not something I associate with Outcault). If I had to make a bet, I'd say this masthead has been reused from an old strip.The last four panels of the September 22 strip are definitely Ross, the rest of the strip it's harder to tell.And finally on September 29, I'm calling this Ross in his 'deadline doom' mode. Buster's face is badly drawn, Tige is off-model, but Ross always has time for those frilly dresses.

Wednesday, July 01, 2020

Happy Canada Day!







Tuesday, June 30, 2020

The Long Slow Demise of Buster Brown, Part 13: April to June 1918