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Leon Schlesinger, who founded what would become Warner Bros. Animation Studios, was never an animator or artist himself, so it's odd that he's credited as the creator of the Bugs Bunny newspaper comic. It ran from 1942 to 1990, under a number of different artists. Eventually, the actual artists would be credited and have their signatures allowed on the page, but in the early days only Schlesinger's name could be seen. Roger Armstrong, who worked on a number of comic strips and comic books for various Disney and Warner Bros. properties, does the artwork here.

The comic strip was very different from the cartoons. While it seems that cartoon Bugs is always able to come out on top and outwit all his foes, here he's the one being duped. We can only assume that the final panel shows him plotting some kind of clever revenge.

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Another from The Gumps, which does not actually include any of the Gumps, but it does mention Andy Gump's generosity from the last strip I shared. I find it a bit odd that Santa seems to imply that he only visits white children, but it's difficult to find comic strips from the early 20th century that don't have some kind of racial bias. I hope Santa takes his own advice and is more unselfish, generous, and kind-hearted to everyone this year.

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I shared a strip from The Nebbs earlier, which was a rip-off of The Gumps, so here we have the genuine article. The thing that's always interested me about the strip is that Andy Gump is a ridiculous looking character with no chin, in a world that's interestingly devoid of other cartoonish characters. It all looks rather serious and realistic, except for Andy himself.

Andy is a bit dim-witted and cowardly at times, but here we see that he still has quite a giving heart, and has passed it on to the next generation. It does leave me with one question, though: Did they actually visit those two little cripples Mrs. Gump told them about?

A hint: If you're going to steal milk and cookies from Santa, stealth and planning are important. First, make sure you eat quietly (and don't swizzle, it's rude). Second, prepare appropriate festive noises in the event that you do get caught, so you don't have to include a placeholder.

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This strip brings up a few questions. First, why would you wrap up the tree the partridge was living in, either trapping him inside and suffocating him or effectively kicking him out of his house? Second, will Bagby be getting all the gifts on the list from the 12 Days of Christmas song? If so, wouldn't it be weird on day 8 when he gives 8 maids a-milking to a milkmaid? Or is the idea to give her some other maids to do her work for her?

Though I guess the key to comedy is to not overthink it.

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Sir Bagby, by Bill and Rick Hackney, was a fairly obscure comic strip that ran from 1957-1966. That's a fairly respectable period of time, though it only ran in about 20 newspapers across the country. Still, I really enjoy the artwork, and the gags are at least as good as anything you see in the newspaper these days. It's a shame it didn't get more exposure. I wonder if Brant Parker and Johnny Hart were aware of it when they created The Wizard of Id, a similarly themed comic strip, in 1964.

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The Bungle Family was created in 1918 by Harry Tuthill, and it's nearly impossible for me to separate it in my mind from The Nebbs, The Gumps, and The Dingbat Family, because they're all so similar in many ways, and as I stated a few days ago, are in some cases direct rip-offs of each other. Still, they're each enjoyable in their own way.

This one isn't necessarily Christmas related, but it does illustrate one of the perils of winter weather. While all of those who end up as "prosecuting witnesses" in this strip also end up in the hospital, it's a wonder that George Bungle doesn't as well. He falls over three times in this strip alone, and who knows how many more times after the scene shifts. He must have a quite a hard head, in more ways than one.

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This is a very early Thimble Theater, nearly 10 years before Popeye would appear. At this time Olive Oyl was in love with Harold Hamgravy, who we see here coming up with a romantic idea that falls flat. After Popeye appeared in 1929, he was so popular that he replaced Hamgravy completely. I'd guess it's because he didn't pull stunts like this.

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Napoleon, like other comic strip dogs over the years, can be a bit bumbling and stupid, but as we see here, he still has a heart of gold. I think I'd rather get gifts brought to me by a dog dressed as Santa Claus than a grumpy old man anyway.

I love Clifford McBride's loose but realistic style. I enjoy the artwork so much, the dialogue is almost not needed in this strip at all. In fact, if I was the editor, I might just tell him to remove it entirely. The images tell the story completely.

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Here we have one of my favorite unknown cartoonists, Cliff Sterrett, with Polly and Her Pals, complete with a topper, which I actually like more than the strip itself. Unfortunately, Polly only appears in one panel, but we do get the ridiculously legged cat in quite a few of them. Sterret's cartoons are more fun to look at than to read, in my opinion, but the gag in this one isn't too horrible.