Blog: christmas 2024

Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, December 30, 1940

Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, December 30, 1940

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Invisible Scarlet O'Neil, created by Russell Stamm, was one of the first female superheroes, if not the very first. As her name suggests, she had the power to turn herself invisible, and she used this power to help her solve crimes. In the early days, the invisibility gimmick was quite prominent, and a small panel explaining it could be seen at the beginning of each strip (as seen here). However, over time it mattered less and was used less, and eventually the strip was renamed "Scarlet O'Neil". Perhaps she was so competent at bagging criminals normally that she no longer needed invisibility powers. Or perhaps super powered heroes and heroines had just gone out of style by that point. Or perhaps both.

Action and adventure strips such as this tend not to have Christmas related strips, but we have one here. The bad guys have utilized a community Christmas tree to send signals to each other, which Scarlet just happens to notice while sitting on a park bench. This would seem like a fairly normal thing to do, if it weren't for the fact that she's invisible while doing it, which it doesn't seem like she should need to be. But, I guess sometimes you just want to get away and enjoy some Christmas lights on your own without being bothered, which I can fully understand.

I'm not sure who these bad guys are supposed to be. The use of "comrade" suggests Soviets, but the name "Iltz" doesn't sound Russian, so maybe they're Nazis. I guess really they're just generic European-esque baddies.

There Oughta Be A Law, December 24, 1964

There Oughta Be A Law, December 24, 1964

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There Oughta Be A Law (sometimes written "There Ought To Be A Law" or shortened to TOBAL) was created by Harry Shorten and Al Fagaly as an imitation of Jimmy Hatlo's They'll Do It Every Time. As its title suggests, it featured unfortunate situations that people may feel there should be laws against. After Fagaly died in 1963, Warren Whipple began illustrating the strip, as he does in this particular strip.

In this case, these men obviously believe there should either be a law against not getting Christmas bonuses when the company is doing well, or a law against telling stockholders that the company is doing well when it really isn't, or most likely both. Sometimes it's hard to know which one is happening. The trophy and plaque in the boss's office seem to suggest that it's the former, however. I'm glad I don't work for a boss like that, though I don't get a Christmas bonus either.

Thimble Theater, December 1, 1921

Thimble Theater, December 1, 1921

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Thimble Theater, created by E.C. Segar, is better known as the place where Popeye the Sailor first appeared. However, not only was Popeye not the main star of the strip when his first appearance took place, but the strip had been running for a full 10 years by that point. As I have posted about previously, the original main character, and original boyfriend of Olive Oyl, was a man named Harold Hamgravy, and he was about as interesting as his name suggests. He was fairly dull as well as dimwitted. It's not really a wonder that Popeye eventually vastly exceeded him in popularity and that Olive Oyl decided to get a new boyfriend.

The situation in this strip is understandable, though, even for those of sharper wits. If what you really want was some heat, and you got it, you aren't immediately going to look at why exactly it's happening. Still, given the amount of heat increase, one would think you would notice the smoke at some point, and most likely before the fire brigade burst into your window.

Pete the Tramp, December 26, 1943

Pete the Tramp, December 26, 1943

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The great thing about having an icebox cake outside in the middle of December in a cold snowstorm is that it will stay cold. The bad thing is that so will you. I guess we know why the baker was willing to part with it at a discounted price.

When I look at this strip, perhaps it's just my bias as someone who has made comics before, but I'm extremely impressed by the depiction of the snow and wind here. I can't imagine enjoying drawing all the individual snow flakes in each panel, and having to do it more than you normally would because it's a Sunday. The depiction is very effective, though. You can certainly feel the oppressive nature of the snow as it continues to come down in each panel.

Pete the Tramp, December 24, 1939

Pete the Tramp, December 24, 1939

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While it's obviously wrong for kids to pick on a homeless person by throwing snowballs at him, Pete was also obviously wrong to angrily pelt the kids with snowballs in retaliation. The upside to him breaking a window and alerting a local policeman, however, is that he doesn't have to worry about finding a place to sleep tonight (and he will be safe from those kids, I guess). I'm not sure why the dog and the kid have to be in the cell with him, though. They gave some angry looks to the snowball kids, but it doesn't show them throwing anything. Maybe throwing angry looks makes you an accomplice to throwing snowballs.

Pete the Tramp, December 27, 1939

Pete the Tramp, December 27, 1939

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Pete the Tramp often appeared with a terrier dog as well as what appears to be an orphan boy. The dog is usually referred to by Pete as "boy," though no name is ever given. It bears a resemblance to the dog that appears in the Pete the Tramp topper strip originally titled "Bumps" and later retitled "Pete's Pup." Oddly, despite the name of the topper, that dog does not appear to be owned by Pete, so the name of the dog that Pete is seen with remains a mystery. I was also unable to find anything about the child, though I have concocted a head canon. C.D. Russell was an assistant to Percy Crosby on his strip Skippy, so I imagine this child is one of the kids that Skippy would have hung around with. Until I can discover who he really is, that's what I'm going with.

As for this particular strip, I like it a lot. I love the third panel of the three of them sitting there in silence. I love the last panel that shows all three of them with equally exasperated expressions. I love how, when the cat arrives, none of them get up and do anything about it. In most other strips, someone would get up and shoo the cat away, but here they all just sit and watch it. Maybe, given the cat's success, they'll invite the cat to go fishing with them next time.

Pete the Tramp, December 30, 1934

Pete the Tramp, December 30, 1934

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While it's a good thing that Pete was able to get a job of some sort during the winter, this is probably the worst one he could get. I wonder, if the sandwich board he's got on him says "One Way To Keep Warm This Winter - Buy One Of Benny's Overcoats" why Benny didn't also supply an overcoat for Pete to wear. An actual coat would do far more to advertise it than a sandwich board. Unless Benny's Overcoats are just sandwich boards and he is actually wearing one.

Pete the Tramp, December 23, 1934

Pete the Tramp, December 23, 1934

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Pete The Tramp, created by Clarence Russell, began his life in the pages of Judge magazine in the 1920s. He didn't have a name at that time, and wouldn't be given one until King Features began syndicating him to newspapers in 1932. Pete was your stereotypical homeless bum, put upon and mostly harmless, but not without his prickly edges.

Here we see him as he tries to enjoy a bit of ice skating on the local pond. I like this strip for the most part, but I think there was a missed opportunity to have someone falling into the water due to the sign no longer warning of the crack in the ice. I guess maybe the panels are a bit too small for that.

McFadden's Row Of Flats, December 6, 1896

McFadden's Row Of Flats, December 6, 1896

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As most people like me who think they know a thing or two about the history of newspaper comics know, The Yellow Kid is widely regarded as the very first comic strip character, though this fact has been debated. He was created by Richard F. Outcault, who also created Buster Brown. The Kid originally appeared in a comic feature called Hogan's Alley published in Joseph Pulitzer's New York World newspaper. In 1896, however, Outcault was hired by W.R. Hearst to draw for his newspaper, the New York Journal. Due to the way ownership of comic characters worked in those days, the name of the feature in the Journal had to be changed from Hogan's Alley to McFadden's Row Of Flats. Hogan's Alley would continue to run in the World, drawn by George Luks, meaning there were two Yellow Kids running around in two different papers drawn by two different people.

This particular Yellow Kid was drawn by Richard Outcault, and seems to be having no trouble on his ice skates, unlike some of the other people in this comic. The thing I love about Yellow Kid comics is the number of things that you can see happening all at the same time, and the jokes hidden all around the image. There's all the people failing to skate, a tent in the background with "Ice Cream To Let," the kid skating while holding onto a goat that's skating, some sledding mishaps, a man being chased by a bear, and of course the sign on the front of Dempsey's Saloon that says "come in and get a skate," that suggests some kind of slang usage of "skate" that I'm not aware of (unless it really does just mean ice skates). I am a bit worried about the kids building a fire right on the ice next to the "danger" sign, though.