Monday Cartoon day.
As far as I can see Hank Ketcham started selling his first cartoons to the Saturday Evening Post. There were of his Half-Hitch navy character and may or may not have been made for an army publication before being picked up by the Post. After the war he also started selling cartoons to other magazines, most notable the monthly True and the weekly Collier's. Towards the end of the forties Collier's seems to have been his first stop on his weekly tour of the magazines and The Saturday Evening Post the second. Just as Mort Walker seems to have wlaked the weekly rtoute the other way around. Ketcham was more likely than not to have two cartoons in Collier's and was not always featured in the Post. With Walker it was the other way around.
Anyway, here are some cartoons from the late forties. The first bunch is from 1948, the second from 1949. The last three are all from Collier's and 1949. None of these cartoons are featured in the recent Where Is Dennis reprint from Fantagraphics, which I will review in a couple of days. I have some things to nitpick with it, but you should get it anyway as it is filled with gorgeous Ketcham work... just like these.
4 comments:
My favorite is, "Helen, you know how you always laugh when..."
My personal preference is for that nice loose drawing line, and the newpaper in his hand is a great touch. Plus, I like the gag.
Paul,
If you compare it to the sketches I showed on saturday, you'll see it's pretty close to that line.
Yeah, I prefered those Saturday Kethcums too. Another thing about the casual grace of that line is that it compliments the casual nature of the gag -- the newspaper also signifies "casual". I mean, we all know that in a few moments the wife's jaw is going to drop and a plate will crash to the floor. In this case, I prefer not to be hit over the head visually with the gag. IMO, much more effective this way.
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