Monday Cartoon Day.
Presenting the unknown work of more or less known artists is one of the main subjects of this blog. Sometimes the work I show here is of a lesser quality than what made them famous. Sometimes, it's just as good but the markating or something was off. And sometimes... well, let's just say that I like the long running television gag feature Channel Chuckles a lot better than Bil Keane's long running succes The Family Circle. I liked it so much, that I even went and bought two volumes of the recent Family Cirus reprint series, in the hope that the earlier episodes would reflect the inspired crtooning of the earlier effort Chanel Chuckles. But no, The Family Circus was mild and bland from the very start. And while Channel Chckles is no sarcastic jokefest either, it can be quite funny every once in a while. I knew the strip from the early to mid sixties, which is also when the few books that were done came out. So I was surprised in my archives that the earliest samples I have clipped are from 1954. Hm, I must look into that.
1 comment:
Sweet nostalgia! I read this feature as a kid in the Everett (WA)Daily Herald. I had no idea it was done by Bil Keane. Like you I got a few chuckles out of reviewing these samples, which is about 100 more than I ever got from Family Circle/Circus. The home-visit article shows that Keane was already well on his way to creating his cash machine.
Funny to think that once upon a time TV watching was odd enough to support a daily satirical cartoon. Whither have they gone: rabbit ears, snow, test patterns, fringe areas, and TV repairmen? Pass me the buggy whip, Junior, I'm going for a drive...
Post a Comment