Would You Believe?

Saturday Leftover Day.

Between 1966, when spoof spies and superheroes were all the rage, Mel Lazzrus wrote the satirical comic strip Pauline McPeril (as Fulton) for Mad artist Jack Rickard. A lively strip, much helped by Rickard's funny style, it never really got anywhere and was cancelled after three years. Wich is still a long run, if you are trying to collect them all.

I saw that there are more Sunday originals online than actual Sunday (or daily) strips.

The Daily Dose

Wednesday Advertising Day.

I thought I had already shown this one-off by Virgil Partch, possibly in black and white. But I can't find it in my archives, so here is a new scan in color. It is some sort of ad for Sunday papers he did in the early sixties (when his own Sundat strip Big George was already running). There was a similar ad by Mel Lazerus, which now that I think of it may have been the one I have already shown.

Momma's Daddy

Monday Cartoon Day.

Like many artists of his generation, Mel Lazerus started out doing cartoons. Not as simplified as they later would become, but still pretty stylized.

Peach Perfect

Wednesday Illustration Day.

Story-A-Day was a weekly kids magazine that gave you seven illustrated kids stories every issue. It seems to have been produced in New York, or at least it used some of New York's finest illustrators and comic book artists. One of them was Mel Lazarus, who wold go on to fame as the creator of Miss Peach and Momma. Kids always featured a lot in his modern cartoon drawings and the fit here is a natural. I only have a couple of these issues, but he seems to have ben in all of them.

Class Is In

Tuesday Comic Strip Day.

Mel Lazarus was a very talented creator who worked best when he let children do adult stuff Miss Peach or adults be childish (Momma). I have collected bits and pieces of the first for many years. Tomorrow I will show some of his earlier illustration work, so here is al I have of Miss Peach.