Girl With a Mission

Wednesday Hollywood Day.

Some years ago I collected a whole lot of Sunday strips from the Midland Reporter Telegram. The MRT was a NEA paper, which means that they had all of the lesser known and lesser distributed strips from that syndicate and the AP outfit, some of my favorites (and all very hard to find). Unfortunately the mico-fiche scans were very bad, ranging from way too dark to far too light. Cleaning out my files, I decided to share them anyway for the unseen gems that may be among them. 

Patsy in Hollywood was created by AP regular Mel Graff in a faux (but very well executed) Milt Caniff style. In the early forties the artwork was taken over by Charles Raab, one of the most forgotten Caniff illustrators. After he left to got to war, the strip was taken over by George Storm and Richard Hall, who changed it from a Caniff style adventure strip to a cuter gag strip. In Bill Dyer (1946-1955) returned it to a more adult series, which actual storylines and funny Sundays. The Sundays were marked by the fact that the last panel gag always was half a page. I have actually been able to find a few in color (as well as having an original), which I have shared earlier. But here are some more - and because the coloring was softer, the micro-fiche scans actually turned out better than the others in this series of posts.

Advalange

Tuesday Mid-Western Day. 

The Milwaukee Journal was one of the most important and inn ovating newspapers from the forties to the eighties. They had a large selection of top tier comics, almost everything from King Features and Disney, which meant they also had a lot of room for newspaper comic ads. Apart from that they also tried out new comics and that makes them a prime source for collectors. I was lucky enough to get a few runs from this paper, but also online it is a very sourceable paper. Going through my collection of microfiche material saved for this blog, I cam across a stash of newspaper ads from all of the important artists. Many were attached to products and series by the Johnstone and Cusjing talent agancy. Dik Browne on Roger Wilco on Powerhouse candy bars, Mel Graff end Frank Robbins on Kolynos tooth powder, William Steig on Kellogg Cornflakes, Wrexler (and otehrs) on Camels and Paul Pinson on Treet luncheon meat. There's Mal Eaton and someone else on The Pepsi Cops. Country Jane, Amanda Jones and Cheeko are by a very singular artist, whom I suspect to be Harry Haenigsen.  Mum could be by Ken Bald but one of the one here is signed with a different (though illedgeable) name, Muffy is by Dick Calkins, Toofer is by  Charles A. Voight, Tootsie Roll is by C. C. Beck and Frito artist Schunning is completely unknown by me.

 

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