Forgotten Comic Strips

Musical comic strip "The Jingle Belles." Musical notes top the strip, and the dialogue is in rhyme, meaning you could perform it yourself if you so wished. Two potential suitors are making their way to Josie and Jessie Jingle, the Jingle Belles, when they're jumped by two other men. They steal the suitors flowers and arrive at the Jingle Belles' door instead. Strip was originally called "Them Days is Gone Forever," maintaining this musical element through it's entire run.

"The Jingle Belles" by Al Posen, 1922-1925
July 30th, 1924 as seen in the Boston Globe

Single panel comic strip "As You Were." Nostalgic looks at the past. This time, Jim Baker remembers when they used to bring bears to local events. Text: "NOT THE SAME. When a new supermarket or gas station has its grand opening today giant searchlights are usually brought in to attract public attention... These do a good job, but they can't match the appeal of yesterday's trained bear! A year seldom passed without some new place of business being ballyhooed with a trained bear... The bear attracted kids, and the kids brought their parents. It was a great promotion."

"As You Were" by Jim Baker, 1970-1982
December 29th, 1972 as seen in the Delaware Gazette

Single panel comic strip "Around Town." A man with scruffy hair and a long beard goes to the barbershop. The barber asks, "How much do you want to spend?"

"Around Town" by Rube Weiss, 1957-1978
April 25th, 1972 as seen in the Beauregard Daily News

Comic strip "The Astronits." Girl alien Vif asked girl alien Adx how to look prettier, and Adx suggest drawing a mole on her cheek. Vif draws a mole, the animal, on her face and gets lots of attention. This strip takes place on an alien planet, so how do they know about Earth moles?

"The Astronits" by Pat Anderson, 1970-1977
February 5th, 1970 as seen in the Cook Inlet Courier

Single panel comic strip "at Andre's." Two women are in conversation, one frustrated with the other. She says, "I was extremely patient when you were telling me about your stomach trouble. You could at least show the same courtesy to my gland."

"at Andre's" by Sandy Brier, 1961-1962
September 21st, 1961 as seen in the Jackson Citizen Patriot

Serialized superhero comic strip "Batman and Robin." Batman agrees to help the Commissioner Gordon in tracking down the escaped convict Spike Durphy on the docks. However, Batman's boy sidekick Robin has disappeared! This is the first of five Batman comic strips.

"Batman and Robin" by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, 1943-1946
November 9th, 1943 as seen in the Kingston Whig-Standard

Comic strip "Zoonies." A cat's flea collar expires, and is immediately attacked by fleas.

"Zoonies" by Craig Leggett, 1977-1980
June 29th, 1978 as seen in the Martinez News-Gazette

Comic strip "Second Chances." A couple, Nick and Kate, are eating breakfast and discussing their new neighbor. Turns out it's Tank McNamara, sports caster and main character of Jeff Millar and Bill Hinds' other strip. It's a crossover! "Second Chances" ended three days after this strip, and Nick and Kate became secondary characters over on Tank's strip.

"Second Chances" by Jeff Millar and Bill Hinds, 1996-2000
September 7th, 2000 as seen in the Telegraph

Comic strip "Antoinette & Cleopatra." Girls Antoinette And Cleopatra and lost in the desert. Cleopatra says she read how God protects the lost with his wings. On a branch overhead, a vulture perches.

"Antoinette & Cleopatra" by Joanne McGuire. 1978-1980
July 28th, 1979 as seen in the Pueblo Chieftain

Single panel photo comic strip "Bannister Babies." Photos of babies with funny captions. A baby looks at a newspaper. Caption reads: "Why do they always put the legal hookers in small print?" You might argue that comic strips have to be drawn, but I think if it's syndicated, runs on the comics page and has a baby looking up prostitutes, it counts.

"Bannister Babies" by Constance Bannister, 1971-1973
January 12th, 1972 as seen in the Columbia Record

Single panel comic strip "Amos the Analyst." Amos as a therapy session with a man with no face. Amos says, "Ordinarily, I would suggest you face your problem..."

"Amos the Analyst" by Mick Stevens, 1966-1966
September 5th, 1966 as seen in the Daily Olympian

Comic strip "Oscar." A small dog goes out for a walk at night under a full moon. He feels the cry of the wild stirring inside him, but when he goes to howl, all that comes out is a yippy little "erf!" Disappointed, the dog blames it on indigestion.

"Oscar" by Dave Rusch, 1960-1962
November 16th, 1961 as seen in the Newark State-Ledger

Comic strip "Billy the Boy Artist." Billy's uncle is goes into his room to take a nap, and asks Billy to make sure no one disturbs him. Two men come to visit, and don't care to be told not to disturb the man, so they decide to get Billy in trouble by painting "Walk In" on the door. Billy's faithful friend, Billy the Billy-Goat, sees this and headbutts one of the men through the door.

"Billy the Boy Artist" by Ed Payne, 1899-1955
August 25th, 1907 as seen in the Boston Globe

Comic strip "Arnold." Two boys are wading through a stream. One of them is starting to relax, the sound the babbling brook bringing out the poet in him. The other boy sees a leech and starts to panic. "Heart Attack at Parasite Creek" thinks the poet.

"Arnold" by Kevin McCormick, 1982-1988
August 10th, 1984 as seen in the Miami Herald

Serialized comic strip "Star Wars," a continuation of the film of the same name. The first part of the "Princess Leia, Imperial Servant" storyline, Princess Leia and a man named Hume are on a rebel ship, low on fuel, floating through Imperial space. A Star Destroyer that happens to carrying Darth Vader arrives, detecting the ship.

"Star Wars" by Russ Helm and Russ Manning, 1979-1984
November 6th, 1979 as seen in the Idaho Statesman

Bilingual comic strip "Amanda y Rocinante," designed for language education, originally in Spanish with an English translation on the side. Amanda has a crush on a boy, and starts daydreaming of them meeting, only for the daydream to turn sour as the boy turns away. Imagination is so exhausting.

"Amanda y Rocinante" by Resurrecion Espinosa and Dorthy Hall B. Torres, 1997-2005
March 15th, 2000 as seen in The Day

Single panel comic strip "The Almighty $." A boy comes home from playing baseball. He tells his mother, "Guess which neighbour of ours has a $139.00 picture window in their living room."

"The Almighty $" by Lo Linkert, 1970-1971
November 5th, 1970 as seen in the Galt Herald

Comic strip "All-American Family." Four panels, each addressing a member of the family. For Mom, a scene where a woman asks another where the most beautiful flowers are found. The other woman replies, "In seed catalogs!" For Pop, a caption: "It's the henpecked husband who crows loudest when he gets away from home." For Junior, a boy eats an apple. His mother warns him about worms, but the boy says the worms should be worried about him. Finally, for Sis, "A girl's promise to be on time carries a lot of wait!" A man has been waiting for this girl for hours!

"All-American Family" by Lesniak, 1951-1954
April 12th, 1951 as seen in the Antlers Democrat

Comic strip "American Scoreboard." Each strip continues to versions of a scenario, a "Miss" and a "Bullseye." A father threatens to disown his daughter if she marries the man she loves. MISS! The father gives the daughter his blessing. BULLSEYE!

"American Scoreboard" by Henry Riddick, 1948-1951
February 25th, 1949 as seen in the Oklahoma City Star

Comic strip "Ambitious Ambrose." Amos, father of the teenage Ambrose (who I swear is barely in the comic named after him), spots a young woman who has been the victim of some nasty gossip. Determined to make up his own mind about her, he introduces himself, but his wife spots them from the distance. Uh-oh.

"Ambitious Ambrose" by Oscar Hitt, 1926-1927
August 13th, 1926 as seen in the Paducah Sun

Single panel comic strip "Alec the Great." A dog barks at a bird as it flies away. Beneath, a poem reads: "To each south-bound bird / I see taking wing, / I shout: ~"Happy landings! / And come back next spring!"

"Alec the Great" by Edwina Dumm, 1931-1969
September 18th, 1951 as seen in the Ontario Record

Sunday comic strip "Percy." An inventor convinces the manager to let his robot, Percy, work at his department store. At first the manager is thrilled, but when Percy starts giving a customer too much fabric, the customer pushes a button on the robot's chest, causing it to freak out and start swimming through fragile glassware displays. The manager is furious, but the inventor thinks its cute as Percy cuddles up to a store mannequin. "Brains he has nix!"

"Percy" by H.C. Greening, 1911-1913
January 14th, 1912 as seen in the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Comic strip "All in America." Living in a boat, a wife complains to her husband that they should have invested in land. If they had, they could have retired by now. Her lazy husband says they already are retired.

"All in America" by Tom Ward, 1972-1972
June 1st, 1972 as seen in the Madison Courier

Serialized comic strip "Alexander Gate." Alexander Gate is a crime-fighting astrologer who uses horoscopes to stop bad guys. Mrs. Woodward is worried that her husband is planning to kill her, she's found hidden weapons around the house, and a tarot card reader presented her with the Death card. Gate, an astrologer, dismisses tarot reading, but asks Mrs. Woodward for her husband's place and date of birth. Today's horoscope: "LEO: A little less aggressive, a little more sympathetic."

"Alexander Gate" by Gene Mora and Frank Bolle, 1970-1971
December 4th, 1970 as seen in the Courier-Post

Single panel comic strip "Proven Proverbs." A fine dressed man approaches two other men arguing in the street. Caption reads: "Fools and willful men make rich lawyers."

"Proven Proverbs" by Bill Zaboly and William Davy, 1962-1963
August 15th, 1962 as seen in the Cleveland Press

Untitled single panel comic strip by Walt Trag. Two delivery men at the freight office find a cage with a kangaroo inside. One of the men says, "I'm afraid Fred Barnes isn't going to like that GRAIN HOPPER he ordered from Australia!"

Untitled farming comic strip by Walt Trag, 1957-1962
November 21st, 1959 as seen in the Nebraska Farmer

Serialized comic strip "Polska w Rycinach," from the Polish language newspaper of Buffalo, New York. An adaptation of the 19th century Polish novel "Stara baśń. Powieść z dziejów Polski" by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski. Prince Popiel is a a cruel and corrupt ruler, whose twelve uncles conspire to depose him. With help from his wife. Popiel holds a feast for the uncles, where he serves them poisoned wine, killing them all. Full text: "Popile z namowy żony, wysłał posłańca po jego stryjów - Mówiąc, że jest chory, i że chce w opiekę ich dać kraj i jego zonę. Gdy stryjowie przyszli, przyjął ich wielką ucztą. A nakoneic żona dała stryjkom zatrute wino. A ci nie spostrzegli zdrady i pili."

"Polska w Rycinach" by Opisuje L. E. Wiśniewski, 1935-1936
December 4th, 1935 as seen in the Dziennik Dia Wszystkich

Comic strip "Short Ribs." In a wild west setting (this strip doesn't haven't any consistent setting or characters), a cowboy asks a Pony Express postman why it took four weeks to deliver the mail. The Postman responds that all the Pony Express horses were recalled for new wind-up springs, implying the horses are mechanical. A reference to a recent automobile recall, perhaps?

"Short Ribs" by Frank O'Neal, 1958-1982
November 6th, 1972 as seen in the Desert Dispatch

Single panel comic strip "Out Our Way." A mother complains about how packed and disorganized her son left a kitchen drawer, it took her thirty-seven minutes to get it open. She's tied up various items in string and will have her son untie them as punishment, but her daughter points out that the son will just point that it took her just as long to set this punishment up. A subtitle below reads "Why Mothers Get Gray."

"Out Our Way" by J. R. Williams, 1922-1977
November 25th, 1959 as seen in the Santa Barbara News-Press

Sunday activity comic strip "Green Earth Guardians." Subtitled "Ocean S.O.S.!" The titular Guardians, T. Rex the dinosaur, Beeper the robot, Doc and some lady are at the beach, spotting a glass bottle with a note about to crash against the rocks and shatter. Beeper grabs it, and we discover the note is from the fish. They want you to stop throwing bottles into the ocean. Kids are encouraged to send in tips on how to take care of the environment. This week's tip comes from Danielle Laferrier from Belchertown, Massachusetts. "I record over old tapes instead of buying new black ones."

"Green Earth Guardians" by Erik Sansom, 1991-2004
July 10th, 1994 as seen in The Republican