It's hard to believe but at one time the funny papers were actually funny. If evidence is needed here's (above) a couple of panels from George Herriman's "The Family Upstairs" (1911). Look at the woman's arms in the far left panel. They're not anatomical, they're probably not even on model; they're just funny. Look at the guy leaning against the wall in the far right panel. He's a bit stretched out but who cares? It's funny.
More Family Upstairs! I like the tall guy's hands and legs in the far left panel, and his running pose in the middle one.
Here (above) are a couple of panels from Frederick Opper's "Alphonse and Gaston" (1903). Sorry for the unfortunate racial content. I include it only because the characters and staging are so doggone funny.
Jumping ahead in time a bit, here's a panel from the book "I Shoulda Ate the Eclair" by Milt Gross. I'm told that a large part of the content in Milt's books appeared in the newspapers first so I'll regard this as newspaper art. And art is the right name for it. It's gorgeous and laugh-out-loud funny.
Here's (above) a sample from "Polly and Her pals" by Cliff Sterret. Wouldn't you like to have that furniture? Somebody should open up a Cliff Sterret store.
Last but not least, here's (above) a few panels from a 1942 "Maggie and Jiggs" Sunday Page. Funny, funny stuff from George McManus.
It's hard to believe but at one time the funny papers were actually funny. If evidence is needed here's (above) a couple of panels from George Herriman's "The Family Upstairs" (1911). Look at the woman's arms in the far left panel. They're not anatomical, they're probably not even on model; they're just funny. Look at the guy leaning against the wall in the far right panel. He's a bit stretched out but who cares? It's funny.
More Family Upstairs! I like the tall guy's hands and legs in the far left panel, and his running pose in the middle one. 
Here (above) are a couple of panels from Frederick Opper's "Alphonse and Gaston" (1903). Sorry for the unfortunate racial content. I include it only because the characters and staging are so doggone funny.
Jumping ahead in time a bit, here's a panel from the book "I Shoulda Ate the Eclair" by Milt Gross. I'm told that a large part of the content in Milt's books appeared in the newspapers first so I'll regard this as newspaper art. And art is the right name for it. It's gorgeous and laugh-out-loud funny.
Here's (above) a sample from "Polly and Her pals" by Cliff Sterret. Wouldn't you like to have that furniture? Somebody should open up a Cliff Sterret store. 
Last but not least, here's (above) a few panels from a 1942 "Maggie and Jiggs" Sunday Page. Funny, funny stuff from George McManus.
15 comments:
I'm just guessing here.
I'm thinking that the trend of today's comic strips, is due to the newspapers themselves.
They want to sell more space in their papers and use less paper.
With that, even the Sunday comics suffer. The Sunday comics in my town, they try to stuff as many comics onto one page to use less paper. To the point that you have 4-5 comics on one page.
No wonder today's comic strips are nothing but talking heads. There's no room for art.
The Sunday comics back then, one comic took up one page. Lots of room to breath and lots of room to create art to tell stories.
If today's trend continues the comics will be only words with eyeballs and a mouth as the character.
Kids of the future, beware!
Another weird thing about today's comic strips is you can't tell what you are looking at.
Like, where is the mouth? Does he have a nose?
We need to attract more cartoonist personalities to cartoons. The artfrom seems to attract a different sort of person now, because there are no standards left.
Keep posting the old stuff Eddie!
Three comments!!!??? That makes This the most unpopular post I've ever written! Maybe people think this kind of cartooning is old-fashioned. Or maybe I accidentally disabled the comments page somehow. If that's the case, and the site isn't accepting letters, then please write to John K or Kali and tell them you can't get through. Hmmmm...let me check out the settings!
The one that is deleted was mine, Eddie. I had a typo in it. I liked your post.
Some more people did comment on your previous post.
AB: Probably the present newspaper strip editors grew up reading bad cartoons and don't know that any other kind even existed.
John: I wonder where the cartoony personalities went?
We need to edukate the heethans.
Those are funny! Thank you Eddie, my best friend of all time and space; times a million infinities!
Eddie,
Where did you get these images from? Are theere books available that reprint these strips?
Eddie,
These are fascinating, and all previously unknown to me. Especially the Cliff Sterret, the guy with the bulbous furniture. I would love to see you comment on something by Segar.
Milt Goss is great. My brother's roommate had a book of old comics, and as a young boy (I am 7 years younger than my one and only sibling) I remember how funny they were. There was one I remember clearly where this family went out to a Chinese restaurant and had dinner. Following that they went to an ice cream parlor and pigged out big time. I remember the illustration of them eating was pure gold. When they had these horrible belly aches they said "Those damn chinks tried to poison us." the reader full well knowing their belly ache resulted from pigging out on ice cream. A funny cartoon, WITH a social message. Makes me think of all those "A Very Special Episode" sitcoms that are not funny. If you can give me a social message with the funny, go ahead, but don't give it to me without the funny.
Anyways, I was thinking about the Famous Artists Course on Cartooning after reading this post, so I pulled out my copy (sadly it is missing pages) and laughed at the funny illustrations they include to teach the points. A few sample comics were hilarious.
Of course I am not connecting Milt Goss to the mentioned comic strip with the Chinese restaurant. Completely different thoughts, unrelated.
Found this blog 2day.
One of my favorite Buster Brown's:
After that, you can back out to barnaclepress.com and look at his other vintage stuff. He has no early Katzenjammers, unfortunately, but some Captain & the Kids. There's some Alphonse & Gaston and more Buster Brown.
There's one really oddball strip called, "Lucy and Sophie Say Good-bye."
I Don't: Wow! An interesting strip and Barnacle Press was well worth visiting! Thanks!
Kali: Thanks a million, Kali! That means a lot!
Hunsecker: I got these from Bill Blackbeard's "100 Years of Comic Strips" which may still be selling on the remainder shelf at Barnes and Noble!
Lester: Great! I did a good deed! I introduced a man to Cliff Sterret! Blackbeard's indispensable "The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics" contains some great Sterret Sunday pages.
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