Hi Readers,
This year marks the 35th anniversary since an old, over-and-done-with comic strip character returned to the comics pages—and he hasn’t left yet. The character to whom I refer is Sam, once of the short-lived, but fondly recalled Mort Walker/Jerry Dumas series, “SAM’S STRIP,” which ran from 1961-63.
Sam got his second chance, when he was joined by cohort, Silo, in SAM AND SILO, which first saw ink on April 18, 1977. This time, instead of providing commentary on other strips, they became inept policemen in the leafy hamlet of Upper Duckwater.
The picturesque locations were a nice touch, reminiscent of locations in New England that your correspondent fondly remembers from his younger days. Upper Duckwater is, though happening in the present, a sleepy sort of Mayberry, or Hooterville-like throwback, where the 1930’s never really went away.
Sam and Silo answer to Mayor McGuffey, a short, self-important little man who is always at odds with the bungling duo, but who’s not much more competent than they are. Others in the cast of characters include: Funny Floyd, a wild man given to spouting incoherent poetry, walking around barefoot, or carrying odd protest signs; Sister Agnes, an eccentric nun; Granny Naps, Sam’s cynical and no-nonsense landlady; Algy, the courthouse janitor who usually blows up things that he tries to fix; Mr. Teetering, a retired guy who supposedly can dispense wisdom; Buford, the Duckwater jail’s ever-escaping lone resident; and Jasper, the court house cat.
Below, for your enjoyment, are some 1977-80 sample strips:
Now, let’s answer some reader correspondence:
To THE FOURTH:
Glad you’ll be staying aboard. The Mounties always get their reader.
As for the other strips you mentioned, namely LONE RANGER, ROY ROGERS, and MICKEY MOUSE, I would really like to run some of them, but we can’t. We never had ownership of those strips.
To Richard:
The BEETLE BAILEY strip was for the 60th anniversary, the Sunday version began 14 September 1952. Here, take a look at the second one. They’re all worth reading.
Yours,
The Archivist
I love Sam and Silo–the artwork of Jerry Dumas is amazing! I love how he can get so much wonderful detail in such a small space. Duckwater looks like a lovely place to visit! Happy anniversary to Sam and Silo and to Walker and Dumas!
Dumas also gets more detail in a single, simple line — something artists of today’s more simply-drawn strips should study!
Okay, now that we’ve seen the later Sam, let’s see the earlier one as well. How about a future column featuring Sam’s strip, hmmm?
And Mr. Archivist, thanks for clearing up a piece of the “licensed” KFS strip puzzle I’ve wondered about for years. But as for the Roy Rogers strip, I’ve read that the copyright was not renewed (in the book Roy Rogers: A Biography, Radio History, Television Career Chronicle, Discography, Filmography, Comicography, Merchandising and Advertising History by Robert W. Phillips). If there are strips in the King archive, would that fact make them available to DailyInk someday, or is that still most likely a no-go?
Have you ever given thought to digitizing the entire King archives and making them available (By title, by year or Title and year) so that a person may be able to read those strips they read as a kid???
A fee structure could be worked out for this. I’d love to see some of the King strips from the 1970′s.
LOL!! That is something my cat would do! Ours walks acsros all the printers and the keyboards now!Glad to see you blogging and hopefully feeling better!