Tuesday, April 17, 2007

 

Sponsored Comics: Jest in Fun & Kippy

This was considered the throwaway page in the Family Comics section, it was sometimes dropped in favor of an extra ad for the grocery store. In addition to the strip Kippy that always ran along the top, it featured gag cartoons, mostly by second and lower tier gag cartoonists.

Looking through the run, I can read the following signatures: Frosty, T.H., Wenzel, Hoifseld, Wallace Ashby Jr., George Wolfe, Ford Button, Reg Hider, Serrano, Leung, Hank Martin, Bob Serbicki, Goldstein, Troop, Levinson, Hagglund, Taber, Jack Tippit and S. Harris. Although all the cartoons are signed, quite a few are illegible. Few of the cartoonists contributed more than a few cartoons during the run I have on hand.

The strip Kippy was by Bernard and Jordan Lansky, and it's the only feature known definitely to have survived the Family Comics section. Lansky sold the strip to Field Enterprises and it ran for two years starting September 12 1960. After Field canceled it Lansky apparently shopped it around again, and Columbia Features Syndicate picked it up, now as a single panel cartoon, late in 1962. Kippy's second chance was fleeting, though, as the panel was again canceled around March 1963.

Comments:
"S. Harris" is Sidney Harris. He drew cartoons for the New Yorker and some other magazines.
 
Jack Tippit is another cartoonist I recognize. He drew comic panel "Amy" for several years and also assisted on number of strips.
 
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