I decided to look into who this Dorothy Grace person was who helped inspire(?) yesterday's classic comic. Now, I am not positive but Dorothy Grace is more than likely Dorothy Grace (Stapleton) Hamlin. In 1926, Dorothy Grace Stapleton married Vincent Trout "V.T." Hamlin. V.T. Hamlin was the creator of the comic strip Alley Oop, which continues to this day after 93 years. It would make sense that Art Sansom would be friendly with the Hamlins as Alley Oop was still going strong in 1966 and Hamlin would stay on the strip until 1973. Alley Oop and The Born Loser were also distributed by the same syndicate, Newspaper Enterprise Association. The Hamlins and the Sansoms were clearly close as Wilberforce would make an appearance in an Alley Oop comic in 1970 and, I believe, Oop makes an appearance in The Born Loser in the background.
Dorothy would pass away in 1985 at the age of 82. V.T. would pass in 1993 at the age of 93.
Dorothy and V.T. Hamlin circa 1928.
July 19, 1987
Wastrel is still so drunk that he doesn't know if he's coming or going! I originally thought Wastrel was trying out a new schtick, but then I realized he's that drunk off his ass.
It's time once again for Brutus and Uncle Ted to talk about Uncle Ted being old. It usually is a Sunday thing these days. I guess it takes 6-7 panels to really get the idea that Uncle Ted is old across.
Note the "including you" part. Uncle Ted knows what he's doing here.
One of the last research things I did on Twitter was updated and reposted yesterday--the arrest of Underwood Taylor. If you would like to support me or this website, you can click the Support page at the top.
Welcome back! I'm glad I get to return to showcase this comic from 1985 that I do not understand at all.
If he doesn't have a plug then he couldn't bathe so is that the joke? I feel like that's looking too much into it--or not enough into it. Is Brutus sitting in the tub blocking the water from draining? At least the Apex Bathtubs guy is also confused.
Alley Oop, December 9, 1970
Wilberforce makes an appearance in this Alley Oop strip from 1970. "Funny-looking kid", yeah, I mean, he has those weird curls which is strange. Maybe if The Born Loser started in 1910s that hair would make sense but not in 1965-slash-whenever Brutus started becoming the main character.
Lots of things have expiration dates. Cans of food, frozen food, Covid tests for some reason. Recent findings have discovered that expiration dates, for the most part, are pointless or arbitrary. The food may not look or taste good anymore but it won't really hurt you. I mean, I like a good stale Oreo on occassion.
I'm surprised, too, that bag of cookies was able to survive this long. Out of sight, out of mind really works, I guess.
The comic strip Alley Oop was created by Vincent Trout (V.T.) Hamlin and debuted December 5, 1932. It featured the adventures of a caveman named Oop who lived in the city of Moo in prehistoric times. While the strip originally began as a satire on American life, it soon became more of an adventure that featured science and fantasy when Professor Wonmug brought in a time machine from the 20th Century. The name, Alley Oop, came from the French words for "let's go". Allez, hop. Hamlin wrote and drew Alley Oop until his retirement in 1973 with some help from his assistant, Dave Graue. Graue took over the daily strip in 1966 but still signed Hamlin's name. Graue wrote and drew the strip until 1991 when Jack Bender took over as the illustrator. Graue retired in 2001 but sadly died in an automobile accident four months later. After Graue's retirement, the strip was drawn by Jack Bender while his wife, Carole, wrote it. They continued on Alley Oop until 2018. On January 7, 2019, Alley Oop received it's fourth creative team in writer Joey Alison Sayers and artist Jonathan Lemon.
During the middle part of the 20th Century, Alley Oop was very popular, appearing in over 800 newspapers, being reprinted in comic albums and being published in comic books. Alley Oop even had its own song written and composed by Dallas Frazier in 1957 and performed by the Hollywood Argyles (in actuality, Gary "Flip" Paxton and some back-up singers).
In addition to the daily strips that continue the adventures of Alley Oop, Sundays are used for a feature called Little Oop that features the adventures of Oop when he was a boy.
I'm only familiar with what we do around here. Aren't grades in elementary/grade school just E, M, and S? Don't most parents go to conferences to get the scuttlebutt from the teachers? Where's Wilberforce calling from? Is he at Hattie's house? Why do the Thornapples have a basket of apples just sitting around? Why do the Thornapples still have a landline?
For the sake of completists, there is a Noble Elementary School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
I've been searching for years for the perfect epitaph for my tombstone. And now I found it. Thank you, Boy On a Stick and Slither!
Methinks the father/coach is abusive and treats the girl like crap so it's up to Mary and her meddling to smooth things out and bring father and daughter together again.
What kind of sound effect is "SLUUUUUD"? Not that I don't like it, or the panel layout, but it's just kind of weird.
I used to work for "Bombast" and it was not fun. I wonder if Sluggo will be able to watch TV after the digital conversion.
Love the chair, though.
"Mock election", I thought that they were going to go for a joke about the 2000 election. Hee hee, hanging chad.
The word jowls are not used as much as they should be in English lexicon. Whenever I think of jowls I picture Nixon or McCain. I don't notice jowls on anyone else though.
The first drawing of Oop made by kids for the 75th birthday. Here's to a whole week of probably semi-decent artwork done by kids whose newspapers are too cheap to drop Alley Oop for something decent.
I know that feeling all too well......
Brutus is lucky that Veeblefester didn't do more than just pour water on his head. I wanted to kill him. Didn't you.
Brain freeze my ass. That's a good old fashioned devil possessing if I ever saw one.
Oh my God! This is quite possibly the best comic strip in the papers. God bless United Features Syndicate for picking up this strip and giving it a chance.
Never give a homeless man/hobo/bum money because they may not spend it on something they need. Just buy them a sandwich from a nearby Jimmy Johns or something. Or a massive burrito from Chipotle.
I can't believe in a strip as decent as Over the Hedge they are still able to do a golf joke. What the hell?
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THIS STRIP??!!!
I hate people who clog up the legal system when they have no legitimate cause but somehow Bunnista seems to make it all right...
I wouldn't buy shoes from a place called Bubba's. And that's usually a standard deal: buy one pair, get one half price. How aboout buy one and get one free? Have you people not seen the BOGO commercials?
I am so disturbed by Meredith's look in the next to last panel. Somehow I think Meredith has been able to get Robin to remove his clothes before. I'm kind of sorry that we won't be able to see Meredith grow up into a sluttier version of April.
Just a review of the last week. Serial comics on a Sunday are just teh s uck.
Really Brutus? How could you think that? That's just stupid. Using checks leaves a paper trail so all bribery and electoral fixing will be done using cash that will then be laundered. Checks and cash. Idiot.
