Forgotten Comic Strips

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A home for newspaper comic strips that have fallen out of memory.

Single panel comic strip "My Stars!" Little affirmations based on star signs. This one shows a little girl feeding a fish to a cat. Caption reads: "(Pet-Wise) Taurus will make them feel like a member of the family."
Comic strip "Academic Circles." Two college roommates get ready to dive into a delivery pizza, only to find the box empty. The Pizza Bandit has struck again!
Single panel comic strip "Yesterdays." An old timey store owner uses quick math to try and trick an old woman into paying a dollar for her groceries when she only owes sixty-four cents. Caption reads, "In the Toils of a Wag."
Sunday edition of comic strip "Little Folks." A boy gets a new catcher's mitt, but he doesn't have a mask. He asks around in hopes to borrow a catcher's mask, and eventually finds a little boy wearing one, too young to play baseball. Turns out the little boy's big brother put the mask on him, so that the little boy won't eat the bag of candy he was sent for.
Sunday comic strip "Slim Jim and the Force." Subtitled here as "Lo! 'Tis' but a Harmless Moo Cow Slim Jim Frightens Not Thyself, Good Sirrah!" The Force, three volunteer police officers, try to sneak up on the outlaw Slim Jim by hiding in a basket on top of a cow. Slim Jim sees through this trick, and used a red sheet to make the cow charge, throwing the Force off. Slim Jim makes for a well, but when the Force chase after him, he drops a bucket on their heads and sends them crashing down into the well. Slim Jim gets away once again! Strip was also worked on by Raymond Crawford Ewer and Stanley E. Armstrong.
Comic strip "Mister Skooch." Mrs. Skooch tells her husband not to forget to mail a letter, and Mr. Skooch reassures her that he has the memory of an elephant. Despite meeting the postman, standing next to a postbox, passing a mail service car, and hearing a song about mail on the radio, Mr. Skooch does in fact forget. He has the memory of a very stupid elephant.
Single panel comic strip "Judge Puffle." An embarrassed Judge Puffle goes to the fire chief, asking for help freeing a balloon from the top of a gas tank. The fire chief is frustrated that they never fight fires, just do errands like this or getting cats out of trees. This comic strip also ran under the title "Room and Board."
Serialized comic strip "Mr. McCivic, Taxpayer." Mr. McCivic is running for office, but he's discovered that money recently donated to his campaign was counterfeit, certainly a tactic by his rivals to embarrass him. His cowboy friend is also in jail for using one of those counterfeit bills to buy a hamburger. Whatever shall they do?
Serialized comic strip "Flying to Fame." Young adventurers Curly, Slim and Tubby are given a precious ruby to deliver to kidnappers in exchange for their hostage. The boys get into their airplane and fly into the mountains for the meeting. Strip originally created by Ernest Henderson.
Comic strip "The Wiggle Much" A minstrel of good cheer floats across a moat into a castle, where he meets a strange creature in armor, the titular Wiggle Much. The minstrel leads him around, meeting other characters, while the Wiggle Much gradually loses his armor. I'm gonna be honest, I'm struggling to follow this one, and no, reading other strips in this series doesn't provide context.
Comic strip "Zeus!" Two centaurs wonder why the nymphs don't go for them, and assume it's because they're prejudice against the centaur's half-animal features. Just then, a satyr hops by with two nymphs following him. New theory, it's the centaurs' deodorant.
Single panel comic strip "Hoss Laffs." A horse shows off her shiny hooves to another. "I got my pedicure at Andre's!"
Comic strip "Mr. Wad." When Mr. Wad learns that his son is getting bad grades in school. As he lectures the young boy, Mr. Wad points out that at his son's age, Woodrow Wilson was head of his school. The son remarks that at Mr. Wad's age, Woodrow Wilson was president. Mr. Wad goes red.
Serialized comic strip "The Mother Goose Fairy Book." Children are encouraged to cut out the comic and bind them into a book. This is page 26. Full text: "Among the stacks of mail for Mother Goose's workshops was a request that they could not fulfill. It said: 'Dear Santa: Please send me a big, real, live menagerie. Lovingly, TOM.' Upon reading this Mother Goose sent for Willie Winkie, the engineer of Shut-eye train, and said 'Please let little Tommie see how different wild creatures are from what they seem inside a cage by sending him a lifelike dream.' Tommie's giraffe, his favorite toy, he took to bed and though: 'What joy the fairies could make me feel if they made him real!' Then, Willie Winkie waves his wand and patted Tommie's little hand. Giraffe, who lay on the pillow, stretched his long neck and, looking at Tommie, said: 'Why need this fellow lie in bed? For me he'd make a Christmas meal,' and catching Tommie by the heel, made off! His home, five thousand miles away, was reached in less than half a day. 'Twas clear that Tom was to be cooked. The giraffe kiddies hungry looked, like upon Christmas Day Tom does at hearing dinner sizz and buzz. Giraffe ate of a sweet grass bed. Tom jumped and landed on his head! When giraffe tosses his head a-high, thinking our Tom a pesky fly a-tickling his lordship's ear, Tom flew five thousand miles to rear! In the first mail of the following day sweet old Mother Goose got a letter that Santa had remailed her. Peeping over her shoulder, Willie Winkie read it with her. It said: 'Dear Santa: Make my beasts of wood, I'm sure that then they will be good. I think in case they were real, they'd frighten mamma a good deal. Love from Tom.'"
Serialized Sunday comic strip "The Explorigator." Subtitled "Admiral Fudge Meets the Man in the Moon." The child crew of the airship Explorigator make their way to the Moon, where they find a city where everything's a little bit weird. A police officer brings them to the Man in the Moon and ask if they can look into how moonbeams are made. The Man in the Moon agrees to this, and soon the children are on their way to the moonbeam factory.
Comic strip "The Rock Channel." On a cheap music video channel, two VJs discuss the break dancing skeletons in video for the Jacksons' son "Torture." One of them theorizes they got the effect by having the zombies from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" decompose a bit more.
Single panel comic strip "Mini-Poster." A poster of a Smokey-esque bear that reads, "Help preserve forest life. Don't eat an owl this week."
Comic strip "Minit Movies." A teacher tells a class about how President Roosevelt has done away with child labor, but several children in the class point out all the jobs they still have to do to help support their families. One boy points out that child labor won't end until adults can make living wages.
Comic strip "Mike O'Kay." Struggling young farmer Mike O'Kay's chickens have been getting picked off with a chicken hawk. Mike grabs his shotgun, but when he blasts into the fray, he winds up accidentally killing the rest of the chickens.
Sunday edition of comic strip "Monkey Shines of Marseleen." Marseleen the clown is tasked with starting the fountain and feeding the seals before the circus show ends, but a child had stolen the wrench that starts up the fountain. Thankfully, Marseleen has brought a young whale along, who uses his blowhole as a fountain, throwing fish about for the seals to eat up.
Serialized comic strip "Michael Brand." Gentleman spy Michael Brand laments on how crazy the world has become due to the Cold War. He decides to bring a weapon to the embassy party so as not to be murdered.
Single panel comic strip "Marcus Merry-Go-Round." A lion on the television set roars. A husband in another room rushed over, thinking that was the call of his wife. "Coming dear!" he cries.
Single panel comic strip "Timmy." During a family gathering, young son Timmy holds up an alarm clock into an older woman's face. He turns to his father as says, "You're wrong, Daddy - Aunt Agnes' face does NOT stop a clock." Timmy's mother gives his father an angry look.
Single panel comic strip "Merry Moments." A fortune teller sits slumped in front of his crystal ball. He says, "Sometimes I wonder if there's a future in this business..."
Sunday comic strip "The Terrors of the Tiny Tads." The Tiny Tads are children making their way through a world of strange and often dangerous creatures. Today they encounter a Bumblebeast, a cross between a rabbit and a bee that flies with its ears, and the Emusician, an emu-like bird that plays soothing violin.
Single panel comic strip "Maya." One man tells the other, "I'm pretty much a nite person myself." His word balloon is shaped like a crescent moon.
Comic strip "Memoirs of a Housewife." The Housewife calls her friend Peggo to inform her that she won't be calling anymore, that she realized after reading in a self-help book that these calls were a distraction from her duties as a housewife. After she says her good-byes, the Housewife decides to write to Peggo instead.
Sunday comic strip "Whatta Life!" It's only January, no one is in a rush to file their taxes. That is until a huge storm rolls through Knoxville, soaking everyone to the bone. Now people line up to the IRS office and demand, "Hurry up and put us through the wringer!!" Exclusive comic for the Knoxville News-Sentinel out of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Sunday comic strip "The Merriers." Some boys ask one of their fathers, Mr. Merrier, how radio works. Mr. Merrier remembers Father Thomas's advice to keep explanations simple, and says that radio is like telephone, just over the air instead of wires. The children ask, "How do they fasten the air to the poles?" Mr. Merrier breaks the fourth wall.
Sunday comic strip "The Rag Tags and Bob Tail." The Rag Tags, four boys that include a Chinese and Native American child, and their dog Bob Tail fly kites. One of them ties the Chinese boy's ponytail to one of the kites, and they watch as he lifts off the ground and eventually crash into a tree. A comic not without racial stereotypes, and the Chinese child has a slur for a name, but at least it shows kids of different races getting along? *shrugs*
Comic strip "Bonnie." Young girl Bonnie doesn't want to play with one of the local boys and tells him to scram. The boy goes running over to his father, who turns out of the be the ice cream man. "Me an' my big mouth!" Bonnie cries.
Serialized comic strip "Barney Baxter in the Air." Barney Baxter returns home with Gopher Gus, who had been hypnotized by a villain to pose as the "Masked Pilot" and crash an aircraft into a chicken coop. When they go to confront the hypnotist, they find him long gone.
Single panel comic strip "Pollyanna Poems." A girl observes birds in the trees, snow slowly melting around her. Full text: "I saw a robin redbreast / On my way to school today - / He sang, 'Tis spring, tis spring, my dear,' / It made me feel so gay!"
Informational comic strip "March of Science." Reports on new scientific and technological discovers. Today's strip, what if you dipped a bar of soap in rubber? Full text: "Cakes of soap may step out in new wraps - a thin waterproof coating of rubber, if a method recently patented should go into commercial use. Take the place of the conventional paper wrappers, the sheer rubber coating is claimed to keep the soap water and weather proof. To 'unwrap' such a cake of soap, the rubber coating is simply stripped off by tugging on a little tab on the side. The cakes of soap are dipped into a rubber solution. They are then placed in a drying chamber, and finally into a vulcanizing chamber. The rubber coating snuggly fits every indentation and contour so that trade marks and designs impressed in the soap appear very clearly. While the coating is water and weather-proof it is permeable to the perfume of the soap, so that the customer can sniff immediately what kind of perfumed soap is being bought."
Comic strip "Mischievous Willie" Little baby Willie makes a stone bust look like a man with a coat and a hat, sitting at a desk. This freaks out mother while Willie giggles under the desk.
Comic strip "Patrick." Young boy Patrick goes to check on Godfrey Snodgrass, a boy Patrick only hangs out with when he gets his allowance. Godfrey confirms he got his money, and Patrick gets all chummy.
Comic strip "Mama's Boy." The titular Mama's Boy gets some boxing training, his coach tying back his right arm so that he can build power in his left. When Mama's Boy comes home for dinner, he ends up favoring his left hand, which Mama scolds him over, as being left handed at the table is rude.
Serialized Sunday comic strip "Bos'n Hal, Sea Scout." The villain known as The Professor passes himself off as an old sailor named Jett Black and tells tales of the mysterious Volcanic Island. A mission north is planned using an ice-breaking ship and an experimental dirigible, and young adventurer "Bos'n" Hal Rogers packs his things for the trip.
Informational comic strip "Man's Wings." A guide on flying a biplane. Subtitled "Learning to Fly: Second Flight." We learn about elevation controls.
Sunday comic strip "The Fluffy Duff Sisters." Mamma is upset with the puppy for some reason, so the Fluffy Duff Sisters swap the puppy out with an ugly inflatable pig. When Mamma comes around to hit the puppy with a stick, she's shocked by the pig and hits it instead, which pops loudly. Mamma is disoriented, and the puppy remains unharmed.
Single panel comic strip "Billy Baldwin Says." Billy Baldwin lazily fishes in the pond, telling the audience, "What ever you big event for Labor Day is, try to do it without accidents." The fish are not impressed with Billy's fishing skills. "Talk about labor, he don't even bait his hook." An exclusive strip for the Mobile Register of Mobile, Alabama.
Single panel comic strip "Love and Laughter." Stories about the romantic relationships of historical figures, this one on the French Enlightenment author and philosopher Voltaire. Full text: "French author Voltaire was jilted after a 15-year affair with Emilie du Chatelet. He tries to understand Emilie's sudden infatuation with an astronomer and had only kind words for her. 'But she's saying nasty things about you!' friend reported. Voltaire smiles. 'Perhaps we are both equally mistaken.'"
Sunday comic strip "The Back-Seat Driver," a topper strip for A.E. Hayward's "Somebody's Stenog." The man and his wife, who is literally driving from the backseat, pass by a church with its bells ringing. The wife asks if the husband remembers the bells pealing on their wedding day, and he responds, "Those were the pealings I slipped on!"
Single panel informational comic strip "Lucky Breaks." Stories about how the famous got their start, this strip recounting the story of actress Ruth Chatterton. Full text: "They couldn't stump Ruth! Four school girls and chaperone went to Washington for the Christmas holidays. One of the girls dared another, Ruth Chatterton, to apply for a job in the theatre - She took the dare and got her first stage job."
Sunday comic strip "Binnacle Bill." Captain Walrus sends sailors Binnacle Bill and the narrator to go collect new crew for their ship, the Pensyltucky. Bill, in turn, hires a man to kidnap somebody, anybody, to be brought onto the ship. When the two sailors return empty handed, the Captain goes ashore himself, only to be grabbed by the hired kidnapper and returned.
Single panel comic strip "Lord, I Said." A priest says, "Lord, I said, I am serving many people!" God, as personified as a cloud with a face, replies, "Are you serving or recruiting?"
Comic strip "Senator Gassius." The Roman Senator Gassius chisels off the belly of the large marble statue of himself. "Can you think of an easier way to lose fifty ugly pounds?" he says to himself.
Comic strip "Hoots and Quacks." Hoots the Owl brings up that a baseball pitcher is getting sued for divorce. "He failed to hold 'em over home plate," Hoots says. Quacks the Duck replies, "Maybe his wife put 'im out!" Hoots leaves.
Single panel comic strip "Looney Land." We meet the Looney Land owl, with a vest and top hat, and get a poem about him. Full text: "A foolish owl in Looney Land gave up the owlish ways / Of going out at night. Instead went out one summer day / The sun shone bright so very bright it made him pant and wheeze / He'll never be the same again the doc says: 'Bright's Disease.'"
Sunday comic strip "The Foxy Mice." Subtitled "Puss Tries Music on the Foxy Mice." Puss the Cat reads that mice love music, so he finds a violin and start playing in front of a mouse hole. Instead of coming out of the hole, the mice, who hate the music, gather on a shelf above Puss and dump a bucket of water on top of him.
Single panel comic strip "The Lonely Heart." A construction worker working a jackhammer looks on helplessly as a crack stretches fro the street and up the brick wall of a nearby building.
Serialized comic strip "Uncle Alvin." Uncle Alvin has joined the college football team alongside his rival, Jelly Roll Jones. During practice, Jelly Roll tricks Alvin into kicking a cement-filled football, breaking his foot and ruining his chances to win the big game coming up. The concept form this strip is that this is one long tall-tale Uncle Alvin is telling, presumably to his nieces and nephews. Two months before this strip, Alvin was shipwrecked on an island with a dangerous tiger. Two months after, Alvin was having a romantic encounter with an alien from Venus.
Comic strip "Van Boring." Each strip subtitled "He Never Says a Word." Van Boring keeps getting hit with cars, the streets are dangerous now that the automobile is a part of everyday life. To combat this, Van Boring goes to a costume store and buts a full set of armor with very pronounced tits.
Comic strip "Little Sampson." An old man arrives at Sampson's gym, hoping exercise will make him feel younger. When he sees Sampson's beautiful assistant Irene, the old man suddenly finds quite the pep in his step.
Sunday comic strip "Hi and Si." Subtitled as "The Clothes Are Haunted - Hi and Si Prove It." Brothers Hi and Si want to go fishing, but their mother makes them do their laundry instead. When they find the cat and her kittens sleeping on top of their pile of clothes, they decide to pull a prank, hiding the cats and telling their mother that the clothes are haunted. When their mother puts the clothes into the hot wash water, the bundle starts to move, scaring their mother into running as the poor kittens make their escape.
Single panel comic strip "The Little Man." The titular man does come calculations and concludes, "I just discovered that we don't have enough time left in our lives to read all the books we've been buying the past twenty years and putting aside to read later when we have the time!"
Serialized single panel comic strip "Sunflower Street." Some children on a raft have gone missing. Family members try to reassure the children's mother that the kids are most likely safe. In the genre of white people making comic strips about black people, "Sunflower Street" is pretty sympathetic, if not without its stereotypes.
Serialized comic strip "Doggy Dramas Present." Scene 9 of "Mutt-iny on the Bow-wow-nty." With an approaching ship spotted, a band of mutt-ineers quickly marry a bunch of island native girls by force, who end up taking over their ship and giving everything a frilly makeover. Tune in next week for when the captain of the Bow-wow-nty reaches the other ship!
Comic strip "The Little Major." Powerful winds are knocking off everyone's hats, including the Little Major's. When the Major sees a child coming from the dentist with a bandaged up head, he replicates it to keep his hat on.
Sunday comic strip "Adam's Troubles Raising Cain." Subtitled "Adam Finds Insurance Poor Policy." Little Cain plays a trick by making it seem like his house is on fire. The chimp fireman and elephant firetruck rush over and flood Adam and Eve's house. Every strip ends with Adam chiseling something into a rock. This week it says, "I never had a fire until I took out that insurance, and the policy doesn't cover damages by water. Something tells me that I've been done again. Mr. Adam."