Category Archives: Screwball

 Rube Goldberg had a lot to say about American elections. His biting wit and loopy cartooning brought welcome smiles and a dash of truth about the unavoidable nuttiness of politics. Later in his career, he left humor comics behind to enjoy a long career as a Pulitzer-Prize-winning political cartoonist. Here are three rare Goldberg gems […]

Professor Knix by Jimmy Swinnerton (July 3, 1904) People stop me the street. They knock on my front door and politely inquire. A few poke their heads through my bedroom window late at night when I am sleeping. I think I once heard the question emanating from deep within my bathroom plumbing. “What other cartoonists […]

Say “howdy” to Sam Howdy! Our previous last two Screwball Sundays have shared recently discovered vintage essays by George Swanson on screwball cartooning (see here and here). Today we share three prime examples of $alesman $am in 1924, when Swanson’s cartooning reached its peak of manic intensity. There’s never been a comic strip quite like […]

In the fall of 1930, George “Swan” Swanson wrote and illustrated this essay on what he called a “bang finish,” but which is more commonly known as a plop take. Arguably, in Swan’s hands, the plop take – where a character flies out of the last panel – ascends to an art form in itself. […]

Smokey Stover and Spooky, August 8, 1936 For a while, Bill Holman’s silent Spooky topper strip enjoyed as much space as his top, um, Bill-ed star: Smokey Stover. Readers in 1936 were treated to two fine comics, each a celebration of nutty, over-the-top comedy. Today’s Screwball Sunday comic comes from Smokey Stover’s first year of […]

Doc Syke – July 8, 1945 I have a friend who is a family doctor and we occasionally meet for coffee. Once, in perhaps a not-so-subtle hint, he told me how acquaintances tended to solicit free medical advice, to his great annoyance. After silently changing my mind about asking him to look at a little […]