Z is for Ziggy #AtoZChallenge

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I have chosen the theme of comic strips. For those young ones out there, a comic strip is a few drawn panels telling a story which appears in the newspaper. The first daily comic strip began in 1907, but the color comics (Sunday funnies) actually began back in 1894.

If you are here looking for my typical Thursday post on writing or publishing, I will go back to my regular schedule in May. Until then, enjoy the A to Z Challenge…

Z is for Ziggy, created in 1968 by Tom Wilson. The strip became syndicated in 1971 in 15 newspapers, later growing to over 600 publications. Wilson drew the strip until 1987 when his son Tom Wilson II took over and still draws the strip today.

Ziggy is a short, bald, almost featureless character – except for his large nose. He deals with an endless stream of misfortunes, often in the workplace. With over 50 years in existence, the strip has changed with the times. For example, rotary phones have been replaced with cell phones and the TVs are now flat screens.

Previous Posts

A is for Archie

B is for Blondie

C is for Calvin and Hobbes

D is for Dilbert

E is for Ella Cinders

F is for Family Circus

G is for Garfield

H is for Hagar the Horrible

I is for The Invisible Scarlet O’Neil

J is for Joe Palooka

K is for Krazy Kat

L is Li’l Abner

M is for Marmaduke

N is for Non-Sequester

O is for Outland and Opus

P is for Peanuts

Q is for Queen’s Counsel 

R is Rose is Rose

S is for Sally Forth

T is for Terry and the Pirates

U is for U.S. Acres 

V is for The Van Swaggers

W is for Wee Pals

X is for Xtra (FoxTrot)

Y is for Yankee Doodles

Y is for Yankee Doodles #AtoZChallenge

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I have chosen the theme of comic strips. For those young ones out there, a comic strip is a few drawn panels telling a story which appears in the newspaper. The first daily comic strip began in 1907, but the color comics (Sunday funnies) actually began back in 1894.

If you are here looking for my typical Wednesday quote, I will go back to my regular schedule in May. Until then, enjoy the A to Z Challenge…

Y is for Yankee Doodles, by Ben Templeton, Don Kracke and Fred W. Martin (though on the strip they only listed their first names). It ran from 1973 to 1977. The comic strip takes place during the American Revolution featuring characters such as George Washington and Ben Franklin in humorous situations.

This strip came out near our bicentennial and when bicentennial fever disappeared, the interest in the strip did too. But not before merchandise such as lunch boxes were produced. After this strip ended, Templeton went on to draw Motley’s Crew, while Martin and Kracke left the syndicated strip world.

Previous Posts

A is for Archie

B is for Blondie

C is for Calvin and Hobbes

D is for Dilbert

E is for Ella Cinders

F is for Family Circus

G is for Garfield

H is for Hagar the Horrible

I is for The Invisible Scarlet O’Neil

J is for Joe Palooka

K is for Krazy Kat

L is Li’l Abner

M is for Marmaduke

N is for Non-Sequester

O is for Outland and Opus

P is for Peanuts

Q is for Queen’s Counsel 

R is Rose is Rose

S is for Sally Forth

T is for Terry and the Pirates

U is for U.S. Acres 

V is for The Van Swaggers

W is for Wee Pals

X is for Xtra (FoxTrot)

X is for Xtra #AtoZChallenge

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I have chosen the theme of comic strips. For those young ones out there, a comic strip is a few drawn panels telling a story which appears in the newspaper. The first daily comic strip began in 1907 but the color comics (Sunday funnies) actually began back in 1894.

X is for…. well, there are no comic strips that begin with X. There are no comic strip characters that start with X. So, I decided this would be a good day to feature an extra – or rather Xtra – comic strip of my choosing. There are a lot of good ones that I haven’t covered (or won’t cover in the next two posts). It was hard decision, but I went with FoxTrot by Bill Amend.

FoxTrot started as a seven-day a week comic in 1988 but went to Sunday only in December 2006 and still runs on Sundays to this day. At the end of the daily run, the comic strip was in 1,200 newspapers worldwide. FoxTrot follows the Fox family – parents Andrea (Andy) and Roger and their kids – Peter, Paige and Jason. In addition to family humor, the strip has many stories built around fandom (like Star Wars) and popular culture.

Previous Posts

A is for Archie

B is for Blondie

C is for Calvin and Hobbes

D is for Dilbert

E is for Ella Cinders

F is for Family Circus

G is for Garfield

H is for Hagar the Horrible

I is for The Invisible Scarlet O’Neil

J is for Joe Palooka

K is for Krazy Kat

L is Li’l Abner

M is for Marmaduke

N is for Non-Sequester

O is for Outland and Opus

P is for Peanuts

Q is for Queen’s Counsel 

R is Rose is Rose

S is for Sally Forth

T is for Terry and the Pirates

U is for U.S. Acres 

V is for The Van Swaggers

W is for Wee Pals

W is for Wee Pals #AtoZChallenge

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I have chosen the theme of comic strips. For those young ones out there, a comic strip is a few drawn panels telling a story which appears in the newspaper. The first daily comic strip began in 1907, but the color comics (Sunday funnies) actually began back in 1894.

If you are here looking for my typical Monday post on a parenting topic, I will go back to my regular schedule in May. Until then, enjoy the A to Z Challenge…

W is for Wee Pals, by Morrie Turner. The strip ran from 1965 to 2014. It was the first syndicated comic strip to have a cast of diverse ethnicities (dubbed the “Rainbow Gang”). When it debuted, only 5 newspapers carried the strip as many newspapers refused to carry it because it featured black characters. After the death of Martin Luther King Jr., the number of papers carrying Wee Pals grew to either 60 or 100 (sources vary).

As the popularity of the strip grew, Turner added a weekly section called “Soul Center” that profiled notable African Americans from history.

Previous Posts

A is for Archie

B is for Blondie

C is for Calvin and Hobbes

D is for Dilbert

E is for Ella Cinders

F is for Family Circus

G is for Garfield

H is for Hagar the Horrible

I is for The Invisible Scarlet O’Neil

J is for Joe Palooka

K is for Krazy Kat

L is Li’l Abner

M is for Marmaduke

N is for Non-Sequester

O is for Outland and Opus

P is for Peanuts

Q is for Queen’s Counsel 

R is Rose is Rose

S is for Sally Forth

T is for Terry and the Pirates

U is for U.S. Acres 

V is for The Van Swaggers

V is for The Van Swaggers #AtoZChallenge

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I have chosen the theme of comic strips. For those young ones out there, a comic strip is a few drawn panels telling a story which appears in the newspaper. The first daily comic strip began in 1907, but the color comics (Sunday funnies) actually began back in 1894.

V is for The Van Swaggers by Russ Westover. He created it as a topper (a secondary comic strip seen along with a larger Sunday strip) for his Tillie the Toiler comic strip, which ran in 600 newspapers. The Van Swaggers ran from 1926 to 1943. The strip was about a goofy elder couple, Han and Min Van Swagger.

I’d like to say more about this comic strip but information on the internet was scarce, but of all the comic strips that started with V, it was my best choice.

Previous Posts

A is for Archie

B is for Blondie

C is for Calvin and Hobbes

D is for Dilbert

E is for Ella Cinders

F is for Family Circus

G is for Garfield

H is for Hagar the Horrible

I is for The Invisible Scarlet O’Neil

J is for Joe Palooka

K is for Krazy Kat

L is Li’l Abner

M is for Marmaduke

N is for Non-Sequester

O is for Outland and Opus

P is for Peanuts

Q is for Queen’s Counsel 

R is Rose is Rose

S is for Sally Forth

T is for Terry and the Pirates

U is for U.S. Acres