It's hard to know what to say about these strips. We know that Kelly was ill during this time and it wasn't just the art that suffered along with him. Strange storyline and continuity, but at least we get an oddly placed introduction to Churchy's cousin (turtle and parrot are related because they have a beak in common?).
Notice on the November 26 strip that the first two panels had art that is almost healthy, even with the big uncolored section. The rest of the strip is, well, hmm. And November 19, well, bless Kelly's heart.
I don't have all the strips from this period, perhaps because I was busy with the army at the time and perhaps I thought they weren't worth keeping.
But now dammit, I still say Long Live Kelly!
Next week, we go back to happier times to start an arc that has been seen before on the internet, but not with the resolution and loving edits that I give them.
Happy Sunday, Kelly Sunday!
November 19, 1972
November 26, 1972
1) Thanks, Thom!
ReplyDeletePoor man WK; trying to keep the show on track in his state... LLK anyway
2) Coming back to your post of March 2, (the one where the Peglegged Parrot Pirate blunders into the strip dated Dec.12, 1972). You thought it might be a re-run of an earlier one and Chris offered the suggestion the original might be from the early to middle sixties. Bullseye, give the man a cigar!
In re-ordering my collection of 'crummies' I came across it dated Nov. 18, 1962. There it was part of an arc starting Oct. 21, with Churchy drinking some of Uncle Baldwin's Bald cure (offered - naturally - by Howland and thus making grow feathers).
So the Churchy-looking strange bird is actually Churchy himself (don't panic! He later molts...) This arc's shenanigans carry on until Dec. 9 until others take over.
Finding it was purely a matter of chance and questions remain in my mind: Were there other reruns in that bad time for WK? For 1973 I identfied at least 25 substitutions (apart from those after WK's death). How would those have played with his publishers?
Any ideas?
Oh, the first TWO panels of the Nov. 26, 1972 strip of this weeks post were copied from Nov. 25, '62 (thus later than PPP's first appearance); the rest is new. So much for continuity in '72.
As an aside: In the past I offered to share my collection of copies of strips from microfilmed newspaper archives; somehow like trying to get rid of sour beer. Any takers this time?
Hun
Tom,
ReplyDeleteThis gets stranger and stranger. Notice the change in lettering style between the first two panels in 11/26 and the rest of that strip. It's almost as if parts of an old strip (though the somewhat inflated Rackety Coon drawing in panel 2 suggests that it isn't as old as I think) have been attached to the newer, weaker material. Maybe whoever was helping Kelly with the 11/26 strip bailed on him with only two panels done, leaving him to finish the rest himself when he wasn't really up to the job?
11/19... is just sad, that's all I can say.
Chris
I think if nothing else, the 11/19 strip reminds us that Kelly was human. While he may have had more innate talent than most of us, he still worked incredibly hard on the strip. It makes the good stuff all the more precious.
ReplyDeleteHun - Fascinating stuff! Truly mystifying that out of all the arcs they might have reprinted during Kelly's illness, they chose one that involved Churchy being mutated into a bird, and left out the setup that actually explained what was going on! Very disorienting.
I would be interested in obtaining a copy of your microfilm archive, if you can send it in digital form. If you're talking about hard copies, I sadly have no room to store them at the moment.
~Craig
Chris, good news! They're digital!
DeleteSorry Craig, my mind wandered and stumbled in the dark. You can call me Timothy,
Delete~Craig (or Chris, as Thom says),
ReplyDeleteall digital (.jpg)
450 MB for Sundays
850 MB for Daylies
I would upload whichever you want to MailbigFile in batches small enough (~ 150MB) for my rather slow internet connection; and (with Thom's agreement? Please, T.!) post the download link here.
To do this I need one e-mail address (for the notification from MailBigFile. Harmless, in my experience; the only drawback: Every month or so you get an e-mail from them telling you what a good service they have on offer - call it:spam). Who is offering?
Hun
Hun, you know I'll agree to whatever you need or want.
DeleteI'm also interested in the 'junkbin' option. I wonder if there's a way, also, to locate more of the orphaned 'revival' from 1989-1992 in some similar digital archive?
ReplyDelete- (A)
The name on the Nov. 26 strip boat references Harvey Toombs, a Disney animator that Kelly probably knew from his time at the studio.
ReplyDeleteOnce again on the topic of re-use of strips by Kelly and / or associates:
ReplyDeleteFor 1972 Sundays
June 04 is republished from 1967, Sept 24
June 11 is republished from 1967, Sept 10
June 18 is republished from 1967, Sept 17
June 25 is republished from 1967, Oct 01
July 02 is republished from 1967, Oct 15
July 09 is republished from 1967, Oct 08
July 16 is republished from 1966, Jan 30
July 23 is republished from 1967, July 23
Aug 06 is republished from 1967, Aug 06
Aug 13 is republished from 1967, Aug 13
Aug 20 is republished from 1967, Aug 20
Sept 03 is republished from 1967, Sep 03
Nov 26 is part copy of 1962, Nov 25
Dec 03 is republished from 1962, Nov 18
Dec 24 is republished from 1956, Dec 23
Dec 31 is republished from 1956, Dec 30
Those are the ones I could compare (my archive is patchy...)
For '73 I have been able to collect 30 Sundays: All of these (21 are from the first half of the year) are re-published, many in the same sequence as originally.
I'm assuming that those from the gaps would have been copies, too.
Hun
Thanks Hun! Very helpful!
ReplyDelete