One of my favorite aspects of searching out new material for our site is finding titles and characters that are completely new to me. Especially when they come from big name creators. Chances are you are familiar with the creations for which these artists are best known; it would even be easy to assume that because they are so strongly connected with a famous property that perhaps that is all these artists ever produced. It would be a shame if you missed out on these lesser know works, all of which at the very least show signs of the elements that helped elevate their more popular siblings into the limelight.

Bobby Make-Believe
This dreamy Sunday page predates Frank King’s beloved Gasoline Alley by a handful of years. Similar to Little Nemo, Bobby kicks off each strip in the real world, shifts to the imaginary, and then is forced back to the mundane by the final panel. Lots of fun make-believe adventures in this one.

Danny Dreamer
Clare Briggs has a lot of credits to his name, so many that this one is sure to get lost in the shuffle. Again we’re treated to a boy’s imagination, but this time we see how Danny imagines a situation will turn out before being treated to the real story. Best to stick to the early episodes and skip the dreadful Danny Deamer, Sr. Consider yourself warned.

Hungry Henrietta and Little Sammy Sneeze
A pair from Winsor McCay, perhaps the most appreciated comics draftsman of them all. Henrietta is the story of a girl who develops an extraordinary eating problem thanks to the “good” intentions of her guardians. Little Sammy Sneeze is a boy with a most profound sneezing problem…the set-up may be the same each time, but it’s worth it to witness the devastation that kid’s nose can bring.

Major Ozone’s Fresh Air Crusade
George Herriman is another creator who may well make claim to being the most beloved cartoonist to ever put pencil to paper. While a certain Kat and mouse team will always be the one work associated with him, his Major Ozone has its charms as well. Ozone is a man obsessed with clean air who will go to great lengths to find it. Later strips are by Clarence Rigby and definitely worthy of praise in their own right.

Married Life
Billy DeBeck will always be known as the artist who gave us Barney Google. His Married Life didn’t go on to to enjoy the same acclaim, but is plenty of fun too. This one is a three tiered panel with gags centered around–you guessed–married life.

Millie and Her Millions
Percy Crosby will forever be associated with his kid strips, that’s why it was such a surprise to find this forgotten gem featuring adult characters. This one is a bit more restrained than his later creations.

Mr. Twee Deedle
This one is a bit of a cheat as Johnny Gruelle is best known for his non-comics creation of Raggedy Ann and Andy. That said, Mr. Twee Deedle is a Sunday page you will want to explore post haste if you are unfamilar. What a beautiful, wonderfully fantastic strip!

The Newlyweds’ Baby/Their Only Child
George McManus pokes fun at helicopter parents in this pair of titles (one is essentially a continuation of the other). While not exactly reaching the heights of popularity enjoyed by Bringing Up Father, these characters did enjoy a nice run in the papers of the day.

Old Doc Yak
Sidney Smith gave the world The Gumps and was rewarded by the first million dollar contract given to a cartoonist. Old Doc Yak was supplanted by The Gumps, but by no means is it a work of lesser power. This one is so much fun, and I’m happy to say we have a ton of them. Make sure to also check out the earlier version of Old Doc Yak: Buck Nix.