Here’s another title that inexplicably died way too young: There’s a Difference. Nicely drawn with a central gag that could have easily sustained itself for many, many outings. Instead, we get three – enjoy! From the gentleman who gave us the the wonderful A Trip to Mars, W. Clyde Spencer.
Here’s a panel belonging to a category that would prove to be archetypal throughout the history of comic strips: the aggravating slice of everyday life. I love these strips, ‘cos they give such a wonderful insight into the social milieu in which they were conceived. While many of these kinds of strips have gags which seem universally applicable through time–hassles with the boss and kids and cars and etc.– “Little Irritations of Life” features a string of problems which are all wonderfully outdated, like the boy who uses a straight razor to shave his father’s hat, the shirt collar that’s the wrong size for the shirt, or the sock garter which has come undone and dangles from your pant leg. Even if these strips don’t produce the knowing chuckle and wry nod of understanding that they were intended to provoke, they’re still good lookin’ and fun.
A well-drawn, lively strip with a clever premise, William F. Marriner’s Wags, the Dog That Adopted a Man has a lot going for it! It tells the story of an unassuming fellow who’s shadowed relentlessly by a little dog with a can tied to its tail. This causes the fellow endless trouble, as the dog manages to disrupt every social setting to which he’s introduced. The strips alternate between a “What? That’s not my dog who’s wrecking the place” schtick and the gentleman’s (ofttimes cruel!) attempts to divest himself of this unwanted pet.
Lazyest Gallery cannot access Condo, A.D./
A.D. Condo, beloved around these parts for his sublime strips The Outbursts of Everett True and Mr. Skygack From Mars, was a prolific cartoonist in the first decade of the 20th century! He cranked out an extraordinary number of small features and one-offs, and they’re of uniformly high quality. In this archive, you’ll find fun stuff like The Country Man’s Vacation in Town, Pity the Poor Farmer, Dainty Daisy Tries Physical Culture, and my favorites: Enslaved by a Pirate is a wonderfully illustrated serial, and Bump Talks is a crazy little feature sending up phrenology! Fun, fun, fun.
