Comic Strip History

This brings us to the end of part one of the Waddles adventure. But what amazing invention has Jack cooked up? And how will Betty Baldpate get the money she needs to restore the mansion? And how the heck does a trip to another planet figure in to all this? To find out, read the rest of the story over at the Hogan’s Alley website — click here!!!!

Today we begin a reprint series of a strip I bet not one in a dozen of you has ever seen before.

The new issue of Hogan’s Alley, which should be on your newsstand in the next few weeks, features an article by yours truly about the comics of the Christian Science Monitor. This article is the first in a projected series on features in off-the-beaten-path newspapers. I’ll let you read the article to learn all the details, but in it I describe the surprisingly long and interesting history of the comic strips that ran in that paper.

Among my favorites from the Monitor is The Adventures of Waddles. The strip, starring Waddles the duck, started out as a cute little kiddie strip written all in rhyme back in the 1920s. By the 40s, though, the strip began to feature seriocomic adventures that I think might remind you of a certain other cartoon duck as penned by Carl Barks. While the storylines in Waddles may not quite stand in comparison to the classic Barks stories, I think you’ll agree that they have a wonderful charm all their own.

I’ll be adding the strips to the blog at about a week’s worth each day, and once we get through to the end of my part one I’ll tell you where you can go to read the exciting second half of this long story (now you probably know darn well where the rest of the story is, but don’t peek until you’ve read the first half!).

We pick up the story today on June 1 1949. Because Waddles’ stories tended to blend together, I’ve had to pick up with the story already somewhat in progress, so read the following before you proceed:

Our Story Thus Far
A mysterious person claiming to be “Battling Bill” Baldpate has come to town to claim the old abandoned Baldpate mansion. The mansion, though, is also coveted by local bigwigs Blacksoil and Topsoil MacLoon. Battling Bill comes armed with a paper proving ownership, but loses the proof in a gust of wind while showing the claim to Waddles and his pal Ted. “Battling Bill” goes on a crying jag when this happens, leading the boys to wonder about the mysterious stranger’s real identity. Meanwhile the MacLoons, aided by their stooge, Shorty, cook up a scheme to get the property for themselves.