I came upon a Smithsonian encyclopedia of comics in our library donations - what a treasure trove!
From my earliest memories comics were a big thing in our house - not the books, but in the newspapers. Somehow when they migrated from the daily newspaper to actual books they acquired the scent of sin! That particular sin I think was generated more from fellow church members than God Himself, however. But somehow, if they were delivered to your door in the daily newspaper, they were fair game.... and we devoured them. Not only that, but I remember Mother talking about how my grandfather loved certain comic strips and that would take you back to the early 1900's. So, thank God for the sanctity of the daily newspaper!
Whenever we were gone on long trips, one of the most exciting things was upon our return to spread out the newspapers on the linoleum floor of the front room, lie stretched out on our bellies side by side and get caught up on the comics - particularly the continuous sagas like Kerry Drake - my, didn't he get into a peck of trouble and how handsome he was!! And of course Nancy and Sluggo and Rollo the Rich Kid. Could life have been more linear?!
But this Smithsonian book has strips from Mother's era - and mine before I could really read - like, Our Boarding House, Bringing up Father, Moon Mullins, Little Orphan Annie, Mutt and Jeff. The figures brought back a rush of undefined but powerful memories ! Then in later years I followed to some extent Dick Tracy, Lil Abner, Alley Oop and Prince Valiant. But those were mere glances compared to the intensity of Kerry Drake.
And still presently, a day without a peek at my favorite strips in the morning is just a bit lopsided.
I need that smile, however fleeting, to round off the edges of my day.
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