Jail Rule no. 8932 - Don't kill our bed bugs, they're pets
I've been spending an inordinate amount of time reading all the old-timey newspaper comics over at barnacle press. There are some clunkers, and some which are microfilmed into illegibility, but there are several series at least that are pretty terrific. I'm sure there are more that I haven't linked that are also good, but I think I'm sick of sifting.
The Newlyweds' Baby is a funnypapers-style sexually dimorphic strip about a couple whose baby (Napoleon) is an unbearable little beast, but they are entirely oblivious to this.
Barney Google turned into the dull hillbilly newspaper strip we have now so gradually I didn't even notice! No, actually it was pretty obvious, and I wouldn't recommend reading past 1929. Before that it's a classic loafer story, wherein Barney Google tries to win money with his horse, and succeeds and fails seemingly at random. I enjoy the style.
Doesn't It Seem Strange is sort of a 'They'll Do It Every Time' for 1903-4, only with pretty impressive art and lettering. Also it's focussed on hilarious old-timey behavior, naturally.
The Hurry Up New Yorker is one-joke, but it's sort of a cute joke which entails a lot of amusing rushing-around poses. Every strip spends most of its real estate on depicting New Yorkers running around and claiming to everyone that they are in a terrible hurry, only to end up doing some small thing for either one, two, three, or twenty-three hours in the end (to the consternation of all). Mostly read it for the art, which is pretty charming.
Foxy Grandpa is, fortunately, not what it sounds like; it's 'foxy' in the sense of 'wise' or 'clever'. It's sort of a reverse Max & Moritz story wherein children try to play tricks on their grandfather, but he is always too smart for them. The best part is his 'ho ho, boys, what wacky crap are you engaging in to-day?' faux-innocent behavior upon 'finding' them soaked with water or tied up with fishing line after their unsuccessful attempts on his dignity.
Diary of Snubs, Our Dog is, as the summary reads, almost offensively cute (if you decide to read it, you can skip the first year; it's harder to read and less interesting). It's the story of a puppy who is strangely cognizant of most of his owner's wishes, and not only instructions given, but intent behind them. He's an oddly resourceful puppy who thinks at the level of maybe a particularly well-adjusted six-year old child, bears malice toward none, and spreads goodwill and love all over the damn place. Things relentlessly turn out for the best. There are hints of a slightly darker world on occasion, though, such as the neighborhood dog (Togo) whom I'm fairly sure used to be a pit fighter. Oh, and these strips show pretty good illustrations of model/rival instruction.
Sometimes the strips are just weird, like Poor Little Income which personifies the concepts of income and expense as children, and is... just... weird.
Here's a fun, short one: Cinderella Suze. It's a one-trick pony, but the cultural gap and era-indicative art are pretty cute. Oh, smart-mouthed proto-flapper. Truly you must win out in the end.
My favorite of those I have read is easily Ella Cinders, of which a year's worth is available (the plot is ongoing, and the site doesn't have the strips all the way to the end, so if the lack of a concise wrap-up is going to bother you, beware. But if you are only going to follow one of these links, this should be it). The art is charming, though with less of the physicality alluded to by the site's reference to Will Elder, but the real fun is the dialog. Everyone's speech is crammed full of nigh-hard-boiled similes and clevernesses, and it's really a lot of fun to read. (The wordplay is even acknowledged in-world a couple of times, which is amusing.) Here's a random example, but really each strip is equally well-put-together. Toward the end of the archived strips there is a courtroom segment, which is a difficult thing to do in the format, and the creator obviously gets a little excited about the dialog (there are a couple of strips that are essentially just scripts) but usually this isn't a problem.
And I will close with an AAAAGH. The Terrors of the Tiny Tads is by turns horrifying and unfortunate.
The Newlyweds' Baby is a funnypapers-style sexually dimorphic strip about a couple whose baby (Napoleon) is an unbearable little beast, but they are entirely oblivious to this.
Barney Google turned into the dull hillbilly newspaper strip we have now so gradually I didn't even notice! No, actually it was pretty obvious, and I wouldn't recommend reading past 1929. Before that it's a classic loafer story, wherein Barney Google tries to win money with his horse, and succeeds and fails seemingly at random. I enjoy the style.
Doesn't It Seem Strange is sort of a 'They'll Do It Every Time' for 1903-4, only with pretty impressive art and lettering. Also it's focussed on hilarious old-timey behavior, naturally.
The Hurry Up New Yorker is one-joke, but it's sort of a cute joke which entails a lot of amusing rushing-around poses. Every strip spends most of its real estate on depicting New Yorkers running around and claiming to everyone that they are in a terrible hurry, only to end up doing some small thing for either one, two, three, or twenty-three hours in the end (to the consternation of all). Mostly read it for the art, which is pretty charming.
Foxy Grandpa is, fortunately, not what it sounds like; it's 'foxy' in the sense of 'wise' or 'clever'. It's sort of a reverse Max & Moritz story wherein children try to play tricks on their grandfather, but he is always too smart for them. The best part is his 'ho ho, boys, what wacky crap are you engaging in to-day?' faux-innocent behavior upon 'finding' them soaked with water or tied up with fishing line after their unsuccessful attempts on his dignity.
Diary of Snubs, Our Dog is, as the summary reads, almost offensively cute (if you decide to read it, you can skip the first year; it's harder to read and less interesting). It's the story of a puppy who is strangely cognizant of most of his owner's wishes, and not only instructions given, but intent behind them. He's an oddly resourceful puppy who thinks at the level of maybe a particularly well-adjusted six-year old child, bears malice toward none, and spreads goodwill and love all over the damn place. Things relentlessly turn out for the best. There are hints of a slightly darker world on occasion, though, such as the neighborhood dog (Togo) whom I'm fairly sure used to be a pit fighter. Oh, and these strips show pretty good illustrations of model/rival instruction.
Sometimes the strips are just weird, like Poor Little Income which personifies the concepts of income and expense as children, and is... just... weird.
Here's a fun, short one: Cinderella Suze. It's a one-trick pony, but the cultural gap and era-indicative art are pretty cute. Oh, smart-mouthed proto-flapper. Truly you must win out in the end.
My favorite of those I have read is easily Ella Cinders, of which a year's worth is available (the plot is ongoing, and the site doesn't have the strips all the way to the end, so if the lack of a concise wrap-up is going to bother you, beware. But if you are only going to follow one of these links, this should be it). The art is charming, though with less of the physicality alluded to by the site's reference to Will Elder, but the real fun is the dialog. Everyone's speech is crammed full of nigh-hard-boiled similes and clevernesses, and it's really a lot of fun to read. (The wordplay is even acknowledged in-world a couple of times, which is amusing.) Here's a random example, but really each strip is equally well-put-together. Toward the end of the archived strips there is a courtroom segment, which is a difficult thing to do in the format, and the creator obviously gets a little excited about the dialog (there are a couple of strips that are essentially just scripts) but usually this isn't a problem.
And I will close with an AAAAGH. The Terrors of the Tiny Tads is by turns horrifying and unfortunate.
