Giving paleontologists conniption attacks

[dr_hermes]

Another classic strip I would like to see get a big revival. Perhaps a Hollywood movie, whether a clunker or not, would at least get a few reprint albums in the book stores and mentions of the original comic in the newspapers and magazines. Alley Oop reminds me of Popeye, in so many ways (aside from the grotesque forearms and lower legs... I mean,

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

Your header suggests that you might be aware that Stephen Jay Gould nursed a lifelong grudge against ALLEY OOP. As a child at summer camp, he and a campmate got into a furious argument over whether humans and dinosaurs co-existed, deciding to pose the question to an adult, and betting a Hershey bar on the outcome (you may also recall Gould's passionate chocolate jones.)

The counselor's reply? Of course humans and dinosaurs existed at the same time...just look at ALLEY OOP. (Unfortunately, given only Gould's account of the exchange, we have no way of knowing how seriously that remark was intended; the impulse to pull innocent kids' legs can be a powerful one.)

[dr_hermes]

I've read some Stephen Jay Gould books over the years, although that story doesn't sound familiar. You can certainly see how a conversation like that would nettle the young Gould and stick in his mind for years. And of course, today in this country, there are some people who literally believe humans and dinosaurs co-existed and for them ONE MILLION YEARS BC is not far-fetched at all.

[full_metal_ox]

As evidenced by this attraction in the Cincinnati area.

[dr_hermes]

Well, at least they're not claiming that there weren't any dinosaurs and that fossils are frauds planted by Satan to test our faith. So that's something.