Tributes to the late Johnny Hart have been pouring in over the past few days, the most intersesting perhaps being this NY Times piece:
“B.C.” was subtler and more sardonic. In the beginning, especially, it owed something to the “black humor” of the early ’60s, and in some classic strips, like the one in which “B.C.” discovers fire yet again, it made fun of the very conventions of caveman humor or time-travel jokes. B.C. and his gang weren’t so much cave people as they were timeless human beings who just happened to find themselves in the Stone Age — a revelation that came naturally to Mr. Hart because he didn’t believe in evolution. “The absurdity of it all is beyond reason,” he said once.
The news that the strip will continue hasn’t sat well with a number of folks. I linked earlier to The Comics Curmudgeon’s request for the strip to come to a peaceful end, and now Editor and Publisher has an article on the issue. This leads Tom at CR to ponder the question of “legacy strips.”
We have to remember that legacy strips are possible largely because of the conservative nature of the newspaper strip business, the way features bleed clients slowly as long as nothing drastically different happens on the page. And they are desirable in certain cases because of the tremendous amounts of money involved. That’s why many cartoonists can shift a strip to other people, perhaps with the thought of continuing the strip after their passing, or perhaps so they can play more golf, run a related business or pursue another creative opportunity. But I think if you really look at what you’re getting, even at best, the opportunity to negotiate a period of decline becomes an odd legacy to pursue. In most cases the collective memory focuses on the vital periods and puts the legacy there, not on the current product. Fantagraphics is collecting EC Segar’s Popeye, not Bobby London’s. The highlight reels don’t show Joe Namath playing with the Los Angeles Rams.
April 11th, 2007 at 11:33 am
My paper’s comic section is all reprints.
Garfield, Dick Tracy, Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, now BC…
Only dead and retired cartoonists are allowed to work.
April 11th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
While its syndicate didn’t have the respect to let Peanuts end with its creator, they at least didn’t hand it to someone else to mimic Schulz’ work. The thought of B.C. continuing as an undead strip of re-lettered clip-art is so very sad….