Gasoline Alley by Jim Scancarelli

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  1. jumbobrain

    jumbobrainGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    Hey! Why is it in color all of a sudden?? Still, glad to see the old comics fellas. Scancarelli renders them quite well. In black and white or color.

  2. barticle35

    barticle35Genius_badge said, 23 days ago

    I miss ol’ Smoky.

  3. toasteroven

    toasteroven said, 23 days ago

    My biggest problem with the old comics home is that, while it’s an interesting idea, I don’t think it’s executed well. At all. It’s essentially just a bunch of references thrown together without rhyme or reason.

    Ah well. Maybe we’ll see Pogo and Krazy Kat. It’d be better than nothing.

  4. jumbobrain

    jumbobrainGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    toaster, I’m curious, what would you consider a better execution? Obviously Scancarelli rolls all these old characters into his own style…but when you consider the vast range of individual styles these sources represent, I don’t know if any single cartoonist could put rhyme or reason to it any more than he does. Me, I’m just glad he’s doing it…his affection for the history of the medium is obvious.

  5. vasgar1

    vasgar1 said, 23 days ago

    I wonder if Calvin and Hobbs or any Far Side characters are wandering around aimlessly in there?

  6. toasteroven

    toasteroven said, 23 days ago

    Listen, I agree with you in one respect. These old comics deserve attention, and I’m glad that Scancarelli is giving it to them.

    But what I mean by a better execution is.. well, the last time he worked in the old comics home, it was just a string of references, as I said.* As in, “here’s a character from Li’l Abner. And now here’s one from Mutt and Jeff! Isn’t that funny?” He couldn’t even, as I recall, match the unique cadence of Krazy Kat’s speech. I want more than just references.

    Also, it seemed to me like there was little effort put into tying them to a story; the references were the story, such as it was.

    I’d like to see more depth, more of an attempt to make this feel real, while still retaining the otherworldly quality. In short, I’d like to see more story.

    Respectfully yours, Toasteroven.

    *If you think I am wrong about this, correct me. My memory might be misleading me. That’s not sarcasm. I want to hear what you think.

  7. cvuco

    cvuco said, 23 days ago

    Does anybody remember a cartoon movie from the 70s that featured all the King Features characters? Scancarelli should try something like that.

  8. Wallcloud

    Wallcloud said, 23 days ago

    Foo Foo Notery Sojack

  9. axe-grinder

    axe-grinderGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    Better get someone sensible like Mary Perkins on the line.

  10. Xrystalia

    XrystaliaGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    Color added for the upcoming colorful characters?

  11. oldbooger

    oldbooger said, 23 days ago

    Outstanding! I love it!

  12. Ravenswing

    Ravenswing said, 23 days ago

    Heh, I think Calvin would distress the poor old comics badly; Mutt & Jeff probably wouldn’t handle the little sociopath well!

  13. vasaaaa

    vasaaaa said, 23 days ago

    Is Pogo old enough for the home? I sure miss the smamp folks.

  14. Madman2001

    Madman2001 said, 23 days ago

    I would agree with Toasteroven. It would be nice if there were some linkage between the characters. For example, what if Jeff and Smokey were playing poker with Mammy Yokum and getting snookered?

    … something more than just a series of cameo appearances..

    BTW, I note that a lot of strips, including Annie, are colorized today. I like it in Annie. Not so sure about Gasoline Alley.

  15. Macushlalondra

    MacushlalondraGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    Guess you’re going to have to go over there Gertie. This guy doesn’t hear so well.

  16. axe-grinder

    axe-grinderGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    I wonder if this will turn out to be a dream. Maybe Gertie passed out during her routine with the Cackle Sisters, and everything since will be not “real”…

  17. whmIII

    whmIII said, 23 days ago

    Pleasant change…

  18. axe-grinder

    axe-grinderGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    Anyone remember the dates of the last visit(s) to the Home?

  19. Joe Allen Doty

    Joe Allen Doty said, 23 days ago

    The “Mutt and Jeff” comic strip started in 1907.

    “Gasoline Alley” began about 11 years later.

    “Smokey Stover” was turned into a paneled comic strip in the 1930s.

    In the world of newspaper comic strips, characters who appeared on the same comic pages would know each other.

    That’s Notary Sojac which was supposed to be Gaelic for “Merry Christmas.”

  20. BlitzMcD

    BlitzMcD said, 23 days ago

    Irrespective of all of the particulars connected with Mutt And Jeff, Krazy Kat and all of the other classic comics, it’s great to see them again in any context. My hat is off to Maestro Scancarelli.

  21. ctb

    ctb said, 23 days ago

    Color or no, story line or references, it is very nostalgic for someone who grew up following the daily comics in the ‘40’s. May I have some more, please?

  22. crunkbot

    crunkbot said, 23 days ago

    Bud Fisher, the creator of Mutt & Jeff was egregiously racist.

    Just sayin’… irony and such.

  23. Chikuku

    ChikukuGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    C’est la vie, said the old folks.

    Love the color, the surrealism, and everything else about this!

  24. barticle35

    barticle35Genius_badge said, 23 days ago

    Wonder if Jeff got that hat from Dick Tracy?

  25. channce

    channce said, 23 days ago

    I’ll bet the real Dick Tracy is around there somewhere. If not, maybe Fearless Fosdick can help find Walt.

  26. boldyuma

    boldyuma said, 23 days ago

    Tidler seems to be missing out on the “colors”
    being added to gocomics…haven’t heard his comments in a while….

  27. Susan001

    Susan001 said, 23 days ago

    This aspect of the story line just started; there’s time to “connect” them.
    Meanwhile, it’s fun to try to guess who’ll show up. I believe Moon Mullins and Sad Sack are there.

  28. Deborah Reyes

    Deborah ReyesGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    Some “old” comics you can still see on line:

    Comics on Creators has Archie, among others:
    http://www.creators.com/comics/cat-seeall.html

    Yahoo News has Nancy, Ferdn’nand and Alley Oop - plus a host of others
    http://news.yahoo.com/comics/born-loser

    Houston Chronicle has
    Archie, Judge Parker, Mark Trail, Mary Worth, Popeye, Rex Morgan,M.D., and Snuffy Smith, to name a few
    http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComics.mpl

    JS On line has
    Katzenjammer Kids, Prince Valiant, Henry, Hazel, Popeye, Judge Parker, Mary worth, Mark Trail, Barney Google, Rex Morgan,, M.D. and many others
    http://www.jsonline.com/comics/

    The really old-time comics are part of a feature called Comic Kingdom. Actually, a lot of newspapers, including the Denver Post, have been experimenting with Comic Kingdom - but I think that JS Online (Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel) has decided to make the Comic Kingdom a permanent feature on their web page.

    If you choose one of the really old-time comics first - such as Katzenjammer Kids, you will end up on a page with the entire Comic Kingdom line-up. You have an option for choosing your favorites and there is also an option for rating each comic in the Comic Kingdom line-up. I guess that Comic Kingdom also plans to begin including reader comments - because you have an opportunity to choose one of your favorite comic characters as an avatar.

    Houston Chronicle also includes Gasoline Alley in their line-up - but Houston Chronicle does NOT post the Sunday comics any longer. I am not sure why they stopped. Houston Chronicle also used to have a very extensive archive of ALL of their comics, going back into the 40s and 50s. But, for some odd reason, they suddenly stopped offering that service as well. Houston Chronicle also includes an option to “build your own comics page” in the upper right hand corner. You can choose to view comics 4, 6 or 8 per page. You have to remember to bookmark your page when you are finished building your own comics - so that you don’t have to do it all over again every time you visit the Houston Chronicle.

    Someone who visits Gasoline Alley regularly posted a link a couple of Sundays ago to vintage copies of Walt and Skeezix taking their autumn walk. Those were really tremendous, but I forgot to bookmark them. There were a lot of other vintage comics available at that same site. Those copies went back to the 20s, 30s, 40s, etc. That was a genuine treat. What was eye-opening is that one newspaper which was featured on the vintage comics web site was advertising that they had sixteen pages of full color comics on Sunday for a nickle! Old-time newspaper editors were smart enough to know that the comic pages sold newspapers!

  29. axe-grinder

    axe-grinderGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    Thanks for all the tips, Deborah!

  30. Dypak

    DypakGenius_badge said, 23 days ago

    Color. Well, what do you think of that? Hmmm.

    I noted the same thing Madman did, but the other way around. The color in Annie didnt work for me. Here, Gertie never looked better. There is alot more depth and humanity to her drawing today. Not sure if it’s due to the color, or because of the close up panel shot. Either way, she looks much more real. More alive, vibrant.

    I hope no one is offended if I say that this is the first time I’ve really been able to ‘see’ Gertie as being black. As an artist working in a black and white medium it must really be difficult showing something like race without resorting to horrible stereotypical dialogue. Thank you Jim, for never doing that. And thank you for never being blantantly obvious and not using dialogue cues to show her race. Gertie is one of my favorite characters and I hope that all this works out well for her.

    I can’t wait to see Byrd and all the other characters who don’t normally appear in the Sunday strip to show up in color.

  31. shstrng

    shstrng said, 22 days ago

    I don’t know. I like the color with this new story line, but I don’t think I would have liked it, for instance in the recent strips of the old theatre.

  32. mike48

    mike48Genius_badge said, 2 days ago

    deborah reyes houston chronicle dropped the sunday comics years ago because it cost them too much to colorize them