Comics Reflect Society

COMIC STRIP A REFLECTION OF SOCIETY, NEW FIELD OF RESEARCH

     COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It's a laugh.

     But it's more than that -- and always has been.

     The comic strip, from the very beginning, was more than
something to tickle the funny bone, according to Lucy S. Caswell,
associate professor in University Libraries and journalism at The
Ohio State University.  Since the beginning, comic strips have
combined art with words to describe the society and times in
which they were drawn.  And, they were often full of political
satire, something most associated with editorial cartoons.

     As the nation gets ready to celebrate the centennial of the
newspaper comic strip in 1995, Caswell says the funnies are an
important tool for the study of communication and history, not
only humor and art.

     Caswell is curator of the Cartoon, Graphic, and Photographic
Arts Research Library.  The library is the world's largest
academic repository of cartoon art, with more than 200,000
original works by more than 1,000 artists.

     "We have a teaching responsibility to increase public
awareness of this very important art and communication form," she
said.

     Comic strips consist of a sequence of published drawings
that contain speech within the drawing, often in a balloon, and
continuing characters.  Traditionally, they were distinguished
from editorial cartoons by usually having a series of panels and
going for the laugh, whereas editorial cartoons usually had one
panel with political commentary in the illustration.  Editorial
cartoons were rarely funny or intended to be funny.

     But those distinctions have blurred.

     "In recent years, the use of humor in editorial cartoons is
much more prevalent than it used to be," says Caswell.  "More
people are using a series of little pictures in their editorial
cartoons and going for laughs, which are not necessarily
related," Caswell said.  "Jules Feifer does a series of drawings
quite often, but he doesn't do gag cartoons.  Usually, his work
is very biting."

     "I'm also amused that people think having political comment
in comic strips is inappropriate.  Political comment is in the
eye of the beholder.  What you may think is political comment, I
might not."

     Caswell points to "Steve Canyon" which depicted life in the
Air Force.

     "Milton Caniff was political, but it depended on whether you
agreed with him.  If you supported the military, you didn't think
about it.  If you had questions about the military's presence or
role, you did."

     Cathy Guisewhite drew a series of "Cathy" strips that
described her views on day care issues when Michael Dukakis ran
against George Bush for president.

     "People were outraged and some editors yanked her strip off
the comics page," Caswell said.  "That's silly.  There's
political comment in other strips."

     There pretty much always has been.  Usually the comment was
more gentle than in editorial cartoons, Caswell said, and some of
it was simply satire.

     "Andy Gump ('The Gumps') ran for Congress in 1922 and Barney
Google ran for president in 1928.  That was all silly stuff.  Yet
on another level it was satire.  The artists were making fun of
the system," she said.  "'Doonesbury' is very political.  Walt
Kelly (creator of 'Pogo') was political.  Al Capp's 'Li'l Abner'
had plenty of political and social satire."

     The comic strip is a reflection of American life, Caswell
said.  Although full of political and social satire, most of them
reflect mainstream values.

     "They're intended for the family medium for the most part,"
she said.  "'Buck Rogers' and 'Prince Valiant' were heroic.  They
stood for values that were important at the time."

     Comic strips also reflect social change.  Examples are the
increase in the number of female characters in the work force and
the nature of problems in public schools.

     "Blondie and Lois got jobs.  'Sally Forth' is about a career
woman.  These comic strips show changes in family relationships,"
Caswell said.  "'Blondie,' which started in the '30s, shows a
different family relationship than 'Sally Forth' or 'For Better
or For Worse.'"

     Tom Batiuk has discussed social issues such as teen
pregnancy, teacher strikes, and other problems in public
education in "Funky Winkerbean."

     "People don't stop to think about those things in comic
strips.  That's why they're so interesting to look at," Caswell
said.  "You can learn a lot about the Depression and World War II
from reading comic strips.  To know how deep popular support was
for that war, you can look at the comic strips.

     The resources are available at Ohio State.  While once
frowned on as a field of academic study, research into cartoon
art is growing.  Current research activities at the Ohio State
library include studies on editorial cartooning and censorship in
World War I, environmental editorial cartoons and public
awareness, and comic strip theatricals from "The Yellow Kid" to
"Annie."

                                #
                                
Contact:  Lucy S. Caswell, (614) 292-0538.
Written by Tom Spring, (614) 292-8309.


[Submitted by: REIDV  (reidv@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Tue, 03 Jan 1995 15:54:53 -0500 (EST)]
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