Comic Strip AdsIn 1933 Charles Chaplin wrote about the
comic strip in society: “In a troubled world
such as is the one in which we live, comic
strips have become a powerful force to
divert the public: to such a degree, in fact,
that newspaper circulation depends largely
upon their popularity. A comic artist is,
therefore, lost if he does not reflect the
public mind and appeal to the masses.” At
the same time cultural critic Gilbert Seldes
wrote: “The comic strip is the most
despised art form, yet with the exception of
the movies it is also the most popular.”
The comics offered diversions
from daily life. They offered new heroes
and antiheroes, spoke new languages and
dialects, and fueled the imagination in ways
unequaled by any other mass form. “The
readership of the comics is one of the
amazing phenomena of our contemporary
society... ,” wrote advertising analyst
Harvey Zorbaugh. “Readership surveys indicate that every week more
than sixty million adult men and women pore over the Sunday comic
supplement.” Everyone identified with comic characters—kids dressed
like Buster Brown and parents named their babies Snookums after the
character in The Newlyweds. Comic characters were like real people. In the
late 1920 s and 1930 s, as comics became less comical and more dramatic
(e.g.,Mary Worth), they also hit hard and hit home on the basic themes of
human nature.
The comic strip has always been a democratic form. Its word/
image construction invites easy access and is, therefore, an ideal vehicle for
promoting ideas. Not surprisingly, during the 1930 s—and lasting well into
the 1950 s—the comic strip was used to sell products as diverse as vegetable
shortening, laundry detergent, acne medicine, breakfast cereal, light bulbs,
toothpaste, towels, and automobiles. A few of the ads were penned by the
masters themselves, but most were produced by anonymous copyists or406