''Boob McNutt'' was a

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...

which ran from June 9, 1918 to September 23, 1934. It was syndicated by the

McNaught Syndicate The McNaught Syndicate was an American newspaper syndicate founded in 1922. It was established by Virgil Venice McNitt (who gave it his name) and Charles V. McAdam. Its best known contents were the columns by Will Rogers and O. O. McIntyre, the ' ...

from 1922 until the end of its run.

Publication history

Comics historian

Don Markstein Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonop ...

traced the history of the strip:

Story and characters

Boob McNutt was a clumsy,

buffoon A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...

ish fellow who was quite friendly and attempted to be helpful in his incompetent way. He was entrusted with tasks like caring for priceless works of art and the

Elixir of Immortality The elixir of life, also known as elixir of immortality, is a potion that supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth. This elixir was also said to cure all diseases. Alchemists in various ages and cultures sought the means ...

, tasks in which he inevitably failed, usually in a destructive manner. From 1922 to 1926, the strip focused on Boob's pursuit of his true love Pearl, whom he finally married, then divorced, then married again and divorced again. Goldberg inserted supporting characters from his other strips, including ''

Mike and Ike (They Look Alike) ''Mike and Ike (They Look Alike)'' was a comic strip by Rube Goldberg, who introduced the identical twin characters in the ''San Francisco Bulletin'' on September 29, 1907. The strip was syndicated by the McClure Syndicate from March 9, 1913, to ...

'' and ''Bertha the Siberian Cheesehound''. In 1934, he even brought in Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, inventor of those famed Rube Goldberg machines, for a brief sojourn before the strip was cancelled. The strip had several Sunday toppers over the course of its run, including: ''Bertha the Siberian Cheesehound'' (Jan 10-July 4, 1926), ''Bill and Professor Butts'' (July 11, 1926 - Sept 23, 1934), ''Boob McNutt's Ark'' (Jan 8, 1933 - Feb 4, 1934), ''Are You Saving Jokers?'' (Feb 11-May 13, 1934) and ''Boob McNutt's Geography'' (May 20-Sept 23, 1934).

Legacy

In his seminal 1923 essay, "The Seven Lively Arts",

Gilbert Seldes Gilbert Vivian Seldes (; January 3, 1893 – September 29, 1970) was an American writer and cultural critic. Seldes served as the editor and drama critic of the seminal modernist magazine ''The Dial'' and hosted the NBC television program '' The ...

called ''Boob McNutt'' "the least worthy of Rube Goldberg's astonishing creations". Boob was vindicated, however, when he was featured on the front cover of ''

Nemo Nemo may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Games * ''Nemo'' (arcade game), a 1990 arcade game by Capcom based on ''Little Nemo'' * NEMO (video game console), an unreleased console Music * Nemo (American band), an indie rock band * Nemo ...

'' #24.

References

Sources

* Strickler, Dave. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index.'' Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. {{ISBN, 0-9700077-0-1 1915 comics debuts 1934 comics endings McNutt, Boob American comic strips Gag-a-day comics McNutt, Boob McNutt, Boob