''Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers'' was an American
gag-a-day
A gag-a-day comic strip
A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of ...
celebrity comics
Celebrity comics are comics based on the fame and popularity of a celebrity.De Weyer, Geert, "België gestript",Standaard Uitgeverij, 2014. They are a byproduct of merchandising around a certain media star or franchise and have existed since the ma ...
comic strip by Stuart Carothers
[Carothers entry]
Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Retrieved March 11, 2021. and later
Elzie C. Segar starring
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...
. It ran in syndication from March 29, 1915, until September 16, 1917.
It was one of the earliest comic strips inspired by the popularity of a
celebrity
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...
.
Background
''Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers'' was published in the
''Chicago Herald''. The comic strip cashed in on the tremendous popularity of the comedian at the time. It was created by Stewart W. Carothers in March 1915,
[ who drew and wrote the stories until his tragic early death from ]defenestration
Defenestration (from Neo-Latin ) is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window.
The term was coined around the time of an incident in Prague Castle in the year 1618 which became the spark that started the Thirty Years' War. This ...
.["ASK THE ARCHIVIST : CHARLIE CHAPLIN’S COMIC CAPERS,"](_blank)
''Comics Kingdom'' (September 24, 2015). On February 29, 1916, Segar published his first Chaplin strip. The daily version ran until July 15, 1916. His Sunday version ran longer, from March 12, 1916, until September 16, 1917. It was his first professional cartooning job. Contrary to his predecessors, who mostly borrowed ideas from Chaplin's films, Segar thought up his own jokes. He gave Chaplin a tiny sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion or colleague who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to those whom they accompany.
Origins
The first recorded use of the term dates from 1896. It is believed to have originated in pickpocket slang of ...
named ''"Luke the Gook"'' to act as a straight man
The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically ...
to his gags.
Collections
In 1917, five books were published by M.A. Donohue & Co., in 'Best of' style collections. Four of them being painting/coloring books
A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media. ...
. These books are considered to be from the Platinum Age.
Reception
Despite Chaplin's popularity, the comic strip wasn't a huge success in the United States, mostly due to the fact that all artists involved were basically amateurs.
See also
* '' Inside Woody Allen'', another newspaper comic strip based on a comedic film performer.
* Charlie Chaplin comics
Charlie Chaplin comics have been published in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Charlie Chaplin comic strips first appeared in 1915 in the U.S. and the U.K., cashing in on the tremendous popularity of the comedian at the time; they ...
References
External links
Charley Chaplin's Comic Capers, A Collection
"Teary Eyes" Anderson in Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers: Series 1, No. 315.
Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers v1 315
* U'Ren, Christine
Silent San Francisco (Oct. 19, 2015).
1915 comics debuts
1917 comics endings
American comic strips
Comics based on films
Comic strips based on real people
Comic strips set in the United States
Cultural depictions of Charlie Chaplin
Defunct American comics
Gag-a-day comics
Slapstick comedy
Public domain comics
Comic strips started in the 1910s
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