''Conchy'' was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

that ran from March 2, 1970 to February 5, 1977 (daily) and March 13, 1977 (Sunday). Set on a desert island with a group of beachcombers as the main characters, the strip addressed serious issues of its time.

Publication history

James Childress (April 13, 1941 – January 22, 1977) created ''Conchy'' in the early 1960s as an homage to his love of

beachcombing Beachcombing is an activity that consists of an individual "combing" (or searching) the beach and the intertidal zone, looking for things of value, interest or utility. A beachcomber is a person who participates in the activity of beachcombing. ...

. By 1962, Childress was pitching the strip to

syndicates A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...

with no results. Eventually, he started marketing it directly to newspapers under the business name Corinthian Features. Through this, ''Conchy'' began its newspaper run on March 2, 1970. By 1974, ''Conchy'' was appearing in 26 papers, finally attracting a syndicate's interest, from

Field Newspaper Syndicate The Field Newspaper Syndicate was a syndication service based in Chicago that operated independently from 1941 to 1984, for a good time under the name the Chicago Sun-Times Syndicate. The service was founded by Marshall Field III and was part of F ...

, who signed Childress up that year. His client list increased to over 150 papers. During this time,

Tempo Books Grosset & Dunlap is a New York City-based publishing house founded in 1898. The company was purchased by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1982 and today is part of Penguin Random House through its subsidiary Penguin Group. Today, through the Penguin Gro ...

published three collections of ''Conchy'' dailies: ''Conchy, Man of the Now''; ''Conchy on the Half-Shell'' (abridged from the first book, with new material added); and ''Conchy, Living in Tomorrow's Past''.

Brant Parker Brant Julian Parker (August 26, 1920 – April 15, 2007) was an American cartoonist. He co-created and drew ''The Wizard of Id'' comic strip until passing the job on to his son, Jeff Parker, in 1997. Cartoonist Johnny Hart, his co-creator, ...

, creator of ''

The Wizard of Id ''The Wizard of Id'' is a daily newspaper comic strip created by American cartoonists Brant Parker and Johnny Hart. Beginning November 16, 1964, the strip follows the antics of a large cast of characters in a shabby medieval kingdom called "Id" ...

'', provided a foreword to Childress's first book, calling him a born cartoonist: "This book is just another step on his way to the top." Field Enterprises wanted Childress to content himself with simpler gags rather than his frequent serious musings. When Childress refused, Field Enterprises severed its partnership with him in 1976, and Childress returned to self-syndication. Despite an initial dip immediately after this, ''Conchys newspaper circulation soon reached an all-time high, achieving modest commercial success. Facing family and financial difficulties in addition to a custody battle with his ex-wife, Childress committed suicide in 1977. The daily run ended on February 5, 1977, and the last

Sunday strip The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...

was published March 13, 1977. (Sunday)

Story and characters

''Conchy'' consisted of both typical gag strips and strips about serious subjects like nuclear proliferation, political corruption and death. These ruminations were usually courtesy of either Conchy or Oom Paul, as both characters were highly individual thinkers. * Conchy — Pronounced "konk-ee" (referring to

conch Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Am ...

s) - an Everyman beachcomber * Oom Paul — A pipe-smoking, somewhat cynical individual who self-assuredly assumes the position as mentor to the small island clan * Bug — A rugged-looking but gentle individual who enjoys life to the fullest simply because he never gives much serious thought to anything * Patch and Duff — A pair of twin troublemakers who live in a cave * Sea urchin — Philosopher of the

tide pools A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide. Many tide pool habitats are home to especially adaptable animals that ...

, thoughtful but quiet * The islanders — The original residents of Conchy's island, the islanders co-exist peacefully with the beachcombers, but they are constantly plagued with a never-ending hot- and cold-running war with the inhabitants of the neighboring East Island * The king — The ruler of Conchy's island and cousin to the king in ''

Analysis

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series ''Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and bl ...

and

Sergio Aragonés Sergio Aragonés Domenech ( , ; born September 6, 1937) is a Spanish/Mexican cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to '' Mad'' magazine and creating the comic book ''Groo the Wanderer''. Among his peers and fans, Aragonés is w ...

are among comics professionals who feel ''Conchy'' deserves wider attention today. Evanier wrote in his blog on December 29, 2005, "I'd like to see someone do a big book that collected the entirety of ''Conchy'', a short-lived but wonderful newspaper strip." The next day he noted that Aragonés concurred.Evanier, Mark. News from ME, December 29, 2005.

References

{{Reflist

Bibliography

Drawgerpedia: ''Conchy''
1970 comics debuts 1977 comics endings American comics characters American comic strips Comics characters introduced in 1970 Gag-a-day comics Slice of life comics Comics set on uninhabited islands