''Howard Huge'' is a cartoon series written by

Bunny Hoest Bunny Hoest (born 1932), sometimes labeled The Cartoon Lady, is the writer of several comic strips, including '' The Lockhorns'', ''Laugh Parade'', and '' Howard Huge'', the first of which she inherited from her late husband Bill Hoest.King Featur ...

and illustrated by

John Reiner John Reiner (born 1956) is a cartoonist who collaborates with writer Bunny Hoest on three cartoon series: '' The Lockhorns'', syndicated by King Features, and ''Laugh Parade'' and '' Howard Huge'' (both for ''Parade'' magazine). Life and career ...

. Created by

Bill Hoest William Pierce Hoest (February 7, 1926 – November 7, 1988) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of the gag panel series, '' The Lockhorns'', distributed by King Features Syndicate to 500 newspapers in 23 countries, and ''Laugh ...

, the series had 80 million readers, since it ran in the Sunday supplement magazine, ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' from 1980 to 2007, continuing on a website.

Characters and story

The single-panel cartoons feature Howard Huge, an enormous but lovable dog, his family and neighborhood kids. Karen L. Miller, writing in the ''Reading Eagle'' (October 9, 1983), described the dog: :Howard is a pleasant, likable Saint Bernard, who by his very size, gets in the way of the family he lives with, and sometimes, Howard even gets in his own way. He envelops the sofa just by sitting on it. He bathes guests when he only means to show his affection. He befriends animals and almost kills them. Yes. Howard is a friend to man and beast alike; the only thing is nobody knows it... Howard's humorous experiences show us family life at its funniest. According to Bunny Hoest, the character was based on a real pet acquired when the family was looking for a Labrador Retriever as a companion to an aging black Lab. The kennel was vibrant with lively Labrador puppies, but a quiet, little animal was alone in a small cage. When they took the furry, disheveled dog out for a stretch, he tried his paws and immediately sprawled on his belly.''Howard Huge'' official site
/ref> The kennel owner speculated that the dog had been sent to the wrong kennel (where he remained unwanted) and had been taken from his mother too soon in the breeder's haste to find a Christmas buyer. The family was appalled, and with something less than enthusiasm, they kept looking at the playful Labrador puppies. But the littlest girl held the disheveled dog on her shoulder, where he promptly fell asleep. Without being able to come to a decision, the family started to leave and told her to put the dog back. The good-natured animal kissed her face and lay quietly alone. The family was captivated. This good-natured, placid puppy was a Saint Bernard who eventually became an enormous, loyal and lovable member of the family for the next 13 years. ''Howard Huge'' is based on that Saint Bernard.Miller, Karen L. "Young Readers," ''Reading Eagle'', October 9, 1983.
/ref>

Books

The collection, ''Howard Huge'', was published by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

in 1982. Bunny Hoest did the character as a children's book, ''Howard Huge Comes to Stay'', published by Random House Books for Young Readers in 1992.

Television

Howard Huge was mentioned in an episode of ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

''. It was in Season 7, Episode 11, ''Not All Dogs Go to Heaven''.

References

{{reflist

External links

''Howard Huge''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia 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 Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on February 5, 2016. American comic strips 1980 comics debuts 2007 comics endings Gag-a-day comics Gag cartoon comics Fictional dogs Male characters in comics Comics about dogs Comics characters introduced in 1980