''Morty Meekle'' is 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 ...

syndicated newspaper

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 was published between 1956 and 1966, created and produced by

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

Dick Cavalli Richard A. Cavalli (September 28, 1923 – October 16, 1997)Richard A. Cavalli
at the Fritzi Ritz ''Fritzi Ritz'' is an American comic strip created in 1922 by Larry Whittington. In 1925, the strip was taken over by Ernie Bushmiller and, in 1938, the daily strip evolved into the popular '' Nancy''. The Sunday edition of the strip, begun by Bu ...

'', which became '' Nancy'' after sixteen years, evolved to focus on the younger characters from Cavalli's strip, and was renamed ''Morty Meekle and Winthrop'' and then just '' Winthrop'' on February 27, 1966.

Publication history

Gag cartoonist

Dick Cavalli Richard A. Cavalli (September 28, 1923 – October 16, 1997)Richard A. Cavalli
at the The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'' and ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

''—had achieved such popularity by 1956 that ''

Writer's Digest ''Writer's Digest'' is an American magazine aimed at beginning and established writers. It contains interviews, market listings, calls for manuscripts, and how-to articles. History ''Writer's Digest'' was first published in December 1920 under ...

'' observed he had "risen to the top faster than any other cartoonist in the business."Wepman, Dennis, in On January 9 of that year, Cavalli launched

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...

's syndicated comic strip '' Morty Meekle'', featuring the courtship of the title character and his girlfriend, Jill Wortle, as well as Morty's travails at his low-level office job under boss E.G. Boomer.''Morty Meekle'' (''Winthrop'')
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 March 10, 2015. The strip gradually deemphasized the romance and work aspects in favor of what comics historian

Maurice Horn Maurice Horn (born 1931) is a French-American comics historian, author, and editor, considered to be one of the first serious academics to study comics. He is the editor of ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'', ''The World Encyclopedia of Cartoon ...

called its "background chorus of snide youngsters with a perceptive take on the human condition." On February 27, 1966, Cavalli removed the adult characters and renamed the strip ''Winthrop'', after Jill's kid brother, the most prominent of the young social critics.

Cast

* Morty Meekle – office worker * Jill Wortle – Morty's girlfriend * Mr. and Mrs. Wortle – Jill's parents * Winthrop Wortle – Jill's kid brother * E. G. Boomer – Morty's boss

Paperback collections

*Cavalli, Dick, "Morty Meekle",

Dell Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

collection – 1957

Publication history

Cast

Paperback collections

References

External links

Further reading