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''Muggs and Skeeter'' was an American
gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip is the style of writing comic cartoons such that every installment of a strip delivers a complete joke or some other kind of artistic statement. It is opposed to story or continuity strips, which rely on the development of ...
daily
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 ...
by
Wally Bishop Wallace Bond Bishop (August 17, 1905 - January 15, 1982), better known as Wally Bishop, was an American cartoonist who drew his syndicated ''Muggs and Skeeter'' comic strip for 47 years. Biography Born in Normal, Illinois, he grew up in Blooming ...
which ran from 1927 to 1974. Originally titled ''Muggs McGinnis'', it was syndicated by the
Central Press Association The Central Press Association was American newspaper syndication company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in business from 1910 to 1971. Originally independent, it was a subsidiary of King Features Syndicate from 1930 onwards. At its peak, the ...
and then
King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...
.


Publication history

The strip started out, syndicated by the
Central Press Association The Central Press Association was American newspaper syndication company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in business from 1910 to 1971. Originally independent, it was a subsidiary of King Features Syndicate from 1930 onwards. At its peak, the ...
, as ''Muggs McGinnis''; it was a virtual clone, in character and tone, of the popular
Percy Crosby Percy Lee CrosbyPercy Lee Crosby
at
Skippy'' (which was syndicated by
King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...
). In April 1936, the strip was taken over by King Features (by that point the corporate parent of the Central Press Association) and re-titled ''Muggs and Skeeter''.Wally Bishop
at the
Lambiek Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...
. Comic strip historian
Allan Holtz Allan Holtz () is a comic strip historian who researches and writes about newspaper comics for his Stripper's Guide blog, launched in 2005. His research encompasses some 7,000 American comic strips and newspaper panels. In addition to his contribu ...
hypothesized that King Features bullpenner
Bil Dwyer William Michael "Bil" Dwyer (born March 30, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian, game show host, actor, and writer. He is perhaps most well known as the host or play-by-play announcer on series such as ''BattleBots,'' ''I've Got a Secret'', an ...
ghosted ''Muggs and Skeeter'' during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, while Wally Bishop was serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Nonetheless, Bishop's name was the only one to ever appear on the strip. Bishop continued to draw ''Muggs and Skeeter'' until 1974, when he retired the strip after a run of 47 years.


Story and characters

The strip drew its material from everyday life, much of it from Bishop's own family. At first stories centered around Muggs McGinnis, notable for his striped shirt and
sweater vest A sweater (North American English) or pullover, also called a jumper (British English and Australian English), ...
printed with a large letter M. Gradually, the strip introduced Muggs' younger brother Skeeter, and the boys' enormous dog HoimanPress, Ivy
''#810 HCA New York Comic and Comic Art''
(Heritage Capital Corporation, 2004), p. 2. (e.g., "Herman" — Skeeter spoke with a Brooklyn accent). The children's primary caretakers were their grandparents.Charland, Glorea
"The 'Muggs and Skeeter' Cartoon Collection of Wally Bishop,"
Nelson Poynter Memorial Library. Special Collections and University Archives, University of South Florida St. Petersburg (Nov. 18, 2014). As the years went by, the two boys aged to reach their teen years.


Comic books

In the late 1940s/early 1950s, ''Muggs and Skeeter'' strips were reprinted in
David McKay Publications David McKay Publications (also known as David McKay Company) was an American book publisher which also published some of the first comic books, including the long-running titles ''Ace Comics'', ''King Comics'', and '' Magic Comics''; as well as ...
' ''
The Katzenjammer Kids ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).Atlas Comics Atlas Comics may refer to * Atlas Comics (1950s) Atlas Comics is the 1950s comic book, comic-book publishing label that evolved into Marvel Comics. Magazine and mass market paperback, paperback novel publisher Martin Goodman (publisher), Martin ...
' ''Super Thriller Comics''.


Archives

A collection of 450 ''Muggs and Skeeter'' original art strips are housed at
University of South Florida St. Petersburg The University of South Florida St. Petersburg is a campus of the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, Florida. Opened in 1965 as a satellite campus of the University of South Florida, it was consolidated with the other two USF campus ...
in the Special Collections and University Archives of the
Nelson Poynter Nelson Poynter (1903–1978) was an American publisher and media proprietor. He was the owner of the Times Publishing Company, and the co-founder of the ''Congressional Quarterly''. He is the namesake of the Poynter Institute. Early life Poynter ...
Memorial Library.


References


External links


''Muggs'' pages
at ComicStripFan 1927 comics debuts 1974 comics endings American comic strips Comic strip duos Gag-a-day comics {{comic-strip-stub