''Old Doc Yak'' is a
comic strip by
Sidney Smith that centers on a talking goat. The origin of the character was Buck Nix, a goat Smith drew in 1908 for the ''
Chicago Evening Journal''. For three years, Nix romanced a she-goat called Nanny.
In 1911, Smith moved to the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
''. He introduced a new goat character when ''Old Doc Yak'' began as a
daily strip
A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays.
Bud Fisher's ''Mutt and Jeff'' is commonly regarded as the first daily c ...
on February 19, 1912, with the
Sunday page
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 ...
starting a few weeks later on March 3.
Doc Yak was a family man and more mature than Buck Nix. He had a son, Yutch, along with a number of domestic problems. The last daily ''Old Doc Yak'' strip, on February 10, 1917, depicted Yak and his family moving out while wondering who might move into the house next. The last panel showed the empty house. The next day's newspapers, in the space formerly occupied by ''Old Doc Yak'', printed the very first strip of Smith's ''
The Gumps
''The Gumps'' is a comic strip about a middle-class family. It was created by Sidney Smith in 1917, launching a 42-year run in newspapers from February 12, 1917, until October 17, 1959.
According to a 1937 issue of ''Life'', ''The Gumps'' was i ...
'', showing the Gumps moving into the house formerly occupied by the Yak family.
''Old Doc Yak'' continued as a Sunday strip until June 15, 1919,
[ when Yak was depicted selling his car to Andy Gump so he and Yutch could move away "to start life all over again". ''The Gumps'' likewise took over the Sunday space the following week.
]
Later appearances
On December 7, 1930, ''Old Doc Yak'' was revived as a topper for ''The Gumps'' Sunday page, continuing in that capacity until February 25, 1934.[
In 1998, Old Doc Yak and Yutch appeared in ''Valiant Varmints'', a one-shot ]comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
from Shanda Fantasy Arts. A masked figure called 'Bullethead' arranges for the anthropomorphic superheroes of the title, including Fission Chicken, to be distracted battling threats while he goes after a mysterious item; he turns out to be Doc Yak, who just wants his old license plate
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificatio ...
back (after losing it decades ago to the Gumps). Upon learning this, the Valiant Varmints decide to leave Yak and Yutch in peace.
In other media
In 1913 and 1914, Doc Yak appeared in a series of animated shorts produced by the Selig Polyscope Company.The Adventures of Kathlyn
''The Adventures of Kathlyn'' (1913) is an American motion picture serial released on December 29, 1913, by the Selig Polyscope Company. An adventure serial filmed in Chicago, Illinois, its thirteen episodes were directed by Francis J. Grando ...
''.
References
External links
''Old Doc Yak''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on September 7, 2015.
American comic strips
1912 comics debuts
1919 comics endings
1930 comics debuts
1934 comics endings
Gag-a-day comics
Fiction about goats
American comics characters
Male characters in comics
American comics adapted into films
Animated films based on comics
Comics characters introduced in 1912
Comics about animals
Comic strips started in the 1910s
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