Volume 18, Number 33 Thursday, August 22, 2002 Cartoons Come to Beverly Shores by Hal Higdon Merrill Blosser. Tom Henderson. John T. McCutcheon. With the possible exception of the last, the names would probably not be recognized by most fans of fine art, but they are cartoonists whose work currently is fea- tured in a small, but fascinating, exhibit at the Depot of Beverly Shores. “Indiana Cartoonists” is an exhibit organized by the Indiana Historical Society. “The exhibit actually has been travelling the state for nearly a decade,” claims Martin Douglas of the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis. It will remain in place in Beverly Shores for the remainder of this month. Since the Museum section of the Depot is open only on Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., you have only a small window of opportunity to view the exhibit. (For more information, phone 219-871-0832.) As to those three cartoonists mentioned above, ATom Henderson cartoon greets visitors of the cartoon Merrill Blosser achieved fame as the creator of the comic exhibit at the Beverly Shores Depot. strip “Freckles and his Friends.” As a collector of Tom Henderson hailed from Crawfordsville and con- comic art, I have one of Blosser’s strips from 1945 in tributed cartoons to the “Saturday Evening Post,” my collection. Born in Nappanee, Blosser drew the strip “Collier’s” and many other major magazines. He had until just before his death in 1971. Nappanee, inci- a clean style that featured smooth brush strokes. dentally, was a hotbed of cartoonist activity during the When I was a young cartoonist attending the Chicago last century. According to the text part of the exhib- Academy of Fine Arts in the 1940s, Henderson was it, no fewer than a half dozen of the cartoonists fea- the one whose style I tried most to emulate—but tured in “Indiana Cartoonists” came from that small was destined to fail. community southeast of South Bend. Cartoons Continued on Page 2 An original storyboard from Merrill Blosser, from 1945, of “Freckles and His Friends.” Page 2 August 22, 2002 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.bbpnet.com/ Published and Printed by THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also Subscription Rates delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. 1 year $26 6 months $14 3 months $8 1 month $3 Cartoons Continued from Page 1 Just finishing his career at that time was John T. McCutcheon, the Chicago Tribune’s most eminent editorial cartoonist mid-century. The Tribune had a stable of four or five editorial cartoonists at that time, who had their studios high in Tribune Tower. Their windows overlooked the Gothic arches atop that skyscraper. I know, because in an era less strin- gent on security, I used to prowl the upper floors of A visitor Tribune Tower pestering the cartoonists for advice, stands beside Jim Davis’ hoping that they would give me an original drawing. cartoon cat, I succeeded in obtaining cartoons from Carey Orr, Bill Garfield. Holland and George Parrish, but McCutcheon had retired by 1947 and died soon after. I never met him. For decades afterwards, the Tribune would continue to publish his famous “Indian Summer” cartoon on the cover of its magazine section. Few young people will have seen the work of McCutcheon, but everyone knows the work of Jim Davis, whose comic strip “Garfield” appears daily and “Mary Worth” author Allen Saunders featured Michigan City in this 1943 Sunday cartoon. August 22, 2002 Page 3 Sundays in the Michigan City News-Dispatch and sev- eral thousand other newspapers around the world. Davis Open ‘til 6 p.m. was born in Marion and attended Ball State University. Evenings His fat-cat-with-an-attitude greeted the world on June 19, 1978 and achieved near instant success. Davis continues to maintain his studio in Muncie. Although he now employs a bank of cartoonists to cre- ate the strips, books and films that are part of his empire, www.littlehousefashions.comElegant Apparel for the Davis tightly controls the gags we laugh at each day. [email protected] Conscious Woman Women’s Apparel The exhibit at the Depot shows old and new strips, demonstrating how the look of Garfield has evolved over the last quarter century. NEW FALL ARRIVALS! Also featured in the exhibit is the work of Allen It’s a Saunders from Crawfordsville, who began as a car- Pendleton toonist but achieved greater fame as a writer of a num- ber of comic strips, the best known being “Mary Worth” and “Big Chief Wahoo” (currently called “Steve Jacket - Full 3 Roper & Mike Nomad”). Both soap-opera strips con- button blazer, tinue today, written by his son John Saunders. (Allen slightly tapered to Saunders died in 1986.) flatter your waist. Classic details include vented cuffs, welt pockets to complete the finish. Imported fabric of Lux Flannel. Pants - A slimmer, trimmer pant with a slightly narrower leg, flat front, front zip closure, hidden ease at the waist, side pockets. Local author and artist Hal Higdon borrowed this Ken Ernst image from “Mary Worth” for one of his pop art paintings. Periwinkle. “Mary Worth” began in the 1930s under the name “Apple Mary,” the protagonist a raggedy woman who Petite, Missy and survived in the Depression by selling, well, apples! It Plus Sizes was drawn then by Martha Orr, niece of editorial car- toonist Carey Orr. Martha soon tired of the grind of Jacket $198 turning out a strip a day and handed off to a former Pants $128 comic book artist named Ken Ernst, whose studio was in downtown Chicago. Ernst was a superb artist who wielded a pen with a precision that few cartoonists could match today. He transformed Mary into a some- what more svelte matron. I visited Ernst in his stu- SUMMER CLEARANCE dio in the 1940s and, decades later, got to know his assistant Bill Ziegler. Ernst did all the figures; Ziegler 50% - 90% Off did the backgrounds. Both are now dead, but “Mary Worth” continues under a third artist, who lives on the East Coast. Meet Us For Lunch And A Style Show Alas, none of the cartoons featured in the Beverly THURSDAY, AUGUST 22 - TIPPECANOE PLACE, SOUTH BEND Shore exhibit is the original art, only reproductions. But the stories accompanying the art about these WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28 - HANNAH’S, NEW BUFFALO Indiana cartoonists makes a visit to the Depot a wor- 409409 AlexanderAlexander StreetStreet LaPorte,LaPorte, IN IN 326-8602 OnOn Hwy Hwy 35 35 - - 55 BlocksBlocks South ofof Lincolnway Lincolnway thy educational experience. TTurnurn RightRight on Alexander MondayMonday-Friday - Friday 9:3010 to to 6 7 Saturday Saturday 9:30 9:30 toto 55 Cartoons Continued on Page 4 Page 4 August 22, 2002 Cartoons Continued from Page 3 In 1935, he signed a three-year contract with the Unfortunately, when the Indiana Historical Society Syndicate for $150,000, a huge salary in the middle established the exhibit, they overlooked several car- of the depression. To celebrate his new contract, toonists from this area. Best known is Stanley Link, Smith went out drinking and killed himself in an auto who lived in Long Beach near Stop 16 and was a mem- accident. ber of the Long Beach Country Club. In the 1920s, Link Link was offered the strip, but declined, claiming served as an assistant to Sid Smith, creator of “The “The Gumps” should die with its creator. The Syndicate Gumps,” the most popular comic strip of that era. The didn’t agree and offered the strip to another artist, Gus Chicago Tribune Syndicate paid Smith $100,000 a year. Edson, who was unable to maintain its early popu- larity. Link’s best known work was a Sunday comic strip named “Tiny Tim” that featured a young boy, who used a magic amulet to shrink and increase in size. Link also drew a daily panel, “Ching Chow,” featur- ing an Oriental gentleman who spouted proverbs. Link also did a daily family strip called “The Dailys,” that appeared well before the ascent of the political fam- ily with a similar name. Link died in 1957 of a heart attack at age 58; his widow, died only a few years ago. Another artist who sometimes passes through Michigan City, because he has friends in town, is John Romita, Jr., current artist of “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Romita, Jr. also has drawn “The Uncanny X-Men,” “The Punisher,” “Daredevil,” and many other Marvel comic books. Also missing from the exhibit is local artist John Long Beach resident Lucas, who contributes cartoons to The Beacher, but Stanley Link drew the is best known for his work on the “Barbie” and “Katy Sunday strip “Tiny Tim” for the Chicago Keene” comic books. John, however, has promised to Tribune. visit the exhibit before it closes this month, and so should you. Hal Higdon is a Senior Writer for “Runner’s World.” More of Higdon’s writing can be found on his Web site: www.halhigdon.com. Visiting artist John Romita, Jr. has drawn “Daredevil” and other Marvel comics. Link’s “Ching Chow” featured daily proverbs with an oriental flavor. Michigan City native John Lucas drew the comic book “Barbie.” August 22, 2002 Page 5 Floyd Gompf Recent Work August 31 _ September 30 Opening reception for the artist Saturday, August 31, 4-6 (EDT) 14950 LakesideRoad Lakeside, Michigan • Open Daily 11-6 • (616) 469-5900 Page 6 August 22, 2002 “Art Fights Back” to Open at Museum The best dining With the first anniversary of September 11 approach- ing, the AD Club of Michiana, in conjunction with the this side of Northern Indiana Center for History and South Bend Regional Museum of Art, is planning a special trib- Lake ute to our nation’s heroes and to Americans everywhere.