Rupert, the Golliwog and today's mystery photo


A genuine icon, Rupert Bear has been running in British papers since 1920. I distinctly remember reading a collection of the strips as a youngster and loving the old-time flavor, with the captions outside the pictures (rather than as word balloons). The Golliwog is a bit controversial, but the interesting Wikipedia entry shows Golliwog dolls still on sale and the image still being used on product labels. As a kid, I sometimes came across the word in reading -- someone like T.H. White would write a phrase such as "he was so alarmed his hair stuck up like a golliwog's" -- but I didn't know what they really looked like until the internet flooded my head with information. This Rupert strip is from 1967, and shows the trouble caused when playing pieces from children's games can't get along.

And today's guest is excessively famous among comics fans. From 1978, just before his third marriage and a few years before his sudden death, this isn't the most flattering photo.. but his art remains as gorgeous and impressive as when it first saw print.