On This day In History
Two controversial cartoonists who’ve left their mark on the industry were born on this date-the late Bob Thaves was born in 1924 and Bil Keane was born in 1922. In both cases the reason they’re controversial stems from the alleged bland repetitiveness of their work.
Thaves started out doing magazine cartoons including the one seen here from GROOVY, a 1960′s gag mag published-in a way-by Marvel. He went on to be amazingly successful for a long time with his simple joke-a-day vaudeville panel strip, FRANK AND ERNEST. Thaves is credited with the classic line regarding dancer Fred Astaire-”Sure he was great, but don’t forget that
Ginger Rogers did everything he did, backwards…and in high heels.”?
In 1960 Bil Keane created THE FAMILY CIRCUS based on his own family. The fact that it appears in a round panel instead of a traditional square one has lead many to refer to it incorrectly as THE FAMILY CIRCLE. It’s a sweet strip with sweet kids and old-fashioned fifties sitcom moments and yet again, it’s been popular enough to win its creator a number of awards over the years including the coveted Reuben! Keane’s assistant in recent years has been his son Jeff, long-grown from the forever little Jeffy in the panel.
— booksteve
