Sunday, February 13, 2005

Classic Comic Strips: Alley Oop



One of the first and best of the original newspaper comic strip serials is ALLEY OOP. Created by Vincent T. Hamlin, and first published in 1932, it chronicles the adventures of the an enlightened, but still rough and tumble, caveman from the prehistoric land of Moo. Through the actions of a well-the meaning modern intentor, Doc Wonmug, Alley Oop and his girl friend, Ooola (as in “O-la-la!"), have traveled both time and space getting into and out of adventures with the most colorful characters of history.

Alley Oop is a hold over from the early days of the classic newspaper comics when artistry reined and the beautiful craftmenship of the illustrated strip could fill an entire page. Hamlin retired in 1971 and passed away in 1993. The strip is carried on today by the artist-writer team of Jack and Carole Bender. It continues the bubbly mix of action, heart, humor that Hamblin made the strip noted for. Find a newspaper that is carrying this great strip and enjoy reading it out loud to a child (of any age).

For more information on this and other strips visit Comiclopedia and Toonpedia