Lolly and Pepper, 1 of 4

Lolly and Pepper is another forgotten comic strip by Pete Hansen adapted by Dell's Four Color series.

I doubt Pete Hansen did this art. Most likely it was one of the nameless staffers that worked for Dell in the 50's. This is from Four Color Comics #832 in 1957.









As an adult a question plaguing me for over twenty-five years was finally answered. This article in Mad in 1980 by Henry Clark and Bob Clarke, Comic Strip Cursing Symbols to Match a Given Situation, used many famous cartoon characters which I could identify, but the panel below remained a mystery to me. It wasn't until seeing this comic that I knew what this one was making a reference to. Why they assumed all kids would have heard of this strip, I don't know. They also parodied Henry a lot too. They seemed to think most kids would get references to R-rated movies, Broadway lyrics, and marginally popular comic strips.


It's true my entire world view is based on Mad (me and everyone else in the media for at least three generations) but let's face it, it wasn't until the mid-90s they were able to relate to their core audience. Look at an issue from 1965 and one from 1989 and it's pretty hard to tell them apart. (In their defense, they've heard this accusation before, and justified it by citing a revolving readership.) They seemed to think up until the 80's that rock and roll was just a passing fad. I only stole my grandparents' Oklahoma! album so I'd understand the “sung to the tune of” songs. Then again, I only know some aspects of history because of Monty Python sketches.

more on Thursday...