Here are this week's links to what I've had published recently...Here are this week's links to what I've had published recently...
I wasn't familiar with the strip or even the style of the creator(s), and the pages didn't include any obvious mentions of the creators or even the name of the strip. But I did some digging and I believe it was a strip called The Broons, originally created by R.D. Low and Dudley D. Watkins in 1936. I didn't see any contextual cues to suggest when these particular pieces were written, and I'm not familiar enough with the artistic styles of the various artists to use that to date the pieces either.
I don't really know much beyond the Wikipedia entry but I thought it was kind of a neat way to display some Scottish heritage in the restaurant itself, and a fascinatingly unexpected place to learn about some comics I'd never heard of before.
Today, I thought I might share this gem called Joe Worker and The Story of Labor. I haven't been able to track down much about it other than it was commissioned by the National Labor Service. The comic is credited to Nat Schachner (a sci-fi short story author, who was evidently a favorite of Isaac Asimov) and Jack Alderman (who had previously worked at the Chesler Studio and the Eisner/Iger shop among others).
The NLS was founded in 1945 "to assist the organized labor movement in an educational campaign against racial and religious intolerance..." The comic was originally serialized in union newspapers, allegedly reaching 12 million readers by mid-1945. Besides the comic, the NLS also produced posters, pamphlets, and short films. The strip was later re-packaged as a pamphlet comic, colored and sent out at the request of individual unions. "Several hundred thousand" had already been requested by August 1946. I've reproduced the comic book version below...
The NLS was founded in 1945 "to assist the organized labor movement in an educational campaign against racial and religious intolerance..." The comic was originally serialized in union newspapers, allegedly reaching 12 million readers by mid-1945. Besides the comic, the NLS also produced posters, pamphlets, and short films. The strip was later re-packaged as a pamphlet comic, colored and sent out at the request of individual unions. "Several hundred thousand" had already been requested by August 1946. I've reproduced the comic book version below...
