Bless Johnny Hart (B.C. Cartoonist) (my title)

Santa Barbara News-Press ^ | 01/19/2003

[Inspectorette]

Please excuse this vanity post. I did a search for "B.C", Johnny Hart, and nothing came up.

Today's comic strip in the Sunday Santa Barbara News-Press is beautiful. I'm surprised it wasn't censored by this liberal rag. Johnny Hart is a great fan of our President.

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[Eaker]

You might want to post a link to the cartoon.

[Izzy Dunne]

Did it occur to you to post the cartoon?

Or at least a description?

[Harley109]

Willey's writing again under a tree in the strip: An evil from the bowels of Hell has seized our ship of state,
And broke upon its weary bow the cruel champage of hate.

They christened it with sinful accusations born of rage, Then shook their fists in history's face and wrote a brand new page.

God called a youthful man of force and placed him at the helm,
Whom we endorsed to steer a course that evil cannot whelm.

A superhuman task is laid before our dragon slayer,
So let's lift up our shining knight -with all our might- through prayer!

Johnny Hart

[BenLurkin]

St. George the Dragon Slayer:

[BenLurkin]

[Inspectorette]

I thought I did - I posted the source (S.B. News-Press), with the URL.

For some reason, when I previewed, it didn't appear. I went back, and tried again, and it still didn't appear. Please forgive me. I'm just not very talented at this sort of thing.

[Inspectorette]

Thank you. If I were not HTML-challenged, I'd have tried to post the entire strip.

[Inspectorette]

Beautiful picture - so true.

[Keith in Iowa]

[Keith in Iowa]

http://www.creators.com/0119/bc/bc0119g.gif

[PaulJ]

[Miss Marple]

How very nice! I am pinging a few friends who would appreciate this!

[Inspectorette]

Keith, thank you so much. This was so deeply moving. I cut it out and am going to post in my cubicle at work. I hope my fellow Freepers enjoy it as much as I did.

[Keith in Iowa]

I like the color version better :)

[kayak]

Wonderful!

[Dubya]

Good find and post.
Johnny Hart's B.C. has been popular with the public since the very beginning. But it wasn't always popular with editors. It was rejected by five syndicates before finding a home at The New York Herald Tribune. It finally debuted as a daily on Feb. 17, 1958, and as a Sunday on Oct. 19 of that year — and the first paperback collection of its episodes came out in 1958, too.

B.C. was the 27-year-old Hart's first foray into comics, but not his last. In 1964, he collaborated with Brant Parker on a second newspaper strip, The Wizard of Id, which has enjoyed similar popularity. For his work on both strips, Hart received the National Cartoonists' Society's prestigious Reuben Award in 1968.

The strip's premise is as simple as can be — contemporary humor in a fantasy setting that includes eyeglasses, cave people, dinosaurs, and other elements that don't quite mesh chronologically. The art style, like that of Charles Schulz's Peanuts, masks sophisticated minimalism with a casually scratchy veneer.

The cast includes B.C., the title character; Thor, inventor of the wheel; Curls, inventor of sarcasm; Peter, inventor of philosophy; Wiley, inventor of poetry; two women whose only names seem to be Fat Broad and Skinny Broad; Clumsy Carp, a klutz; Grog, a not-fully-evolved subhuman; and assorted ants, anteaters, clams, and dinosaurs.

B.C.'s circulation has risen steadily, and it now appears in about 1,300 newspapers. New collections of the strip appear at regular intervals. The characters have appeared in numerous TV commercials, and in one half-hour animated special on ABC. Millions of Americans recognize its characteristic sound effects, such as "Zot" (the sound made by an anteater capturing its prey) and "gronk" (the call of a dinosaur).

In recent years, Hart's strongly Christian point of view has been a prominent element of his work — which may seem odd, considering the strip's title, but anachronism has always been the name of the game in B.C. In any case, it seems to have sat well with his audience for quite a few years.

However, his strip appearing on Easter, 2001, which depicted a menorah being transformed into a cross, may have gone too far. It was denounced not just by Jewish groups, but also by Catholic and Protestant clergy, as demeaning to Jews. The protests were made after the Sunday comics had already been printed, so it was impossible for newspapers to simply pull the strip — but many seriously considered dropping it permanently in response.

Hart followed the attack a few weeks later by blasting the American Civil Liberties Union for its attempts to keep sectarian religion out of schools which are supported by the taxes of Americans of all faiths. This sort of religious orientation stands in sharp contrast to that of Latigo, Rick O'Shay and others with a strong Christian point of view, but which are not perceived as attacking other religions or attempting to establish government support for a single one. Only time will tell if the strip's popularity is significantly damaged by Hart's increasingly trenchant advocacy of his beliefs over all others.

[kayak]

Well, I see that while I was pinging you, you were pinging me ........ :-)

[dixiechick2000]

Thank you for posting the strip, KiI. It's beautiful!

Inspectorette, thanks for calling our attention to this. I haven't read the paper, yet.

[isthisnickcool]

Did you see this trash today? I saw it in the Houston Chronicle. I emailed them and I said I've had just about enough of this garbage and that I'm very close to chunking my subscription with them. Remember when Doonesbury used the fake data that said Clinton was smarter than Bush? We raised so much hell the Chronicle moved Doonesbury TO the funny pages from the editorial page.

[Inspectorette]

Miss Marple, thank you.

Don't know if you pinged Howlin, but I wanted her to see it too.,

[Wphile]

Thanks for the ping. Great commentary at BC!

[pgkdan]

Only time will tell if the strip's popularity is significantly damaged by Hart's increasingly trenchant advocacy of his beliefs over all others.

What good is having a religious belief if you don't think it's the Truth and should be advocated over all others. God Bless Johnny Hart.

[Miss Marple]

Oh, thanks! I forgot to ping her.

It is sad when the most encouraging words about the President in the press COME FROM A COMIC STRIP!

[Prospero]

Thanks much!

Those if us who have learned to avoid the Sunday papers really appreciate any heads up on Hart's BC.

I've been a fan for decades.

I have a huge number of his paperbacks, most printed in the late 60's and early 70's. Every time I go into a bookstore I look carefully to see if any of his work has been reprinted. Has anyone searched Amazon to see if his huge amount of work is still in print? I've had one of his paperbacks in the 'library' for years... and I never get tired of reading it, over and over.

I guess I've always identified with Clumsy Carp.

And never forget his collaboration with The Wizard of Id.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

You did just fine...

I loved this cartoon, it really made my day!

Glad I read the latest posts, I almost started a thread on it myself!

My Best to you..

Ms.B.

[Amelia]

Great find!

Do you suppose this is worthy of the Great Ping Lists?

[twyn1]

St. George the Dragon Slayer:

I wonder how many people will make that connection ?

[pabianice]

Most cartoons live or die based upon their readership. That's free enterprise. A few are kept alive by money from far-Left groups, despite lack of any readership. That's propaganda. When they're kept alive by tax money diverted to the Left, that's a crime and should be treated as such.

[Miss Marple]

Howard Fineman should. In his article after 9/11, he called him "our George, a youthful dragon-slayer in a graying helmet."

[octobersky]

Enthusiastic bump!!!

[kayak]

A ping for you!

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

Every time I see a Boondocks strip, I notice how the main characters always have bitter, angry features on their faces. Based on that, I could tell it was a leftist strip without even reading it.

[MS.BEHAVIN]

I'm sorry

Did I miss your point?

[Inspectorette]

Thank you - I've just gotta learn how to post pictures and HTML stuff.

[LiteKeeper]

dittoes

[Inspectorette]

Wow - I don't know, but I would be humbled and honored. Just hope a lot of Freepers see it (and maybe a very wonderful possible Lurker who would find it gratifying - especially after yesterday's silliness).

[MJY1288]

Thanks for the ping, A great cartoon worthy of a frame and a nail in my office.

Our President, Our Troops and our Country, needs our prayers

[alnick]

Thank you. That is indeed beautiful.

[Dubya]

Good post. Amen. How can anyone be a Christian and hide it.

[ohioWfan]

Beautiful! Thank you!! And PING!

[MS.BEHAVIN]

Your welcome!

I have to learn how to do all that stuff too! ;-)

[ohioWfan]

Johnny Hart also celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday in his cartoons.

[ohioWfan]

And you both pinged me! THANKS, friends!

[null and void]

Done!

[admiralsn]

Yes, he manages to get a Christian message in his stip often. Good work Mr. Hart.

[DrDeb]

AWESOME!!

[rintense]

Beautiful!

[DrDeb]

Thanks for posting this AMAZING comic strip!