Barnaby (comics)
Barnaby is a comic strip which began April 20, 1942, in the newspaper PM and was later syndicated in 64 American newspapers (for a combined circulation of more than 5,500,000).
| Barnaby | |
|---|---|
Barnaby cast (l. to r.): Gus the Ghost, Jackeen J. O'Malley, Gorgon Baxter, Barnaby Baxter and Jane Shultz | |
| Author(s) | Crockett Johnson (1942–1946, 1947–1952) Jack Morley and Ted Ferro (1946–1947) Warren Sattler (1950–1952) |
| Current status/schedule | Ended |
| Launch date | April 20, 1942 (PM) revived September 12, 1960 |
| End date | February 2, 1952 revival ended April 14, 1962 |
| Syndicate(s) | Field Enterprises Syndicate |
Created by Crockett Johnson, who is best known today for his children's book Harold and the Purple Crayon, the strip featured a cherubic-looking five-year-old and his far-from-cherubic fairy godfather, Jackeen J. O'Malley, a short, cigar-smoking man with four tiny wings. With a distinctive appearance because of its use of typography, the strip had numerous reprints and was adapted into a 1940s stage production. The usually caustic Dorothy Parker had nothing but praise: "I think, and I'm trying to talk calmly, that Barnaby and his friends and oppressors are the most important additions to American Arts and Letters in Lord knows how many years."