BC RIP

[kip_w]

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I just got word that cartoonist Johnny Hart passed on at his drawing table at the age of 76. His flagship strip, BC, was at one time brilliantly innovative and hilarious. A peek at those first few anthologies shows that it was no illusion. He was a genius. Even in recent years, he was still funny ha-ha a couple of times a year.

Mom told me, years ago, that I was distantly related to him through her mother's side of the family. If so, he probably never suspected my existence. I was certainly aware of him, though. He was one of the great ones.
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Comments

[asimovberlioz.livejournal.com]

How ironic that he did not make it to see one last Easter. Oh well, at least I'm sure he died secure in the knowledge that he was able to get one final preachy and unfunny Sunday strip in.

I mourned the loss of the great talent that was Johnny Hart, years ago.

[rwl.livejournal.com]

YMMV. I thought his work was still amusing. B.C. and The Wizard of Id are still far more entertaining than most other daily comic strips even today, decades after they first appeared.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

It was such a ghost of its former self that, for me, the irritation value outweighed the amusement most days. Especially with its doctrinal slant, laid on with a trowel. Basically, I liked it best when it was a strip about cavemen and not about pay phones and TV shows and all. Anachronisms were funny for the first few months, then they became a routine.

The Wizard of Id used to be mean-spirited and much funnier. Now it's mainly mean-spirited and, again, routine. In a chat last night, someone asked what classic strips there were these days, and I ran and got the Saturday paper to check. The classic strips are all ghosted or continued by family members. I couldn't come up with a single example. Squishing down the size of the strips certainly hasn't helped.