Clyde
(w/a: Al Shean)
Al Shean boasts an interesting lineage, being the son of the vaudeville performer of the same name, of the comedy duo Gallagher & Shean. The elder Shean's sister was Minnie Marx, rather famously the mother of the Marx Brothers, making this Al Shean a first cousin to Groucho, Chico, Harpo and all the other Marx Brothers we like to pretend "contributed" to the comedy. They did their best, anyway. There's a reason that Gummo went into the raincoat business, you know...
Anyway, Al Shean's "Clyde" borrows no limit of material from the old vaudeville stage gags. A Tarzan of the Apes type, Clyde is the son of a vacationing opera singer (thus the famous Tarzan-like call) who becomes lost in the jungles of Africa, making a life for himself among the disinterested lions and other fauna. Joining in his adventures is Shirley, his loving wife whom he can nonetheless not distinguish from a jungle cat or a chimp. Clyde had some wild times in the jungle, it seems.
The gags are rapid-fire and cry out for rimshots. It's "setup / punchline / setup / punchline" throughout the relatively sparse content. When last seen, CLyde was off to London to acquire more bon-bons for Shirley, although how he'll recognize her when he gets back, who can say?
The Wham-O Fun Factory
(w/a: Virgil Partch)
Wham-O Giant Comics had apparently made the most of CARToons and Hot Rod artists, as well as some handy storyboard and advertising guys. VIP was a bit of a surprise. Best known for his naughty cocktail napkin gag panels, I reckon (or at least that's how I best recognize the guy's work), he turns in a plenty-enjoyable cutaway view of the Wham-O Fun Factory deeply involved in making their primary product, FUN (i.e. balls).
Has the yen for collecting 20th century cartoonists' complete works in oversized, lovingly-restored volumes become passe? Because I'd support a Partch collection along those lines, from Big George to this and all the saltiness in-between ...
If "Clyde!" seems reminiscent of vine-swinging doofus, George of the Jungle, its no accident - Shean was a character designer at Jay Ward's cartoon studio. And spouse Shirley is no doubt named after his colleague there, Shirley Silvey.
ReplyDeleteI guess you missed the large tome published by Fantagraphics Books five years ago celebrating VIP's work, "VIP: The Mad World of Virgil Partch". Highly recommended if you're a fan.
I am on my way to pick up a copy and thanks so much for the additional information on Shean. This is stupendous information, would you mind if I elevated it out of comments and into the main body of the article with attribution?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
I love the work of VIP. My dad had several of his paperbacks which I would read as a kid. Might explain my strange sense of humor. ;-)
ReplyDeleteWas reading a book on Disney animation and was surprised to learn he started as an in-betweener there before becoming a magazine cartoonist.
KAM
Be my guest.
ReplyDeleteIf you'd like to learn - and see - more of Shean's (and Silvey's) design work, there's another excellent coffee-table book to consider, "The Art of Jay Ward Productions" by Darrell Van Citters.