Li l Abner
Li'l Abner was a comic strip in United States newspapers, featuring a fictional clan of hillbillies in the town of Dogpatch. Written and drawn by Al Capp, it ran from 1934 through 1977.
The comic strip starred Li'l Abner Yokum, the dumb but good-natured hillbilly whose main goal was evading the marital goals of Daisy Mae Scraggs, his well-endowed girlfriend. Capp finally gave in to reader pressure and allowed the couple to marry. This was such big news, the happy couple made the cover of Life magazine.
Abner's home town of Dogpatch was peopled with an assortment of memorable characters, including Marryin' Sam, Wolf Gal, Lena the Hyena, Indian Lonesome Polecat (creator of Kickapoo Joy Juice), and a host of others, including the statuesque beauties Moonbeam McSwine, Stupefyin' Jones and Appassionata von Climax.
Perhaps Capp's most popular creations were the Shmoo, creatures whose incredible usefulness and generous nature made them a threat to civilization as we know it. Another famous character was Joe Btfsplk, who wanted to be a loving friend but was "the world's worst jinx", and always had a small dark cloud over his head.
Li'l Abner also featured a comic-strip within the comic-strip, titled Fearless Fosdick (a parody of Dick Tracy).
Situations often took the characters to other parts of the globe, including New York City, tropical islands, and a miserable frozen land of Capp's invention, "Lower Slobbovia."
At its peak, Li'l Abner was read daily by 70 million Americans (when the US population was only 180 million).
Many communities staged "Sadie Hawkins Day" events, after an annual race in the strip in which the unmarried women were allowed to keep any man they could catch. The unstatuesque and plain Sadie Hawkins inspired the race.
In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative postage stamps.
A musical comedy adaptation of the strip opened on Broadway in 1956 and was made into a motion picture in 1959 starring Peter Palmer and Leslie Parrish, including Julie Newmar and Stella Stevens. Donna Douglas has a bit part.
In 1968 a theme park named "Dogpatch USA" featuring Capp's characters opened in northwest Arkansas and remained a popular attraction until it closed in 1993. Several attempts have been made to reopen the park but at the present time it lies abandoned.
Capp had a platoon of assistants in later years but always drew the faces and hands himself. Lena the Hyena was designed by MAD artist Basil Wolverton. Frank Frazetta, later famous as a fantasy artist, drew the beautiful full-bodied women in the strip's later years. Li'l Abner lasted until 1977, and Capp died two years later.
External links
- Official web site (http://www.lil-abner.com)
- Reprints at Comics.com (http://www.unitedmedia.com/comics/lilabner/index.html)
- Toonopedia (http://www.toonopedia.com/abner.htm)
Li'l Abner is also the name of a famous steak house in Tucson, Arizona. Named after the comic strip character, its only options are 1 and 2 pound steaks.
Categories: Comic strips | Comics characters