Crossing the Divide: The Harlem Globetrotters (2)

The Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon series of the Harlem Globetrotters aired from Sept 1970 through Oct 1971. In July 1971 Gold Key published Hanna-Barbera Fun-In 8 featuring an adaptation of the cartoon show. The Globetrotters were again featured in issue 10 of Fun-In. The Harlem Globetrotters cartoon show then had its own 12-issue Gold Key comic book series that ran from April 1972 through January 1975. Here's issue 7, from October 1973. Some of the early issues were actually adapted straight from a cartoon story, but I don't know whether this is one of those. It certainly reads like it could be a kids' cartoon. The artwork is rather nice, but the artist is not credited. The Globetrotters cartoon show was the first to feature predominantly African American main characters, and the comic book was one of the earliest also. It would be interesting to know what the thinking was behind giving the Globetrotters a white granny as a manager. It speaks to the Globetrotters incredible appeal as entertainers that they ended up being used as characters in a kids' cartoon show and comic book series.

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Beatniks in Comics: A Sampler, Part 2

With this next look at Beatniks in early 1960s comics, Out Of This World turns to DC's The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, drawn by Bob Oksner. This was an adaptation of a TV series from that time. Dobie Gillis is a total womanizer, who constantly looks to play the field, but his best buddy Maynard, although often roped into Dobie's schemes, has a more philosophical yet down to earth perspective, despite appearing scatterbrained and out of touch with reality. Maynard is cast as a beatnik, and has all the lingo, along with the tendency to walk around vocalizing the drum beats in this head. On the cover of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis 4 (Nov/Dec 1960), we can already witness some signs that Maynard is a beatnik - his hair, beard, the clicking fingers, and the use of "man" and "like" as he starts to speak. In part of the story from Dobie Gillis 4,  Maynard exhibits another characteristic of beatniks, a love for on-the-spot improvised poetry. Also note Maynard's use of the term "far out".

Later in the same story, Dobie and Maynard are asked to go and pick up the daughter of a friend of Dobie's parents. Maynard's logic is that although the mother is not good-looking, the daughter usually turns out to be a dish. It seems to the reader that when the two boys reach the costume shop where they are to pick up Purity, Maynard is wrong. However, from Maynard's angle of vision, his prediction is correct - Purity, although apparently homely in appearance, very much seems to meet his criteria for attractiveness, not least because she is a female beatnik and, like Maynard, has the tendency to spout poetry.

Maynard is there for the whole 26 issue run of the Dobie Gillis series which, while adapting a 1960s TV show, is sufficiently well-written to still be interesting and funny today. Another DC funny title that at that time was drawn (and possibly written) by Bob Oksner, was The Adventures of Bob Hope. Again, you might think that 50 years later it could be difficult to connect with the humor of the times, but I find it not so. I had a really good laugh reading through a bunch of these, with this comic book version of Bob Hope's obsessions with food, money, and girls done in a way that really is true to his comedy movies and equally humorous. In The Adventures of Bob Hope 72 (Dec 61/Jan 62), Bob is working as an organizer for a beauty contest. The girls are a constant distraction, his attraction for them preventing him from getting things done. His boss comes up with an idea that should help Bob stay on task and not forget what he's supposed to be doing. This sets in motion a series of events that first brings Bob into contact with a beatnik, and then results in him being momentarily mistaken for one himself:

There's a lot of beatnik information in this section of the story. We've got the beard, the bongos, the poetry, and the beatnik on the beach again using the by now familiar linguistics - "man", "like", "cut out", "pad" - beatniks sitting around philosophizing over cups of espresso, the clothes typically worn by male and female beatniks, and an interest in Zen Buddhism, all serve to expand our definition of the beatnik.

Later in the story Bob is recruited by the daughter of a rich businessman, who has a scheme to extract and sell fresh water from a deep water ocean current. Somehow the daughter has gained the impression, from Bob's banter, that he is an expert diver. The daughter works for a university science department, and eventually Bob is introduced to the rest of the team of scientists who will be working with him as he carries out the dive. It doesn't have anything to do with beatniks but it was too funny to leave out:

So that's it for this one. Next up on Out Of This World, one more look at Beatniks in comics from the early 1960s. See you there.

Beatniks in Comics: A Sampler, Part 1

I have always enjoyed finding references to beatniks in comics, perhaps because they are usually in a humorous context. I don't recall seeing beatniks around in England when I was a kid - mods and rockers, yes, but I don't remember a beatnik, and I was certainly looking out for them. Maybe I didn't used to hang out in the right neighborhoods, or maybe it was more of an American thing, I'm not sure. Maybe they were all 'gone' by the time I was old enough to notice. Anyway, I've put together a selection of bits and pieces here from early 1960s comics that give a little taste of what I'm talking about, and at the end let's see what this collection of snippets from comics of that period tells us about the beatnik phenomenon, as if we were future archaeologists who'd dug up a pile of comic books and were seeking information about the society that produced them.

From the subscription coupon from Mad 67 (Dec 1961), we're already getting a glimpse of what constitutes a beatnik. There seems to be a connection with music. The beatnik wears a certain type of head gear, and has his facial hair trimmed into a beard that is restricted to his chin. He appears to be clicking his fingers, and perhaps this is a behavior associated with beatniks. He's wearing a loose fitting shirt. Certain words or phrases also appear associated with the language of the beatnik - "way out!", "real gone!", "sends me", "pad", "man", and "like". After a bit of research I came across an actual one page beatnik feature that was included in some of the DC funnies in the early 1960s. It was called... 'Beat Nick', and consisted of a collection of gag cartoons featuring this male beatnik character, drawn by Mort Drucker. Here's three, from The Adventures of Jerry Lewis 58, 59, and 62, respectively (May/June 1960, July/Aug 1960, and Jan/Feb 1961).

What these cartoons suggest is that beatniks are unconventional. They are sensitive to the cause of the oppressed, and have a fairly pessimistic view on the state of the world. They are supposedly angry young men. They tend to wear certain types of clothing, that includes baggy sweaters, tight fitting pants, and specific kinds of footwear. Female beatniks seem to wear their hair long, and dress in a similar fashion to the males. The bongo drum seems to be an instrument associated with beatniks, as do cafes with bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. More vocabulary - "dig", "crazy", and "chick".

A couple of DC titles of the period actually featured beatnik support characters. One such was A Date With Judy, nearing the end of its run. Judy's boyfriend Oogie's friend, Nervous, was clearly a beatnik. In this short story from A Date With Judy 78 (Aug/Sept 1960), Nervous is trying to land a job in the band of a jazz singer:

The association with bongo drums seems to be confirmed here. Lots more linguistics - "bread", "dad" or "daddio", "the craziest", "the most", "into orbit", and "cool cat". In the next Out Of This World post we'll look at another DC comic that had a beatnik as the buddy of the lead male character, plus when Bob Hope got mistaken for a beatnik.