These posts are from my The Funnies was the name of two American publications from Dell Publishing, the first a precursor of the comic book in the 1920s and the standard 1930s comic book. I loved reading comic books as a kid and paid ten cents for each one. Today they would be worth a lot of money, if only I’d had the sense to keep them. Comics had a lowbrow reputation for much of its history, but towards the end of the 20th century, they began to find a greater acceptance with the public and even within academia.
In 1940, Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories featured the popular Walt Disney characters, followed by Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies Comics. By 1942, there was the Our Gang Comics. Four Color Comics highlighted one character, Donald Duck or Popeye. A few of my favorites were Krazy Kat, Daffy Duck, and Bugs Bunny. My husband reads newspaper cartoons every day and cuts some of them out to share with me, most I don’t understand, like the political ones.
And then there’s monkey business, you know, the illegal, shady, or questionable activity, like selling drugs. But I prefer the kind of monkey business where kids can have fun on colorful play structures where they can climb, swing, and bounce around, and go bananas.
