Indeed, the chances of Hagar’s ever meeting Prince Valiant are slim.
The cartoonist realized that the strip needed “contrasts - without shadow there is no light” - and provided his Viking with a family of diverse personalities.
“Helga is a battleship of a wife. His daughter, therefore, is just the opposite. As far as his son goes, Hamlet - well, I learned from those Groucho Marx movies that there must be someone in the thing that’s straight. The children in the strip are the sane ones. Hamlet wants to be the world’s first dentist. He’s practical, believes in reason - but he’s got a mother who talks to trees and a father who says the world is flat.”
Hagar started in 400 newspapers - and now 1,200 (40 countries, 20 languages) publish his adventures.
“I get a lot of mail from women saying, ‘I’m married to Hagar’ or ‘My father is Hagar.’”
When Dr. Zook whipped up a concoction and discovered the martini, martini lovers worldwide sent thank you letters. “They must have a secret church.”
Despite his failing eyesight, he works six weeks ahead on the daily strips and 10 weeks ahead on the Sunday features for both cartoons. And he intends to continue, “if God doesn’t mind, for eternity.”
And, until eternity ends, God forbid that Dik Browne he taken seriously. Hagar is the result of his notion that today’s world needs some “dumb humor.” Persons reading any profound message into his work frighten him.
This is a man who wouldn’t miss participating in the “Big Foot Cartoonists Annual Golf Tournament,” the winner of which earns a lemon pie in the face (worn while the losers sing “There She Is, Miss America”).
Big foot cartoonists “draw feet like loaves of bread and put three fingers on each hand,” the style employed in Browne’s work.
If Gary Trudeau (“Doonesbury”) is the Noel Coward of comic strip art, Browne once said, he must be the Bert Lahr.
If the analogy applies to Trudeau, then Browne is indeed a Bert Lahr. Only he probably does Bert Lahr better.
..
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Dik Browne died in 1989. His son, Chris, took over the “Hagar the Horrible” strip and his other son, Chance, assists Mort Walker’s sons with “Hi and Lois.” ]
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Dale Andrew White is the author of “Encounters with Authors,” also available on Amazon Kindle, and the short story collections “Moe Howard Died For Our Sins” and “Return of the Dittos,” which are available in paperback and on Amazon Kindle.
Several of his short stories are also available separately on Amazon Kindle - as well as his interviews with Sir Peter Saunders (Agatha Christie’s theatrical producer), “The Blackboard Jungle” author Evan Hunter (also known as Ed McBain, creator the 87th Precinct mystery series), novelist Chaim Potok, “Rumpole of the Bailey” creator John Mortimer. Pop artist Andy Warhol, rock ‘n‘ roll pioneers Bo Diddley and Little Richard, “Watership Down” novelist Richard Adams, “Up the Down Staircase” author Bel Kaufman, novelist Eugenia Price, fantasy and science fiction writer Andre Norton, behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner and others.
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“FANTASY, WHIMSY, SATIRE
AND A FEVERED IMAGINATION”
Critics praise Dale Andrew White’s
MOE HOWARD DIED
FOR OUR SINS
..
FEATHERED QUILL BOOK REVIEWS:
“‘Moe Howard Died For Our Sins’ is a collection of humorous short stories that are, at some points, irreverently provocative and at other times just plain guffaw-able, but always a superb display of White’s fine writing style and seriously slanted sense of humor.”
..
BOOKREVIEW.COM:
“Dale Andrew White is a devious writer and his new collection, ‘Moe Howard Died For Our Sins,” provides incriminating evidence of this. On the one hand, the flavor of his tales faintly evokes that decayed antebellum style of Southern literature that is both lyrically humorous and self-deprecating; the sort of thing we get in Faulkner's ‘Sartoris’ or Mark Twain's ‘Huckleberry Finn‘... On the other hand, this not the satire of Ambrose Bierce or H. L. Mencken. It is more like the kind of in-your-face semantic slapstick that you might expect of a George Carlin or a Lenny Bruce... To open this collection is to invite trouble - and probably enjoy it.”
..
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW:
“Part-time iconoclast and two-fingered typist Dale Andrew White is a natural born storyteller with an especial flair for blending fantasy, whimsy, satire and a fevered imagination into original stories that are replete with ribald humor and reader-engaging novelty. Subtitled ‘made-to-fit tales for the maladjusted,’ this collection of short stories showcase a genuine and offbeat talent... Highly recommended reading!”
***
“IN-YOUR-FACE HUMOR
WORTHY OF COMEDY CENTRAL”
Critics praise Dale Andrew White’s
RETURN OF THE DITTOS
..
READERVIEWS.COM:
“‘Return of the Dittos’ is a rich confection of satire and humor, all boxed in 20 short stories and tied with a ribbon... Some of his stories come across as being written in the classic style of humorists like Mark Twain or the British satirist Saki... Still others come across with raw, in-your-face humor worthy of Comedy Central. All I know is that Dale Andrew White is a clever and talented writer and ‘Return of the Dittos’ is a truly funny book.”
..
BOOKREVIEW.COM:
“White has a wonderful talent for engaging the unexpected, and his quick turns are wild and fun... ‘Return of the Dittos’ strikes a balance between contemporary and fine aged humor that can't be found anywhere else and is refreshing as it is funny.”
..
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER:
“Whether writing about the end of the world, terrorist swans, entering the after-life or high school journalism, White entertains with clever asides, obvious (and some not-so-obvious) puns, and cultural and societal pokes. His stories combine satire, slapstick, innuendo and outright silliness. All of it is punctuated with interesting, quirky characters.”
..
FEATHERED QUILL BOOK REVIEW:
“If you have the type of humor that appreciates the bizarre and offbeat, and count me in, then you will enjoy ‘Return of the Dittos’ by Dale Andrew White. White's eccentric and quirky sense of humor is evidenced throughout the book, taking the reader through twists and turns, delights and mishaps in this collection of short stories.”
..
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW:
“Short story anthologies often bring a variety and freshness that novels can't quite match. ‘Return of the Dittos And Other Stories’ is a new collection of stories from acclaimed short fiction author Dale Andrew White. A unique assortment of stories, each as entertaining as the last, ‘Return of the Dittos’ is a collection that short fiction lovers must get.”
Little, Wrinkled and Green : an interview with macabre cartoonist Gahan Wilson Page 2