Daily Graphic strips 14 February 1952

Daily Graphic strips from 14 February 1952. Most will be recognisable to American readers as the Graphic ran a ton of reprints. 'Tom Corbett Space Cadet' was drawn by Ray Bailey and ran in US papers in 1951-53, based on the popular television series (1950-55) which span off into a series of radio shows and adventure books by the pseudonymous Carey Rockwell. The abbreviated 'Space Cadet' harks back to the characters' origins, as Tom was partly inspired by Robert Heinlein's novel, Space Cadet (1948).

(Seven of the Carey Rockwell novels are available online at Project Gutenberg. There's a great Tom Corbett website here.)

Blondie was the long-running strip created by 'Chic' Young, still running in the USA. More at Wikipedia.

Pop was the creation of John Millar Watt in 1921 but he retired from the strip in 1949. Gordon Hogg ('Gog') took over and kept it going until 1960. Pop was very popular and had a companion annual published for two decades (1924-49) as well as being syndicated to the USA.

Roger Lincoln is also a US-originated strip, drawn by Milton Luros, a strip artist who later gave up comics for pornography. The strip, originally drawn by Irv Novick, began under the title 'Cynthia' in 1946 but shifted focus and was retitled 'Roger Lincoln' in 1951. Luros took over the strip and kept it going until 1953. Luros had formerly illustrated SF magazines and covers, but gave up SF for the more profitable pin-up market. He set up his own publishing company in 1959 and by 1965 was the richest porn-merchant in the USA, his magazines earning $20 million a year.

(* © Kemsley Newspapers)