Number 995


Bob Hope the comic spawned Bob Hope the comic book


We have several generations for whom Bob Hope was a presence, on TV and in old movies. Hope, who died in 2003 just after his 100th (!!) birthday, was an institution in American theater, vaudeville, radio, movies and television. He also had his own comic book from DC for 18 years.

Earlier issues were drawn by the great Owen Fitzgerald, an animator and cartoonist whose career also lasted a long time. I showed a story by him a couple of weeks ago in Pappy's #988. John K. has an excellent posting on Owen Fitzgerald, and artists who followed him on the Bob Hope comic books.

Fitzgerald took over the Dennis the Menace comic book series from Al Wiseman. Mykal Banta showed a great example of Fitzgerald's work on Dennis.

This funny three-part story, which features a mad scientist, a beautiful blonde, talking dogs and a gorilla comes from The Adventures of Bob Hope #14, 1952: