Jump to content

Joe Martin (comic strip)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Four panels
Example of the Joe Martin newspaper comic strip by Forest McGinn (Vernal Express newspaper, Utah, 1921)

Joe Martin was a short-lived newspaper comic strip drawn by Forest McGinn[1] to further market Universal Pictures' celebrity orangutan Joe Martin. The Joe Martin strips were free "six-column mat form" comics issued by Universal to any newspaper that requested them.[2] The Joe Martin comic strip was introduced on or before March 1920[3] and continued until at least 1921.[1] The strip, sometimes called The Life, Loves and Adventures of Joe Martin was published in newspapers in the United States,[4] Canada,[5] and Sweden.[1]

Contemporary audiences would find the subject matter highly offensive. The comics are period-typical in that "Blacks were the principal comic figures [although] many of the images of 'Blacks' in the first half-century of the comics were not of Blacks at all. Instead they were caricatures derived from [minstrel shows]."[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Schuddeboom, Bas; Kousemaker, Kees (2016-07-14). "Forest A. McGinn". Lambiek Comiclopedia. Amsterdam: Lambiek Comic Shop. Archived from the original on 2022-10-17. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  2. ^ "Comic Strip Boosts Monk: Universal Issues Cartoons to Exploit Joe Martin, Monkey-Actor". Motion Picture News. Vol. XXI, no. XV. 1920-04-03. p. 3096. Retrieved 2022-11-25 – via Media History Digital Library.
  3. ^ McGinn, Forest (1920-03-19). "Joe Martin - He Wants His Price or Nothing". Troy Call. Vol. 25, no. 16. Troy, Illinois. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-11-29 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  4. ^ "New Comic for This Paper". Madera Mercury. Vol. XXXIV, no. 180. Madera, California. 1920-05-10. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2022-10-19. Retrieved 2022-10-17 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  5. ^ McGinn, Forest (1921-03-09). "Joe Martin - They Say Clothes Make the Man Therefore Joe Is a Man Now". Wainwright Star. Vol. XIII, no. 15. Wainwright, Alberta. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-11-29 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  6. ^ Jones, Steven Loring (2019). "From "Under Cork" to Overcoming: Black Images in the Comics". Jim Crow Museum Scholarly Essays. Big Rapids, Michigan: Ferris State University. Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-11-22 – via Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia.
[edit]