Birmingham Historical Comic Strips -- Birmingham Post-Herald, The Fifties
Overall, the '50's were the span of time when the industry as a whole migrated far along the spectrum from serial, mostly dramatic strips to gag-a-day strips, as Peanuts and Dennis the Menace debuted and inspired a dozen imitators each. The pendelum never swung all the way, as Mary Worth and Judge Parker demonstrate, but the average comics page definitely looked a good bit different by the end of the decade. While there were some signs of that in the Post-Herald, it wasn't as extreme as most, probably because the overall shift had already begun before the first issue was published in 1950.
First of all, the three panels which had been scattered throughout the paper - Funny Business, Carnival, and Side Glances - never actually appeared on a regular basis; they were used with no particular pattern over the years to fill a needed space. They would show up a few time each over the course of each year, tapering off as time went on; I think the last appearance of any of them that I've spotted came in 1958.
1950:
The only change for 1950 was the change in June from Jack Armstrong to Laredo Crockett, which was either a replacement or renaming from the same artist, depending on your point of view.
Laredo Crockett, Bob Schoenke, Register & Tribune Syndicate
1951:
In February, Sandy Hill was added, a slice-of-life serial about a boy and his friends down on the farm; it was dramatic in the sense that it wasn't funny, seeming to be intended as a wholesome family strip but lacking any real hook or punch. That left things a bit crowded, so Vic Flint was dropped in March. In November, a true sci-fi serial called Chris Welkin, Planeteer, was added in, squeezing out some advertising space.
Sandy Hill, Bil Dwyer, none listed
Chris Welkin, Planeteer, Russ Winterbotham, NEA Service
1952:
Freckles and His Friends, which still felt very much like the 1930's at the time, left the P-H in January. Chris Welkin lasted only until May, and Sandy Hill left in September, neither of them having ever really found their footing. Sandy Hill was replaced the next day by the Gene Autry serial, which very much felt like the fifth product in line in a multi-media string.
Gene Autry, Bart Laws and Bob Stevens, General Features
1953:
Smilin' Jack flew on off into the sunset in October, the only change for the year.
1954:
September saw the debut of Sweetie Pie, one of the aforementioned Dennis the Menace clones, this time with a female lead.
Sweetie Pie,
Nadine Seltzer, none listed
1955:
In March, Moon Mullins left, presumably continuing to do the same things they had always done, just out of our sight. It was replaced by Walt Disney's True Life Adventures, which looks exactly like what you would expect to get if someone from Walt Disney Studios produced a version of Ripley's Believe It or Not.
Walt Disney's True Life Adventures, none listed, Walt Disney Productions
1956:
In November, there were two simultaneous additions: Lolly was a sometimes interesting attempt to merge genres with a rather large cast - the title character was a standard pretty-teen-girl trope, but she had a precocious younger brother who had plenty of friends, and they lived with her grandmother, who pulled in a larger family dynamic at times. It didn't always balance well, but by being a merger of several copies rather than a straightforward steal, it had some interesting moments. The other was an all-kids strip called Peanuts, which just wrote down a bunch of famous lines.
Lolly, none listed,
Chicago Tribune
Peanuts, Charles Shultz,
United Features Syndicate
1957:
June featured the addition of Tizzy, an off-page panel about the aforementioned pretty teen girl. Lolly left in November.
Tizzy, Kate Osann, none listed
1958, 1959:
There were no changes in 1958 or 1959.
Last Updated: February 10, 2023