The Bungle Family is an American gag-a-daycomic strip, created by Harry J. Tuthill, that first appeared in 1918. Originally titled Home, Sweet Home, it first appeared as part of a series of rotating strips in the New York Evening Mail. The strip ran until June 2, 1945.
In 1999, The Bungle Family was voted one of the Top 100 English language comics of the 20th Century by The Comics Journal.[1]Art Spiegelman praised The Bungle Family as "Visually deadpan, genuinely hilarious once you tune into its frequency, with a great ear for dialogue and an unsurpassed sense of character". Spiegelman also described the strip as "one of the darkest visions of American life this side of Nathanael West."[2]
Seen only sporadically in 1918, the strip was published daily and was nationally syndicated with the McClure Newspaper Syndicate by the end of 1919. Home, Sweet Home followed the adventures of Mabel (later Josephine) and George, a young couple beset on all sides by in-laws, neighbors and businessmen.
Tuthill took the strip to the McNaught Syndicate when the Evening Mail was sold in 1924, changing the name to The Bungle Family and adding daughter Peggy Bungle to the cast. A Sunday page was in existence by September 9, 1923.
Tuthill continued to draw The Bungle Family for McNaught until he had a dispute with the syndicate in 1939. This led to Tuthill ending the strip on August 1, 1942. After a hiatus, the strip returned — syndicated by Tuthill himself — on May 16, 1943, with newspapers running a promotional banner, "The Bungles Are Back!" It ran for two more years until June 2, 1945, when Tuthill retired.[1]
The Bungle Family Sunday page had three different toppers during the run: Little Brother (Oct 24, 1926 - March 28, 1937), Another Day Shot (1936) and Short Stories (April 4, 1937 - 1938).[3]
Characters and storyedit
Called "the finest, most inventive and socially critical of the family strips" by comics historian Bill Blackbeard, The Bungle Family was a popular domestic comedy that emphasized dialogue and realistic situations. The titular patriarch of the strip, long-suffering, cantankerous George Bungle, voiced the petty frustrations and joys of the common man during the Jazz Age and through the Depression.[4]
Comics historian Don Markstein described life among the Bungles:
George was skinny, middle-aged, cucumber-nosed and mustachioed, sort of like A. Mutt, Andy Gump or the self-caricatures of R. Crumb. Josie was his equivalent, not a dowdy old frump, but about as comfortably domestic looking as Mutt's or Andy's wife, or to cite a more recent example, Mrs. Ferd'nand. They were typical lower middle class city people of the time, living in a walk-up apartment and having frequent run-ins with the landlord, bill collectors, neighbors and most of all, each other. George and Jo would fight over practically anything. Their disputes frequently went on for hours, provoked noise complaints to the police, dragged the neighbors in, or all three. They were not very likable, and certainly not high-minded. But they were funny. Through them, Tuthill displayed a sort of amused contempt for the more petty concerns of ordinary urban life. The Bungles weren't the sort of folks most people would want to live downstairs from, but they were very much capable of providing entertainment for those who didn't have to put up with them in person.[1]
In the mid-1930s, Tuthill serialized exotic adventures and introduced a large supporting cast over the next several years—moves that were accompanied by a huge surge of public interest in the strip. Around this time, Tuthill began incorporating fantasy and time travel into the strip.[5]
Harry J. Tuthill's The Bungle Family (June 13, 1926), hand-colored original art
Reprintsedit
Reprints of the strip were first featured in the comic book Famous Funnies beginning with its first issue in 1934. In 2006, it was announced that Spec Publications, a Colorado-based publisher of classic comics, planned to reprint The Bungle Family in collected editions.
^Art Spiegelman, "Most Underrated Comic Strip". American Heritage Magazine, May/June 1998 Volume 49,Issue 3. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
^Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. pp. 57, 237, 350. ISBN9780472117567.
^. Archived from the original on 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
Sourcesedit
Home, Sweet Home. New York: M.S. Company, 1925.
Waugh, Coulton, The Comics, MacMillan, 1947, 1991, p. 110-111.
The Bungle Family: A Complete Compilation, 1928 / Harry J. Tuthill; introduction by Bill Blackbeard, The Hyperion library of classic American comic strips, Westport, Connecticut: Hyperion Press, 1977. LCCN 76053057 ISBN0-88355-669-3
Hunter, Julius K., Westmoreland and Portland places: the history and architecture of America's Premier Private Streets, 1888-1988 (St. Louis, Missouri), University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri, 1988, p. 84.
The Bungle Family 1930: LOAC Essentials Volume 5: Library of American Comics Essentials, Hardcover – July 15, 2014 / Harry J. Tuthill; IDW Publishing, 2014. ISBN1613779585ISBN978-1613779583
External linksedit
Flickr
Lambiek: The Bungle Family
Modern Mechanix, October 1936 2010-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
January 01, 1970
bungle, family, american, comic, strip, created, harry, tuthill, that, first, appeared, 1918, originally, titled, home, sweet, home, first, appeared, part, series, rotating, strips, york, evening, mail, strip, until, june, 1945, author, harry, tuthillcurrent, . The Bungle Family is an American gag a day comic strip created by Harry J Tuthill that first appeared in 1918 Originally titled Home Sweet Home it first appeared as part of a series of rotating strips in the New York Evening Mail The strip ran until June 2 1945 The Bungle FamilyAuthor s Harry J TuthillCurrent status scheduleDaily and Sunday concludedLaunch date1918End dateJune 2 1945Alternate name s Home Sweet HomeSyndicate s McClure Newspaper Syndicate 1919 1924 McNaught Syndicate 1924 1942 Self syndicated 1943 1945 Publisher s Eastern Color PrintingGenre s Humor gag a day In 1999 The Bungle Family was voted one of the Top 100 English language comics of the 20th Century by The Comics Journal 1 Art Spiegelman praised The Bungle Family as Visually deadpan genuinely hilarious once you tune into its frequency with a great ear for dialogue and an unsurpassed sense of character Spiegelman also described the strip as one of the darkest visions of American life this side of Nathanael West 2 Contents 1 Publication history 2 Characters and story 3 Reprints 4 References 4 1 Sources 5 External linksPublication history edit nbsp Harry J Tuthill s The Bungle Family Seen only sporadically in 1918 the strip was published daily and was nationally syndicated with the McClure Newspaper Syndicate by the end of 1919 Home Sweet Home followed the adventures of Mabel later Josephine and George a young couple beset on all sides by in laws neighbors and businessmen Tuthill took the strip to the McNaught Syndicate when the Evening Mail was sold in 1924 changing the name to The Bungle Family and adding daughter Peggy Bungle to the cast A Sunday page was in existence by September 9 1923 Tuthill continued to draw The Bungle Family for McNaught until he had a dispute with the syndicate in 1939 This led to Tuthill ending the strip on August 1 1942 After a hiatus the strip returned syndicated by Tuthill himself on May 16 1943 with newspapers running a promotional banner The Bungles Are Back It ran for two more years until June 2 1945 when Tuthill retired 1 The Bungle Family Sunday page had three different toppers during the run Little Brother Oct 24 1926 March 28 1937 Another Day Shot 1936 and Short Stories April 4 1937 1938 3 Characters and story editCalled the finest most inventive and socially critical of the family strips by comics historian Bill Blackbeard The Bungle Family was a popular domestic comedy that emphasized dialogue and realistic situations The titular patriarch of the strip long suffering cantankerous George Bungle voiced the petty frustrations and joys of the common man during the Jazz Age and through the Depression 4 Comics historian Don Markstein described life among the Bungles George was skinny middle aged cucumber nosed and mustachioed sort of like A Mutt Andy Gump or the self caricatures of R Crumb Josie was his equivalent not a dowdy old frump but about as comfortably domestic looking as Mutt s or Andy s wife or to cite a more recent example Mrs Ferd nand They were typical lower middle class city people of the time living in a walk up apartment and having frequent run ins with the landlord bill collectors neighbors and most of all each other George and Jo would fight over practically anything Their disputes frequently went on for hours provoked noise complaints to the police dragged the neighbors in or all three They were not very likable and certainly not high minded But they were funny Through them Tuthill displayed a sort of amused contempt for the more petty concerns of ordinary urban life The Bungles weren t the sort of folks most people would want to live downstairs from but they were very much capable of providing entertainment for those who didn t have to put up with them in person 1 In the mid 1930s Tuthill serialized exotic adventures and introduced a large supporting cast over the next several years moves that were accompanied by a huge surge of public interest in the strip Around this time Tuthill began incorporating fantasy and time travel into the strip 5 nbsp Harry J Tuthill s The Bungle Family June 13 1926 hand colored original artReprints editReprints of the strip were first featured in the comic book Famous Funnies beginning with its first issue in 1934 In 2006 it was announced that Spec Publications a Colorado based publisher of classic comics planned to reprint The Bungle Family in collected editions In 2014 The Library of American Comics published a year of The Bungle Family 1930 in their LoAC Essentials series nbsp Harry J Tuthill s The Bungle FamilyReferences edit a b c The Bungle Family at Don Markstein s Toonopedia Archived from the original on March 6 2015 Art Spiegelman Most Underrated Comic Strip American Heritage Magazine May June 1998 Volume 49 Issue 3 Retrieved 15 December 2018 Holtz Allan 2012 American Newspaper Comics An Encyclopedic Reference Guide Ann Arbor The University of Michigan Press pp 57 237 350 ISBN 9780472117567 Blackbeard Bill 1976 The Bungle Family The World Encyclopedia of Comics ed Maurice Horn New York Chelsea House ISBN 0 87754 030 6 The Bungle Family Hogan s Alley 13 Archived from the original on 2015 02 06 Retrieved 2013 08 12 Sources edit Home Sweet Home New York M S Company 1925 Waugh Coulton The Comics MacMillan 1947 1991 p 110 111 The Bungle Family A Complete Compilation 1928 Harry J Tuthill introduction by Bill Blackbeard The Hyperion library of classic American comic strips Westport Connecticut Hyperion Press 1977 LCCN 76053057 ISBN 0 88355 669 3 Hunter Julius K Westmoreland and Portland places the history and architecture of America s Premier Private Streets 1888 1988 St Louis Missouri University of Missouri Press Columbia Missouri 1988 p 84 The Bungle Family 1930 LOAC Essentials Volume 5 Library of American Comics Essentials Hardcover July 15 2014 Harry J Tuthill IDW Publishing 2014 ISBN 1613779585 ISBN 978 1613779583External links editFlickr Lambiek The Bungle Family The Press Bungle Time August 18 1930 Modern Mechanix October 1936 Archived 2010 10 05 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Bungle Family amp oldid 1205355522, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
