The Sunday Funnies

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“The Sunday funnies” is a phrase that conjures up nostalgic images.  Family members arguing over who gets the comic section first.  Kids on their hands and knees reading the funnies on the living room floor.  Dad taking a Sunday snooze in his easy chair, the comics spread across his lap.  The Sunday funnies have been a tradition in American life for more than a century.

When Hi and Lois started in 1954, newspapers were still one of the primary sources for daily information and entertainment.   Radio, which was introduced in the 1920s, coexisted with print publications and both mediums continued to thrive.  This began to change in the subsequent decades as television lured readers and listeners into its seductive universe.

In 1950, TV sets were owned by only 3.1 million homes.  Within five years the number jumped to 32 million.  By 1959, the average family spent six hours a day, seven days a week, in front of the “boob tube.”

Adventure and story strips suffered from this competition because newspaper editors assumed that readers no longer had the patience to follow plots that took weeks to develop when they could watch a complete episode on television in thirty minutes or an hour.  Humor features, which delivered daily laughs, began to replace story strips as the dominant genre in newspaper comics.

Hi and Lois was a beneficiary of this shift in readership. The Flagstons, like most American families watched their favorite TV shows but also continued the tradition of reading the funnies.  In this Sunday page from 1962, Hi give the twins a lesson in comics appreciation.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, February 4, 1962.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, February 4, 1962.

Newspapers are now competing with digital media for their readers’ attention.  Comic strip syndicates have responded to this challenge by setting up web sites on the Internet where readers can create their own personal comics pages.

This Sunday page from 1999, summed up my attitude at that time about traditional printed newspapers versus the new technology.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, March 21, 1999.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, March 21, 1999.

King Features Syndicate felt this episode provided a positive statement about what newspapers provide to their readers.  They made large (19” x 13”) color prints of the Sunday page, which we signed, and sent them to all of our newspaper clients.  It was a good public relations move.  As newspapers struggle to remain commercially viable in the 21st century one of their cost-cutting solutions has been to eliminate their comics pages. Hi and Lois is one of the few features that has avoided cancellations and continues to maintain its list of subscribers.

I have since adapted to the changing times.  I stopped reading the New York Daily News after they dumped one-third of their comics, including Beetle Bailey.  I now subscribe to two digital comic services, DailyInk and GoComics, and follow close to thirty comics a day online.  You can’t fight progress.

– Brian Walker

Working Parents

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For almost three decades, Hi was the sole breadwinner in the Flagston family.  Every year, he declared all of his income and paid his taxes with a groan.  His credit rating was good and his character references were excellent.

Hi still works as a district sales manager for Foofram Industries, which manufactures fooframs of all types.  His boss, Mr. Foofram, inherited the business from his father and sits at an ornate throne in his office vainly trying to get his employees to do his bidding.  He is the quintessential small man in a big job – a lot of power but not very much wattage.

Hi commutes to the office, by car, bus or train, with his next-door neighbor Thirsty Thurston.  The two are shown occasionally at their desks or on lunch breaks.  There are also frequent scenes of Hi returning from work, as in the classic single-panel strip below.

Hi and Lois daily strip, June 28, 1965.

Hi and Lois daily strip, June 28, 1965.

During this time, Lois Flagston was the classic baby-boom mother.  She was a romantic lover to her husband, a devoted caregiver to her children and a civic activist in her community.

As more women entered the labor force, Mort Walker decided the strip needed to catch up with the times.  In 1980, Lois got a job as a real estate agent.  Since then, she has struggled to keep up with her child-rearing responsibilities and the demands of her career.  Her frustrations with trying to sell houses has been an abundant source of new gag material.  On rare occasions, she is successful, as in the strip below, which Chance Browne adapted from the 1965 episode.

Hi and Lois daily strip, August 21, 2007.

Hi and Lois daily strip, August 21, 2007.

The tug of war between Hi and Lois over the rearrangement of their family roles has been a fertile ground for fresh ideas.  Hi helps with the chores and benefits from the money Lois earns while she appreciates the sacrifices he has made.  This sharing added a new dimension to the strip.  It has proven to be the most successful innovation in Hi and Lois since the emergence of Trixie in the late 1950s.

– Brian Walker

Happy Mother’s Day

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My wife, Abby, does the cooking in our family, so on Mother’s Day, as a special treat, I usually make her breakfast in bed.  We also feature this tradition regularly in Hi and Lois.

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are important holidays and it would be an oversight not to celebrate these occasions in a family strip like Hi and Lois.  But it does present a challenge to come up with fresh ideas ever year.  There are only so many variations on the breakfast-in-bed scenario.

In 2006 I thought it might be interesting to take a look back at mothers throughout history and wrote this episode.  Chance did a great job creating convincing juvenile versions of these well-known historical figures and their mothers.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, May 14, 2006.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, May 14, 2006.

It is always fun for readers to discover more about the background of our characters than is revealed in the current strips.  In this Mother’s Day Sunday page from 2008, Lois reflects on how her aspirations have changed during her life as well as her hopes for the future.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, May 11, 2008.

Hi and Lois Sunday page, May 11, 2008.

If you are still looking for a Mother’s Day gift, color prints of these Sunday pages are available simply by clicking on the “Buy Print” button above.  Options include quality prints, matted archival prints and framed archival prints.

We wish all of our readers a wonderful Mother’s Day and hope you enjoy these Hi and Lois Sunday pages from the recent past.

– Brian Walker