''Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers'' was an American
gag-a-day
A gag-a-day comic strip is the style of writing comic cartoons such that every installment of a strip delivers a complete joke or some other kind of artistic statement. It is opposed to story or continuity strips, which rely on the development of ...
celebrity comics
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
comic strip by Stuart Carothers
[Carothers entry]
Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Retrieved March 11, 2021. and later
Elzie C. Segar starring
Charlie Chaplin. It ran in syndication from March 29, 1915, until September 16, 1917.
It was one of the earliest comic strips inspired by the popularity of a
celebrity
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
.
Background
''Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers'' was published in the
''Chicago Herald''. The comic strip cashed in on the tremendous popularity of the comedian at the time. It was created by Stewart W. Carothers in March 1915,
[ who drew and wrote the stories until his tragic early death from defenestration.]["ASK THE ARCHIVIST : CHARLIE CHAPLIN’S COMIC CAPERS,"](_blank)
''Comics Kingdom'' (September 24, 2015). On February 29, 1916, Segar published his first Chaplin strip. The daily version ran until July 15, 1916. His Sunday version ran longer, from March 12, 1916, until September 16, 1917. It was his first professional cartooning job. Contrary to his predecessors, who mostly borrowed ideas from Chaplin's films, Segar thought up his own jokes. He gave Chaplin a tiny sidekick
A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany.
Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
named ''"Luke the Gook"'' to act as a straight man
The straight man is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The direct contribution to the c ...
to his gags.
Collections
In 1917, five books were published by M.A. Donohue & Co., in 'Best of' style collections. Four of them being painting/coloring books
A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media. ...
. These books are considered to be from the Platinum Age.
Reception
Despite Chaplin's popularity, the comic strip wasn't a huge success in the United States, mostly due to the fact that all artists involved were basically amateurs.
See also
* '' Inside Woody Allen'', another newspaper comic strip based on a comedic film performer.
* Charlie Chaplin comics
References
External links
Charley Chaplin's Comic Capers, A Collection
"Teary Eyes" Anderson in Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers: Series 1, No. 315.
Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers v1 315
* U'Ren, Christine
Silent San Francisco (Oct. 19, 2015).
1915 comics debuts
1917 comics endings
American comic strips
Comics based on films
Comic strips based on real people
Comic strips set in the United States
Cultural depictions of Charlie Chaplin
Defunct American comics
Gag-a-day comics
Public domain comics
Comic strips started in the 1910s
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