''The Adventures of Bob Hope'' is an American

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 book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series that was published by

National Periodical Publications National Comics Publications, Inc. (also known as NCP or simply National) was an American comic book publishing company, and the direct predecessor of modern-day DC Comics. History The corporation was originally two companies: National Allied P ...

(an imprint of DC Comics). The series featured stories based on

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audienc ...

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

, as well as assorted other humorous stories. The series ran for 109 issues from 1950 through 1968.

Publication history

As 1950 neared, sales for superhero themed comics were declining. National Periodical Publications wanted to diversify its titles and so began licensing the right to use celebrity images, including

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake ...

, and

. Issue #1 (cover dated February–March 1950) set the tone for most of the 1950s. The lead story would feature Hope in a misadventure similar to his film roles; the back up stories tended to revolve around movie-related themes or characters. For example, issue #1 had a story on

Rhonda Fleming Rhonda Fleming (born Marilyn Louis; August 10, 1923 – October 14, 2020) was an American film and television actress and singer. She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most glamoro ...

, Hope's co-star in the 1949 film '' The Great Lover''. By the 1960s, sales for the Hope series began to flag. The editors attempted to add some contemporary humor by introducing the character

Super-Hip Super-Hip is a fictional character that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics. He first appeared in ''The Adventures of Bob Hope'' #95 (October-November 1965), in a story written by Arnold Drake and drawn by Bob Oksner. Publication histo ...

in issue #95. Despite the changes, the series was canceled with issue #109 (March 1968).

Artists and writers

The first four issues featured photographs of Hope on the cover; subsequent covers were illustrated. Owen Fitzgerald was the original artist for the series. He was eventually replaced by

Bob Oksner Bob Oksner (October 14, 1916 in Paterson, New Jersey – February 18, 2007) was an American comics artist known for both adventure comic strips and for superhero and humor comic books, primarily at DC Comics. Biography Oksner's early work ...

, who provided the majority of the artwork for the run of the series. Oksner was replaced by

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a Creator ownership, creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and re ...

for the final four issues. There were no story credits, though some sources credit

Cal Howard Calvin Henry Howard (March 24, 1911 – September 10, 1993) was an American cartoon story artist, animator and director mostly remembered for his work at Walter Lantz Productions and Warner Bros. Cartoons. He was also the voice actor of Gabby Goat i ...

with writing some early scripts. Beginning with issue #88 (Sept. 1964),

Arnold Drake Arnold Drake (March 1, 1924 – March 12, 2007) was an American comic book writer and screenwriter best known for co-creating the DC Comics characters Deadman and the Doom Patrol, and the Marvel Comics characters the Guardians of the Galaxy, amo ...

received a byline, and would go on to write most of the scripts for rest of the series run.Arnold Drake
at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics. Last accessed 4 April 2007.

References

External links

''The Adventures of Bob Hope''
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

''The Adventures of Bob Hope''
at Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics - The DC Indexes] {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Bob Hope, The Comics magazines published in the United States 1950 comics debuts 1968 comics endings Humor comics Hope, Bob Hope, Bob Comics by Arnold Drake Comics by Neal Adams Defunct American comics Bob Hope

Publication history

Artists and writers

See also

References

External links