''Ella Cinders'' is an American syndicated

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

created by writer Bill Conselman and artist Charles Plumb. Distributed for most of its run by

United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate, Inc. (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media ( ...

, the daily version was launched June 1, 1925, and a Sunday page followed two years later. It was discontinued on December 2, 1961. ''Chris Crusty'' ran above ''Ella Cinders'' as a topper strip from July 5, 1931 to July 6, 1941.

Publication history

''Ella Cinders'' was launched in 1925 by the Metropolitan Newspaper Service (MNS). In the summer of 1925, Max Elser, Jr., the president of MNS, introduced ''Ella Cinders'' and Conselman to the readers of ''Cartoons & Movies'' magazine: United Features acquired MNS in 1930, taking over syndication of ''Ella Cinders''. The credited artists on the strip were creator Charles Plumb (June 1, 1925 - May 13, 1950), Fred Fox (May 15, 1950 - 1960) and Roger Armstrong of '' Scamp'' (1960 - December 2, 1961). However, the comic strip had numerous ghost writers and ghost artists. Comic strip historian Allan Holtz notes, " Very seldom did the credited writer or artist perform the task claimed - though they were usually involved in some capacity." The ghosts included children's book author Hardie Gramatky, Morton Traylor, Henry Formhals (of '' Freckles and His Friends'') and Texas artist Jack W. McGuire. His son, Jack W. McGuire, Jr., recalled: : His first strip was '' Jane Arden'' in 1934, followed by ''Bullet Benton'', a cowboy boxer similar to '' Joe Palooka''; then the ''Red Knight''. After the ''Red Knight'' in 1943, Dad began drawing ''Ella Cinders'' as a ghost artist for the original artist, Charles Plumb. He drew this strip until he died in December 1945.''Red Knight''
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Characters and story

Initially, as the name implies, the strip presented a variation on the classic ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

'' story, but then it diverged into other plotlines, as noted by comics historian Don Markstein: Ellacinders6125

Film adaptation

The prolific Alfred E. Green directed the film adaptation '' Ella Cinders'', starring

Colleen Moore Colleen Moore (born Kathleen Morrison; August 19, 1899 – January 25, 1988) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. Moore became one of the most fashionable (and highly-paid) stars of the era and helped po ...

, produced by Moore's husband John McCormick, and released by First National Pictures on June 6, 1926.

Books

Ella also turned up in Big Little Books and

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

, including early issues of ''Tip Top'' and ''Sparkler Comics'', plus her own title in 1948–1949.

References

{{Cinderella 1925 comics debuts 1961 comics endings Adventure comic strips American comics adapted into films Cinders, Ella American comic strips Works based on Cinderella Comics about women Drama comics Cinders, Ella Comics based on fairy tales Public domain comics