''The Comic Strip'' is an American animated series that features four rotating cartoon segments: ''The Mini-Monsters'', ''Street Frogs'', ''Karate Kat'' and ''

TigerSharks ''TigerSharks'' is an American animated series, animated children's television series developed by Rankin/Bass and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1987. The series involved a team of heroes that could transform into amalgams of human and ...

''. The 90-minute series ran in first-run syndication during the 1987 season. This was the last TV series produced by

Rankin/Bass Productions Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City. It was known for its seasonal television specials, ...

, and distributed by

Lorimar-Telepictures Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation, Inc. was an entertainment company established on February 19, 1986 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pi ...

, before Rankin/Bass Partners dissolved in 2001.

Segments

Two segments were shown on each broadcast where they each ran for about 10 minutes. The four rotating segments offered were:

The Mini-Monsters

A segment where normal human twin siblings Sherman (voiced by

Seth Green Seth Benjamin Green ( ''né'' Gesshel-Green; born February 8, 1974) is an American actor. His film debut was '' The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), and he went on to have supporting roles in comedy films in the 1980s, including '' Radio Days'' ( ...

) and Melissa Baxter find themselves in for a surprise when they are sent to summer camp for one year by their overwhelmed parents. Camp Mini-Mon turns out to be run by an organ-playing shadowy camp director (voiced by Peter Newman) with his pet vulture, and attended by monster kids who are offspring of usually famous monsters, mad scientists,

mutants In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It i ...

, a

witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

, and

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

(voiced by

Earl Hammond Erwin Saul Hamburger (June 17, 1921 – May 19, 2002), known professionally as Earl Hammond, was an American actor who appeared in several films and television series. He was best known for voicing Mumm-Ra and Jaga in ''ThunderCats'' and Mon*Sta ...

). They are

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

's son Dracky,

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...

's son Franky, The Wolf Man's comedic son Wolfie,

The Creature from the Black Lagoon ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' is a 1954 American black-and-white 3D monster horror film produced by William Alland and directed by Jack Arnold, from a screenplay by Harry Essex and Arthur Ross and a story by Maurice Zimm. It stars ...

's son Lagoon (voiced by

Bob McFadden Robert McFadden (January 19, 1923 – January 7, 2000) was an American singer, impressionist, and voice-over actor perhaps best known for his many contributions to animated cartoons. His most popular television cartoon characters included M ...

) who is a certified

lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and Cardiopulmonary ...

The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places * Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States * Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in P ...

's boxing son Mummo, the

Invisible Man ''Invisible Man'' is Ralph Ellison's first novel, and the only one published during his lifetime. It was first published by the British magazine Horizon in 1947, and addresses many of the social and intellectual issues faced by African American ...

's son Blanka, Klutz (voiced by

) the clumsy giant lizard monster who may or may not be related to

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

, Jynx the Witch (voiced by

Maggie Wheeler Maggie Wheeler (née Jakobson) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Janice on the television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), and Anita on ''Ellen'' (1994–1996). In addition to her acting and voiceover work, she is a singe ...

), and Merlin's son Melvin accompanied by Cawfield the talking crow (voiced by

). In addition, the camp director is assisted by the camp counselor Garrison and the grandson of

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is an 1886 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series ...

(voiced by

) who works as the camp's physician.

Street Frogs

A segment depicting the typical teen-aged hijinks of a gang of street-smart

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...

named Dr. Slick, Big Max (voiced by

), Spider, Moose The Loose, and "Honey Love" Loretta (voiced by Tanya Willoughby) in an 80s-themed world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. They are also on good terms with a

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

named Snappy Sam (voiced by Ron Taylor) who is the

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

and proprietor of the diner that Loretta works at and the town's DJ Typhoon

Toad Toad (also known as a hoptoad) is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands. In popular culture (folk taxonomy ...

. Apart from Rankin-Bass regular

, this segment featured an African-American cast. Ron Taylor also provides the theme song vocals for this segment. Each episode contains a musical number.

Karate Kat

In a late 50s/early 60s-themed world inhabited by anthropomorphic cats, Karate Kat (voiced by

) is a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

who uses his karate to fight crime in his town which is usually in the form of

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, mafia don, mob boss, kingpin, or godfather is the leader of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss has absolute or nearly absolute control over the other members of the organization and is ...

Big Papa (voiced by

) and his two lackeys named Boom-Boom Burmese (voiced by

Larry Kenney Larry Kenney (born August 5, 1947) is an American voice actor and radio personality. Early life Larry Kenney was born August 5, 1947 in Pekin which is south of Peoria, Illinois, the son of George and Joyce Kenney. He has a brother, Steven, an ...

) and Sumo Sai (voiced by

). When working at for McClaws's Detective Agency run by his short-tempered boss Katie "Big Mama" McClaw (voiced by

Gerrianne Raphael Gerrianne Raphael is an American stage, screen, and voice-over actress. Though much of her career has been spent in the theatre, she is perhaps best known for her major role as the voice of Pumyra in ''ThunderCats''. Personal life Gerrianne Ra ...

) who is Big Papa's ex-wife, Karate Kat is assisted by his friends/co-workers like his best friend/sparring partner Katgut (voiced by

), inventor Dr. Katmandu (voiced by

), Ciao-Baby and her sister Meow-Baby (both voiced by Maggie Jacobsen), and the aptly-named Katatonic (voiced by

). Karate Kat's catchphrase is "I'm lean, I'm mean, I'm a karate machine" as he spin-changes from his private investigator attire into his karate attire in order to fight crime.

TigerSharks

A group of powered-up human/sea animal hybrids consisting of Mako (voiced by Peter Newman), Walro (voiced by

), Dolph (voiced by

), Octavia (voiced by

Camille Bonora Camille Bonora (also known as Camille Kampouris; born May 13, 1956) is a former Muppet performer. She currently serves on the board of BibleMesh online theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with ...

), Lorca, Bronc, Angel, and Gupp become involved in underwater adventures on the planet Water-O that has them facing off against villains like T-Ray and Captain Bizzarly (voiced by

). Each episode consisted of two parts.

Foreign syndication

The show was also seen on

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, on RPN-9 in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, on RTM 1 in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

(where it was shown after the American children's educational series ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''), on

Fun Channel Fun Channel is a Bahraini television channel owned by the Orbit Network. Fun Channel contains cartoons for children from early morning to evening such as '' The Why Why Family'' and '' Dennis the Menace''. From late night to early morning, it co ...

in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, on TV 4 in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

, on

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourn ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

(as part of their children's television strand called ''Tube Time''), on TVJ in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and on

Rai 2 Rai 2 is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's second television channel, and is known for broadcasting '' TG2'' news bulletins, ta ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Video releases

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

releases of certain episodes of ''The Comic Strip'' were made available in 1987. These VHS tapes each featured three installments of one particular cartoon. For example, the video "Adventures at Camp Mini-Mon" contained three episodes: "Camp Mini-Mon The First Day", "The Belly Ache" and "Alien."

Episodes

The Mini-Monsters episodes

# Camp Mini-Mon - The First Day # The Bellyache # Alien # Practical Joke Day # Parent's Day # Melissa's Magic Painting # They're Not Monsters # The Big Fight # The Swim Meet # Cawfield Blows His Cool # The Magic Feather # The Switch # Wolfie's Bet # Lagoon in Love # Mini-Mon's Horse # Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Claws # Ghosts in the Night # House for Sale # Campy Goody Twoshoe # Franklyn Builds a Friend # Mummo's Birthday # Home Movies # The Inspection # A Visit from Ooze # Phantom of the Mess Hall # Dracky's Bat

Street Frogs episodes

# The Hopline # The Crate # Typhoon Takes Off # The Drop Out # Loretta Goes to Hollywood # Rapperman # Fiddling Around # The Super # The Babysitters # Frog TV # Surprise Fights # Take Out # Moose's Ride # The Car Show # Bye Bye Toad # High Fashion Frogs # Fleet Frogs # The Derby # The Night Job # The Hairdo # Misty Marvelous # The Street Fair # Wilfred Returns # When I Grow Up # The Phone Call

Karate Kat episodes

# The Katzenheimer Kaper # The Sardine Turnover Kaper # The Mousemobile Kaper # The Crow Key Kaper # The Kata Hari Kaper # The Picat-So Kaper # Ticktocking Along # The Koffee Kup Kaper # Kat Tracks # The Bank Heist # The Tabby Tire Tracker # The Pink Sphinx # Cat's Ahoy # The Cousin Kaper # The Bathtub Bandits # Pretty Kitty Kaper # The Kattensniffer Kaper # The Cats 'N Bats Kaper # The Tabby Telemann Kaper # Cat Goes Ape # The Ghost of Legs Larue # Kat's Paws # The Twin Brother Kaper # The Amnesia Kaper # The Lonely Hearts Kaper

TigerSharks episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Comic Strip (TV series), The 1987 American animated television series debuts 1987 American television series endings 1980s American animated comedy television series 1980s American anthology television series 1980s American children's comedy television series 1980s American daily animated television series American children's animated anthology television series American children's animated comedy television series American English-language television shows First-run syndicated animated television series Animated television series about cats Animated television series about frogs Children's television series about talking animals Television series by Lorimar Television Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Rankin/Bass Productions television series Television series by Lorimar-Telepictures