The Lockhorns
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''The Lockhorns'' is a United States single-panel cartoon created September 9, 1968 by
Bill Hoest William Pierce Hoest (February 7, 1926 – November 7, 1988) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of the comic strip '' The Lockhorns'', distributed by King Features Syndicate to 500 newspapers in 23 countries, and '' Laugh Parad ...
and originally distributed by
King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...
to 500 newspapers in 23 countries. The Lockhorns joined Andrews McMeel Syndication (AMS) January 1, 2024 and continues to appear in hundreds of newspapers worldwide and online through websites including AMS's GoComics! After Hoest's death in 1988 the comic panel was continued by his wife Bunny Hoest and cartoonist John Reiner.''The Lockhorns''
at
Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on November 16, 2015.
In 2017 Hoest donated the archives of more than 37,000 of her cartoons - including The Lockhorns, Howard Huge and others - to Adelphi University where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree and an honorary doctorate.


Premise

The Lockhorns presents the ups and downs of committed relationships through the lens of the married couple Loretta and Leroy Lockhorn. The two exchange witty barbs and sarcastic quips all while demonstrating their deep love and affection for each other. Through thick and thin, couples counseling and Leroy's occasional trips to the bar, Loretta and Leroy exemplify the enduring nature of their relationship, bound together "til death do us part." The strip initially was titled ''The Lockhorns of
Levittown Levittown is the name of several large suburban housing developments created in the United States (including one in Puerto Rico) by William J. Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. Built after World War II for returning white veterans and thei ...
'', and many of the businesses and institutions depicted in the strip are real places located in or near
Huntington, New York Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town's population was 204,127 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 11 ...
, on the North Shore of
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. "When we use names, we get permission," Bunny Hoest said in 2019. “Dr. aroldBlog was our doctor for many years. He passed away. We still use him. He stays alive in the comic." Anticipating national syndication, Bunny Hoest suggested shortening the title to ''The Lockhorns''. It began as a single-panel daily on September 9, 1968, with the Sunday feature launched April 9, 1972. The Sunday feature employs an unusual layout that grouped together several single-panel cartoons.


Characters

Leroy works at an unspecified job, trying to make ends meet while Loretta keeps the home fires burning...literally. A notoriously bad cook, she has on more than one occasion set off smoke alarms in every part of the house. She is also a self-confessed shopaholic. Loretta plays the piano - and drives the car - both by ear. Leroy's wandering eye and lazy lifestyle form part of the couple's comic conflicts too. The humor comes primarily from the exchanges between the couple themselves, with an occasional appearance by Leroy's outspoken mother-in-law and a hapless marriage counselor, Dr. Pullman.


Books

Hoest has published multiple collections of The Lockhorns with Signet, Tor and Simon and Schuster's Wallaby Books. Tor has reissued expanded collections of several of these books. Hoest has published other books for other strips the studio has produced. "What's the Garbage Doing on the Stove?" Signet (1975), "Loretta, the Meatloaf is Moving" Signet (1976), "Who Made the Caesar Salad, Brutus?" Signet (1977), "Is This the Steak or the Charcoal?" Signet (1979), "I See You Burned the Cold Cuts Again" Signet (1981), "Of Course I Love You - What Do I Know?" Signet (1981), "You Name It... I'm Guilty" Signet (1982), "Let's Go For a Walk and Bring your Wallet" Signet (1982), "I Could Live without These Meatballs-Probably Longer" Signet (1982), "This is Our Twenty-Fifth Anniversary. Don't You Think That's Enough?" Simon and Schuster's Wallaby Books (1982), "What Do You Mean You Weren't Listening? I Didn't Say Anything" Tor (1983), "Leroy is Very Proud ofThat Trophy and Wouldn't You Know it, He got if from Running Backwards" Tor (1984), "I'm Sticking to My Story...Whatever It Is" Tor (1985), "Dessert! We Made It into the Homestretch!" Tor (1985), "I'm Trying to Improve My Marriage, But I Can't Get her to Leave" Tor (1990), "It's a Letter Inviting Mother to Come Visit with Us I'll Mail it Myself" Tor (1990), "The Trouble With You is that You Judge Food Too Much by its Taste" Barking Hollow Studios (2015), "You Have to Spend Money to Make Money...I can Handle That" Barking Hollow Studios (2024)


Awards

Bill Hoest received the
National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...
's Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for the strip for 1975 and 1980. John Reiner won the National Cartoonists Society Award for Best Gag Cartoons in 1994. In 2013, Bunny Hoest and John Reiner were honored with The Golden Key Award and incited into the National Cartoonists Society Hall of Fame.


Origin and location

Bill Hoest was a prolific gag cartoonist, submitting work to nearly every publication in the 1960s. He noticed that many of his submissions were on the subject of marriage and decided to create a comic strip with that theme. King Features liked the strip samples but suggested it would work better as a single panel, ironically having Hoest return the work into its original single-panel form. The Lockhorns began syndication later that year. Originally titled "The Lockhorns of Levittown," a reference to the new post-war Long Island suburban community, the single-panel cartoon appeared as a daily feature on September 9, 1968 until April 9, 1972, when its growing popularity brought about the addition of a Sunday cartoon, which incorporated a number of individual, stand-alone panels. Due to its widening appeal, the feature shortened its name to simply "The Lockhorns." The panel's humorous and universal take on a couple's life together resonated with readers around the world, appearing in many different countries, for more than 50 years. They appear in Spanish as "Los Melaza," in French as "La Famille Chicane," as well as in Chinese, German, Finnish, Hebrew, and more.


References


Sources

* Strickler, Dave. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index.'' Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995.


External links


''The Lockhorns'' official site


See also

*
Andy Capp ''Andy Capp'' is a British comic strip created by cartoonist Reg Smythe, seen in the ''Daily Mirror'' and the ''Sunday Mirror'' newspapers since 5 August 1957. Originally a panel (comics), single-panel cartoon, it was later expanded to four ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockhorns, The American comic strips 1968 comics debuts Comic strips set in the United States Comics about married people Comics characters introduced in 1968 Gag cartoon comics Gag-a-day comics Fictional families