Jacky's Diary - 1960, Dec. 11

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Artwork Details

Title:	Jacky's Diary - 1960, Dec. 11
Artist:	Jack Mendelsohn (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	801
Likes on CAF:	0 1
Comments:	1
Added to Site:	5/11/2010
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Jack Mendelsohn: JACKY�S DIARY Sunday comic strip, 12/11/60.

Jack Mendelsohn (1926�2017) was a writer-artist who has worked in animation, comic strips, comic books, and as a TV scripter. His father was Winsor McCay�s film agent. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, while living in Mexico City, he wrote and drew his innovative comic strip, �Jackys Diary�. It began January 11, 1959, continuing until December 31, 1961.

The Sunday-only strip is regarded by many comics buffs as one of King Feature�s most novel and clever humor strips. It purported to be the hand-illustrated, hand-written diary of a young boy, supposedly Mendelsohn himself in his extreme youth. Thus, it was both written and illustrated as though by a small child � which is not as easy to do as some who have had the misfortune of growing up might think. Week after week, Mendelsohn described trips to the circus, fishing expeditions, visits to members of his extended family, and all sorts of other adventures kids have, in a style simulating that of an actual kid � except, of course, for the fact that it was professionally rendered in every way. Unfortunately, professional work is sometimes best recognized by another professional, or at least by someone who knows what to look for, or at the very least, by someone who could see that this was a spoof, and that childishness was a schtick and not a natural state for Mendelsohn. King Features received complaints from those who didn�t �get� it and thought the company was publishing the work of an actual child � or, in the case of those who noticed the byline (�by Jacky Mendelsohn, age 32��) by an adult whose abilities hadn�t progressed since childhood. Often, parents, mistaking the strip�s intent, would encourage their own children to send in submissions to what they thought was a kids� participation feature.

Although it was a very clever, funny strip, different from any other, it unfortunately didn�t attract enough client papers to keep it going. Almost half of the some 75 clients were foreign newspapers, which required that it be reproduced in dozens of different languages and in varying sizes and formats; each step of the process requiring a completely new set of expen-sive and labor-intensive steel engravings.

Upon the strip�s cancelation, Mendelsohn moved in to television scriptwriting for Jay Ward�s studio, as well as �Scooby Doo� and the animated versions of �Beetle Bailey� and �Krazy Kat�. He was one of the writers of the Beatles� �Yellow Submarine� in 1968 and during this period he also started writing for live-action television. He scripted for �Rowan & Martin�s Laugh-In� and was head writer of �Three�s Company� and �The Carol Burnett Show�. In later years, he returned to animation as the story editor for the complete run of �The Teenage Mu-tant Ninja Turtles� animated series.

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	Rarebit Fiend Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	February 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Ebay Id:	rarebit-fiend
Country:	GERMANY
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Collezione Sista e Ovidio Scapigliati
Member Since 2005

Posted on 5/11/2010

Meravigliosa! ciao G ps stavo per offrire anch'io su questa, meno male che non l'ho fatto.

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