Billy DeBeck - Barney Google & Bunky

Billy DeBeck created two masterful comic strips during his career. He is most well known for Barney Google, he of the goo-goo-googly eyes. But DeBeck's other creation, Parlor, Bedroom & Sink, was just as good as his more well known feature, if not better. The strip ran as a Sunday topper to Barney and featured Bunky, a baby with extraordinary oratorial skills. The strip was a humorous soap opera, and featured the villain Fagin, who was derived from the Dickens' character. Bunky would sometimes mix a bit of Brooklynese into his speech and one of his best known lines was "Fagin, youse is a viper!".

This delightful little ink and color pencil drawing of Barney Google and Bunky dates from 1933. It is only the second such drawing, featuring the two characters from different strips, that I have seen.