Lank Leonard - Mickey Finn -

I had never heard of Mickey Finn until these strips popped up (inexpensively) on ebay in the early 2000s -- even though it must have been a popular strip, syndicated from the 1930s until the 1970s!  I ended up with about 10 originals, mostly undated, but my guess is from the '40s.

Though it has elements of a crime strip, Mickey Finn feels like more of a cozy, working-class character strip -- more along the lines of Gasoline Alley, or Bringing Up Father than Dick Tracy. It's a reminder of the readership demographic that made the funnies such an important feature of newspapers going back to the Yellow Kid.  The graphic style is halfway between illustrational and cartoony -- a little like Ham Fisher, maybe -- a style that seems to have been out of fashion in newspaper strips for decades. The drawing is a bit stiff, and the strip overall is on the bland side, but pleasant, and with some period charm ("I wouldn't go out on a night like this if I had a date with Hedy Lamarr")  It's a clean line style, given depth and tone by Leonard's nice use of ink washes over zipatone -- an unusual technique in comic strips as far as I can tell. I can't imagine how these delicate tones survived the newsprint reproduction process, but they give the originals a lovely quality. 

Anyone with more insights about the strip, let me know!