Return to Stolzer, Rob

Little Joe

The western Sunday page comic strip Little Joe is interesting for a number of reasons, but none may be more than the reason it was created: for revenge. As author and historian Jeet Heer writes in his essay in volume 7 of the IDW reprint series of Little Orphan Annie, the public story about the creation of Little Joe “…is that it was the brainchild of Gray’s assistant, Edwin Leffingwell. The actual story”, writes Heer, “is one of syndicate intrigue.” According to Heer, Gray had been toying with the idea of Little Joe for many years, back to the 1920s, in fact. But as we know, it was the story of an orphan girl that he eventually made headway with. An opportunity arose in the early 1930s, to make a play with Little Joe and Gray took advantage of it.

Arthur Crawford was a longtime magazine and newspaper man, and in the early 30s he was the Vice-President of the Chicago Tribune Syndicate. Crawford also happened to be someone whom Gray despised, considering him, in Jeet Heer’s words, to be “…a chiseler out to divert revenue from hard-working cartoonists.” Along with Gray’s hatred of Crawford, Chet Gould, the creator of Dick Tracy, bore a similar hatred of Norman Marsh, who came up with his Dick Tracy knock-off of Dan Dunn in the early 30s. So, what do these two things have to do with the price of tomatoes, as my father used to say? Well, neither cartoonist was a fan of Marsh, and Gray hated Crawford, so when Crawford, according to Heer, “…sponsored a new western-themed strip proposal by Marsh for the newly expanded Chicago Tribune comics section”, both cartoonists were ticked off. Gray decided to try for a bit of one-upmanship, and working with his cousin Edwin Leffingwell, brushed off his old plans for a western strip. As Gray wrote to Gould in a 1933 letter, “Well, anyway, Chet. We here are doing our best to avenge you, and incidentally put a notch into Crawford. I haven’t a whole lot of hope of success, but am not done fighting. Leffingwell sent three mighty nice pages.” Ultimately, Gray was successful in his bid, and Little Joe launched on October 1, 1933.

As Jeet Heer notes, and others have noted over the years, while Leffingwell signed the strips, they certainly bore more than a passing resemblance to Gray’s work. Edwin Leffingwell (c.1905 to October 10, 1936) was a first cousin to Harold Gray, and the men, along with Ed’s younger brother Bob, were more like brothers than cousins. Ed earned a degree in civil engineering from NYU, and worked with two engineering firms in NYC, before switching gears in 1932 to help assist cousin Harold on Little Orphan Annie. During this time, he attended an unidentified art school, continuing to hone his craft. Ed Leffingwell died unexpectedly in 1936, due to complications from a burst appendix. The last Little Joe Sunday page signed by Ed Leffingwell appeared on December 6, 1936, which makes sense, as most cartoonists work a couple of months ahead of the printed schedule. His younger brother Bob Leffingwell took over the strip after that, continuing until the strip’s demise in 1972. Bob Leffingwell didn’t have near the cartooning talent as his older brother, and according to Heer, Gray took over the Little Joe reins until the 1950s, when it became too much of a burden to him. The strips done by Bob Leffingwell show a lack of the same fluid figure movement and design that the elder Leffingwell and Gray were able to put into the strip. There are times that the Sunday page looks like a western version of Little Orphan Annie. We will never know with 100% certainty what Gray did and when, but when you compare the strips, you can certainly see when Gray’s has a strong hand in ghosting Little Joe.

Vintage Little Joe Sunday pages are quite scarce, due to the vast majority of them being in the holdings of Boston University, along with Harold Gray's archives.

There are 3 Pieces of Art In This Gallery.    

+

Ed Leffingwell - Little Joe Sunday Page - 1935

Art Details

Artist:	Ed Leffingwell (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views	1676
Comments:	1
Added to Site:	2/28/2019

About the Owner

Rob Stolzer
Member Since:	September 2004

Ed Leffingwell - Little Joe Sunday Page - 1935
Artist: Ed Leffingwell (All)
1676 Views, 1 Comment

+

Harold Gray - Little Joe Sunday Page - 1940

Art Details

Artist:	Harold Gray (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views	242
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	5/26/2023

About the Owner

Rob Stolzer
Member Since:	September 2004

Harold Gray - Little Joe Sunday Page - 1940
Artist: Harold Gray (All)
242 Views

+

Harold Gray - Little Joe Sunday Page - 1940

Art Details

Artist:	Harold Gray (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views	1256
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	2/28/2019

About the Owner

Rob Stolzer
Member Since:	September 2004

Harold Gray - Little Joe Sunday Page - 1940
Artist: Harold Gray (All)
1256 Views

There are 3 Pieces of Art In This Gallery.    

About the Owner Rob Stolzer Premium Gallery Owner Joined: September 2004 Last Login: September 2025 Ebay Id: robart Website: https://freeassociationfunnies.com/ Country: UNITED STATES On CAF: Rob's Classifieds Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF Read More About RobStolzer

Contact the Owner Use can use a contact form to send an email to this gallery owner, but, you must be logged in to use this feature. Click Here to Login Click Here to Register